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NW IA man “not guilty” in connection with ’07 accident

November 25, 2009 By

A jury this afternoon found a northwest Iowa man not guilty for a fatal traffic accident near Le Mars in 2007.  

Fifty-one-year-old Danny Robinson of Merill was charged with homicide by motor vehicle after a van he was driving struck a woman. Seventy-eight-year Fern Nielson of Lake Norden, South Dakota, was hit near her car just minutes after she’d used a cell phone to ask for help for a traffic accident she had. Nielson died later at a Sioux City hospital.  

The Plymouth County District court jury began deliberating Tuesday and reached a verdict of not guilty of homicide by vehicle Wednesday afternoon.

(Reporting by Joanne Glamm, KLEM Radio News, Le Mars)

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Cornell players adapt well to new coach

November 25, 2009 By

With a new coach in place the Cornell College men’s basketball team is off to a strong start. The Rams are 3-0 as they get ready for their Iowa Conference opener next week. Cornell has three starters back from last year’s team that finished 21-7 and advanced to the NCAA division three tournament.

After the season, coach Mike DeGeorge resigned and Chad Murray took the reigns after being an assistant at North Central College in Illinois. Murray says the team embraced what he was trying to do from day one and he says that is not always the case when you replace a successful coach and do a lot of things differently.

Murray says the players have accepted and adapted to his coaching style. He says he was told when he started coaching to not try and teach something you don’t know or the players will pick up on the. Murray says he has a different style and way of doing things, but the players have adapted.

The Rams open the Iowa Conference race next Wednesday at home against Coe and Murray says he does not mind the early start to the conference race. He says they are a rival, so it is not hard to get motivated to play. Murray says they expect a packed house and they want to keep the momentum they’ve built up early as they head into the conference season.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With:

DOT says Thanksgiving is most dangerous travel holiday

November 25, 2009 By

The Thanksgiving weekend is the most dangerous holiday travel time in Iowa, according to records from the Iowa Department of Transportation. Last year, nine people died in traffic crashes and in 2007 there were 16 fatalities.

Scott Falb, with the D.O.T.’s Office of Driver Services, says Thanksgiving is always a four day weekend so people are often traveling further than they would during a shorter holiday period. “You couple that with the fact that the end of November is always iffy as far as the weather goes and this weekend is a perfect example where we have rain possibly turning into snow,” Falb said.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

Defiance man charged in sex abuse case

November 25, 2009 By

The Shelby County sheriff and the Iowa Department of Human Services have concluded an investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of a child — by making an arrest. Sheriff Mark Hervey says 33-year-old Jesse Smith, of Defiance, faces charges that include lascivious acts with a child and second degree sexual abuse.

Smith was arrested Tuesday in connection with acts involving a 12-year-old that are alleged to have occurred at a residence in Defiance. He was being held in the Shelby County Jail, on $25,000 bond.

Contributed by Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Census Bureau hiring thousands

November 25, 2009 By

Iowa has the nation’s best response rate for the U.S. Census Bureau and officials with that agency hope to maintain the stellar numbers. Hiring is now underway for thousands of Census workers at several locations in the state, according to Kelly Campbell, manager of the Census office in Des Moines.

“We’ll hire approximately a thousand people for each office,” Campbell says. “There’s five offices in the state of Iowa: Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Sioux City, Ames and Des Moines, so roughly about five-thousand people.” Campbell says they’re putting together the office staffs now and will start the big hiring push soon.

The recruiting process is underway now for the five Iowa offices, he says, while the bulk of the hiring will start in January and go into April. Campbell says they’re looking for help from all sorts of Iowans in all areas of the state, suburban and rural.

“We give everybody that wants to be a Census employee a test,” Campbell says. “It’s 28 questions. It’s general knowledge. If you’d like to take a practice test before you come and take the actual test, you can go to the website which is “2010censusjobs.gov” and click on practice test.” With so many people out of work, he’s hopeful for a wide array of applicants.

The pay range for Iowa goes from $9 an hour up to $16.75. “That’s some very good wages for a part-time, temporary job,” Campbell says. For more information, call toll-free, 866-861-2010 and enter your ZIP code to be sent to the nearest office.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

Accident prompts detour on westbound Highway 30, in Ames area

November 25, 2009 By

A head-on collision on Highway 30 in the Ames area has prompted a shut-down of the westbound lanes.

Authorities are diverting traffic off Highway 30 at the University Street exit that takes drivers toward the Cyclone stadium. The detour winds through Ames and drivers reenter Highway 30 on the west side of Ames, at the South Dakota Street exchange.  Commander Mike Brennan of the Ames Police Department says authorities are not sure how long this detour may last. 

Eastbound traffic on Highway 30 through the Ames area is still moving.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With: ,

More information released on fatal accident in Pottawattamie County

November 25, 2009 By

More information is being released about a fatal car-pedestrian accident that happened last night in southwest Iowa. According to Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker, the accident happened at around 9:30 P.M. on the south side of Oakland. Danker says 19-year-old Molly Hummel, of Oakland, was driving a Buick LeSabre northbound on Highway 59, when she noticed a man running alongside the road, headed southbound.

The woman told authorities the man appeared to be having difficulty running, and may have been staggering. When her vehicle approached him, the man veered onto the road and fell in front of the car, which then ran over him. The accident victim died before he could be transported by helicopter to the hospital.

The man did not have any identification on him other than a name on a piece of paper. Authorities are working to identify the man, who was scheduled to undergo an autopsy today at the State Medical Examiner’s lab in Ankeny. Danker says the driver of the car will not face charges in connection with the incident.

Contributed by Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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