January 28, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / Archives for December 2009

Snowfall builds to record level in many areas

December 28, 2009 By

Some of the recent snowfalls have not been record-breaking by any means — but when added all together — they’re leading to overall records across the state. National Weather Service forecaster, Brad Small, says the latest record fell in the capital city.

Small says Des Moines set the record for the highest snowfall on record for December at 27.2 inches, and that puts the city in third place for the highest monthly snowfall. Small says the record snowfall has left all of Iowa with white stuff on the ground.

He says the amounts vary from one foot around central Iowa to two feet in northwest Iowa, and some areas have over two feet. Small says having over one foot of snow cover this time of year is unusual. Small says Iowa’s just hasn’t had any break in the pattern that produces snow.

Small says we had the big snow that produced over one foot in parts of the state, but there have been continual snows that have added up to the extreme totals. Small says those snow piles that are predominant around driveways and parking lots won’t be going away anytime soon.

Small says there won’t be any melting as the temperatures are going to get colder as we head to the new year and there could be more snow on Wednesday, which would add to the snow totals. Small says the snowpack will work to keep temperatures colder.

Filed Under: Weather

Fire damages Altoona gas station

December 28, 2009 By

Firefighters in the Des Moines suburb of Altoona knocked down a dangerous fire this morning at a gas station. The fire at a B.P. gas station at 2635 Adventureland Drive was first reported at 8 a.m.

The station is located across from the entrance to Adventureland. A woman who works at a nearby KFC restaurant told Radio Iowa that she could see flames coming from the station’s roof. Altoona police blocked traffic in the area over worries about possible explosions of gas tanks.

Fortunately, the wind helped blow the fire away from the gas pumps. The building, however, is a total loss. The State Fire Marshal’s office has been called in to investigate what sparked the fire. No one was injured.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Trial date set for man accused of murdering A-P football coach

December 28, 2009 By
Mark Becker (file photo)

Mark Becker (file photo)

A trial date has been set for the man accused of murdering a longtime northeast Iowa football coach this past June. Witnesses say Mark Becker walked into the football team’s weight training room early in the morning and shot Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas to death.

Becker, who was 24 at the time of the shooting, had played as an offensive lineman for Thomas.  Thomas, who was 58, was a legendary coach. Four former A-P team members were playing as linemen on NFL teams at the time of the shooting.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Ice buildup continues to cause power line problems

December 28, 2009 By

While most Iowans are returning to the office from a four-day weekend, hundreds of employees from Iowa’s largest utility worked all during the blizzard, trying to restore power to thousands of homes. Ann Thelen, spokeswoman for MidAmerican Energy, says intermittent power outages are still cropping up this morning.

“We did have all of our customers from the original storm restored by 5 P.M. Sunday,” Thelen says. “What we’re seeing now is, there’s still a significant ice buildup on the power lines. That, coupled with the winds, we’re getting some galloping of the lines, some lines are coming down, the equipment on the lines is heavily ice-covered and that’s causing some power outages.”

Much of the damage was focused in areas of western Iowa, near Audubon, Ida Grove and Carroll. Thelen says hundreds of MidAmerican workers had a very busy holiday. “We had more than 350 line workers in that area, we had another 200 tree resources workers, ready to help with trees that came down,” she says. “We had hundreds of support personnel, assessors and supervisors.”

At the peak of the storm, she says between 6 and 7,000 of the utility’s customers were without power across Iowa. That number is down around a hundred now. Thelen says it was a challenging weekend for everyone. “Travel conditions made restoration (of power) extremely difficult,” she says.

“With the winds and the heavy snow, we had a lot of re-drifting. As soon as the plows have cleared the roads, they would get drifted again, and we haven’t had an increase in temperatures to warm up and melt some of that ice off, so the crews are working in very difficult conditions.” Thelen says it’ll be several days before they can affix a price tag to this storm.

Filed Under: Weather Tagged With:

Iowa and Iowa State ready to have fun, prepare for games

December 28, 2009 By

Bowl trips are underway for Iowa and Iowa State as both teams headed south over the weekend. The Hawkeyes are in Miami as they prepare for the January fifth Orange Bowl against Georgia Tech. This will be the sixth January bowl in eight years for the Hawks and junior defensive end Adrian Clayborn says they know how to mix fun and practice.

Clayborn says they know how to stay focused on preparing amidst all that is going on and the sun and fun in Florida. Clayborn says they will try to have some fun before turning their attention to Georgia Tech. He says they have a couple of days to do that and then they have to get ready for the game.

Safety Brett Greenwood says the Hawkeyes handled it right a year ago leading up to a lopsided win over South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. Greenwood says it came down to the senior leadership that led them to prepare throughout the month of December. And while they had fun, they were business like in ensuring they got the win.

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi says early on bowl practice were about working on fundamentals, now it is about getting ready for the game. He says as they get closer to the game they put the game plan in, so they can focus on the plan and it is not too spread out.

Today’s expected high in Miami is 75 degrees. It is supposed to be in the mid 60s in Phoenix where the Iowa State Cyclones get ready Thursday’s Insight Bowl against Minnesota. ISU coach Paul Rhoads is not concerned about his team mixing football and fun.

Rhoads says this is an opportunity for a reward and you have to look at it that way to avoid the distractions. He says they can enjoy everything that goes with the bowl, but will go to work when it is time.

Senior linebacker Jesse Smith says the Cyclones are not satisfied with just being in a bowl game. They want to end it with a victory. He says it’s a series of things for the seniors that will be their last as Cyclones and that is important to them and the team.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

U-I researchers look for ways to decrease distracted driving

December 28, 2009 By

Some Iowa lawmakers are planning to draft a bill that would make it illegal to text message on a cell phone while driving a vehicle. In Iowa City, researchers are looking at other ways to prevent traffic crashes caused by distracted motorists.

Tim Brown, with the University of Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator, says one study involves how technology might detect signs of distracted driving. “If the ultimate goal is to prevent crashes, how well do some of these technologies that are designed to alert drivers of potential crash situations – how well do they work to prevent distracted drivers from getting into crashes,” Brown explained.

Over the next decade, the work at the U-of-I could result in vehicles that nearly drive themselves. “You could see technologies where, if you begin to drift off the roadway, the vehicle steers itself back so you don’t run off the road. Or, if you’re not responding quickly enough to a vehicle that’s slowing in front of you, the vehicle begins to slow itself,” Brown said.

The U-of-I researchers were recently awarded a more than one-million dollar grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to study the issue of distracted driving. Brown says he realizes technology is not the sole solution, but combined with legislation, their work could greatly reduce fatal and property damage crashes.

“Technology is going to greater automation and through this, there’s the potential of also mitigating these distraction-related crashes,” Brown said. More than34,000 people were killed in U.S. traffic crashes in 2008.

Public safety officials estimate that one-fifth of those crashes were caused by a distracted driver. Brown made his comments on the Iowa Public Radio program “The Exchange.”

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

Dental specialist says your toothbrush could make you sick

December 28, 2009 By

Many Iowans are flu-phobic and now an expert says your toothbrush could be making you sick. Dr. Ed Schooley, a dentist and spokesman for Delta Dental of Iowa, says if you’ve had H-1-N-1, another flu bug or a bad cold, you likely ought to chuck your toothbrush. Dr. Schooley says it’s recommended you swap out toothbrushes every four months anyway.

Schooley says if you get sick with one of the various flu viruses, the toothbrush should be replaced when your bout with the flu is over. While toothbrushes aren’t usually considered a high-dollar item, if yours is fairly new, you may not want to toss it out just because you had the sniffles. Schooley says another route would be to sterilize your toothbrush to get rid of all those pesky germs.

Schooley says, “Sterilizers are available through most of the local drug stores but you can actually just sterilize it by putting it in the microwave for a minute or run your toothbrush through the dishwasher.” While nearly everyone knows to cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze, Schooley says some folks just aren’t up to speed on how important it is to keep your toothbrush clean — and segregated.

He says his wife will sometimes brush her teeth while watching TV and will put her toothbrush down in places where it shouldn’t be sitting. Schooley says to make an effort to keep the toothbrush in a clean place and away from common areas, adding, don’t share toothbrushes with other people and don’t store multiple toothbrushes together.

He says airborne bacteria can be shared between toothbrushes stored near each other in warm, moist environments like the bathroom. Also, Schooley says to avoid cross-contamination of germs by giving each family member their own tube of toothpaste and try to use an individual travel-size tube of toothpaste when someone is sick. For more tips, visit “www.deltadentalia.com“.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »