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New snow makes driving dangerous in parts of state

February 15, 2010 By

A Winter Weather Advisory is posted until 6 o’clock tonight for most of western and central Iowa, with one to two more inches of snow in the forecast. Craig Cogil, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says the snowfall has been relentless this winter.

More snow is falling now and will continue off-and-on throughout the day. Gusting winds will whip up the new-fallen snow, reducing visibility and making driving hazardous, especially in rural areas. A long section of Interstate 29 in western Iowa is closed in both directions due to blowing and drifting snow and white-out conditions.

The closed stretch runs more than 60 miles from Sioux City into Harrison County, just north of Council Bluffs. Multiple crashes are reported due to poor visibility. Cogil said the week ahead promises to be precipitation-free.

To date, this is Iowa’s snowiest winter on record. Des Moines has seen more than 54 inches of snow since December 1st while Mason City has 22 inches on the ground.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Weather

Sprint agrees to pay unclaimed rebate checks

February 15, 2010 By

Sprint has reached an agreement with Iowa and 35 other states to pay money for rebate checks that were promised for new phones but never collected. Attorney General Tom Miller says Iowa filed suit against Sprint and the company that processed its rebates — and the company has agreed to pay the states 22-million dollars. State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald says Iowa’s share is $127,000.

Fitzgerald says they will be getting names from the company and estimate there will be 18 to 20-thousand names. He says they will put the names in the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt run by his office and try to get the money back to Iowans. Fitzgerald says they believe the rebates will average between 50 and 100 dollars. Miller and Fitzgerald says Sprint’s decision to turn over the unclaimed rebate money could lead to more companies doing so.

He says when a “major player like Sprint” steps up and decides to comply with the law, it is a strong signal to other companies that they have to comply as well. Fitzgerald says Sprint will now report unclaimed rebates every year. The rebates are considered abandoned property and that can happen when people move and don’t have a forwarding address, or simply forget to deposit a check. Attorney General Miller says you need to be sure you always take the proper steps to ensure that the rebate is sent to you.

He says you should be sure to follow through and get the proper paperwork in and then watch for the check. Miller says if you don’t get the check, then you should check with the company. If you still don’t get your check, and don’t get a satisfactory explanation from the company, you can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.

Filed Under: Business, Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Man injured in Scott County snowmobile accident

February 15, 2010 By

A snowmobiling accident in eastern Iowa’s Scott County has left one person seriously hurt. A 32-year-old man is hospitalized at University Hospitals in Iowa City following a snowmobile wreck Sunday night near Walcott.

It happened around 7 o’clock. The accident took place about two miles east of town on Old Highway 6. The injured man was airlifted from the scene. Police haven’t released his name or his condition. The Iowa State Patrol is handling the investigation.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Governor dimisses questions about bad poll numbers

February 15, 2010 By
Governor Chet Culver (file photo)

Governor Chet Culver (file photo)

This morning during a news conference at the statehouse, Governor Chet Culver dismissed a handful of reporters’ questions about a weekend poll which indicated Culver faces an uphill battle for reelection. The Des Moines Register’s Iowa Poll found just 36% of those surveyed approve of Culver’s performance in office.

“I’ve never really paid much attention to polls. It’s about getting the job done every day,” Culver said. “And there’s a long time between now and November. Twenty-four hours is a long time in government and in politics.” Culver said he “feels good” about the steps he’s taken as governor, specifically mentioning his I-JOBS program which saw the state borrow millions to bankroll infrastructure projects.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Fort Dodge man charged after stabbing

February 15, 2010 By

A 42-year-old Fort Dodge man is facing two counts of attempted murder after a violent incident early Sunday. Fort Dodge Police were notified of a reported stabbing at the Relax Bar at 1104 Central Avenue.

When officers arrived, they were told a man described as a Mexican male with a bald head had committed the stabbing and had left the area on foot heading north on 11th Street. The man was later apprehended without incident at another bar in the downtown area of Fort Dodge. The man apprehended was identified as Donald M. Williams, Jr. of Fort Dodge.

The two people allegedly stabbed by Williams were identified as Pedro P. Heredic of Humboldt and Ramiro Pardo Calles of Fort Dodge. Both victims were taken to Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge for treatment of their injuries. Williams was being held in the Fort Dodge Jail.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Potholes part of ongoing winter problems

February 15, 2010 By

The extreme amounts of snow, ice and cold this winter have taken a toll on Iowa roads. Motorists are running into more potholes than usual for this time of year and Iowa Department of Transportation Maintenance Engineer Bob Younie says there’s not much road crews can do about it right now.

“The problem with potholes this time of year is it’s very difficult to do a repair that’s going to be very effective for any duration,” Younie said. State and city work crews use an asphalt patch as a temporary fix, but the patch usually doesn’t stay in place for long.

“The materials we use just aren’t effective when the temperatures get down as low as they are right now,” Younie said. Potholes are just part of the problem. There are also bumps in Iowa roads around construction joints.

“All pavement has joints in it and as water goes down into the pavement through the joint…it freezes and expands and heaves the pavement up in that spot,” Younie explained. He compares the situation on Iowa roads to sticking a can of soda in a freezer. At first, the cold temperatures make the can bulge.

Eventually, the pressure can cause the can to burst. Younie says it’s difficult for crews to fix the potholes while also keeping the roads clear of snow and ice. “Maintenance crews will fix the worst pot holes, but some of the ones that are more shallow (motorists) will just have to drive over until they can get to ‘em,” Younie said.

When spring finally arrives, many of the bumps in the construction joints will fix themselves. Younie says public works crews are quickly draining their budgets on snow removal and may not have all the money they need this spring to fix roads that need repaired.

Filed Under: Weather Tagged With: ,

Deer harvest down but DNR says population numbers on target

February 15, 2010 By

A Department of Natural Resources biologist says the deer harvest numbers are down for this year, but the state is on track for its population goals. Preliminary totals show hunters took 136,504 deer, or just about 5,700 below last year.

State deer biologist, Tom Litchfield, says the herd numbers are down enough that he anticipates they will soon start to cut the number of licenses issued.

Litchfield says he anticipates the November anterless season will be a thing of the past within two more years. He says the January anterless season will also probably be changed in that same time period, although he can’t say if it will go away entirely. The state has issued the anterless licenses to help cut the herd, and he says that strategy appears to be working.

He says there harvest showed 52-percent of the deer taken were does, and enough deer were taken in the areas of the state where they needed to meet their population goals. The weather wasn’t the best during the season, but Litchfield does not think that had a major impact on the numbers.

He says the weather did impact the harvest in some areas, but he says there are also fewer deer in some areas of the state, and that’s why numbers were down. Litchfield said it is important that they review how each season went, as once a deer herd starts to decline, care needs to be taken because that can get out of hand.

Litchfield says the changes are like turning a big boat around slowly. He says when the initially started increasing the number of does taken to decrease the herd, the deer herd had built up big numbers and had quite a bit of “reproductive momentum.” Litchfield says it took about three years to turn around that momentum. Litchfield says they will use aerial surveys, road kill data and the spring spotlight surveys to get an idea of the deer numbers and where they need to go in the future.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With: ,
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