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ISU guard plays through illness

February 19, 2010 By

Sophomore guard Scott Christopherson is playing through an illness to try and help the Iowa State Cyclones. Christopherson has played with mononucleosis since mid January but he had a career high 19 points in the Cyclone’s Wednesday night loss at home to Oklahoma State.

Christopherson says he doesn’t want to be sick, and so he’s not going to tell himself he is sick. He says he’s not 100%, but will go into games telling himself he is.

I.S.U. coach Greg McDermott appreciates the effort, as he says the effort is unbelievable and there are not many guys who will play through what he has played through.

Iowa State takes a 2-9 Big 12 record into a matchup at home against 24th rated Texas A@M on Saturday afternoon. The Aggies are 7-4 in the league race.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Aplington-Parkersburg students testify in Becker murder trial

February 19, 2010 By

Three students at Aplington-Parkersburg were among the witnesses to testify today (Friday) in the Mark Becker murder trial. All of the students were in a parking lot at the time football coach Ed Thomas was shot to death in the school’s weight-training room on June 24, 2009.

Sarah Dunegan cried on the witness stand as she recalled seeing Becker come out of the weight room. Defense lawyer Susan Flander asked Dunegan if Becker said anything. “He said ‘Thomas isn’t God, he’s Satan’ and ‘go get his carcass,’” Dunegan said through tears.

Becker is charged with first-degree murder. His attorneys are asking the jury to find Becker not guilty by reason of insanity. Flander also called nurse practitioner Nicolle Amos to the witness stand. Amos met with Becker in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on June 26th. Amos said she believed the 24-year-old Becker was having hallucinations.

“He said that he was seeing frozen sharks,” Amos said. Flander asked if Becker referred to Ed Thomas by another name. “He called him Lucifer,” Amos said. “Did he show any remorse for what he had done?” Flander asked. “No,” Amos said. Amos diagnosed Becker as schizophrenic. Under cross examination from prosecutors, Amos said she did not have the “knowledge and experience” to know if Becker was legally insane.

The defense will continue presenting its case on Monday.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Dubuque planning Honor Flight

February 19, 2010 By

After several successful trips for hundreds of aging veterans from elsewhere in Iowa, now Dubuque plans to hold its first “Honor Flight” this spring. World War Two veterans from northeast Iowa will be flown, no charge, to Washington D.C. to see the memorials honoring their sacrifices and service. Organizer Dennis Avenarius explains what will happen on the trip to the nation’s capitol.

They’ll visit the World War Two Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery for the changing of the guard, the Vietnam Wall, the Korean War Memorial — however many memorials they can fit into the day. Avenarius serves as the hub director for the Dubuque Honor Flight and is a benefits counselor for the Dubuque County Veterans Affairs office. The flight is being planned for May 18th. It’s a one-day trip. He says the plane would leave Dubuque at 7:30 A.M. and return that same night around 9:30.

Avenarius says they’ll charter a 737 which will hold 162 people. They’ll take about 100 to 110 veterans and 30 to 40 support people. He says any World War Two veteran from the area is welcome to apply to go on the flight for free. He says interested veterans can contact their nearest American Legion or visit the website: “www.honorflightdbq.org” for an application.

While this will be the first Honor Flight out of Dubuque, there are 92 cities across the United States that have hubs. Ohio started the first flight in 2005, and since that time, around 50,000 veterans have taken Honor Flights to Washington D.C.

By Janelle Tucker, KMCH, Manchester

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military

New NWS flood forecast shows increased risk

February 19, 2010 By

The National Weather Service issued its first spring flood forecast at the end of January and now its second forecast shows the risk for flooding has gone up. Hydrologist Jeff Zogg says the weather conditions haven’t changed much and that’s made the chance of flooding worse.

Zogg says since the first report was released in late January, the snowfall totals have been above normal and the temperatures have been below normal, so that has pushed the risk for flooding higher.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather

DNR asks lawmakers to give Honey Creek Resort more time

February 19, 2010 By

Officials in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are asking legislators to give the state-owned Honey Creek Resort more time to show a profit. A state audit released last month showed the resort along Rathbun Lake in southern Iowa had lost nearly $900,000 in its first 10 months. D.N.R. officials hired a private consultant who has confirmed those losses, but concluded the resort was “well managed.”

Pat Body, the deputy director of the D.N.R., says Honey Creek is faring about as well as similar resorts in the Midwest. “A lot of people are visiting and enjoying the facility so it is an amenity for the state,” she says. “It’s a quality of life piece that’s pretty important not just for southern Iowa but for all of Iowa.”

But some state legislators worry the 58-million dollar resort is taking too long to turn a profit, leaving taxpayers with the debt. Senators James Seymour of Woodbine and Matt McCoy of Des Moines both say the resort’s 18-hole golf course alone could sink the project. “A golfing entity has to go broke a couple of times and get rid of the capitol cost before some entity can come in make it cash flow on operations and I don’t know what’s going to happen here,” Seymour said during a meeting at the capitol this week.

“We’re well on our way,” McCoy chimed in. Seymour concluded the capitol investment could “strangle” the state. McCoy wants to sell or lease Honey Creek to a private company. But the D.N.R.’s deputy director cited the report from the consultant the D.N.R. hired, a consultant who suggested a golf course is a key component for a resort.

Honey Creek opened in September of 2008, this will be the first year all 18 holes of the course at Honey Creek are open to the public — if the weather cooperates. Honey Creek has 105 hotel rooms and 28 cottages. Rental rates have been lowered for the winter “off-season” in hopes of drawing in more visitors. The occupancy rate for those rooms and cabins has averaged 46%.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With: ,

Plans for I-74 bridge pushed back due to lack of funds

February 19, 2010 By

Plans for building a new Interstate 74 bridge linking Iowa and Illinois may now be pushed back five years due to a lack of funding. Our pockets are empty. That’s what the Obama administration is saying to the Quad-Cities’ request for 126-million federal dollars.

The dough would help pay for a new I-74 bridge over the Mississippi between Bettendorf and Moline, a project that could cost more than a billion bucks. The current bridge has no place for motorists to pull over when they’ve had a wreck or their vehicles have broken down. And bridge delays are a fact of life for commuters.

The Quad-Cities also recently learned it won’t get federal funds to help pay for passenger rail service to and from Chicago.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Roof ice continuing to cause problems for homeowners

February 19, 2010 By
Ice dams like this one are common this winter.

Ice dams like this one are common this winter.

Iowa’s unusually harsh winter is causing problems for homeowners. Record amounts of snow and extended periods of below freezing temperatures have created “ice dams” in gutters and along overhangs. The problem develops as snow melts and flows down to the overhang where it re-freezes on the coldest part of the roof and creates a dam.

Brad Gannon, who owns a roofing company in Des Moines, says that ice and water will eventually back up underneath the shingles.

“People just can’t expect that much snow to sit on their roof and not eventually find a way in (to the home),” Gannon said.

Homeowners who let the snow and ice build up on their roof all winter could face a costly roof repair, plus damage to their walls and insulation.

“When you have your driveway and sidewalks cleaned off, think about having the bottom edge of your roof cleaned off,” Gannon said. A roof rake, available at most hardware stores, is designed to reach the eaves from the ground to remove snow. Gannon says his workers are getting more and more calls to clear ice dams. He says homeowners may be able to chip away at the ice dams on their own by using a hammer or a roofing hatchet.

“You just have to be really careful,” Gannon said. “It’s just like if you’re trying to bust up ice cubes, but they’re abnormally large ice cubes. They will bust, but you have to be careful that you don’t damage the gutters and the shingles.” Gannon says he’s seeing homes this winter that have ice built up six to 10 inches above the gutter.

Filed Under: Weather
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