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Former Secretary of State Powell helps dedicate Korean Memorial in Cedar Rapids

June 1, 2010 By

Recent tension between North and South Korea brought special meaning to a war memorial dedication in Cedar Rapids Tuesday. Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, was on hand. More than thirty thousand Americans died during the Korean War in the 1950s. Just more than five hundred were from Iowa. And now a six-foot tall memorial made of black stone, engraved with the name of every Iowan who died during the War is at Veterans Memorial Park in Cedar Rapids.

General Powell says the tag placed on the Korean War isn’t right. “Many people say that this was the ‘Forgotten War’ but we ought to be saying this was the ‘Forgotten Victory’ because of what you Korean veterans did, you won peace and freedom. It was a victory against communism and for South Korea,” Powell said.

Powell didn’t specifically mention the recent tension between North and South Korea over the North’s alleged sinking of a South Korean ship. However, he did express his support for a free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea. “We pray for the day when no new memorials will be needed but until that day comes we are grateful that there are those who are prepared to go in harm’s way for our nation and we must ensure that they are never forgotten,” Powell said.

Powell also called for an end to the North Korean regime and for the country to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Iowan Sid Morris paid tribute to those who lost their lives. He joined the Army in 1952 and served for two years in Korea.

“Morris said,”It is incumbent on each and every one of us to tell the real story of this long ago war because little attention is given it today in our history books.” Morris says the Korean War played a key role in U.S. history.

Colin Powell

Colin Powell

He says it was the “first major offensive to halt the spread of communism.” Morris says because freedom is not free, we must be “forever vigilant.”

In addition to the engraved names of soldiers — each of the four sides of the monument has a design, including the state flag and flower. Toward the end of the ceremony a wreath was laid next to the new memorial as dozens of veterans saluted to honor their fallen soldiers.

Filed Under: Military, Politics & Government

State to end free supply of nicotine patches and gum

June 1, 2010 By

State health officials are warning smokers they have just one more month to receive a free two week supply of nicotine-replacement patches or nicotine gum. The service, part of the Quitline Iowa program since 2008, will end on June 30th. Aaron Swanson is with the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Division of Tobacco Control and Prevention.

“It was a difficult decision, but in light of budget cuts…unfortunately, we had to make the decision to cut that particular aspect of the service,” Swanson said. Around half of the people who’ve called Quitline Iowa over the past two-and-a-half years have requested the nicotine patches or gum.

Sanson says more than 54,000 people have called Quitline since January 2008 and 27,450 have taken advantage of the free offer. Quitline Iowa will continue to offer free counseling services, which have been available since 2001. “People can still call 1-800-QUIT-NOW and receive the same effective counseling services to quit that they always have,” Swanson said.

The service is also available online at www.QuitlineIowa.org. Swanson notes that pharmacies sell two-week supplies of nicotine-replacement products for about $25. He says that’s considerably less than the cost of just one week’s supply of cigarettes to a pack-a-day smoker.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Body of missing Mason City fisherman found

June 1, 2010 By

Family members confirm that a body pulled from Briarstone Lake in Mason City earlier this afternoon is that of a missing man. Underwater search and rescue teams located a body at around one o’clock Tuesday afternoon that was later identified as 75-year-old Eugene Cole.

Cole had been missing since 10:30 Saturday night after he failed to return from fishing outside of his family’s home on Briarstone Lake. Cole’s wife Mary Pat reported him missing at seven o’clock on Sunday evening after his boat was found empty on the lake.

Four different teams from Cerro Gordo, Carroll, Sioux and Winona (MN) counties all volunteered to search the lake earlier today. Cole was a retired farmer from the Grafton area who has lived in Mason City for the last 17 years.

By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Man from Guatemala faces prison time after arrest in Sioux City

June 1, 2010 By

A man from Guatemala who was living in Sioux City when he was picked up for drunk driving will spend 18 months in a federal prison.  It was the third time the man had been convicted of drunken driving. Twenty-nine-year-old Juan Pichilla-Marroquin had been deported in December of 2008 after his third drunken driving conviction.

In February of this year he pleaded guilty to one-count of illegally re-entering the country as a felon. He’s been sentenced to one-and-a-half years in a federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

State has yet to see a tornado

June 1, 2010 By

The threat of severe weather looms over the start of June, after the month of May was relatively quiet as far as bad storms. State climatologist Harry Hillaker say last month was notable for its extremes in rainfall and in temperatures. Hillaker says Iowans saw rainfall well above and well below average, depending on their location.

The statewide average was around 4.25 inches, which is roughly a quarter-inch above normal for May, but some areas were far from the norm. Parts of southeast Iowa, around Burlington, got nearly ten-inches of rainfall for the month, while northwest Iowa was very dry. Sioux City only got about one-and-a-quarter inches of rain.

Hillaker says temperatures, too, were all over the map, though the statewide average temperature was very close to normal. He says there was a lot of variability in the extremes. There was a freeze over much of the state on May 9th with temps as low as 27-degrees in some areas. That’s contrasted with a statewide high of 96-degrees, recorded in Algona on May 24th.

While May and June are usually Iowa’s worst months for severe weather, Hillaker says May was generally quiet, though there were a few bad storms with hail and heavy rain. Still, he says there were no tornadoes during May — and none this year, so far.

“That streak won’t last forever and certainly it’s very, very, very likely to end sometime this month,” Hillaker says. “It could even end in the next few days with what looks like a pretty active weather pattern.”

The last time Iowa went this far into the year without a single tornado was 1980.

Filed Under: Weather

Class 1A: Beau Pick, Remsen St. Marys

June 1, 2010 By

The sophomore has seven hits in 11 at-bats so far this season. He homered and scored three runs in a win over South O’Brien and also was perfect in four trips to the plate in a victory over Unity Christian. On the mound, Pick tossed a complete game five hitter and struck out seven in a win over West Sioux.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Sports

Class 2A: Derrick Loveless, Solon

June 1, 2010 By

The junior center fielder is batting .714 through the first seven games. Loveless has 15 hits in 21 at bats, including four doubles, three triples, has scored 10 runs and has driven in nine. He finished four-of-seven with two doubles and a pair of triples in a double header sweep of Muscatine.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Sports
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