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Des Moines parade coordinator not ready to ban horses

July 6, 2010 By
St. Patrick's Day Parade in Des Moines.

St. Patrick's Day Parade in Des Moines.

The coordinator of one of Iowa’s largest annual parades says they’ll discuss banning horses and other large animals after Sunday’s fatal accident at a parade in eastern Iowa. Ed Modglin, of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick, says the Des Moines Saint Pat’s Day Parade only featured one horse last year, so it’s not a tremendous concern.

“We don’t get a lot of people asking if they can put a horse in there but that’s something we’ll definitely have to consider for next year’s parade,” Modglin said. One person was killed and two-dozen were injured at the Fourth of July Parade in Bellevue after a pair of horses got loose and stampeded into the crowd.

Fifteen of the injured were children, close to the roadside to catch candy. Modglin says the annual Des Moines parade in March features well over 100 entries and often draws 15 to 20,000 spectators — and he shudders to think of a similar incident here.

“Accidents like that can happen,” Modglin says. “One of the floats could get out of hand and then you’re asking yourself, should we have floats? It’s not happening a lot. This was just an accident.” He says he’s not convinced horses should be excluded from parades as this incident may have been very isolated.

“I didn’t do a whole lot of research to see if there was a lot of other instances like this happening, but it seems like it’s kind of a one-off deal,” Modglin says. “The horse just got skittish and took off.” He notes, the biggest animals in the St. Patrick’s Parade in Des Moines are usually dogs.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Southern Iowa facing flooding after more heavy rain

July 6, 2010 By

Rainy weather washed out many fireworks displays and now the runoff is threatening homes and businesses. National Weather Service meteorologist, Aubry Wilkins, says a couple communities in particular are facing rising water.

Wilkins says the worst flooding right now is in the south and east, with the worst in Ottumwa and Eddyville. She says Ottumwa is experiencing “major flooding”, while Eddyville is seeing “moderate flooding.” Ottumwa city officials say a mobile home park with some 300 people was evacuated due to flooding.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather

Class 4A: Alex Timmerman, Dubuque Hempstead

July 6, 2010 By

The senior second baseman batted .690 and in nine games had four home runs, scored ten runs and drove in 25. Timmerman was six-for-six in a doubleheader sweep of Davenport Central with a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, and 10 RBI. He was also the winning pitcher in the opener and gave up only one earned run in five innings of work and on the week had seven multi-hit games.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Sports

Class 3A: Kaleb Rich, Washington

July 6, 2010 By

The senior infielder batted .381 and in five games had a home run, two triples, a pair of doubles, drove in 10 runs and scored seven times. Rich was perfect in three trips to the plate and drove in a pair of runs in a victory over Keokuk. He also tripled, doubled and drove in four runs in a win over Danville.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Sports

Class 2A: Chris Throne, Lake Mills

July 6, 2010 By

The senior shortstop had a big week at the plate and on the mound. Throne batted .733 and in four games had three home runs, nine RBI and scored nine runs. He was also 2-0 on the mound and in 12 innings of work gave up no earned runs, four hits and struck out 22 batters. Throne had three hits, including a pair of two-run homers in a victory over Forest City. He also tossed a complete game three hitter and struck out 14 in a win over Osage. He was three-for-four at the plate in that game and scored two runs.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Sports

Class 1A: Cole Chapin, Treynor

July 6, 2010 By

The sophomore infielder batted .615 in four games with eight hits in 13 at bats. He also had four stolen bases and scored seven runs. Chapin had three hits, including as triple and scored two runs in a victory over Tri-Center. He also tallied three hits and scored twice in a win over Audubon. Chapin was also the winning pitcher in that game and in five innings of work gave up no earned runs and struck out seven.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Sports

Unmanned plane another tool used by Iowa National Guard

July 6, 2010 By
Unmanned plane on the runway.

Unmanned plane on the runway.

One of the tools available to the Iowa National Guard in their deployment is a small remote-contolled airplane that gives them an eye in the sky.

Specialist David Brumley of Stuart demonstrated what’s called the “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle”, or U-A-V during the guard’s recent training exercises at Camp Ripley in Minnesota.

Brumley showed off one of the mobile operating trucks that includes two seats and the computer equipment to operate the plane. Brumley says the “A-O,” aircraft operator sits on the left side and flies the airplane, while the “P-O” or payload operator sits on the right side and operates the video camera.

 They can shoot video and print out pictures from the plane’s camera. Brumley says the camera has a high resolution that can give soldiers a lot of intelligence information.

“You can be at 15,000 feet and see a person clear as day, tell that it is an actual human being,” Brumley says. The plane can also pick out people in trees or when they can’t be seen.

Computer screen showing camera view and location of the UAV.

Computer screen showing camera view and location of the UAV.

He says it has an infrared camera that detects heat. The plane is launched off a rail on the back of a truck, so it does not need a lot of airstrip to take off. The mobile trucks can spread out and operate the plane from different points, or the plane can be operated from a stationary tent.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:
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