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Spring cleaning chemicals can be dangerous

April 27, 2011 By

Iowans who are doing their spring cleaning may accidentally create a poison gas cloud in their bathroom or kitchen. Registered nurse Joan McVoy says many poisonings are caused by cleaning products. She says mixing bleach with other products that contain ammonia can result in a dangerous chlorine vapor cloud.

“Breathing in those fumes, right away, you’ll smell the chlorine and you can get some coughing, shortness of breath,” McVoy says. “Actually, after a few days, you can even get fluid on the lungs so it can be very dangerous when you do that. Just remember, don’t mix bleach with any other chemicals. Other products around the house, like oven cleaner, can cause burns on the skin and the eyes and the mouth, so make sure you keep those up and out of reach of kids.”

Many Iowans are already hard at work creating lush, green lawns, but she cautions: use chemicals with care. “Make sure that you’re using the right chemicals for the problems that you’re having,” McVoy says. “The county extension office in our area is a wonderful place and where you can get expert advice on whether your lawn needs any chemical application at all. Be careful, follow directions. Some people want to go out and spray their fruit trees when we have 35 mile-per-hour winds. That’s not a good idea.”

If you’re ready to put away the snow blower for the season, be very careful if you plan to siphon gasoline out of the machine’s tank. Swallowing gasoline can cause severe stomach discomfort, but if it’s inhaled into the lungs, gasoline can be deadly. McVoy says other items in the garage are extremely dangerous.

“Wheel cleaners contain chemicals that can cause very severe burns,” she says. “Antifreeze, if you’re draining your radiator, that’s one of the most dangerous chemicals in the house. It is sweet-tasting so pets will drink a lot of it. Don’t leave those products unattended either.” She says it’s a good idea to learn and memorize the names of all the plants that are in your house and yard.

“When we get a call to the poison center and someone says, ‘My child got into a plant, it’s green and it’s got leaves,’ well, that’s really difficult for us to narrow down what it is,” McVoy says. “Always get those plants identified and if you’re ever not sure, call the poison center and a nurse will be glad to tell you if a plant is poisonous or not if you’ve got the name of it.”

Experts at the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center, based in Sioux City, can answer most questions people have about poisonous substances, plants, and procedures for preparing and storing chemicals. That number is 1-800-222-1222, or visit the website: “www.iowapoison.org“.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Health & Medicine

Waterloo man jumps in river to avoid police

April 27, 2011 By

For the second time in less than a month, a suspect has tried to escape from Waterloo police by jumping into the Cedar River. The latest incident occurred Tuesday night when officers were called to home to investigate an assault and possible burglary.

Witnesses told police a man, later identified as Richard Eastman of Waterloo, ran from the scene with some items taken from the home. Authorities searched the area and found Eastman a short distance away. Police say when Eastman saw approaching officers, he dropped the items, ran toward the river and jumped in.

Police say Eastman drifted downstream for about four blocks before swimming to shore and being pulled from the water. He’s now in jail on numerous charges. Police say the alleged assault victims suffered minor injuries. Tuesday marked the second time in four weeks that a fleeing suspect has jumped into the Cedar River in an attempt to avoid capture by Waterloo police.

Officers also pulled a man from the frigid water on March 30th following a domestic disturbance call. In that case, the suspect led police on a chase and then jumped off a downtown bridge in an effort to get away.

By Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

New technology helps hospital helicopter in bad weather

April 27, 2011 By

A new, potentially life-saving, technology was used for the first time in Iowa this week. The crew that operates Mercy One, a helicopter out of Mercy Medical Center  in Des Moines, responded to a vehicle crash near Centerville Monday night.

A teenager was critically injured and required air transport to Des Moines. Mercy One lead pilot Chuck King says they were recently given clearance by the F.A.A. to utilize new equipment to guide the helicopter through rough weather.

“The weather conditions here in Des Moines were (worse) than we would’ve been allowed to depart (in) under visual flight rules, so we had to make an instrument flight rule departure. That procedure was approved last week,” King said. Prior to the FAA clearance, the Mercy One helicopter could not have taken off in the heavy downpour.

King says the new technology is known as Wide Area Augmentation System. It’s based on vertical navigation. “Vertical navigation means that we can make instrument approaches to lower minimums,” King explained. “The old sytem, with GPS approaches, would allow us to go around 500 feet above ground. WAAS, with vertical guidance, allow us to go as low as – in the case of Mercy – 266 feet off the ground. So, that’s much improved capability.”

Before long, Mercy One will be allowed to make rough weather, low-level landings at several rural locations in central and southern Iowa. “Those should reach final approval (from the FAA) in four to six weeks,” Kings said. “We’ll make approaches to various approaches, including the Centerville hospital, at those lower altitudes.” The teenager injured in Monday night’s crash was reported in serious, but stable condition, Tuesday night.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Health & Medicine, Weather

Iowa Ag Secretary backs pilot program for Mexican truckers

April 27, 2011 By

Iowa Agriculture Secretary, Bill Northey, has thrown his support behind a plan to create a pilot cross-border training program for U.S. and Mexican truckers. Northey says the program would move the U.S. toward complying with the 1994 North America Free Trade Agreement.

Northey says this has been a contentious issue since NAFTA was passed and he says since a program hasn’t been started — Mexico has instituted duties on U.S. exports. He says that impacts Iowa with duties on pork. Northey says the tariffs would be dropped if the program gets going.

Northey says it makes sense to get a program going and this pilot program looks like it would guarantee safe trucks are coming into the United States, and meet the requirements of NAFTA. U.S. truckers have said they are worried that Mexican truckers could cross the border with trucks and training that didn’t meet the same standards they’re required to meet. Northey says transportation officials have worked to remedy those concerns.

Northey says he understands the federal D.O.T. program would inspect trucks and make sure the drivers are safe and are monitored to prevent problems. While he says the safety concerns were well founded, he believes the program would answer those concerns. Northey says pork producers in Iowa have felt the impact of the tariffs.

He says there’s a five-percent duty on bone-in hams going to Mexico, and that has cost the U.S. about eight million dollars over four weeks. Northey says the U.S. ships around one billion dollars in pork to Mexico annually, and the continued duty could cost “significant dollar loses” in pork exports. Northey says his letter of support to the U.S. Transportation Department.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Eastern Iowa man charged with assault in sword attack

April 27, 2011 By

An eastern Iowa man is accused of assaulting his neighbor with a five-foot sword. It started with a call to cops Monday afternoon about an armed man in a Coralville apartment.

When police arrived, they say an alleged victim claimed to officers that 22-year-old Heath Wolfe had struck him in the stomach with a sword. Wolfe is charged with assault with use or display of a dangerous weapon.

Police say Wolfe allegedly came out of his apartment with the sword and pointed it at his neighbor following an argument over a TV show. Wolfe then is said to have jabbed his neighbor with the sword, causing bruising, although there was no stabbing. Wolfe was being held at the Johnson County Jail on Tuesday.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Ron Paul announces he’s in exploratory phase of 2012 campaign (audio)

April 26, 2011 By

Texas Congressman Ron Paul has formed an “exploratory” committee and has pledged to announce in the “not too distant future” whether he will seek the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential nomination. 

Paul held a news conference in Des Moines Tuesday afternoon to make the announcement.

“I do see a lot of support, but sometimes you get a lot of support from very vocal supporters and you don’t know whether they’re fooling you or not,” Paul said. “Not that they’re fooling me intentionally, but how many people there really are.”

Paul said he’ll gauge his fundraising potential and the depth of his support before formally launching a campaign.

Paul ran as the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president in 1988 and he ran as a Republican in 2008 and finished fifth in the Iowa Caucuses.

“The country is already quite different,” Paul said. “I believe there are literally millions of more people now concerned about the things that I talked about four years ago.”

Paul is an unapologetic critic of U.S. military interventions in foreign countries, but he is best known for his long-standing call for reform of the nation’s monetary policies.

“World history has never seen the monetary inflation that we have seen in the last couple of years — trillions of dollars, unmonitored by the congress, and guess what that inevitably leads to? Higher prices,” Paul said. “Higher prices will be the key issue in next year’s election because people already know that prices are going up.”

Paul also announced his “Iowa Leadership Team” for 2012.  It includes an Ames realtor and engineer David Fischer of Ivy, a small town near Des Moines — both of whom are members of the Iowa Republican Party’s state central commtitee.

“It’s our job as Iowans to tell the rest of America which of these potential candidates has the message that America needs to hear,” Fischer said. “Ron Paul is the right Republican with the right message at the right time.” 

Drew Ivers of Webster City, another member of the Iowa GOP’s state central committee, will be chairman of Paul’s 2012 Iowa effort. 

“Of the many challenges we face in America today, the imorality of spending money we don’t have is perhaps the gravest threat we face,” Ivers said. “Ron Paul has never voted for an unbalanced budget. He has never voted to raise taxes…and thus he has never voted to spend money we don’t have.”

Ivers was chairman of Ron Paul’s 2008 Iowa campaign.  Ivers worked for Pat Buchanan’s presidential campaigns in 1996 and 2000 and, back in 1988, he worked for televangelist Pat Buchanan’s Iowa campaign.

Listen to Paul’s event in Des Moines.

Filed Under: Campaign Countdown, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Iowa House passes nuclear plant bill

April 26, 2011 By

The Iowa House has endorsed a bill that may eventually allow MidAmerican Energy to collect fees from its customers to cover about half the costs of building a new nuclear power facility in Iowa. 

Representative Chuck Soderberg, a Republican from Le Mars, is a vice president for Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative. ”This is a huge step for Iowa and it’s a huge step if we believe that we want to continue to grow this state,” Soderberg said to open Tuesday’s House debate of the measure. 

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Environment & Conservation, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,
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