The junior scored 23 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out nine assists and had three steals in a victory over Charles City. Carlson made nine of 11 shots, including three of three from three point range. On the season he is averaging 18 and a half points per game.
Class 2A: Michael Newton, West Marshall
December 27, 2011 By
The senior poured in 25 points, including 11 of 12 from the field, hauled down 11 rebounds and blocked three shots in a victory over AGWSR. Newton is averaging better than 18 points and eight rebounds per game and is connecting on better than 75 percent from the field.
Class 1A: Clay Harreld, Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg)
December 27, 2011 By
The senior scored 36 points, added 15 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in a victory over North Tama. Harreld is averaging better than 30 points per game and is connecting on better than 45 percent from three point range.
Corps commander warns of weakened levees
December 27, 2011 By
A regional commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says we’re in a “very dangerous time,” with weakened levees and dams after the summer-long flood of the Missouri River. Brigadier General John McMahon, commander of the Corps’ Northwest Division, says floodwalls all along the river in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska were significantly damaged by the many months of rising, rushing water.
“The big concern now is the winter weather and also how much runoff we’re going to have as the construction season unfolds that might interfere with that,” General McMahon says. “There’s lots of unknowns. We’re very vulnerable with respect to the condition of the levees now.”
Critics say there was a serious lack of communication between key governmental agencies and community leaders in threatened areas prior to the start of flooding this spring, and McMahon says he does not want to see a repeat. McMahon says, “We’re going to have to work very closely together and communicate well and keep everybody informed as we go through this very dangerous period of time.”
The Corps estimated in September that it would cost more than $500-million to repair the many miles of levees, earthen berms and other structures that were damaged in the prolonged flooding. That dollar figure is continuing to grow.
“We currently know of $630-million in repairs, mainly focused on the levees and some on the dams,” General McMahon says. “We’re still assessing the dams and I expect a report from our Omaha district by the end of this month. There’s also additional assessments to the navigation channel.”
While work is underway on levee repairs, he says little more can be done until next year and possibly, not before the spring flood season starts up again.
Deadline approaching for College Savings Iowa contributions
December 27, 2011 By
The return lines at stores aren’t the only places that are busy this week, the College Savings Iowa program run by the state treasurer’s office is seeing a lot of activity too. Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald says everyone is trying to get their contributions in by the end of the year.
“A lot of us put this off until the last minute, and that’s why for College Savings Iowa, this is the busiest week of the year. We will get millions of dollars in,” Fitzgerald says. The money put into the program can be deducted from your state income taxes. Fitzgerald says, unlike some other investments, the contributions for College Savings Iowa are calculated on a calendar year basis.
“You do not have it like an IRA where you have until April 15th, you have to have it done by midnight December 31st. Of course you can go to College Savings Iowa dot com (CollegeSavingsIowa.com) and do it right on the internet, or if you mail it in, if you have it postmarked by midnight, you’re good,” Fitzgerald explains.
Fitzgerald says you can start a new account and make donations before the deadline and still get the tax write off for this year. “It’s professionally invested by Vanguard and you have 13 options you can choose from in how to invest your money,” Fitzgerald says.
He says some people are very aggressive and put all the money in the stock market, while others are more conservative and invest in bonds. There is also a lifestyle option that automatically adjusts the investment and amount of risk based on your child’s age.
Each parent can deduct up to $2,865 for each child from their state income taxes this year.
Update: Knoxville arson suspect turns himself in
December 27, 2011 By
David Brommel
Update: Authorities say 45-year-old Allen Brommel turned himself in today at the Warren County Sheriff’s office. He is being held on a charge of second-degree arson.
Previous story:
Authorities in south-central Iowa are asking for the public’s help in locating an arson suspect. David Allen Brommel of rural Indianola is wanted in connection with a Christmas day fire that damaged an office building in Knoxville.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s office reports Brommel was last seen on foot south of Knoxville shortly after the fire, which was discovered just after 5 a.m. Sunday. The building formerly housed a Department of Human Services office.
A D.H.S. office in neighboring Warren County was also damaged by fire earlier this month, but it’s unclear if the two cases are related. Charges are pending against Brommel, who pleaded not guilty to felony drug charges in November. He was released pending trial.
Anyone with information on Brommel’s whereabouts should contact the Marion County Sheriff’s office at 641-828-2220 or the Warren County Sheriff’s office at 515-961-1122.
New system planned to make Cedar Rapids MRI more comfortable
December 27, 2011 By
Laying perfectly still for up to 45 minutes inside a magnetic resonance imaging machine can be difficult, but patients at an eastern Iowa hospital may find the task easier soon. Debbie Person, who runs the MRI lab at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, says they’re installing what’s called a CinemaVision system to help distract patients from the procedure.
“There’s a lot of knocking noises associated with an MRI scan and it’s in a type of a tube that the images are taken in,” Person says. “It can be somewhat claustrophobic for patients and it can be scary for children.” CinemaVision includes a special set of goggles and earphones that are worn by the patient while inside the machine.
The goggles enable the patient to watch a DVD they’ve brought from home and there’s even a 3-D option. They can also just plug in an MP3 player and listen to tunes. Person says, “It helps to take their mind away from what’s happening around them with the MRI scan and they can watch video or listen to some music to help them relax just a bit more.”
The MRI uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body. Because of that, the goggles and earphones have to be made of very specific ingredients. Person says, “Certain metals cannot be brought into the scanner because it could be attracted to the machine so there has to be a material that’s used that can accommodate the magnetic environment and therefore those types of equipment are a little bit more expensive.”
The system is being installed at St. Luke’s thanks to a gift of nearly $45,000 from Peregrine Charities of Cedar Falls. CinemaVision should be operational at the hospital early in 2012.
