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Special traffic enforcement looks to cut deaths in final summer travel days

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Patrick Hoye, the chief of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, is warning motorists that the period between now and Labor Day is one of the busiest and most dangerous times of the year on Iowa roads.

“This time of year is, sadly, one of the most deadliest in Iowa,” Hoye said. “The past few years, August has been the deadliest month for people traveling in Iowa.” There were 36 people killed in traffic crashes on Iowa roadways last August. This year, there have been at least 14 traffic-related fatalities in August, with two full weeks left in the month.

A special traffic enforcement project was launched statewide today and will continue through the upcoming holiday as Iowa law officers try to improve roadway safety. “We are asking our law enforcement partners to step up their impaired driving efforts and of course, speeding and texting and driving are also major causations in crashes,” Hoye said.

Over the three-day Labor Day weekend last year, 10 people were killed in crashes on Iowa roads. According to Hoye, four of the 10 were alcohol related. “A lot of times, what goes with the social events that happen as the summer is closing out – a lot of those events will include alcohol and that’s why we’re seeing some of those higher alcohol fatality counts,” Hoye said.

So far this year, 191 people have died in crashes on Iowa roadways. A total of 329 people were killed in crashes across the state in 2017. That was down from 402 fatalities in 2016.

 

Updated report shows 21 tornadoes touched down July 19th

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Two tornadoes are spotted in Bondurant as seen from Iowa DOT traffic camera in Altoona.

It turns out more tornadoes hit Iowa back on July 19th than first thought.

After more detailed research, the National Weather Service now says the number of tornadoes that touched down statewide that day is now 21. That’s up from 16. Officials say five more tornadoes — most of them in corn and soybean fields — were identified through the use of high-resolution satellite images.

The largest twister that day hit Marshalltown, an EF-3 that destroyed 90 homes and damaged more than 600. Another EF-3 hit Pella, a pair of EF2s struck Bondurant, with three EF-1’s landing near Keosauqua and Monroe.

That leaves a total of 14 EF-0’s.

 

Man traveling down Mississippi River to raise funds for disaster relief

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Eric Elsea

A man making a canoe trip from the beginning to the end of the Mississippi River wants to raise awareness and funds for a Rotary Club effort to help in areas of natural disasters. Eric Elsea made an overnight stop in Clinton on that journey where he met Rotary Club members and others.

Elsea says the Rotary program is known as Shelterbox U.S.A. “We preposition life-saving equipment at eleven different places around the world that we can deploy rapidly after things like natural disasters — and in some cases, man-made conflicts — for instance, the Syrian refugee crisis,” Elsea says. The Shelterbox is a key component of what they do.

Eric Elsea

“A shelterbox typically includes things like at tent, blankets, water purification system, solar lighting, mosquito netting, things like that to provide shelter, warmth and dignity to families on their worst day ever,” according to Elsea. He currently resides in Florida but grew up in the St. Louis area and helped sandbagging efforts during the flood of 1993 and that’s why he chose the journey along the Mississippi.

Elsea says he’s enjoyed meeting the people along the route. “It has been better than I ever imagined,” Elsea says, “it’s absolutely gorgeous, the weather has been great. There’s been scenery and wildlife and stuff I just never imagined. I’ve been having the time of my life.”

Elsea hopes to raise $225,200 – – or $100 for every mile of the journey.

(By Dave Vickers, KROS, Clinton)

 

It’s Iowa One Call day, 8-1-1

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Today is August 11th, or 8-1-1, which coincides with the three-digit telephone number Iowans need to call before they do any late summer digging in their yards.

Seth Hale is spokesman for Iowa One Call. “We’ll be doing our promotional day to remind folks across the state of Iowa to call at least 48 hours before they dig,” Hale says. “That includes any project, planting a tree, putting in a new mailbox, installing a fence, and also the big projects that professional excavators are doing.”

The goal of Iowa One Call, he says, is damage prevention.”There’s tens of thousands of miles of pipelines for gas and electric and communications and internet and water,” Hale says. “By not calling, you put yourself at risk of not knowing exactly where those utilities may be.” By calling that single phone number of 8-1-1 at least 48 hours before digging, that gives all of the utilities time to mark your yard, either with spray paint or colored flags, exactly where their lines are buried.

“Striking those utilities can put you at a safety risk,” Hale says. “Beyond that, your community and neighborhood may be at risk to lose service, to lose power, to not have natural gas, to not have water going to their homes and businesses. Making that call is vitally important not only for the people doing the work but for everybody else around.”

About 500,000 calls were made to Iowa One Call last year, resulting in about 2.5-half million “locate requests” from utilities.

(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)

 

Those who saved lives with their actions honored at Iowa State Fair

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Vicki Witte and Arturo Melendez.

Seven Iowans were honored Thursday at the Iowa State Fair during the annual governor’s lifesaving awards ceremony.

The honorees included Arturo Melendez, who saved a stranger’s life the day after Christmas. Melendez said he was driving to work from Marion to Cedar Rapids when he noticed other motorists passing a stopped car. He pulled over to see what was wrong and noticed the driver’s eyes were closed.

“She was like in pain or something and then I asked if she was OK, and she was not responding,” Melendez said. Vicki Witte had pulled off the road and became unconscious – later learning she had a heart attack. Because the car’s doors were locked, Melendez smashed a window, dragged Witte out to the pavement, and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Witte recovered and said she’s alive today because Melendez.

“I’m grateful and I’m thankful and I wish…everything good comes his way because he deserves it,” Witte said. “He saved my life, literally. Saved my life.” Melendez said he didn’t know how to perform CPR, but emulated what he had seen on television shows. You can learn more about the six other Iowans who were honored Thursday with lifesaving awards on the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s website.

(Story and photo by John Pemble, Iowa Public Radio)

 

 

Motorcyclist survives being dragged along Des Moines street

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A Des Moines man is being treated for serious injuries after he and his motorcycle were hit and pinned underneath an SUV.

Police Sergeant Paul Parizek says it happened just before noon Wednesday on Fleur Drive, southwest of downtown Des Moines. The motorcycle and SUV were both southbound and shifting lanes to pass a Des Moines Waterworks vehicle that was stopped on the roadway for maintenance work.

“We don’t why just yet, we’re looking at maybe mechanical error or operator error, but according to witnesses the SUV accelerated pretty rapidly as the motorcycle was slowing,” Parizek explained. “It struck the motorcycle from behind and it swept the motorcycle and the driver of the bike underneath the SUV. It continued on, dragging him, about 250 feet down this road.”

Rescue crews arrived to find the motorcyclist, 44-year-old Louis Kuehl trapped underneath the Chevy Equinox. “Firefighters did some remarkable work…it was very impressive to watch,” Parizek said. “They were able to provide medical care while he was pinned underneath the car, while other firefighters were arranging the rescue. Eventually, after about 30 minutes, they were able to raise the car and pull him out from underneath.” Seventy-year-old Shirley Kephart of Des Moines was driving the SUV. According to Parizek, impairment and excessive speed have been ruled out as factors in the crash.

“My personal opinion, just having years of experience, I think she thought she was going to hit the brake and she hit the gas,” Parizek said. Kuehl – who was not wearing a helmet – is being treating for serious injuries, but is expected to survive.

“I really thought when I was watching this that we were eventually going to be talking about a fatality crash,” Parizek said. “I have never seen…mechanically what I saw, as far as him being completely underneath, trapped under the vehicle, and still alert and talking to us.” Kephart was not injured in the crash.

 

Wright County approves tax levy for emergency services

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Voters in north-central Iowa’s Wright County on Tuesday approved a property tax levy to help fund Emergency Medical Services.

It’s believed to be the first time in Iowa history that property tax dollars will be used to pay for EMS. Jim Lester, who chairs the county EMS System Advisory Council, says he’s gratified with the vote’s results.

“I didn’t hear a whole lot of negative about it,” Lester says. “People understand that it is essential and while it’s not made essential at the state level, the Wright County voters did make it essential here.” In unofficial returns, the special election vote passed 577 to 250 — or with about 70% of the vote.

The levy will be in place for five years starting on July 1st, 2019. The overall cost of the plan is expected to be over $586,000.

(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)

 

Hinton man to receive millions in bus accident settlement with in Sioux City

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Wreckage from the accident.

The Sioux City City Council has approved a $7.5 million dollar settlement with a rural Hinton man who was critically injured in a crash involving a city bus.

Chad Plante suffered two broken legs and a brain injury in the November 15, 2016 crash at the intersection of Highway 75 and Outer Belt Drive in Sioux City. The Sioux City Transit bus failed to yield at the intersection and collided with Plante’s vehicle. The bus driver was cited for failure to obey a traffic control device. Under the negotiated settlement, the city will pay nearly $211,000 to Plante and his wife Rosanne.

The city’s insurance carrier will cover the remaining amount of nearly $7.3 million dollars. The city has already paid the couple nearly $180,000 for out of pocket expenses, health insurance, and other expenses through June of this year.

(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)

 

SBA opens office in Marshalltown for tornado recovery

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Downtown Marshalltown prior to clean up.

The damage in Marshalltown from last month’s EF-3 twister is so severe, the U.S. Small Business Administration is now staffing an office in the central Iowa city to process loans to rebuild.

SBA spokesman Burl Kelton says the low-interest loans are for business owners, in addition to homeowners and renters who saw damage in the powerful July 19th storm. Kelton says, “We have statutory interest rates, the maximum term is 30 years, and for businesses $2-million of actual damage, for homeowners $200,000 for physical damage and $40,000 for personal property, including vehicles.”

The loans are through the federal government, he adds, not a bank. The federal disaster declaration for Marshall County makes SBA assistance available to people in the surrounding counties as well: Grundy, Hardin, Jasper, Poweshiek, Story and Tama.

“We’re in Marshalltown probably for the next couple of weeks so folks can come in and talk to a customer service representative, find out whatever information they’d like to and actually make an application while they’re here to see us,” he says. The National Weather Service says 13 tornadoes hit Iowa that day, but only Marshalltown was hit with an EF-3, with winds of up to 144 miles-an-hour.

While some business owners and residents may have lost nearly everything, Kelton says if possible, they should bring in as many of the following items as possible. “Any insurance information, insurance policy numbers and amounts, a recent tax return if they have that, work stubs, pay stubs, that sort of thing,” Kelton says, “because what we do is use that information to determine the cash available for additional debt.”

Around 90 homes in Marshalltown were destroyed in the twister, more than 600 were damaged. The SBA’s Disaster Loan Outreach Center is in the Fisher Community Center at 709 South Center Street in Marshalltown. It’s open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Iowans can also apply online by downloading applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela, or call 800-659-2955.

Heavy thunderstorms take down trees in several areas of Iowa

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Tree damage in Webster City.

Severe thunderstorms rolled over parts of northern and central Iowa on Sunday, bringing much-needed rain to some areas and strong winds.

Powerful gusts hit Webster City where resident Craig Ewing says clean-up is going to take some time.

“Trees were going down and blocking the street and across the street, trees came down on top of houses,” Ewing says. “There’s quite a bit of wind damage throughout the whole town and we lost power.” Webster City Mayor John Hawkins toured some of the damaged areas of the community on Sunday.

“There’s a few hundred trees torn about or down around the town. There’s still a few leaning against houses,” Mayor Hawkins says. “A few people got their cars out from under some. Quite a bit of damage in the center of town.”

The Sheldon area also was hit. A severe thunderstorm that rumbled through the northwest Iowa town early Sunday morning left a path of heavy rain, hail, downed power lines and numerous fallen trees in its wake.

In Sheldon, the 80-mile-per-hour wind gusts clocked with the storm uprooted or broke off several large trees, including one that dropped off onto a minivan which was parked on a residential Sheldon street. Although there was extensive tree and property damage in the area, there are no reports of any injuries directly related to the storm.

A van crushed by a tree in Sheldon.

Forecasters say there’s the possibility for more strong storms later today (Monday) and into tomorrow.

(Stories and photos by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City and Tom Traughber, KIWA, Sheldon)