A lone white egret enjoys the Mississippi Riverfront near Lindsay Park, Davenport.

Secrecy hasn’t always impeded understanding Iowa school shootings

on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 00:20   by Randy Evans

Thirty-three years ago on a snowy Friday in November, the nightmare of mass school shootings shocked Iowa like it has never been shocked before.

It was 3:40 p.m. A former University of Iowa graduate student with a brilliant scientific mind, and a .38-caliber revolver, walked into a conference room in Van Allen Hall, the home of the university’s renowned Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Gang Lu, a native of China, pulled the revolver from his coat and in quick succession fatally shot two professors, Christoph Goertz and Robert Smith, and another Chinese grad student, Linhua Shan, who were seated at the large conference table. A handful of others in the room were spared.

Lu then walked down a flight of stairs to the office of the department chairman, Dwight Nicholson, where he fired a bullet into Nicholson’s head, killing him.

Lu left the building and walked a couple of blocks west to Jessup Hall, the main U of I administration building. He went to the office of the associate vice president for academic affairs and mortally wounded T. Anne Cleary. On his way out, he paused to shoot a student clerical worker, Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, leaving her paralyzed.

With police officers closing in, Lu went upstairs to an empty classroom. There, he killed himself with a single bullet.

The gunfire was over — but the questions began.

No state fines for alleged abuse and ‘unsafe’ staffing levels at Iowa nursing home in Shenandoah

on Thu, 09/19/2024 - 02:47   by Clark Kauffman

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
September 18, 2024

The state of Iowa has suspended $47,500 in fines against a southwest Iowa nursing home cited for inadequate staffing and the physical and verbal abuse of residents.

According to state inspectors, although the Garden View Care Center in Shenandoah has insufficient staff on hand, the home’s director of nursing recently informed them she was being pressured by management to make further cuts in staffing due to budget constraints — adding that she felt doing so was “unrealistic and unsafe.”

Garden View is owned by an out-of-state real estate investment trust that is designed to provide investors with returns tied to the profits generated by dozens of nursing homes in Iowa and other states.

Iowa school book ban undermines the state’s mission of educating its students

on Tue, 08/20/2024 - 22:59   by Ed Tibbetts

by Ed Tibbetts, Iowa Capital Dispatch
August 18, 2024

When I was a kid growing up in eastern Iowa during the 1970s, the school library opened up the world to me.

I remember rushing through my homework during study hall, so I could get to the library.

Like most students in school, there were classes I loved (history and English) and those I hated (math and science). But despite my misgivings about the curriculum, never did I doubt my love for the school library. To me, it was a refuge for independent thought and exploration, where nobody could exercise control over where my mind wandered.

There, the world beckoned, and I eagerly dove in.

The idea never occurred to me that a librarian would curb my youthful curiosity by stripping these shelves of books. Never did I suspect they aimed to shield my eyes from discovery.

I would have laughed at the notion my education was better served by exposing me to fewer books.

Yet for the last year, Republican legislators and Gov. Kim Reynolds have tried to partially pull the curtains over these windows to the world.

Lee Enterprises digital revenue surpasses print revenue as company loses $3.7 million in 3rd quarter

on Mon, 08/05/2024 - 22:30   by news

Lee Enterprises, Inc. – owner of the QC Times and Daily Dispatch/Argus – says it hit a "revenue inflection point" with more digital than print revenue in its third quarter.

But despite the transition milestone in digital revenue, the company lost $3.7 million (73 cents per share) during the three-month period ended June 23. The previous year, Lee reported third quarter net income of $2.1 million (26 cents per share).

“Our investment thesis is grounded in this transformation as we replace print revenue and margin with digital revenue and margin that are growing at a rapid clip," Kevin Mowbray, Lee's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated in the company earnings news release. "Total digital revenue has grown 17 precent annually over the last three years, and we expect this strong growth to continue.”

Sen. Joni Ernst wants to hold the IRS accountable, but not in going after biggest tax cheats

on Mon, 08/05/2024 - 04:38   by Ed Tibbetts

Iowa Capital Dispatch
August 2, 2024

Joni Ernst calls herself the U.S. Senate’s “fiercest advocate” for government accountability.

Too bad she doesn’t appear to care about the country’s biggest tax cheats.

Over the past couple years, the Iowa senator has been fixated on the Internal Revenue Service. But rather than help the IRS try to recover the hundreds of billions of dollars in unpaid taxes each year, Ernst and her fellow Republicans are doing the opposite. They want to choke off the funding that is helping the IRS to rein in these abuses and give you better service.

IDNR fines Kraft Heinz $8,000; Muscatine plant failed to monitor wastewater pollution for years

on Mon, 07/29/2024 - 20:05   by Anonymous

by Jared Strong, Iowa Capital Dispatch
July 26, 2024

A large eastern Iowa facility that makes ketchup and other condiments failed for more than two years to monitor contaminants in the more than 1 million gallons of untreated wastewater it discharged into a creek each day, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Kraft Heinz Foods Company recently agreed to pay an $8,000 fine for the violations at its Muscatine location. It uses municipal water to cool its equipment and discharges it along with stormwater into Mad Creek, which flows for less than a mile to the Mississippi River.

Defense Secretary Austin orders review of medals awarded in the wake of Wounded Knee Massacre

on Thu, 07/25/2024 - 23:24   by Anonymous

by Seth Tupper, North Dakota Monitor
July 25, 2024

The medals awarded to soldiers who participated in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre will be subjected to a review, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

The department said the review’s purpose is “to ensure no awardees were recognized for conduct inconsistent with the nation’s highest military honor.”

The move comes after years of activism by Lakota people — including descendants of massacre survivors — who want the medals rescinded.

Oliver “OJ” Semans, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, has been active in the effort with his wife, Barb, and their Four Directions nonprofit. He said it’s gratifying to see some momentum after a long struggle, including failed attempts to rescind the medals through congressional legislation.

Iowa Public Information Board sued over alleged violation of state Open Meetings Law

on Fri, 07/19/2024 - 23:35   by Clark Kauffman

Iowa Capital Dispatch
July 18, 2024

The state panel charged with ensuring transparency in government is being sued for allegedly violating Iowa’s Open Meetings Law.

Briana Reha of Polk County is suing the Iowa Public Information Board and its members for the manner in which they approved a pay raise for the board’s executive director, Erika Eckley.

The lawsuit alleges that on June 25, IPIB posted an agenda for its June 27 board meeting. Nine minutes into the meeting, Monica McHugh, the board chairman, proposed an increase to Eckley’s salary as a topic for board deliberation and action. After briefly discussing the matter, the board approved a 6% salary increase for Eckley by unanimous vote, bringing her total annual salary to $103,307.60.

Iowa's largest ethanol producer POET, LLC agrees to $53,000 in fines for air emission violations

on Sat, 07/13/2024 - 02:08   by news

Iowa's largest ethanol producer – POET, LLC – has agreed to fines totaling $53,000 for hazardous air emissions from its Shell Rock refinery over a two-year period.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) imposed a $10,000 fine – the most the department is allowed to levy without submitting the case to the Iowa Attorney General's office – and assessed a $43,000 fee – or $70 per ton for the more than 600 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) the plant released during 2021 and 2022.

Bettendorf agrees to pay $2.3 million to victims struck by car on I-74 bridge bike/pedestrian lane

on Fri, 06/21/2024 - 00:40   by news

The city of Bettendorf has agreed to pay a total of $2.3 million to the victims struck by a car while they were walking on the pedestrian trail adjacent to the I-74 Bridge two years ago.

Two of the victims were killed and the third seriously injured when a drunk driver mistook the bike/pedestrian trail for a vehicular lane and drove into the trio as they were crossing the bridge May 22, 2022.

In addition to the amounts to be paid by the city and its insurance carrier, the settlement agreement approved by the city council June 18 states the city of Moline will pay a total of $100,000 to two of the victims. Under terms of the settlement, the city is not admitting liability.

Pages

Subscribe to Bettendorf.com RSS
Go to top