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Thousands expected for slain officer’s funeral

News

May 26th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

A report in the Daily NonPareil says according to Creighton University officials, more than 5,000 people altogether are expected to have attended the visitation, vigil and funeral of Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco since it began, Monday.

Image from the Orozco Funeral program, via the Omaha P-D Facebook page

Image from the Orozco Funeral program, via the Omaha P-D Facebook page

The 29-year old Orozco was killed last Wednesday after gunfire broke out as she and three other officers tried to arrest Marcus D. Wheeler on a felony warrant charging him with first-degree assault. Wheeler, who shot Orozco once in the upper chest, was shot twice by Sgt. Jeffrey Kopietz. Both the officer and the suspect died at Creighton University Medical Center.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. John’s Church. A large-screen video feed is offered along with additional seating at the CenturyLink Center. Burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery. The funeral procession will pass through Council Bluffs today (Tuesday), and the Council Bluffs resident will be buried at St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation was Monday at St. John’s Catholic Church at Creighton University, which was followed by a vigil.

Funeral services will be held at 11-a.m. today at St. John’s Church. A large-screen video feed is offered along with additional seating at the CenturyLink Center. Burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery. Parking lots reserved for the funeral are the levels of 24th Street and 20th Street garages, McGloin surface lot and the visitors lot (24th and Cass streets). Officials warn those in the area to be prepared to park on the eastern edge of the Creighton campus.

The Council Bluffs Police Department is shutting down all of West Broadway in both directions beginning at about 12:30 p.m. Traffic will be diverted north onto 16th Street. Eastbound traffic on Kanesville Boulevard from Eighth Street to North Avenue will also be closed. No left turns will be allowed across Kanesville Boulevard, police said. Access for north-south traffic will be available on 10th Street, 13th Street, Interstate 29 and 40th Street. Kanesville Boulevard and West Broadway will be reopened when the funeral procession if complete. In addition, McPherson Avenue will be closed from North Avenue to Indian Hills Road.

Orozco was a resident of Council Bluffs and a native of Walnut. She graduated from Walnut High School in 2004 where she played volleyball and basketball and competed in speech. She was a leader at school, as well as in the community she adopted in Omaha. Walnut Mayor Gene Larsen ordered the flags in town to be flown at half-staff in memory of Orozco. Last Friday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad declared all flags in Iowa to be flown at half-staff from 8-a.m. to 5-p.m. in the slain officer’s honor.

Branstad is among those officials planning on attending the funeral.

NWS forecast for Cass & area Counties in Iowa: 5/26/15

Weather

May 26th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

402 AM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

EARLY THIS MORNING…SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 20 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION NEAR 100 PERCENT.

TODAY…CLOUDY. SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 70S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE WEST 5 TO 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 90 PERCENT.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN PARTLY CLOUDY AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE MID 50S. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

WEDNESDAY…SUNNY. HIGH AROUND 80. NORTHWEST WIND AROUND 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON.

THURSDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 50 PERCENT.

FRIDAY…THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 70S. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 70 PERCENT.

 

115-year-old cabin in Iowa to be moved to museum grounds

News

May 26th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A 115-year-old log cabin will moved within Le Mars, Iowa, after avoiding demolition. The Sioux City Journal reports the cabin will be moved by May 31 from the Plymouth County Fairgrounds to the Plymouth County Museum grounds, where it will be restored. Fair officials had planned to demolish the cabin, but changed their minds after a concerned group of citizens asked if the structure could be moved to the museum.

The cabin, which was built around 1900, had fallen into poor condition. But after an evaluation, a consultant who specializes in log cabin restoration said it could be repaired. The Plymouth County Historical Museum Board voted to move the cabin to museum grounds in April. The cost of saving the cabin includes $9,600 in moving expenses, and $20,000 for restoration.

 

Iowa early News Headlines: Tue., May 26, 2015

News

May 26th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Officials say there’s evidence a black bear has traveled into Dubuque. Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials say tracks found behind a home on the south side of the city belong to a black bear weighing between 100 and 200 pounds. Police say a bear sighting was reported Monday morning.

GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) — A Grinnell family spent the long weekend in Washington, D.C., at a national seminar and grief camp for those coping with the loss of a member of the armed forces. Kaanan Mackey says the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, known as TAPS, will give her five children, ages 6 to 16, a chance to meet others with similar experiences. Mackey’s husband, Matthew, died in 2010 from injuries following an accident on his way home from a drill weekend at Camp Dodge in Johnston. He served in the Marine Corps and Iowa Army National Guard.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Some people who remember old Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Sioux City are wondering what happened to the vibrant mural that once graced the building. The building opened in 1925 and was torn down 80 years later to make way for a new school, Irving Elementary. The artwork titled “Patriotic Mural” was unveiled in February 1966, created by Oglala Lakota artist Arthur Amiotte.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa inmates have been listed as escaped from state work release facilities. Iowa Corrections Department officials say 51-year-old Llewellyn Roberts escaped from the facility in Marshalltown and 26-year-old Eric Livingston from the Waterloo facility. Roberts’ five-year sentence for domestic assault in Tama County began on Aug. 19, 2013. Livingston’s 10-year sentence for robbery in Black Hawk County began on March 31, 2009.

John Wayne Museum opened this Memorial Day weekend

News

May 25th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

A project that began in 2008 is now complete and the John Wayne Birthplace Museum is open for visitors in Winterset. The four-bedroom home in which Marion Morrison was born in 1907 has been a tourist stop since the 1980s, but the museum next-door to catalogue the life of the movie star who became known as John Wayne is holding its grand opening festivities this weekend. Joe Zuckschwerdt — the president of the new museum’s board of directors — says a 25-seat theater is a good first stop inside the museum.

“We have a wonderful minute-and-a-half introduction from John Wayne’s daughter, Aissa Wayne, which is just wonderful,” Zuckschwerdt says. “And then we have (an) eight-and-a-half motion picture that highlights John Wayne’s career, from his early days all the way ’til his last movie, ‘The Shootist’.” Among the items in the museum’s collection is John Wayne’s 1972 Pontiac Safari Station wagon with its raised roof, so he could still wear a hat while he drove.

“He was 6’4″ and he loved wearing hats, not just western hats,” Zuckschwerdt says. “This was his personal vehicle. He would get in there and drive all over Newport Beach. He was a regular guy.” Wayne appeared in more than 175 films. “The Shootist” — his last movie — was released in 1976. He died of cancer three years later at the age of 72.

(Radio Iowa)

Email offers bogus advice about surviving a heart attack

News

May 25th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

An email is being forwarded around from Iowans to their loved ones that claims to contain advice about how to survive a heart attack if you’re alone. One expert says the email offers terrible advice. It claims you should cough, hard, with each breath until help arrives. Dr. Shikar Saxena, a cardiologist in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says it’s best to delete that email and try to forget the false remedy.

“That is absolutely ludicrous to say that somebody who’s alone who’s having a heart attack can cough and essentially save their life,” Dr. Saxena says. “You only have about ten seconds, if you’re truly having arrhythmia, before you’re going to pass out from it.” He says that valuable time would be much better spent getting to a phone and calling 9-1-1. Saxena explains the likely origins of the well-meaning but invalid email.

“When we have patients who have cardiac arrest or arrhythmias and we see them in the hospital, we tell them sometimes to cough and very rarely can we get them out of this arrhythmia,” Dr. Saxena says, “so that’s where this all started from.” The subject line in the email is: “How to Survive a Heart Attack When Alone,” and it’s been floating around cyberspace for years but it’s found new life in the past few weeks. Shikar is a cardiologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

(Radio Iowa)

Severe Thunderstorm Watch cancelled for 8 counties

Weather

May 25th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 214 FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:

RINGGOLD UNION ADAIR ADAMS CASS TAYLOR AUDUBON AND GUTHRIE.

 

DONALD NORRIS, 70, of Atlantic (Mem. Svcs. at a later date)

Obituaries

May 25th, 2015 by admin

DONALD NORRIS, 70, of Atlantic died Monday, May 25th at his home in Atlantic.  Cremation has taken place and Memorial services for DONALD NORRIS will be held at a later date. Hockenberry Family Care Funeral Home in Atlantic.

Donald Norris is survived by:

His wife – Ida, of Atlantic.

His daughters – Donna (Jack) Sams, of Atlantic, and Margaret (Adam) Nagunst, of Council Bluffs.

His son – Donald Norris, Jr., of Anita.

His brother – Kenny Norris, of Chandler, AZ.

His sister – Cheryl Wheelis, of San Angelo, TX.

6 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch Update (2 Counties removed from Watch)

Weather

May 25th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 214 FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
IN IOWA THIS CANCELS 2 COUNTIES: FREMONT and PAGE.

THE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1-A.M. TUESDAY FOR: HARRISON MILLS MONTGOMERY POTTAWATTAMIE SHELBY  ADAIR ADAMS
AUDUBON CARROLL CASS CRAWFORD DALLAS GUTHRIE MADISON RINGGOLD SAC TAYLOR AND UNION COUNTIES.

Motorcycle rear-ends a pickup in Adair County Monday afternoon

News

May 25th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Two central Iowa residents were injured in a pickup versus motorcycle accident Monday afternoon, east of Greenfield, in Adair County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2012 Chevy pickup driven by 62-year old Harold Adams, of Ankeny, was traveling east on Highway 92 and slowing to a stop, waiting to turn north onto the Stuart Road, when an eastbound 2011 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by 52-year old Daniel Bruce, of Norwalk, failed to stop in-time.

The cycle, also occupied by 53-year old Rhonda Bruce, of Norwalk, collided with the rear of the pickup. Both vehicles came to rest at the point of impact, in the upright position. The accident happened at around 2:30-p.m.

Daniel Bruce was flown by Mercy One helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. Rhonda Bruce was transported by Adair Rescue to the Adair County Hospital, in Greenfield. A report on their conditions is not available.