TAG SEARCH RESULTS FOR: ""

Osky city council to study sanitary sewer rates

Posted on by Rick Watts

The Oskaloosa City Council will discuss sanitary sewer rates at a study session Monday (12/16) at 5:15 at City Hall.  Following that, at 6:00, the City Council will hold its regular meeting.  Mayor David Krutzfeldt and Council members Bob Drost, Steve Burnett and Joe Caligiuri will take their oaths of office after being re-elected last month.  The Council will also vote on approving the site plan for the recreation and early childhood education center.

Carter sues father and criminal investigators

Posted on by Rick Watts

A Knoxville man who was found responsible for his mother’s death at a civil trial but acquitted at a murder trial is now suing criminal investigators and his father. Forty-seven-year-old Jason Carter filed a federal lawsuit Thursday (12/12) accusing investigators of conducting a biased and incomplete investigation into his mother’s death. Carter’s father, Bill Carter, won a wrongful-death lawsuit against his son in 2017. The suit alleged that Jason fatally shot 68-year-old Shirley Carter in June 2015 to gain access to his parents’ assets. Jason Carter was ordered to pay $10 million to his mother’s estate. This past March, a jury acquitted him of murder.

Two arrested after Jasper County chase

Posted on by Rick Watts

Two men from Newton were arrested Thursday night (12/12) in connection with a stolen vehicle in Jasper County.  Around 6:30pm, an off-duty Newton Police Officer saw a stolen vehicle near Baxter.  That officer had taken the report of the stolen vehicle earlier in the day while on duty.  A Jasper County Deputy spotted the vehicle and a short chase began on Highway F36.  The two men inside the vehicle abandoned it in the 3500 block of Highway F36 and fled on foot.  A perimeter was set up and around 9:20pm, 27-year-old Dion Innis and 35-year-old Ian Chessire, both of Newton, were taken into custody. Both men were charged with second degree theft—possession of stolen property.  The investigation continues and further charges are pending.

Ottumwa man faces charges after overnight chase

Posted on by Rick Watts

A suspicious vehicle Oskaloosa Police spotted early Friday morning (12/13) turned out to be a stolen vehicle.  Around 12:18am, an Oskaloosa Police officer investigated a suspicious vehicle in the 900 block of South Market Street.  The suspect’s vehicle fled from the scene.  Officers pursued the vehicle out of town and through adjacent counties with the help of the Iowa State Patrol, Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies.  The vehicle was eventually stopped, but Police aren’t saying where.  18-year-old Patrick Lee Quick of Ottumwa was arrested and charged with second degree theft, eluding, interference with official acts, driving under suspension, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and various traffic offenses.  A passenger was also taken into custody; no word on the passenger’s identity or any charges at this time.

Vaping illness death count surpasses 50 in US

Posted on by Rick Watts

By MIKE STOBBE

NEW YORK (AP) — The death toll in the vaping illness outbreak has topped 50, U.S. health officials said Thursday.

The 52 deaths in 26 states are among the 2,409 hospitalized cases that have been reported across the nation this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Hospitalized cases have been most common in the Midwest, with some of the highest rates in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

The median age of the people who died is 52, but most people who suffered lung damage have been much younger, with half in their teens or early 20s.

The outbreak appears to have started in March. The bulk of the cases occurred in August and September, but new cases are still being reported, including 118 in the past week, the CDC said.

Some of the newly reported illnesses happened more than a month ago but were only recently reported. However, 43 percent of the latest batch of cases were people hospitalized since Nov. 17, the agency said.

Most patients have said they vaped products containing THC, the ingredient that produces a high in marijuana. CDC officials have gradually come to focus their investigation on black-market THC cartridges.

Last month, CDC officials said they had narrowed in on a culprit — a chemical compound called vitamin E acetate that has been commonly found in the lungs of sick patients and in the products they vaped. It’s a thickening agent that’s been added to illicit THC vaping liquids.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Indians basketball at Dallas Center-Grimes

Posted on by Rick Watts

Oskaloosa High’s basketball teams travel to Dallas Center-Grimes Friday night (12/13).  Indians boys’ assistant coach DaJuan Foster says DC-G is a program on the rise.

“They’ve got two great guards.  Cole Glasgow and Luke Rankin are really, really tough.  They both score about 20 points a game, so it’s all about containing them. They’re going to get theirs, but we can’t have either of them go off on us.  If we can contain them and read DC-G’s switching defenses–because they play a bunch of different defenses–I think we’ll be OK.”

In the girls’ game, Oskaloosa faces a Dallas Center-Grimes team that’s ranked tenth in Class 4A in the latest poll from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.  You can hear the Indians and Dallas Center-Grimes Friday night on KBOE-FM.  Pregame coverage starts at 6, with the girls’ game at 6:15 and the boys’ game around 7:45.

Oskaloosa’s Merry Little Downtown Christmas

Posted on by Rick Watts

There’s going to be a Christmas celebration in downtown Oskaloosa Saturday (12/14).  Oskaloosa Main Street Executive Director Emily Brown talks about Merry Little Downtown Christmas.

“It starts at 5 and goes until 8.  You can see the Painting With Lights display in person, if you’ve not seen that before. We’ll have horse drawn rides along the square.   Mahaska Drug has brought Santa Claus to town, so you can meet him.  We have a couple parade floats that are actually going to be there this year, so you can have a chance to see those up close and in person.”

Merry Little Downtown Christmas kicks off at 5:00 in the downtown square with the announcement of the winners for best floats in last week’s Lighted Christmas Parade.  Free will donations will be accepted for next year’s Painting With Lights.  Merry Little Downtown Christmas runs from 5 until 8pm Saturday in downtown Oskaloosa.

Sanders & Warren campaign in area Sunday

Posted on by Rick Watts

A couple of Democratic Presidential candidates will be in the area on Sunday (12/15).  Vermont US Senator Bernie Sanders will hold two rallies on Sunday: one at Fairfield High School at 2:20pm and the other at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa at 6pm.  And Massachusetts US Senator Elizabeth Warren is also making two campaign stops Sunday:  At 3:00, she’ll hold a town hall at Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa; then at 7, she’ll attend a “Pints and Policy” event in Fairfield.

US long-term mortgage rates rise; 30-year loan at 3.73%

Posted on by Rick Watts

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose this week. Still, rates remain at historically low levels as a lure to prospective homebuyers. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 3.73% from 3.68% last week. The benchmark rate stood at 4.63% a year ago. The average rate on a 15-year mortgage rose to 3.19% from 3.14%.

The average rate for a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage bucked the trend at 3.36%, down from 3.39% last week.

Freddie Mac surveys lenders nationwide between Monday and Wednesday each week to compile its mortgage rate figures.

NEWSLETTER

Stay updated, sign up for our newsletter.