EARLY THIS MORNING, WATERLOO POLICE RESPONDED TO A SHOOTING ON THE CITY’S WEST SIDE. ONE MAN WAS WOUNDED AND SUFFERED NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES. THE VICTIM WAS REPORTEDLY SHOT IN THE LOWER PART OF THE LEG. THE INCIDENT HAPPENED AROUND 2 A.M. NEAR A LIQUOR STORE BESIDE THE INTERSECTION OF FOURTH STREET AND KIMBALL AVENUE KNOWN LOCALLY AS “SIX CORNERS.” INVESTIGATORS CONTINUE TO SEEK DETAILS ABOUT THE SHOOTING.
SOME MEDIACOM CUSTOMERS WHO LOST CABLE OR INTERNET SERVICES DURING THE AFTERMATH OF THE AUGUST DERECHO WILL BE GETTING CREDIT NEXT MONTH. THE COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY SAYS IT IS DIVVYING OUT A TOTAL OF $5.7 MILLION IN DEDUCTIONS DURING ITS UPCOMING BILLING CYCLE. THOSE CREDITS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AMONG MORE THAN 340 THOUSAND CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS. THE AUGUST STORM CAUSED DAMAGE TO UTILITY LINES THROUGHOUT THE MIDWEST AND PARTICULARLY IN A CORRIDOR FROM CENTRAL TO EASTERN IOWA. SOME MEDIACOM CUSTOMERS WENT WITHOUT SERVICE INTO THIS MONTH, ALTHOUGH THE COMPANY SAYS IT HAS MOVED INTO A PHASE WHERE IT IS MAKING PERMANENT FIXES TO SOME RECONNECTIONS WHICH WERE MADE ON A TEMPORARY BASIS.
TOMORROW IS NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY. DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, MORE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ENJOYING OUTDOOR SPACES, ACCORDING TO NANCY CORONA OF NEAL SMITH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE IN CENTRAL IOWA. CORONA ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO GET OUTDOORS TOMORROW, EVEN IF THEY CAN’T TRAVEL TO A NATIONAL PARK OR OTHER FEDERAL LAND.
IT’S BEEN MORE THAN SIX MONTHS SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC BEGAN TO STRETCH COMMUNITIES IN UNEXPECTED WAYS. BY ONE MEASURE, WATERLOO’S RESPONSE HAS BEEN REMARKABLE. THIS MORNING, THE WATERLOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ANNOUNCED THAT ITS FIRST RESPONDERS FUND HAD BEATEN ITS FUNDRAISING GOAL BY NEARLY 600 PERCENT. A TOTAL OF NEARLY 35 THOUSAND DOLLARS WAS GENERATED. THE DONATIONS ARE BEING SPLIT BETWEEN THE UNITYPOINT AND MERCY ONE MEDICAL ORGANIZATIONS, AS WELL AS PEOPLE’S COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC, AND WATERLOO POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS. THE MONEY WILL BE USED TO PAY FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND OTHER COST RELATED TO THE PANDEMIC.
IOWA IS JUST SLIGHTLY BEHIND THE NATIONAL AVERAGE WHEN IT COMES TO COMPLETING THE 2020 CENSUS. A REPORT ISSUED THIS WEEK PUT THE STATE AT 96 PERCENT. NATIONWIDE, THE CENSUS BUREAU SAYS IT HAS COUNTED 96.6 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION. STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS ARE STILL PRODDING ANYONE WHO HAS NOT COMPLETED THEIR CENSUS FORMS TO DO SO IN ORDER FOR COMMUNITIES TO HAVE THE BEST CHANCE TO USE FEDERAL RESOURCES IN THE NEXT DECADE. THE DEADLINE FOR THE 2020 CENSUS IS NEXT WEDNESDAY.
AND FROM COUNTING PEOPLE TO COUNTING TREES. THAT’S WHAT TODD FAGAN AND OTHERS WILL BE DOING IN CEDAR RAPIDS DURING THE COMING MONTHS. OUR PARTNERS AT TV-9 TALKED TO FAGAN, THE CITY ARBORIST IN CEDAR RAPIDS, ABOUT HOW HIS TEAM WILL ASSESS DAMAGE FROM THE AUGUST DERECHO. MORE THAN 40 THOUSAND TREES ARE LOCATED IN CEDAR RAPIDS RIGHT-OF-WAYS.
A DYERSVILLE MAN IS RETURNING TO PRISON AFTER HE HAD BEEN ILLEGALLY CARRYING A GUN FOR THE BETTER PART OF A YEAR. 29-YEAR-OLD ALLEN OSTERKAMP HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO MORE THAN FIVE YEARS IN FEDERAL CUSTODY, THE U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE IN CEDAR RAPIDS ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY. OSTERKAMP HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN CONVICTED OF DRUG CRIMES, THEFT, AND DOMESTIC ABUSE. HE WAS FOUND IN ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON IN 2017, WHICH HE ADMITTED HE HAD FOR APPROXIMATELY EIGHT MONTHS.
THREE IOWA FOOD BANKS WERE TALKING TURKEY YESTERDAY AND ARE NOW FULL OF BOLOGNA. OVER 37 THOUSAND POUNDS OF TURKEY BOLOGNA, TO BE PRECISE. MONEY FROM THE FEDERAL CARES ACT IS BEING USED TO BUY THE MEAT FROM TURKEY PRODUCERS. THE FIRST SHIPMENT HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO THE NORTHEAST IOWA FOOD BANK IN WATERLOO, HACAP IN HIAWATHA, AND THE RIVERBEND FOODBANK IN THE QUAD CITIES. IOWA AG OFFICIALS SAY ANOTHER BATCH OF TURKEY BOLOGNA WILL BE PROVIDED TO OTHER IOWA FOOD BANKS NEXT MONTH. THE MOVE SIMULTANEOUSLY HELPS TURKEY PRODUCERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED SLUMPING SALES AND FOOD BANKS WHICH HAVE BEEN SQUEEZED BY MOUNTING FOOD INSECURITY.
RANDI MILLER WILL BRING AN INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE TO WATERLOO TOMORROW. DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL THIS MORNING, YOU HEARD FROM THE 2008 OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALIST IN WOMEN’S WRESTLING, WHO WILL BE AT THE NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME DAN GABLE MUSEUM SATURDAY. MILLER WILL BE AN INSTRUCTOR DURING THE GABLE MUSEUM’S WRESTLE LIKE A GIRL EMPOWERMENT CAMP, WHICH BEGINS AT 10 A.M. ON SATURDAY.
