From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The family of a retired school superintendent who died from an infection unrelated to COVID-19 believes he would have had a better chance of surviving had his transfer to a larger hospital not been delayed for 15 days by the coronavirus pandemic. Dale Weeks’ twin daughters told the Des Moines Register that said Weeks stayed at the relatively small hospital in Newton, west of Des Moines, because larger hospitals couldn’t spare a bed for him. Weeks died Nov. 28 at age 78. He’d been at a University of Iowa hospital since Nov. 17, but his arrival there from a smaller hospital in Newton had been delayed.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Refugees arriving in Iowa from Afghanistan are getting a little help from others who know what they’re going through — people who came to Iowa from Bosnia. KCCI-TV reports that on Sunday, the Bosniak American Association of Iowa and Des Moines Refugee Support teamed up for a donation drive at a mosque in Des Moines. Hundreds of items ranging from pillows to pots and pans to toiletries were donated for Afghan refugees. One woman who came over from Bosnia in the 1990s says they “know exactly what these people are going through.”
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman and a Nebraska teenager have been charged in connection with a hatchet attack on a man in a Sioux City apartment building earlier this month. Sioux City police said the attack was carried out on Dec. 18 to retaliate against the apartment’s occupant because that man had previously kicked the 52-year-old woman out of the apartment. Mary Blair was arrested Saturday on several charges. The teen was arrested Monday. Court documents say Blair let the 16-year-old into the locked apartment building and then knocked on the door of the victim’s apartment before stepping aside to let the teen enter. The victim suffered a broken shoulder when he was struck several times with a hatchet.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Linn County continue to investigate a Christmas Day accident that killed a 76-year-old bicyclist. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the accident happened about 2:25 p.m. when a 2017 Ford Escape driven by a woman from Amana struck the bicyclist from behind. Terry Zabortsky of Walford was pronounced dead at the scene. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who was convicted of stabbing a Cedar Rapids man to death in retaliation for a theft from a drug dealer has been sentenced to 57 years in prison. Drew Blahnik was sentenced earlier this month for killing Chris Bagley, 31, in December 2018 and then burying his body. Police found Bagley’s body in the backyard of a Cedar Rapids home in March 2019. Prosecutors said Blahnik stabbed Bagley in retaliation for his robbery of a large-scale marijuana trafficker. At trial, Blahnik’s lawyers acknowledged that he stabbed Bagley, but they argued that he was acting in self defense after Bagley waved a gun during a fight.
MARION, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has been eating his Wheaties for breakfast every morning since he served in World War II. Now, his photo is on the box. KCRG-TV reports that Clarence Frett of Marion began his morning ritual in 1943 while serving in the Coast Guard. Wheaties is now 100 years old, and Frett isn’t far behind — he turns 100 in January. His daughter sent an email to General Mills to see if she could get her dad’s face on a Wheaties box — just like Michael Jordan and many other famous athletes who have graced the box. The company agreed and put the longtime barber on the box.
