By Elaine Rassel
Here’s hoping you all had a great 4th of July weekend. I didn’t realize that Marcus had as long a time of shooting off fireworks that we had. I saw where Sioux City had a very limited time. A person in my neighborhood was supposed to actually have received a ticket for shooting them off past the “ordinance” time. I’m surprised he didn’t have an accident but probably wouldn’t have felt it, the condition he was supposed to have been in. I felt for any veteran that fireworks affect. Too bad more people don’t realize what they went through for you and me so we could live in a free country.
I picked up my medicines on Friday at the drugstore and a pharmacist came on and told me the one for pain she would not take 2 but only 1 as an upset stomach and dizziness might be the result of 2. I really overdid myself on Saturday and that night about midnight, I did take 2 instead of 1. Not long afterwards, I started to have the symptoms stated earlier. My head felt as if it were ready to explode. I knew better to get up. At 6 a.m. it wasn’t any better. I should have known better since I was told by the pharmacist. (Bethany said I should have woken her up and I would never have had this happen.) All day I was sick and didn’t eat anything. On Wednesday, I had had enough and went to see Shannon. This was another one of many medicines that I cannot take. Most of the time I had taken this pain medicine, I had a”sour” stomach but said nothing as I thought all the new medicines I was taking could have left me with this feeling. I do know one thing_if I was a druggie and got overdosed just once, I would never do drugs again!
Anyway, I was given a couple of new medicines that have helped take away gradually this “sour” taste. I went to see the surgeon on Friday at Le Mars and was given the okay and don’t have to see him until Sept. Afterwards I ate a tavern before going home and it stayed down. Can you see why I am skeptical about anything new that could be given to me? I don’t want to have another week of what I went through.
Wednesday’s “Food” section in the Sioux City Journal had a page on rhubarb. I did not see where anywhere in this article that there was a certain time for rhubarb. I did call an extension place a few years ago and really didn’t get any answer. Some people make sure the “blossom” doesn’t get to be that and continue using the rhubarb. Others say that after a certain time that it is poisonous. I’m glad I still have some jam frozen from last year as I didn’t get any rhubarb this year.
People concerned about Loess Hills stated reasons why proposed commercial wind mills shouldn’t be in that area. There is a new ordinance now that only impacts commercial wind energy development. It adds protections for the county and private citizens. These protections include set-back distances from public and private property and safety for secondary roads. The only other similar Loess Hills that can be found are in China.
The Adventureland accident where an 11-year-old boy was killed and his brother was left in critical condition, is based near Des Moines in Altoona. Iowa. Iowa Labor commissioner Rod Roberts signed an order baring Adventureland Park from operating the Raging River until an investigation by his office is complete and all hazards are corrected. The Adventureland Park voluntarily stopped operating the ride after the accident occurred.
I thought it most interesting on reading more of this account the following: Adventureland attorney Guy Cook said the family-owned park halted the ride after the accident to conduct a “comprehensive analysis” and agreed to the commissioner’s order not to restart it for now. He said the accident marked the first death of an Adventureland guest in its 47-year history.
The widow of the 68-year-old Adventureland seasonal employee who died on the ride in June of 2016 due to an operator’s errors said her heart breaks for the Jaramillo family, and that their lives will never be the same. Adventureland’s insurer in December agreed to pay a confidential sum to the Booher family to settle a wrongful death lawsuit before trial. The lawsuit alleged the operator was negligent by prematurely starting the ride in violation of park rules and leaving it in operation even as Booher was injured and patrons yelled to stop.
Gladys Booher, wife of the deceased, said Adventureland’s lawyers wanted a non-disclosure agreement that would prevent her from speaking about the tragedy but she refused. She said she’s grateful she can share her story to help the Jaramillo family get justice and try to prevent future accidents.
“You’ve had two people die I five years. How safe is that?” said attorney Fred Dorr, who represented the Booher family. “You can try to explain it away, but that’s an issue.” (I wonder if this attorney is formerly from Marcus?)
According to a latest report on the Iowa Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) infestation status, there are only 18 counties in Iowa that have NOT been infested by the Ash Borer. Cherokee County was one of five that have been reported this year to have the Borer in their county. The EAB travels through flight and by people moving infested nursery stock, firewood, branches, chips or other ash wood. Sioux City has a plan that consists of allowing ash trees in unmaintained areas to be left as host trees to slow the spread of the EAB, and injecting a larvae-killing chemical into ash trees the city wishes to save, cutting down other ash trees and replacing them with another tree species.
It was explained that there may be some host trees left, because if you get everything cleared out around it, its’ going to fly a mile to two miles and try to find a new host. To try to contain it a little bit, you leave some sacrificial trees. The adult beetles live on the outside of trees and feed on the leaves during the summer months, while the larvae feed on the living plant tissue underneath the bark. This tunneling and feeding activity of the larvae ultimately kills the trees within the two years of infestation.
Sioux City will soon be launching a webpage with information about the EAB to educate residents who have ash trees on their properties.
Sioux City children ages 1-18 have one month left of free breakfast and lunch sacks this summer. Starting on June 7, there have been more than 250,000 meals made. There are 31 sites where students can pick up meals. There have been two brightly designed school buses that go to six locations. The grab and go meals allowed the program to add five more yellow buses to deliver to more sites. The summer menu included cold breakfasts and either warm or cold lunches. Some of the lunches included cheeseburgers, pizza, lasagna and beef tacos. Each meal includes sides, fruit and milk.
The NCC I went to has been sued along with the city of Sheldon and a police officer, for violating the constitutional right to due process by Lindsey Cundiff, a college student. She says that the three failed to properly investigate the incident of interview witnesses, resulting in disciplinary actions and a misdemeanor assault charge that was later dismissed. The actions were taken even though Cundiff was not present in videos of the incident posted on social media. She was in Pocahontas visiting her parents when it happened.
The three being sued have libel claims against them. Cundiff is seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages to compensate for emotional and mental anguish, anxiety, depression and other adverse effects resulting from publicity surrounding her discipline and prosecution. The NCC director of marketing and communications, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Also declined to comment was a Sioux City attorney representing the city and policeman.
Okay, so what is this lawsuit all about? Feb. 9, 2020 Cundiff’s roommate Kyiah Kastner created a video showing roommate Ellie Thompson putting dried skin shavings from her heel into a bag of shredded cheese belonging to a fourth roommate. The video, as well as a video and pictures showing the roommate, unaware of the skin, eating the cheese, were posted on Snapchat. Kastner later admitted to school officials she shaved Thompson’s skin and put it in the cheese bag.
School administers, based in part on statements from other students, indicated Cundiff was involved in the incident with Kastner and Thompson. The three were each fined $100, moved into separate dorm rooms and put on notice they’d be evicted from on-campus housing in case of another violation. Cundiff was stripped of her role as a student ambassador.
March 13, 2020 police were notified of the incident. The policeman began an investigation and was provided copies of the incident report and oral statements. A month later he filed a misdemeanor assault charge against Cundiff, Kastner and Thompson, even though he did n’t interview any of the three and didn’t confirm the identities of the students in the Snapchat videos_the lawsuit says. The charge was reported by numerous local news organizations and attracted national media attention.
It was last fall that two NCC students let an administrator know that Cundiff was not on campus at the time of the incident and asked to have the incident report changed. The assault charge against Cundiff was dismissed in October as the result of her not being there at the time. Thompson and Kastner pleaded guilty to assault, received deferred judgments and were placed on probation, fined and ordered to pay restitution to the targeted roommate to reimburse her for counseling that she’s undergone since the incident. Thompson pleaded guilty also to criminal mischief for killing the roommate’s fish.
No where in this article was the fourth roommate, that actually was eating the cheese mentioned and was not aware of it, mentioned. I cannot understand that she wouldn’t want to be compensated for actually eating the tainted cheese mixture. No attorney was mentioned for representing NNC.
Congratulations to Greg Taylor for his “Mini” in a recent Sioux City Journal. All this money people are receiving, where is it coming from and what good is it doing? Certainly, it is not helping get people back to work. Why work when some are paid not to?
Keep in your thoughts and prayers those who have lost loved ones recently to death, those struggling with health problems, those business places not being able to operate as usual due to lack of help, and to those who are still trying to shorten the distance to being a family once again.
I will leave you with this quote from Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), German leader, “Laws are alike sausages, it is better not to see them being made.”