Dominoes record?; free shooting lessons for women; less time on tests
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from the Midwest.
- BY HOLLY ZACHARIAH The Columbus Dispatch
- Updated
BEAVER, Ohio (AP) — The man everyone calls "Frog" set his tin cup of Mountain Dew on the wooden porch rail and mounted his favorite horse, an old Tennessee Walker named Charlie.
"The pig. Anybody seen Pig-Pig?" he asked. The cowboys standing all around him shook their heads. So Frog — he is 53-year-old Mike Montgomery, but few know him by that — chomped on his cigar, gave his horse a tap and said to no one in particular, "I'm going to go and find me a pig."
As he rode off toward the pasture to find his farm's only resident swine, a 26-year-old cockatoo named Baby that was perched atop a nearby pole began screeching for attention, and some visitors standing across the way waited patiently for a fight to break out after someone cheated at poker.
No big deal. Just another afternoon at Dogwood Pass.
"This started out as my man cave. I built it so I'd have some place to get myself a cold drink after a long day of hunting or a place to have a party," Montgomery had said earlier by way of introduction as he swept his hand around the 1800s-era Old West town that he and his family have designed and built in the middle of the woods on their nearly 90-acre slice of eastern Pike County.
"Next thing I know it was a hobby, a hobby that kind of got out of control."
Montgomery was born and raised on this land, and farm living, horse training and factory working were all he'd ever known. Then, in 2009, he built the old-time saloon behind the home he shares with his wife, Sharlene. Rustic and full of beautiful woodwork, it looks just as one might expect: sarsaparilla in the cooler, deer heads mounted on the wall, turkey feathers hanging on hooks and the occasional squirrel-skin cap nailed to a post.
Friends who visited loved it all, and pretty soon it wasn't enough for this family.
They held their first public event in 2011 — the inaugural Brad Schneider Memorial Cystic Fibrosis Benefit in honor of the Montgomerys' late son-in-law. Held every August, it now raises between $5,000 and $6,000 for a different local family affected by the disease each year.
Over the years the Montgomerys have added all the staples: a jail, mercantile, livery, bank, church/school, tobacco and blacksmith's shops and more. There's a mining camp and a gun shop (real, by the way. They are licensed gun dealers and have a firing range and hold concealed-carry classes) and a bathhouse with upstairs quarters that are supposed to be home for the, well, let's just call them "the girls."
"People ask me all the time, 'Where did you get the plans?'" Montgomery said. He laughs and points to his head. "The plans are in here. It's a dream we bring to life."
Close to 30 relatives now play a role in what has become a bona fide hidden roadside attraction in the heart of Ohio's Appalachian region.
But Dogwood Pass isn't a place people stumble upon; it's well-hidden off the beaten path of these winding roads. Tours are offered Wednesday through Sunday, but it is the monthly festivals that keep the place going. They host as many as 20 weddings a year, and dozens of private parties and corporate events.
Tonight, is "Dogwood After Dark," a shindig full of skits and gunfights and cannon battles and entertainment in the saloon, starting at 7 p.m.
In the summer months, the Montgomerys live full time in the town in a room above its gift shop.
Kenny Alley is among at least 75 volunteers who keep the place running.
He plays Johnny Ringo, the leader of the town's outlaw gang. He had never heard of Dogwood Pass, but took a concealed-carry class there three years ago. It sucked him in. Next thing you know, Alley was buying himself a black hat and chaps and strapping on a .22-caliber Heritage sidearm loaded with blanks.
A dialysis technician by day, he said he had no trouble buying into it.
"I leave me at the door, and when I pass through that gate I am Johnny Ringo," said Alley, 47.
His friend, Matthew Grant (aka Ringo's sidekick, Reaper), chimed in. "Who wouldn't want to do this?" asked Grant, a 42-year-old concrete layer whose father and son also play roles at Dogwood Pass. "We're doing what we did as kids, playing cowboys and Indians."
As two young sisters who had stopped by with their babysitter for a tour on Wednesday to watch the play gunfight and the action left through the gates with smiles on their faces, Montgomery leaned against a post and watched them go. "It's all for the kids. It gets them away from a television for a while, lets them imagine and laugh," he said. "That's all I really care about, ma'am."
___
Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
- Updated
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Some Waterloo residents are teaming up with city council members in an effort to get security cameras installed around the city.
The group wants to model its plan on Dubuque's, which installed cameras last year around the downtown area, Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reported (http://bit.ly/2al9n8X ).
Dubuque police have said they were able to use video from the cameras last month to catch a gang leader linked to a number of crimes, including rioting, harassment and carrying weapons.
Some Waterloo residents have said they don't feel safe walking around the downtown streets and think installing cameras will help.
The Rev. Edward Loggins and fellow Waterloo resident Steve Murphy teamed with City Councilman Tom Lind to devise a plan to get the cameras.
"If we had cameras in every place and the police were kind of watching, and we had a record of what went on, I think we would diminish crime," Lind said.
The group wants to start with intersections, because the traffic lights already have the infrastructure, then move more cameras to public places — starting with downtown streets.
"We want 100 percent coverage in public spaces, and we want to do it without raising our taxes," Murphy said.
The group is set to meet Monday to set a plan to be proposed to the City Council.
Lind has a few ideas on where to get the funds for the cameras. One is by using tax increment financing, or TIF, funding. That's a public financing method used as a subsidy for redevelopment.
___
Information from: KCRG-TV, http://www.kcrg.com
- Updated
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City man sentenced to life in prison for killing a man during a home-invasion robbery when he was a teenager will now get a chance at parole.
The Globe Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2ajBmtb ) that District Court Judge James Drew signed an order Thursday amending Damion Seats' sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Seats' original sentence was life in prison without the possibility of parole, but a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found that such sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional.
Seats, now 25, received his sentence after being found guilty by a Cerro Gordo County jury in 2009 of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.
Police say Seats was 17 when he shot Isidoro Erreguin to death at a Mason City in 2008.
___
Information from: Globe Gazette, http://www.globegazette.com/
- Updated
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 51-year-old man is accused of pulling over a vehicle and acting as if he were a police officer.
The Kansas City star reports (http://j.mp/2a19RRi ) Willie O. Zimmerli of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, is charged in Jackson County with false impersonation of a law enforcement officer and driving with a revoked driver's license.
Documents show Kansas City police were called Wednesday by a motorist reporting being pulled over on an interstate by a man in a sedan with flashing lights. The motorist said the man wasn't wearing a police uniform but carried a gun and told the motorist to "Slow it down for me, buddy."
The motorist filmed the license plate number and called police.
Zimmerli told police he didn't pretend to be a police officer and didn't have a gun.
___
Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
- Updated
MATTAWAN, Mich. (AP) — The outdoor network CarbonTV is displaying live webcam video from a display pond at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery Visitor Center in Mattawan.
The Wolf Lake Fish Cam offers a real-time, round-the-clock view of different species fending for food. They include Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, northern pike, northern muskellunge, walleye, largemouth bass, a variety of sunfish and two 6-foot lake sturgeon.
Interpreter Shana Ramsey says the webcam gives you a close-up look from home at fish in their natural habitat.
Ramsey says Carbon Media has partnered with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on other projects, including a popular live Eagle Cam at the Platte River State Fish Hatchery.
The Wolf Lake Hatchery Visitor Center provides information about Michigan's Great Lakes fisheries and the role of hatcheries.
- Updated
MINOT, N.D. (AP) — A Minot Area Chamber of Commerce committee is raising funds to place a one-fourth scale Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile model at Minot Air Force Base.
The chamber's military affairs committee started a community drive earlier this year to raise $25,000 for the replica missile to show the community's appreciation of the U.S. Air Force.
"We're still raising dollars and the model has been ordered," John MacMartin, the committee's president, told the Minot Daily News (http://bit.ly/2a8p6uc ).
MacMartin said the plan is to have the missile model installed at the base this year. It will be located at a main intersection on the base and across the street from the existing B-52 bomber model that was placed there in recent years.
The missile model would be 14 feet tall and on an 8-foot-tall stand, for a total 22 feet in height. The base will be responsible for lighting, decorative brick work and a concrete foundation.
Chamber officials have said they are proud of the Air Force's missile mission and would like to make it more visible to all the base military personnel, families and visitors.
Minot has one of the nation's two B-52 bomber bases and is home to the 91st Missile Wing, which operates 150 of the Air Force's 450 Minuteman III nuclear missiles.
The Minot base's missiles are buried in hardened silos across 8,500 square miles of northwest and north central North Dakota.
Crew members who oversee those missiles, so-called missileers, spend 24-hour shifts underground in a 12-by-20 foot steel-and-concrete capsule, designed to withstand a nuclear attack. Each missile carries up to three warheads, capable of reaching a target 6,000 miles away in about 20 minutes should a presidential order come down. The missiles travel at 15,000 mph.
___
Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com
- Updated
WESTLAND, Mich. (AP) — Thousands of dominoes were being counted following an attempt in the Detroit area to break a Guinness World Records toppling mark.
About 70,000 were set up for Saturday's effort at Westland Shopping Center for the largest domino circle field.
The record of 54,321 was set in 2014 in Germany.
Saturday's project is called the "Zeal Credit Union Incredible Science Machine: World Edition."
Zeal spokeswoman Tiffany Sweet says organizers believe the 2014 record has been broken. She says Saturday's count has to be recorded and confirmed by witnesses before results are sent to Guinness World Records.
Organizers also were seeking Saturday to top a national mark by toppling 250,000 dominoes. They say the previous national record of 197,598 dominoes toppled was set last year by the Incredible Science Machine.
- Updated
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police say an Uber driver they pulled over turned out to be a convicted felon and had an illegal gun and marijuana on him while driving a passenger.
The department said Saturday that officers arrested 41-year-old Chad Pilcher Friday. He's charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and cannabis possession.
Police say officers stopped the car for a seatbelt violation and found the gun, which had a defaced serial number.
Pilcher has not entered a plea and it is not clear if he has an attorney. He did not return a call to a phone listed in his name.
Uber did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Chicago's City Council last month approved ride-sharing regulations but stopped short of requiring fingerprint background checks for drivers.
- Updated
RACINE, Wis. (AP) — A pastor has resigned from the Racine Police and Fire Commission amid a backlash over social media posts, including some that critics felt portrayed law enforcement as racist.
Mayor John Dickert confirmed Friday that J. Mark Freeman resigned from the position Dickert appointed him to in April, saying Freeman's primary goal was to "protect the reality and appearance of the unbiased decision-making of the commission."
Freeman, a pastor at Second Missionary Baptist Church, has been under pressure to step down since the posts surfaced publicly. One of them showed a police officer in a pointed white hood aiming a gun at a black youth, the Racine Journal Times reported (http://bit.ly/29VJomt ).
Freeman told WDJT-TV on Tuesday that he made the posts to start a conversation.
In his resignation letter, Freeman thanked the mayor for the opportunity to serve.
"I will continue to pray for the brave men and women who serve our community and put themselves in harm's way on a daily basis and for those whom they serve, that peace, calm and reconciliation will be the order of the day," Freeman wrote.
The Racine Police Association and the Staff Officer's Association had been seeking to remove Freeman and said they appreciated his decision to step down. In a statement before his resignation was announced, the groups called the posts offensive and said they "broadly portray law enforcement officers in a racist and vitriolic light."
Dickert said Freeman's resignation comes after multiple conversations over the last couple of days.
"He understands that this could bleed into the hearings of the Police and Fire Commission and the work they're trying to do. I give him a lot of credit," Dickert said.
Dickert and the Racine Police Association said they'd like to have community discussions about underlying tensions between officers and the community. The mayor's office said Dickert plans to schedule those conversations with citizens, religious leaders including Freeman, police and himself.
___
Information from: The Journal Times, http://www.journaltimes.com
- Updated
TAYLOR, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area gun rights advocacy group plans to provide a free shooting lesson to 500 women interested in firearms training and personal protection.
The Legally Armed in Detroit event is scheduled July 31 at the Top Gun Sports Range in Taylor.
Firearms trainer Rick Ector says it will include a safety briefing, use of a firearm, ammunition and range time. Ector says no prior firearms training or experience is required.
Online registration begins Sunday afternoon.
The event started several years ago with 50 women receiving training. Ector says about 300 women took part in the training last year.
__
To preregister: https://www.facebook.com/events/1824329184462483/
- The Associated Press
- Updated
BEND, Oregon — The man who shot and killed another person asleep inside a Bend home in 2012 is asking a court to throw out a wrongful death lawsuit against him.
The Bend Bulletin reports that the wrongful death lawsuit was filed a year ago seeking more than $500,000 in the death of 33-year-old Shane Munoz. The suit was filed by Munoz's relatives.
Four year ago, Kevin Perry and Amanda Weinman had arrived at Perry's home to find Munoz, a stranger to both of them, asleep on the couch. Perry told police he grabbed a gun and shot Munoz after the intruder attacked him.
A Deschutes County District Attorney last year found Perry to be justified in the shooting.
The lawsuit claims that Munoz hadn't posed a threat to Perry or Weinman and that he was killed recklessly.
- Updated
PEARL CITY, Ill. (AP) — A northern Illinois church built in the 1860s has been destroyed by fire after a lightning strike.
According to The Journal Standard in Freeport (http://bit.ly/2aCCgwY ), the Zion Community Church in Pearl City was struck during a storm Thursday night. Pearl City is about 40 miles west of Rockford and has about 800 residents.
Pastor Wayne Fischer said the building was a total loss. But he said he was thankful no one was hurt or killed and stressed that the building can be rebuilt. Fischer said the church has insurance.
Church members plan to meet Sunday in the parking lot but are not yet sure where they will hold services on future Sundays.
According to the church's Facebook page, it was built in 1864. It has about 120 members.
___
Information from: The Journal-Standard, http://www.journalstandard.com/jshome.taf
- Updated
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A company is expanding its search for oil deposits on Indiana State University property.
Pioneer Oil Co., based in Lawrenceville, Illinois, signed an oil and gas lease in 2012 with the university, which has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties under the deal.
The company finished drilling a new test well this week on a grassy area east of Holmstedt Hall and south of Root Hall, ISU Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration Diann McKee told the Tribune-Star (http://bit.ly/2agz9vF ).
McKee said she did not know if they found more reserves. A company representative was not available for comment.
No production wells are allowed on the main campus, and royalties are designated for deferred facility maintenance work rather than operational expenses, McKee said. But at least one faculty member expressed concerns.
Economics professor Paul Burkett said faculty were told nothing of the recent drilling and he and others have noticed a strong chemical odor.
The drilling, he added, sends the wrong message to students.
"I don't see how new students are seeing that this helps the university, especially with climate change," Burkett said. "We are supposed to be a sustainability university," and that seems inconsistent with the oil drilling, he added.
McKee said ISU included stringent measures in the agreement with Pioneer to protect the campus, students and employees. ISU has "very carefully monitored" for odors or fumes from the drill site. "We have had no complaints and we have not noticed any ourselves," she said.
In January 2015, the university reported that royalties had amounted to $350,000 up to that point. Over the past fiscal year, ISU received about $100,000, McKee said, noting that the price of crude oil has fallen.
___
Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com
- Updated
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas students will spend less time taking tests under recently announced changes.
The Kansas State Department of Education is reducing the total required material to be assessed by 60 percent next school year, the Lawrence Journal-World (http://bit.ly/29S5zL4 ) reports. Education officials said the changes follow conversations with superintendents, principals, teachers and advocacy groups during the latest round of testing.
"They were concerned that students were spending a lot of time out of class taking tests, so we asked ourselves what would be a more efficient and useful way to go about administering the state assessments," KSDE Assistant Director of Assessments and Accountability Beth Fultz said in a news release.
The changes are possible because of revisions made to the federal education law. The revisions give more authority to states and local school boards, including how state assessments are administered and their results used.
Lawrence school board Vice President Shannon Kimball was among the district officials welcoming the change.
"Generally — from my experience in talking with teachers, parents and students — I think that you would find that they have all felt over the last many years that there's just too much testing going on," Kimball said.
State assessments are given in English, math and science to students in grades 3-8 and 10-11 over multiple class periods. The maximum amount of time students spent taking tests for the 2015-2016 school year is estimated to be 14 hours, according to KSDE. With the 60 percent reduction in material, the maximum time students spend taking tests is expected to fall to about six hours.
Kimball said she thinks that state and district staff believe that reducing state testing will benefit teachers and students.
"We can get quality information about where our students are — what they've mastered and what they haven't — with less testing," Kimball said. "I think that's a win-win for everybody. By reducing the amount of time our students are spending, I think that will actually improve test performance, because we have more instruction time to cover the materials and the skills that we need our students to know and to master."
More details about the testing changes will be made after school starts in August.
___
Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com
- Updated
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City, Missouri, man is accused of spitting in a police officer's eye and insisting he was infected with hepatitis and HIV.
WDAF-TV (http://bit.ly/2aBCKDn ) reports 54-year-old Michael Liebrum is charged in Jackson County with assault or attempted assault on a law enforcement officer.
Court documents allege the officer was removing Liebrum from a van during his transfer to a detention center when he spat into her eye. After voicing expletives toward the officer, Liebrum is accused of saying he had hepatitis and the virus that causes AIDS, and that he hoped she would be infected.
Authorities say Liebrum later tested positive for hepatitis C, negative for HIV.
Online court records don't show whether Liebrum has an attorney.
Liebrum was arraigned Wednesday. He's scheduled for a preliminary hearing Aug. 9.
___
Information from: WDAF-TV, http://www.wdaftv4.com
- Updated
DETROIT (AP) — A 164-foot Spanish galleon has sailed into Grand Traverse Bay in northern Michigan.
The Grand Rapids Press reports (http://bit.ly/29RYcaj ) that Galeon Andalucia is part of the Great Lakes Tall Ship Challenge and is expected to remain in Clinch Park Marina in Traverse City through Monday. It's a replica of galleons from the 16th and 17th centuries.
The vessel was in Bay City earlier this month. Its home port is in Seville, Spain.
A replica Viking longboat also is traversing waterways around the state as it heads to Chicago for the Tall Ship Festival. The Draken Harald Hårfagre of Norway is on Lake Michigan and headed toward South Haven in southwestern Michigan.
___
Information from: The Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/grand-rapids
- Updated
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A special court in Madison County has been helping veterans avoid jail since 2009.
Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr., an Army sergeant during the Vietnam War, began the Madison County veterans court in 2009, the Belleville News-Democrat (http://bit.ly/2a2BZ8D ) reports.
Its goal is to help veterans who face charges because of alcohol and drug problems related to their military service get back on track through intensive Department of Veterans Affairs counseling and aftercare programs. Other forms of assistance can include helping the veteran find a place to live or a job.
"These gentlemen have served," said Madison County Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli. "They offered to give their lives in defending our country. So I think they deserve that extra bit of care and treatment."
It costs about $6,500 to get a veteran through the program, versus $25,000 to $30,000 per year to lock them in prison, Tognarelli said.
"This is a significant savings to the taxpayer," he said.
A recent poll by the Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute shows that 54 percent of registered voters in Illinois support a bill that could dramatically expand the scope of veterans treatment courts across the state. In effect, it would require chief judges in each judicial court to establish veterans court programs in their circuit.
There are more than 351 veterans courts in at least 32 states, according to the VA. Nearly 80 such courts were launched in 2014 alone. Madison County's Veterans Court was the first such court in the state, and the third in the country.
___
Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com
- BY HOLLY ZACHARIAH The Columbus Dispatch
BEAVER, Ohio (AP) — The man everyone calls "Frog" set his tin cup of Mountain Dew on the wooden porch rail and mounted his favorite horse, an old Tennessee Walker named Charlie.
"The pig. Anybody seen Pig-Pig?" he asked. The cowboys standing all around him shook their heads. So Frog — he is 53-year-old Mike Montgomery, but few know him by that — chomped on his cigar, gave his horse a tap and said to no one in particular, "I'm going to go and find me a pig."
As he rode off toward the pasture to find his farm's only resident swine, a 26-year-old cockatoo named Baby that was perched atop a nearby pole began screeching for attention, and some visitors standing across the way waited patiently for a fight to break out after someone cheated at poker.
No big deal. Just another afternoon at Dogwood Pass.
"This started out as my man cave. I built it so I'd have some place to get myself a cold drink after a long day of hunting or a place to have a party," Montgomery had said earlier by way of introduction as he swept his hand around the 1800s-era Old West town that he and his family have designed and built in the middle of the woods on their nearly 90-acre slice of eastern Pike County.
"Next thing I know it was a hobby, a hobby that kind of got out of control."
Montgomery was born and raised on this land, and farm living, horse training and factory working were all he'd ever known. Then, in 2009, he built the old-time saloon behind the home he shares with his wife, Sharlene. Rustic and full of beautiful woodwork, it looks just as one might expect: sarsaparilla in the cooler, deer heads mounted on the wall, turkey feathers hanging on hooks and the occasional squirrel-skin cap nailed to a post.
Friends who visited loved it all, and pretty soon it wasn't enough for this family.
They held their first public event in 2011 — the inaugural Brad Schneider Memorial Cystic Fibrosis Benefit in honor of the Montgomerys' late son-in-law. Held every August, it now raises between $5,000 and $6,000 for a different local family affected by the disease each year.
Over the years the Montgomerys have added all the staples: a jail, mercantile, livery, bank, church/school, tobacco and blacksmith's shops and more. There's a mining camp and a gun shop (real, by the way. They are licensed gun dealers and have a firing range and hold concealed-carry classes) and a bathhouse with upstairs quarters that are supposed to be home for the, well, let's just call them "the girls."
"People ask me all the time, 'Where did you get the plans?'" Montgomery said. He laughs and points to his head. "The plans are in here. It's a dream we bring to life."
Close to 30 relatives now play a role in what has become a bona fide hidden roadside attraction in the heart of Ohio's Appalachian region.
But Dogwood Pass isn't a place people stumble upon; it's well-hidden off the beaten path of these winding roads. Tours are offered Wednesday through Sunday, but it is the monthly festivals that keep the place going. They host as many as 20 weddings a year, and dozens of private parties and corporate events.
Tonight, is "Dogwood After Dark," a shindig full of skits and gunfights and cannon battles and entertainment in the saloon, starting at 7 p.m.
In the summer months, the Montgomerys live full time in the town in a room above its gift shop.
Kenny Alley is among at least 75 volunteers who keep the place running.
He plays Johnny Ringo, the leader of the town's outlaw gang. He had never heard of Dogwood Pass, but took a concealed-carry class there three years ago. It sucked him in. Next thing you know, Alley was buying himself a black hat and chaps and strapping on a .22-caliber Heritage sidearm loaded with blanks.
A dialysis technician by day, he said he had no trouble buying into it.
"I leave me at the door, and when I pass through that gate I am Johnny Ringo," said Alley, 47.
His friend, Matthew Grant (aka Ringo's sidekick, Reaper), chimed in. "Who wouldn't want to do this?" asked Grant, a 42-year-old concrete layer whose father and son also play roles at Dogwood Pass. "We're doing what we did as kids, playing cowboys and Indians."
As two young sisters who had stopped by with their babysitter for a tour on Wednesday to watch the play gunfight and the action left through the gates with smiles on their faces, Montgomery leaned against a post and watched them go. "It's all for the kids. It gets them away from a television for a while, lets them imagine and laugh," he said. "That's all I really care about, ma'am."
___
Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Some Waterloo residents are teaming up with city council members in an effort to get security cameras installed around the city.
The group wants to model its plan on Dubuque's, which installed cameras last year around the downtown area, Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reported (http://bit.ly/2al9n8X ).
Dubuque police have said they were able to use video from the cameras last month to catch a gang leader linked to a number of crimes, including rioting, harassment and carrying weapons.
Some Waterloo residents have said they don't feel safe walking around the downtown streets and think installing cameras will help.
The Rev. Edward Loggins and fellow Waterloo resident Steve Murphy teamed with City Councilman Tom Lind to devise a plan to get the cameras.
"If we had cameras in every place and the police were kind of watching, and we had a record of what went on, I think we would diminish crime," Lind said.
The group wants to start with intersections, because the traffic lights already have the infrastructure, then move more cameras to public places — starting with downtown streets.
"We want 100 percent coverage in public spaces, and we want to do it without raising our taxes," Murphy said.
The group is set to meet Monday to set a plan to be proposed to the City Council.
Lind has a few ideas on where to get the funds for the cameras. One is by using tax increment financing, or TIF, funding. That's a public financing method used as a subsidy for redevelopment.
___
Information from: KCRG-TV, http://www.kcrg.com
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City man sentenced to life in prison for killing a man during a home-invasion robbery when he was a teenager will now get a chance at parole.
The Globe Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2ajBmtb ) that District Court Judge James Drew signed an order Thursday amending Damion Seats' sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Seats' original sentence was life in prison without the possibility of parole, but a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found that such sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional.
Seats, now 25, received his sentence after being found guilty by a Cerro Gordo County jury in 2009 of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.
Police say Seats was 17 when he shot Isidoro Erreguin to death at a Mason City in 2008.
___
Information from: Globe Gazette, http://www.globegazette.com/
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 51-year-old man is accused of pulling over a vehicle and acting as if he were a police officer.
The Kansas City star reports (http://j.mp/2a19RRi ) Willie O. Zimmerli of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, is charged in Jackson County with false impersonation of a law enforcement officer and driving with a revoked driver's license.
Documents show Kansas City police were called Wednesday by a motorist reporting being pulled over on an interstate by a man in a sedan with flashing lights. The motorist said the man wasn't wearing a police uniform but carried a gun and told the motorist to "Slow it down for me, buddy."
The motorist filmed the license plate number and called police.
Zimmerli told police he didn't pretend to be a police officer and didn't have a gun.
___
Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
MATTAWAN, Mich. (AP) — The outdoor network CarbonTV is displaying live webcam video from a display pond at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery Visitor Center in Mattawan.
The Wolf Lake Fish Cam offers a real-time, round-the-clock view of different species fending for food. They include Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, northern pike, northern muskellunge, walleye, largemouth bass, a variety of sunfish and two 6-foot lake sturgeon.
Interpreter Shana Ramsey says the webcam gives you a close-up look from home at fish in their natural habitat.
Ramsey says Carbon Media has partnered with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on other projects, including a popular live Eagle Cam at the Platte River State Fish Hatchery.
The Wolf Lake Hatchery Visitor Center provides information about Michigan's Great Lakes fisheries and the role of hatcheries.
MINOT, N.D. (AP) — A Minot Area Chamber of Commerce committee is raising funds to place a one-fourth scale Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile model at Minot Air Force Base.
The chamber's military affairs committee started a community drive earlier this year to raise $25,000 for the replica missile to show the community's appreciation of the U.S. Air Force.
"We're still raising dollars and the model has been ordered," John MacMartin, the committee's president, told the Minot Daily News (http://bit.ly/2a8p6uc ).
MacMartin said the plan is to have the missile model installed at the base this year. It will be located at a main intersection on the base and across the street from the existing B-52 bomber model that was placed there in recent years.
The missile model would be 14 feet tall and on an 8-foot-tall stand, for a total 22 feet in height. The base will be responsible for lighting, decorative brick work and a concrete foundation.
Chamber officials have said they are proud of the Air Force's missile mission and would like to make it more visible to all the base military personnel, families and visitors.
Minot has one of the nation's two B-52 bomber bases and is home to the 91st Missile Wing, which operates 150 of the Air Force's 450 Minuteman III nuclear missiles.
The Minot base's missiles are buried in hardened silos across 8,500 square miles of northwest and north central North Dakota.
Crew members who oversee those missiles, so-called missileers, spend 24-hour shifts underground in a 12-by-20 foot steel-and-concrete capsule, designed to withstand a nuclear attack. Each missile carries up to three warheads, capable of reaching a target 6,000 miles away in about 20 minutes should a presidential order come down. The missiles travel at 15,000 mph.
___
Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com
WESTLAND, Mich. (AP) — Thousands of dominoes were being counted following an attempt in the Detroit area to break a Guinness World Records toppling mark.
About 70,000 were set up for Saturday's effort at Westland Shopping Center for the largest domino circle field.
The record of 54,321 was set in 2014 in Germany.
Saturday's project is called the "Zeal Credit Union Incredible Science Machine: World Edition."
Zeal spokeswoman Tiffany Sweet says organizers believe the 2014 record has been broken. She says Saturday's count has to be recorded and confirmed by witnesses before results are sent to Guinness World Records.
Organizers also were seeking Saturday to top a national mark by toppling 250,000 dominoes. They say the previous national record of 197,598 dominoes toppled was set last year by the Incredible Science Machine.
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police say an Uber driver they pulled over turned out to be a convicted felon and had an illegal gun and marijuana on him while driving a passenger.
The department said Saturday that officers arrested 41-year-old Chad Pilcher Friday. He's charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and cannabis possession.
Police say officers stopped the car for a seatbelt violation and found the gun, which had a defaced serial number.
Pilcher has not entered a plea and it is not clear if he has an attorney. He did not return a call to a phone listed in his name.
Uber did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Chicago's City Council last month approved ride-sharing regulations but stopped short of requiring fingerprint background checks for drivers.
RACINE, Wis. (AP) — A pastor has resigned from the Racine Police and Fire Commission amid a backlash over social media posts, including some that critics felt portrayed law enforcement as racist.
Mayor John Dickert confirmed Friday that J. Mark Freeman resigned from the position Dickert appointed him to in April, saying Freeman's primary goal was to "protect the reality and appearance of the unbiased decision-making of the commission."
Freeman, a pastor at Second Missionary Baptist Church, has been under pressure to step down since the posts surfaced publicly. One of them showed a police officer in a pointed white hood aiming a gun at a black youth, the Racine Journal Times reported (http://bit.ly/29VJomt ).
Freeman told WDJT-TV on Tuesday that he made the posts to start a conversation.
In his resignation letter, Freeman thanked the mayor for the opportunity to serve.
"I will continue to pray for the brave men and women who serve our community and put themselves in harm's way on a daily basis and for those whom they serve, that peace, calm and reconciliation will be the order of the day," Freeman wrote.
The Racine Police Association and the Staff Officer's Association had been seeking to remove Freeman and said they appreciated his decision to step down. In a statement before his resignation was announced, the groups called the posts offensive and said they "broadly portray law enforcement officers in a racist and vitriolic light."
Dickert said Freeman's resignation comes after multiple conversations over the last couple of days.
"He understands that this could bleed into the hearings of the Police and Fire Commission and the work they're trying to do. I give him a lot of credit," Dickert said.
Dickert and the Racine Police Association said they'd like to have community discussions about underlying tensions between officers and the community. The mayor's office said Dickert plans to schedule those conversations with citizens, religious leaders including Freeman, police and himself.
___
Information from: The Journal Times, http://www.journaltimes.com
TAYLOR, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area gun rights advocacy group plans to provide a free shooting lesson to 500 women interested in firearms training and personal protection.
The Legally Armed in Detroit event is scheduled July 31 at the Top Gun Sports Range in Taylor.
Firearms trainer Rick Ector says it will include a safety briefing, use of a firearm, ammunition and range time. Ector says no prior firearms training or experience is required.
Online registration begins Sunday afternoon.
The event started several years ago with 50 women receiving training. Ector says about 300 women took part in the training last year.
__
To preregister: https://www.facebook.com/events/1824329184462483/
- The Associated Press
BEND, Oregon — The man who shot and killed another person asleep inside a Bend home in 2012 is asking a court to throw out a wrongful death lawsuit against him.
The Bend Bulletin reports that the wrongful death lawsuit was filed a year ago seeking more than $500,000 in the death of 33-year-old Shane Munoz. The suit was filed by Munoz's relatives.
Four year ago, Kevin Perry and Amanda Weinman had arrived at Perry's home to find Munoz, a stranger to both of them, asleep on the couch. Perry told police he grabbed a gun and shot Munoz after the intruder attacked him.
A Deschutes County District Attorney last year found Perry to be justified in the shooting.
The lawsuit claims that Munoz hadn't posed a threat to Perry or Weinman and that he was killed recklessly.
PEARL CITY, Ill. (AP) — A northern Illinois church built in the 1860s has been destroyed by fire after a lightning strike.
According to The Journal Standard in Freeport (http://bit.ly/2aCCgwY ), the Zion Community Church in Pearl City was struck during a storm Thursday night. Pearl City is about 40 miles west of Rockford and has about 800 residents.
Pastor Wayne Fischer said the building was a total loss. But he said he was thankful no one was hurt or killed and stressed that the building can be rebuilt. Fischer said the church has insurance.
Church members plan to meet Sunday in the parking lot but are not yet sure where they will hold services on future Sundays.
According to the church's Facebook page, it was built in 1864. It has about 120 members.
___
Information from: The Journal-Standard, http://www.journalstandard.com/jshome.taf
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A company is expanding its search for oil deposits on Indiana State University property.
Pioneer Oil Co., based in Lawrenceville, Illinois, signed an oil and gas lease in 2012 with the university, which has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties under the deal.
The company finished drilling a new test well this week on a grassy area east of Holmstedt Hall and south of Root Hall, ISU Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration Diann McKee told the Tribune-Star (http://bit.ly/2agz9vF ).
McKee said she did not know if they found more reserves. A company representative was not available for comment.
No production wells are allowed on the main campus, and royalties are designated for deferred facility maintenance work rather than operational expenses, McKee said. But at least one faculty member expressed concerns.
Economics professor Paul Burkett said faculty were told nothing of the recent drilling and he and others have noticed a strong chemical odor.
The drilling, he added, sends the wrong message to students.
"I don't see how new students are seeing that this helps the university, especially with climate change," Burkett said. "We are supposed to be a sustainability university," and that seems inconsistent with the oil drilling, he added.
McKee said ISU included stringent measures in the agreement with Pioneer to protect the campus, students and employees. ISU has "very carefully monitored" for odors or fumes from the drill site. "We have had no complaints and we have not noticed any ourselves," she said.
In January 2015, the university reported that royalties had amounted to $350,000 up to that point. Over the past fiscal year, ISU received about $100,000, McKee said, noting that the price of crude oil has fallen.
___
Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas students will spend less time taking tests under recently announced changes.
The Kansas State Department of Education is reducing the total required material to be assessed by 60 percent next school year, the Lawrence Journal-World (http://bit.ly/29S5zL4 ) reports. Education officials said the changes follow conversations with superintendents, principals, teachers and advocacy groups during the latest round of testing.
"They were concerned that students were spending a lot of time out of class taking tests, so we asked ourselves what would be a more efficient and useful way to go about administering the state assessments," KSDE Assistant Director of Assessments and Accountability Beth Fultz said in a news release.
The changes are possible because of revisions made to the federal education law. The revisions give more authority to states and local school boards, including how state assessments are administered and their results used.
Lawrence school board Vice President Shannon Kimball was among the district officials welcoming the change.
"Generally — from my experience in talking with teachers, parents and students — I think that you would find that they have all felt over the last many years that there's just too much testing going on," Kimball said.
State assessments are given in English, math and science to students in grades 3-8 and 10-11 over multiple class periods. The maximum amount of time students spent taking tests for the 2015-2016 school year is estimated to be 14 hours, according to KSDE. With the 60 percent reduction in material, the maximum time students spend taking tests is expected to fall to about six hours.
Kimball said she thinks that state and district staff believe that reducing state testing will benefit teachers and students.
"We can get quality information about where our students are — what they've mastered and what they haven't — with less testing," Kimball said. "I think that's a win-win for everybody. By reducing the amount of time our students are spending, I think that will actually improve test performance, because we have more instruction time to cover the materials and the skills that we need our students to know and to master."
More details about the testing changes will be made after school starts in August.
___
Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City, Missouri, man is accused of spitting in a police officer's eye and insisting he was infected with hepatitis and HIV.
WDAF-TV (http://bit.ly/2aBCKDn ) reports 54-year-old Michael Liebrum is charged in Jackson County with assault or attempted assault on a law enforcement officer.
Court documents allege the officer was removing Liebrum from a van during his transfer to a detention center when he spat into her eye. After voicing expletives toward the officer, Liebrum is accused of saying he had hepatitis and the virus that causes AIDS, and that he hoped she would be infected.
Authorities say Liebrum later tested positive for hepatitis C, negative for HIV.
Online court records don't show whether Liebrum has an attorney.
Liebrum was arraigned Wednesday. He's scheduled for a preliminary hearing Aug. 9.
___
Information from: WDAF-TV, http://www.wdaftv4.com
DETROIT (AP) — A 164-foot Spanish galleon has sailed into Grand Traverse Bay in northern Michigan.
The Grand Rapids Press reports (http://bit.ly/29RYcaj ) that Galeon Andalucia is part of the Great Lakes Tall Ship Challenge and is expected to remain in Clinch Park Marina in Traverse City through Monday. It's a replica of galleons from the 16th and 17th centuries.
The vessel was in Bay City earlier this month. Its home port is in Seville, Spain.
A replica Viking longboat also is traversing waterways around the state as it heads to Chicago for the Tall Ship Festival. The Draken Harald Hårfagre of Norway is on Lake Michigan and headed toward South Haven in southwestern Michigan.
___
Information from: The Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/grand-rapids
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A special court in Madison County has been helping veterans avoid jail since 2009.
Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr., an Army sergeant during the Vietnam War, began the Madison County veterans court in 2009, the Belleville News-Democrat (http://bit.ly/2a2BZ8D ) reports.
Its goal is to help veterans who face charges because of alcohol and drug problems related to their military service get back on track through intensive Department of Veterans Affairs counseling and aftercare programs. Other forms of assistance can include helping the veteran find a place to live or a job.
"These gentlemen have served," said Madison County Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli. "They offered to give their lives in defending our country. So I think they deserve that extra bit of care and treatment."
It costs about $6,500 to get a veteran through the program, versus $25,000 to $30,000 per year to lock them in prison, Tognarelli said.
"This is a significant savings to the taxpayer," he said.
A recent poll by the Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute shows that 54 percent of registered voters in Illinois support a bill that could dramatically expand the scope of veterans treatment courts across the state. In effect, it would require chief judges in each judicial court to establish veterans court programs in their circuit.
There are more than 351 veterans courts in at least 32 states, according to the VA. Nearly 80 such courts were launched in 2014 alone. Madison County's Veterans Court was the first such court in the state, and the third in the country.
___
Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com
Most Popular
-
Barnes & Noble to open new store in Tucson
-
As water lifeline evaporates, Arizona faces a cultural change over water use -
Cool-headed Arizona Wildcats defy history, beat Purdue 79-64 to reach Final Four
-
Tucson middle school teacher, assistant coach arrested on sexual exploitation charges
-
Thousands take part in 'No Kings' protests in Tucson
