The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa • 4

PAGE A4 WATERLOO-CEDAR FALLS COURIER TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2001 Iowa DOT gears up for road work season Newton residents petition against raceway statewide each construction season, spokesman Jerry Dickinson said. Statistics show 90 percent of persons killed in Iowa work zone crashes over the past decade were drivers or passengers in vehicles. Iowa has averaged eight work zone deaths annually over the past 10 years. Inattention is the biggest cause of the accidents, Dickinson said. Seventy-five percent of the crashes are rear-end collisions.

DES MOINES (AP) Iowa's road work season has kicked off with $4(X) million worth of projects. Iow a Department of Transportation officials said that's about $38 million less than last year because of a slight decline in federal money and some delays in planning. The DOT is asking drivers to watch out and slow down as construction moves into full gear. "We want to remind motorists that it is in the best interests to follow the posted speed limit and drive, safely," said Mark Bortle, a state traffic safety engineer. "We are out there trying to make your highways safer for you and your children." Last year, six people were killed in Iowa highway work zones, down from 17 in 1999.

The DOT held a news conference Monday to focus attention on work zone safety. The transportation department typically has up to 500 work zones hard fight for them to come out the way they want it." Worthington said he still has not made up his mind on the racetrack. He said he is eager to get further information, including feasibility and economic impact studies. Proponents of the raceway also are circulating petitions in support of the track. "We're very excited about the possibility of a track in Jasper County.

It would be a great asset to central Iowa," said Brent Larsen, board chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. Bill Schulte, director of the Jasper County Economic Development Corporation, said his findings indicate about a 10-1 ratio favoring the track. He said the economic development groups in towns throughout the county are supportive, as well as the businesses and individuals he has talked to throughout the county. developing his first racetrack, the Yosemite Motor Speedway in Madera, Calif. "Economically, it's a bad plan," said Barry De Jong of Newton.

"What I am most against is Jasper County giving them that farm." Luanne O'Shea of the consulting group Pro, said some transportation drawings ill be available at Tuesday's meeting. O'Shea said the potential cost of the track has been revised downward. Originally, the track, as envisioned by Jerry Carroll, the first developer, was estimated at about $80 million. Lowrie took away many of the frills, and an estimate of $50 million is more likely, she said. Opponents said if the track is built, they will seek legal action.

County Supervisor Max Worthing-ton said residents have every right to oppose the project, but "it will be a Residents claim the racetrack would alter rural way of life. NEWTON (AP) Residents who live near the former county care facility, a site being considered for the new Iowa Motor Speedway, have submitted a petition opposing the project. The county land recently was designated as an urban renewal project. The second reading of an ordinance to create a tax increment financing district for the proposed racetrack will be held Tuesday night. The 93 residents who signed the petition say the racetrack would be a nuisance, altering their rural way of life.

They also worry that $5.3 million will go to track developer Jerry Lowrie without a proven record of success. Low rie is in the process of Officials study water quality at Lake Rathbun Sitzmann said the group will get the answer to some questions from a study of 14 monitoring sites located on tributaries to the lake, four monitoring sites in the lake and one at the dam outlet on the Chariton River. The presence of atrazine could mean the lake will be placed on the Environmental Protection Agency's 303D list, which means more elaborate tests of the lake's daily impurities would be measured and evaluated. Some studies have suggested a link between the herbicide atrazine, a common chemical sprayed on corn, to stunted fetal development and CENTERVILLE (AP) Water quality officials are looking for ways to reduce a high concentration of atrazine, a commonly used herbicide, in Rathbun Lake in southern Iowa. The Rathbun Land and Water Alliance, a coalition of land owners and water users, is looking for ways to cut the amount of silt, organic materials and chemicals flowing from the lake's watershed.

Vince Sitzmann, an Iowa Department of Agriculture employee, said the group is trying to determine whether the silt in the lake is coming from fields, gullies or stream banks. cancers. Levels of atrazine in water just below the dam are too small to mandate federal testing, said Ron Egger-man, plant superintendent for Rathbun Regional Water Association, which supplies drinking water to 5 Iowa counties. A recent $7.2 million water plant expansion included additional filtering capabilities which can remove atrazine, Eggerman said. Another way to combat the problem is to educate farmers about- better land management practices such as creating buffer zones and holding ponds, Sitzmann said.

Trial set to begin in dismemberment case DO no Assistant Attorney General Douglas Hammerhand said the state will try to prove that Hemm killed Pippenger deliberately. "There are some very relevant autopsy photos," Hammerhand said. "Specifically, where in the heart Pippenger as stabbed." At the time of Pippenger's death, Hemm was facing charges of possessing an ingredient used to manufacture methamphetaminc. Police said they had seen him drawing anhydrous ammonia from a tank in January 2(XM). Pippenger had served about a year and a half in prison and court-ordered treatment programs after a 1993 conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

He suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome, court documents said. van, but didn't catch it. He then returned to Eldon and drove to his mother's house, where his car fire was reported about 3: 15 a.m. About seven hours later, Pip-penger's body was found in pieces inside another burning car at a third site, an empty farm house. According to a police affidavit, a hand miter saw was found with Pip-penger's body and police found a toolbox in Henim's garage containing a small miter box that was missing its saw.

State fire investigators determined the fire at Hemm's house was arson. They said it would have been physically impossible for Hemm to have left the house as he had described, the police affidavit said. Hemm was arrested about a week later. OTTUMWA (AP) Trial was scheduled to begin today for a man charged with the slaying and dismemberment of a paraplegic who was staying with him. Kenny Chris Hemm, 32, of Eldon is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Larry Pippenger, 53, of Ottumw last April 1 7.

If convicted, Hemm could face life in prison. Hemm said he awakened about 2 a.m. and smelled smoke. He went downstairs, where Pippenger had been sleeping, and found the living room in flames. He found Pip-penger's wheelchair on the front porch and saw him being forced into a green van.

Hemm told police he jumped into his car something was burning in the back seat and chased after the I LI Lm In the PRIME of your life. A tabloid specifically for readers who are in the prime of their life. Iowa Briefs 11' Kit i 1 ''A i Conner News Views. We Deliver. orphanages.

The students, who left Sunday, received yellow fever vaccinations and had been taking malaria pills to prepare for their 10-day visit to Central America, but were excited about the trip. "I think it's more scary for our parents," said Joe Langcl. The students will help at the orphanages, which hold 120 children. The 10 infants there are rarely held or played ith because of a shortage of help. The students plan to hold the children, read to them and play with them.

Students were advised to take very little money because of the risk of thefts. Some even plan to leave some of their ow clothes for people there. The villages here they will stay have no electricity, running water or sewers. "This will make us appreciate what we have here," Erin Leonard said. The other students are Steve Anthony, Stephanie Germann, Jessie Erd-mann, Becki Kass, Erin Stizmann, Derrick Loutsch and Mollie Vonnahme.

They will return in time for Easter. New color, Arizona beige, chosen for state patrol cars DES MOINES (AP) The Iowa State Patrol is switching colors on its cars again. Instead of black, the patrol is going with Arizona beige. Sixty of the beige Fords have been purchased to replace the black ones that have been on the beat for three years. Some of the new vehicles are already on the road, patrol spokesman Sgl.

Rob Hansen said. troopers began using black cars with gold stripes to replace the blander, tan-colored vehicles. The cars looked like mobile advertisements for the University of Iowa sports teams, which irked fans of other schools. "Yeah, sure we have heard that, but that certainly did not play a part in our decision," Hansen said. The new cars won't have the striping, which will save taxpayers more than $1 1,000 annually, he said.

That change will also make the vehicles easier to repair when body work is needed. "At a time right now when the budget is really not in good shape, any money that you can save is good for you," Hansen said. The patrol has a fleet of about 450 cars that are gradually replaced over several years as they wear out. Abuse charges dropped against former sheriff HIAWATHA AP) Charges have been dropped against a former Linn County sheriff accused of abuse by a former Internet romance because he tried to have her deported back to Russia. Linn County Attorney Denver Dil-lurd dismissed charges against Orlie Workman, 56, of Hiawatha on the grounds there was no evidence he threatened Tatyana Tregubova and tried to make unwanted sexual advances.

Workman said he first met the woman in person a few months after they began corresponding via the Internet. He brought her back to Cedar Rapids with the intention of marrying. When the relationship fell apart, he said, he reported her to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, setting in motion her forced return to Russia. Workman claimed that Tregubova levied abuse charges against him after he tried to have her deported. She has since married another Linn County man.

Workman was sheriff from 1 977 to 1981. Students travel to Honduras with supplies for mission trip LE MARS (AP) Nine students from Gehlen Catholic high school left for Honduras over the weekend with shoes, clothing, toiletries, school supplies and toys for children in two 1 1 ii I (Mr I I It I)' 1 1 Save $100 on select Sprint PCS Phones. I i'i'tepnet 1 Ml YOUR PKOI HSSIONAl. RF.A1. 1 SI AIT TKAM (-, Call Or Visit Our Web Site TRAPP Samsung 8500 J17I iUU-iUJJ wwv.tiapprealtu.s.com a Hurry in and get a $100 rebate on some of our coolest phones Samsung 8500 Sanyo 4500 Touchpoint 2200 Samsung Uproar Offer is available with a two-year Sprint PCS Advantage Agreement!" Our service plans start as low as $19.99.

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