Sneaky speed trap on I380 today

A few times today, there was a police officer standing on top of the 8th Street SE bridge over the northbound lanes of I-380 running radar on the cars below. There were officers farther up pulling people over like crazy. I’ve heard higher-ups in the department talking on numerous occasions about how they need to stop the excessive speeding through town, and that they’re figuring out better ways of catching people.

So keep it below 65 miles per hour when you’re driving through town, a’ight? It’s the safe thing to do, anyway And you never know, the speed traps will probably be back.

 

Being fair to those who are helping us rebuild

I set out Thursday afternoon to tell the story of the thousands of people who are being paid $10 an hour (some maybe more, many much less) to clean out all the nasty, smelly crap left behind after the flood. The most obvious gathering place for day laborers was the parking lot behind Wells Fargo Bank, where Able Body Labor has its big brown motorhome parked, so I started there. Many of those workers coming downtown are parking in the lots underneath the Interstate 380 bridge, where a few who have come from far away are still sleeping in their vehicles. Those lots are filthy because the rain hasn’t washed away all the muck, and garbage bags are hanging from some of the parking meters to hold the overflowing amount of trash. Some trash is still not making it into the bags, though. And to think there was a veritable village of day laborers sleeping on mattresses and cardboard on the ground there…

I met Nancy Martinez of Dobson, N.C., who told me of her experience on camera (video will be back after editing):

But to get the full effect of what it is like to be a day laborer (for one day, at least), I got up at 4:30 a.m. to go down and watch how the selection process is done. I wanted to see if there was any curious activity (i.e. under the table labor), and we ran into a woman running such an operation out of a van underneath Interstate 380. Her workers, all Latino, were already awake and ready to go by 5:30 a.m., hard hats on and plastic bags over their bodies to keep out the hammering rain. She told us she was from Florida, but wouldn’t provide any other details. I’m hoping those workers are getting paid well, but probably not.

Able Body’s selection process was much more above board. They had new workers filling out applications and providing Social Security cards, and provided everyone with sanitized cleaning gear. They pay their employees $10 an hour, minus taxes, by check every day.

These are the workers who are cleaning out Quaker, Penford Products, the Paramount Theatre, the Linn County Jail. These are the workers who are working hard 10- to 12-hour days for our community so we can rebuild.

 

When is a murder not front page news?

When your city is experiencing a huge flood, and everyone is just worried about keeping their water supply intact or starting their lives over. That’s when. As a matter of fact, it’s the ONLY Cedar Rapids murder that hasn’t made The Gazette’s front page, ever.

Aubrey Young, 35, was found shot to death between two cars in the 200 block of 16th Street SE. Hardly anyone has come forward with information, and no one has been able to give us a photo of him. Fifty ducks were killed in Bever Park about the same time, and no one has any info on that, either. But people have rallied to raise $3,685 in reward money to catch the creeps who attacked the ducks, and two other organizations are offering an additional $5,500. Who is rallying to find Young’s killer? Where is his reward?

“It’s sad that people put a higher price on an animal’s life than they do on a human life,” said Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said to me yesterday. “Abused animals always get stories written about them, they get TV coverage, but what about all the abused children we see every day? No one seems to care.”

It’s true. And it’s everyone’s fault. Including mine.

If anyone saw anything suspicious between 2 and 2:15 a.m. June 15 near the 200 block of 16th Street SE, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-CR-CRIME. You may get a reward if your info leads to an arrest.

 

Flood 2008 Hall of Shame

These are the fine folks of Cedar Rapids who apparently couldn’t manage to play nice in the aftermath of the worst disaster this city has ever known:

These three are accused of using false IDs showing addresses in the flood zone to get aid from the Red Cross. Sad face!

More will probably be added later. Another sad face.

 

“FEMA guy” strikes back…again?

“The story is all wrong,” former FEMA housing inspector Vince Koley called yesterday to tell me. ”Tom Kramer is not what he’s cracked up to be. He’s lying.”

Koley, 74, is accused of hitting Kramer, a Penford Products employee, with a golf club during an argument last Thursday and trying to run him over with his vehicle. He takes the most umbrage at the police reporting he actually told Kramer “I don’t have to slow down, I’m with FEMA” during their confrontation at the 10th Avenue SW crosswalk outside the plant. “I never said that,” he said.

But the golf club, well, that happened. “He was coming toward me, not walking away,” Koley said.

Two messages he left me yesterday morning, though…interesting. “Ran into somebody, laugh for the day, he said to me ‘Are you that famous FEMA inspector? You should be on the David Letterman show.’ I said, ‘No, I don’t like David Letterman. I want to be on the Jay Leno show.’ You may not think that’s funny but that’s my type of humor.”

“Any way you could do an article on me like a Barbara Walters interview? … Listen, I had a thought. If we just put it on the Internet and not in the local paper, we can explain what really happened, like what really happened from the horse’s mouth, some catchy title we can put on. We can charge for each hit, to pay for some of the damages I’m suffering.” It’s true, Koley did lose his job over the incident.

I feel for the guy, but we’re not Dateline NBC. We couldn’t afford to pay people to talk to us if we wanted to. Yet they still talk.

Kramer hasn’t returned my phone messages yet.

(P.S. — This pic was snapped on the go by the Cedar Rapids PD. Since our jail is closed here, we haven’t had access to mug shots. How sad.)

 

They should have seen this coming…

The joke here is pretty obvious. A store that provides psychic readings being robbed? Yeah.

 

‘Of all things, they stole my damn flag!’

Two flags, one Marine Corps and one American, flew from Don King III’s porch during the flood that claimed the basement and first floors of his home. Until the flood receded, King, a Marine who served during the Vietnam era, used the flags as a landmark to find his home at 820 Eighth Ave. SW. He saw them as a sign of defiance, of strength in adversity. The water rose only high enough to graze their seams, King said.

Late last week, King noticed his Marine Corps flag was missing.

“How low can people get?” he asked. “Of all things, they stole my damn flag. It’s only worth $20, but it meant a lot to me … There are some real cretins out there.”

But King, 53, didn’t let it dampen his resolve. He’s still cleaning up, currently knocking out the drywall in his home. And he bought a new flag to fly.

 

Will things ever be “normal” for us again?

We can clean up the messes left behind by the ferocious floodwaters of 2008, but how much cleaning will it take for our neighborhoods, our businesses — our selves — to be whole again? The devastation has wreaked havoc on thousands of residents’ hopes and dreams, irrevocably changing even the lives of many who were barely affected by the flood itself. There are more questions than answers:

– Now that the water is gone, police reports show burglaries and looting is on the rise in flooded areas. In the last two days, more than 10 burglaries were reported in affected areas of southeast and southwest Cedar Rapids, including at the Cigarette Outlet on First Avenue W and City Style Clothing downtown. Guess some peoples’ ”Midwest spirit” is failing. What gives?

– Where are all of these displaced families going to live now? Some might want to move back into their homes eventually, but if the house needs to be demolished, who will build there again? Would they want to? And how much will rental rates increase for area homes and apartments to accomodate the crowds of displaced people looking for temporary housing? Will it eventually affect EVERYONE’S rent?

– Our downtown is completely decimated. Who will rebuild there? Who will move elsewhere, or not reopen at all? Where, oh where, will I get my yummy chicken shawarmas or pizza slices or coffee house sandwiches as conveniently as I did before? (That was halfway serious. I’m still dealing with using a Port-a-Potty most of the time, so, please, cut me some slack.)

– With the destruction of about 20 percent of Iowa’s corn crop this year, how will it affect the prices of the food we eat? Corn is in just about EVERYTHING, by the way. And will restricted rail travel in this area raise transportation costs, translating directly to increased cost to us? Will the prices ever go down?

Is there such a thing as “normal” here any more? Really? We are facing months of uncertainty. Here’s to wishing us all strength, wisdom and persistence in the rough times ahead.

 

If you didn’t have enough reasons to stay out of the floodwater…

Apparently firefighters, police officers and others who have had prolonged exposure to floodwaters in Cedar Rapids have developed skin rashes afterward on their hands and legs, Cedar Rapids police Lt. Kenneth Washburn told me Friday. They’re not sure what is causing them.

“There have got to be toxic chemicals in the water in some places,” he said. “It’s just not safe.”

 

This robbery gets weirder and weirder…

Cedar Rapids police reported a woman had her purse stolen from her cart as she was loading groceries into her car Monday afternoon at the Wilson Ave. Hy-Vee. A woman in the passenger side of a car driving by simply leaned out the window and snatched it as it was sitting there. She didn’t even get out! The victim, 45-year-old Lynnice Wedewer of Cedar Rapids, apparently tried to stop them by grabbing onto the open window, but the man in the driver’s seat just kept moving.

Yesterday, Wedewer left this comment our story about the semi that crashed on I-380 yesterday.

On Monday at Wilson Avenue SW Hy Vee my purse was robbed and I was assaulted in front of my 10 year old daughter with autism after buying food from the store. 2 middle aged 1 male African American & 1 white female bigger build short hair. I am making public notice I have closed down my checks and cards. Stores beware, do not accept any checks or chrage cards for Lynnice Wedewer, USHE Sanctuary, or James Hartgrave. Do not accept a paypal mastercard or US Bank card for same. They are now closed. On Tuesday they bought gas at Caseys and may have used these accounts unlawfully in many other places. Convenience stores are an easy target for this team as they do not have to show ID’s we are asking you to help us alert the community to quickly shut them down. My family are asking if you have any info please call the police if you see them. We are asking if they are any witnesses to please contact the police. You just never expect it to be your family. Thank you for your help in stopping them from abusing our accounts.
Dr Rev Lynnice Wedewer, Ph.D

I was curious to see who this woman was, so I Googled her. Turns out she claims to have the mark of the Benjamin Tribe on her hand. Check out her web site here if you’re curious about the significance of this claim. She also apparently runs an online store that sells software to help you “unleash the power of your mind.”

Wow.