The
good
Building on President Obama’s State of the
Union address on supporting innovation and American
companies, the Department of Energy recently
announced the top three startup companies based
on a public vote and an expert review. Out of
the 14 participating in the “America’s Next
Top Energy Innovator” challenge, Iowa Power
Atomization Technologies (IPAT) was in the top
three. IPAT is a start-up company based in Nevada
that makes titanium powder with processes that
are 10 times more efficient than traditional
methods, significantly lowering the cost of
the powder to manufacturers. Basically, IPAT’s
innovation assists in the manufacturing of important
things like artificial limbs for veterans, for
example — in the small town of Nevada. That’s
pretty cool.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
recently awarded about $4.7 million to public
housing authorities in Iowa that will be used
to make major large-scale improvements to their
public housing units, such as new roofs and
energy-efficient upgrades that replace old plumbing
and wiring. This will affect numerous housing
authorities in Iowa, including $914,329 to the
Des Moines Municipal Housing Agency and $158,879
to the Central Iowa Regional Housing Authority.
The bad
Big boobs won’t get you out of trouble. Florida
resident Maureen Raymond, 49, was arrested last
week after she failed a sobriety test. In a
desperate attempt to catch a break, she tried
to argue that she failed the test because her
breasts were too big. According to police, an
officer stopped Raymond for speeding and reckless
driving. Raymond staggered out of the car and
had slurred speech, glassy eyes and a strong
odor of alcohol. When the officer advised Raymond
to perform a field sobriety test, Raymond said
she wouldn’t do well because “big breasts don’t
balance well.” After the officer asked her to
perform another test, Raymond began dancing,
showed the officers her breasts and then began
to undress. Officers took Raymond into custody
and charged her with OWI and speeding.
Alcohol affects your judgment, we all know
that, but a drunk driving incident that happened
in Corning last week is an unfortunate combination
of bad luck and stupidity (probably more of
the latter). Jodie Hastings, 41, of Corning,
allegedly crashed her vehicle into two others
parked at the Adams County Sheriff’s Office
— one belonging to the magistrate judge and
the other owned by a dispatcher. Hastings was
arrested and charged with operating a motor
vehicle while intoxicated, possession of a controlled
substance and driving without a valid driver’s
license.
The ugly
South Carolina resident Tanya Lightsey, 27,
was arrested last week after giving birth to
a baby who tested positive for multiple drugs,
including cocaine and opiates. When officers
questioned her, Lightsey claimed the child tested
positive because she had rubbed cocaine on her
gums to alleviate the pain of a toothache. Officers
weren’t buying it, because in 2010, Lightsey
was investigated after giving birth to another
child born with drugs in its system. Lightsey
was arrested and charged with unlawful neglect
of a child.
This guy’s kind of like Wylie Coyote, super
evil genius, but without the genius part, (and
his back-firing plot was neither natural nor
cheeky, though loony definitely covers it).
Florida resident Matthew Wong, 50, was hospitalized
last week after he tried to set his wife on
fire but instead burned himself. According to
police, Wong was waiting at his estranged wife’s
house, and when she came outside to leave for
work, he tried to pour gas on her, but she fled
to a neighbor’s house. Wong chased after her,
spilling gas all over himself. When she got
inside the house, Wong attempted to set the
house on fire, but in the process caught himself
on fire and became what witnesses described
as a “walking ball of flames.” Witnesses put
him out with blankets and a fire extinguisher.
Wong was taken to the hospital with third-degree
burns covering most of his body and is in critical
condition. Maybe he should have tried an Acme
anvil, instead. CV |
