The
good
The Des Moines Art Center hosted the 2012 DSM
48 Hour Film Project Kick-off event last Friday,
challenging movie-makers to create short films
in just 48 hours. Over the weekend, 52 filmmaking
teams descended upon the Des Moines Art Center
to find out their films’ genres, required characters,
props and lines of dialogue. After only 48 hours
to write, film and edit, they rushed their films
to the Fleur Cinema and Cafe on Sunday evening.
This year, Des Moines was only one of five cities
— joining Albuquerque, Denver, Detroit and Richmond
— and one of 125 cities worldwide to be part
of the first year association with the international
48 HFP and the cable network truTV. This competition
involves some of the most creative people in
the world, and truTV is looking to tap into
that talent. Each 2012 Best of City winner will
receive a chance to sign a $5,000 development
deal to pitch ideas for a new series on truTV.
The films were screened for the public at the
Fleur Cinema on Aug. 1 and 2 where they were
evaluated by a panel of judges, and the Best
Films will screen on Aug. 16 at the Fleur. Tickets
are available at www.MidwesTIX.com or at the
Fleur Cinema box office on the day of show.
For the third straight year, Waste Management
is partnering with the Iowa State Fair to expand
recycling opportunities. This year, organizers
hope to set a new recycling record. Waste Management
will service 300 recycling containers throughout
the fairgrounds to make recycling more convenient,
an increase of 100 containers over last year’s
event. “We increased total recycling at the
event by more than 350 percent in 2011, and
our goal is to exceed that number in 2012 to
keep even more waste out of Iowa’s landfills,”
said Stephanie Regagnon, Waste Management spokesperson.
In partnership with Keep Iowa Beautiful, Waste
Management crews will remove the recycled material
from the fairgrounds and transport it to a local
recycling facility daily. Vendors and concession
stands will also be green again this year. Cardboard
will be collected twice a day from concession
stands, and recycling containers will be placed
near vendor storage areas.
The bad
A Chicago woman died after having an abortion
at a Planned Parenthood facility. Tonya Reaves,
24, was pronounced dead on July 20 at the hospital
just hours after going through an abortion,
for which the pregnancy had reportedly advanced
beyond the first trimester. According to World
Magazine, an autopsy revealed that Reaves died
from hemorrhage following the abortion, and
her death has been ruled an accident. As a result,
religious organizations such as Operation Rescue,
a pro-life Christian activist group, are calling
for President Obama to halt federal funding
and personal support for Planned Parenthood.
Regardless of where you stand on the abortion
issue, it’s too bad a young woman had to die
this way.
Wonder what type of bait they were using? While
fishing in Little Wall Lake in Hamilton County
last week, Bristal Waldera and her stepfather
Lyle Coabaugh thought they had a big one on
the line, but it ended up being a body. Coabaugh
thought his bobber had fallen off, but when
Waldera grabbed the line she saw a shoe in the
water. When she picked up the shoe, they discovered
a leg bone. They called police, and the partially-decomposed
body was taken to the state medical examiner.
Another team of divers is expected to search
the rest of the lake using sonar. As of press
time, it was still unknown who the leg belonged
to.
The ugly
Reading, writing… and mold? That’s the case
at Hillside Elementary in West Des Moines as
mold was discovered while the windows were being
replaced. Now officials are searching for a
temporary home for nearly 600 students. The
leaks have caused mold at the school two different
times since 2009, but in both incidents the
air was tested and found to be clean. Students
and staff will be relocated for the first eight
weeks of school as workers complete the window
replacement project. CV |
