Orlan LoveOrlan Love, The Gazette's outdoor writer since 1994, graduated from Marquette University in 1977 with a degree in journalism, after serving more than four years in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. Born and reared in Quasqueton on the Wapsipinicon River, he still lives there with his wife, Corinne. Among other awards, his writings have twice earned the Iowa Newspaper Association’s master columnist designation. |
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Officials critical of inconsistent alcohol laws for boats and motor vehicles
Alcohol-related laws for boat operators should be the same as those for highway vehicle drivers, say Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officials. “It is inconsistent that we allow open containers in boats, but not in highway vehicles,” said Robert Garrison, chief of the DNR’s Law Enforcement Bureau. It is also inconsistent that boat [...]
Report: Leaders dismiss warnings
State officials are ignoring important public policy recommendations to cope with climate change and increased risks of flooding and water pollution, Iowa Policy Project researchers said Monday. “Iowans are going to see increased problems with water quality and quantity, in the form of flood damage, unless we make changes,” said Brian McDonough, lead author [...]
McGregor businesses fear effects of truck traffic
Fracking — a controversial oil and natural gas extraction method — is creating controversy along Main Street in this historic tourist destination. Not that there is any actual fracking going on here, but a steady stream of heavy trucks loaded with silica sand, a key fracking ingredient, is stirring dust, noise and discontent. “My peace [...]
Police escort black bear out of West Union
A wandering black bear left West Union under a police escort on Friday morning. “He was pretty compliant,” said Fayette County Sheriff Marty Fisher, who used his own ATV to herd the bear to a timber about two miles northwest of town. The bear, believed to be the same one seen Tuesday in Ridgeway, [...]
Northbound Decorah eagle has left the country
D1, the Decorah eagle with the satellite transmitter, has taken a sudden fishing vacation to Canada. After spending almost all of this year near or south of her natal area, the yearling took off May 3 for points north. As of Wednesday – after covering 453 miles in 12 days, including a 139-mile leg on [...]
Sobriety urged for boaters
State officials advise sobriety afloat and especially on Memorial Day weekend when a large contingent of Iowa’s 229,000 registered boats take to the water. Although state law allows boat operators to drink within the legal .08 blood alcohol limit, “We recommend a designated boat operator who abstains from alcohol,” said Susan Stocker, the DNR’s boating [...]
Study confirms more frequent heavy rains in Midwest
A scientific report issued Wednesday confirms what most Iowans have long known or suspected: that heavy rains have been falling with increasing frequency, causing disastrous flooding. Incidences of the most severe downpours have doubled during the past 50 years in eight Midwest states, according to a report by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the [...]
Medal of Honor winner presents scholarship to Kennedy senior
CEDAR RAPIDS — Medal of Honor recipient Sal Giunta told members of the senior class at Kennedy High School he is confident they will change the world for the better. On Tuesday night, the 2003 Kennedy graduate presented the first Sal Giunta Scholarship to graduating senior Abi Gray, 18, of Cedar Rapids. One of [...]
Sidewalk project provides portal to the past
INDEPENDENCE — A sidewalk replacement project has opened a window to the past, providing a brief glimpse of what the city’s business district looked like before it was deliberately buried nearly 140 years ago. “Seeing it from the outside provides a new perspective,” said Wanda Goins, vice president of the Buchanan County Historical Society and [...]
New Amish community springs up in Delhi area
DELHI — Economic opportunity, religious freedom and a scenic rural landscape have attracted a new Amish community to the rolling hills southwest of here. Organic farmer John Henry Yoder said “religious differences” with the elders of the Edgewood Amish community, the settlers’ former home, played a role in his family’s move to the Delhi [...]
