Morgan Finke
Published: May 5, 2009

Update
The Dubuque Police Department has arrested two suspects in connection with the robbery. Justin Willis, 19, and Randy Lee Murphy, 17, of Dubuque were arrested and are being held at the Dubuque Police Station. Stay tuned to LCTV13 for more details as they become available.

Original

DUBUQUE- Dubuque Police were called to the scene of an armed robbery at the BP station on Loras Boulevard this afternoon.

Students at Loras College received an emergency alert through text and e-mail, putting the entire campus on lock down for an hour.

Loras student, Andy Brown, did not need an alert about the robbery, he saw it firsthand.

“I was at the BP gas station, I was filling my tires, and the guy walked up in a ski mask and pulled out a gun right in front of me, I thought it was a joke,” said Brown.

He soon realized it was not a joke.

“And then a guy came out of the gas station and told me to call the police and that’s when I realized it must be something serious,” Brown continued.

Dubuque Assistant Police Chief Terry Tobin told LCTV how police responded:

“Our officers responded to the scene, and we have officers and detectives that are investigating the case at this point we have not located the suspect yet,” said Tobin.

Tobin encourages anyone with further information to contact the police department’s non-emergency help line at 563-589-4410.

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@loras.edu

Morgan Finke
Published: April 30, 2009

BELLEVUE, IA - In the spirit of the oncoming Mother’s Day celebration, mothers and daughters of Bellevue Iowa gathered to make unique jewelry with Silvia Engel.

The event was not limited to mothers and daughters however; Dave Eischeid and his granddaughter Camryn came to enjoy the art of jewelry.

“Well we both like art real well, and I’ve never made jewelry before,” Eischeid explained.

All you need is some Elmers glue, colorful glass, and some creativity to create a custom necklace. The artist teaching the workshop, Silvia Engel creates jewelry just like Camryn and Dave were.

“We did a workshop on fuse glass jewelry, and quite a few people came in, they made a pendant and it is a very easy technique but it’s always fun to make,” said Engel.

Eischeid believes that art like paintings, sculptures, and even jewelry is often overlooked.

“I think people just have to be aware that without artists there would be no history, because thats how history is studied is through their artwork,” said Eischeid.

Through workshops like these, it is possible that young artists like Camryn can carry on the history of art.

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@loras.edu

Morgan Finke
Published: April 15, 2009

DUBUQUE - Sustainability is an effort to raise awareness of environmental concerns that have grown rapidly in the last 20 years.

Although it has been more widely known recently, the idea is nothing new to Sustainable Community Coordinator Sheila Samuelson, who’s passion for keeping our environment a healthy place to live started early.

“I’ve had it since I was a little girl, I think I was just exposed to it at a really early age and it just made sense to me,” said Samuelson.

That passion was able to grow and has been kept alive by the community.

“My passion is helping communities be great places for people to live, places that are really designed for people,” explained Samuelson.

Business owners in Dubuque agree with Samuelson, and showed their support at the annual City Expo. Event Coordinator Randy Gehl explained how the event was organized.

“Every booth every display will be focused around sustainability which of course is a tremendously important initiative for the city and for the region really,” said Gehl.

Sustainability is an important initiative, but the question remains, are citizens of Dubuque stepping up to the challenge? City Council Member Kevin Lynch believes that although Dubuque is on the forefront of sustainability efforts in our country, there is room for improvement.

“I think there are certain segments of the community that could use a lot more citizen involvement,” said Lynch.

With the help of the community, Samuelson believes we can put into action our plan for sustainability, she goes on to explain what that plan is, “the city has adopted a three part model: that considers the environment, social impacts, and also economic impacts.”

With this goal in mind, Samuelson believes Dubuque can truly become a well balanced, healthy city to live in.

“When you’re not just focusing on one bottom line, but you’re looking at the interactions and how things all work together thats considering sustainability,” said Samuelson.

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@loras.edu

Morgan Finke
Published: April 1, 2009

Dubuque - Accessorize with the nicest jewelry, apply the best make up, and find the perfect dress; this is the dream of many high school girls on their prom night.

Aimie Bemis wants to make every girl’s prom night dreams come true, so she decided to act on a unique idea to make their dreams a reality.

“It was a vision of our church decked out in prom dresses, tons of girls coming in trying them on, lots of pink, and just super, super fun,” said Bemis.

Aime wanted to make this event extra special and give every girl the chance to have a beautiful dress for her prom. She accomplished this by making every dress, every shoe, and every necklace, free.

“I know my parents would never be able to afford that for me, so I’m just glad we have a way to bless these girls with a brand new dress, some of these dresses are brand new 400 dollar dresses, and have never been used with the tags still on them,” said Bemis.

With an ever present struggle in the economy, Bemis recognizes this opportunity to do her part.

“With the economy the way it is, I know it’s hard for these parents to be able to afford these dresses, and we just want to bless these girls and give them away to them,” explained Bemis.

After guest speakers, a fashion show, and raffles, the girls were anxious to get to the main event, trying on the dresses they would take home with them that night.

“Trying on a bunch of dresses and modeling them is always fun,” said Jordan Bemis, “Prom dresses are so expensive now, doing this helps the people that can’t afford them and it is such a good thing to do.”

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@loras.edu

Morgan Finke
Published: February 11, 2009

DUBUQUE - “Store closing”, “Blowout sale”, “Everything must go!” Signs like these are making appearances around Dubuque and across the country.

With Office Depot closing 112 of its stores nationwide, employees are left wondering what comes next

Ken Borzym, manager of Office Depot in Dubuque has a lot to consider,”I’ve been with the company for fourteen years and I got the severance package as well but I’d have to move myself to Pewaukee, Wisconsin.”

Right across the highway, Starbucks already closed their doors.

Employee Casey Kettmann at the Starbucks in Hy Vee explained the recent downsize, “A week or so ago they announced they were going to close more stores and get rid of 1000 employees which is a big number.”

But Rick Dickinson recognizes that the economic news in Dubuque isn’t all dreary. “The 1300 employees will only account for two percent of the population but it will have a big effect on the makeup of Dubuque and the way Dubuque is perceived,” said Dickinson.

Even though that is a nice boost, it is going to take time to see the difference.

“In fact IBM hasn’t hired any employees yet and it takes some time for a new company to ramp up even though it’s an accelerated time table for IBM,” Rick went on to explain.

In the meantime, Dubuque’s workforce is keeping its chin up.

From Kettmann’s perspective, we have a lot to be thankful for, “From what I’ve seen there have been some layoffs with Flexsteel and other companies like that but overall Dubuque has done very good in this rough time even compared to surrounding cities.”

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@loras.edu

Morgan Finke
Published: December 4, 2008

DUBUQUE- Mother Nature got a jump start on winter weather this Thanksgiving weekend, and the city of Dubuque, was ready for it.

“All of the trucks were prepared as far as some trucks were with chains and some don’t depends on where they’re at but they were gone and all ready to go for what may have happened over the weekend and it did,” said John Klostermann Director of Street Maintenance for the City of Dubuque.

Last season’s salt shortages was an issue, so the city started planning early this year.

“Preparation actually started in May when we first placed our order for the salt that we use, traditionally we used between 6 and 7000 tons for the city of Dubuque,” explains Klostermann.

The question is, where all of Mother Nature’s abundance goes after a storm, “we start with the main streets and move into the residential areas trying to remove snow,” explains  city works employee Brian Odefey.

Keeping the roads of Dubuque salted is not an easy job.

“Like last season with all the snow it just got to be a long season, but we survived,” said Odefey.

Citizens of Dubuque can help workers like Brian in a very simple way.

“If it’s possible to move your car into a parking lot instead of on the street it would really help out,” adds Klostermann.

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@lctv13.com

Morgan Finke
Published: November 12, 2008

DUBUQUE — Mike Adams has been working in the oil industry nearly his entire life his father got him involved in the business.

“I’ve been in business for thirty-six and a half years, I started in 1972 with my dad, my dad passed away six months after we came here and I took over,” says Mike.

Mike was forced to close down gas sales in May, due to his boss having health issues, and it was difficult for Mike to end that part of his business.

“It tore me up at first, I had customers that had been with me the whole thirty years and to tell them that I couldn’t sell them gas anymore, it hurt a lot,” Mike explained.

Just down the road at Conoco, you will find Mike’s cousin Dave who is also struggling during this year’s oil rollercoaster,

“You see a lot of people not as willing to spend a buck on anything just because they have to spend it somewhere else like gas to get somewhere, its unchartered territory we’ve never seen anything like it before,” says Dave.

Although the current gas price is low, Dave is still in shock about the past year.

“It’s just mind boggling to see what gone on in the past year and a half, it used to be a big deal to see gas price go up two cents in one day, now it’s nothing,” says Dave.

Mike is skeptical that the low prices will last.

“Typically gas goes down around this time of year until the first of February then it starts to go back up,” says Mike.

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@loras.edu

Morgan Finke
Published: October 24, 2008

BALLTOWN, Iowa – It has been an emotional morning for the citizens of Balltown, as they came to watch a city icon burn to the ground, for the second time in ten months.

Breitbach’s Country Dining accomplished the impossible after the restaurant burned down ten months ago today.
Fire Chief Joe Specht explains the explosion that caused heartache less than a year ago, “They went through one tragedy, and now here they are back to ground zero again,” said Specht.

The feeling of déjà-vu was overwhelming for some.

“When I saw it on the news this morning, I thought are they bringing up past news? I mean it was just so unbelievable, you know are they talking about the old fire?” said Jerry Sahm

Emergency crews were on the scene early this morning.

“We were dispatched to the scene at 3:40 am. Our main concern was to protect the other homes that were near the building,” explained Chief Specht.

They were able to maintain the flames, but the rubble and disappointment left behind, might be harder to clean up.

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@loras.edu