Is it lights out for the City of Pella Pool Party?

Today I'm picking and choosing from the mountain of personal injury news in the Iowa press. There's been so much lately that it's difficult to cover it all. Between the Des Moines Register and KCCI these two news organizations cover enough PI news for me to discuss a mountain of safety issues. So let's have at it.

One has to wonder if it should be lights out for the City of Pella to own and operate the swimming pool. Should it be auctioned off to private enterprise and allowed to be run as a for-profit corporation.  Some citizens think so. KCCI reports lights were dark for four years.

The City of Pella won its lawsuit against Central Electric, Co. but in this case, that win is going to prove to be very expensive. The Knoxville jury came back with an award of $788,000 for damages having to do with the breach of contract claim over the lights, wire and encasings.  So now the City of Pella has the dough to change burned out light bulbs in the pool? Right? Okay it's not very funny, but it is a good question. Now the fighting issue may become one of res judicata or offensive issue preclusion. This is going to be a legal can of worms after the death of those two Kansas City, Missouri boys. In the end the moral of this story may be when is winning really losing? Or how can we avoid accepting responsibility for those deaths without the next generation knowing what we are really doing?

Over in Omaha a toddler lost his foot when a power mower surged forward and ran over him say police. An 8-year-old child reportedly was playing with a self-propelled lawn mower, started it up causing it to surge forward over the toddler severing his foot at the ankle. The report indicates there is a fundraiser to help pay for the considerable medical costs.  What do you think, should the homeowner's insurance policy cover the medical bills, costs of rehabilitation, prosthesis and permanent injury?

Fishing can be somewhat dangerous. An Iowan was fishing in Yellowstone Park and apparently died while fishing in the park. The man was 65-years-old and reportedly lost his footing, the current carried him six miles downstream. I recall another recent fishing related death in Montana. Fellow lawyer Phil Dorff. Remember Phil?

See Adventure Travel is Dangerous, September 28, 2009 discussing fellow lawyer Phil Dorff's drowning while fishing the Big Thompson River in Montana.

Speaking of adventures a RAGBRAI rider from Waverly died from injuries suffered in a bike-bike collision during the ride. Let's not call this a race. The Des Moines Register article reports twenty-eight people have died in the events 38 year history.  He was wearing a helmet but it appears swelling in the brain led to his demise.  In other RAGBRAI news the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office shut down a wild party on private land in Cartersville. Apparently some of the swimmers decided clothes should be optional. No arrests were made but it's reported some were alcohol impaired? No way! So let's see we have a wild party in Cerro Gordo County on Wednesday July 28^th at about 2:30 p.m. and on Thursday there was a crash between cyclists in the morning. Could there be a possible relationship? What's the blood alcohol content of those riders? Will RAGBRAI field sobriety tests be next? You riders better clean it up before Bob Vander Platts hears about this drunken nakedness being openly displayed in Iowa. Let's organize a gay pride ride and everyone will wear a t-shirt with Bob's likeness on the front and a donkey's butt on the back. In all seriousness though, the participants better clean up their act before Iowan's do it for you.

In other news an 18-year-old RAGBRAI rider from Bettendorf went missing and then was found in Charles City. He was last seen at 1:00 a.m. You can follow all of this on the RAGRAI Blog; I'll bet you didn't know that?