K-9 units searched the Fort Madison High and Fort Madison Middle School for drugs on Wednesday. According to Christine Niggemeyer, the liaison coordinator between the Iowa State Penitentiary, the Fort Madison Police Department and the Fort Madison school system, the dogs spent a half hour in the morning at the high school before moving on to the middle school. Search teams used the dogs to sniff lockers and the trunks of cars in the parking lots. However, no drugs were found according to Niggemeyer. Rather, the dogs had several "hits," which she said indicated that drugs had been present recently. [continues 56 words]
The closing of the Iowa Residential Treatment Center at the Mental Health Institute in Mount Pleasant would be a tremendous loss to the citizens of Iowa. This program serves all 99 counties of Iowa, giving treatment for alcohol and drug problems. In 1991 the beds for alcohol and drug treatment there increased from 25 to 90 when alcohol and drug treatment programs closed at the three other mental health institutes at Clarinda, Cherokee and Independence. Since then the program at Mount Pleasant has been downsized from 90 beds to 60 beds. In January 2002 the program was downsized once again from 60 beds to 30 beds at a time when it was filled to capacity and had a waiting list for people to receive its services. This was done due to the state's current budget problems. [continues 196 words]
This letter is a follow-up to the letter I sent on April 6. I hope that no one in the community is offended by a convict writing about the matter of Mr. Steven Helling. I write as a person who was not only grateful for having good people like Steve, but I am wholly convinced that he was innocent of the conspiracy, dispensing illegal drugs on forged prescribed pieces of paper appearing to be valid. First, my ex-wife lived here in Fort Madison from early 1993 until mid-1994. She was on life-long medications which were extremely expensive. The government did not provide enough money from her disability to cover those expenses. Because of her financial condition, Mr. Helling would sometimes allow her credit until the checks came for the purchase of her medications. We were very grateful for his understanding. [continues 1437 words]
I am absolutely saddened at reading a two-page article in the Des Moines Register reporting the suicide death of Mr. Steve Helling of Fort Madison. This was reported ironically on April Fool's Day 2002. I send my condolences to Mrs. Bernadette Helling and children. This is such a tragedy and I totally disagree with comments in the article and the way the prosecution was handled. Last fall, I sent a letter to your newspaper indicating that Mr. Helling was unjustly convicted by conviction hungry prosecutors. The same is now confirmed. Lee County Prosecutor Michael Short made such a determination when he dropped state charges. [continues 560 words]
WEST BURLINGTON (AP) - A Fort Madison pharmacist sentenced to federal prison for filling forged prescriptions was found dead Thursday, apparently a suicide. West Burlington Police Sgt. Frank Newberry said motel staff at AmericInn found Steve Helling is his room and notified police at 11:42 a.m. Newberry said a gun and a suicide note were found in the room. Helling, 47, had been convicted in U.S. District Court in Davenport of conspiring to distribute a controlled substance and distributing a controlled substance. [continues 190 words]
DAVENPORT (AP) - A Fort Madison pharmacist convicted of filling forged prescriptions was sentenced Friday to 6 1/2 years in federal prison. Steve Helling, now 47, testified in U.S. District Court that he filled the prescriptions knowing some were forgeries. "I apologize to my family and friends," he said, promising he would never be in a situation of breaking the law again. There was sobbing from about 20 relatives and friends who showed up in his support. Helling voluntarily surrendered his pharmacy license after his conviction in August on charges of conspiring to distribute a controlled substance. He was also fined $12,500. Helling was sentenced Friday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Ronald Longstaff to 6.5 years in prison on each of the two counts with sentences to run concurrently. [continues 754 words]
Thank you for the story: U.S. SHOULD IMPORT MARIJUANA POLICY, (pub. Aug. 9, 2001), which has good insight. As Ellen Goodman stated: "Many Doctors still wait for scientific proof"... and yet there has never been a case of death reported due to over dose in over 5,000 years of documented use. I try not to push my Christian walk with God, but I would like to add, our single common denominator and a very important connection to this issue. God, whom blessed us with cannabis to begin with. God our Father gave us cannabis for food and medicine. The only Biblical restriction placed on cannabis, (also known as kaneh bosm before the King James Version), is that we accept it with thanksgiving. [continues 87 words]
Double bravo to Ellen Goodman's article on the medical marijuana progress in Canada. But she is perilously wrong on one count about the situation here in the US. She says: "The feds aren't likely to crack down on the terminally ill, nor are law enforcers eager to rip joints out of the hands of AIDS patients." In reality, the feds and law enforcers get downright mean when those ill patients speak up: First, life-long cancer patient Todd McCormick, who sits in jail now because he grew a lot of pot only to study and write a book on medical marijuana. [continues 183 words]
And now from our northern neighbors, the allegedly staid Canadians, a new antidote to our reefer madness. The Canadian government has just increased the number of its people who can use marijuana as medicine. As of this month, the terminally ill and those with chronic diseases from cancer to AIDS to MS can turn their back yards into their medicine cabinets. With the approval of a doctor, they can either grow it or get it free from the government, which is paying a company to nurture the plants in an abandoned copper mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba. [continues 687 words]
I have often said methamphetamine use is the greatest threat to Iowans that I have seen in my lifetime. Our rural communities have never incurred an invasion like they are today. Every community has had its share of problems with drugs, but we have never had to teach our children about the telltale smell of a meth lab and warn them of the dangers associated with the mini-toxic waste dump that is an abandoned meth lab. Meth remains the drug of choice in Iowa because it is easy to manufacture and complex drug cartels have flooded the market. [continues 297 words]
On this week's "Living in Iowa" some of the tragic consequences of Iowa methamphetamine crisis are to be illustrated through the experiences of a Fort Madison family. The segment airs on Friday, Nov. 24, at 8:30 p.m. on Iowa Public Television. Twenty-two year old Amy Cresswell was sentenced to five years in a federal prison for her role in the drug-related death of her 14-year-old cousin Jessica Smith. Smith is believed to be the youngest Iowan to die of a methamphetamine overdose. [continues 134 words]
During the July 4 Congressional District work period, I had the opportunity to travel across the Third Congressional District and meet with local law enforcement and drug task force officers. As it is each and every time I meet with these individuals, I left these meetings impressed with the high level of dedication they have in keeping our communities safe. However, I was also concerned how much still needs to be done to rid our communities of the threat of crime and drugs. [continues 503 words]
Note: Fictitious names have been given to two FMHS students as a condition of their cooperation with this story. Do you like to dance? Or more specifically, do you like to rave? If you've never been to a rave, imagine this: Music without melody pounds through your body as you squirm through the wriggling mass of people on the dance floor. The party makes your adrenaline flow like crazy. You also can't help but notice the people. They are so much different than the teenagers you see at school every day. You walk past a girl with spiky pink hair and piercings all over her body. You see a guy to your left pop a tablet into his mouth and swallow. [continues 1262 words]
