Third shooting occurred earlier this morning nearby Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot

Another shooting was reported earlier this morning at 12:00 AM

I'll bring more updates soon. 

Burlington Community School District website censors contact senators list; creates an incomplete list

I was randomly browsing the BCSD's website and I noticed that on their website that there are only three senators listed as contacts.

Link to the webpage.  http://www.burlington.k12.ia.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=297&Itemid=252

There is no excuse as to why the others were left out.  If they were listed based on how close they are in town, that wouldn't be a case either.  Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley are no where on the website, as well as the others in the other districts.

I know that one of the senators Dennis Cohoon had use to work at the Burlington High School.

Personal politics perhaps?

Shooting happening at 1600 block of South 12th Street.

Another shooting was reported earlier this morning.

Suspect is a black male wearing blue jeans with a black hoodie.  He is 6 feet tall.  News will be updated soon.

UPDATE: 3:30 PM

Suspect was shot and has tried fleeing into a house.

UPDATE #2: 10/29/2012 : 10:00 AM

The shooter was caught yesterday.

http://www.kwqc.com/story/19938165/burlington-police-make-arrest-after-shooting

Stupid Saturday: 10/27/2012

Thought I missed the day to post for Saturday?  Well, here is today's entry.

The story:

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Girlfriend-beating-10-26-12

My take on it:

That woman who attacked all those people must be pretty damn strong and well coordinated when it came to attacking and being intoxicated at the same time.

I'm confused why the hell there were two underage children out at this area at around 3:30 in the morning.  Not only it was passed their curfew, they weren't allowed to be at Sam's Speakeasy.  Sam's Speakeasy is basically a combination of a bar and a strip club.   Minors are prohibited from entering.  For some reason, the 14-year-old daughter and the boy were in the area and that Murphy tried pushing the daughter into the closet, which had to be in the strip club.

Either the children were there because their mother was there or they were doing some sexual-related acts.  I think its most likely the first choice.

Why in the hell did she pursue to attack the officer?  Was she trying to make herself look intelligent?

The story:

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Attack-102312

My take on it:

Talk about one hell of a dysfunctional family.  I'm curious as to what had started the conflict in the first place. 

Why the hell did a man attack his own sister by punching him in the face, especially in the middle of the night?

Why did it escalate of having Sawaan hitting Robert repeatedly with the bat, then attacking his vehicle?

Overall, they are all in the wrong, maybe including Leanna as well.  Leanna could have done something that wasn't listed in the story.  Then again, it had to be something serious enough so that she would have been charged for it.  Since it wasn't listed in the paper about her being charged, it may be more likely that she didn't do anything wrong and that she was attacked by her violent brother.

The Hawk Eye and KBUR failed to warn locals about shooting

During the shooting, The Hawk Eye website never reported it at all!  This was taken at 12:00 AM this morning.

The Eastern Iowa Firegrounds facebook page complained about The Hawk Eye about them not updating this information on their website when it was happening!

Not only The Hawk Eye failed to deliver the information, KBUR was floating the same boat as well!

Because of this, there was a lack of information being provided quickly enough to alert the public that live in the area about the dangerous gunman.  The only way people would find out about it is if they were informed by the Eastern Iowa Fireground Facebook page, a police scanner, or the word of mouth.

Two people are currently hospitalized.  More could have been in danger due to lack of information that could be provided to them on time.  Both the radio and newspaper industries has the best way of alerting the public through their website and on radio.  It's sad to think that these two areas aren't responsible enough in alerting the public in time.

Stupid Sunday: 10/21/2012

Here's the next installment of Stupid Sunday.

The story:

Although this isn't the entire story, I still wanted to link it.  http://burlingtoniowa.blogspot.com/2012/10/burlington-man-shot-two-people-on-loose.html

My take on it:

What the hell was this guy thinking?  He walks down a street and shoots a person, then travels down another street and shoots another person.  Why did he do that to innocent civilians?

I'm curious on the fact that he was able to find a house to take cover at.  I'm not sure whether he broke into a house or he owned it, he wanted to get inside for cover.  Thankfully, there wasn't anyone inside that was taken as a hostage, judging by the news that I have ingested so far.

What made this guy do it is unclear, but it didn't make sense in thinking that he would outlast the police, the tactical squad, and the detectives that surrounded both areas of town.

Hopefully the victims from the shooting would recover soon.     

Burlington man shot two people; on the loose with long gun

On Facebook, I noticed that the Eastern Iowa Fireground had submitted two posts earlier today.

The incident is occurring nearby the location of Grimes School at 1021 S. 10th St.

It isn't determined yet of what the man looks like, but he is carrying a long gun.  Long guns tend to be either a rifle or a shotgun.  It isn't clear whether he's carrying a rifle or a shotgun.  The suspect is currently at large and is advised to avoid the area.  He was last seen walking north.

 Its not determined whether the victims were killed or injured.

Some individuals provided details of what was being observed.

Updates will be provided soon.


UPDATE: 3:49 PM

An update from the Eastern Iowa Fireground Facebook page.


The suspect is located on the 500 block of Elm Street; one block away from Tom's Food Market.  The suspect is sitting on top of a house in the area.

UPDATE #2: 3:55 PM

It was confirmed that it is indeed a stand off.  Detectives and tactical team are responding to the scene.

UPDATE #3 : 4:14 PM

The detectives and tactical team are close to their location.

UPDATE #4 : 4:16 PM

The detectives and tactical team are nearby Central Avenue.

UPDATE #5 : 4:18 PM

Both of the victims from shooting are current at the hospital.  The suspect is at large and is sitting on a house. He was last seen running into the 500 block of Elm St.

UPDATE #6 : 4:27 PM

Both areas of 500 block of Elm St. and 1000 block of South 10th St. are blocked off.  Perimeters in these areas are blocked off.

Police scanner reports a 25 year-old male victim.  Shot 1 hour ago. He's pale, cool, and his pulse is cold.  Heart rate is 120.  Complaining about severe pain.  3 units of medicine delivered to the patient.  ETA in 13 minutes.

Here's the audio from the police scanner talking about the victim.

UPDATE #7 : 5:27 PM

The standstill is still continuing on.  Information was provided on what would happen to the fugitive once he is captured.

UPDATE #8 : 6:03 PM














It was confirmed that the tactical team is on scene and that both them and the officers have their guns drawn in the general perimeter.

UPDATE #9 : 7:15 PM









Most of the on-shift officers are back on regular patrol while some are at both locations with the tactical team.

UPDATE #10: 7:20 PM 

The dispatcher asked for all Burlington units report in as Code 1.

UPDATE #11: 7:45 PM






Suspect is in custody.

UPDATE # 12: 7:47 PM

Information about the suspect in custody is unknown.  Information won't be available until tomorrow.  Officers are still on both of the locations and probably will continue to be on location all night.

UPDATE # 13: 10:47 PM






The current condition of the two patients are unknown, but it is known that both of them were hit in certain areas of the body.

The police left the South 10th St. area recently.

UPDATE # 14: 4:51 AM

Suspect was identified.  Link to news story on website is provided.  http://www.kwqc.com/story/19877045/one-shot-a 

The 25-year-old man was flown to Iowa City hospital.  As for the woman, she was taken to the hospital and that she was grazed by either shrapnel from the bullet or wood from the door.

Stupid Saturday: 10/20/2012

Its been awhile since I last submitted something for this particular section.  Let's begin.

I would like to first take part on something that hasn't been reported anywhere.  I have observed some interesting details about this particular incident while waiting in the emergency room.  Keep in mind that the entry listed above was about the closest thing that I could find about a report made nearby a restaurant   The time could have been earlier and that he could have been listed as a Mental Subject listing.  Not all the details were given out on location.  Some pieces were missing.

Story:

I brought someone into the emergency room to have looked at.  As I waited, I overheard a phone call given to the desk that an officer is on route to the hospital with a patient.  The officer tells the staff over the phone that the man had a head injury and that he was handcuffed.  It was suspected that he could have fallen and hit his head against the curve.

About 10-15 minutes later, the man mentioned that he was cuffed against the inclined rolling bed.  He was accompanied by an officer, two nurses, and an doctor.  There was a suspicion that the man has a head/neck injury and he was bleeding all over.  The man was suspected to be intoxicated.  He pleaded that he didn't want to go back to jail.  The officer made it clear to him that he was under arrest.

The man's name was Mike.  He was about 6' 1'' to 6' 2''.  He had short blondish hair.  He had no shirt on and wore jeans and black tennis shoes.  He had black tattoos across his shoulders on his back.  He lives in the general area.

Mike tried escaping but failed because both his hands were cuffed on either end of the bed.  He occasionally screamed and cursed.

For a while, he refused to talk to a doctor nor cooperating with them in being taken care of.  He sat up mostly from his bed instead of resting.

Although Mike had taken his Tetanus shot just a couple of months ago, they have given it to him anyways. The nurse gave him one and told the man that it would be good for 10 years.  He resisted.  He became aggressive when the nurses were trying to give the man his shots. A nurse or the officer suggested tying him down because his legs weren't secured and he had been resisting.  The nurses weren't able to hold his legs down. One of the nurses mentioned that they had to slam him down on the bed. After the shot was delivered, Mike experienced pain from the shot.

Later on, there were some suggestions about having blood tests done on the man.  When they went in to test him, he refused to relax while it was happening.  They held him down and eventually had some blood drawn. Mike accused one of the nurses of hurting him while the blood was being drawn.

After the blood was taken out for testing, Mike said to the officer "Unlock me, dude."  He then said "Let me go, dude and I'll be cooperative."  The officer refused.  The man replied, "That's wrong, dude."

The officer made a suggestion about a "psyc transfer".  The officer then goes further into detail that he may or may not be wrong for him in needing one.  The ETA of when he was suppose to leave was 2 hours.  There was a mentioning about psychotic medication, but its unclear whether he takes them or needs them.

Mike later talked about wanting brown hair, then darker hair.  Eventually, he began to calm down.  The nurses may have satiated the man in order for him to calm down.  He then became more talkative.  He then says, "Two more left and we are done.  I can feel it, dude."  It wasn't clear whether it was the medicine he was talking about or something else.  The man cursed a lot, mostly the 'f'' word.

Later on, Mike was wheeled away to have a CAT scan done on his head and neck.  He came back within 10-20 minutes later.

Mike asked the officer to take off his gloves.  The officer wore blue plastic medical gloves.  He asked the officer over and over again to uncuff his one hand.  The officer refused.

The officer placed his phone and his ID back into his jacket.  It was then bagged up.

The officer later asked whether Mike wanted a band aid for his head or not.  Mike refused.  The officer then asked whether Terry Johnson was his emergency contact.  Mike refused to have the man contacted.

Mike asked, "Am I a convict?  You treat me like a convict."  The officer didn't respond back.

The officer talked to one of the nurses and wasn't sure whether someone else was involved or not.  According to Mike's story, there was a man involved.  The man was described as being white, stood between 4' 4'' and 5' 4''.  The incident supposedly happened nearby a restaurant, which could have been by Arbys.

The results came back.  His neck and head was fine and free from other injuries.  There was a suspicion that Mike may had a seizure outside the hospital.  They discussed about him being suicidal and something on the lines of cattle medication.  He eventually warmed up with some of the nurses and soon they began to talk and joke with one another.

The officer was called into the hallway to talk to someone on the phone.  After he was finished, he got off the phone.  He told the nurses that there was a lot of blood at the scene.

Mike later said, "You can't do this to me."  He then makes a statement saying, "I'm ready to die.  Not today."

The doctor entered the room and told Mike that he had some stitching done to his head and that he can follow up with his doctor in 7 days to have them removed.  The stitching could have been done shortly before or after the x-ray was completed.  The nurses then cleaned the blood off of Mike's face.

Mike asked the officer, "Am I going to prison?"  The officer replied that he was going to jail.  Mike then asked what his bail would be.  The officer said $300.  After the entire conversation was over and Mike was finished, all of them left the area.

Later on, the desk area reported that the man was still listed as being transferred to the psych ward.  One of the women then told the woman that was typing the information out that they had forgotten to have the entry removed and that the woman should have it removed.  The woman on the computer then asked about why it was listed as forensics and whether he should be listed as being cuffed or not.  The others replied that it was forensics because of the incident and that he shouldn't be listed as being cuffed.  The staff talked about the man being very weird.

My take on it:

I found it very strange that the officer was giving orders to hospital staff about submitting Mike into a psychiatric ward.  The officer isn't a trained psychologist that would be able to diagnose Mike properly.  The details about what happened at the scene were vague and incomplete.  The man had admitted out loud about wanting to die, which is a possibility that he was suicidal.  Because of the lack of information that was being collected by Mike's mental status, it was most likely dropped.

Since Mike has shown some resistance, there shouldn't be any acknowledgement in giving him much sympathy.   If he was drunk, had a cut on his head, bleeding everywhere, cuffed to his bed, resisted having his blood drawn and shots taken; he most likely had done something that he shouldn't have.  He could have either be involved in a fight with someone or even with himself.  It wasn't clear whether his story was true or was a lie.  It could have been a lie since he was intoxicated.

The nurses seemed a bit disorganized in cancelling the psych transfer for Mike, given the fact that they cancelled it about 20-40 minutes after he had left the hospital completely.  

Overall the entire situation was weird and bizarre.  

Story:

Here's the link from The Hawk Eye.  http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Horn-pleads-to-meth-charge-101612

My take on it:

The children were removed from their house from a DHS.  The question comes down to:  how long did this worker know about the report and how was he/she involved with the children and the parent's case?  Was this reported a long time ago or a short time ago?  Who referenced this worker to have the child speak with this worker?  It was very unclear of how much time had passed before the girl spoke to someone, forwarded to a DHS worker, and action was taken.

Most DHS workers in this town tend to be very picky, irresponsible, and lazy.  When a report is made for a home full of children (like a run-down place), its most likely that it would never be investigated.  If it was investigated, most of the time the children would stay in the area.  Hell, this is the same department that recommended children in being babysat with an abusive babysitter named Betty some years ago.  That however is another story.  

I'm wondering why the hell the prosecutors had dropped some of the charges on the woman.  If she had all of these things pressed onto her, why the hell is she being let go for some of these serious charges?  Its safe to say that Judge Brown doesn't think things through in prosecuting people appropriately instead of half-assing it.

Although the woman is getting 14 years in prison, I believe that she deserves to be charged with the rest of the charges that were dropped.  That way, she would stay in there longer and would be out of society's way.

The Hawk Eye planning to start website subscription services on November 12

I came across to a column in today's article from The Hawk Eye.

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Delaney-101312


I find this rather annoying for them to do this.  We have to pay for every access of news on their website through the use of 'subscription services'.  The writer of the article basically compares The Hawk Eye with The Wall Street Journal and how The Hawk Eye should start doing subscription services despite individuals who can hardly afford anything in this town already.  That means no one without a free subscription cannot access the website, except for subscriptions and searching for an article that would be later used to be paid for (with only have one access use of it before you have to pay again to access the link).

Many people in the city cannot afford to pay for a subscription so they rely on the website.  Others use the website because they don't want to pay an extra subscription to their service because we are paying for the paper version and would like to have a electronic copy of an article or set of articles as well.

How much is a subscription?  How long would it last?  Would it grant access to past articles or do we have to pay extra to obtain each article?

I don't believe The Hawk Eye is doing this for the general public's favor.  I believe they are doing it for their own corporate greed.  Removing every access point for people who want to read the news for free is wrong.

Tim Scott blasting city council for lack of public non-agenda discussions, Fleming disagrees with the idea

A newspaper article was published in The Hawk Eye in regards to a comment made by former mayor Tim Scott.  http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/City2-100212

The entire conversation can be listened through this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bypvHHf-o8

The Hawk Eye never acknowledged about Robert Fleming's comments in regards to Tim Scott's discussion nor as the article discussed anything else about the conversation other than what was listed
.
After Mayor Davidson agreed with Tim Scott and the problem the City Council has with not giving feedback to the public about concerns, Fleming disagrees of it entirely.

Flemings opinion about people's discussions.
http://youtu.be/1bypvHHf-o8?t=5m37s

Fleming disagreeing with Scott's discussion entirely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bypvHHf-o8&t=6m29s

It makes me wonder why The Hawk Eye didn't add the disagreeing comment Fleming had made.  Maybe for re-election purposes?

Memorial Auditorium's large white fountain has been occupied by random people for years!

Every summer, I would walk downtown to check out the riverfront view.  Every summer, the fountains nearby the Memorial Auditorium are turned on as part of a display.

And every summer, there have been people playing in and around the entire area.

















The photo above was taken earlier today as it was a common thing that was being done to that fountain.  Children, hell even adults play in it.  Even though there is a clear visible sign with capitalized letters, including using the colors red and black; people still jump in and play around.


What is the fountain's real purpose?


According to a June 1998 Minutes document from the City of Burlington, a fountain was being discussed in being placed somewhere in Burlington.  It would be considered to help promote tourism, but was also considered an attraction.  Council Member Wright considered it more of an addition to the Memorial Auditorium rather than an attraction.

However, according to the Grow Burlington website, the fountains that are located in front of the building is a favorite cooling off spot during the summer.


So the fountain's main purpose is to either draw tourism or be an addition to the auditorium.  The separate fountains located on the ground in front of the building have a general purpose of keeping individuals cooled off during the summer. 


However, even though the smaller ones that are lying flat on the ground and are used more for cooling tourists off during the summer, it doesn't mean that people can jump in or around the large white fountain nearby.


Why do people do this?

Having a few water parks in town, it would be understandable to go to places like Fun City and play in a larger pool full of slides, toys, etc.  However, there is a cost to attending such places and they're usually not cheap.  


Where is a public area full of water that is running every summer and doesn't cost any money to entertain one's self?  The white fountain down by the river is the only place.  Some individuals may be doing this because they want to play in the water where is clean, plentiful, and free.


That doesn't rule out other individuals who do it because it’s really hot outside.  Today was one of those days where the temperature reached near the 90's.  



Is there anyone enforcing the rules that were placed originally by the sign?

The most likely answer to this question is: NO.  If it was enforced by any law enforcement, people who regularly or occasionally jump in and play would never come back.  There wouldn't be anyone in it if it was enforced effectively.  
   
It would probably not be enforced for two reasons:  many officers in this town can't enforce anything effectively due to the cities lack of funding and the poor training the officers receive; and there isn't a barrier preventing people from jumping in it.



What would happen if someone were to get electrocuted or hurt from playing in the fountain?

If someone were to get hurt or killed as a result for playing in the water fountain, it would be easily viewed by anyone who is at the river.  

Law Enforcement would most likely be involved with fixing the issue of the offenders, perhaps even the city.  

If a lawsuit were to open up as a result from playing inside the fountain, the chances of winning the case would be zero to none.  The big reason is the fact that the person(s) involved in swimming, jumping, etc. either ignored or couldn't read the sign that was put into the ground.  Another reason would be that it was originally designed to be an attraction, or by what Council Member Wright considered it an "addition", not some mini play park that is left unsupervised 24/7.

I've seen many children jumping and waving their arms around the edge, even the inner part of the fountain.  Clearly it is a safety hazard for anyone being in the fountain before someone slips and breaks their neck or gets electrocuted.

City of Burlington agreeing to build a worthless 20-mile bike trail

I read some articles about the ribbon cutting and the current progress of the new bike trail that is currently being constructed.

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Flint-River-precede-050312
http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Flint-River-050512
http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/bike-fleche-051312

The Hawk Eye provided an image in the paper for everyone to see.  The problem though is the fact that the resolution of the image is so crappy that its hard to tell where this trail is going to be ending up exactly, except for certain areas like Big Hallow and Starr's Cave Nature Center.

After looking at it, I decided to construct a full resolution of the map to show the details that are being left out. 

There are a few problems that I see that is wrong with having this built.



Building it through private property and out-of-town:

For one, some areas of the track are going to be built on private property, meaning that the city has no authorization to touch such property since the owners bought it long before they decided to purchase pieces of their land to build a ridiculous bike trail.

What I don't understand is that The City of Burlington is building a bike trail that will stretch outside of the town's limits as well.  What will give them the authorization to do that? 


Flooding:

Another problem is the flooding from nearby bodies of water. Its not just the main part of the Mississippi that would flood out some of the trail occasionally, its also comes from the stream of water that intersects with Flint Creek that would also help flood the area out.  That huge amount of area surrounding these bodies of water can and will flood out much of the bike trail.

Here's an image of the impact the 2008 flood had on the town.  The image can be clicked on to see the full detail of the aerial map.

Even though the image doesn't show area's like around Mill Dam Road, the rest of Flint Creek, Starr's Cave Nature Center, those areas were also affected greatly.  When I was around the area of Mill Dam Road, just away from Case Company, there are already some flooding coming from the river stream coming from nearby.  This event happened a few days before the floods reached further to Case.

Years later, I tried researching for recent flood maps in the general area.  All I found was a book that had flood maps of the town......from the 1980s.  There was not a single piece of updated map material that was found in the library.  There was no maps of the 1993 and 2008 floods; not even the smaller floods were reported in between those times, as well as afterwards.


Not too many people would be willing to ride their bike 20 miles back and forth:


This is also another problem that will arise after it is finished being built.  How many athletic individuals in this town would be willing and able to pedal 20 miles onto the trail and 20 miles back?

What the newspaper articles didn't provide is whether the entire trip is going to be flat ground or hilly areas.  Much of the city has plenty of hills and some areas that I looked into, like the beginning of the trail, does have some hills to them.

The big question is how many hills would be found on the bike trail that is being constructed and how steep are they?

Researched information

In one of my previous postings, I used some basic information about finding out one of the suicides that had taken place back in 1993.  Here are some information that can be downloaded for anyone to look through for themselves.

http://www.mediafire.com/myfiles.php#alpb1qhrpfebu

In addition to downloading the articles, I also will place them through the blog for everyone to see and read.  I'm planning to upload the original copies of the articles that were researched from the library and upload them to the blog for everyone to access.


Copy of Bully article from the original Psychology Today magazine.

Database file of the same article from the magazine.

A book written about bullying that references the article from Psychology Today's magazine.

Two of the many Letters to the Editor published in the newspaper.  These particular pieces were written from outside the state.

An article written in Chicago Tribune about Curtis Taylor's death.

Updated research information on the student suicides

After a few hours, I came back with some research material about the student suicides in 1993.

I went through these four rolls of microfilm to look for newspaper articles listed as important dates.  Here is what I discovered.

An article was listed named W.B. teen-ager commits suicide  in The Hawk Eye on March 21, 1993.

The first of the three suicides occurred on March 19, 1993 at 2:30 a.m.  She committed suicide by a gunshot to the head.  Latricia Nacole, 15, of West Burlington, attended West Burlington High School.  She was a cheerleader for the football team.  She originally was a student at the Burlington School District, but was transferred to West Burlington the year before.

The news about the suicide was going around before authorities released any information about Latricia.








An article was listed named W.B. copes with 2nd teen suicide in The Hawk Eye on March 22, 1993.

On March 20, 1993 at 11:30 p.m., a second suicide was reported.  He committed suicide using a 12-gauge shotgun.  Jade Klein, 15, of West Burlington, attended West Burlington High School.  He received the National Merit Science Award, and enjoys the outdoors, fishing, and hunting.

Police and school officials identified five to six other high school students to be potential risks and the parents were asked to keep an eye on their children.  Half dozen students left the high school without alerting school officials.

The newspaper listed an obitchuary, but no photo was published of Jade Klein.


An article was listed named Police probe 3rd suicide in The Hawk Eye on March 23, 1993.

On March 22, 1993 at around 5:30-6:00 p.m., a third suicide was reported.  He committed suicide by shooting himself.  Curtis Taylor, 14, of Burlington, attended Oak Street Middle School.  He was involved in a school play and was featured in the December 1992 newspaper about a book that he wrote in regards of Vietnam as part of a class project.  He researched war at the library, looking for poems and songs during that time period.  A copy of his book was placed in the library at Oak Street school.

In the same article, George Rinker, 19, of Burlington, threatened to commit suicide on March 23rd at 1:20 a.m.  It wasn't clear though on whether or not he was a current or former student at the time.

After the report of Curtis's death, letters were mail out from Oak Street School to acknowledged the students' parents about the death of the recent student.

The letters were written out by Robert Dodder, President of Board of Education.

 Meetings were created for not only the affected schools, but other schools around the general area, such as the Burlington and Mount Pleasant schools.  Counselors were organized to work with students, as well as having support being given by Governor Branstad with bringing in state counselors.  Churches also did their part with setting up meetings in order to help prevent anymore suicides from taking place.  Letters to the Editor were published by students, as well as a couple of other individuals, expressing their emotions on the suicides.

The events unfolded from March 21st through the late end of the month.  It was unclear whether the discussion began on the 20th.  That is due to the lack of the entire March 20th newsprint.

An article was listed named Father sues school over son's suicide in The Hawk Eye on November 11, 1993.

On November 10, 1993, the father of Curtis Taylor files a suit against the Burlington School District.  On the same day of the suicide, Curtis told his school counselor Elwin Kendell that he was thinking about suicide.  Elwin wasn't able to reach Curtis's father at work.  He then sent Curtis home after making a promise to meet with him the next morning.

Curtis had some history of psychological problems and the father believed that he should have done more with his son on the day of the suicide.

He filed a suit because the school district failed to properly supervise and protect Curtis and other students at school.

His son was reported to be harassed and bullied by other students.  The school didn't do enough to stop the problems.

An article was listed named School district reaches settlement in The Hawk Eye on May 1, 1996.

In late April of 1996, the school district paid $160,000 worth of damages to Curtis Taylor's father.  In addition to the damages, a change of policies were made.

The district agreed to implement a plan for identifying students who are at risk for suicide and a list of responses to be considered after identifying such a student.  The new policy must be forwarded to the board for approval within eight months.

I looked into researching the names of the victims shortly after I looked through the microfilm, which lists articles from the newspaper.  None of the victim's names showed up in the special section for deaths, even though their names should have been added years ago for the listings.