Why nine? Because the Patch community includes nine sites in Iowa: Ankeny, Ames, Cedar Falls, Iowa City, Johnston, Marion, Urbandale, Waukee and West Des Moines.

9. Richard Eggers, a 68-year-old Vietnam veteran and not much of a criminal, was fired from his $29,795-a-year job as a customer service representative for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage based in West Des Moines. What diabolical scheme did he cook up to get him canned? He put a cardboard cutout of a dime in a washing machine -- back in 1963. The firing was reportedly prompted by tighter federal regulations.

8. Some Waukee parents are upset that the Waukee school district lacks a policy regarding the reporting of head lice in the classroom — so parents are taking action. An online petition is gathering signatures from people who want to see parents are notified when a case of head lice is reported in their child's classroom or school. And they are urging residents to turn out at the Sept. 10 school board meeting.

7. The Magellan Academy, an award-winning Christian child-care center, is enrolling students at its state-of-the-art facility in Urbandale, as it prepares to open next week. The academy took over the space that once housed Imagination and Education Station, a child-care center that closed abruptly a year ago amid allegations that its owner couldn't meet payroll.

6. Charges could be dropped against a man charged with killing two Ankeny children in a 2010 car crash if another expert determines he is mentally incompetent to stand trial. Kevin Dalasta was leaving a 10-hour shift at Tones Spices in Ankeny on May 6, 2010, when he reportedly drove through a stop sign; police say his truck struck a van driven by Heather DeJoode, then 35. The crash killed Carson DeJoode, 5, and Claire DeJoode, 5 months, while seriously injuring their mother.

5. A Marion company at the center of a Homeland Security investigation last week was earlier the site of a raid by immigration officials in 2011. Nine roofers arrested on April 27, 2011, while working on a house were found to be illegal immigrants and were employees of a business which was hired as a subcontractor for Eastern Iowa Construction and Roofing of Marion. Federal authorities wouldn't discuss why they were at the Marion firm last week.

4. Johnston school district residents presented an online petition with 275 signatures to school board members last week seeking the removal of board member John Dutcher. He has been a controversial figure in the district, most recently drawing fire for accusing four sitting board members, plus, administrators and district employees of misconduct in the September 2011 board election.

3a. On his stop in Ames last week President Barack Obama told 6,000 Iowa State University students and supporters on the central campus that they would be responsible for choosing the country's future. It was his 12^th visit to Iowa since his presidency began and his sixth trip to Iowa in 2012.

3b. A 19-year-old Iowa State University student remains in critical condition after falling from a fifth-story ledge at Legacy Towers Apartments in Ames. Christian McKee sustained a number of serious injuries from the fall after climbing over the building's railing.

2. Iowa City was shocked by Thursday's news that James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 and injuring 58 people in a shooting rampage at an Aurora, CO, movie theater in July, was denied admission to the University of Iowa. Holmes applied to the school's neuroscience graduate program in January 2011, according to newly released records. “Do NOT offer admission under any circumstances,” wrote one professor about Holmes' application.

1. Cedar Falls residents turned out by the thousands Thursday to say "thank you" to hometown hero Navy Petty Officer Taylor Morris, 23, an explosive detection and disposal expert with the Navy who lost parts of all four limbs in a May bomb explosion in Afghanistan. He is recuperating at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. This was his first trip back to Cedar Falls since his January deployment and since the bomb blast.