UI Prof Demonstrates Iowa’s First Stroke Robot: DI Reader, June 13

UI prof demonstrates Iowa’s first stroke robot

For Gerri Nichols, 69, and her husband Highland Nichols, the Stroke Robot at the Mercy Medical Center in Clinton is the main reason she has almost fully recovered from the stroke she suffered on May 20.

Harold Adams, a University of Iowa professor of neurology and director of the UI Stroke Center, demonstrated an examination of a stroke patient via teleprompter at the UI Hospitals & Clinics on Tuesday. The Stroke Robot at Mercy Medical Center in Clinton is the first to be used in Iowa.

“The Stroke Robot is an important first step in managing stroke and one of the vital ways physicians in Iowa can improve the medical response time to victims of stroke,” he said.

Read more here.

Zombie Craft-pocalypse strikes Iowa City Public Library

Twelve-year-old Max Collins knows exactly what he would do in a zombie apocalypse: climb into a tree and find things to throw.

“The Subway slogan after the zombie apocalypse: Zombie eat flesh,” Collins said jokingly. 

Collins was one of several local youth at the Iowa City Public Library’s Zombie Craft-pocalypse event Tuesday as a part of the teen summer reading program. The zombie theme was chosen for the week’s event because of its current influence in pop-culture. 

Read more here.

Women in Iowa, Afghanistan play major role in agriculture

Denise O’Brien, an organic farmer from Atlantic, Iowa, returned in April from a year-long stay in Afghanistan, where she was serving as an agricultural advisor for the USDA Office of Foreign Service Operations/Overseas.

She spoke to a small group of friends and colleagues on Tuesday night at the Newman Catholic Student Center, 104 East Jefferson Street, about her experiences in Afghanistan.

O’Brien said one of the similarities she noticed was the local food infrastructure, which Iowa has been shifting toward and is already present in Afghanistan.

Read more here.

Weno wins for City

Iowa City High School softball player junior Erin Weno did it all for the Little Hawks in their 6-4 victory over Cedar Rapids Xavier on Monday.

The fireballer hit a two-run home run, stole a base, and pitched effectively enough to help lead City High to the important win.

"She's an all-around player," head coach Gary Fickel said. "She had a steady game, did a nice job in the circle, and her two-run homer was critical for us."

Read more here.

Editorial: Prairie Lights’ grant shows good, bad in city’s economic policy

Last week, city officials decided to award Prairie Lights a $27,500 grant — a decision highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of the city’s policies in making economic decisions for our future.

The problems in this process begin to arise when this information reaches the Iowa City City Council’s decision-making process. The Economic Policy Committee can either review the grant or, because of a recent change in policy, the city manager can bypass the committee and award the grant himself.

Read more here.