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Tag: Marshalltown

  • From burying to marrying: Funeral home director officiates wedding after judge doesn’t show

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    An Iowa couple ran into a wedding day hiccup Thursday when the judge scheduled to marry them didn’t show up, but love and a quick phone call found a way.Alexis and Rean Webb planned to tie the knot at the Marshall County Courthouse at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12. It was always meant to be something intimate, where they would be surrounded by close loved ones. “We wanted something very small and low-key,” said Rean Webb. The couple, joined by their children, posed for a photo inside the courthouse.Unfortunately, just moments later, they would learn the judge they had an appointment with wasn’t going to show up, and there wasn’t a different judge available. While the no-show could have derailed their plans, the Webbs kept calm. In fact, they said they were more surprised by how quickly everything came together next.”My dad instantly jumped up, and he was like, ‘I know somebody: Jody,’” Alexis Webb said.That “somebody” was Jody Anderson. He’s a family friend and is ordained. He and his wife are also the owners and funeral directors of Anderson Funeral Homes. Anderson said he was at home when Alexis’ father called his phone. His wife woke him up to let him know who was on the line.”I rolled into the funeral home. Parking lot was full of cars. Family members. Didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Anderson said.Still, he opened the doors to the funeral home’s chapel, welcomed the family inside, and took time to speak with the couple.”I took five to 10 minutes, met with them, discussed the importance, made sure they were both for real,” Anderson said.They were.Within 30 minutes of that first phone call, Alexis and Rean Webb were married in a ceremony the couple said turned out to be more meaningful than they expected.”It was even better than we expected because we kind of did get a real wedding in a sense. We’re in a chapel. I got to walk down the aisle with my dad. The girls got to be flower girls. My son got to be the ring bearer, and his son got to be his best man. I mean, what more could we ask for?” Alexis Webb said.For the Webbs, what began as a setback ended with a wedding they’ll never forget, and they’re grateful for Anderson.As for Anderson, helping was never a question.”It goes back to my career as a funeral director. The phone rings? I go. I mean, you don’t say no. You help people, and I think that’s what the good Lord put me on the Earth to do, is to help people, and I was just happy to help,” Anderson said.

    An Iowa couple ran into a wedding day hiccup Thursday when the judge scheduled to marry them didn’t show up, but love and a quick phone call found a way.

    Alexis and Rean Webb planned to tie the knot at the Marshall County Courthouse at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12. It was always meant to be something intimate, where they would be surrounded by close loved ones.

    “We wanted something very small and low-key,” said Rean Webb.

    The couple, joined by their children, posed for a photo inside the courthouse.

    Unfortunately, just moments later, they would learn the judge they had an appointment with wasn’t going to show up, and there wasn’t a different judge available.

    While the no-show could have derailed their plans, the Webbs kept calm. In fact, they said they were more surprised by how quickly everything came together next.

    “My dad instantly jumped up, and he was like, ‘I know somebody: Jody,’” Alexis Webb said.

    That “somebody” was Jody Anderson. He’s a family friend and is ordained. He and his wife are also the owners and funeral directors of Anderson Funeral Homes.

    Anderson said he was at home when Alexis’ father called his phone. His wife woke him up to let him know who was on the line.

    “I rolled into the funeral home. Parking lot was full of cars. Family members. Didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Anderson said.

    Still, he opened the doors to the funeral home’s chapel, welcomed the family inside, and took time to speak with the couple.

    “I took five to 10 minutes, met with them, discussed the importance, made sure they were both for real,” Anderson said.

    They were.

    Within 30 minutes of that first phone call, Alexis and Rean Webb were married in a ceremony the couple said turned out to be more meaningful than they expected.

    “It was even better than we expected because we kind of did get a real wedding in a sense. We’re in a chapel. I got to walk down the aisle with my dad. The girls got to be flower girls. My son got to be the ring bearer, and his son got to be his best man. I mean, what more could we ask for?” Alexis Webb said.

    For the Webbs, what began as a setback ended with a wedding they’ll never forget, and they’re grateful for Anderson.

    As for Anderson, helping was never a question.

    “It goes back to my career as a funeral director. The phone rings? I go. I mean, you don’t say no. You help people, and I think that’s what the good Lord put me on the Earth to do, is to help people, and I was just happy to help,” Anderson said.

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  • News We Love: ‘Banks,’ a dog pulled from a muddy Iowa river, may soon have a new home

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    A Great Pyrenees dubbed “Banks” was rescued Wednesday after getting stuck in mud along a river in Iowa, prompting a boat response from the Marshalltown Fire Department because the heavily wooded area prevented police from reaching the dog on foot.”They tried to reach him by foot, and they couldn’t, so they asked us to take our boat out,” said Deputy Fire Chief Curt Raue.Firefighters freed the dog quickly. “This one was as textbook as it could be,” said Raue.Banks was turned over to the Marshalltown Animal Rescue League, where veterinarians cleared him. “Vets gave us a clear bill of health,” said Austin Gillis, the executive director of the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown.Gillis says the positive outcome was helped by the dog’s thick coat and the fact that he was in mud, not water. “If the animal is dry, we’ve got time to make this as safe as possible,” Gillis said.Less than a day after his rescue, Banks was energetic, though still caked with mud, and expected to be cleaned up after grooming. No information has been released about possible owners or how he ended up there. For the time being, “Banks” will be cared for by the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown.It is likely he will not be there very long.Deputy Chief Raue says a firefighter who played a role in the rescue has filed paperwork to adopt him, saying Banks “made an impression on a lot of the people who rescued him.”

    A Great Pyrenees dubbed “Banks” was rescued Wednesday after getting stuck in mud along a river in Iowa, prompting a boat response from the Marshalltown Fire Department because the heavily wooded area prevented police from reaching the dog on foot.

    “They tried to reach him by foot, and they couldn’t, so they asked us to take our boat out,” said Deputy Fire Chief Curt Raue.

    Firefighters freed the dog quickly.

    “This one was as textbook as it could be,” said Raue.

    Banks was turned over to the Marshalltown Animal Rescue League, where veterinarians cleared him.

    “Vets gave us a clear bill of health,” said Austin Gillis, the executive director of the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown.

    Gillis says the positive outcome was helped by the dog’s thick coat and the fact that he was in mud, not water.

    “If the animal is dry, we’ve got time to make this as safe as possible,” Gillis said.

    Less than a day after his rescue, Banks was energetic, though still caked with mud, and expected to be cleaned up after grooming.

    No information has been released about possible owners or how he ended up there.

    For the time being, “Banks” will be cared for by the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown.

    It is likely he will not be there very long.

    Deputy Chief Raue says a firefighter who played a role in the rescue has filed paperwork to adopt him, saying Banks “made an impression on a lot of the people who rescued him.”

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  • Second Joburg CBD fire leaves hundreds homeless – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Second Joburg CBD fire leaves hundreds homeless – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    | Another building in Marshalltown, in the Johannesburg CBD, at the corner of Delvers Street and Cornelius Street caught fire on Friday. This follows one of the shacks erected inside the building catching fire, with one person suffering smoke inhalation. No fatalities were reported.

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  • Survivors recount harrowing escape stories at memorial service – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Survivors recount harrowing escape stories at memorial service – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    On Friday, a memorial service was held in Johannesburg to honour the lives of the 77 people, which included 12 children, who died in the fatal fire that raged through a five-storey building in Marshalltown last week.

    Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg held a memorial service for the 77 people who died in the raging blaze that engulfed a dilapidated building on Albert Street on 31 August 2023. Picture: Veronica Makhoali/Eyewitness News

    JOHANNESBURG – The father of a three-year-old toddler who survived the Marshalltown fire said he was heartbroken for the families who lost their children in the blaze.

    A memorial service was held at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg on Friday to honour the 77 lives lost in the Albert Street blaze.

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    During the service, survivors told harrowing stories of how they escaped the flames, including the miraculous rescue of three-year-old Islam Chikwana.

    Twelve children were among the 77 people who died in the raging fire on 31 August.

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    Speaking to Eyewitness News with his three-year-old son in his arms, Mohammed Chikwana said when he managed to escape the blaze, he realised that his wife only had their five-month-old, and not their three-year-old.

    He then went to the firefighters, insisting they go back in to try…

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  • Survivors of Joburg CBD fire stressed about what the future holds for them – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Survivors of Joburg CBD fire stressed about what the future holds for them – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    Close to 300 survivors are being temporarily housed at three shelters across Johannesburg.

    A fire engine is seen extinguishing a fire at a building in Marshalltown in the Johannesburg CBD on 31 August 2023. Picture: @GautengHealth/X

    JOHANNESBURG – Hundreds of survivors of the Marshalltown building fire, which claimed the lives of 77 people, remain uncertain of their future.

    Close to 300 survivors are being temporarily housed at three shelters across Johannesburg.

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    Many of the survivors left the building with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

    READ: Joburg CBD fire death toll likely to rise, says GP Health MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko

    Phakamani Tshikila, a mother of four children, is grateful that she managed to escape the fire last week in Marshalltown but was stressed about what the future holds.

    Speaking to Eyewitness News from the Hofland Recreation Centre in Bezuidenhout Valley, she said chose to stay in the building on Albert Street, knowing that it was hijacked.

    “I went there knowing the building was a hijacked building. I went there knowing the electricity was free, you don’t load electricity there. So I was paying someone R1,100 rent per month.”

    Tshikila is currently being housed in a hall and provided with food, clothing, mattresses and blankets by NGOs and the…

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  • GP Health Dept says it’s on track to complete Joburg CBD fire post-mortems – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    GP Health Dept says it’s on track to complete Joburg CBD fire post-mortems – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    The department said by Saturday evening, pathologists had conducted post-mortems on 58 bodies and were only left with 16 to be concluded on Sunday.

    Johannesburg emergency services attend to a fire in the Johannesburg CBD on 31 August 2023. Picture: Tamika Gounden/Eyewitness News

    JOHANNESBURG – The Gauteng Health Department (GDoH) said it’s on track to complete 18 outstanding autopsies from the 74 bodies recovered in the deadly Marshalltown fire.

    On Sunday, the department confirmed that the death toll had risen to 77.

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    This includes 12 children who lost their lives on Thursday after a blaze tore through a five-storey building in the Joburg CBD.

    Although Gauteng Pathology Services had set a deadline of two weeks to process all the victims’ bodies, the department said they have been able to work quicker than envisaged.

    “As more families come forth to report their loved ones who might have perished, the department can confirm that it is on track to complete conducting of post-mortems on the 74 deceased people. By Saturday evening, pathologists had done post-mortems on 58 bodies and were only left with 16 to be concluded on Sunday,” said spokesperson Motalatale Modiba.

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    Joburg CBD fire: ActionSA wants state to be charged with culpable homicide

    ‘There…

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