A crowd gathered in the Iowa Capitol rotunda Thursday afternoon to bid a formal farewell to former Governor Robert D. Ray.  At 5 p.m., hundreds stood silently as Ray’s casket was carried to the center of the first floor rotunda. An honor guard took their posts. The Navy Hymn was played, in honor of Ray’s military service. Three wreaths were placed three wreaths near the casket, which was draped with an American flag. Some of the Vietnam refugees Ray had helped resettle in Iowa in the 1970s and early ’80s led the crowd as it filed through the rotunda. Mani Nhung came to pay her respects. She’s a member of Vietnam’s persecuted Tai Dom community who came to Iowa when she was 14 and didn’t know a word of English. “Because of him, that’s why people follow him. They opened their heart, their love to us,” she said.

The Asian Community’s white wreath came with an inscription, calling Ray a “beloved hero” and their “Ray of freedom.” Tuet Chung was a refugee from Cambodia who came to Iowa with her family in 1980. “We just love him so much…to open the door for us. We are just so grateful,” she said. Ray served as Iowa’s governor from January of 1969 until January of 1983. For 51-year-old Robin Clemons of Marshallton, that’s most of her childhood. “I grew up in Iowa and Governor Ray was always the governor,” Clemons said. “I went to the State Fair a few times as a kid and seeing him a few times and I actually got to meet him once. I just thought he was the nicest man.”

Dennis and Virginia Burlingame of Lineville drove to Des Moines to pay their respects. “I really liked him because was a moderate. There’s not many of those and he was a uniter. We need more of those,” Dennis Burlingame said. Virginia Burlingame added: “He was an Iowan, through and through, and he stayed rather than using it as a steppingstone to someplace else.” A few of the staffers who worked for Ray mingled in the early evening, reminiscing. Gerry Schnepf served as director of the Iowa Conservation Commission for Governor Ray. “Actually the memories are really good,” Schnepf said. “…We just had a lot of good times.”

Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad flew back from China, where he’s serving as U.S. Ambassador. “His health has not been good and I just thought if at all possible I wanted to be here to pay my respects and show how much I appreciate all that he did for Iowa and for me,” Branstad told reporters. Ray died Sunday at the age of 89. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. His funeral is today (Friday) at the Des Moines church where he met his wife. The two were married at First Christian Church, too, and their daughters were baptized there. On Thursday afternoon, police and state troopers led the hearse carrying Ray’s casket on a tour of Des Moines, passing by his church, the governor’s mansion and Des Moines City Hall before stopping at the capitol.

Today’s funeral is at 1-p.m. in Des Moines. It will be live streamed at http://live.drake.edu.

(Radio Iowa)

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 20-year old James Michael McCauley, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 7:20-p.m. Thursday in Red Oak. McCauley was taken into custody on a valid Pottawattamie County warrant for 1st Degree Robbery. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $50,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa residents remembering the legacy of former Gov. Robert D. Ray are reflecting on the difference between his administration and today’s politics. Ray will be eulogized Friday during a funeral in Des Moines. The Republican governor is known for being a centrist who put policy before political expediency. World Food Prize Foundation President Kenneth Quinn, who served in the Ray administration, says he doubts someone with Ray’s positions could be elected today.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Health officials in Illinois and Iowa are investigating an increase in people becoming sick from a parasite that causes intestinal illness. The Illinois Department of Public Health says it has received confirmation of about 90 cases of cyclosporiasis, which is caused by the Cyclospora parasite. The Iowa Department of Public Health says it has identified 15 cases. Both departments say there appears to be a link to consumption of McDonald’s salads. They say McDonald’s is also investigating.

MADRID, Iowa (AP) — Flooding has forced organizers to re-route part of Iowa’s annual cross-state bicycle ride. Officials say flooding has significantly affected low-lying edges of Ledges State Park in Madrid, which is slated to host the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa on July 24. The ride has now been re-routed to avoid the park.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s largest power utility has announced it will begin construction of a wind farm in Grundy County. MidAmerican Energy Co. said in a news release Thursday that construction of the Ivester wind farm will begin later this month. It’s expected to be completed by the end of the year. The Ivester project is projected to add 90.8 megawatts of wind generation capacity for MidAmerican customers. That’s enough to power more than 38,000 average homes in Iowa.

MADRID, Iowa (AP) — Flooding has forced organizers to re-route part of Iowa’s annual cross-state bicycle ride. Officials say flooding has significantly affected low-lying edges of Ledges State Park in Madrid, which is slated to host the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa on July 24.

The ride has now been re-routed to avoid the park. The lowest areas along the route are currently under as much as 20 feet of water and levels are not expected to subside by the time bicyclists come through.

Riders are now slated to leave Boone eastbound on U.S. Highway 30, turn south on Quill Avenue, then meet up with the original route after about 3 miles. The new route will decrease the day’s distance by 3 miles. This year’s ride begins July 22 in Onawa and ends July 28 in Davenport.

Mercy Medical Center of Sioux City has become one of the first Iowa hospitals to treat a patient with the world’s smallest pacemaker. Doctor Roque Arteaga of CardioVascular Associates implanted the bullet-sized device into the 79-year-old male patient. He says this type of pacemaker does not have a wire lead to attach to the patient’s chest, so the surgery is less intrusive and is done through a catheter.

“The whole device is through the vein, implanted into the heart muscle and provides all the pacing therapies that the patient requires,” according to Arteaga. The Medtronic Micra T-P-S device is comparable in size to a large vitamin. Doctor Arteaga says the actual implant procedure takes less than an hour and the pacemaker, despite its size, is self-powered.

“It has a miniaturized batter, and depending on how much the patient uses the device, can last anywhere from nine to 13 years,” Arteaga says.The patient can usually go home from the hospital the same day after four to six hours of recovery time. The pacemaker is used to treat Bradycardia, a condition characterized by a slow or irregular heart rhythm that causes dizziness, fatigue and fainting spells.

(Radio Iowa)