Latest news with #Dowdy
Chicago Tribune
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- Chicago Tribune
Crumb rubber: How NASCAR recycles the thousands of tires it used over the Chicago race weekend
During a weekend of hot, high-speed friction against the asphalt of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race course, thousands of tires burn out and wear down. After a few dozen laps, they lose their grip and become obsolete. But their life cycle doesn't end there. Each NASCAR race weekend, most of the 3,000 tires provided by Goodyear Racing become a fraction of the tens of thousands recycled annually by Liberty Tire Recycling. Before state laws prohibited it, used tires would be landfilled or stored in stockpiles, said Rick Heinrich, Goodyear's product manager for NASCAR. 'And at a certain point, that's got to be dealt with. We came to the realization that there had to be a new use for these tires, and that's where we're at today,' he said. 'When they're not usable anymore on the street, they're very suitable when they're turned into a different type of product to make other things, things that are all around us.' In 2024, a total of 215 million tires — including 92,588 from NASCAR — were recycled by Liberty, a company based in North Carolina that collects and processes racing, as well as auto and truck tires, from all across North America, according to spokesperson John Dowdy. The ideal would be to reuse a tire for the rest of its life, Dowdy said, which is possible when retailers resell gently used auto or truck tires for less than new ones. But, after being used, racing tires don't usually have any more life left in them, at least in their original form. At a Liberty facility in Concord, a suburb of Charlotte in North Carolina, NASCAR racing tires are shredded into quarter-sized chips that can be used as aggregate in roadbeds, landfill liners and landscaping products. 'It's a perfect example of sustainability,' Heinrich said. 'You're taking stuff that's worn out, you can't use it again for what it was originally built for, but it goes into something else. Nothing is wasted.' The shredded tires can also be used as a more efficient fuel to power kilns and boilers in concrete factories, electric plants and pulp and paper mills. However, while burning so-called tire-derived fuel is cleaner than using other fossil fuels, the process still releases some greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. IMC Outdoor Living, a division of Liberty in the village of Godfrey in southwest Illinois, makes fully recycled rubber products out of tires for both residential and commercial landscaping. One of these products is rubber mulch, with a realistic texture that makes it look just like its wood counterpart, and which can be used to cover the ground in playgrounds and parks, making it safe for children to jump and land on. However, there are concerns that such products derived from tires can expose kids to heavy metals and other harmful chemicals, which can act as carcinogens or neurotoxins. In 2024, the company gave a second life to 4.7 billion pounds of rubber, Dowdy said. That material might otherwise have been disposed of illegally. These recycled products also eliminate the need to produce entirely new ones, which would entail deforestation. Processing synthetic rubber is an energy-intensive process that can cause pollution, too. 'What we ultimately want to do is, we want to replace virgin rubber in as many goods as we possibly can,' Dowdy said. Other Liberty recycling facilities grind up the tires into an even smaller end product: crumb rubber. Crumb rubber is at most 0.25 inches, and a single passenger car tire can produce some 10 to 12 pounds of the product. In one of its main uses, crumb rubber is mixed into asphalt to make it more durable and resistant to cracking. In September of last year, 2,800 end-of-life auto tires from Walmart were processed by Liberty and became part of a mix used to repave the parking lot of one of the chain retailer's stores, in Rolla, Missouri. 'We're keeping tires from going into and just clogging up landfills, or being dumped (in) nature and creating all this blight,' Dowdy said. 'We can actually create products that make things better.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Once again, people are asking if there are mountain lions in the Mountain State
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — After a few locally viral Facebook posts, people are once again questioning whether the Mountain State is home to mountain lions. Snake season: What to do if you find a snake in your yard Todd Dowdy, Wildlife Biologist with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, said no, there are no native mountain lions remaining in West Virginia. He said, if there were, someone would have gotten more concrete proof, especially in this day and age. 'Most hunters use trail cameras at this point so there's thousands of trail cameras on the landscape here in West Virginia every fall. We have several houndsmen that pursue bears with dogs and raccoons. So, these sportsmen are gonna run into a mountain lion at some point, if there were mountain lions on the landscape,' said Dowdy. Dowdy said in the 25 years he has been with DNR no one has provided hard evidence of a mountain lion in the state. He said hard evidence would be a very good quality photo, a print or casting of a track, mountain lion scat, or the full mountain lion carcass. Dowdy said it would be hard to mistake a creature that is nearly seven feet long, tip to tail, and weighs upwards of 80 pounds. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Nurse charged in Raleigh County after a child was taken to a hospital with a broken femur
RALEIGH COUNTY, WV (WVNS) — A home health nurse in Raleigh County was charged after a child was rushed into emergency surgery with a broken femur. According to a criminal complaint, the nurse, identified as Alisha Dawn Dowdy, was charged with Child Abuse Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury after a 9-year-old child was found with a broken femur. Raleigh County man arrested after reportedly rear-ending an unmarked sheriff's car The criminal complaint stated that at around 1:59 p.m. on Friday, May 23, 2025, a member of the West Virginia State Police received a report from Ruby Memorial Hospital through Raleigh County Dispatch, about potential child abuse. The Trooper reportedly got into contact with a forensic nurse who stated that a nine-year-old patient came in with a femur that was 'completely broken in two' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. According to the complaint, due to the femur being the hardest bone in the body and being very difficult to break, the injury was 'alarming.' The nurse reportedly stated that the injury allegedly occurred while the child was alone at a house with Dowdy, who was the child's home health nurse. Information in the criminal complaint stated that the child's grandmother was then contacted by the Trooper. The child's grandmother reportedly told the Trooper that at around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 22, 2025, the child was left at the house for three hours with Dowdy until the grandmother got home at around 2:00 p.m. Honduran man sentenced for immigration crime in West Virginia According to the criminal complaint, once the grandmother got home she found Dowdy crying due to believing that her husband was cheating before Dowdy left early. The grandmother checked on the child because something reportedly felt wrong due to the child already being moved from a hospital bed to the grandmother's bed, something that the complaint stated was not usually done until around 4:00 p.m. The criminal complaint stated that the child's 'right leg flopped over her arm' and that she 'screamed in pain' when the grandmother picked the child up to move her to the living room. The child was taken to WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital (PCH) after the grandmother called 911, and once at PCH, the child's femur was discovered to be a clean break and was broken in two. The child was then taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown for emergency surgery, and that doctor's told the Trooper that the injury 'had to have been caused by pressure or some sort of blow to the leg.' In the complaint, the doctor's also reportedly told the Trooper that 'there was no way that (Dowdy) did not know that the (child's) leg was broken' and when the incident happened. The complaint then stated that at around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 23, 2025, the Trooper met with Dowdy at the Beckley Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, where Dowdy was informed of her rights and agreed to give a statement. Man arrested after traffic stop in Raleigh County According to the complaint, Dowdy stated that she was home alone with the child on Thursday, May 22, 2025 for around three hours, and that she carried out the usual routine and range of motion exercises with the minor. The Trooper reportedly asked Dowdy if she noticed the child crying or if anything popped or broke, and the complaint stated that Dowdy said no. The complaint stated that the Trooper then asked Dowdy if she noticed anything wrong when moving the child from the hospital bed to the grandparents' bed and Dowdy reportedly said no. According to the complaint, the information provided by Dowdy contradicted the information about the injury given by the child's doctors, and not noticing the break would have been 'impossible due to the nature of the break and the swinging of the (victim's) leg.' Dowdy was interviewed again at around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, 2025 after she was informed of her rights and agreed to give another statement, the complaint stated. Events that occurred on the day of the incident were reviewed again, and Dowdy allegedly mentioned that the child was not given additional medication to help the child fall asleep before family arrived. According to the criminal complaint, the child allegedly not having taken additional medications was reportedly odd due to the fact that the child was asleep with a broken femur. Dowdy also reportedly told the Trooper that she child was not crying that day and that she 'never cried.' Mercer County woman sentenced for witness tampering conspiracy in sex trafficking case After additional interviews, Dowdy was arrested and charged with Child Abuse Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury. She is currently being held in Southern Regional Jail under a $150,000 bond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
30-05-2025
- USA Today
Watch car crash through Missouri veterans hall's roof for the second time this year
Watch car crash through Missouri veterans hall's roof for the second time this year A Missouri veterans hall is rebuilding for the second time in just two months after a car crashed into its roof... again. The Clay-Ray Veterans Memorial Hall in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, had recently finished repairing its roof after a February incident in which a car launched into the building. The vehicle's 22-year-old driver fled a traffic stop, Clay-Ray Hall said in a Facebook post. The Feb. 22 post also gave citizens an update on the repair process, but things took a turn on May 29 when a new post appeared saying, "Here we go AGAIN!! Round #2" See video of car lodged in the veterans hall's roof Dramatic video shows car launching into roof of building in Missouri Shocking video shows the moment a car launched into the roof of a building in Missouri. It's the second time in three months it has happened. Lt. Ryan Dowdy of the Excelsior Springs Police Department told USA TODAY that authorities responded to a call around 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28, to find a vehicle lodged in almost the same spot on the roof that had just been fixed. "Very similar to our previous incident a few months ago," Dowdy said. The driver was extracted from his car by first responders and transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities do not know the cause of the accident at this time, though Dowdy said in a news conference that the way the roadway in front of Clay-Ray Hall curves lends itself to launching cars driving it at high speeds. "In both the incidents, speed was definitely a factor," Dowdy said. "As far as this specific situation, we don't know if the subject was impaired or if he had a medical condition at the time causing the accident; that part is still under investigation." Unless a medical condition was involved, the lieutenant said police will likely charge the driver with a crime. Accidents like this aren't uncommon for the veterans hall, police say While the recurrence of such a strange accident raised some questions about the location's safety, Dowdy pointed out that accidents of this caliber are not common in that spot. "I've been here for 13 is only the second time I'm aware of (this happening)," he said, while also telling ABC News that a VFW representative confirmed this was the case in over 80 years of owning the property.
New York Post
30-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Post
Car plunges into Missouri veterans' hall roof — and it's not the first time this year
Defying the odds, a car flew off a roadway and smashed into the roof of a military veterans hall in Missouri — the second such incident in just three months. The Clay-Ray Veterans Memorial Hall in Excelsior Springs was still repairing its roof from the previous crash in February when a driver suffering a medical emergency went airborne and landed on the same part of the building's roof Wednesday morning. 'Though it might seem like a recurring issue, these are very unique situations,' assured Lt. Ryan Dowdy of the Excelsior Springs Police Department, according to ABC News. Advertisement The 56-year-old driver, who was delivering food for a volunteer organization, had suffered a seizure and lost control of his car, according to the Excelsior Citizen. 4 The driver suffered a medical emergency and crashed into the veterans hall roof. FOX4 Kansas City 4 The car lost its engine in the Wednesday morning crash. Excelsior Springs PD Advertisement The silver vehicle landed front-first into the roof around 7:30 a.m. and went about half-way through, photos show. The crash was violent enough that the car's engine ejected and landed near a flagpole, ABC reported. Miraculously, the driver suffered only minor injuries and was able to walk away from the scene. No charges will be filed, according to police. In the 80 years that the VFW has had that property, this is only the second time this has happened, a rep for the veteran organization said, according to Dowdy. The absurd probability of having such a dramatic incident twice in such a short amount of time has not been lost on the community. Advertisement 'Here we go again! Round #2!' The Clay-Ray Veterans Association, which operates the hall for multiple organizations, posted on Facebook after the crash 4 A car crashed through the same part of the building's roof in February. Excelsior Springs PD 4 The organization that runs the veterans hall has started selling T-shirts to raise money. Facebook/Clay-Ray Veterans Association The group has even started selling cheeky T-shirts to raise money for repairs. Advertisement 'Land here for a cold beer,' they read on the back with a graphic of a car sticking out of a roof. One community member commenting on the crash online jokingly suggested they put a 'No parking sign' on top of the building. Another man even suggested rebuilding the roof 'with a ramp thing that redirects cars back onto the road. Like a loop-de-loop.' The previous crash involved a police chase involving a 22-year-old registered sex offender with two teenage girls in his car, according to the Excelsior Citizen. The two teenage passengers suffered serious injuries, while the driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries, police said. That crash caused significant structural damage after it went completely through the roof, forcing the building to shut down. Repairs on those damages had just started when the second car hit. Advertisement The veterans hall held an emergency meeting on Wednesday night to discuss repairs and address the traffic situation that may have led to the crashes, according to the Excelsior Citizen. The building remains closed to the public.
