Marion Patch: News You Might Have Missed, Dec. 4 - Dec. 12

According to the Associated Press via The Gazette, Denisa “Denise” Babcock, a school employee in Clinton will be sentenced Wednesday for embezzling $1,000,000 over four years from the Clinton Community School District.

Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register wrote about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's now-viral ad in which he proclaims something is wrong in a country that allows homosexuals to serve in the military.

The process involved in making Tower Terrace interchange at Highway 380 a reality is complex. The Gazette reports that a study will be done for the proposal, with answers to come in 2012. The interchange could mean a quicker and more direct route for Marion commuters to Highway 380.

Many Eastern Iowa hospitals, including St. Lukes and Mercy in Cedar Rapids, are dealing with a severe shortage of many crucial drugs. The Gazette writes that this has forced hospitals to work together to come up with alternative treatments.

As part of building a new system of levees for the Cedar Rapids area, an archaeological survey discovered a 9,500-year-old spear, recovered from eight feet beneath a city parking lot. More on that, and the prehistoric history of the Cedar Rapids area, from The Gazette.

An Iowa State University lecturer came under fire from the Iowa Board of Regents for an op-ed piece in the ISU student newspaper. He argued that the College Republicans donation efforts for US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, should have been directed towards the poor, instead. More on that, from .

Iowa Secretary of State Matt Shultz, who you may remember in the Linn County redistricting issue, recently endorsed presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, according to Iowa Caucus.

Phil Cochran, Principal at Vernon Middle School in the Marion Independent School District, wrote a moving op-ed piece to The Gazette on the death of math teacher and coach, Jeff Clark.