DES MOINES, Iowa — [KCCI] – Court records show a Polk City woman was under the influence of methamphetamine when she caused a crash that killed her son. Abby Amenson, 41, has been charged with homicide by vehicle-operating under the influence in the crash that killed 10-year-old Maxwell Amenson last summer.

Authorities say she crossed the center line on Northwest Fisher Lane and hit another vehicle head-on July 7. Court records say authorities found drug paraphernalia and meth inside the woman’s purse in a search after the crash.

(Radio Iowa) – Research at Iowa State University has discovered how structures within turtle genes fold onto each other, which I-S-U biology professor Nicole Valenzuela says is a key to how the animals function.

Turning genes on and off allows the turtles to survive in harsh environments.

It is believed this is why some turtles can survive weeks without oxygen and some can withstand extreme cold. Valenzuela says understanding the genetic basis of the turtle traits could be leveraged for biomedical uses in humans.

Valenzuela says there is much more research ahead before they can determine how these traits could be used to help humans.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R has released three studies on the environmental and economic impacts of recycling in the state. The D-N-R’s Laurie Rasmus says the studies are part of its Sustainable Materials Management Initiative as they try to get a better handle on what we are throwing away.

One study looked at how the bottle deposit law works.

Rasmus says the studies of the waste dumped at the landfills yielded a lot of information on what is thrown away in Iowa.

The studies also help them tell the true cost of what we throw away.

Rasmus says they hope to find more ways to use the waste.

She says recycling has to be a multi-step process.

You can see the results of the studies at iowadnr.gov/SMM.

(Radio Iowa)  – While retailers nationwide are bracing for a shopping extravaganza on this Black Friday, locally-owned merchants across Iowa are hoping for a bigger boost tomorrow. Jayne Armstrong, director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Iowa District Office, says Small Business Saturday is a crucial day for the state’s consumers to “Be Loyal, Buy Local.”

Armstrong says 97-percent of Iowa’s businesses are small businesses and embracing them improves the backbone of our state.

If you’d like to support Iowa’s wealth of merchants who are outside of your immediate area, dozens of businesses are offering their wares at shop-iowa-dot-com, which Armstrong says makes it easy to patronize even more hometown heroes in -other- Iowa towns.

The website covers a wide array of goods, including artwork, furniture, food, toys, t-shirts, beauty care products, jewelry and more, all crafted in the Hawkeye State.

https://www.shopiowa.com/

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Small Town Poll has tracked a sharp decline in membership in local service clubs. David Peters, a rural sociologist with Iowa State University Extension, says the poll started surveying residents in 125 Iowa towns in the early 1990s.

In the early 1990s, about 20 percent of the residents in a typical small Iowa town were members of a fraternal group.

Peters says the Iowa Small Town Poll found membership in service clubs was relatively stable from 1994 to 2004 and the sharp decline started about 2010.

National data shows membership all organization, including churches, has been on decline for the past 40 years. But Peters says the decline has been particularly severe with fraternal groups.

Peters says another factor is younger adults who might want to be involved are commuting longer distances to work and don’t have as much free time in their home communities. When service clubs disappear, Peters says small towns lose the infrastructure that organizes and raises the money for a variety of events and causes.

Peters says his research shows younger adults DO want to help their communities, but they want shorter meetings, more flexibility, virtual options AND a group effort that’s not necessarily aimed at putting on the same events, year-after-year.

(Dubuque, Iowa) – Two people died following a crash Thursday afternoon south of Dubuque. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened at around 1-p.m. at the intersection of Skyline Road and U-S Highway 15, when the driver of an SUV failed to obey a stop sign and yield the right-of-way to a semi tractor-trailer before the SUV was struck by the semi.

The driver of the SUV died at the scene. A passenger in the vehicle was transported by ambulance to a local hospital and later flown by helicopter to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, where they later died from their injuries. The driver of the semi was not injured.

The names of the victims were being withheld by the State Patrol pending notification of family.