(Des Moines, Iowa) – The State Historical Society of Iowa’s mobile museum is hitting the road again as it continues its journey to all 99 Iowa counties. Housed in a custom-built Winnebago, the 300-square-foot museum on wheels launched in 2017 and completed its first 99-county tour in 2019, making 175 stops along the way and attracting nearly 65,000 visitors, including 11,400 students. The current exhibition, “Iowa History 101: Iowa’s People & Places,” debuted in 2021 and will continue its 99-county journey through the end of this year.

The public is invited to take free self-guided tours of the mobile museum during Farmers Market at Exira City Park at 100 East Washington Street in Exira, on Friday, August 18th, from 4-until 6-p.m. State Historical Society of Iowa Administrator Susan Kloewer said “This traveling exhibit has been a huge success because it shares Iowa history in towns across the entire state, and Iowans are eager to have that experience in their communities. We’re grateful to our community hosts and generous sponsors who are helping make this next 99-county tour possible.”

The exhibition shares stories from Iowa’s past with an eclectic array of artifacts from the State Historical Museum of Iowa’s permanent collection, plus a video narrated by former WOI-TV host Jackie Schmillen. Guests will see iconic artifacts that reflect the role of Iowans in state, national and international events, including a Meskwaki cradleboard representing the past and continued presence of Native nations in Iowa. They’ll also see women’s suffrage materials from the early 1900s and the pen used by Iowa Governor William Harding to sign Iowa’s resolution in support of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

IA Mobile museum 2023

Other artifacts include a menu from a dinner held in Des Moines for Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, in 1959, as well as photos of a southeast Asian refugee and Sudanese women in central Iowa, and a flight suit that southern Iowa native and accomplished astronaut Peggy Whitson wore during one of multiple expeditions (totaling 665 days) aboard the International Space Station. State Curator Leo Landis said “These images and objects remind us of the role Iowans played in global events. It’s easy to overlook the significant contributions Iowans have made in promoting equality and liberty, but this exhibit can inspire all Iowans to understand and appreciate our past and promote these values.”

EMC Insurance Companies sponsored the first tour and renewed its support for the new exhibition. The idea for the mobile museum emerged in 2014 from a series of community conversations. Iowans care deeply about history and made it clear they wanted new ways to access the State Historical Museum’s resources. Iowans may request a visit from the mobile museum for their local schools, libraries, museums, community festivals, county fairs and other places where people gather. Visits are complimentary and the tours are self-guided.

More details are available at history.iowa.gov. Iowans can also follow the mobile museum’s statewide journey on Facebook at facebook.com/IowaHistory. The traveling exhibition presenting sponsor is EMC Insurance Companies and fuel sponsor is Casey’s. Additional partner support is provided by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Winnebago Industries, Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company and Mike Wolfe.

(Red Oak, Iowa) –  Red Oak Police report a woman wanted on a Montgomery County warrant for 5th Degree Theft, was arrested Tuesday. 40-year-old Elysia Tylene White, of Red Oak, was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports two men were arrested early Tuesday morning on separate charges. Authorities say at around 1:20-a.m., 33-year-old Nathan Michael Tripp, of Lewis, was arrested on a Violation of Probation, warrant. Tripp was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $20,000 bond.

And, at around 2:36-a.m., Tuesday, Montgomery County Deputies were dispatched to the Cubby’s Gas Station in Red Oak, for a reported theft. Upon further investigation, 18-year-old Logan Patric Hastings was arrested for Theft in the 4th Degree. Hastings was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond. Deputies were assisted during the incident by Officers with the Red Oak Police Department.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Legal Aid reports that the state is on track to surpass last year’s record of more than 18-thousand evictions. Legal Aid executive director, Nick Smithberg, says eviction filings have been increasing for more than a decade due to a lack of affordable housing on top of stagnant wages. “Someone working minimum wage would have to work 80 hours a week to afford the average one bedroom apartment,” he says. “And if they needed a two bedroom because a family and the like, we’re talking two-point-five full time jobs.”

More than 12-thousand evictions have been filed in the state of Iowa so far this year.  “Why does eviction keep happening? Because when you have people renting apartments that’s are so far out of their comfort level to afford it, the slightest hiccup will send them in a place where they’re going to fall behind on their rent,” Smithberg says.

Smithberg says their data show Iowans of color, women and those with disabilities are disproportionately more likely to be evicted. He says eviction filings in rural counties are one of the primary drivers of the surge as well.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State Fair starts tomorrow (Thursday) and on Saturday seven presidential candidates plan to compete for the attention of tens of thousands of fairgoers and throngs of media. On Saturday morning, four G-O-P candidates plan to have a “Fair Side Chat” with Governor Reynolds on the fairgrounds. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who’s considered former President Donald Trump’s chief rival, is among them.

Trump has not accepted the governor’s invitation to appear with her, but Trump just announced he intends to visit the Fair early Saturday afternoon. Two Democrats who’re running for president and two Republican presidential hopefuls will be speaking at the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox Saturday afternoon as well.

It may be a bit like the day in 2015 when Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were at the state fair and Trump flew his helicopter over the fairgrounds. Trump later wandered through the fairgrounds, sampled a funnel cake and a turkey leg and spoke with fairgoers.

Sixteen presidential candidates intend to make the same kind of trek through the Iowa State Fair this year.

[UPDATE 8/10/23] Kaylee Arnold was found safe and is being reunited with her family, according to a release from the Davis County Sheriff’s Office.

Original story follows:

(Bloomfield, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Safety, in cooperation with the Davis County Sheriff’s Office, has issued an Endangered Person Advisory, for 13-year-old Kaylee Arnold. Kaylee was reported missing Tuesday evening (August 8, 2023). She was last seen at about 7:00 p.m. at the Casey’s Store in Eldon, Iowa. Based on information discovered during the investigation, law enforcement considers Kaylee endangered.

Kaylee is 4’11” tall and weighs 90 pounds. She has dark brown eyes and hair that is dyed red. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, dark shoes, and a gray shirt with “Camp Wapello 2011” on the back. Both of her ears and her left nostril are pierced.

Kaylee Arnold

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Kaylee Arnold is asked to call their local law enforcement or the Davis County Sheriff’s Office at 641-664-2385.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports one person suffered suspected minor injuries during a single vehicle accident on Tuesday. Deputies responded to the crash around 10:50 a.m. in the 1900 block of O Avenue. Upon arrival the driver of a 2023 Ford cargo van, Corey Cloyed of Omaha, was standing upright outside the vehicle. It was determined that the van was traveling southbound on O Avenue when it drove on the shoulder and entered the west ditch.

Cloyed was transported to Montgomery County Memorial Hospital for evaluation of minor injuries. No citations were issued at the time.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Red Oak Rescue and Stanton Fire and Rescue.