(Radio Iowa) – Luther College is being recognized as one of the most sustainable campuses in the country, having cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 72% in the past 20 years. Jon Jensen, director of Luther‘s Center for Sustainable Communities, says they’re on target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

“We’ve got a wind turbine right off the edge of our campus,” Jensen says. “We’ve got almost two megawatts of solar, but really sometimes it’s the little unseen things that make a big difference. Switching out to LED lights, making changes within our HVAC system, lots of little conservation behaviors as well.”

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education has named the Decorah college the fourth best baccalaureate institution in the nation for its efforts in sustainability. Jensen says every college and university, private and public, needs to show leadership.

Solar panels at Luther’s Baker Village (Luther College photo)

“All of us need to take steps to reduce our use of fossil fuels, to address climate change. That’s important for human health, it’s important for reducing some of the risks to Iowa, and really, to the world,” Jensen says. “But ultimately, I think as educational institutions, we have a role to play in educating the next generation.”

The college is setting an example in the classrooms, in labs, and across the campus, he says, demonstrating how vital it is to plan for a sustainable future. Jensen says Iowa homeowners can do their part, too.

“Looking at ways that you heat and cool your home, and heat pumps, or looking at geothermal,” Jensen says, “and just being mindful of our own actions, turning off the lights when we leave the room, being aware of only conditioning our spaces when we’re there. It’s that mindfulness and being open and exploring alternatives that I think is the most important thing.”

Luther’s wind turbine generates one-third of the college’s electricity, while several large solar arrays also impact the carbon footprint. Jensen says 53% of Luther’s electricity comes from renewable power sources — wind and solar — generated on campus.

The college also has a program called “Caf to Community,” keeping excess cafeteria food out of the landfill and putting it onto the tables of those who need it.

(Radio Iowa) – Fourteen Iowans have been honored today for their actions in life-threatening situations.

Two groups received the Sullivan Brothers Award of Valor for rescuing people from burning or submerged vehicles involved in traffic accidents. Two state troopers based in Oelwein were recognized for rescuing two people from a burning car in rural Black Hawk County on July 1, 2021. On the last day of 2021, an off-duty Marshall County Deputy Sheriff, his wife who is a former Marshalltown police sergeant and another driver saw two cars slide off Highway 330, strike a cement culvert and overturn into an icy creek.

“Please join me in a big round of applause for these heroic Iowans,” Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Bayens said during a ceremony in the Iowa Capitol rotunda. “Their efforts not only impacted the lives they saved, but will have an indelible mark on their families for years to come. Thank you.”

A series of other state awards were given to a handful of other Iowans, including a central Iowa utility worker who alerted a sleeping family their home was on fire and a man who rescued a deer hunter critically injured after falling out of a tree stand in rural Guthrie County. An employee at a Fort Dodge retirement community received a Lifesaving Award for performing the Heimlich Maneuver on a resident who was choking. Governor Kim Reynolds praised the 14 Iowans for springing into action.

“Their calmness in crisis and spirit of self-sacrifice represents the very best of our great state,” she said.

Here’s the list of today’s award recipients.

Three people were honored for their efforts at the scene of an accident near Bloomfield. And a man who suffered burns as he pulled a driver and a passenger from a burning vehicle near Council Bluffs received the Governor’s Lifesaving with Valor Award.

Pictured at left is the group involved in Highway 330 rescue effort, along with state officials and a granddaughter of one of the Sullivan Brothers.

(Radio Iowa) – Walgreens has announced it will not distribute abortion pills in 20 U.S. states, including Iowa.

The move comes after Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and other Republican attorneys general around the country threatened to sue Walgreens if the company sold abortion pills in their states. Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all U.S. abortions.

According to a Politico story, Walgreens has notified Bird and other attorneys general that it will not sell abortion pills from its stores in their states or mail them into Iowa and those states either.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would allow pharmacies to apply to fill prescriptions for abortion pills.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A Forest City man was sentenced in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, Monday (February 28, 2023), on charges related to the possession of child pornography. A judge sentenced 53-year-old Gerald Lawrence Von Ruden to 120 months (10-years) in prison, following his plea of guilty to possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, on April 28, 2021, an Iowa State Trooper pulled Von Ruden over during a traffic stop. Von Ruden had an outstanding arrest warrant. Based on the nature of the warrant, the Trooper seized Van Ruden’s electronic devices. A forensic analysis of those devices revealed that Von Ruden received and possessed numerous images and videos of child pornography.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Iowa State Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.
This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.

For more information about Internet safety education, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa high school girls’ basketball tournament isn’t the ONLY tournament underway in Des Moines this weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday, the Iowa State Fairgrounds is the setting for the state archery tournament. It’s gathering some 22-hundred students from more than 125 schools across Iowa. It’s the largest youth archery tournament in the state. Participation in the program has bounded since its start in 2006, drawing more than 45-hundred students this year.

Students with the Atlantic Middle-and High Schools will be competing.

Organizers say archery is a great youth sport because there are no limitations and students of all physical and athletic abilities can take part — and succeed. Students will be aiming for thousands of dollars in college scholarships, as well as thousands of dollars in archery equipment for their schools.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by Elvis Haas, State Farm, on Thursday, March 2nd, 2023. The Ambassadors joined Elvis and his family in celebrating the opening of his new location in Atlantic with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Elvis graduated high school in 2003 and immediately joined the Air Force where he served for 6 years. After basic training and bootcamp, Elvis attended college and studied Marketing Management and Sales. After graduation, Elvis went into automobile sales where he spent 14 years with Deter Motor Company. Through his career in Car Sales, Elvis had the opportunity to build lasting relationships with community members and their families.

In January of 2022, Elvis began the year long process of onboarding with State Farm which included licensing, training, product knowledge and much more. Elvis spoke about the importance of customer satisfaction, hard work and effort in building a business.

Atlantic Area Chamber Ambassadors Celebrate with State Farm

Elvis and his team opened the doors on February 1st and is ready to serve the community by helping “Managing everyday life, recovering from the unexpected, and helping people realize their dreams.” Elvis Hass, State Farm offers Auto, home, life, health, investment planning and is open Monday – Friday 8-5PM. State Farm is available 24-hours, 7 days a week.

Elvis Hass, State Farm is located at 204 W 7th Street in Atlantic.

Appointments can be made by stopping in or calling the office at 712-243-4824 or visiting https://www.myagentelvis.com/?cmpid=vaessp_blm_0001

Ambassadors Left to Right: Kelsey Beschorner, Colt Doherty, Alisha Hass, Josh Hass, Braeleigh Hass, Braxton Hass, Wyatt Adderton, Elvis Haas, Kim Helper, Kathie Hockenberry, McKenna Nelson, Krysta Hanson, Jeremy Butler, Dolly Bergmann, Calley Hansen, Bailey Smith, Rick Mericle, Anne Quist, Adriana Mendez, Megan Sramek, Scott Bennett, Angie Bitting, Jim Kickland, Ruth Sears, Julie Waters, Graydon Schmidt, Brian Ruge and Chelsie Maddsen.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the legislature are proposing new income thresholds for who qualifies for government food and health care assistance. Committees in the House and Senate have approved bills that say households with more than 15-thousand dollars in liquid assets, like checking and savings accounts, would not be eligible for SNAP benefits — commonly called food stamps — or for Medicaid, although the value of a home or a vehicle would not be included in that calculation. Current rules for Medicaid and food stamps do not have an asset test, but are restricted based on income. The bills also call for a new system to check the finances and verify the identities of Iowans receiving food or health care assistance. Republican Representative Thomas Jeneary, of Le Mars, says the bill would make distributing benefits more efficient and help prevent fraud.

“The legislature is dedicated to protecting Iowa’s safety net for Iowans in need while at the same time protecting the Iowa taxpayer from paying services for ineligible individuals,” Jeneary says. The bill that’s now eligible for debate in the HOUSE also seeks to require some people getting food and health care assistance to work. Democrats opposed the bill. Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell of Ames says if the bill becomes law, many Iowans currently receiving SNAP benefits or health care coverage through Medicaid will lose that safety net. “This just seems to me to lack so much compassion for parents who are trying to feed their children and for Iowa’s elderly living on fixed incomes,” Wessel-Kroeschell said.

More than 800-thousand low income and disabled Iowans are currently enrolled in Medicaid. An average of about 280-thousand Iowans received SNAP benefits monthly during the last state fiscal year.

(Radio Iowa) – A new study says converting more land to grow crops for biofuels may negatively affect wildlife protected in Iowa and elsewhere under the Endangered Species Act. Researcher Tyler Lark, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, authored the report which he says demonstrates the environmental consequences of expanding corn production. “When you plow up a grassland to plant additional corn or switch from some other crops to something that’s more intensive, like corn production,” Lark says, “that generally results in greater nutrient pollution to waterways.”

The report highlights whooping cranes, Poweshiek skipperling butterflies and black-footed ferrets. Lark says these endangered species would likely be affected by the drainage of wetlands and conversion of grasslands for crop production. “Identifying the issue is the first step and that’s what this work really aims to do, but we can’t stop there,” Lark says. “There are simple solutions available right now that can reduce or even reverse the impacts of bioenergy policy on threatened and endangered species.”

Lark says one solution is expanding cover crops on acres that grow corn for ethanol, which animals could use as habitat. The executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association rejects the study.

(by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Preservationists are raising money to buy historical markers for the 182-year-old Oakland Cemetery in Keokuk. The bronze markers will indicate the historic figures buried there, which include a U-S Supreme Court justice, a black abolitionist, and a Union Army general who became one of the first Republicans elected to Congress. Iowa Historical Society President Angela Gates says members launched the initiative as a way to share history with the community.

“You go into the cemetery and you just kind of walk around and you see the markers and you don’t recognize the history behind them,” Gates says. The Lee County Historical Society hopes to raise five-thousand dollars for the markers that would be placed throughout the grounds. Donations can be made by contacting the group. Oakland Cemetery, which opened in 1851, is located on 40 acres adjacent to the Keokuk National Cemetery.

Keokuk National Cemetery (Photo provided by Mayor Kathie Mahoney)

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston Thursday evening, arrested a woman at her residence. 24-year-old Ashley Dawn Eblen, of Creston, was taken into custody for Failure to Serve her ordered Jail Time. Eblen was being held in the Adams County Jail without bond, until her court-ordered time is served.