(Radio Iowa) – The Powerball jackpot has increased to its second highest level in the history of the game at 800 million dollars for Saturday’s drawing. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says this level of jackpot brings in a lot of people who don’t normally play — but she says Iowa doesn’t see the long waits for tickets that some states have.

Neubauer says Neubauer says the jackpots in the two largest lotto games end up being like a snowball that’s rolling downhill.

The big jackpots impact the Iowa Lottery’s budget — but Neubauer says they can never figure in what might happen from month to month.

The Powerball jackpot is the fifth largest lottery prize ever in North America, with the cash option of 383-point-seven million dollars if you win. The sales cut-off time here in Iowa is 8:59 p-m Saturday.

(Logan, Iowa) – Authorities in Harrison County are joining other counties bordering the Missouri River and elsewhere in western Iowa, in instituting a ban on open burning, effective at Noon today (Friday), and continuing until further notice. The ban prohibits open burning in Harrison County, including all the cities within the county. The County experienced a large field fire Sunday, Oct. 23rd, due to the windy and dry conditions. Harrison, and most contiguous counties are under a Moderate Drought, which means it doesn’t take much to spark a fire that can spread rapidly and dangerously, endangering lives and property.

Other (Area) Counties that have established a Burn Ban until further notice include: Monona, Crawford, Carroll, Pottawattamie, Mills, Montgomery, Page and Shelby.

DAVENPORT, IA – Eight people from Burlington have now been sentenced to federal prison for their role in conspiring to distribute drugs in the Burlington area. The conspiracy started by at least December 1, 2019, and continued until November 2, 2021.

Those sentenced as part of this drug conspiracy include:
• Kendric Centrall Childs, age 35, was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release;
• Rudolph Sinclair Allen, age 37, was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment and five years of supervised release;
• Clyde Macks Stewart, Jr., age 51, was sentenced to 17 years of imprisonment and five years of supervised release;
• Demetrius Antre Goudy, age 42, was sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment and five years of supervised release;
• Marcus Allen Johnson, age 46, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment and five years of supervised release;
• Gregory Jermain Johnson, age 36, was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment and five years of supervised release;
• Brian Keith Davis, age 42, was sentenced to 10 1/2 years of imprisonment and five years of supervised release; and
• Julie Jeanne Mason, age 54, was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.

According to court documents, Gregory Johnson, Marcus Johnson, and Rudolph Sinclair were the “middlemen” for the group and received large quantities of ice methamphetamine from Kendric Childs, the main drug source, along with another individual (who has not yet been apprehended). Gregory Johnson, Allen, and Marcus Johnson either sold quantities of ice methamphetamine themselves or provided it to lower-level dealers such as Goudy, Stewart, and Davis for distribution. Mason was identified as a drug courier for the group.
On January 24, 2020, Mason was stopped in Arizona while transporting approximately 362 pounds of ice methamphetamine. Mason admitted the ice methamphetamine was bound for Burlington, Iowa. At the time, this traffic stop was the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s largest single seizure of ice methamphetamine.1
U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The case was investigated by Southeast Iowa Narcotics Taskforce, Burlington Police Department, West Burlington Police Department, Des Moines County Sheriff’s Office, Henry County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration, Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office, Johnson County Drug Taskforce, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Drug Taskforce, Muscatine County Drug Taskforce, Iowa State Patrol, and Arizona Department of Public Safety.

(Radio Iowa) – Just like Fourth of July fireworks can stress out Iowans’ pets, Halloween can also be a night of horrors for our dogs and cats. Jessie Phillips, director of development & communications at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, says to keep your animals calm on trick-or-treat night, you will likely want to find a quiet place for them to camp out. “It really is best if they are kept in another room, maybe in the interior of the house, so they’re not seeing people come to the door, ringing the doorbell,” Phillips says. “Some pets prefer to be crated, if they’re crate trained, so in their safe space or maybe in a bedroom that is their safe space. Read your pet’s cues.”

It may look adorable to dress your dog in disguise for the spooky season, but Fido may think otherwise.  “Not every pet loves to be dressed up in their Halloween costume,” Phillip says. “But regardless, any costume that you do put on your pet, they should be able to move freely, it shouldn’t restrict them. Make sure that their eyes aren’t covered and that they can see clearly. That can be really stressful for pets if their vision is blocked in any way.”

Whether your dog will be staying home or accompanying you while trick-or-treating, it’s always important that there be an I-D tag on their collar, as they might manage to dart off. “Making sure that their tags are updated, that the number on the tag is up to date,” Phillips says. “We get new cell phone numbers or move addresses, so always make sure that information is up to date. And then microchipping is a great way to make sure that if your pet does happen to get loose or get out, that your pet will be returned safely.”

Bowls and bags of Halloween candy should be kept in a cabinet and away from pets, as Phillips says chocolate and other sweets can be dangerous — and even deadly — to a pet.

(Radio Iowa) – Gobbling down mounds of Halloween candy can leave trick-or-treaters with a bad tummy ache, but too much sweet stuff can be dangerous, and even deadly, for a pet. Jessie Phillips, director of development & communications at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, says chocolate is toxic to dogs and cats, and while rarely fatal, chocolate can result in significant illness. “It really just depends on the amount ingested and the size of the animal,” Phillips says. “If your pet has ever gotten some chocolate and you’re unsure, you can always call your veterinarian or the Pet Poison Help Hotline.”

That hotline is 800-213-6680. Some Iowans already have a big bowl of treats on the counter, ready to go for trick-or-treat night, while kids may leave their sacks of candy laying around after they’ve had their fill. Both types of candy stashes should be hidden away from pets. “Keep it in a safe place, better be safe than sorry,” Phillip says. “We all know about chocolate, but aside from chocolate, there are other ingredients that can be dangerous to your pets. Artificial sweeteners, like Xylitol, can be toxic, so really just be safe. Keep them up high or out of the way and be totally sure that your pets can’t get into the candy.”

Many Iowans have carved grinning pumpkins for their porches, which — to a dog — may look and smell like a tasty treat to eat. “They might and we would probably recommend not feeding animals raw pumpkin, especially if it’s a jack-o-lantern that’s been sitting out for a while,” Phillips says. “Mostly just because bacteria can grow in that jack-o-lantern if it’s been sitting outside, probably best not to feed it to a pet, so do try to keep your pets away from from raw pumpkin.”

Also, Halloween decorations can be hazardous for pets, as curious kittens might stick their paws into a jack-o-lantern’s flame, and rambunctious puppies may chew on the “bones” that make up skeletons.

(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowans will be leaving their porch lights off to keep the trick-or-treaters away this season because candy prices are, in a word, scary. Anne Villami, an economics professor at the University of Iowa, says the latest Consumer Price Index report shows candy prices are up 13-percent from last Halloween. “That’s higher than inflation,” Villamil says. “The CPI, the general price index, is high right now, that’s at 8.2%, that’s a 40-year high, so 13% for candy is clearly higher than the typical.” Labor costs are up, as are input costs, things like sugar, milk and flour, and she says “elasticity” is also playing a significant role in candy costs.

“That’s basically what a consumer is willing to pay for something,” Villamil says. “So if you think Halloween comes once a year and is really important to people who go out trick-or-treating, and you don’t want to disappoint your kids or the trick-or-treaters, then you’re going to be willing to pay that price, even when it’s up 13%.” While you might find a few discounted bags of candy corn, she says virtually all major candy manufacturers have mirrored each other in raising prices across the board. She says it will mean some households have difficult decisions to make on treats, which can be — tricky.

“This year, people are expected to spend about $100 on average on candy, costumes, decorations,” Villamil says, “and so given that it comes once a year and many people will say, ‘This is important to the kids,’ we’re just going to go ahead and pay that price.” The sticker shock in the candy aisle is a real fright for some shoppers, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports this is the largest annual price increase on record.

(Radio Iowa) – A former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine says Russia is losing right now and Vladimir Putin would likely exploit a cease fire or negotiations to end the war at this point. Marie Vovanovitch spoke in Des Moines last (Thursday) night. “He will just use the time to regroup, rearm and reattack,” she said. Vovanovitch was U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2016 to 2019. She says Putin has talked about rebuilding the Russian empire and his aims endanger U.S. national security.

“Even after all of the troubles the Russian military has had in Ukraine, he has made it clear that his appetite has not been sated,” Vovanovitch said, “…and that he would go further.” Vovanovitch retired in early 2020 after a 33 year career as a diplomat in the Foreign Service. She returned to Ukraine for a visit last month.

“What really struck me was how mobilized everybody in Ukrainian society is,” she said, “…still volunteering for the front lines even though Ukrainians, like Russians, are taking huge casualties.” She says intake centers for new soldiers are still being overwhelmed with volunteers.

Vovanovitch was interviewed by a Drake University alum in front of a crowd in the school’s basketball arena last (Thursday) night. Her appearance was part of an annual lecture series that has featured famous athletes, well-known authors and a former president.

(Radio Iowa) – A 25-year-old Iowa City man caught pretending to be a minor on Instagram has been sentenced to eight years in prison on a child pornography charge.

The case against Tyler Dean Kadolph began last year as police investigated a report that someone was recording women using a locker room at the University of Iowa Field House. The Field House is a recreational facility for students and Kadolph worked there. Authorities got a warrant to search his phone and court records indicate they found child porn on it.

According to prosecutors, Kadolph pretended to be “a minor female” on Instagram and used the fake account to ask for nude photos. In May, he agreed to plead guilty to possession of child pornography. Kadolph was sentenced this week.

(Radio Iowa) – Snow is not in the forecast — but several big orange D-O-T trucks have been out on the highway with their sprayers going. D-O-T winter operations director, Craig Bargfrede says they are spraying plain water, not salt brine. “The purpose of that is to make sure that everything is calibrated, and that we’re putting out exactly the right amount of material and the right amount of liquid. Depending upon which material we’re using,” he says. He says all of the trucks are outfitted with a G-P-S system that is connected to the spreader controllers.

“So part of the reason why we do the calibration is to make sure our accuracy in distributing the material. And then during the winter as we go through the winter season, as the trucks around operating and doing their winter operations, that information of is fed back through the G-P-S modem,” Bargfrede says. “And we capture all that data so that we know exactly how much material by each truck has done has been split out on the highway.”

Bargfrede says most of the treatment they do now is a salt brine. They may sometimes put down some wet salt, but only for certain conditions. Bargfrede says they have developed a guide for the plow drivers for setting the material that is deployed. “You know, depending on the weather conditions, and what type of precipitation we got, dependent upon the temperature, that’s a guide that gives them a range for what kind of treatment strategies that they’re going to use,” Bargfrede says. He says they started earlier this month to get everything ready for when there’s actual winter weather.

“October 15 is the magical date. According to our policy and procedures, we need to have a certain percentage of our equipment and vehicles ready to go. And typically those early season type situations are some type of frost run or something like that depends upon conditions and the weather,” Bargfrede says. Bargfrede says there is some early indication they may be busy.

“Now in talking to our weather service provider, they’re kind of looking at the forecast for the winter season as being a below normal temperatures, meaning colder, and above normal precipitation, meaning we’re going to be wetter,” he says. “Now whether that comes in the form of rain or snow, we can’t really say for sure.” Bargfrede says they will have the equipment ready — whatever Mother Nature throws their way.