A meeting is scheduled next month in Des Moines to help develop more programs in Iowa that encourage kids to walk or bike to school. Alana Croco, director of the Safe Routes to School Program, says her organization is making “good headway,” but there’s a lot more that can be done. “I think a lot of people are hesitant about building walking school bus programs because they feel that the infrastructure in their community is not up to par,” Croco said. There are ways to work around a lack of sidewalks or traffic signals, according to Croco. A “walking school bus” simply involves kids walking together to school with designated stops along the way.

“There are two adults walking with the kids and they just pick kids up along the way to school,” Croco said. “It’s a lot of fun and kids seem to love it.” The Iowa Safe Routes to School meeting will take place on the morning of January 24 at the Iowa Events Center. One of the presentations will involve a pair of injury prevention specialists from the University of Iowa who are preparing a study which will utilize GPS-enabled helmet cameras to capture the bicycling experience of children and adults.

“It’ll help us kind of see what kids see and how they react to certain situations, so I think it’s going to be a really cool program,” Croco said. Getting kids to be more active and healthy will improve their performance in the classroom, according to Croco.

(Radio Iowa)

The number of people killed in traffic crashes in Iowa this year will likely be more than last year. The 317 traffic fatalities last year marked the lowest annual total since 1944. As of Tuesday of this week, the traffic fatality count for this year already stood at 317. Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Scott Bright says there were some violent collisions last month on the state’s roadways that quickly raised the number of traffic deaths for the year.

“We had 40-some fatalities just in November,” Bright said. “I recall one where we had five fatalities just in one collision.” There was also a single weekend back in January when freezing rain made roads slick and 11 people lost their lives on Iowa roadways. While most Iowans wear a seat belt when they’re in a vehicle, more than half of the people who died last year in Iowa traffic crashes were not wearing a seat belt.

“What we’re seeing is a lot of people around small communities, if they’re just leaving their house and going three or four miles, they aren’t using their seat belts,” Bright said. “Most collisions usually occur 10 miles from your residence, so if people are going to leave their home for just a few miles, put that seat belt on. Seat belts do save lives.” According to U.S. Department of Transportation figures, around 94-percent of Iowans routinely buckle-up in a vehicle. The national seat belt usage rate is 87-percent.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who dresses as Santa Claus for charity has lost his home and all of his belongings in a Christmas Eve fire. The Hawk Eye in Burlington says firefighters were called to a Keokuk home around 10:20 a.m. Wednesday. By the time they arrived, the house was engulfed in flames. The home belonged to Robert Tripp, who portrays Santa for the Salvation Army in Keokuk. Officials suspect electrical wiring caused the blaze.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An overnight fire has destroyed a Des Moines home, but firefighters managed to save the family’s Christmas presents. KCCI-TV reports that flames were shooting through the home’s roof when firefighters arrived shortly after 3 a.m. yesterday. No one was injured. Family members had left the home hours earlier to visit relatives in Atlantic. Firefighters say they were able to save the family’s Christmas tree and their presents.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 52-year-old man has died at a hospital after a shooting at a Waterloo home on Christmas Eve. Police yesterday identified the man as Randall Dawson of Waterloo. Officers and medics were sent to the home about 9:25 p.m. Wednesday.

LOGAN, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa man is dead and two others were seriously injured after a two-vehicle crash. 58-year-old Richard Tiffey Junior of Logan was killed in the crash around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The driver of a pickup truck suffered from an apparent medical condition Thursday in Pottawattamie County, causing the vehicle to crash. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2006 Chevy pickup driven by 37-year old John Shannon McCreary, of Council Bluffs, was traveling south on Interstate 29 about three-miles north of the Crescent exit. McCreary had a medical issue and lost consciousness, causing his vehicle to crash through a fence and entering 145th Street, which parallels I-29. The pickup continued into a ditch on the west side of 145th, rolled over, and finally came to rest in a farm field.

McCreary, who was wearing his seat belt, was transported by Crescent Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital, in Council Bluffs.