(Radio Iowa) – Veterans from at least 15 northern Iowa counties will be spending tomorrow (Saturday) in the nation’s capital as part of the latest Honor Flight from Iowa. Russ Naden of Webster City is one of the coordinators of the flight, which will fly out of the Fort Dodge Regional Airport early in the morning. “We’ve probably got 130-some veterans on it,” Naden says. “I think last count was about eight or nine Korean vets, the rest are mainly Vietnam vets.”

This marks the group’s 22nd Honor Flight over the years and Naden says it’s always a privilege to carry each veteran to Washington D-C to see the monuments, as for many it’s their first time. “We are taking a few what we call in-betweeners, people that were in between Korea and Vietnam are now eligible,” Naden says, “and in between World War Two and Korea are also eligible, although there aren’t too many of them still around.”

Image from honorflight.org.

The plane is scheduled to arrive at Dulles International Airport at mid-morning. From there, the veterans will board buses for the one-day tour visiting the memorials and historical buildings. The day wraps with a tour of Arlington National Cemetery and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The charter will return to Fort Dodge tomorrow night.

(Ames, Iowa) – It’s a busy time of year. School is starting, harvest is just around the corner and there seem to be more priorities than time for many of us. If you find yourself rushing to get from here to there, remember that cutting a few minutes from your drive by speeding or driving aggressively is not worth the risk. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2020, speeding killed 11,258 people in the United States.

In Iowa in 2021, law enforcement officers determined speed and aggressive driving played a part in the deaths of 176 people. If you are lucky enough to just get pulled over and not get into a crash, the average cost for a ticket for aggressive driving is $195. Just a speeding ticket will run you anywhere from $92 to $402.

What does a crash look like at different speeds? Check this out – https://youtu.be/71xuU9y-iwM…

(West Des Moines, Iowa) – A long-time County Employee in Pottawattamie County was honored recently. Officials with ISAC (Iowa State Association of Counties) report Melvyn Houser, Pottawattamie County Auditor, was presented with the prestigious “Golden Eagle” award on Wednesday, during ISAC’s 2022 Annual Conference in Des Moines. The Golden Eagle is given to commend extraordinary public service to ISAC and county government. The honor was created to recognize elected or appointed county officials, business or civic leaders, persons rendering assistance to counties as trainers, consultants or advisors, and former members of ISAC staff also are eligible.

The ISAC Board of Directors selected Houser as the Golden Eagle, an honor that has been given annually since 2010 on the basis of service rendered to county government generally, including leadership in ISAC, ISAC-affiliated boards, service on state or national boards or commissions, service to the National Association of Counties (NACo), service to counties in training, education and development of local leadership, advocating for counties and good local government, and providing exceptional professional assistance and support to counties.

Melvyn Houser was honored as the 2022 ISAC Golden Eagle during a ceremony in Des Moines. (L to R: ISAC President Richard Crouch: Pottawattamie County Auditor Melvyn Houser; Black Hawk County Auditor Grant Veeder; ISAC Executive Director Bill Peterson)

Melvyn Houser served as Pottawattamie County Supervisor from 2001-2017. Since that time, he has served as Pottawattamie County Auditor. He has been actively engaged in ISAC and NACo and has gone above and beyond for both organization for many years. He has been a mainstay on the Boards of both organizations. He has served on the ISAC Board since 2009, on the NACo Board since 2013, and served as ISAC President in 2015. He has served on countless statewide boards and committees related directly to ISAC, including, but not limited to:

• ICTS Advisory Committee
• Iowa State Association of County Auditors
• Iowa State Association of County Supervisors
• Case Management and Mental Health and Disability Services

At the federal level, Melvyn Houser has been a member of the Rural Action Caucus (RAC), the Membership Committee, the Arts & Culture Commission, the Finance Pensions and Intergovernmental Affairs Steering Committee, the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Steering Committee, and much more. He has been an enthusiastic proponent and successful recruiter for NACo membership, participation, and event attendance. He currently lives in Carson with his wife LaRue. They have three grown sons.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports a man wanted on a Page County warrant for Failure to Appear (in court), was arrested Thursday evening. Authorities say 37-year-old Randon Daniel Phelps, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 6:32-p.m., in the 2400 block of N. 8th Street. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $3,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Democratic Party’s chairman says Republicans at the statehouse have put Iowa gun laws on a downward spiral — leading to the plan to have 10 Spirit Lake School staff carry guns on school grounds. Spirit Lake officials announced this week that staff with permits for concealed weapons would be trained to quickly respond to a shooting in Spirit Lake schools, however teachers will not have guns in classrooms. Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn is also a state representative from Ames and he has voted against allowing guns in Iowa schools.

“Eliminating the Iowa permit to carry requirements, allowing guns in schools and also making it easy for domestic abusers and felons to buy handguns — it’s a continued spiral downward,” Wilburn says. “It continues to stoke fear.” Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames is the top Democrat on the Senate Education Committee. “Turning our schools into armed camps is just the absolute wrong way,” Quirmbach says. “The psychological effect on our kids, I think, is devastating.” Deidre DeJear, the Democratic candidate for governor, was in Spirit Lake Wednesday and DeJear says she talked with people who were devastated by the district’s decision.

“There are some common sense measures that we can put into place at a statewide level so that folks aren’t scared that they’re sending their kids to schools with guns in them,” DeJear says. “We see a school trying to be preventative, but in essence it’s challenging for them to be preventative that this current governor is creating.” Last year, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law that lets Iowans buy and carry handguns without a permit.

DeJear, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, says she’d reinstate the permit process. She says that way background checks would be required for private gun sales in Iowa. Spirit Lake school officials say the program to have armed staff on school grounds should serve as a deterrent to anyone contemplating a school shooting. The Iowa Firearms Coalition says Iowa children are worth protecting and the group is urging other Iowa districts to adopt Spirit Lake’s plan.

(Radio Iowa) -Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says the Republican Party must scale back a “bloated government” and recalibrate U.S. foreign policy, but she says the “most pressing” issue for the GOP is its stand against abortion. “Restoring the value of life and the family,” Ernst said this evening. “Maybe more than ever in our nation’s history, we must stand up for the rule of law, but I would contend that it begins with defending and valuing human life.”

Ernst spoke tonight in California, invited by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation to define “what it means to be a Republican” and what principles are paramount for the party in the future. Ernst credited Donald Trump for refocusing the party and, in particular, coming up with his “drain the swamp” mantra. “For far too long in Republican politics we failed to realize the strong undertones in our own electorate,” Ernst said. “…They truly believe that Washington has either left them behind or is out to get them.”

Ernst told the crowd “even the smallest change” in the federal bureaucracy is a challenge and she criticized the Democratic Party for establishing “new entitlement programs” and tax credits for electric vehicles. “You may remember that Iowans elected me…with the commitment to ‘make Washington squeal,’” Ernst said, “but after eight years in Washington, I often feel that I am the only one squealing.”

Ernst urged Republicans to push back on “academics and those in the political class” who she said are focusing on America’s “past sins.” As for the GOP’s approach to foreign policy, Ernst said “chaos reigns” in the world and the U.S. should pursue Reagan’s doctrine of peace through strength. “I believe in America first, always, but never America alone,” Ernst said. “Forging strong partnerships and allied networks are essential to America’s security and prosperity.”

Ernst is among current and former Republican office holders who’ve been invited to speak at the Reagan Presidential Library, in the “Time for Choosing” series. Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney delivered the keynote in July and and Arizona Senator Doug Ducey is scheduled to be the speaker in September.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials say INITIAL data about summer tourism in Iowa indicates the number of travelers is down slightly from last year, but visitors are coming from a greater distance. Jessica O’Riley is the communications manager for Travel Iowa. “Last year we saw a lot of shorter, in-state road trips,” O’Riley says. “The average distance traveled for a trip this year is just 233 miles compared to 140 miles last year. We’re also seeing hotel occupancies higher this year.” Air traffic represents Iowans traveling elsewhere well as out-of-stater’s visiting Iowa.

Passenger traffic at the airport in Des Moines is up 60 percent and passenger numbers at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids is up 50 percent over last year. O’Riley says the only surrounding state with a higher tourism recovery rate from 2019 — the year before the pandemic — is South Dakota. Tourism in Jasper County in July doubled this year compared to last, due to the Indy Car races at the Iowa Speedway in Newton. However, major Iowa tourism events like the State Fair, the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa and the Field of Dreams game in Dyersville are not included in the initial statewide tourism estimate from the Travel Iowa office.

“These are early summer numbers. There’s still summer left,” O’Riley says. “We’ve got a big holiday coming up here in a couple of weeks with Labor. I just saw a study where 53 million Americans plan to travel Labor Day weekend.” That would be about the same number who traveled last year. O’Riley says for the most part events and establishments that serve tourists have reopened after pandemic-related closures, but there are still staffing issues.

“We have told people since the pandemic started that if they’re going to travel to pack your patience,” O’Riley says. “It may take you a little bit longer at the restaurant. Your check-in may not go as quickly and as long as you plan for those into your itinerary, then you will have a much more enjoyable experience.”

Hotel rates are trending higher in Iowa and elsewhere and some restaurants have raised prices. O’Riley says the initial data state officials have reviewed from summer travel and tourism in Iowa indicates overall spending is four-point-six percent higher than 2019.

(Radio Iowa) – Drought is lessening in parts of Iowa, but it’s getting worse in others. The new map detailing how drought is impacting Iowa shows slight changes from last week, with moderate drought levels rising, while severe and extreme drought levels stayed the same. The map from the U-S Drought Monitor shows patches of red — representing extreme drought — in five western Iowa counties: Cherokee, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux and Woodbury. Statewide, 66 counties are now in some form of drought. That’s down from 67 counties last week.

Producers are strategizing for harvest as drought can slow corn’s conversion of nitrates to essential proteins, making it potentially toxic to animals that eat corn silage or stalks. Iowa State University Extension beef specialist Chris Clark says silage goes through fermentation, which will remove more nitrates, plus, he says it’ll also replace feed for animals that farmers couldn’t get from dry pastures. 

“When we’re harvesting that silage, one thing we want to do is to make sure we don’t cut it or harvest it immediately after a rain,” Clark says. “Nitrates are water soluble and often you see quite an influx of water and nitrates into the plant after a rain.” Clark says there’s a lot more nitrates in the lower part of the cornstalk, so he recommends producers raise their choppers and leave at least a foot of the corn stalk in the field.

“When you do that, you’ll get lesser yield but actually greater nutritional value on a percentage basis,” Clark says, “because we’re leaving the more un-digestible part of the plant unharvested.” Clark recommends testing for nitrates and harvesting drought-impacted corn as corn silage instead of grain because that’ll take more nitrates out.

(Additional reporting by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – State regulators today (Thursday) approved the sale of the Hard Rock Casino in Sioux City to the company in Kentucky which runs the Kentucky Derby. Racing and Gaming Administrator, Brian Ohorilko says the approval came after the Commission got a report on the Churchill Downs Incorporated background check.

“The commission has been reviewing other documents, financing other paperwork, that was part of this transaction and subsequently approve this transaction,” he says. Churchill Downs announced in February the proposal to purchase the Hard Rock from Peninsula Pacific Entertainment for nearly two-point-five billion dollars. Ohorilko says Virginia regulators have approved the sale because of the involvement of Peninsula, and approval is still needed from New York.

“So when the New York gaming Association ultimately reviews it, and if they were to approve it, then that is when this transaction would become final. And so that’s maybe expected to occur this fall,” according to Ohorilko. Ohorilko says the Racing and Gaming Commission does not expect any big differences in operation when the sale is completed. “There were a number of questions regarding what to expect under new ownership. But Churchill Downs has indicated that they do not expect any changes in business as usual, in terms of the management team that is there,” Ohorilko says.

The Hard Rock name will also stay. “That was something that was part of this deal. And so that’s something that will remain in place, which means that the Hard Rock brand will remain in terms of all of the concerts that go along with that, that’s something that is expected,” he says. Peninsula Pacific Entertainment took over when the Sioux City casino in 2014 when it was moved from a riverboat to the land — and Ohorilko says it has been a success story.

“In terms of what can happen when there is a significant investment, strong amenities, and just that facility has truly become kind of a destination facility. And it does draw from a wider area than what maybe we see at some other facilities,” Ohorilko says. Churchill Downs also owns racetracks and an online wagering company.