(Radio Iowa) – Dozens of Iowa churches are ending their affiliation with the United Methodist Church after a rift developed over Biblical teachings. During a conference last month, the leaders of more than 80 Iowa churches decided to leave the denomination. Pastor Phil Rogers, of Manchester United Methodist Church, says they’re parting ways for several reasons, which includes performing same-sex weddings and ordaining L-G-B-T-Q ministers. Pastor Rogers says sexuality is the one that “gets the most press, but the reality is much deeper than that.”

Starting this weekend, the church in northeast Iowa will operate under a new name, Manchester Global Methodist Church, a new church that is coming out of the conflict. Rogers says those who attend his church won’t notice anything drastic, just a new name.

(Radio Iowa) – Forest City Police says they are following up on a report from two people who saw what they believed was a mountain lion in the northwest corner of the Hy-Vee parking lot Saturday around 3 a-m. Officers from the Forest City Police Department, D-N-R, and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department were unable to locate a lion. Winnebago County Naturalist Lisa Ralls, says mountain lions are rare in the area — and those that are confirmed can usually be traced back to the Black Hills of South Dakota or out of the Ozarks
Forest City Police say they are continuing to investigate the report looking for confirmation.

(Radio Iowa) – Managers of the Knoxville Raceway are getting five more years to accumulate a state tax break of up to one-point-eight MILLION dollars to finance facility improvements. Iowa lawmakers originally approved a sales tax rebate nearly a decade ago, letting the track keep state sales taxes charged on services and goods sold at the track. Senator Julian Garrett of Indianola, who represents Knoxville, says the rebate was set to end in 2025.

“We all know what happened. COVID came along and that really disrupted things,” Garrett says. “Some of their big races they were not able to have and the ones they did have had very limited attendance, so they’re way behind in what they would have normally had in the amount of money collected from these rebates.” A state law that goes into effect Saturday extends the state sales tax rebate for the Knoxville track until 2030.

“In a way, you could say it’s not really changing anything,” Garrett says. “It’s just giving them a little more time to collect the money they would have been able to collect by 2025 had it not been for COVID and some of these other things.” One of them was a dispute with the Iowa Department of Revneue. It prevented the track from claiming the sales tax rebate for a couple of years. Knoxville’s population of about 75-hundred will swell to more than 30-thousand during each of the four days of racing for the Knoxville Nationals in August.

Senator Bill Dotzler says the races attract sprint car racing fans from around the world. “These are cultural events. They mean something,” Dotzler says. “People in Iowa love racing.” Weekly stock car racing began in 1954 on the Marion County Fairgrounds, but a few years later lighter weight sprint cars began racing on the track. The first Knoxville Nationals were held in 1961.

(Scranton, Iowa) – A multi-vehicle chain reaction crash Monday evening in Greene County claimed the life of a woman from Carroll. The Iowa State Patrol, Tuesday, reported that a front seat passenger in one of the vehicles, 84-year-old Mary Ann Haberl, of Carroll, died in the crash. The drivers of two of the vehicles were injured.

The Patrol says the accident happened at around 5:34-p.m. on Highway 30 near Forest Avenue, northeast of Scranton. Vehicles driven by 88-year-old Donald Clayton Haberl, of Carroll, 17-year-old Harley Marie Smith, of Jefferson, and 63-year-old Becky Jo Wolf, of Scranton, were stopped on the highway due to road construction.

A 2003 Toyota Prius driven by 30-year-old Amy Marie Yager, of Coon Rapids, collided with the rear of Haberl’s 2019 Chevy Equinox, which then proceeded to hit the rear of a 2007 Ford Focus, driven by Smith. The impact pushed the Ford into rear of the 2018 Ford Explorer driven by Wolf.

Amy Yager and Donald Haberl was transported to the Greene County Medical Center by Greene County EMS. Each of the crash victims were wearing their seat belts. The accident remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office Office.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Auditor’s Office said Tuesday evening, that “Out of deepest respect, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors would like to announce that some courthouse departments and other county department locations may be closed for the funeral of the late Montgomery County Sheriff, Joe Sampson on Thursday, June 29^th.

Joe Sampson died Sunday, June 25th, at the age of 67. His funeral services take place 10-a.m. Thursday, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, in Red Oak. Nelson-Boylan-LeRette Funeral Chapel in Red Oak is in charge of arrangements.

Sampson served as sheriff in Montgomery County from 2009 until his retirement in December, 2020.  A native of Elliott, Joe Sampson began his law enforcement career serving as a military police officer in the U-S Army during the Vietnam War. He then joined the Griswold Police Department in 1977, and served as an officer before becoming chief. Sampson joined the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in September, 1992, and worked as a road deputy, civil process deputy, jail administrator and first deputy until becoming sheriff.

Sampson’s successor as sheriff, Jon Spunaugle, worked with Sampson for 22 years, including 12 years as his chief deputy.

(Radio Iowa) – We’re still a week from Independence Day but many Iowans are celebrating early by setting off fireworks and other explosives — and those sporadic, unexpected noises can scare your pets. The loud booms can also make dogs, in particular, feel threatened or trapped. Veterinarian Susan Lowum says you’ll know when your dog is stressed as they may be more alert than usual or downright terrified, trembling and trying to escape.

If your pet shows symptoms of stress, Lowum says don’t ignore or scold them, but instead, get them to a quiet place in your home away from the noise. That might be in the basement or a room that doesn’t have windows, and Lowum says if your pet’s safe place is in a kennel, be sure to leave the door open to avoid them injuring themselves by trying to get out.

(Radio Iowa) – Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad recently returned to China, the country where he served as U-S Ambassador for three years. “We still do a significant amount of business with them,” Branstad says. “The Chinese appreciate the quality and the safety of American food. We sell them a lot of agriculture goods, but we’re very concerned about the aggressive relationship both in terms of economic and military.” Branstad resigned as ambassador to China in the fall of 2020. A year later he formed a consulting firm that gives advice on how to conduct business in China.

“Xi Jinping treated me well while I was there, but I’m certainly very concerned about the economic differences that we have,” Branstad says. Branstad met China’s president in 1985, when Xi was part of a delegation of Chinese officials who visited Iowa. Branstad says he’d like to see U-S relations with China get back to where they were when he was governor.

“I’m hopeful that it’ll get better,” Branstad says, “…It’s at a kind of a low point right now.” Branstad was in China with two other former U-S Ambassadors three weeks ago to launch the non-profit U-S China Green Institute, to promote collaboration on climate solutions in both countries.