(Atlantic, Iowa) – A preliminary hearing was held Thursday, in the case of an Atlantic man facing four felony charges associated with an incident of assault. Online court records show arraignment for 53-year-old Edward Allen Davenport will be held 9-a.m. Oct. 3rd, with a pre-trial conference Nov. 7th at 9-a.m., and trial set for 9:30-a.m. Nov. 29th. Davenport was charged with: Burglary in the 1st Degree (a Class B felony); Assault while participating in a felony, Willful Injury Causing Bodily Injury, and Going Armed with Intent, all of which are Class D Felonies.

Authorities say at about 2:20-a.m. Sept. 5th, Atlantic Police were notified an assault had occurred at a residence in the 800 block of Walnut Street, in Atlantic. During an investigation, officers made contact with the victim, who stated they had been assaulted by being struck multiple times with an object.

The victim said shortly after she arrived home, there was a knock at the door. A man entered the residence and began assaulting the victim. An investigation determined the suspect was Edward Davenport. On Sept. 6th, Officers made contact with Davenport and arrested him in connection with the incident that occurred the previous day. He was being held in the Cass County Jail on a $60,000 cash-only bond.

Davenport was previously arrested August 21st on two felony drug charges, along with one aggravated misdemeanor and a serious misdemeanor drug charge. He plead not guilty to those charges and was released on a $25,000 bond the day he was arrested on the assault charges. In August 2021, as part of a plea agreement, Davenport plead guilty to an aggravated misdemeanor charge of Operating a Vehicle without owners consent. He was facing a felony charge of Theft in the 1st Degree.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa researchers say hormones may play a role in the reason why female athletes are more likely to get hurt than male athletes. A new U-I study finds the female hormone Relaxin contributes to the breakdown of cartilage, increasing the chance of injury. Robert Westermann, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, says hormones often get overlooked when it comes to injury prevention in female athletes.

Westermann says the UIHC orthopedics department is working with OB-GYNs to start looking at ways to regulate hormones in female athletes, such as using birth control pills.

Westermann says a lot of research on injuries is focused on anatomic or muscular patterns, while the effect of hormones is not often top-of-mind.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – The Pocahontas Area Schools superintendent is responding to a petition that challenges his ongoing employment with the district. The petition regarding Joe Kramer cites concerns over issues including staff turnover, declining enrollment, alleged retaliation, spending issues, and a possible hostile working environment. Those issues were brought up by several residents during the public comments session at this week’s Pocahontas Area school board meeting.

“We’re listening. I’m listening to the concerns of those coming to board meetings and we’re utilizing the resources as effectively as I think we possibly can to best meet the needs of students and to address as many of the concerns of the community as we can,” he says. “We can always use more resources but we’re continuing to improve, I believe, focus on improving the district’s educational services being offered.”

The district has recently moved the locations of the board meetings to better accommodate the public, and has also improved its live streaming service. Kramer says the topics mentioned in the petition signed by over 230 residents have been shared in recent months, and he says to his knowledge there have been no claims to back up any of the concerns…”Every school district, especially rural school districts have challenges associated with budgets. We’ve got limited funds coming in, new monies coming from the state. And for those districts that are growing quickly, that does not translate into a lot of new money,” Kramer says. “I believe our wages are competitive. The board offered retention bonuses for returning contracts last year to all employees. But, I’m not going downplay the fact that these are difficult times for everybody.”

Kramer says all small, rural districts faced challenges during the pandemic, and he doesn’t believe Pocahontas Area is unique in that regard. Kramer says the school district doesn’t have the power to change all of the things that residents are frustrated about. No action was taken at Monday’s meeting as the Department of Education and school attorney advised the district a petition is not a means for the school board to change an employment decision. Kramer says the board is likely continuing the process with legal counsel. The Pocahontas Area school board president hasn’t responded to a call for comment.

BREDA, Iowa — Multiple firefighting crews responded to a reported explosion at a northwest Iowa golf course, late Thursday morning. According to the Breda Golf Club Facebook page, the course’ shed was a total loss from the smoke and fire damage. There were no injuries reported. The incident occurred at around 11:30-a.m.

Crews from the Breda Community Fire Department, Auburn, Arcadia, and Carroll Fire Departments, along with Manning Medic 6 and Breda Medic were on the scene. (Click on photos to enlarge)

Arcadia FD Facebook photo

Arcadia FD Facebook photo

Breda Golf Club FB photo

Breda Golf Club FB photo

The Arcadia fire chief told KTIV in Sioux City, that a golf cart battery charger may have sparked the explosion.

(Radio Iowa) – The board which governs the three state universities will ask the Iowa Legislature to increase funding for the schools by 32 million dollars next year. University of Northern Iowa President Mark Nook says they want to use the extra money to help with tuition. He says there should be a bigger difference between what students pay at U-N-I compared to the research schools.

“The four million that we are asking for to help us differentiate will help us keep our tuition down for all of our students, and provide better access for students across the state of Iowa,” Nook says. University of Iowa president, Barbra Wilson, says they will target one particular area.

“We are really laser-focused on nursing. This is one of the workforce issues I think president Nook pointed this out already. People are calling on the need for more nursing — not just in Iowa — but across the country,” Wilson says. Wilson says they are also looking to bring in more first-generation college students.

Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen says the amount of money coming from the state has gone up and down in the last decade, but is currently about the same as it was in 2014. “And when you factor in inflation it’s more like a 25 percent decrease in funding because of the purchasing power of a dollar that has declined so much,” Wintersteen says.

The request is nearly seven percent more than what was approved last year. The legislature approved a five-and-a-half million dollar increase — which was about one third of what the universities had requested.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is ending its Eating Disorder Program’s inpatient care this fall. The program provides intensive residential treatment for individuals 16 and older managing a severe eating disorder. Hospital officials say they’re redistributing funding to take on the growing numbers of Iowans with acute mental health care needs. Twenty-two-year-old April Bannister is currently in the program and will be among the last participants.

“It leaves me in a pretty precarious position, but I might have the partial program,” Bannister says. “If nothing else, I will have my outpatient team, and honestly, I’m one of the lucky ones that I have two people who are specialized in eating disorders.” Bannister has anorexia, an eating disorder characterized by unhealthily low body weight and a fear of gaining weight. During dangerous episodes, she has been admitted to the hospital for monitoring. Most recently in July, her therapist confronted her about being severely underweight. That day, she committed Bannister to her seventh hospital stay. Bannister is stunned the program is being discontinued.

“It’s terrifying quite honestly. This program, while it has its issues, does save lives,” she says. “It has saved my life on more than one occasion and it’s saved my life seven times, each time that I’ve been admitted.” A spokesperson for the U-I-H-C says the decision to end the program was not made lightly, and a range of services for people with eating disorders will continue, including intensive partial hospitalization and other outpatient programming.

(reporting by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – The state unemployment rate inched up one-tenth of a percent in August — the first increase in seven months. Iowa Workforce Development director, Beth Townsend, says the increase is mostly tied to students. “That is almost, not entirely, but almost entirely related to individuals going back to school and leaving their jobs,” she says. The increase still leaves the unemployment rate at two-point-six percent and in the range of pre-pandemic levels. “We gained three-thousand-800 jobs in August — and that puts us within 55-hundred jobs of making a full recovery from the number of jobs we had pre-pandemic,” Townsend says. “So in other words, we’ve gained almost 97 percent of the jobs back that we had lost as a result of the pandemic. And that’s a really good sign.”

Townsend says manufacturing continues to chug along and add jobs despite all the economic turmoil. “This is several months that we’ve seen a positive move in manufacturing, we added 700 jobs in August, they’ve added seven-thousand jobs in the past few months with growth throughout 2022,” according to Townsend. “And when you think about what’s going on in the national economy with inflation and supply chain issues, the fact that we continue to grow in advanced manufacturing is a really good, good sign for Iowa’s economy.” Townsend says it is likely the unemployment rate will rebound in September. 

“We traditionally see in September, people who go back to work because school started — so you’ve got people leaving the workforce in August going back to school — but you have teachers, bus drivers, janitorial staff cooks returning to work ….. in late August, early September. So, you know, hopefully, in September, we’ll be back to trending down again,” Townsend says.

Townsend says there are more than 80-thousand open jobs in Iowa and they continue to work hard to fill those jobs. And she says there are almost 40-thousand people who are unemployed but not receiving an employment benefit. She says they are trying to help anybody who was looking for and wants a job to find one.

QUAD CITIES – Sept. 15, 2022 – The new Interstate 74 bridge over the Mississippi River has been named a Top 12 finalist in the America’s Transportation Awards, the top honor for state departments of transportation from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The joint project between Iowa and Illinois now competes for the national Grand Prize selected by an independent panel as well as the People’s Choice Award determined by an online vote.

The public is encouraged to show its support for the I-74 Mississippi River Bridge by voting in the People’s Choice Awards. An online vote can be made once a day until the contest wraps up Oct. 21. Visit americastransportationawards.org, click the “Vote Now” button, and select “The Memorial Bridge (Interstate 74 Mississippi River Crossing)” to cast your vote.

“The I-74 Mississippi River Bridge has become an icon in the Quad Cities and the Midwest,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. “Those who have seen the positive impact it brings to the region would agree that the bridge is absolutely deserving of national recognition. Cast your votes to bring home this prestigious award.”

“We are proud of the teamwork between Illinois and Iowa in delivering this project,” said Iowa Department of Transportation Director Scott Marler. “We ask for your support to help bring home this award and show the rest of the country, once again, that our states, industry partners and labor force know how to build world-class infrastructure.”

Both the Grand Prize and People’s Choice Award come with $10,000 to provide to a charity, not-for-profit or transportation-related scholarship by the winning states.

Built by the Iowa and Illinois departments of transportation, the I-74 Mississippi River Bridge was recognized as a contest finalist for improving safety and mobility, enhancing quality of life, and positioning the Quad Cities for future economic opportunity.

Opened in 2021, the bridge has four lanes in each direction, a 14-foot-wide bike and pedestrian path with a scenic overlook, and connections to existing paths in Bettendorf and Moline. The approximately $1 billion project includes twin river bridges, new interchanges, ramps, and local road reconfigurations. For more information on the project, visit www.i74riverbridge.com.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Shelby County Auditor/Elections Commission Mark Maxwell, Thursday (today), said Shelby County held the required Post Election Audit on Thursday morning September 15th, with regard to a Special School Bond Election held Sept. 13th.  According to Maxwell, “The Iowa Secretary of States office randomly picks a precinct/vote tabulator to visually inspect all ballots in that precinct or vote tabulator in the instance of combined precincts, Harlan precincts 1 & 2 were chosen.  Harlan Precincts 1 & 2 were combined at the Special election so the audit included one of the 5 vote tabulators used for vote tabulation and was audited to check for accuracy. Also two of the Shelby County precincts involved in this special election were hand counted at this Audit. All machine result matched perfectly with the hand counted audit results.”

Maxwell said also, “It is always a very anxious time for my office when the Post Election Audit takes place. Again at this election no errors in counting by the machines were found.  All the hand count numbers tabulated ( yes and no votes in this instance) at the audit matched perfectly with the machine count tabulated on election day.  The number of ballots in the ballot bag counted at the audit matched the ballot count from the machine and from the Precinct election staff at the polls.”

(Harlan, Iowa) – Shelby County Auditor, Mark Maxwell, reminds every eligible elector in Shelby County to get any voting information needed as soon as possible from the Auditors office.  Absentee ballot requests are now being accepted for the November 8th General election.  If you plan on voting absentee, get the process completed before any deadline has passed.  Call 755-3831 ext.6 with any questions.  Election deadlines are fixed by Iowa Code  to ease any confusion caused by documents not returned in time to be valid.

Some of the important dates to remember include:

Wednesday October 19, 2022—Absentee Ballots Ready. First day absentee ballots may be voted in the Auditor’s office and placed in the US postal service process, to the electors whose valid request have been received.
October 24, 2022—Voter Pre-Registration Deadline. The deadline to pre-register to vote for the General Election is 5:00 p.m. Voters may still register after this date but need to show both ID and proof of residence.
Monday October 24, 2022—Absentee Ballot by Mail Request Deadline. Deadline is 5:00 p.m. Postmarks do not count for requests.
Saturday November 5, 2022—Auditor’s office open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday November 7, 2022—Absentee Ballot In-Person Deadline.  Last day to request and vote an absentee ballot in person at the Auditor’s Office.
November 8, 2022—GENERAL ELECTION DAY. Polls open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Absentee Ballot Deadline to Auditors office 8:00 p.m.