(Radio Iowa) – The executive director of the Iowa chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness says while the 9-8-8 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has melted down in some other states, that hasn’t been the case here. Peggy Huppert says that’s because the two crisis response services in eastern Iowa that have been handling 9-8-8 since it launched in July had been fielding suicide prevention calls and texts for some time.

“They were used to working together,” Huppert says. “And were used to working together with local law enforcement and other providers across the state.” Foundation 2 Crisis Services in Cedar Rapids is handling Iowa phone calls to 9-8-8. CommUnity Crisis Services in Iowa City is handling text messages to 9-8-8 and has been contracted to handle texts from other states that aren’t being answered quickly. Goals set for 9-8-8 include responding to a text or answering a phone call within 30 seconds. In July, the average pick-up time in Iowa was 18 second for phone calls.

“I’m really impressed with that,” Huppert says. “We do want to have people call for help and get immediate help.” Being able to text the 9-8-8 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is critical, according to Huppert. “If you’re under a certain age, that’s just how you communicate, so we absolutely have to have that capability,” Huppert says. CommUnity recently reported a 788 percent INCREASE in the text messages it answers from Iowans and other states. CommUnity is a national back-up center for texts to the 9-8-8 National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

Foundation 2 Crisis Services in Cedar Rapids answered more than 11-hundred suicide hotline calls from Iowa in July. That’s 55 percent above the monthly average from January through June.

(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist, Justin Glisan says June, July and August have been warmer and drier than normal for the last three years. Glisan says the La Nina weather pattern is to blame and it could impact fall as well. “We still see an elevated chance of warmer and drier temperatures for September and then you look at the seasonal meteorological fall time slice — September October November — we’re seeing that signal through those three months,” Glisan says.

He says La Nina is a cold sea surface temperature anomaly in the Pacific that impacts where the storm tracks set up over the United States. It could hang around through winter. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves in terms of winter forecasts. But when we do see that La Nina interface hanging around, we do see a tendency towards warmer temperatures across the southern part of the United States, colder temperatures across the northern part of the United States, and then we’re stuck right in the middle of that interface,” he says. “So it’s just a coin flip right now, but again, too far out seasonally.”

Glisan say the La Nina impact has been felt across much of the upper Midwest.

(Creston, Iowa) [edited for clarification 9/6/22]- Sheriff’s officials in Union County report a man they said is linked to vehicle thefts in six different counties was arrested at around 2-p.m., Saturday. 39-year-old Daniel Floyd Edwards is allegedly responsible for a string of motorcycle, car, pick-up, 4-wheeler, tractor, dump truck, and semitrailer thefts in Union, Ringgold, Adams, Adair, Cass and Madison counties. Charges on the offenses were still pending as of the latest information.

Daniel Floyd Edwards

Authorities late last week alerted the public to be on the lookout for Edwards, who was wanted for parole violations, with nationwide extradition. He was taken into custody after a pursuit. No injuries were reported.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa DNR is now taking public comments as it prepares the rules for the revised bottle bill. The bill was created 44 years ago and after much debate through the years was changed in the last legislative session. The DNR’s Aime Davidson leads the Land Quality Bureau, an says they are not looking for ways to change the law, just input on the rules to implement it. “Our rules would need to be in compliance with the law. We can only work within the authorization that the law gives us,” Davidson says. “So, it would be looking at the law and then looking at the rules and seeing if they aligned, and if things make sense.”

She says you can make your comments online. “If you go to the DNR website, and the easiest way to get to it in the search bar is just search bottle bill and it will pull up the beverage containers control law web page. And it’s pretty much right at the top of the page, titled proposed rule revisions,” Davidson says. You can also email comments at: bottlebill@dnr.iowa.gov.

The input is part of the rulemaking process leading up to the implementation of the new law. “DNR will accept written comments during this informal period until September 21st, and then there’s a formal rulemaking process that includes going to the Environmental Protection Commission, the administrative rules review committee, with the goal that the rules are final by January 1st,” she says.

The changes in the bill will let most grocery stores and other retailers opt out of accepting empty bottles and cans and paying back the nickel deposits. The original Bottle Bill was created as a way to reduce litter and encourage consumers to recycle drink containers.

(Radio Iowa) – A small company that makes tasty treats was launched in an Iowa State University dorm room, and it will soon have its products on the shelves of a major national retail chain. Le Mars native Jarod Steffes, one of the co-founders of Muddy Bites, describes his simple idea that quickly morphed into an expanding business, offering the yummy nibbles in milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate. “Muddy Bites is essentially the bottom part of a sundae cone, just that waffle end filled with chocolate,” Steffes says, “so essentially, we took the best part of a sundae cone and turned it into a bite-sized snack that one can enjoy over and over again.”

Steffes came up with the concept when he was still an I-S-U student and he needed a partner. Enter Tyler De Vos, who lived just down the hall. “I could do marketing a little bit, but I didn’t know how to make food whatsoever. I knew nothing about producing food, manufacturing, all that stuff and immediately thought of my network — who does?” Steffes says. “At the time, Tyler had started a barbecue sauce company out of his dorm room and so I was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got this idea, you know a little bit at least about food, like, can you help me with this idea?'”

Steffes says De Vos only need to consider for about 30 seconds before agreeing to be a part of the project. From the start, the business partners decided to split up the workload. “He’s running more of the operational side of things and figuring out how to actually make Muddy Bites on a mass scale,” Steffes says, “and I kind of run all the other branding, social media/marketing side of the business. We really started that in 2018, and the idea really started in 2019 when we launched on Kickstarter.”

A crew of I-S-U students created the first batches of Muddy Bites, which are now manufactured in North Sioux City, South Dakota. The treats are already for sale in 52-hundred stores nationwide. The big break came earlier this year, when they competed with several thousand other firms in a “product showcase” before Walmart executives in Arkansas. Muddy Bites was among the products chosen for sale at Walmarts across the country. Steffes says they’re ramping up production to meet an April Walmart deadline.

On the web at https://www.muddybites.com/

(Radio Iowa) – A spokesperson for the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau says there are some simple things you can do to stay safe as you head home today (Monday) from the long holiday weekend. Jenie Sterbenz says with the shutdown for the pandemic, and some people driving less, we don’t remember some of the rules of the road. “It does seem that people have kind of forgotten the safety part of driving — driving the speed limit, wearing your seat belt, putting that phone down,” she says. Sterbenz says driving is not the time to be multitasking.

“When you’re driving that’s where your attention should be is on driving, not messing with the radio eating or watching a movie or playing with your phone,” she says. “We know that those are all distractions and they can cause your mind to be elsewhere.” You may be following all of the rules but still get into an accident. Sterbenz says wearing your seat belt is good protection for anything that happens on the roadway. “Forty-one percent of our traffic fatalities here in the state of Iowa, to date, have not been buckled up. That’s rather disturbing, especially since we’ve had the law in effect since 1986,” Sterbenz. “Even though we do have a great percentage of people buckling up, we still have those people that are not buckling up are the ones that seem to be involved in those fatality crashes.”

There will be extra officers out on the roadways looking for violations today (Monday). Sterbenz says they just want everyone to get into good driving habits again so the number of fatal and other types of crashes drop.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and Healthy Cass County is hosting a free suicide prevention training Monday, September 12, 2022, from noon – 1:00 PM. CALM (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means), focuses on how to reduce access to the methods people use to kill themselves. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center says “Reducing
access to lethal means, such as firearms and medication, can determine whether a person at risk for suicide lives or dies.”

The training will be presented by Gina Moulas, who works for Veterans Affairs (VA) in Suicide Prevention as a Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator. Gina is an active
participant in Healthy Cass County. People who visited the Cass County Fair may recognize Gina. Others may have seen her sharing coloring books and other mental health resources at
Produce in the Park. The CALM suicide prevention training is open to the public. To join the meting virtually, contact Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or 712-249-5870.

The meeting will also be broadcast at the Atlantic Public Library meeting room. Anyone is welcome to attend. Food is allowed in the meeting room, and attendees are welcome to bring
their lunch. Additional information from the VA on suicide prevention, including resources on lethal means, can be found at https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/index.asp. For more information on free mental health trainings and programing available to businesses, schools, churches, and other community groups, contact Brigham Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or 712-249-5870.

Additional events will be planned for Suicide Awareness Month. Follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook @HealthyCassCounty for information, tips, and connection points throughout the
month, as we focus on this important topic.

Healthy Cass County is a community-focused volunteer network formed to promote the health and well-being of all people in Cass County. Healthy Cass County meets on the second Monday
of the month from noon-1:00 PM. All people are welcome. Contact Brigham Hoegh for more information.

(Radio Iowa) –  The Democratic candidates in Iowa’s first and second congressional districts say the line to maintaining a Democratic majority in the U.S. House runs through Iowa. Liz Mathis of Hiawatha, the Democrat running in Iowa’s second congressional district, and fellow Democrat Christina Bohannan, the first district candidate, rallied with supporters at a “county line” fundraiser near Lisbon this weekend. Bohannan is from Iowa City. “We are standing on the line between two of the most competitive congressional districts in this country, so this is ground zero for this election in every way that matters,” Bohannan said.

Mathis told the crowd it’s go time. “We’ve got to get out the vote,” Mathis said. “In this district, district number two, we have only now 2700 or so more active Democratic voter registrations than Republican.” This spring, Mathis and Bohannan were among a dozen candidates national Democrats identified as top prospects for defeating Republican incumbents. Mathis is challenging first-term Republican Ashley Hinson of Marion and Bohanann is challenging Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa, who’s also in her first term in the U.S.

Election Day is 64 days away.

(Radio Iowa) – Three of the Iowa Democrats running for federal office say President Biden’s speech last week highlighted the dangers of extremism in American politics. Mike Franken, the Democrat running against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, says President Biden’s speech last week as the first inning of the push to November’s election. “He’s tried to be conciliatory. He’s tried to do what he can to give many outs to the the segment of the Republican Party which has gone adrift and he’s had it. I agree with him. Stop it. Let’s go,” Franken said, to applause. “We know what we have to do. The polls and the majority of Iowans are firmly with us.”

Bohannan says a lot of Democrats, Republicans and independents agree on what government needs to do. “The problem is that extreme politics are getting in our way,” Bohannan said. Mathis told reporters voters want the campaign focused on solutions. “The things that resonate with the people in our districts are those things around lower prices, reproductive rights, making sure that people cool their jets,” Mathis said, “making sure that they are stopping the culture wars, the MAGA Republicans are stopping all the trash talk and we are able to get along and get things done.”

Mathis, Bohannan and Franken made their comments at a campaign event near Lisbon this weekend. Election Day is 64 days away.

Police in Red Oak, Sunday, arrested a man for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. Authorities say 39-year-old David Allan Minard, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 8:35-p.m. in the 200 block of Maple Street, and transported to the Montgomery County Jail. His bond was set at $300.