(Radio Iowa) – Drought conditions are expanding across the state, spreading throughout southern Iowa, but the northwest region is being hit hardest. Don Kass farms in Plymouth County, which is in extreme drought. He says his crops have been faring well so far, but he’s starting to see signs of heat distress. “It’s kind of spotty,” Kass says. “Some fields look like they’re there okay. Other fields, you can see that it’s lighter soil and that the lack of moisture is profound and they’re really suffering.”

Kass says it’s a critical time for corn and soybean development. He says the area needs to see significant rainfall soon to aid the crops’ pollination process. This year, the region saw its second driest June on record, what’s typically the wettest month of the season. On a daily basis, Iowa State University Extension field agronomist Joel DeJong says he sees corn leaves curling and soybean leaves turning over to protect themselves from the heat. “Every day that we’ve got this, particularly the really extreme heat, I think it’s hurting our yield potential significantly,” DeJong says, “more so, closer to Missouri and Big Sioux than it is as you go east.”

DeJong says he expects the region’s yields will be impacted more than they were during last year’s drought. That’s due to a prolonged period of higher temperatures. Compared to last year, the region has seen more 90-degree weather. The latest U-S Drought Monitor map shows around 60 Iowa counties are in some form of drought, with 30 counties abnormally dry, 20 counties in moderate drought, six in severe drought and four (Cherokee, Plymouth, Sioux & Woodbury) in extreme drought.

(reporting by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Dallas/Madison Counties) – Two separate, multiple-vehicle accidents about four-miles apart caused traffic snarls this (Friday) morning on Interstate 80 eastbound, in Dallas and Madison Counties. Two people were seriously injured. The Iowa State Patrol says a four-vehicle crash occurred at around 6:45-a.m. near mile marker 112, just east of DeSoto. One person was taken from the scene by air ambulance in critical condition. All other injuries were described as minor.

No long thereafter, another multi-vehicle accident happened four-miles west on I-80 eastbound. Five vehicles were involved in a crash near the 108 mile marker, or just east of Earlham. One person was taken by ground ambulance from that crash scene in serious condition.

The interstate was re-opened to traffic after being detoured for a few hours. Both crashes remain under investigation. Additional details are expected later today.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Two Counties in southwest Iowa now have bans in place on outdoor burning. On Thursday, a ban on open burning went into effect in Adair County. Today (Friday), the State Fire Marshal’s Office issued a BURN BAN for Mills County, effective from 8-a.m. Saturday, August 6th, and until further notice. The conditions are such in both Adair and Mills Counties, that conducting an open burn creates a danger to lives and property.

Once fire officials in each county agree those conditions no longer exist, the Emergency Management Director will request the ban to be removed. Until then, a violation of the ban on open burning, is a simple misdemeanor.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports two recent arrests and a close-call accident involving a pickup truck and a train. Authorities say Deputies on Thursday arrested 29-year-old Robert Warner, of Fremont, NE, for OWI/1st Offense.  Warner was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond. And on Wednesday, 52-year-old Craig Griffin, of Wiota, was arrested on warrants for Failure to Appear and Violation of Probation.  Griffin was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.

On July 30th, 2022, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the area of 665th and Hampton at around 12:24-p.m. Officials say a 2015 Chevrolet 2500 pickup driven by James Stokley was traveling North on 665th approaching the railroad crossing at that location. Stokley failed to notice an oncoming train until he had arrived at the intersection and the train sounded it’s whistle.  Stokley locked the brakes-up on the pickup, but the vehicle continued to skid closer to the intersection and train.  The pickup’s front left corner struck the train’s front right corner, causing approximately $6,000 worth of damage to the pickup, and no noticeable damage to the train.

No injuries were reported.

(Radio Iowa) – Both of Iowa’s Republican senators say they’ll oppose the package of tax changes and spending on climate and energy projects the U.S. Senate will be voting on this weekend. The three Iowa Republicans in the HOUSE are also criticizing the bill. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says Democrats should pump the brakes and start over. “This plan would pay for 87,000 new IRS agents to turn around and audit working families and small businesses,” Hinson says.

The I-R-S commissioner says the agency will target tax avoidance by corporations and wealthy Americans, but will not increase audits of returns with income below 400-thousand dollars. The agency also plans to upgrade it “One thing I’ve heard from a lot of constituents in a lot of the work that we specifically do is in making sure that people get their tax returns handled in a (prompt) fashion,” Hinson says. “What we don’t want to see is them specifically targeting.” Hinson says a congressional committee that reviews tax-related legislation has concluded that going after misreported business activities could primarily impact low income Americans. “My constituents could not have been stronger about speaking out against super charging the IRS for the wrong reasons,” Hinson says.

Hinson objects to rules that already went into effect in January that require mobile payment apps like Venmo and PayPal to report business transactions of more than six-hundred-dollars to the I-R-S.

(Radio Iowa) – Another steamy, summer weekend is ahead with yet another Heat Advisory posted for a wide portion of the state. Meteorologist Rod Donavon, at the National Weather Service, says you may be getting sick of the hot, humid days but it’s relatively in line with August in Iowa. “We do have warming temperatures coming back to the forecast, already starting today as we have highs back in the 90s,” Donavon says. “Hot and humid conditions are expected on Saturday and we are looking at heat index values in that 105, even 108 range by the afternoon, so extremely warm and humid by the afternoon.”

Heat Advisory covers the lower two-thirds of the state, roughly all counties south of Highway 20, from noon Saturday through 9 o’clock that night. The forecast calls for the dry spell to end for parts of the state on Saturday night — with possible thunderstorms. “They have some rain chances coming in, especially later Saturday evening and as we go into Sunday, the cold front finally reaches the area,” Donavon says. “We have some areas possibly could get some decent rainfalls and then we are followed by much cooler conditions, especially as we go into Monday with highs really only in the 70s.”

Temperatures Sunday are still expected mostly in the 80s and 90s, with a cool-down early next week, and highs back in the 90s by Wednesday.

(Radio Iowa) – A woman involved in a drug ring that snuck meth into Iowa from Mexico will spend eight years in federal prison. Thirty-eight-year-old Erika Rojas of Dakota City, Nebraska pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute meth and admitted to receiving decorative masks from Mexico that covered a wax methamphetamine mixture. Rojas and three others would then extract the meth from the wax and sell it in Sioux City, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Officers searched Rojas’s storage locker and found decorative masks along with multiple pounds of meth.

(Sioux City, Iowa) – A man who robbed the Country Store in Denison, Iowa, was sentenced Thursday (August 4, 2022), to 17 years in federal prison. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa reports 24-year-old Nhial Biliew, from Denison, received the prison term after a guilty plea to one count of interference with commerce by robbery. Evidence in the case revealed on June 23, 2020, Biliew used a gun to rob the Country Store in Denison. Biliew had previously been convicted for (1) Interference with Official Acts; (2) Theft, in the 4th Degree; (3) Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; (4) Providing False Identification Information; and (5) Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree.

Biliew was sentenced in Sioux City U-S District Court to 204 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Biliew is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The case was investigated by Denison, Iowa Police Department, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Crawford County Sherriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Shelby County Auditor/Commissioner of Elections reports “Absentee ballot REQUESTS for the September 13th Special Election for the Harlan Community Schools Bond Measure, are now available.”  He said also, “Methods to obtain a request and other information include:

1.       Call 712-755-3831 ext.6 only one request per person is allowed from the Auditors office.

2.       Producing copies of the blank request is allowed.

3.       Vote absentee in person starting August 24th

4.       Absentee in person voting in the Auditors office is available through September 12th.

5.       The Auditor’s office is open from 8:00 am until 4:30 pm.

6.       Email mmaxwell@shco.org to receive an absentee ballot request that you may print at home.

7.       The Auditor’s office is not allowed to place an un-voted ballot in the mail system after August 29th.

8.       Absentee ballots MUST be received in the Auditor’s office by 8:00 pm September 13th, 2022.”

The proposed $22.9 million bond issue covers two-thirds of the cost of renovations to all four facilities within the Harlan School District. School officials say the other third of the cost, or roughly $9.1 million, would come from the district’s Secure and Advanced Vision for Education, or SAVE, funds. One of the primary goals of the bond is to replace – with a new, modern facility – the current intermediate building. Constructed in 1965, the oldest building in the Harlan School District serves three through five. The plan is to construct the new building, which is nearly the size of the current facility, on the current playground, and then to tear down the old facility to build a new playground.

The District plans to invest $14-million into the High School, to update the classrooms which are surrounded by metal walls and limited electrical outlets. If approved, the bond would include a $2.33 increase to the district’s property tax levy, which is nearly $1.75 less than the last time school officials asked for a bond, in 2018. That effort failed. The increase is roughly an additional $9.57 a month on a household valued at $100,000 or $0.27 per acre.

Auditor Mark Maxwell reminds voters who intend vote absentee, to get their voted ballots to the Auditors office as soon as possible after receiving a ballot in the mail.  Also, if you have changed residence since the last time you voted, get your new address updated now to make your voting process more efficient on election day, by eliminating added paperwork the day of voting.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Abnormally dry or drought conditions now cover more than half of Iowa. The latest Drought Monitor map was released Thursday morning. The map shows 56% of the state rated as abnormally dry, which now includes Polk and Jasper counties. Areas of northwest and southeastern Iowa are now so dry they’re dealing with drought conditions. Two-thirds of Cass County, most of Adair, Madison, Adams, Union and Montgomery Counties are experiencing a Moderate Drought, while other areas to the north and northeast are considered “Dry.”

According to the report, 30.6% of Iowa is experiencing moderate drought, up from 17.2% a week ago.  9.1% of Iowa is experiencing severe drought, a 1.4% increase from last week, while 3.2% of the state is dealing with extreme drought.

Iowa Drought Monitor, 8/4/22 (click on image to enlarge)

 An island of D1 category moderate drought introduced two weeks ago in southeast Iowa is expanding across the southern and central part of the state into southwest Iowa. Plymouth County and the northern portion of Woodbury County in northwest Iowa are dealing with extreme drought conditions.