(Radio Iowa) – With Thanksgiving behind us now, some Iowans started decorating their houses for Christmas this afternoon, though others may wait until December to start decking the halls. Andrea Vaspis, public education director for the National Fire Protection Association, says those colorful lights can be a beautiful accent to your house, but they can also pose a serious fire hazard. “When you’re going to be decorating outside, make sure the lights that you use are approved by a testing laboratory and that they’re rated for outdoor use,” Vaspis says. “That is really critical.”

Putting lights outside that are supposed to be for indoor use only could quickly lead to an electrical short — and a fire. If you’re trying to obtain a Clark Griswold-level of outdoor decoration perfection, she warns, it can be easy to overdo it. “A general rule of thumb is to not plug in more than three strands at a time, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on the box,” Vaspis says. “If you’re opening your tub of old lights and trying to pull them out and see what you have and if anything is frayed or old, it’s time to get rid of it.”

For many Iowans, it’s simply not the holidays if the fragrance of fresh pine isn’t wafting throughout the house, but if you have a “real” tree, it’s important that your electric lights are safe. “For the indoor lighting, make sure that what you’re using is not overloaded in a circuit with a number of other items,” Vaspis says. “Make sure that if you’re putting those lights on a Christmas tree, that the Christmas tree is in good shape, that it’s watered so that the lighting doesn’t cause a fire.”

An association study finds electrical distribution or lighting equipment was involved in more than two of every five (44%) home Christmas tree fires.

(Radio Iowa) – If it’s been a while since you’ve seen an older relative, Iowans may be noticing certain signs over the long holiday weekend in how they’re acting that might indicate the start of a problem. Megan Benzing, program manager for the Iowa Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, says it’s supposed to be a joyful time of thanksgiving, but it’s also an opportunity to take note of potential warning signs which may warrant further action.

“This is the time of year where families start gathering around the dinner table for Thanksgiving and gathering for Christmas,” Benzing says. “It’s a very difficult time because this is going to be the time where all the family members may start to notice that their loved ones are experiencing changes in their memory, their thinking and their behaviors.”

Some of the most common signs of Alzheimer’s, especially early on, include forgetting recently-learned information, challenges planning or solving problems, and difficulty completing familiar tasks. It can be troublesome to watch a loved one struggle with what should be a simple chore.

“That might be confusing for a lot of people. They may not know what’s going on with their loved one but they should know that the Alzheimer’s Association is available around the clock 365 days a year,” Benzing says. “If you need to reach out and talk to somebody, we are available through our 24/7 helpline.”

That number is 800-272-3900. There are also a variety of resources available online.

(Radio Iowa) – The Board of Regents is trying to solve the puzzle on what’s causing the drop in student enrollment at the three state universities. The Board’s Jason Pontious discussed the issue at their meeting earlier this month. He says one mystery is why the number of students going to college after graduating high school started to drop before the pandemic. “The the population here that has the lowest college going rate are white males who qualify for free and reduced price lunch,” he says. Pontious says they reached out to schools looking for answers.

“We talked to school counselors, some of the things we’ll hear is ‘well, they’re going into apprenticeships’. While there is a growing number of students going into apprenticeships, and we have only been tracking that for up until recently, that’s only one percent of the population in 2020-2021,” Pontious says.”You also hear folks saying ‘they’re probably going into the military’, but the intent data for military has been going down over time as well.” He says the job market appears to be more of a factor.

“Wages are up there, it’s easy to find a 15-dollar an hour job. And that’s generally seen as being the explanation for why this is happening,” Pontious says. “And in fact, you look at the intent data, and that has been going up over time. We’ve gotten a preview from our folks over at the Department of Ed, who they collect this data. And they said for this year, that number has jumped to 17 percent of students saying they’re going to enter employment.” He says it has been a nationwide issues and some surveys –like one from Gallup asked people how important is a college education today.

“So in 2013, 70 percent said very important, and has dropped a 51 percent in 2019 pre pandemic,” he says. Pontious says there appears to be a discconect when you look at Iowa Workforce Development’s list of the top 50 Hot jobs — and the current list shows 96 percent of the top 50 require a bachelor’s degree or higher. “At a time where we probably need more people to be giving some kind of education — and I’m not just talking four-year degrees, but some education beyond high school — we are seeing less trust in higher ed, we are seeing a belief that it’s less important,” according to Pontious.

He says more people joining the workforce is a good thing — but he says that provides some headwind as the universities look at making decisions about how to grow going forward.

(Ames, Iowa/Iowa Dept. of Transportation) – The holiday season can bring on a whole new level of stress. The joy of the season can sometimes be overcome by the pressure. If you’re rushing around to complete your holiday “to-do” list, don’t try to save time by driving aggressively.

Don’t think you’re an aggressive driver?

Do you:

1. Regularly drive over the speed limit or try to beat red lights?
2. Honk your horn often?
3. Yell or use obscene gestures at other drivers?
4. Not yield the right of way to another driver?
5. Weave in and out of traffic?
6. Fail to signal a turn or lane change?
7. Tailgate other vehicles?
8. Deliberately block lanes so another driver can’t change lanes?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, take some time to calm down. Recognizing the behavior is the first step to changing it. Here are some other tips:

1. Try to avoid driving when you’re upset.
2. Listen to soothing music
3. Plan ahead to avoid the need to hurry.
4. Don’t take the actions of other drivers personally.

It’s not always going to be easy but staying calm behind the wheel will keep our friends and family members safer.

Here are 22 ways to calm yourself down, both in and out of your vehicle – https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-calm-down

In Iowa in 2022, there have been 303 deaths in traffic crashes. That’s an increase of one since last Friday. To see statistics published daily by the Office of Driver Services, go to the daily fatality report at https://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/stats/daily.pdf

(Radio Iowa) – While retailers nationwide are bracing for a shopping extravaganza on this Black Friday, locally-owned merchants across Iowa are hoping for a bigger boost tomorrow. Jayne Armstrong, director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Iowa District Office, says Small Business Saturday is a crucial day for the state’s consumers to “Be Loyal, Buy Local.”  “It’s just a special day where we get to put the spotlight on small business and say we recognize how important you are,” Armstrong says. “We really want to encourage people to get out and support you this holiday season but really every day is Small Business Saturday.”

Armstrong says 97-percent of Iowa’s businesses are small businesses and embracing them improves the backbone of our state. Armstrong says, “If we really want to get out there and support our economy, we need to be supporting small businesses 24/7, 365 days of the year.” If you’d like to support Iowa’s wealth of merchants who are outside of your immediate area, dozens of businesses are now offering their wares at www.shopiowa.com, which Armstrong says makes it easy to patronize even more hometown heroes in -other- Iowa towns. “ShopIowa has become very popular,” Armstrong says. “A lot of retailers have really put themselves out there online through ShopIowa.com. With the excellent customer service and everything that they provide, we see a lot of people going through that to buy Iowa-made products.”

The website covers a wide array of goods, including artwork, furniture, food, toys, t-shirts, beauty care products, jewelry and more, all crafted in the Hawkeye State.