(Radio Iowa) – The “World Day Against Human Trafficking” is this Saturday, and some of the leaders in the effort in Iowa are asking you to take notice. Iowa Secretary of State, Paul Pate, has worked with businesses on the issue. “We want the public to learn more about it. And we’d like to invite them to do more about it. It is a ongoing issue with you know, it’s a form of slavery, whether it’s a labor trafficking or sex trafficking, ” Pate says. Pate says it takes a team effort to get everyone involved and fight the trafficking. “That has some tips out there for people to see. We work very closely with a lot of groups. And in my case we launched Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking,” Pate says, “and we have over 500 businesses in Iowa who stepped up, and they’re learning about it. And they’re encouraging others in themselves to do more about it within their own company.”

He says you can go to the Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking website to get some tips. Chris Calloway with the Iowa Department of Public Safety says they’ve been working with lodging operators for almost two years on how to spot human trafficking. “And since that time, we’ve trained almost 600 lodging providers — that includes hotels, some of the county parks, Air b-n-b’s — pretty much anybody that has a lodging facility available for people to stay at is welcome and encouraged to attend the training,” Calloway says. He says the D-P-S Office To Combat Human Trafficking has also trained some 17-thousand-500 others — and they are seeing some early results. “We only have a small data set, but the the first six months of 2022 have shown a increase in those reported tips,” he says.

Iowa Sec. of State Paul Pate.

Calloway says there is no single type of victim in these crimes. “It can be any age. It can be children, it can be. It can be teens, it can be older people as well,” he says. “And then the sex trafficking, the human trafficking and sex trafficking, that’s only part of it. There’s the labor trafficking that goes with that as well.”

You are asked to give them a tip if you see something that doesn’t look right. You can call toll free at: 888-373-7888 to give a tip. You can also go to the D-P-S website: stophtiowa.org to make a report, or find out more about training.

(Radio Iowa) – A public celebration of life event will be held next week for the three family members from Cedar Falls who were shot to death while camping last week in eastern Iowa. Cedar Falls Mayor Bob Green says he anticipates there will be a private funeral for Tyler and Sarah Schmidt and their six-year-old daughter, Lula. The mayor says the public event at Overman Park in Cedar Falls on Tuesday night will give the community a chance to share and, while not a festive gathering, it will be a celebration of remarkable people.

State officials have reopened Maquoketa Caves State Park to visitors, but the campground where the shooting happened remains closed. By this (Thursday) morning, more than 45-hundred people had donated nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the go-fund-me account for Arlo Schmidt, the nine-year-old boy who survived the attack.

(Radio Iowa) – A one year experiment in a Davenport junior high school will likely expand this fall to three more. The district’s head nurse, Gina Ekstrom, says Community Health Care, which serves low-income residents of the Quad Cities, received a grant to improve access to health care for children. So last year, it provided vaccinations at the school and virtual medical appointments so kids would miss only a few minutes of class, instead of a half-day or full-day of school.

“Parents really appreciated that having this partnership with Community Health allowed them to get the health care that their children needed, maybe without them having to take a day off from work,” Ekstrom says. “It was great because Community Health Care came to them. We met the students where they were.”

Community Health Care plans to add mental health services at the junior high school this fall to address a long-term problem made worse by COVID. Ekstrom says vaccinations and virtual medical appointments will be available this fall at three more junior highs, with mental health services added next year. Thanks to the grant, there’s no cost to the Davenport School District.

(Radio Iowa) – The C-E-O of Hy-Vee — Iowa’s largest employer — will step down from that post on September 30th. Randy Edeker has been the chief executive officer of Hy-Vee since
2012. He has chosen Aaron Wiese to take over as C-E-O on October 1st. Wiese started at Hy-Vee in 1993 when he was in college and over the past decade Wiese has held a variety of executive roles in the company. He’s currently in charge of supply chains and subsidiaries.

According to a news release from the company, Wiese will focus on day-to-day operations and will report to Edeker, who’ll remain as chairman of Hy-Vee’s board of directors. Edeker, Hy-Vee’s out-going C-E-O, has worked at the company for 40 years. He started as a part-time employee at the Hy-Vee store in Chariton.

AMES, Iowa – July 28, 2022 – The Iowa Department of Transportation is holding a public hearing and requesting public input for the proposed U.S. 30 bypass in Missouri Valley, Harrison County. The Iowa DOT would like to gather public feedback on the environmental documentation, preferred alternative, and potential impacts related to the planned improvements. The environmental assessment is now available to review at the Missouri Valley Public Library, 420 East Huron Street, Missouri Valley, and is available online at: https://iowadot.gov/ole/NEPA-Compliance/NEPA-documents/US-30-Missouri-Valley-Bypass

The Iowa DOT is providing two meeting formats for the public hearing: in-person and a virtual at your own pace. If you do not have access to the internet, or need assistance viewing the materials, please contact the DOT representative listed below.

In-Person Meeting:

Date/Time: August 4, 2022 / 4:30 p.m.

Location: Rand Center, 100 South 4^th Street, Missouri Valley

Description: The public hearing will be conducted using a combined open forum and formal format. The open forum will be held from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m., where Iowa DOT staff will be present to informally discuss the project. After the open forum, a formal presentation will be displayed beginning at 5:15 p.m. and followed by a question-and-answer session.

At your own pace Meeting:

Date/Time: Anytime between August 4 – August 29, 2022

How to Attend: Navigate to www.iowadot.gov/pim and click on “U.S. 30 Missouri Valley”

Description: Experience a self-guided tour of the proposed project and submit comments and questions at any time during the comment period.

Comments and questions regarding the online public hearing should be received by August 29, 2022.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Department reports Deputies responded Tuesday to a disturbance taking place outside of a residence in the 800 block of 15th Street, in Corning. Upon Deputies’ arrival, two men were found near the residence. They fled when Deputies approached in an attempt to speak with them. The individuals were identified as Blaine Patrick Venteicher, of Corning, and Treynor Michael Dixson, of Nodaway.

Both were placed under arrest and charged with Minor in Possession of Alcohol, and Public Intoxication. They were transported to the Adams County Jail, and later released on $300 bond, each.

*”Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations, and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A central Iowa man was arrested Wednesday evening on a drug and a weapon charges. Red Oak Police report 25-year-old Ali Rasheed Muhammad, of Des Moines, was arrested at around 8:53-p.m. in the 100 block of N. Broadway Street. He is charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense, and with being a Person ineligible to carry dangerous weapons. Both charges are serious misdemeanors. Muhammad was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Engineer’s Office reports “Boston Road will be closing 0.1 mile east of Olive Street beginning Monday, August 1^st.  Boston Road will be closed from Olive Street to 630^th Street. Cass County is replacing the existing bridge with a twin 12’ x 12’ x 87’ Reinforced Concrete Box Culvert.  The project should be complete in approximately two (2) months.” 

Orange highlight marks the portion of road to be closed.

(Radio Iowa) – A woman who spent 23 days in the Hamilton County Jail on an attempted murder charge has won an out of court settlement of 425-thousand dollars for what her attorney calls a wrongful arrest. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office on September 13, 2019 issued an arrest warrant for 43-year-old Jennifer Sue Pritchard of Fort Dodge for allegedly driving a vehicle while her boyfriend Jacob Adams shot at a camper in rural Stratford. The only thing was, Pritchard was not driving the vehicle and was never in Hamilton County at the time. Pritchard was working at the time in Fort Dodge with witnesses and video footage to prove it.

A lawsuit was then filed in Hamilton County District Court in June 2021 by Pritchard and her attorney, Jack Bjornstad of Okoboji. Pritchard argued that the Hamilton County Sheriff’s office had the evidence exonerating her for ten days before she was given a pretrial release from jail and for more than month before the charges were finally dismissed. The settlement for Pritchard was paid out from Hamilton County’s insurance provider, the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool, plus a $3,000 deductible for the insurance claim was paid out of the county’s general fund.