A nine-year old died in a single-vehicle accident Sunday night, in northwest Iowa’s Ida County. The Iowa State Patrol reports Hayden Dale Juelfs, of Correctionville, was a passenger in a 2003 Lincoln Towncar. The vehicle, driven by 33-year-old Ethan David Juelfs, of Washta, IA, was traveling southbound on Iowa Highway 31 at around 6:23-p.m., when Juelfs swerved to miss a deer.

The car went off the left side of the road, overturned and went airborne into a ravine, where it struck a tree. The nine-year old, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene.The crash remains under investigation.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Holstein Ambulance, Correctionville Fire, Washita Fire, and the Ida County Medical Examiner.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds plans to deliver a statewide address this (Monday) evening to unveil new pandemic-related policies — and it appears to be more than six decades since an Iowa governor has delivered a televised address at night. Leo Landis, the state curator at the State Historical Society of Iowa, found the details.

“Governor Leo Hoegh, at least in a local live address, appears in Fort Dodge to have made some remarks on television on October 12, 1956,” Landis says, “so that may be the very first time an Iowa governor appeared live on television.” Hoegh was campaigning for re-election at the time and Landis found an Associated Press article about the nighttime speech.

“Fort Dodge did have a local NBC affiliate at the time, so it’s most likely that it was that NBC affilaite who carried those remarks,” Landis says. “…It was a live television address as best we can tell.” However, it was likely a local broadcast because the technology to provide the signal statewide just didn’t exist.

“Even in the mid-1950s, television was still fairly new,” Landis says. Many Iowa radio and T-V stations intend to carry the speech Governor Reynolds intends to deliver tonight, shortly after six o’clock. It will originate from Iowa P-B-S.

Hamburg, IA  – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Golden Hills RC&D and the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway have announced the Waubonsie State Park Artist in Residence awards for the 2019-2020 Program. (See the winners mentioned below) The goal of the residency program is to reach a broader audience of park-goers, thus increasing the number of visitors and ultimately educating more people about the Loess Hills ecosystem.  The artists and visitors will engage with the natural resources of the park through a visual arts lens.

Many quality applications were received from artists representing a wide array of disciplines.  Four artists were selected to fill residencies ranging from one week to four weeks long in November through March of next year.  Artists receiving the residency awards for the second Waubonsie State Park Artist in Residence Program include Sheila Newenham, Shelly Eisenhauer, Daniel Castaneda and Terri Parish McGaffin.

Sheila Newenham (Nature Photography)

Shelly Eisenhauer (Photography & Digital Media)

Daniel Castaneda (Graffiti Artist/Mixed Media)

Terri Parish McGaffin (Various Painting Media)

The four artists in this year’s residency program will use their time at Waubonsie to immerse themselves in the landscape as a source of inspiration and opportunity to intensely focus on their work.  The artists represent a diverse array of media, including photography, digital media, sculpture, graffiti murals, and oil, acrylic and watercolor paint.

Sheila Newenham is a photographer from Wayne, Illinois and will begin her residency on Sunday, November 17th.  She hopes to connect people to nature by sharing her passion for wildlife and wild places. By bringing the individual, emotional, sentient side of our natural world into people’s homes, she hopes to expand your appreciation and experience of the wild. “I want my art to show you something you’ve never seen before or to make you think about something in a new way and for it to stay with you when you leave.”

Shelly Eisenhauer of Glenwood specializes in photography and digital media.  “I am excited to use my lens and lights to explore the transformation of the natural landscape of the park – specifically the native plant life – in the winter months. Rain, snow and the turn of the colder seasons affect the texture and color of plants in a very different way than the heat of summer, and I suspect most park visitors are less aware of the winter landscape.”

Daniel Castaneda of Omaha, Nebraska is a multidisciplinary graffiti artist and multifaceted artisan, “My artwork is inspired on the art of nature, keeping alive my culture and roots of my ancestors. I like to use different materials and styles to transform the components given when designing murals or sculpting ideas.”  During his residency, Daniel will use the organic materials and natural views that surround his space to create his artworks.

Terri Parish McGaffin from Sioux City, Iowa has spent many years as an art professor and administrator, and is looking forward to spending time during her residency focusing on artistic practice and discovery.  “I have always believed that which I observe is more magical than that which I can invent. Stimulated by environment, I record these observations in paintings, which have a level of intimacy unlike other processes of representation.”

One of the region’s ecological and recreational treasures, Waubonsie State Park’s 2,000 acres in the Loess Hills of southwest Iowa feature prairies, savannas, and woodlands which are home to diverse flora and fauna, not to mention breathtaking vistas.  Park Manager Matt Moles has worked with Golden Hills RC&D Project Coordinator Lance Brisbois and Loess Hills National Scenic Byway Coordinator Rebecca Castle to develop and launch the project.

While there have been other artist residency programs offered through the National Parks System and select parks in other states, this was the first such program in one of Iowa’s State Parks.  The program is loosely modeled after similar regional programs such as the Residency Program at Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Since the Waubonsie State Park Artist in Residence Program’s inaugural year, the Iowa DNR and Iowa State University have partnered with the Iowa Arts Council on a similar program featuring staff and students from ISU.

The artists will receive lodging in a studio cabin and a primitive studio space in the park at no cost for the duration of the residency. In return, artists will deliver at least one public program during their residency and donate one piece of art to the park at the conclusion of their stay.

Waubonsie State Park is only about an hour’s drive from Omaha or Lincoln, NE; two hours from Kansas City; and 2.5 hours from Des Moines.  It is located near the southern end of the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway.  To learn more about the Artist in Residence program and the artists, visit www.goldenhillsrcd.org/artist-in-residence.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Monday, reports “Effective immediately, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office will do fingerprints for essential personnel ONLY. This restriction is expected to last through late December, at which time the Coronavirus situation will be reviewed.”

IOWA CITY – The Iowa Department of Corrections said Monday (Today) 72-year-old Gene Edward Dryer, an inmate at the Clarinda Correctional Facility (CCF), was pronounced dead 6-a.m. Saturday, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, in Iowa City. Dryer dad been transported there from the CCF several days earlier, when medical staff noticed his condition beginning to worsen.  Authorities says his death was likely due to complications related to COVID-19 and other preexisting medical conditions.

Dryer had been serving a life sentence for the crime of Kidnapping 1st Degree from Dubuque County. His sentence began on May 3, 1994.

NEW VIENNA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a grain barn in eastern Iowa has been destroyed in an early-morning fire. Television station KCRG reports firefighters were called to the blaze around 3:20 a.m. Monday in Dubuque County. Officials say arriving firefighters found the barn completely engulfed in flames. Crews were able to extinguish the fire, but the barn is a total loss. Officials say a house and a vehicle on the property sustained heat damage during the fire. Officials say the fire caused about $25,000 in damage. No injuries were reported.

The Glenwood Police Department Monday (today), said 19-year-old Brian Johnson, of Glenwood, was arrested Friday. Johnson was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant for Probation Violation.

A traffic stop on a vehicle at around 12:30-p.m. Saturday, in Council Bluffs, resulted in the discovery of two missing New York teens. Council Bluffs Police says a Council Bluffs Police Traffic Unit officer conducted a traffic stop on a Toyota Van with New York license plates. The vehicle was traveling 94 mph in a 65 mph zone, in the area of the 3 mile marker on I-80 West Bound. Upon making contact with the occupants, it was found the driver was a missing 14-year-old male out of New York.

His passenger, an 11-year-old female, was also reported missing out of New York. The juveniles were placed into protective custody. Officials in New York were contacted and they are in the process of bringing the juveniles back home. The names of the juveniles are not being released due to their age.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds has scheduled a 6:05-p.m. live address to Iowans, with regard to COVID19, the need for Iowans to practice safe mitigation efforts, as well as to announce new steps to fight the virus in order to protect lives, livelihoods, hospital resources and health care workers. It will be livestreamed and posted in full on Governor Reynolds’ Facebook Page. 

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a mother and her two children were injured this weekend escaping an apartment fire in West Des Moines. Television station WOI reports that firefighters were called just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday to the West Glen Apartment complex. Arriving firefighters saw smoke coming from the building and called for a second alarm, and police arrived to help evacuate the building. Officials say a mother and her two children were taken to a hospital with minor injuries after escaping through a third-story window. Fire crews quickly brought the fire under control. The cause of the fire is under investigation.