(Harlan, Iowa) -Officials with the Harlan Police Department report the arrest on March 3rd, of 19-year-old Keagan Shawn Bates, from Harlan. Bates was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault.
(Harlan, Iowa) -Officials with the Harlan Police Department report the arrest on March 3rd, of 19-year-old Keagan Shawn Bates, from Harlan. Bates was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault.
Breeding Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) disappeared from Iowa in the 1950s because of wide spread use of the pesticide DDT. Peregrine falcons historically nested on cliff ledges, but have also adapted to nest on human-made structures like tall buildings and bridges.
Two eggs sit in the shallow “scrape” that serve as nests for Peregrine Falcons
After DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972, the Iowa DNR began a Peregrine Falcon restoration program in 1989 with 23 birds released in Cedar Rapids followed by another 19 released in Des Moines in 1991. Between 1989 and 2003, a total of 169 birds were released in Iowa feeding into a regional restoration effort that saw 875 birds released across the Midwest. In 1999, the first pair of birds nested on their historic nesting grounds along the Mississippi River bluffs. Most of Iowa’s current Peregrine Falcon nests occur in the eastern half of the state in three main environments: Urban, Mississippi River bluff faces and energy plant towers.
Each year, monitoring of nest sites is accomplished by a network of volunteer and professional surveyors. The Raptor Resource Project monitors and bands birds at a number of Peregrine nest sites in the Northeastern corner of the state. Several of the nest sites are on power plants which have restricted access so we rely on employees who not only monitor the nest sites but are often wonderful stewards for the birds. Surveyors collect data on the nest’s activity and whether the pair are successful in producing fledglings.
There were 20 known nest sites in 2021 which had recently been active or were suspected active. One new nesting site was established and three sites along the Mississippi River that were inactive in 2020 were active in 2021. Reports were received on 17 of the 20 sites (Table 1). Sixteen of the 17 monitored nests were active, one inactive. Of the 16 active nests, 5 failed to produce young and 11 were successful. A minimum total of 28 young were fledged from the 11 successful nests. An average of 1.75 young were produced at each nest with a known outcome.
Comparing 2021 data to recent years indicates that 2021 was a good year for breeding Peregrines, with more active/recently active nest sites than in 2020 and the second highest percent of successful active nests (69%) since 2016 (Figure 2). A minimum of 28 Peregrine Falcons fledged in Iowa in 2021, the second highest number since 2016. Overall, Iowa’s nesting population of Peregrine Falcons appears to be stable, with birds generally returning to historic nesting sites each year, but this recovering population continues to warrant annual monitoring.
In future years, the DNR will continue to monitor Peregrine Falcon nest sites with the partnership of volunteers and others who care about falcons in Iowa. Falcon nest sites can be very challenging to monitor because of their location and the territoriality of the birds so any data received is much appreciated. Monitors are needed at nest sites in the Quad Cities and Burlington. Please contact the DNR’s Volunteer Wildlife Monitoring Program coordinator if you’d like to help, vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.
(Creston, Iowa) – A distracted driver ended-up in an accident Tuesday morning, in Union County. The Sheriff’s Department reports a 2004 Chevy Impala driven 18-year-old Caleb Matthew Pearson, of Corning, and a 2015 Ford F-350 pickup pulling a trailer, were both traveling east on Highway 34 at around 8:25-a.m. The pickup was driven by 48-year-old Grant Lee Plowman, of Creston.
When the pickup/trailer signaled to turn and stopped for oncoming traffic, the trailer was struck from behind by the Chevy. Neither driver was injured. Damages amounted to $10,500. Pearson told deputies he was on his cell phone and had it sitting on his lap. When he looked down at the phone, and then looked up, he suddenly noticed the stopped pickup and trailer in front of him, but it was too late to avoid the collision.
The airbags on the Impala deployed during the impact. Authorities cited Pearson for Failure to Stop in an assured clear distance, and use of electronic communication device.
(Radio Iowa) – A new poll finds Iowa’s “Bottle Bill” remains popular with 84 percent of those surveyed. Sixty-one percent said they want more cans and bottles added to the nickle deposit list and more places to return empties. Cleaner Iowa, a non-profit that supports the Bottle Bill, financed the survey. R.G. Schwarm is the group’s executive director. “It reinforces what we believed what consumers and Iowans want,” he says, “and that’s convenience redemption.”
The poll was conducted by Selzer and Company, the firm that does The Des Moines Register Iowa Poll. Ann Selzer says after respondents heard a list of arguments for and against the law, the number who supported expanding it grew to 70 percent. “There aren’t that many issues that get that kind of support,” Selzer said, “so I think this really tells the story right there.”
Mick Barry, president of MidAmerica Recycling in Des Moines, is a member of the national recycling coalition board of directors. “Iowans are ready to see the system updated to help increase the convenience and to cover additional one-time-use containers,” he says.
A five-cent deposit is charged on bottles and cans of beer, carbonated beverages, wine and liquor. The poll found a narrow majority would support raising the deposit fee to 10 cents. A solid majority said retailers that sell beverages should take the empties and pay back deposits. State legislators are considering making changes to the Bottle Bill.
AMES, Iowa – March 9, 2022 – The Iowa Transportation Commission will hold a public input meeting in Council Bluffs at the Mid-America Center, One Arena Way, on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, to hear about transportation matters from representatives of local government, interest groups, and individuals. Items that may be discussed at the meeting include the Iowa Transportation Improvement Program; transportation policies; and highway, aviation, rail, river, bicycle, pedestrian, and public transit issues.
A brief business meeting will begin at 8 a.m. immediately followed by the public input meeting. A detailed agenda will be posted on https://www.news.iowadot.gov/ prior to the meeting. 
For more information concerning the meeting or to obtain a scheduled time on the agenda, contact the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Program Management Bureau, 800 Lincoln Way, Ames, Iowa 50010, telephone 515-239-1288 or email shawn.majors@iowadot.us. Please include the general topic you wish to discuss. The statements, presentations, or suggestions should be 10 minutes or less.
On Monday, April 11, the commissioners will meet informally and tour transportation projects in southwest Iowa. No action will be taken on transportation-related matters during the tour.
Jim Field visits with 8-year-old Ava Matthews and her mom, Cassie, of Audubon. Ava loves pets and that has led her to create a project called “Bananas for Bandanas” that allows her to create dog beds and bandanas for dogs and cats. Some of these are sold and others are donated to area animal shelters. Check them out on facebook.
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The Creston Police Department reports 54-year-old James Leroy Jones, of Creston, was arrested at around 9:15-p.m. Tuesday, at his home. Jones faces charges of Domestic Abuse Assault and Violation of a No Contact Order. He was transported to the Union Co Jail and held without bond, until seen by the Magistrate.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R plans to expand its bat monitoring program across the state with some new contracts. The D-N-R’s Karen Kinkead says the program began around 10 years ago. “And we’ve sort of grown the program over the last several years adding a new county or two each year. And so, this time we’ve gotten more money and we are hoping to expand almost statewide over the next three years,” Kinkead says. Federal officials picked the states where the sound monitoring of bats is done. She says the states and their partners then come up with routes that are driven by cars with boxes on top that records the sounds of the bats as they use echo location to fly and find food. Those recorded sounds then let them know what type of bats they have in each state.
Kinkead says computer software determines what type of bat the recorder heard. She says bat populations have been declining after being hit by disease. “White Nose Syndrome is a fungus that was introduced into the eastern U-S many years ago and it has slowly moved westward and has is know found I believe from coast to coast — we do have it here in Iowa,” she says. “And it’s a fungus that eats through the skin of the bat as it hibernates in the winter. Obviously it makes them uncomfortable it wakes them up and there is no food available, there’s no water available, and it disrupts their metabolism and causes quite a bit of mortality.” Kinkead says there’s some indication that White Nose Syndrome has dropped off in the east.
“Since it’s new in Iowa, we think we are still seeing a decline in our bat numbers, and we want to get a handle on that,” she says. The D-N-R has won some federal money to go along with state money, and will work with Iowa State University and the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation in the bat tracking program. Kinkead says there’s no way to treat the bats — so they are focusing on improving their habitat to make them healthier.
“Invasive species in our forests is a real issue — like honeysuckle and those other invesive shrubs come in. It makes it hard for people to walk in the woods, and it also makes it hard for bats to fly and echo locate and find the insects that they need to eat and to stay healthy in the summer and produce young,” according to Kinkead. She says they are still determining which counties they will add to their bat monitoring. They will also be sending out a call for volunteers to drive the bat listening routes sometime in April or May.
The Panthers returned to the practice floor Tuesday, as they get set for next week’s start of the NIT. UNI lost to Loyola in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Tournament but gets an automatic spot in the field after winning the regular season title. UNI coach Ben Jacobson…
The pairings will be announced Sunday night and Jacobson expects the Panthers to open on the road.
Jacobson says the Panthers will have a normal week of practice to get ready.
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