(Omaha, Nebraska) – A motorcycle accident in Omaha, Friday, claimed the life of a man from Pottawattamie County. According to Omaha Police, at around 3:24-p.m., officers were dispatched to a personal injury crash involving a motorcycle at the on-ramp from southbound 60th St to I-80 East. An investigation determined that a 2010 Harley Davidson motorcycle operated by 54-year-old Jamie Richardson, of Council Bluffs, was traveling on the on-ramp when it left the roadway.

The motorcycle and Richardson separated as both went down the embankment. Citizens performed CPR until Omaha Fire Department Medics arrived. Richardson – who was wearing a helmet -was transported to Nebraska Medicine with life-saving measures in progress, but he died during surgery.

Alcohol impairment is being investigated as a factor in this crash.

Police in Red Oak, Christmas morning, arrested a man for 5th Degree Criminal Mischief. 35-year-old Torrance Fitzgerald Hillard was arrested at around 2:30-a.m, and transported to the Montgomery County jail, where he was being held on $300 bond.

And, 63-year-old Michael Edward Smith, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Red Oak, for driving while barred. Smith was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000.00 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – While some Iowans’ homes will be visited by a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer tonight (Friday), it’s hoped there’s not a visit tomorrow from a fire truck. Andrea Vaspis, public education director for the National Fire Protection Association, says if you’re trying to add some holiday ambience to the room by lighting a few candles, do so with caution.

Vaspis says, “Candles, on average, cause 21 homes fires a day in the United States with the peak days of candle fires being Christmas Day — at almost three times the rest of the year — and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.” December is the peak time of year for candle fires and studies find almost three of every five December home fires are started by candles.

“Candles are great but they are an open flame and when they’re placed too close to a mattress, bedding, cartons, decorations,” Vaspis says. “People leave the room and think they’ll be gone for 30 seconds but they’ve actually left for a lot longer, and now this candle is left unattended.” Christmas Day is also one of the top three days of the year for home cooking fires, but she says lighting candles may only increase the risk of a disaster.

“The key here is, if you’re going to use a candle, make sure it’s on a sturdy base. Make sure it’s at least 12 inches — one foot away — from anything that can burn,” Vaspis says. “We are big supporters of battery-operated candles because you can use them anywhere and not worry about putting them with your decorations.” Christmas tree fires don’t happen often, but when they do, they tend to be serious.

An association report finds, on average, one of every 52 reported home fires that began with a Christmas tree resulted in a death, compared to an average of one death per 135 total reported home fires.

(Shenandoah, Iowa) — Police in Shenandoah, Thursday, arrested a man for OWI/2nd offense, after he was found unresponsive in the driver’s seat of his vehicle in the Burger King drive-thru at around 10-p.m. Authorities report 33-year-old Travis Lee Bears, of Shenandoah, was remained in the Page County jail Friday, after be was unable to post a $2,000 bond.

DUBUQUE – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections, Friday, said a man convicted of Arson in the 1st Degree and other charges, in Pottawattamie County, failed to report back to the Dubuque Residential Facility as required, Thursday. Authorities says 38-year-old Damien Lawrence Hunt is a White male, 5-feet 9-inches tall. He weighs 197 pounds, and was admitted to the work release facility on October 14, 2021.

Damien Hunt

Persons with information on Hunt’s whereabouts should contact local police.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s not a mandate, but Iowa schools have been encouraged for the past few years to incorporate Iowa history in every grade — replacing the traditional practice of one unit of Iowa history in fifth or sixth grade. “So that it’s not a one-and-done experience.” That’s Leo Landis, curator of the State Historical Museum and a member of the Iowa History Council that recommended the change in 2016. Landis says for young kids, Iowa history can become part of learning about spaces and places. “They start understanding some of the basics of geography and directions and things and maybe introducing them to our borders and our big rivers,” Landis says. “It’s up to individual teachers who to incorporate those stories.”

Suzan Turner is an instructional coach in the Nashua Plainfield district. She works with teachers to infuse Iowa history into their lessons and encourage students to do things like search through local newspapers to gain insight. “How did that event uniquely impact our community and how did the people of our community and our state uniquely impact that event?” she asked. “That gives history a lot more meaning to kids when they can think about it through the eyes of their ancestors or their community. It makes it come to life much more than just talking about an abstract event that happened years and year ago.”

Turner is also works with students in the school’s talented and gifted program. One of her students won a 2021 National History Day award. Landis, the state museum curator, says he took one unit of Iowa history as a fifth grader. Over the past few years, Landis and others in the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs have been developing Iowa history curriculum for younger kids. “So that teachers looking for things at early learning levels can come to us and find some of that,” Landis says.

Kids learning about Iowa history may know that Monday is statehood day. December 28th, 1846 is the date Iowa became a state — so THIS December 28th is Iowa’s 175th anniversary.

The man who founded the first school in Iowa for blind students has been inducted into the Hall of Fame for Legends and Leaders of the Blindness Field. In 1849, Samuel Bacon established a state school for the blind in Illinois. Steve Gettel, the superintendent of Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, says Bacon had studied math at Kenyon College in Ohio. “He became blind from Scarlet Fever at the age of 11,” Gettle says. “While he was visiting friends in Keokuk in 1852, he agreed to begin teaching three students who were blind in a rented house. Later that year, with the backing of the legislature, Bacon opened the Asylum for the Blind in Iowa City.”

Gettel says by 1854, the school had moved four times to accommodate increasing enrollment. “Forward thinking in its vision and design, the academic, vocational and music curriculum supported Bacon’s belief that students should be educated, productive, well-rounded, have friends and hold their place in society.” Bacon lobbied the the legislature to pay for construction of a permanent school for blind students, but he objected to the selection of a site in Vinton. Bacon left the state a year before the Iowa Institution for the Education of the Blind opened in Vinton in 1862. The institution closed in 2011.

“Today, more than 600 students across Iowa receive educational services because of Samuel Bacon’s confidence in a mission,” Gettel says. “…His words are paraphrased in our mission statement today when we say: ‘Our purpose, our mission is to enable Iowa students who are blind (and) visually impaired to function as independently as possible in all aspects of life.'” Gettel is also superintendent of the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs. He plans to retire at the end of June. “It’s been a blessing to finish up my career here,” Gettel says.

Gettel was superintendent of the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind before taking a similar position in Iowa seven years ago. He started his teaching career at the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind in 1981.