(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowa farmers are already firing up their combines to start harvesting crops. Angie Rieck Hinz, a field agronomist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, says it’s a bit early, but “There are a few farmers who are taking out some corn and even some beans in a few places here in central Iowa.”

While Iowa came completely out of a four-year drought this spring with steady rains, it’s been much drier lately and about two-thirds of the state is now considered “abnormally dry” on the drought monitor map. Rieck Hinz says that can be an advantage at this time of year.

“The heat, coupled with those dry conditions, is going to push that maturity on those crops a little bit faster,” she says. “We still need to wait for crops to dry down in some cases, but it’s been relatively dry for the last month compared to how we started off the growing season.”

Combine harvesting corn. (ISU Extension photo)

There’s a very dry patch in north-central Iowa, from roughly the Webster City area to Iowa Falls, where Rieck Hinz says they’re more than three inches below average on rainfall for the past 40 days or so. “Dry weather is always great conditions for harvest,” she says. “We can get big machinery in and out of those fields. We don’t have to worry about soil compaction. We’re not fighting mud. Let’s hope it stays that way. So the weather can both hurt us and help us at the same time when we get to harvest.”

Forecasters say there’s a chance for some rain over the weekend in parts of the state, and again in the middle of next week.

• On Sept. 2nd: 25-year-old Guillermo Hernandez, of Harlan, was arrested on charges that include: Eluding; Driving While Suspended; Driving While Barred, and Possession of Stolen Property. The charges stem from a chase that began around the intersection of Highway 71 and Highway 44. Hernandez appeared before the magistrate and was held until he posted bond on September 9th.
• On Sept. 1st: 32-year-old Christi Carpenter, was arrested on a Harassment 1st charge. The charge stems from an incident in the 300-400 block of W Washington in Exira on August 30th. Carpenter appeared before the magistrate and was held until she later posted bond;Christi Carpenter was also charged with Child Endangerment, Possession of Marijuana 1st, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Keeping a Premises for Controlled Substances. These charges stem from the unrelated arrested on September 3rd. She posted bond on all the charges and was released; 39-year-old Brentley Gross, of Exira, was summoned into court September 1st, on charges of Possession of Controlled Substance-marijuana 1st and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He appeared before the magistrate on a later date.
• 40-yearold Rose Brabham, of Exira, was summoned into court on a Theft 3rd charge on August 13th, 2024. The charge stems from an incident in the 200 block of Kilworth on August 12th. She appeared before the magistrate on a later date.

(Radio Iowa) – A fixture on the Iowa State University campus in Ames that started out as a memorial has become an enduring symbol of the school as it celebrates 125 years. Music professor Michael Golemo says the bells for I-S-U’s campanile were a gift from Edgar Stanton to remember his wife Margaret McDonald Stanton who died in 1895. “Edgar Stanton wanted to fund putting a small bell tower in that facility, but that but the facility that building wouldn’t sustain the tower, and so instead they they ended up building the freestanding Campanile tower,” he says. Edgar Stanton was part of I-S-U’s first graduating class and served in several roles at the school, including four stints as acting president over 50 years. Margaret Stanton was the first dean of women at the school and was there 25 years before she died.

Golemo says the bells have been upgraded through the years and the song the “Bells of Iowa State” added to their stature and importance.  “I like to think about the idea that faculty are maybe on campus for a couple of decades, and students a couple of years, and and we as administrators are are mere caretakers of this incredible institution. But the bells of Iowa State are forever, and generation after generation the bells chime and really ring out the sound and the soul of what it means to be an Iowa State Cyclone,” Golemo says. He is the director of bands at I-S-U ans says the position of the Campanile gives it a different sound.

“Most carillons are built in town squares, and so when they are played, they are so often played with the hustle and bustle of a of an urban community in their surroundings,” he says. I-S-U’s bell tower is right in the middle of campus in an open space that allows the sound of the bells to travel. “The fact that our Campanile is in the midst of this palatial lawn at the heart of Central Campus, it actually has even a greater musical and oral impact because of its really unique location,” Golemo says. The Campanile has also become the subject of some folklore. One story suggest a woman is not a true coed until she has been kissed under the Campanile (Campaniling) at the stroke of midnight.

“Whether it is the romance of Campaniling beneath the tower, or laying on the lawn and doing your homework or hammocking and resting between classes, or going out and playing Frisbee in the shadow of the Campanile. I think that that tower, and what it means is is always kind of at at the heart of of the the experience of of being here,” Golemo says. It is believed to be one of the most photographed places on campus.

The 125th celebration is this Sunday (Sept. 15) at 2 p-m north of the Campanile.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau and the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted a joint investigation regarding Sioux City Mental Health Counselor Amy Hecht.  It is alleged that Hecht provided false medical codes on patient’s bills to provide additional reimbursement to which she was not entitled.

Hecht has been charged with twelve counts of Fraudulent Submission (Class D Felony), one count of Theft 2nd (Class D Felony), Fraudulent Practice in the 3rd degree (Aggravated Misdemeanor), and tampering with records. Hecht was arrested on September 9, 2024 and was released on bond.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Friday), released a report on arrests that took place between August 22nd and Sept. 10th. Beginning with the most recent arrests:

On September 10th: Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 39-year-old Jennifer Ponder, of Atlantic, on warrants for Burglary 3rd Degree and Interference with Official Acts, along with a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance and a later warrant of Violation of Probation.  Ponder was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held; And, 50-year-old Jeffery Etter, of Atlantic, was arrested on warrants for Burglary 3rd Degree, Driving while Barred and Felon in Control of a Firearm.  Etter was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

On September 8th:  50-year-old Jeffery Etter, of Atlantic, was arrested on charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Offense, Driving while Barred and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Etter was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

On September 4th: Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 53-year-old Aaron Latus, of Massena, on the charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance.  Latus was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond; And, 67-year-old Jeanette Latus, of Massena, was arrested on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance.  Latus was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held pending her later release on bond.

On September 3rd, 18-year-old Miranda Jennings, of Atlantic, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated/1st Offense.  Jennings was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held pending her later release on her own recognizance.

On September 2nd, 23-year-old K-Son Seker, of Atlantic, was arrested by Cass County Sheriff’s deputies for Public Intoxication.  Seker was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held until his later release after time served.

On August 26th, 44-year-old Crystal Branch, of Griswold, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault.  Branch was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held pending her later release after time served.

And, on August 22nd, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 53-year-old Lynn Frohlich, of Atlantic, on a warrant for Violation of Probation.  Frohlich was transported to the Cass Count Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Michigan man was sentenced yesterday to five years (60 months) in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

According to public court documents, Michael Anthony McBride, 30, was stopped for speeding by the Iowa State Patrol in Adair County on July 21, 2023. A search of McBride’s vehicle led to the discovery of user quantities of marijuana and cocaine, a digital scale, and two firearms: a loaded nine-millimeter pistol and a semi-automatic “ghost gun.” McBride admitted to purchasing the firearms for protection. The nine-millimeter pistol had been reported stolen from a residence in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan in June 2023. McBride had been convicted of a felony drug crime in Michigan and was therefore prohibited from possessing firearms.

After completing his term of imprisonment, McBride will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department, this (Friday) morning, said in a social media post, that over the last three days, the Council Bluffs Police Department and schools within the city have been made aware screenshots indicating threats of school violence on social media.

Authorities said “We have investigated all these images thoroughly, and we have learned they are being shared all over the Midwest with no specific origin. There is no evidence that these images came from or specifically target Council Bluffs, yet they continue to be shared and re-posted within our community.

“Social media makes it incredibly easy to share information without verifying its source,” the police department says, “which can be disruptive and dangerous. [They asked] If you come across anything that looks like a school threat, do not share or repost across social media. Please report it to your local law enforcement agency, the school, or through https://safeandsoundiowa.gov/.

“We take all threats of school violence incredibly seriously and will continue to do so. The public is reminded that it is a crime for any individual to create and share electronic communications with the intent to intimidate or alarm others.”

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak say a man was arrested this (Friday) morning, on a Theft charge. 22-year-old Yovani Martin Ramirez, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 8:20-a.m., in the 400 block of E. Linden Street. Ramirez was charged with Theft in the 5th Degree and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300.

(Radio Iowa) – A group of Iowa State University researchers has made a discovery that could lead to a new treatment for patients with blood disorders like leukemia. Clyde Campbell, a professor of genetics, development and cell biology at Iowa State, is on the research team. “I think we are definitely on the verge of making a huge advancement in the use of cell transplants to help cure blood cancers,” Campbell said during a Radio Iowa interview.

Blood cancers account for about 10% of all diagnosed cancers in adults each year and about 25% of all cancers in children. Treatment is often a transplant of bone marrow from a live donor, to respond to the way cancer disrupts the body’s production of blood stem cells. Campbell is the ISU researcher who first observed the switch inside a zebrafish stem cell that triggered production of blood stem cells. “There are very few moments in a scientist’s life where you see something that just kind of blows you away,” Campbell said.

Iowa State University researchers Raquel Espin Palazon (center), Karin Dorman and Clyde Campbell in ISU’s Advanced Teaching and Research Building. (Photo by Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University)

What Campbell saw through his microscope was a 100-fold increase in the number of blood stem cells produced after a certain protein was added. “It really almost knocked me out of my seat,” Campbell said, “because what we were able to produce has never been observed.”

Campbell explains scientists were already able to take non-vital cells from a patient’s skin, add a mixture of key components in a laboratory dish and produce stem cells. “Now where we’re at is trying to drive those cells to become specifically blood stem cells,” Campbell told Radio Iowa. “That way we’d have the ability to introduce the patient’s own cells into their body.”

That would eliminate the need for a bone marrow transplant, as well as the powerful prescription drugs patients have to take long after the transplant. The I-S-U research has been published in Nature Communications, a scientific journal.

It will “definitely take some time” to develop and ensure the process of producing blood stem cells in a lab and putting them back in the patient’s body is safe, according to Campbell. Campbell and others on the ISU research team are working with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to do more testing on the production of blood stem cells in a lab. Part of a $2 million federal grant is being used to build a new lab on the Ames campus to continue the research team’s work.