(Radio Iowa) — University of Iowa researchers are partnering with schools in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City to study how children learn words and form a vocabulary. Bob McMurray, a U-I professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, says the effort is called the Growing Words Project, and it uses sophisticated infrared cameras that carefully track a child’s eye movements. “We know that if you show a child a word or if you say a word to them, it takes about a half-second or more for them to figure out what you mean,” McMurray says. “What are they doing in that half-second? Growing Words is investigating that using eye-tracking where we can trace out, every four milliseconds, what a child is thinking as they listen to or read words.”

Starting in January, the program will be testing about 300 elementary school children in Cedar Rapids and another hundred in Iowa City. The child will place his or her chin in a harness in front of a computer screen rigged with cameras. “They might hear a word like ‘wizard’ or maybe they read it, and on the screen, they see several pictures, things like a wizard, a window, a lizard, and maybe something that’s completely unrelated like table,” McMurray says. “All they have to do is click on the wizard, but they have to find it first and that means they have to start looking around. What we do is we ask, what are they looking at and when?”

Between 12 and 16-percent of Iowa children have some type of learning or reading disorder. “Part of their problem might be that they know the words, they know the letters, but they can’t use that information fast enough to understand a whole sentence or to read a whole sentence or to read a book,” McMurray says. “What we want to do is try to understand how those children — but also how their typically-developing peers — manage to do this so quickly and how they get better at it.”

The program will study about 400 children a year over the next four years using a $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. More volunteers are needed in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids at all reading levels in grades one through three. Contact McMurray through the website: https://growingwords.lab.uiowa.edu/

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Airline passengers will soon have the option to take a non-stop flight from Des Moines to Miami. The Des Moines Register reports that American Airlines will offer the summer seasonal service starting June 3. Flights will leave Des Moines on Saturdays and Sundays, and return flights are scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays. It will be the first direct flight from the Des Moines International Airport to Miami International Airport.

Airport communications director Kayla Kovarna says more than 52,000 passengers already travel to the Miami airport from Des Moines each year. The route will help passengers connect with tropical destinations in Jamaica. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale Nov. 25.

(Radio Iowa) — As South Dakota officials attract national attention for their anti-meth campaign, the drug is a growing problem in Iowa as well. Dale Woolery is director of the Iowa Governor’s Office on Drug Control Policy. “We’ve seen an increase in the use of methamphetamine, the availability of methamphetamine, the purity of methamphetamine,” he says. More than 90 people died of a meth overdose last year in Iowa — tying a previous record — and Woolery says there’s been a “surge” in the number of Iowa adults who are using meth.  “It’s so addictive that it’s going to take professional help, in most cases, to stop that use,” Woolery says.

More than 10-thousand Iowans were in a substance abuse treatment program, trying to kick an addiction to meth, in the last state fiscal year. That’s an all-time high. One meth-related trend has subsided, however, as there are few “meth lab” busts in Iowa these days. But Woolery says larger quantities of more potent meth are being smuggled into Iowa.  “I think you could argue that we are being flooded by methamphetamine in some areas,” Woolery says. “We have reports from law enforcement where it used to be ounces of methamphetamine they would seize or deal with. Now it’s in the pounds and that’s pretty common these days.”

Mexico is the number one point of origin for the meth that’s being sold illegally in Iowa today, according to Woolery. “Frankly, we need some assistance on the international front to try and reduce the supply from the point of origin,” Woolery says. The number of meth-related convictions in Iowa courts is growing as well. More than 18 percent of the inmates sent to an Iowa prison in 2017 committed some sort of meth-related offense.

Woolery says it’s not for him to judge whether the controversial “Meth, we’re on it,” slogan South Dakotans adopted for their ANTI-meth campaign is appropriate. BUT Woolery says there should be a sense of urgency to prevent meth use and deal with those who’ve become addicted.

Officers with the Red Oak Police Department, Thursday, arrested a 17-year old, for Interference with Official Acts. The teen was taken into custody in the 2300 block of Eastern Avenue, cited, and released to juvenile courts. No name was released because of the person’s age.

A 16-year old from Creston was flown by air ambulance to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, and three others juveniles were injured, following a collision at an uncontrolled gravel road intersection, Thursday night. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2004 Nissan Xterra (SUV) driven by a 16-year old was traveling westbound on 190th at around 8:23-p.m., at the same time a 1998 Toyota 4 Runner driven by a 17-year old, was traveling northbound on Jaguar Road.

After the 4 Runner struck the driver’s side of the Nissan, the Nissan rolled onto its passenger side and was thrown into a utility pole at the northwest corner of the intersection. When it hit the utility pole, a live power line fell onto the SUV, and the Toyota came to rest in a ditch.

No names were released because the teens are juveniles.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports a man and a woman were arrested Thursday, following a search for a man wanted on a warrant. Deputies received a call stating 30-year old Jonathan Lee Million, of Marshalltown, and formerly of Shenandoah, who was wanted on the warrant, was hiding inside a residence in Farragut. Deputies attempted to make contact with the residents located at a home in the 800 block of Essex Street in Farragut, and while on scene, received an anonymous call of 2 men wearing masks, armed with guns at the bank in Riverton, Iowa. The bank in Riverton had been closed for several years. The call was found to be fraudulent.

J.Million

Lisa Costello

Deputies then observed a male matching the description of Million, attempt to exit the home and then reenter upon observing law enforcement still in the area. Deputies forced entry into the home and Fremont County K9 “Roby” was deployed. Two occupants of the residence surrendered to law enforcement prior to the K9 entering the residence.

Deputies arrested Jonathan Lee Million, and 43-year old Lisa Ann Costello, of Farragut. A search warrant was conducted on the residence and several items of evidence were recovered, including a loaded firearm reported stolen during a burglary out of Fremont County. Million was arrested on an outstanding warrant out of Marshalltown, as well as new charges that include Interference with Official Acts, Theft 4th Degree, and two counts of Possession of a Weapon by a felon. Costello was arrested for Accessory of a Felony After the Fact, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Additional charges are pending. Tabor Police Department and Shenandoah Police Department assisted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation.

Deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Thursday, took 31-year old Mindy Elizabeth Irvin, of Shenandoah, into custody at residence in Riverton. Irvin was wanted on an outstanding Fremont County warrant.

Mindy Irvin

Authorities say in early October 2019, deputies took a report of someone who had unlawfully entered a storage unit, stored items in the unit, and had caused damage to two separate units while on the property. The owner of the property advised Irvin did not have a rental agreement and had stored property inside a unit for at least two months.

It was also discovered that Irvin had locked a male inside an adjacent storage unit for approximately 4 hours, against his will. Irvin was being held at the Fremont County Jail for Burglary 3rd Degree, a class D felony, Theft 5th Degree, a simple misdemeanor, and False Imprisonment, a serious misdemeanor. More charges are pending in this case.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Polk County Jail officials say an inmate faces additional charges after he was found with parts of a handgun taped to his inner thigh. KCCI reports that 27-year-old Wyatt Andrew Franklin was booked into the nail on Nov. 13 on an operating under the influence charge. After being injured in an incident at the jail, Franklin was taken to a hospital, where medical staff found the frame of a handgun and a holster taped to his leg. The rest of the gun and ammunition was found hidden back at the jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s auditor says the state budget is in good shape with surpluses but that beneficial federal tax policies will end in a few years, potentially causing problems. In his annual review of the state budget, Auditor Rob Sand said Thursday that federal tax changes made in 2017 gave Iowa’s budget a $188 million windfall for the 2019 fiscal year that ended June 30. He says the federal windfall accounts for about two-thirds of the estimated surplus for the current fiscal year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins will serve as the chief justice of the court until a successor to Chief Justice Mark Cady can be appointed. Cady died unexpectedly Nov. 15 at age 66. Wiggins will serve as acting chief justice until the current vacancy on the court is filled and the full court selects a chief justice. The court’s elected chief will serve until the court holds its first meeting in 2021 and holds another election.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new survey of bankers suggests the economy continues growing in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states, but the ongoing trade disputes continue to hurt the outlook for more growth. The Rural Mainstreet survey’s overall index improved to 54.2 in November from October’s 51.4.

LENOX – Responding to a complaint about manure application, Iowa DNR staff found manure running into a stream about four miles south of Lenox Thursday morning. Manure was flowing from multiple locations into an unnamed tributary of the East River. Staff collected water samples for analysis, but did not see any dead fish in the stream.

DNR staff learned manure from the Utah North facility was applied by Larabee Applicators Wednesday evening prior to rainfall.  Manure reached the stream due to improper injection. Kristi Burg of the DNR’s Atlantic field office, said “We know the weather and field conditions have been challenging this fall, but I’d like to remind people to check the weather forecast before land applying manure to reduce the potential for runoff.”

DNR will consider appropriate enforcement. As a reminder, manure spills and releases must be reported to the DNR field offices or called in to the spill line at 515-725-8694 within 6 hours of occurrence or discovery.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s auditor says the state budget is in good shape with surpluses but that beneficial federal tax policies will end in a few years, potentially causing problems.

In his annual review of the state budget, Auditor Rob Sand said Thursday that federal tax changes made in 2017 gave Iowa’s budget a $188 million windfall for the 2019 fiscal year that ended June 30. He says the federal windfall accounts for about two-thirds of the estimated surplus for the current fiscal year.

He’s reminding lawmakers that by the 2025-2026 budget year the portion of the federal tax break that benefits Iowa will end. Iowa will need to have built a significant surplus to avoid problems.

He also says the state is not following best budget practices by underfunding its portion of Medicaid costs. For the last several years lawmakers have had to provide additional money to fill the void. Sand says it’s more accurate, transparent, and responsible to budget enough from the beginning.