(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are seeking Chronic Wasting Disease Ambassadors in southern Iowa, for a collaborative education program between the agency and Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach, that seeks to help Iowans address the challenge of chronic wasting disease.

Hunters, landowners, and conservationists interested in learning more about chronic wasting disease are encouraged to attend a course offering June 11, 18, and 25 at the Rathbun Fish Hatchery, in Appanoose County.

The course will cover best practices for preventing spread of the disease, how to collect tissue samples for testing, and how to educate others within their community, all in an effort to better educate Iowans on how to manage a healthy deer herd and slow the spread of the disease. The goal of the program is to develop a small, connected, and well-educated network of local leaders to effectively communicate about the management and mitigation of chronic wasting disease.

“Partnerships are key to the effective management of chronic wasting disease,” said Tyler Harms, biometrician for the Iowa DNR and co-organizer of the course. “We need hunters, landowners, and interested conservationists working together to slow the spread of this disease.”

The course includes three in-person meetings from 6-9 p.m. and two online lessons completed between the in-person sessions. In-person sessions will include instruction and hands-on exercises related to the ecology of chronic wasting disease, sampling for the disease, and effective communication strategies. Participants will also have the opportunity to network with area wildlife biologists. Graduates of the course will be given resources to help spread the word regarding effective chronic wasting disease management in their communities.

Registration is available at https://iastate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ebL4dhDJanzAbFs or by contacting course facilitator, Adam Janke, at ajanke@iastate.edu or 515-294-7429 and is open until the week before the course starts, or until the class is filled (25 participants). There is no cost to participate. A light meal and refreshments will be served at each of the three sessions.

Chronic wasting disease is always fatal to deer and has been found in wild deer in 23 Iowa counties. To learn more about the disease and its management in Iowa, including ways to help slow the spread of the disease, go to www.iowadnr.gov/cwd.

(Washington, D.C) – Officials with the U-S Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced on Friday, the results of the most recent, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. According to the report, this spring, DEA and law enforcement partners collected 670,136 pounds of unneeded medications at collection sites across the country. Since 2010, DEA, along with its partners, has collected nearly 18.6 million pounds of old, unwanted prescription drugs.

In Iowa, 66 law enforcement agencies participated in the event. There were 68 collection sites which gathered a total of 5,077-pounds of unwanted prescription drugs, for an All-Time Total of 207, 201-pounds.

National Details:

• Total Law Enforcement Participation: 4,607
• Total Collection Sites: 4,869
• Total Weight Collected:  670,136 lbs. (335 tons)
• Total Weight All Time: 18,570,487 lbs. (9,285 tons)

If you missed DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, don’t worry! You can drop off your old, unneeded, or unused medications at one of the 17,000 pharmacies, hospitals, and businesses working to help clean out medicine cabinets throughout the year. In addition, many police departments provide year-round drop boxes.

In southwest Iowa, the list of drop-off sites (within 50-miles of Atlantic) can be found HERE. Additional information can be found HERE.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 2:40-a.m. Sunday (Today, June 2nd) in Montgomery County resulted in the arrest of a man on an OWI charge. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 19-year-old Nathan Adam Vangelder, of Lenox, was taken into custody and booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held on a $1,000 bond.

(Waterloo, Iowa) – A motorcycle accident Saturday night in Black Hawk County claimed the life of one person and resulted in injuries to another. The Iowa State Patrol says  a 2023 Harley Davidson motorcycle was traveling north on Interstate 380 in Waterloo at around 10:15-p.m., when the machine left the road and struck a barrier wall in the median.

The motorcycle then slid across the interstate onto the outside shoulder. The names of the accident victims were being withheld pending notification of family.

The crash remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Waterloo Police, along with Waterloo Fire and EMS.

The following is a news release on Saturday, June 1, 2024, from the Marshalltown Police Department:

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Preparations are well underway for the Cass County Relay For Life event on Sunday, June 30th, at the Nishna Valley YMCA, in Atlantic. Relay for life is a time for the community to come together in celebration of, and support for, cancer survivors and their caregivers. Cass County Relay for Life Coordinator Carole Schuler says there no differences in how the event plays out this year, as compared to years past.

Survivors, supporters, and community members are invited to join together from 11:30-a.m. Until 2-p.m. June 30th.

Register your Relay team at www.relayforlife.org/casscountyia. You can also call 1-800-227-2345 and have an expert at the American Cancer Society get you registered.

Schuler says volunteers are needed to help the day of the event.

To kick off Relay for Life summer activities, local supporters are invited to take part in the Relay for Life raffle to help raise funds for awareness and prevention.

The drawing will be held the day of the Relay. Organizers invite the community to enjoy a Kids Zone, Survivor Meal and other activities during this special time together. The 2024 Cass County Relay for Life will conclude with a Luminaria Ceremony.

Follow the Cass County Relay for Life Facebook group to keep up on current activities and challenges!

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has ordered a new trial in a Black Hawk County case that involves the “stand your ground” law. Lasondra Johnson of Waterloo was charged with first-degree murder after a fight that led to Johnson shooting and killing Jada Young-Mills.

Johnson was acquitted of first-degree murder after claiming self defense, but was found guilty of a lesser charge of assault causing serious injury. Johnson appealed, saying the jury instructions were confusing.

The Supreme Court agreed, saying the jury instructions did fail to convey the “stand your ground” law in such a way that the jury had a clear understanding of Johnson’s self defense justification, and ordered a new trial.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says a 17-month-long review has found serious problems in state services for crime victims.

Bird says she was shocked to learn the system to notify victims when a protective order is being served or is about to expire was terminated in 2019 by her predecessor, Democrat Tom Miller.

Bird has hired a coordinator to revive the notification system.

Bird’s report indicates a separate system that notifies victims when their abuser will be released from custody has been fixed. Bird says it was causing fear and panic in victims because it incorrectly sent notices about transfers from jail to jail or to a state prison.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird spoke to reporters today during a news conference in her Des Moines office. (RI photo)

Bird announced today (Friday) she’ll be using money in her agency’s budget to double the pay for Iowa nurses who conduct sexual assault exams — and she hopes that encourages more nurses to take the training that’s required.

For the first time, the Iowa nurses authorized to conduct sexual assault exams will get mileage reimbursed, too. Bird, who was elected in 2022, stopped state reimbursement for emergency contraception for sex abuse victims soon after she took office in early 2023 and she’s released that hold today (Friday).

Bird says no tax dollars will be used, but instead fees and fines criminals pay into the state’s victim compensation fund will cover the costs. It’s the same policy that was in place before she took office for Plan B. Bird will no longer allow victim funds to cover the costs of an abortion for sexual assault victims.

In response, State Auditor Rob Sand, today (Friday) said in a statement:

“For a year, Iowa’s Attorney General inflicted even more trauma on rape victims just for politics. We know because her report doesn’t provide a single legal or financial reason to have withheld payments for emergency contraception.”

(Radio Iowa) – Motorcycles make up just four-percent of all registered vehicles in Iowa, but the Iowa D-O-T says motorcycle fatalities last year accounted for 16-percent of the state’s total traffic deaths. Kelly Hilsabeck, the trauma injury prevention coordinator at Gundersen Health System, says the warmer weather brings out droves of motorcycles, and she implores motorists to “look twice.”

For drivers who find themselves following a motorcycle in traffic, Hilsabeck urges you to back off and give them plenty of room.

According to D-O-T data from the past five years, 74-percent of the motorcyclists killed in Iowa were not wearing helmets. The national average is 38-percent. Iowa is one of three states in the country with no helmet laws.

Other things motorcyclists can do to protect themselves include: keeping your headlight on all the time to increase visibility, wearing some form of eye protection, and wearing bright-colored clothing.

The D-O-T says 62 motorcyclists were killed on Iowa’s roads last year, with 17 motorcycle deaths reported statewide so far this year.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says the real verdict for former President Donald Trump will come in November and she’ll join Trump’s fight for redemption on the campaign trail. “I believe the Democrats’ strategy here is going to backfire. Iowans are going to support the former president and reelect him and I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens,” Hinson says. “…It means I’m going to be out there telling the story of the failures of President Biden.” Like many other Republican officials, Hinson says the trial in New York was designed to keep Trump off the campaign trail.

“The only thing I believe President Trump was guilty of here is being named Donald Trump,” Hinson says. “These charges would not have been prosecuted against anyone else and Iowans see right through that.” Hinson, who’s running for a third term in the U-S House, she’ll be on the campaign trail every single day between now and November 5th urging Iowans to kick Biden out and put Trump back in the White House.

Congressman Zach Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, is joining what’s called the Bidenomics Bus Tour today (Friday) for an event to compare gasoline prices during the Trump and Biden presidencies.

Tomorrow (Saturday), U-S Senator Joni Ernst is hosting a fundraiser at the Iowa State Fairgrounds featuring many of the state’s G-O-P officials, including Governor Kim Reynolds.