(Radio Iowa) – Record numbers of travelers in Iowa and nationwide are expected to venture at least 50 miles from home over the long Independence Day weekend, according to AAA. Brian Ortner, the motor club’s Iowa spokesman, says it’s a happy coincidence that as the number of travelers is rising, the price of travel is falling. “It’s a 7% increase on numbers,” Ortner says, “and then cost-wise, it’s about 2% lower than we were last year.”

AAA projects almost 71-million people will be vacationing during the Fourth of July holiday, including more than five-million people in the seven-state region that includes Iowa. The majority of travelers — about 60-million nationwide — will be going by motor vehicle, as Ortner says gasoline prices are down. “Last year, the state average in Iowa on Independence Day was $3.35 a gallon,” Ortner says. “If we look at where we are currently, we’re at $3.18. That is a great number to see, that the average is lower.”

AAA graphic

The projections show nearly six-million people will be traveling by air over the holiday, which would also set a record. “Prices for air travel have decreased a little bit. They’ve gone down about 2% from last year,” Ortner says. “The other good sign is that hotel costs are going down and rental car costs are going down, so those longer trips are becoming more affordable as we move through the summer.”

Despite concerns about inflation, AAA estimates consumers will be boosting their spending over Independence Day weekend by five-and-a-half percent compared to a year ago.

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (KCRG) — A North Liberty woman who reportedly got cold feet just before meeting someone she met through a dating app was arrested after police said she falsely reported the man was threatening to assault her, leading to the man being detained for over an hour. KCRG reports, in a criminal complaint, police said 18-year-old Sumaya Thomas called 911 just after midnight on June 16 to report that her abusive ex-boyfriend was texting her, threatening to hit, punch, kick and stab her. She also allegedly reported that she was pregnant with the man’s baby.

However, officers found the man leaving the scene. He reportedly told officers he had only just met Thomas about a week ago on a dating app. They then changed from talking via the app to exchanging text messages. The man showed police the text conversation, which officers said corroborated his story. When officers interviews Thomas, they said she reported having known the man for two years and that she was pregnant with his baby, and that he had been abusive to her and wouldn’t leave her alone.

After a third interview, police said Thomas admitted to making the false reports because she got cold feet before meeting him and no longer wanted to. During the interview, Thomas reportedly told police she didn’t think officers would help, so she made up the events.

(Radio Iowa) – Work on the new Mississippi River bridge from Lansing to Desoto, Wisconsin has stopped. D-O-T engineer Clayton Burke says high water made conditions unsafe. “The contractor is completely leaving the site until the water goes back down,” he says. “There’s very little they could possibly do to overcome the water levels that we’re seeing so yeah it’ll it might be a while before you see those cranes swinging around.” Burke says Mother Nature will determine when the work gets underway again.

“We’re seeing about a week out the river gauge is going to be over 16 and a half feet. And we need that to get back down to about 12 before we can keep working on the bridge again,” Burke says. “And we’ve seen in the past when the Mississippi goes up, it goes up fast but it stays there for a long time. So we might be losing weeks to a month of scheduled time here.”

Burke says the contractor will likely bring in multiple crews once the water goes down so they can work nights and weekends to make up for lost time. The new bridge is was scheduled to be completed at the end of 2026. Burke says around 29-hundred people cross the Lansing bridge each day. The bridge that’s being replaced at Lansing was closed for a time in February after two piers shifted and they had to be repaired.

Des Moines, IA – State Auditor Rob Sand today (Wednesday) urged Iowans and their community leaders to be on alert for people preying on victims of the flooding in Iowa. Sand says “Iowans are known for rallying around victims of natural disasters.  Communities come together to help with clean-up and provide for people who have lost everything. Unfortunately, natural disasters are also calling cards for con artists.”

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the most common fraud following a natural disaster includes fake housing inspectors and building contractors, phony disaster donation efforts, and calls or texts requiring account information in exchange for financial assistance. Sand says “These scammers are not stupid.  They’re sneaky. They’ll use all means to try to steal personal and public funds – phone calls, texts, emails.  They’ll even pose as government officials to get account information or social security numbers.”

Sand offers these tips for avoiding scams in the wake of natural disasters:

• Never give out social security numbers or account information over the phone or via text or email.
• Confirm that emails from vendors are legitimate by calling the vendor through a verified number, not the number in the email.
• Never pay a contractor a large sum of money upfront.
• Make checks for materials payable to the contractor and the supplier.
• Request a copy of the contractor’s liability insurance information.
• Require that all work be outlined in a contract, including completion dates and costs for materials, permits, and labor.
• Get at least three estimates from contractors and be leery of “too good to be true” offers.
• Federal and state workers will never ask for money and will always carry identification badges.

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the North Iowa Area Community College is predicting enrollment at community colleges will grow in the years ahead. Dr. Steven Schulz is retiring at the end of the month. “Let’s be honest, the methodology’s changing. There’s going to be more people in this sector, people looking for skills, not four year degrees,” Schulz says. “There’s lot of change going on.”

Schultz has been president of NIACC in Mason City for the past decade. Schulz, who’s retiring after a 42 year career as an educator, says he worries about the future for students in rural areas of the state. “I think it’s going to be up to communities and local school boards and local community colleges to really tell their story and express their needs in way that the legislature can see we’re still here,” Schulz says, with a laugh, “and we want to do the work of our communities.”

NIACC president Dr. Steven Schulz is retiring at the end of this month. (NIACC photo)

Schultz is a native of Geneva, a small town in Franklin County. He holds degrees from Wartburg College, the University of Northern Iowa, Drake University and Iowa State University. Schulz previously worked at Des Moines Area Community College and U-N-I, He served as the superintendent of Carroll Community Schools from 2000 to 2004.