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Help the DNR track hemorrhagic disease

Ag/Outdoor, News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa – Iowa DNR News) – Hemorrhagic disease, commonly referred to as EHD or Bluetongue, has been impacting deer in Iowa for over a decade, with severe outbreaks occurring in 2012, 2013, 2019, and 2023. As a way to better understand disease impacts, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has created an online tool where hunters and landowners can report dead deer resulting from hemorrhagic disease outbreaks.

The new reporting tool, plus an annual dashboard, is linked off the Deer Hunting and Deer Health Webpage (www.iowadnr.gov/deer). Hemorrhagic disease has previously gone under-reported and this new tool will help to simplify the process, as well as improve the accuracy of the number of deer and local areas impacted. Submitting these reports assists the DNR in understanding and managing Iowa’s deer populations.

Characteristics of hemorrhagic disease are:

  • Mortalities generally occurring between July and September, occasionally later during unseasonably warm weather
  • Finding more than one deer carcass
  • Discovering carcasses near a water source

    Deer are often found near water sources where they will try to drink away a burning sensation that is a symptom of hemorrhagic disease. Image courtesy of the Iowa DNR.

Outbreak severity has varied from year to year and there is no effective treatment or known prevention for wild deer. Hemorrhagic disease typically doesn’t impact county deer populations uniformly, meaning that deer on one property may experience a severe outbreak while deer on a neighboring property do not.

Generally, deer populations in areas where outbreaks occurred have recovered to near normal levels within 2-3 years with no additional management actions. However, counties with low or declining deer populations that experience an outbreak may need additional help to facilitate recovery.

Atlantic’s & Council Bluffs Mayors to attend ISU College of Design, Extension and Outreach’s “Iowa Mayors’ Design Workshop,” July 30–31

News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

AMES, Iowa — The Iowa State University College of Design, in partnership with ISU Extension and Outreach, will host the Iowa Mayors’ Design Workshop (IMDW) July 30–31 on the Iowa State campus. Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett and Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh, are the only two mayors from southwest Iowa who were invited to the event. Mayors from Cedar Falls, Fort Madison, Marshalltown and Ottuwma were also extended an invitation to attend and present their projects. As we previously reported on KJAN, Mayor Garrett will be working with the College of Design’s team, on projects for Bull Creek and the Schildberg Recreation Areas.

The IMDW will serve as a space to identify and address complex design issues communities in Iowa face, said Erin Olson-Douglas, College of Design associate dean for extension and outreach and director of the ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development program. The two-day workshop will bring together mayors and community leaders from six Iowa towns to connect with ISU faculty, research and extension staff, and design professionals from local firms to enhance the vitality of their regions for current and future generations. 

Modeled after the 2022 Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) the College of Design hosted in Des Moines, the inaugural Iowa Mayors’ Design Workshop will focus on water-related issues, including opportunities for the enhancement of riverfront areas, resilient flood management, trails and parks for recreation, adjacent development and integration of nature-based remedies, according to Olson-Douglas.

Learn more about the workshop, HERE.

Organization that advocates for Iowans with disabilities marks 4th decade

News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The group Disability Rights Iowa is celebrating 40 years of advocating for — and protecting the civil rights of — Iowans with disabilities. Catherine Johnson, the organization’s executive director, says job accommodations, access to medical care, and a lack of long term support for people to live in their communities continue to be major concerns. “There is no one specific issue that I think faces Iowans with disabilities,” Johnson says. “It’s many of the same issues we have been addressing for years in and years out.”

The organization has worked to ensure access to public accommodations and voting. More recently, D-R-I filed lawsuits to improve children’s mental health care and to stop the use of certain punishments at the Boys State Training School in Eldora. Johnson says within the next 40 years, she wants the nonprofit to have strong relationships in each of the state’s 99 counties.  “We take it very seriously that we are here for all Iowans with disabilities, which is essentially almost 400,000 Iowans identify as having a disability,” Johnson says. “We want to be known to every single Iowan with a disability so that they know we are the place that they can come to for help and support.”

The group is celebrating its legacy with the 40-34 Equal Access Festival tomorrow (Saturday) in Des Moines, that’ll also recognize the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Then-Iowa U-S Senator Tom Harkin was a key architect of the A-D-A. Johnson made her comments this week on the Iowa Public Radio program “Talk of Iowa.”

NW IA girls gain trade skills by building “She Sheds”

News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU-TV) — While learning construction and the skilled trades are typically reserved for high school and college students, in northwest Iowa, Girls Inc. participants are wrapping up a building project where they made sheds this summer.

Local contractors and businesses are donating their time and supplies to help the girls build two “She Sheds.” In that process, they learned valuable skills such as plumbing, electrical skills and construction skills. The project is set to finish at the end of summer. With their new knowledge, organizers hope the girls can use what they were taught in their futures.

Girls Inc. of Sioux City Executive Director Mandy Engel-Cartie, says it’s a chance for the organization to help the community, and help the girls grow into independent, economically sufficient adults. She says even if the girls aren’t interested in skilled trades, it gives then a great set of skills to have throughout their lives.

Once the sheds are finished, Girls Inc. plans to hold an event where they will auction-off the sheds to anyone who is interested.

 

Kansas Man Sentenced to 235 Months in Federal Prison for Transportation of Child Pornography

News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Kansas man was sentenced Wednesday (July 24, 2024), to 235 months (19 1/2-years) in federal prison for transportation of child pornography.

According to public documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Derek Levi Hendrickson, 33, transported three internet capable computer devices across state lines in September 2022 when he moved to Waukee, Iowa. Those devices – two cell phones and a laptop computer – contained thousands of images and videos of child pornography. At the time of his offense, Hendrickson was a registered sex offender due to a 2015 Kansas state conviction for possession of child pornography.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Hendrickson will be required to serve five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Hendrickson was also ordered to pay $38,000 in restitution.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the FBI Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Nebraska State Patrol.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

2 arrested on drug charges in Creston

News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department say two people were arrested on drug charges late Thursday night. Authorities says 34-year-old Stewart Russell Anderson and 28-year-old Jeremy Wayne Elbrecht, Jr., both of Creston, were arrested a little after 11-p.m., Thursday, at 507 N. Division Street. Both were charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. They were cited and released from the scene on a promise to appear in court.

And, at around 4:45-p.m., Thursday, police in Creston arrested 40-year-old Yarioska Rondoncama, of Brooklyn, NY, at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center. Rondoncama was taken into custody under the authority of a Union County warrant for failure to appear on an original charge of Driving while license Denied or Revoked. He was taken to the Union County Jail and posted $1,000 bond before being released.

Cass County Fair (IA) Schedule: 7/26/24

Ag/Outdoor, News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The 75th Cass County Fair continues in Atlantic. Today’s schedule includes:

8:00am Rabbit Show
9:00am Horse Show
9:00am – 12:00pm FFA Floriculture Speciman Enter
10:00am – 8:00pm 4-H/FFA Exhibits Open
11:00am – 10:00pm Inflatable Carnival
12:00pm – 10:00pm Commercial Booth Barns Open
11:00am Dog Show

Noon lunch Special: Chicken & Noodles

3:30pm Livestock Judging Contest
2:00pm – 8:00pm Mechanical Bull
5:30pm Friday Evening Building Showcase
6:30pm Mutton Busting (Grandstand event)
8:00pm Bull Ride/Rodeo (Grandstand event)

The Fair runs through July 30th, and concludes with the Livestock Auction at 8-a.m. Tuesday. The Cass County Fair is always FREE: No entry fee, no charge to park, and no charge to view the exhibits and entertainment. There’s also great Fair food at the 4-H and FFA Foodstands, along with the Chuckwagon, each of which have a variety of delicious hot, and refreshingly cold, food and drinks to choose from.

See the full schedule HERE.

DNR: Ethanol plant pollution likely harmed public health for years near Shell Rock

Ag/Outdoor, News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa) –  A report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources shows an ethanol-producing facility in northeast Iowa expelled excessive pollutants into the air for several years that can cause cancers and other health effects. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the DNR recently issued an administrative order with regard to the POET Bioprocessing plant near Shell Rock. The Order says “Actual harm to the environment and public health likely occurred” at the facility, which makes about 140 million gallons of ethanol each year, along with other products from the leftover materials of the fuel production. The excessive pollution was tied to one of those additional products: a protein ingredient for animal feed.

The facility’s previous operator, Flint Hills Resources, installed the equipment that is used to extract the protein and began operating it in July 2020, the DNR order said. However, part of the system lacked sufficient pollution controls, which was discovered by POET in August 2023. POET had purchased the facility about two years earlier, but did not sample the emissions. Mark Fields, a unit leader for the DNR’s Air Quality Bureau, said Flint Hills had underestimated the amount of pollutants in the ethanol-production leftovers that are used to produce the protein. Those pollutants were then expelled during the protein processing.

The POET facility near Shell Rock produces about 140 million gallons of ethanol each year and other products. (Photo courtesy of Google Earth)

Fields said the issue was discovered with a similar system in another state, and POET shut down the production line and notified the DNR. The company later routed those emissions into an existing pollution-control system at the plant and fixed the problem. But emissions tests after the production line was reactivated revealed the extent of the excessive pollution in the previous years: Its volatile organic compounds emissions were 27 times its permitted limit, and emissions of a hazardous, cancer-causing compound — acetaldehyde — were nearly nine times the limit.

POET agreed to pay a $10,000 administrative fine, the DNR order said. It also will pay nearly $43,000 in fees that it owed the state for its under-reporting of emissions in 2021 and 2022.

Fremont County arrest report: July 15-23, 2024

News

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Sidney, Iowa) – Fremont Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports there were numerous arrests between July 15th and the 23rd. Those arrested include (shown by date of arrest, name, alleged offense & release status):
• 07/15/2024 – 44-year-old Sara Alayne Johnson, of Pacific Junction, for Possession of Marijuana 1st and Possessing a Controlled Substance-1,2,3rd. Johnson was released on $1,000 cash/surety bond.
• 07/16/2024 – 26-year-old Jarrett Michael Morgan, of Hamburg, for Domestic Abuse Assault-1st offense. He was released on $300 bond.
• 07/17/2024 – 42-year-old David Allan Thompson, of Hamburg, for Domestic Assault-Bodily Injury-1st offense. He was released on $1,000 cash/surety bond.
• 07/19/2024 – 34-year-old Alicia Marie Fenner (no known address), for Possessing a Controlled Substance-1,2, or 3rd offense. She was released on $1,000 cash/surety bond; 54-year-old Julie Lynn Rainey, of Nebraska City, NE, for Possessing a Controlled Substance-1,2,or 3rd offense, OWI/1st Offense, Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was released on $3,300 cash/surety bond.
• 07/22/2024 – 58-year-old Michael Loyal Henderson, of Auburn, NE, for Possessing a Controlled Substance-1,2,or 3rd offense, and Eluding. He was released on $2,000 cash/surety bond; 41-year-old Ryan Earl Petersen, of Omaha, for Unauthorized Possession of Offensive Weapons, Short-Barreled Rifle or Shotgun, and Felon in Control of Firearm. He is being held on a $50,000 cash/surety bond.
• 07/23/2024 – 40-year-old Cara Ashley Ingram, of Tucson, AZ, for Possessing a Controlled Substance-2nd and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was released on $2,000 cash/surety bond; and, Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 32-year-old Martin Tel Leseberg, of Sidney, July 23rd, for Domestic Abuse Assault-1st and Theft 4th Degree. He was released on $1,000 cash/surety bond.

Temperatures to climb after the weekend

News, Weather

July 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Enjoy the weekend weather as the forecast calls for a return to unseasonably hot conditions to start the new week. National Weather Service Meteorologist Andrew Ansorge says temperatures will return to less comfortable levels. “We’re looking at you again temperatures being into the 90s there were parts of the state starting really Monday Tuesday into Wednesday,” he says.

The humidity will make it seem worse. “Humidity will combine to create heat indices that will probably be above 100 at times in portions of the state. That probably won’t be until sometime Monday afternoon will be the first time that maybe occurs and that could then continue on Tuesday as well as into Wednesday,” Ansorge says. That’s going to be around ten degrees above average. “Anywhere from the low to middle 80s is kind of a typical late July temperature,” he says.

Ansorge says there is the possibility of some storms being generated by the warmer conditions.