A traffic stop at around 5-a.m. today in Red Oak, resulted in a man being arrested for Driving While Intoxicated. Red Oak Police say 22-year old Spencer Edward Zarek, of Red Oak, was taken into custody near the intersection of Highway 34 and G Avenue, on a charge of OWI/1st offense. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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State health officials are giving Iowa families a heads-up about a new vaccination requirement for students going back to school next month. Under a new state law, a meningitis shot will be required for students entering 7th and 12th grades. Bethany Kintigh manages the Immunization Program at the Iowa Department of Public Health.

“We have been working to notify all of the health care providers in Iowa and working with the school nurses to let parents know about this requirement,” Kintigh says. “A lot of our local public health partners are doing campaigns gearing up for sports physicals in advance of school.”

The vaccine has been recommended for pre-teenagers since 2005 and she does not anticipate any shortages. Students entering those grades will be required to show proof of the meningitis vaccination and Kintigh says many students have already gotten the shots.

“This vaccine is already routinely recommended in our 11- and 12-year-old visit,” she says, “so we know when we look at our national immunization survey, about 75% of Iowa adolescents 13-to-17 have already received the meningitis vaccination.”

Kintigh says meningitis is a serious and potentially-deadly bacterial disease.

(Radio Iowa via Joyce Russell, Iowa Public Radio)

Iowa now has around two-thirds of the state in some sort of dry pattern running from the northwest to the southeast corner. The Iowa D-N-R’s Tim Hall says the state is in a little better shape than the last time we had widespread drought conditions in 2012. He says we went into that year with very little reserve in groundwater after a dry 2011. “At least in 2016 we crossed over into 2017 after a really wet fall and early winter. So, things are not as dramatically bad this year — primarily because we started the year in much better shape,” Hall explains.

He says that is not a reason to dismiss what’s happening now. “In general, there’s a lot of folks in the state that need to be paying attention to the soil moisture conditions and the groundwater condition, and being aware that things are pretty dry,” Hall says. Hall says we have been well behind normal July rainfall totals in parts of the state and relief isn’t expected anytime soon. “There doesn’t appear to be a real significant chance for broad rains over the next couple of weeks,” Hall says. “So a couple of dry weeks, some really hot temperatures, the vegetation is pretty active and it tends to pull a lot of moisture out of the soil as it grows. So, the pieces are in place for things to get certainly not better over the next couple of weeks — and certainly perhaps deteriorate even more.”

South-central Iowa has been the driest part of the state thus far, but Hall says northwest Iowa has the fewest options for drawing groundwater, and they need to keep an eye on the conditions.

(Radio Iowa)

HULL, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials say improper disposal of a pesticide and other chemicals led to a fish kill in northwestern Iowa. Officials say in a written release that DNR investigators looking into a fish kill in a small creek in Hull traced the problem upstream to Hull Coop Association. There, officials say, an employee rinsed out chemicals Wednesday morning after spraying corn. The rinse water containing fungicide and insecticide ran into a storm sewer, flowed under Highway 18 and entered the creek.

DNR fisheries staff estimates about 3,600 fish, mostly minnows, chubs and darters, were killed along 4,200 feet of stream. The DNR will seek appropriate enforcement action, including fish restitution.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The Cass County Fair continues today, in Atlantic. Here’s a look at the schedule of activities for today:

• 8-a.m, Sheep Show & 4-H Exhibits open
• 10-a.m. Pet Show
• Doyle Chainsaw Artistry, 10-a.m. until 1-p.m., and 3-until 5-p.m.
• Noon, Working Exhibits, Extemporaneous Speaking, Educational Presentation.
• 2-p.m., Meat Goat/Dairy Goat show
• 4-p.m., Youth Water Fights
• 6-p.m., Tractor Pull

The FREE Cass County Fair continues through the Livestock Sale Tuesday morning.

Officers with the Red Oak Police Department today (Saturday), arrested a woman in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street, in Red Oak. 26-year old Noel Kerrie Dominguez, was taken into custody at around 2:51-a.m., for Interference with Official Acts. She was also cited for Failure to Maintain or Use Safety Belts. Dominguez was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond.

A call to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office from the Corning Hospital Emergency Room, Friday evening, resulted a man being arrested for Domestic Assault and Violation of a No Contact Order. The Sheriff’s Office says 36-year old Richard Alexander, of Corning, was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting a woman at her home, causing injuries. Alexander was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa trooper who was granted early retirement for mental stress after shooting a suspect during a high-speed chase continues to collect disability benefits while working as a school security guard. Tim Sieleman has received a $42,000-annual pension since the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s retirement system found him “totally and permanently incapacitated for duty” in 2014. But he also gets paid to work for as an unarmed guard for Des Moines Public Schools.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say one person has been shot to death and two others arrested in Des Moines. The Des Moines Register reports that the shooting happened Friday afternoon in the city’s River Bend neighborhood. Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek says a gunman inside a vehicle fired several shots, hitting a person in the chest who was standing on Oakland Avenue.

TYNDALL, S.D. (AP) — A jury has convicted an Iowa man of assaulting a South Dakota police officer with his vehicle. Thirty-seven-year-old Travis McPeek, of Sioux City, Iowa, was accused of striking Tyndall Officer Kelly Young with his vehicle during a traffic stop on Aug. 6, 2016, dragging him across a parking lot and driving away. Young suffered broken ribs, cuts, bruises and an injured foot. He was out of work for a month.

HULL, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials say improper disposal of a pesticide and other chemicals led to a fish kill in northwestern Iowa. Officials say in a written release that DNR investigators looking into a fish kill in a small creek in Hull traced the problem upstream to Hull Coop Association. There, officials say, an employee rinsed out chemicals Wednesday morning after spraying corn, eventually sending contaminated water into the stream.