(Radio Iowa) – While there’s still much volatility in the market due to violence in the Middle East, gasoline prices are falling in Iowa as we reach November. Brian Ortner, spokesman for Triple-A-Iowa, says the costs motorists are paying are continuing a slow decline. “The average across the state is $3.20 a gallon, which is great news for us,” Ortner says. “If we look a week ago, we were 10-cents more at $3.30. A month ago, we were 28 cents higher, so definitely good news to see the prices at the pumps are going down.”

A host of factors go into gasoline prices, including the weather, disasters and world events. “The biggest component of that, obviously, is the price of crude oil. That makes up more than 55% the cost of a gallon of gas, when it gets through all the processing,” Ortner says. “Here’s that month difference, we look a month ago, crude was trading about $92-$93 per barrel. Today, we’re about $82 per barrel.”

Now that summer is solidly in the rearview mirror, Ortner say pump prices should keep dropping. “We’re moving into the fall and winter months, which means we’re driving less, so that means the demand is lower,” Ortner says, “so that’ll help decrease those costs as well, and as we move towards the holidays, we expect to see the decline continue.”

Triple-A says the cheapest gas in the state can be purchased in Des Moines at three-12 a gallon, while the most expensive gas is in Dubuque at three-41.

Police in Red Oak arrested a woman Tuesday evening (10/31/23), for Public Intoxication. Authorities say 59-year-old Rhonda Jean Sperber, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 6:27-p.m. in the 1600 block of E. Summit Street. Sperber was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Experts in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are asking Iowans — including trappers — for help in research that may explain why there are a dwindling number of gray fox in Iowa. Vince Evelsizer — a furbearer biologist for the D-N-R — says gray fox are pretty secretive, not very vocal and live primarily in wooded areas of eastern and southern Iowa.

“For the past 25 years or so their population trend has been downward, however we don’t know a whole lot about the gray fox. We know much more about the red fox than we do the gray fox,” Evelsizer says. “…Our ‘guess-timate’ is that there would be 10-20% of the gray fox out there that there used to be and that might be a generous estimate.”

The D-N-R is offering 400 dollars to trappers who catch a gray fox in a cage and turn the live animal over for the D-N-R’s research project so it can be fitted with a neck collar that has a tracking device. Evelsizer says Iowans who are certain they know where gray fox may be in their area can call the agency, because he and another staffer who’re working on the project might be able to catch the fox and put a G-P-S collar on it.

“Also if they find a fresh dead gray fox this fall and winter, we’d even like to have that for study as well. We can look at the health of that dead gray fox as far as what kind of shape was it in, what was the reason it died,” Evelsizer says, “so live foxes and dead foxes are helpful for our study.” The D-N-R conducted a survey between 2018 to 2021 and found next to zero gray fox were being trapped in Iowa, so it’s unlikely the population decline is because they’re being captured for their fur.

“What we think the likely causes are for their population decline are other things such as disease, changes to habitat and competition with other predators such as coyotes and bobcats,” Evelsizer says, “and even domestic dogs, too.”The state of Indiana has a similar project to track gray fox there. Evelsizer says the gray fox population is declining steadily in Midwestern states.

“However, in the southeastern U.S., the gray fox population is doing fine and then, also of interest, the gray fox are doing pretty well in the northern half of Minnesota,” Evelsizer says. “Why are they not doing well in the Midwest? We have some ideas, but we’d like to figure it out and get the answers through research so that we have a science based approach to it…knowing whether or not there are any kind of solutions we can implement.”

Gray fox are native to Iowa. An adult gray fox typically weighs between 10 and 12 pounds.

(Radio Iowa) – State and federal officials have confirmed bird flu has hit a third commercial turkey operation in northwest Iowa. The facility is in Buena Vista County and had about 30-thousand turkeys on site. Another turkey production facility in Buena Vista County was hit by bird flu two weeks ago.

On October 23rd, officials announced birds in a commercial turkey operation in neighboring Pocahontas County were being euthanized after bird flu had been detected there. From April through September of this year, there were NO cases of bird flu reported in the state.

According to the Iowa Department of Agriculture, though, there were two outbreaks of bird flu at the beginning of the year — one in late January at a Buena Vista County turkey production facility and another in mid-March in a backyard flock in Chickasaw County.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa leaders are breaking ground this (3 PM Tuesday) afternoon on a quarter-BILLION dollar building that will eventually be home to three of the U-I’s most popular and top-ranked programs. Rod Lehnertz, the U-I’s senior vice president for finance and operations, says the structure will house Communication Sciences and Disorders, including audiology and speech-language pathology, Health and Human Physiology, and the Carver College of Medicine’s Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Services.

Once complete, Lehnertz says the Health Sciences Academic Building will be a stunning addition to the campus, filled with classrooms, offices, laboratories and more — while also being welcoming to visitors and patients.

The six-story structure will have a modern look, mostly glass merged with a white cast-stone material, located just south of Slater Residence Hall.

The first phase of the 249-million dollar structure should be complete in mid-2025. A U-I news release says the building will be funded through a combination of University Hospitals Building Usage Funds, university investment income, and private donations — with no state funds.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest Des Moines Register “Iowa Poll” shows Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has the support of about four percent of likely Iowa Caucus goers. Ramaswamy made a campaign swing through northwest Iowa on Monday, with stops in four cities.

Ramaswamy told a crowd in Le Mars they’ll have an outsized impact on the race.

In Sioux City and Le Mars, Ramaswamy called for cracking down on China and kicking them out of the World Trade Organization.

Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott will campaign in northeast Iowa on Thursday, with stops planned in Decorah and Independence. Last week, Scott’s campaign announced the South Carolina senator was “all-in on Iowa” — and would on appealing to evangelical Christians who’ll be attending the January 15th Iowa Caucuses.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The Guthrie Center Community School Board will hold a Special Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 1st, beginning at 7-p.m.  The meeting takes place in the AC/GC High School Media Center (906 State Street, in Guthrie Center).  On the agenda for the evening:

Discussion Items:
A. Long-Term Capital Project Planning
B. District Certified Enrollment Review

Upcoming Dates:
A. School Election (Elect Board Directors & Consider RPS) – November 7th
B. IASB Delegate Assembly & Pre-Convention Workshops – November 15th
C. Annual, Organizational & Regular Meeting – November 15th @ 7:00pm (Guthrie Center)
D. IASB Annual Convention & Trade Show – November 16th

Action Items:
A. High School HVAC Project Bids
B. Contract Recommendations:
1. Sarah Sheeder- Asst. Girls Basketball

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County (IA) Board of Supervisors, during their meeting this (Tuesday) morning in Atlantic, passed a resolution setting the final date the County’s FNBO credit cards will be paid for, as Dec. 31, 2023. Board Chair Steve Baier summarized the resolution.

The Board also approved a lease agreement in the amount of $500/month, for the Willow Heights utility building.

The tenant will be responsible for keeping the driveway clear, and will install security cameras for the site at no cost to the county. The agreement specifies the building will be kept at 50 degrees for the purpose of keeping the generator that’s stored there, in an operational condition when needed. The Supervisors acted to appoint Carol Seddon and Denise O’Brien to the Cass County Food Policy Council.

In other business, the Board received a Quarterly report from Cass County Conservation Director Micah Lee, who spoke about his department maintenance and activities. He said it’s been the best year for camping seen in a long time, with regard to Cold Springs State Park.

He was glad to report there were no new incidents of vandalism at the Nodaway Recreation Area since the last report. With regard to the West Nodaway area, Dove season was “Hit and miss,” from what he’s heard, but the they still had a good turnout of hunters using the food plots where the birds tend to be located. There were improvements to parking at the Outdoor Classroom site, and Naturalist Lora Kanning presented 30 programs to 126 people. Micah said also, work on the foundation at the Hitchcock House should be wrapping up this week.

Bridge 319

The Supervisors received a regular, weekly report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken, on the latest road/bridge projects news, and other department activities. Wolken said they “Are dealing with the weather as best we can,” with regard to the fluctuations in temperature. A week ago, they were pouring concrete at 80 degrees, then the temperature dropped quickly with the passage of the cold front.

He said the beams are being poured for Bridge 319 west of Atlantic.

Bridge 380

Bridge 380 substructure

And, work on a box culvert at 730th and Hamburg is wrapping-up, while other projects continue. On a side note, the Cass County Supervisors approved the hiring of Kyle Wilmeth as Secondary Roads Dept. Equipment Operator 1, for the Anita District, at a probationary wage of $24.50/hour. They discussed prioritizing, but took no action on,Capital Improvement costs associated with projects for the Secondary Roads and Conservation Departments, the courthouse boiler and windows.

And, toward the end of their meeting, the Board received a monthly report from Cass County Mental Health/General Relief Coordinator Debbie Schuler.

ANKENY, Iowa – Oct. 31, 2023 – Iowa Department of Transportation officials have announced that an Iowa Mobile ID app is available in the Apple Store and Google Play. The app allows residents to keep a digital version of their Iowa-issued driver’s license or ID on their smartphone. The app is free and optional for all Iowans to download. The Iowa Mobile ID is a companion to the physical card and does not replace it. Iowans should still carry their physical card. Through the use of a QR code, Iowa’s Mobile ID creates a contactless and more secure way to verify identity. In addition, it allows Iowans to be in greater control of their information as users approve requests for each transaction before any information is shared.

Iowa Mobile ID can be accepted as a valid form of ID at businesses throughout the state by using the Iowa ABD Age to Purchase App from the Alcoholic Beverages Division of the Iowa Department of Revenue, as well as at TSA PreCheck® checkpoints within the Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and other participating airports. Governor Kim Reynolds says “Iowa is the first state in the nation to roll out a mobile ID with a large number of businesses across the state capable of accepting the ID. I’m so proud of the DOT and the Department of Revenue’s Alcoholic Beverages Division working together on an innovative solution that provides convenience and added security for Iowans as they use their IDs for a variety of purposes.

Iowa DOT Director Scott Marler added, “Innovation and technology underpin our work to make lives better through transportation, and I am pleased to showcase another example of this from our department.” And, Iowa Dept. of Revenue Director Mary Mosiman says “By integrating the ability to accept mobile ID into the “Iowa ABD Age to Purchase App” Iowa businesses can better serve their customers without having to add additional resources. This should help with quicker adoption of the mobile ID technology for both businesses and mobile ID users,”

Ensuring businesses understand the options available to begin accepting mobile IDs is key to the adoption of this technology. As with any new technology, the transition to widespread use will ramp up over time.

Iowans are encouraged to look for the “Iowa mobile ID” logo on doors or at the point of sale in businesses across the state. Businesses that have let the Iowa DOT know they accept mobile ID are listed on the Iowa Mobile ID website.  Businesses interested in learning how to accept Iowa mobile ID can visit the Iowa Mobile ID website to get more information about their options.

For more information on Iowa Mobile ID or if you are a business interested in accepting mobile ID, please visit iowadot.gov/mobileid.

(Radio Iowa) – The Democrat who finished third in the 2016 Iowa Caucuses is now being considered for the post of commissioner of Social Security. Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley will go before the U-S Senate Finance Committee this week for his nomination hearing, and Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley will be among the lawmakers asking him questions.

The long-term viability of Social Security is the subject of much concern, but Grassley says they likely won’t be talking with O’Malley about that topic during the hearing on Thursday.

Under rules that were set down in 1935, Social Security isn’t allowed to pay out more money than it takes in, and Grassley says the system will be facing a critical challenge in about a decade without key reforms.

Some 40 years ago, Social Security was in danger of failure, until House Speaker Tip O’Neill met with President Ronald Reagan to create a compromise that saved the system. Grassley says a new agreement is needed to keep things afloat for another 40 years.

Social Security is the largest federal government program. This fiscal year, the agency expects to pay out one-point-two trillion dollars in benefits to 66-million people.