(Calmar, Iowa) – The President of Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) was placed on administrative leave, Monday. According to KCRG-TV, the College didn’t indicate a specific reason President Herbert Riedel was place on on administrative leave. College officials however, stated that the school would maintain its normal operations.

NICC Vice President David Dahms released the following statement:

“We understand the importance of stability and leadership during this time and will provide more information in the coming days. We want to assure our students, partners, and the community that NICC is dedicated to providing high-quality education, superior workforce training, and a supportive learning environment.”

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) — The Price is Right Live is coming to Cedar Rapids next year. KCRG reports the popular TV game show comes to the Paramount Theatre as an interactive live show at 7:30 p.m. on March 13, 2024. Tickets go on sale starting at 10 a.m. on Oct. 13.

During the show, contestants will be randomly selected to compete in games like Plinko, Cliffhangers, The Big Wheel and the Showcase. Additionally, some audience members will even win prizes from their seats.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Two sisters from central Iowa are being awarded a medal and cash award for college tuition, as a reward for their selfless efforts to save two young boys from drowning in an icy pond. Fifteen-year-old Jasmine and 17-year-old Jacora Morris, of West Des Moines, didn’t think twice when they jumped into the pond on Feb. 25 to save two young boys.

The sisters noticed the boys struggling under the freezing water when they looked out their third-story window at the Sun Prairie Apartments. Wearing only shorts and tank tops, the girls ran to the pond and jumped into the water before pulling the boys to safety prior to the arrival of medics.

Now, nearly eight months later, the sisters have learned they are receiving the Carnegie Hero Medal. The national prestigious award is considered the highest civilian honor for people who risk their lives to save others. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission heavily vets the recipients and spends months verifying the lifesaving situation.

The Morris sisters will receive the medal in person at a later date, as well as $7,500 each to use toward tuition.

Le Mars, Iowa (KCAU) — Authorities in Plymouth County have released the identity of a juvenile male who died from injuries he suffered during a dirt bike crash Saturday. According to a release from the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, 11-year-old Jace Terreault, of Sioux City, was allegedly turning from a private drive onto C38 at the same time that a semi-tractor was traveling east on C38. The motorcycle crashed into the side of semi’s trailer. The crash happened at around 10:40-a.m., Saturday.

The 45-year-old truck driver was not hurt. A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for Jace’s burial. As of Monday evening, nearly $6,000 has been raised.

(Radio Iowa) – Low water levels on the Mississippi River continue to be a concern for barge traffic that hauls grain from Iowa and other states off to export. Iowa D-O-T spokesman, Stuart Anderson, says the lower Mississippi River levels have continued to drop. “There’s fear that weather patterns are not going to be favorable for replenishing that. although I think there’s a lot of rain coming through at least Midwest here in a couple of days,” Anderson says. “I think to have the most impact on the lower Mississippi and Ohio River where there’s some challenges, I think they’d like to see that system move a little farther south than it is.” He says barge operators have already had to adjust by not filling them as full in the shallower water.

“In addition, as you South of St. Louis the tow get to be wider, but they are having to narrow them instead of being five wide or four wide,” he says. “Basically a 20 percent reduction just in the number of barges that can go south.” The price of floating the grain down river has also been impacted. “Barge rates are a little higher, although not as high as we might expect,” Anderson says. “I think that’s driven by a little bit of a soft export market so that’s offsetting that a little bit.”

Anderson says the situation is something grain haulers will keep an eye on as the harvest in Iowa and other states continues to move forward.

(Radio Iowa) –  The Iowa Bicycle Coalition is under new leadership. Luke Hoffman is replacing Mark Wyatt as the statewide non-profit organization’s executive director. Hoffman says he has lofty goals for the future, starting with getting the Safe Routes to School program in every school and in every school district in Iowa so kids can experience the joys of alternative transportation, instead of riding a bus or in their parents’ car.

Hoffman says he’s dedicated to uniting all cyclists across the state through fun events, major rides and bike clubs. He also wants to develop a powerful lobby that will work with state legislators on behalf of all cyclists. One goal is to eliminate distracted driving by passing legislation requiring drivers to use hands-free cell phone technology.

(Radio Iowa) – The misdemeanor charge against a state senator from southeast Iowa legislator who was arrested during RAGBRAI has been dropped. Republican Senator Adrian Dickey of Packwood was arrested on July 24th north of Carroll. A Sac County deputy said Dickey was part of a large group blocking a rural road and Dickey argued with the officer, refusing to move. In a written statement, Dickey says it was a total misunderstanding because he wasn’t drinking and wasn’t part of the group blocking the road.

Dickey says in 50 years he’s never been arrested and he appreciates the Sac County Attorney’s decision to drop the charge and restore his reputation. The Sac County Attorney’s request to have the case dismissed said there was not enough evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Dickey had asked for a jury trial.

A jury trial will be held in Washington County in the legal dispute over an insurance payment made to Dickey after his daughter’s vehicle was wrecked in an accident. Dickey says he bought the car for his daughter who was going to college in California and she knew the title was in his name so she wouldn’t sell it for quick cash or trade it in for a vehicle she could not afford.

Dickey’s biological daughter, her mother and stepfather say the car was given with no strings attached and they had no idea Dickey held the title and would get the insurance check after it was totaled. Dickey was elected to the Iowa Senate during a special election in 2021 and reelected to a full term in 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says the terror attacks in Israel deserve a swift and lethal response. “They have a responsibility to not just defend themselves, but to use overwhelming force to wipe Hamas off the face of the earth,” DeSantis says. “They’re terrorists. What they are doing it barbaric.” DeSantis, who visited Israel in April, campaigned in northwest Iowa yesterday (Monday).

DeSantis blasted President Biden for hosting a picnic for his staff at the White House this weekend and for a recent prisoner swap that freed five Americans but also gave Iran access to six billion dollars in frozen oil revenue. DeSantis says it means Iran’s leaders can send more money to terror groups like Hamas.

“This is just pathetic,” DeSantis says. “We don’t need a president ‘missing in action.’ We don’t need any more presidents that are past their prime. We need presidents that are actually going to lead and actually do the job, particularly in these crisis situations.” During a stop in Le Mars, DeSantis touted the debate he’s scheduled to have next month on Fox News with California Governor Gavin Newson.

“California’s probably four or five years ahead of where Biden is in terms of going in a leftist direction,” DeSantis says. “A second Biden term or Harris or Newsom or whoever they throw out would basically mimic what California has done and all that will do is facilitate an even quicker decline of our country.” DeSantis says his own record as Florida’s governor since 2019 represents a model for American revival and he says as president he’d bring discipline to federal government spending to get inflation under control.

“You’re paying more for everything because of what the people in Washington, D.C. have done over the last four or five years,” DeSantis says. DeSantis wrapped up a three-day bus tour through Iowa with a stop in Storm
Lake. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley campaigned in Boone yesterday (Monday). Haley, who served as United Nations Ambassador during the Trump Administration, says now is not the time for the U-S to be divided or distracted because Israel should get all it needs to defend itself and destroy the terrorists in its midst. She’s also calling for an end to taxpayer support of any country that sides with Hamas or fails to denounce anti-semetic activity.

(Radio Iowa) – There are at least two hundred pickleball courts in Iowa and many city councils, particularly in urban Iowa, are planning to build more. Officials who represent the 17-hundred residents of Lake City in western Iowa who’ve been discussing where and how to build a pickleball court in their community are planning a private fundraiser that will go beyond just collecting cash and checks. Jacob Mathews, the city administrator of Lake City, says they’ll accept electronic payments through the digital app called Venmo.

All the printed materials for the Lake City fundraiser will feature a Q-R code — one of those black and white squares with a barcode.

According to a software that tracks philanthropy in the United States, 63 percent of donors prefer to give online with a credit or debit card and another 17 percent want to use another electronic method like Venmo. Only four percent want to give cash. Mathews says a 50-thousand dollar donation — in any form — will secure naming rights to Lake City’s pickleball court.