(Radio Iowa) – A research scientist in the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Iowa is delighted NASA engineers were able to reestablish communication with the Voyager One spacecraft, which has flown further into space than any human-made object. Bill Kurth says Voyager, which he started working on at the U-I five decades ago, is now 15-BILLION miles from Earth. “That’s 165 times farther from the sun than we are,” Kurth says. “It’s 22-and-a-half hours ‘light time’ from Earth. That means if we send a signal to Voyager it takes almost a day to get to Voyager and if Voyager responds, it takes almost another day for it to come back.”

Voyager One and its twin, Voyager Two, were launched in 1977 and are now well beyond the edge of our solar system. This past November, Voyager One went silent after a memory chip in one of its three onboard computers failed. A few days ago, the team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was able to restore the spacecraft and regain the ability to receive and transmit messages over the incredibly great distance. “The team at JPL has worked miracles over the decades,” Kurth says. “They’ve basically pulled both of these spacecraft out of the fire a number of times and I was not terribly surprised that they could do it again.”

Despite its aging electronics, Kurth says Voyager is still sending back information that’s vitally important to researchers who are trying to understand the fabric of our universe. “We’re now in a region of space that no instrument or spacecraft from Earth has ever been. It’s in what we call the ‘interstellar medium.’ That’s the stuff between the stars,” Kurth says. “We’re outside of the extended sun’s atmosphere for the first time and we’re making measurements of that medium.” Kurth started working on Voyager as a U-I graduate student in 1974. He’s now the principal investigator for the plasma wave science instrument on the spacecraft, which was designed and built at Iowa.

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artist’s concept traveling through interstellar space, or the space between stars, which it entered in 2012.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

When the Voyagers were launched, they were designed to visit the planets Jupiter and Saturn, and perhaps be able to go on to Uranus and Neptune. “After the Neptune flyby, the spacecraft were in good health and NASA decided to rename the mission the Voyager Interstellar Mission with the hopes that someday, it would get into the interstellar medium. And it has,” Kurth says. “It took a long cruise to get there and I’m just very happy to have been part of that.”

Much like the Mars rovers that far exceeded their original lifespans, Voyager One is expected to continue soaring into deep space, and NASA says its generators may continue to have power to run its instruments through 2036.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports two men were arrested on separate warrants, Wednesday night. 55-year-old Gregory Allen Riley, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9:45-p.m. on a Red Oak Police Department warrant for Fraudulent Practice in the 3rd Degree – an aggravated misdemeanor. Riley was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

And, at around 11:40-p.m., Wednesday, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 29-year-old Brady Cullen Mutschler, of Poinciana, FL, for being a Fugitive from Justice. Mutschler also had three Felony warrants for Domestic Violence/Aggravated Assault without Intent, False Imprisonment, and Domestic Violence/Battery by strangulation. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail while awaiting extradition to Florida.

(Lucas, Iowa) – Two men traveling in an All-Terrain Vehicle Wednesday afternoon were injured, when the vehicle crashed at a high rate of speed in Lucas County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2016 Yamaha YXZ1000R driven by 31-year-old Robert Kole McCormick, of Lucas, was traveling south in a ditch alongside Highway 65 just north of Highway 34 at around 4-p.m., and was attempting to jump a driveway, when the accident occurred.

The ATV was traveling at speeds of between 50-and 60 mph when it vaulted the driveway, lost contact with the ground and flipped end-over-end several times. McCormick and his passenger, 19-year-old Hunter John Wilson, of Chariton, were injured. Both were wearing their seat belts. McCormick was transported by medical helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines.

The crash remains under investigation.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday, approved the District’s proposed Certified Budget for 2024-25. Their action followed a Public Hearing, during which there were no comments in favor or opposed to the move. The levy for the budget is $12.51/$1,000 assessed valuation. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, the District expects to receive $6.9-million from property taxes.

Later on in their meeting, the Board passed a Resolution levying a tax for fiscal year 2024-25, “for the future optional redemption of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2019, and approving related documents and directing the partial optional redemption of such bonds.” The money will be used to help to make a $500,000 payment the G.O. bonds, to reduce the amount of interest paid.

Atlantic School Board mtg., 4-24-25 (Zoom image)

In other business, the Atlantic School Board, in its Consent Agenda, approved the resignation of Jesse McCann, HS Special Education teacher (at the end of the 23-24 school year), and contract recommendations for:

• Taylor Vargason, Elementary Special Education Teacher
• Lindsey Roberts, ELL Teacher
• Cayleigh McBee, HS Student Council Sponsor
• Alexandra Griffen-Uren, HS English Language Arts Teacher
• Jesse McCann, HS School Student Support Coordinator contract.

Board Vice-President Laura McLean asked before the vote to approve the contract recommendations, about the Student Support Coordinator position Jesse McCann was being considered for.  Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen responded…

The contract would likely require a five-year commitment to the District. The Board discussed District Facilities during their meeting, Wednesday evening. Part of the discussion focused on a facilities addition to the High School gym, as mentioned during a presentation by High School Staff Member/Athletics Coach Dan Vargason, early on in the meeting. Vargason said discussions have been held with regard to secondary gym space, the need for which makes it “a more urgent matter.”

Jarrod O’Donnell, High School Instrumental Music Teacher, was not able to attend Wednesday’s meeting, but he provided a letter for Vargason to read to the board.

Vargason said over 70 staff members between coaches, teachers, and sponsors said they would utilize a new space. The Board took no action on the matter during their meeting Wednesday night, but acknowledged gym space is becoming an issue that needs to be addressed, and a facilities and cost study would be the next steps. Also during Wednesday’s meeting, ACSD Communication Specialist Emma Maassen, spoke with the Board on the status of work to update the District’s Website, and other matters.

The Board also discussed staffing, and research on the types of security camera systems available.

UPDATED 7:22-p.m., w/a statement from the Iowa Department of Public Safety: SAC COUNTY, Iowa – Shortly before 2:00 p.m. on April 24, 2024, the Sac County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an individual who reported he discovered a body in his field.  The body was found near the intersection where the semi of missing person David Schultz was located in November 2023. The body is being transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner for a forensic autopsy.

SAC CITY, Iowa (KTIV) – After months of searching, a family member says the body of missing David Schultz has been found. David’s wife, Sarah Schultz, told KTIV in Sioux City, that his body was found in Sac County on Wednesday, April 24. She said her husband was found in a farmer’s field and the Sac County Sheriff’s Office identified him by the boots he was wearing.

The remains were reportedly found 1.5 miles west of where Schultz’ truck was located back when he went missing in November 2023. According to Sarah Schultz, the body is being sent to Iowa State Medical Examiner for official identification.

David Schultz

Fifty-three-year-old David Schultz was a trucker from Wall Lake, Iowa, who was reported missing on Nov. 21, 2023. After his disappearance, law enforcement put together a timeline for his disappearance:

• David left his home in Wall Lake around 7 p.m. on Nov. 20.
• He was scheduled to pick up a load of pigs from a hog confinement near Eagle Grove and take them to Sac City.
• Witnesses confirmed David picked up the livestock and left around 10:50 that night.
  • He was driving his semi-tractor-trailer.
• Shortly after – investigators say he can be seen on surveillance video at a truck stop east of Fort Dodge.
• David leaves the stop in his semi and heads west.
• Cell phone data shows his phone traveled to a rural intersection north of Sac City.
• Authorities found David’s truck at that intersection the following day – with his cellphone and wallet still inside.
• David’s wife, Sarah, reported him missing on Nov. 21 after learning he never made it to the drop-off location.

Volunteers and law enforcement spent weeks looking for David, with over 100,000 acres being searched.