Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand will visit southwest Iowa on Thursday, June 20, as part of his 100 Town Hall Tour across Iowa’s 99 counties. Members of the public are welcome and encouraged to attend.  Stops include:

Harrison County Town Hall
Missouri Valley City Park
800 W Huron St, Missouri Valley, IA 51555
9:30am-10:30am

Shelby County Town Hall
Potters Park
1200 Grand Ave, Harlan, IA 51537
1:15pm-2:15pm

Audubon County Town Hall
Albert the Bull Park
111 Circle Drive, Audubon, IA 50025
2:45pm-3:45pm

Cass County Town Hall*
Atlantic City Park
Across from Cass County Courthouse, Atlantic, Iowa 50022
4:15pm-5:15pm
* During this appearance, Auditor Sand will spend time at Produce in the Park following brief remarks at the bandstand. Members of the press and public are welcome to ask questions.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County (IA) Democrats are hosting a “Green for Greenfield” garden party fundraiser this Sunday, June 23rd, from 5-until 7-p.m. The event is being held to assist the Greenfield community with tornado recovery. It takes place at the home of Dave and Barb Chase (2824 Country Club Dr.) in Atlantic.

All money raised at this event will be donated to the Greenfield Community Foundation. Enjoy good food and company in a relaxed garden setting for a good cause. The fundraiser will feature mini pizzas and bruschetta catered by The Flour Mill. There will also be a variety of beverages available.

Susan Olesen, a former teacher and long-time Greenfield resident, will be a guest speaker, providing an update on the status of the cleanup and recovery efforts. Be sure and bring your favorite lawn chair. In the event of rain, the fundraiser will be held indoors.

Anyone who wishes to support the recovery effort is welcome to attend, regardless of party affiliation.

(Radio Iowa) – The next three Monday’s will feature registration deadlines for next month’s Iowa Summer Games. The competition in Ames and the surrounding area will be the weekend of July 12th through the 14th and the 18th through the 21st. Spokesman Cory Kennedy says the first registration deadline is for many of the team sports.

Kennedy says the registration deadline for many of the team sports is June 24th

Kennedy says an official roster may be submitted at a later date.

Registration deadlines for many of the individual sports are July first and the eighth.

(Radio Iowa) – Tomorrow (Thursday) is the first day of summer, and high temperatures across Iowa are forecast to be back in the 90s by the weekend. Iowans who own dogs likely know that most pooches love to take a swim when it’s hot. If your canine likes to cool off in the water, the Humane Society’s Michelle Casey says there are a few things you should do to protect your pet.

Radio Iowa photo

Casey says you’ll need to do more than just towel off your dog after a swim to make sure the hound stays healthy.

She notes, there are also vaccines to help protect dogs from some parasites.

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City’s police department is the latest in the state to acquire license plate reading cameras. Captain Ryan Bertrand says the cameras are not used to write tickets like speed cameras.

He told the city council this week the cameras will help them find targeted vehicles.

Bertrand says there are currently 13 departments in Iowa that use plate reading cameras. South Sioux City, Nebraska uses them, and they recently helped find a suspects who crossed the border out of Sioux City.

Sioux City police received an 85-thousand dollar grant to purchase the Flock System cameras along with Woodbury County. The city council in Sioux City approved a one-year contract to use the cameras.

(Radio Iowa) – The deadline is approaching to submit nominations for the 2024 Iowan of the Day Awards at the Iowa State Fair. Ten people will be singled out for the title during this year’s August event. The fair’s Chloe Hamaker says the Iowan of the Day program is an opportunity to recognize those people who are positively impacting their towns and their neighbors.

Winners of the Iowan of the Day receive a day of recognition at the fair, gate admission for four, 200-dollars in cash, use of a golf cart at the fair, V-I-P parking, and more. Hamaker says they have seen individuals from six to 90 years old receive the recognition.

Nominations from 2021, 2022 and 2023 will also be reconsidered. While there are no age limitations, Hamaker says nominees do need to be Iowa residents, and nominating someone is easy.

Nomination forms are available at blueribbonfoundation.org. All nominations are due by July 1st.

(Clive, Iowa) – The 2nd annual BBQ & Brew at the Ballpark takes place this Saturday, June 22 at Principal Park in Des Moines. Attendees can consume numerous offerings of delicious Iowa pork, sample Iowa craft beers and ciders, learn barbecue tips from a grill master, vote for their favorites in the Backyard BBQ Contest, meet local celebrities, and enjoy live music performances.

Your purchase of a ticket gets you all of that, and you’ll also be helping fight food insecurity in our state. Proceeds from BBQ & Brew at the Ballpark will benefit Iowa food banks, who are struggling to keep up with demand from families in need.

Linda Gorkow, Executive Director of the Iowa Food Bank Association, said “In the state of Iowa, we have an increase in food insecurity. Pork is a very valuable protein and every ounce makes a difference. 10 percent of Iowans are food insecure. The Iowa Food Bank Association works with 1,200 pantries across the state of Iowa and six food banks. We all work to help serve, and we couldn’t do it without friends like the Iowa Pork Producers and every individual that donates.”

Advance tickets cost just $20 at IowaPork.org. The second Annual BBQ & Brew at the Ballpark begins at 2pm Saturday, brought to you by the Iowa Pork Producers Association and Iowa Cubs, there is something for everyone at this event.

30 backyard barbecuers will be competing for more than $10,000 in cash prizes. For attendees, you get to sample the competitors’ delicious pork, plus Smokey D’s BBQ & Berkwood Farms will provide grilled pork loin sandwiches, and you receive 15 samples of beer from Iowa’s top craft breweries. Netflix Barbecue Showdown Champion Thryon Mathews, an Iowa resident, will be offering grilling tips in his Barbeque Boot Camp.

A panel of celebrity judges will pick their favorite pork offering from the 30 competitors. Iowa musicians will be performing throughout the event. Raffle prizes, including a Traeger grill, a Blackstone grill, Iowa Cubs package, and more will be available.  Attendees who prefer not to partake in the “brew” portion of BBQ & Brew can get in for just $15. Kids 5 and under get in free.

Fareway Stores is also serving as a sponsor of BBQ & Brew at the Ballpark and will provide resources and support for the donations to local food pantries. Visit IowaPork.org to purchase your ticket today. Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 at the door.

(Radio Iowa) – A man from Pocahontas has been charged with stealing livestock and a number of other felonies after an investigation involving law enforcement agencies in eight northwest Iowa counties. Twenty-six-year-old Corey Edward Goeders (GOH-ders) was arrested Friday, and has been released on bond.

According to the Palo Alto County Sheriff, investigators linked Goeders to livestock thefts that primarily took place between June of last year and February of this year. Goeders faces 20 felony charges. He’s been accused of money laundering, tax evasion and ongoing criminal conduct and as well as theft.

Sheriffs’ departments in Palo Alto, Kossuth, Buena Vista, Calhoun, Clay, Pocahontas, Webster and Woodbury Counties all worked on the cases against Goeders, as did agents from the Iowa Department of Public Safety and the Iowa Department of Revenue.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports the arrest this (Wednesday) morning, of 22-year-old Christopher Gage Selvy, of Creston. He was taken into custody following a traffic stop, and charged with OWI/1st offense. Selvy was later released on a $1,000 bond (Cash or surety).

Tuesday evening, 34-year-old Dustin Levi Grout, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault – with injury or mental illness – 1st offense Grout was being held in the Union County Jail without bond, until seen by a magistrate.

And, at around 11:20-am. Tuesday, 22-year-old Jessie Lynne Martin, of Creston, was cited and issued a summons to appear in court, on a charge of allowing an animal to run At Large, while she was located at 800 W. Montgomery Street, in Creston.

Researchers in Iowa say changes in an Alzheimer’s patients’ brain can occur at least 20 years before they are diagnosed with the disease. They’re calling for more education about early warning signs of dementia during Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month. There are at least seven million people age 65 and older in the U-S living with Alzheimer’s, 62-thousand of them are in Iowa. Abby Miesner with the Alzheimer’s Association of Iowa says despite time and money being spent on research, the risk is going up at a younger age, and the numbers are discouraging.

Miesner says those numbers hold true across the board for Blacks and Latinos as well. She adds now that doctors know signs and symptoms could start to occur at an earlier age they are paying attention to signs sooner. Miesner says occasionally misplacing your keys or forgetting why you went into a room are not always cause for concern, but repeatedly forgetting things that are part of your everyday life could be.

Meisner adds earlier detection gives doctors a chance to intervene sooner in a patient’s life.

All of those things can be controlled by developing healthy habits. But a 2022 Alzheimer’s Association report shows 60-percent of people will put off seeing a doctor if they develop symptoms early on, waiting until the symptoms worsen, or family and friends encourage them to seek treatment. The Association is holding educational events statewide all month.

(Iowa News Service)