(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowa families have a tradition of taking down the Christmas tree on Sunday, the last day of the year, in order to start the new year out fresh on Monday. Horticulturist and extension educator John Fech says don’t just toss the tree to the curb, but find a way to repurpose it.

“Recycling it, reusing it, thinking of it again as a resource or an asset,” Fech says. If you’re crafty, trim the branches to make a fragrant sachet, wreath, or garland to enjoy in the weeks ahead. You could also cut up pieces of the evergreen to toss in a nearby lake or pond to provide a habitat for fish. Fech says mulching is another option.

“Do that yourself with a hatchet or you could have it run through a chipper,” Fech says. “Many of the cities do that for their parks and then they use that for trail cover around city parks and hospitals and places like that.” Another idea is to return the tree to the great outdoors for wildlife to use as shelter. He likes to call it tree-cycling.

“Also, it could just be songbird habitat,” Fech says. “Set it near the bird feeder so birds have a place to get out of the wind and have a little bit of refuge from predator birds.” If mulching the entire tree is too much work, just using the needles can be an effective mulch on perennial plants, in your garden, and to keep weeds in check.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported after an SUV struck a deer Tuesday afternoon. The 2022 Chevy Tahoe, driven by 20-year-old Macy Wiley, of Creston, was traveling south on Cherry Street near 150th Street at around 3:33-p.m., when a deer came out of the east ditch and into the middle of the road.

Wiley was unable to avoid hitting the animal, which struck the left front side of the SUV. The deer flipped over the top of the vehicle and died at the scene. Damage to the Tahoe was estimated at $5,000.

A single-vehicle accident Tuesday evening near Ellsworth, in northern Iowa, claimed the life of Missouri man. The Iowa State Patrol reports a passenger in a pickup truck, 42-year-old Jose Roger Rivera Vasquez, of Kansas City, MO., died, when the vehicle he was a back seat passenger in, went out of control northbound on I-35 in Hamilton County.

When the vehicle rolled into the east ditch, Vasquez was ejected and died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt. The accident happened at around 5:23-p.m.

The driver of the vehicle was identified as 29-year-old Pedro F. Quintanilla Castellanos, of Kansas City, MO.

The crash remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican leaders aren’t sure whether the 2024 legislature will set new rules for Iowa Capitol displays after the controversy surrounding this month’s Satanic Temple of Iowa display. House Speaker Pat Grassley says the topic was discussed earlier this month during a private meeting of House Republicans.

“Quite frankly, when we brought it up within our caucus…it’s something that we we do not support. It’s not anything we really want to see around here, however as elected representatives we also have to respect First Amendment rights,” Grassley says. “That group, even if I don’t agree with anything they stand for, did follow the process.”

The Satanic Temple of Iowa applied for and received a permit from the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to set up its display in the Capitol rotunda for two weeks. “It’s a really tough issue and it’s gotten a lot of people pretty fired up about it,” Grassley says, “but at the end of the day we have to follow the Constitution and we smart about what we’re doing and not just be reactive because we completely disagree with what’s displayed.”

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says he and other G-O-P senators are reviewing the current rules for Capitol displays. “I don’t know what that means for next year if we pass a bill or what that looks like,” Whitver says, “but there are a lot of people that are disgusted about it.”

A man from Mississippi has been charged with vandalizing the statue in the Satanic Temple’s display. A nativity scene also was displayed in the Iowa Capitol this year, along with a banner from the Iowa Atheist and Free Thinkers and a display by the national Freedom from Religion Foundation.

Early this month Governor Reynolds issued a written statement, saying in a free society the best response to objectionable speech is more speech and she invited like-minded Iowans to join her in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the nativity scene on display in the rotunda.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who got DNA testing kits as Christmas gifts have the opportunity to learn more about their ancestry — and perhaps much more.

Consumer consultant Claudia Lombana says the advanced kits go well beyond your genetic roots and can give you access to more than 25 DNA-based products, including what type of wine may best suit you, to a host of health and fitness information.

Lombana says, “If we talk about fitness and nutrition, there are a couple of kits that will tell you based on your specific DNA the types of exercise that are best for you, the type of nutrition that is best for you.”

For the purchase price, the consumer simply has to spit into a tube, seal it, send it in and wait for the results to come back. The data can be fascinating and very helpful.

Scientist analyzing DNA result for check genetics and forensics science.

“You might be predisposed to high cholesterol but it doesn’t mean your sibling will be,” Lombana says. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to get it but at least it lets you know, ‘Wow, I have a predisposition to this so maybe I should cut back on my salt,’ or cut back on sugar if you have a predisposition to diabetes.

There are differences and a lot of great insights and information you can find out.” For those who want to stick to the basics, Lombana says some kits can follow your DNA back centuries.

“You can dive deeper into your ancestry and it will even tell you the migration paths of your ancestors and the percentage of Neanderthal that you have in you,” she says, laughing. “So, some really interesting and cool things that you can find out.”

Lombana says if you want to buy a kit, do some homework first. Prices vary on what you want to find out, from as little as $50 to several hundred dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – Two Iowa-based political science professors say their polling shows voters who say they’re backing Donald Trump aren’t likely to change their minds when voting begins next month.

Iowa State University professor David Peterson is manager of ISU’s Civiqs Poll, Earlier this month, that poll found Trump’s support among likely Iowa Caucus-goers had grown to 54%.

“The people who support Donald Trump are loyal,” Peterson says. “…When you ask them about the indictments President Trump is facing, they will say: ‘He’s done nothing wrong.’ And over and over, question after question that we ask these folks, the supporters of Donald Trump deeply believe him and are deeply committed to him.”

Grinnell College professor Peter Hanson (on left) and Iowa State University professor David Peterson on the Iowa Press set. (Photo courtesy of Iowa PBS.)

Peter Hanson, director of the Grinnell College National Poll, says Trump is well positioned for the General Election. “There’s almost this expectation among Democrats that, you know, ‘Surely when this event happens, voters will come to share our perspective and the support for Donald Trump will dissipate.’ Well, it doesn’t happen,” Hanson says. “That support is durable. It’s robust. I have no reasonable expectation that will change and that puts him in a very for this race.”

Peterson says Governor Kim Reynolds’ endorsement of Ron DeSantis didn’t shake up the race.

“This was a sign of courage by Governor Reynolds, right? She could easily have said: ‘You know, look, Iowa governors don’t endorse,’” Peterson says. “…Instead, she had her convictions that Donald Trump was the wrong nominee for the Republican Party and she took a risk to do what she thought she could do to try to prevent that outcome.”

Hanson says he hasn’t seen any evidence that an appeal from Reynolds or any other Republican figure is going to shake voters who are loyal to Trump. “My guess is that we’re going to end up with Donald Trump as the nominee,” Hanson says, “and that’s going to create some uncomfortable politics between Reynolds and Donald Trump.”

Hanson and Peterson made their comments during a recent episode of Iowa Press on Iowa PBS. The Iowa Caucuses are 20 days away.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday) approved the purchase of a password manager services for the IT Department, in the bid amount of $3,348. The Board referred to Montgomery County Attorney Drew Swanson, matters pertaining to social media archiving and policy. They also discussed, but took no action VoIP providers, pending additional research.

The Board approved the purchase of a 16 gig desktop computer for the Deputy Auditor, in the amount of $1,350.58. Auditor Jill Ozuna said she has the funds available in her budget.

The funds will instead come out of the County’s ARPA funds. Ozuna said they are able to do some work on their current desktop, but that “It’s quite limited.” In other business, the Board approved payable claims in the amount of $117,925.52, but they took no action at this time, with regard to invoices from the Villisca Review. Jill Ozuna said the invoices that were submitted from the paper had several errors.

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors next meeting is at 8:30-a.m. January 2nd, 2024.

(Radio Iowa) – With just a few days left in 2023, many Iowans are making year-end donations to charities to help with their tax picture next year, but they’re warned to look closely before writing the check. Teresa Fritz, with the Better Business Bureau, says to do some research before donating even a dime. Fritz says the bureau evaluates hundreds of charities at the website Give-dot-org based on 20 different factors, with one of the biggest being accountability. Fritz says, “We look to see if they are using their money wisely and that it’s going to actually run the organization and not just paying for the administration.”

Many charities receive one-third of their annual donations — or more — during the holiday season, so these year-end gifts are important. Fritz says sometimes the names of organizations will sound alike, but their support is very different. “Before you give, be sure you have the exact name of the charity to avoid a case of mistaken identity,” Fritz says. “Sometimes, charities that do not use their money wisely will try to have a similar name.” If you get a phone call from a charity you’re not familiar with, don’t give, especially if someone is pressuring you. When you’re making a gift, she suggests plastic may have advantages over cash or a check.

“We encourage people to use their credit cards, because you do have some assistance and safety with using your credit card,” she says. “If you would find out the organization is a scam, you can stop the donation on your credit card or stop a check, if you can talk to your bank right away.” Anyone can access the Better Business Bureau’s Give-dot-org website for free. It’s part of the Wise Giving Alliance.

(Radio Iowa) –  The Iowa Lottery is trying to get the word out early on a couple of large prizes that are unclaimed. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, can’t remember having two such prizes out there are once. “This has been the year of unusual unclaimed prize news here in Iowa. You know, there was that million dollar Mega Millions prize that expired back in September in Ames without being claimed,” she says. “Now there are two prizes of two million dollars each that both have been out there for a little while.” They are both Powerball jackpots from tickets purchased at different stores.

“The first was won with a ticket in Tiffin in the Powerball drawing back on October 7th. The other one was one with a ticket in Clinton in the Powerball drawing on November 25th.,” she says. “With it being so close to the end of the year, it’s possible that these winners are someone who was waiting until after January 1st to claim their prize for tax purposes. But we never know.”

The expiration date for ticket bought in Tiffen is April 4th, and the ticket from Clinton will expire on May 23rd. She says they want to get the word out early to avoid having the prize go unclaimed. “With that prize in Ames, my gosh, we held events at the store, we put out reminder after reminder, we made videos. We truly just did everything we could to remind people about that ticket, but it was never claimed,” Neubauer says. The unclaimed prize from the ticket sold in Ames was put into the Iowa Lottery’s holiday promotion.

“Here in Iowa, money from prizes that go unclaimed, expire without being claimed, goes into the lottery prize pools for future games and promotion,” Neubauer says. “So it will always go to pay prizes, just not those prizes that, unfortunately, expired.” You can check the numbers for all drawings on the Iowa Lottery’s website.