(Radio Iowa) – Clear Lake High School is one of four school districts to receive a national U-S-D-A award for its efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Clear Lake reduced sodium in menu items by using spices, more fresh local foods and some low- or no-sodium products. U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the Clear Lake district to deliver its award.  “I’m happy to be in one of the school districts that’s ‘top of the class,'” Vilsack says.

Vilsack says Clear Lake overcame challenges to improve menu options. “It’s difficult for schools with tight budgets,” Vilsack says. “Oftentimes because of the pandemic, there were supply chain and continue to be supply chain challenges, so the nutrition folks at school do an amazing job.” Vilsack says the U-S-D-A has provided several billion dollars of assistance over the last several years to help U-S school districts improve the nutrition of school lunches and the department’s “Healthy Meals Incentives Recognization Awards” are designed to showcase schools like Clear Lake that have made big gains with that support.

“We’ve provided the school district a little extra resource and that, in turn, was used by the school district to expand their storage capacity, refrigeration capacity, so they are in a position to do a little bit more with fruits and vegetables and get more direct connection with the community, which every school district is interested in doing,” Vilsack says. Clear Lake Community School District food service director Julie Udelhofen says the school got a Healthy Meals Incentive grant in August of 2023.

“We installed a walk-in freezer in our middle school,” she says. “We updated our serving line so that we could serve salad items every day and we purchased a food processor for each of our three kitchens so we could slice, dice, grate and all the things we needed to do to make processing local foods easier.” Udelhofen says her food service team created custom blended salt-free seasonings to bring out the flavor of a wide array of vegetables as one way to reduce sodium consumption among students in the lunchroom.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities in eastern Iowa say they’ve caught a hit-and-run driver who was allegedly texting behind the wheel when he ran over a woman two weeks ago. Davenport police say they’ve arrested a tow truck driver who’s charged with hitting and critically injuring a pedestrian the morning of March 13th. Police says the truck had two cameras, one facing forward, the other, at the driver.

Fifty-two-year-old Granvell Ramey of Davenport faces a total of ten charges, including serious injury hit-and-run, reckless driving, running five stop signs, and reckless use of an electronic device. Police say the 43-year-old woman who was hit was in the crosswalk. The Quad City Times says Dana Oswalt Evans was hospitalized with injuries including multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung.

Granvell Ramey (Scott County Jail photo)

NEWTON, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports an inmate at the Newton Correctional Facility who was serving a life sentence, has died. 73-year-old Pete Michael Alspach was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon, as the result of an unexpected medical emergency. Foul play was not suspected. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Alspach had been serving his life sentence for the crime of Kidnapping 1st Degree out of Wright County. His sentence began on July 9, 1993.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a woman from Afton was arrested Tuesday night. 18-year-old Kelsey Jo Aldrich Pope was taken into custody at around 9:07-p.m. at  the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center, and charged with Operating While Under the Influence/1st Offense. Pope was taken to Union County Jail and later released after posting a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – An Iowa dentist with a history of alleged sexual misconduct with multiple patients has agreed to surrender his license. In December, the Iowa Dental Board declared that 65-year-old Dr. Calvin Weber, of Glenwood, posed “an imminent threat to public safety” and suspended his license on an emergency basis. The action came four months after Weber was criminally charged with assaulting a female outside his office. The board accused Weber of improper sexual contact with a patient or making lewd, lascivious or improper remarks or advances to a patient, and with violating Iowa law with regard to the practice of dentistry.

Police records related to the incident show that in July 2023, a woman came to the Glenwood Police Department and complained that she while she was in Weber’s dental office, he made comments on how sexy she was and grabbed her buttocks. As a result of the allegations, police charged Weber with assault, a simple misdemeanor, in August 2023. In December, a judge found Weber guilty of assault and fined him $855. Recently, Weber agreed to surrender his license.

Weber was first licensed by the state in 1983 and has a history of alleged misconduct with female patients. In July 1993, he was charged with unprofessional conduct in the practice of dentistry and accused of inappropriately touching two female patients during their dental appointments. One month after those charges were filed, Weber was accused of misconduct with two additional patients.

The board suspended Weber’s license indefinitely while ordering him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation within 60 days before being considered for reinstatement. Four months later, in April 1994, the board accused Weber of failing to submit to an evaluation and Weber agreed to surrender his license. After surrendering his Iowa license, Weber moved to Florida where he was employed as a golf professional, board records show.

In December 2006, after Weber submitted to an evaluation and agreed to undergo ongoing therapy, the board agreed to reinstate his dental license.

(Audubon Co) The Audubon County Auditor’s Office has released the names of candidates who filed nomination papers by last Friday’s deadline, for the June 4th Primary Election in Audubon County. (I=Incumbent)

Names to appear on Republican party ballots include:

Board of Supervisors (2 Seats)
Donald Mosinski
Kent Grabill

Sheriff
Todd Johnson (I)

Auditor
Lisa Frederiksen (I)

Those whose names will appear on the Democrat voting ballot in Audubon County, include:

Board of Supervisors (2 Seats)
Nathan Wahlert

Sheriff
No Candidates

Auditor
No Candidates

*There were no nomination papers filed by persons from the Libertarian party in Audubon County.

Audubon County Courthouse

Audubon County voters interested in voting absentee for the June 4 Primary Election may file requests for absentee ballots with the Audubon County Auditor’s Office. Voters have 20 days to vote absentee either by mail or in-person rather than 29 days. Voters are reminded that due to recent legislation the ballot must be returned to the County Auditor’s Office before polls close at 8 p.m. on June 4, in order to be counted.

Absentee voters are reminded that since this is a Primary Election the voter must choose which party’s ballot they would like to vote. The Primary Election in Iowa is a nominating process for the Libertarian, Democratic and Republican parties to determine who will appear on the General Election ballot in November.

In-person early voting in the Auditor’s Office and mailing of ballots will begin May 15th.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Lottery C-E-O Matt Strawn says sales were up just under one percent in February compared to last year.  “And of course that’s coming off a record year, so pleased that we still have a positive trajectory and sales. Early returns for March indicate that that is still happening,” he says. Strawn told the Lottery Board Tuesday that year-to-date sales were a little more than 331 million dollars. “Lottery product performance has been a little mixed thus far through fiscal 24.

With scratch tickets, Powerball, Lucky for Life, Pick Three , Pick Four, all are performing ahead of last year’s sales. While Instaplay pull tabs, Lotto America and Mega Millions, those games have not yet seen year over year sales growth,” Strawn says. He says the amount of money returned to the state is down slightly. “A total proceeds through February of 73-million-981-thousand and16 dollars are down three-point-three percent compared to FY ’23 proceeds through February. The most significant contributing factor to this modest decrease in year-over-year proceeds, as you will see in the budget is an increase in prize expenses,” Strawn says.

Scratch tickets were the Lottery’s first product and he says they’ve been doing well this year. “Over the last 52 weeks scratch ticket sales in Iowa are up nearly seven percent compared to what we’re seeing nationally across the lottery industry where scratch sales are a little closer to flat or even with the previous year,” Strawn says. “I think you can attribute that to some changes we’ve made and how we’ve approached the product portfolio.”

The Iowa Lottery has done several promotions surrounding scratch tickets and he says that has helped boost sales. Strawn says the large jackpots in the Powerball and Mega Millions games will help push ahead March sales.

(Radio Iowa) – The Oskaloosa School District plans to open what it’s calling the Oskaloosa Spirit Cafe on the downtown square this summer in an effort to foster entrepreneurship and empower students with special needs. Sarah Deronde, a special education teacher at the high school, says the ultimate goal is to provide opportunities for all students to thrive and offer a meaningful contribution to society.

Employment will be open to all students as well as to adults in the community with special needs who want to learn skills, from basic jobs all the way up to management. Deronde hopes to get culinary arts students involved in the cafe as well. The walls of the cafe will be a showcase for student art, and there will also be a “service wall” where students and others can advertise their talents, from making t-shirts to mowing lawns.

Oskaloosa Spirit Cafe under construction (OCSD photo)