(Radio Iowa) – The forecast calls for unseasonable warmth today (Thursday) in the 50s and possible low 60s, so many Iowans will get outside to polish off their holiday decorating duties. While adorning our homes with blinking L-E-Ds is a tradition for many, decking the halls isn’t without its risks. Andrea Vaspis, public education director for the National Fire Protection Association, says those colorful lights can be a beautiful accent to your house, but they can also pose a serious fire hazard. “When you’re going to be decorating outside, make sure the lights that you use are approved by a testing laboratory and that they’re rated for outdoor use,” Vaspis says. “That is really critical.”

Putting lights outside that are supposed to be only for indoor use could quickly lead to an electrical short — and a fire. If you’re trying to obtain a Clark Griswold-level of outdoor decoration perfection, she warns, it can be easy to overdo it. “A general rule of thumb is to not plug in more than three strands at a time, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on the box,” Vaspis says. “If you’re opening your tub of old lights and trying to pull them out and see what you have and if anything is frayed or old, it’s time to get rid of it.” The newer L-E-Ds draw much less power and sometimes a few dozen strands can be linked and plugged into one outlet, but she cautions, read the directions carefully.

For many Iowans, it’s simply not the holidays if the fragrance of fresh pine isn’t wafting throughout the house. If you have a “real” tree, she says it’s important that your electric lights are safe. “For the indoor lighting, make sure that what you’re using is not overloaded in a circuit with a number of other items,” Vaspis says. “Make sure that if you’re putting those lights on a Christmas tree, that the Christmas tree is in good shape, that it’s watered so that the lighting doesn’t cause a fire.”

An association study finds electrical distribution or lighting equipment was involved in more than two of every five (44%) home Christmas tree fires.

(Radio Iowa) – An extra in the movie Norman Lear filmed in Iowa 54 years ago says it was a surreal experience. Lear — who wrote, directed and produced the movie “Cold Turkey” — died this week at the age of 101. Dan Dickinson was a teenager when Lear picked Greenfield to be the fictitious “Eagle Rock, Iowa.”

“The story is that Norman came to our town and he really liked our square,” Dickinson says. “It’s a quaint little square. It’s on the National Historic Register and it’s a Lancaster Square, which means it has openings in the middle of the block as well as the corners, so it’s pretty rare.” Some of the stars of “Cold Turkey” went on to have roles in Lear’s T-V sitcoms. Jean Stapleton, who starred as Edith Bunker in “All in the Family,” played a woman in the movie who ate pickles rather than smoke. “It was kind of a surreal experience because you might be walking around the square and you might be walking into a shot,” Dickinson says.

Norman Lear

While “Cold Turkey” was filmed in 1969, it was released in 1971 — the same year Lear’s “All in the Family” premiered on T-V. Dickinson was in the Greenfield high school band and the band was featured in “Cold Turkey.” The plan was to be done shooting by the time school started. “And that did not happen. Our scenes were night scenes and we would go to work at seven and get off at seven in the morning,” Dickinson says. “…Finally they allowed kids that were in the movie to come to school at noon.”

Dickinson, who was 14 at the time, earned 15 dollars for each of the 11 nights when his band was being filmed. “Big money back in 1969 for a kid (in his) freshman year in high school,” Dickinson says. Lear spent eight weeks in the summer of 1969 filming Cold Turkey in Iowa. He was named an honorary Iowan 30 years later.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report two men were arrested on separate charges, Wednesday afternoon. 25-year-old Dawson Allen Squires, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 4:17-p.m.,  on a valid Page County warrant for Willful Contempt of Court. His cash-only bond was set at $1,500, pending transfer to Page County. And, at around 3-p.m., Wednesday, Red Oak Police arrested 25-year-old Logan Thomas Wright, of Red Oak, for Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault. Wright was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, pending a court appearance.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A Splash Park Project in Atlantic is much closer to having fundraising to make the project possible, thanks to a boost from the Atlantic City Council.  The Council, Wednesday evening agreed to have Snyder and Associates Engineers proceed with the design and bidding process for the project, and, the Council agreed to transfer a $45,000 surplus from the Atlantic Parks Inclusive Playground fund, to the Splash Park project.

Jeremy Butler, Splash Park Fundraising Committee Chairman, said prior to the City’s latest contribution, the project’s fundraising team had raised $352,903.85 toward the estimated $600,000 cost of the SplashPad/Park. The City’s transfer of the $45,000 from the Inclusive Playground Fund, brings the total amount raised $2,100 shy of $400,000.

He said as an example of how individuals, businesses and organizations have come together in support of the SplashPad Project, “The kids as Washington Elementary got one of those spiral funnels you drop your change in (where people drop in their pocket change).” He said “I saw in a Facebook post they were a couple of hundreds of dollars away from their goal of $1,000.” He made some phone calls and received matching funds so they could donate $2,000.

“Well then, a local neighborhood group (that he held off on identifying until they make a check presentation), is also going to match it, so these K-through Third-graders made a $3,000 impact on this project bringing pocket change.” He said it’s been an amazing effort from so many people “from the day we kicked-off the fundraising until now.” Butler commended the community, the fundraising committee, and the City Council for what they have contributed to this project thus far since efforts began in April, 2023. The current proposed project has a surface area of a little more than 4,000 square feet. It will feature somewhere between 25 and 30 features.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett, tonight (Wednesday night), issued the Oath of Office to the City’s newest Police Office. Nicholas Whipple, a Bedford High School graduate and a certified police officer in the State of Iowa was sworn-in during the City Council’s regular meeting. He’s served with the A-PD since this past November.

Mayor Grace Garrett administers the Oath of Office to Officer Whipple.

Officer Whipple graduated from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and joined the Iowa National Guard in 2022. He completed his Basic & AIT (Advanced Individual) Guard Training in Oct. 2023.

With the addition of Nicholas Whipple, Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue updated the Council on the P-D’s staffing situation.

The Chief, and Assistant Police Chief Paul Wood had to delay taking their paid time-off while working numerous overtime hours filling-in for other officers, sometimes on day-night swing shifts, due to what had been ongoing staffing issues with the Police Department.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A pilot program announced by Governor Kim Reynolds for three Iowa counties has now gone “Live,” in one of those counties. During a Wednesday evening meeting (Dec. 6, 2023) of the Atlantic City Council, Erik Johnson, an AmeriCorps volunteer and local paramedic who leads the county initiative, announced the Iowa United First Aid program is up and running as of today (Dec. 6th).

Erik Johnson shows a “Go bag” volunteer emergency responders will have.

Cass County is the first County to put the program into action. Calhoun and Van Buren Counties are not too far behind, according to Johnson. “Including myself,” he said, “We have 13 volunteers. I have 25 AED’s to equip, I’m hoping, 20 volunteers that will be a bridge between the initial 9-1-1 call and when the EMS arrives.”

Those volunteers will cover some sections of Cass County’s 565-square miles. Johnson said volunteers currently reside in the Atlantic, Anita, Wiota, Massena, Griswold, Lewis and Marne areas. There are still some areas of the county that could use additional volunteers, especially in south central Cass County. The goal is to get as many as 20, preferably 30 people to train under the program and serve their areas as initial first responders to emergencies, prior to the arrival of an ambulance.

Cass County received a $50,000 grant in May, 2023, to test the innovative program aimed at decreasing emergency response times in rural Iowa. Total grant funding of $150,000 was made available through the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative for the Calhoun County Public Health Department, Cass County Board of Health, and Van Buren County Hospital. The volunteer emergency responders receive their own “Go Bag” kits, complete with an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator), Narcan (a drug overdose reversal medication), a “stop the bleed” kit, First Aid kit, a pocket mask for ventilation of patients, and a box of gloves. Johnson says each volunteer will also receive a vest that identifies them as a trained responder.

Areas of Cass County with volunteer emergency personnel.

The volunteers are notified, Johnson said by a “Now Force” app on their cell phones. It utilizes GPS, so no matter where the individual is in Cass County, if they are within 15-minutes of a cardiac arrest, they will be notified. The company’s app says “NowForce is a Sophisticated incident management and response technology, fusing critical data and providing real-time comprehensive situational awareness that ignites action. Dispatchers, responders and reporters can share insights in real-time and coordinate efficient, appropriate and rapid response with enhanced field communications.”

For instance, in the case of someone having a heart attack, time is life, and having someone be able to cut-down the response time can potentially save a life. Johnson said “This is a very humbling opportunity. I’m grateful I was approached about it.” Now Force, he said, wants to use Cass County as a Public Relations tool for the project.

(Radio Iowa) – Native American art from the late 19th and early 20th century is now on display again at the Sioux City Public Museum. Museum Curator Matt Anderson says the works were last shown locally in 2004. “They’re lithographic prints that were put together back in the 1930s,” Anderson says. “And the first 25 of them are kind of a mix of various Native American artists representing the Lakota, the Yankton Dakota, the Kiowa, and the Shoshone.” Anderson says the 50 prints by nine Native American artists were publish in two parts as a limited edition in 1938. One group gives a unique look into the life of the people.

Native American prints are on display in Sioux City. (KSCJ photo)

“So the first 25 represent all aspects of native society, particularly dwell on ceremonies like the Sun Dance different horse related ceremonies things like that. There’s kind of a depiction of traditional native culture in those,” he says. The second set of prints were done from the 1890’s through 1910 and feature an infamous battle.

“The second 25 are by an artist named Amos Bad Heart Bull, and sometimes called Bad Heart Buffalo as well. And he did a series of drawings covering the Battle of Little Bighorn in which his father, Bad Heart Bull participated,” he says. “And it’s a very detailed accounting of king of the native perspective on how the Battle of Little Bighorn went.” The battle is also referred to as “Custer’s Last Stand,” as General George Armstrong Custer and all his men were killed.

The prints will be on display at the Sioux City Public Museum through March 3rd.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 64-year-old Kirk Priest Matlock, who was convicted of Robbery in the 2nd Degree in Story County, failed to report back to the Marshalltown Residential Center as required yesterday (Tuesday).

Kirk Matlock (IA DOC photo)

Matlock is a white male, six-feet tall, weighing 213 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on November 13, 2023.

Persons with information on Matlock’s whereabouts should contact local police.