(Des Moines, Iowa) – Changes are coming soon to the way Iowans can hunt and trap raccoons, and how farmers can deal with raccoon depredation issues. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, raccoons were the focus of a bill approved during the 2023 Iowa legislative session, allowing landowners or tenants to dispatch raccoons causing damage to their agricultural property, outside of the city limits. Landowners may shoot or trap raccoons using cage or dog-proof traps. A license is not required and landowners do not need to notify the DNR before shooting or trapping. That bill was signed into law by Governor Reynolds and becomes effective on July 1st.

The other related change relaxes the rules for hunting and trapping raccoons for everyone. The new rules, developed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and approved by the Natural Resource Commission of the Iowa DNR, allows for year-round hunting and trapping of raccoons on private land.

While the raccoon season will be continuously open, during the time of year outside of the furharvester season, only firearms, cage traps or dog-proof traps are legal methods of take. During the furharvester season, trappers may use other lawful traps normally allowed during the trapping season. Hunters or trappers pursuing raccoons on private land they do not own are required to have a valid furharvester license.

The new raccoon rules are currently in effect.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa community of nearly a thousand residents will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding this weekend. Aurelia was named for the daughter of the man who owned the Illinois Central Railroad that had tracks running through the town. The school in Aurelia will be open Saturday morning so returning residents can reminisce and reconnect.

Until the 1990s, the Aurelia Community School District was the only one in the state that had unique names for its boys and girls teams. Aurelia boys teams were known as the Bulldogs. Girls teams from Aurelia were known as the Atoms. Alta and Aurelia districts began sharing grades in the 1990s and voted to merge in 2017.

(Cass County, Iowa) –  A reminder from the Cass County Food Policy Council: The Cities of Atlantic and Massena are hosting mobile food pantries this (Wednesday) afternoon (June 14). In Atlantic. the distribution site is the Atlantic High School front parking lot, from 4-6 p.m. Enter from 14th Street and follow signs. (Questions call 712-243-1132.) In Massena, the mobile pantry will be located at Southwest Iowa Egg (74877 Clark Avenue) from 4:30-until 5-p.m. Enter from the west and drive across the scale for pick up.

A mobile pantry is a traveling food pantry that delivers food directly to families in need for a one-day distribution. People from surrounding towns and communities are welcome. Mobile food pantries are available free of charge. Anyone in need is welcome, and no documentation is required. Each car can take food for up to two households at a time. Both Atlantic and Massena will be distributing the same food products. If supplies run low in Massena, families will be directed to Atlantic.

Upcoming Atlantic 2023 Mobile Food Pantries

Please note: Atlantic 2023 Mobile Food Pantries are being held at different locations during the school year (Cass County Community Center) and summer months (Atlantic High School).

Time: 4-6 p.m.

Atlantic High School (1201 E. 14th St. Atlantic, IA 50022): July 12, August 9
Cass County Community Center (805 W. 10th St., Atlantic, IA 50022): October 11

Upcoming Massena 2023 Mobile Food Pantries

Where: Southwest Iowa Egg Coop (74877 Clarke Ave. Massena, IA 50853)

Remaining 2023 Dates: July 12, August 9, October 11 (NOTE: Registration may be required by the Monday prior to distribution for these pantries. More information will be released prior to the pantries, and will be posted on the Cass County Local Food Policy Council’s Facebook page listed below.)

Box pick-up time: 4:30-5:00 p.m.

Mobile pantry dates, times, and locations are subject to change. For the latest information on mobile pantries in Anita and Atlantic, visit https://foodbankheartland.org/food-resources/find-food/. For the latest information on Massena pantries, call (712) 779-3447. For information on upcoming events and local food, farmers markets, and food access activities, follow the Cass County Local Food Policy Council’s Facebook page @CassCountyLocalFood.

(Radio Iowa) – The city of Ames is hosting a dedication ceremony Saturday for the renaming of its airport. Spokesperson, Susan Gwiasda says the airport is being named in honor of African-American flight pioneer James Herman Banning. “James Herman Banning was a resident of Ames from 1919 to about 1928. He ended up becoming the first pilot to receive his pilot’s license from the U-S Department of Commerce,” she says.

Gwiasda says it was not an easy route for Banning. “He was denied flight instruction, several different places he tried to receive flight instruction in central Iowa,”Gwiasda says, “but eventually found a flight teacher and went on to become the first African American pilot to fly across the United States.”  Banning attended Iowa State University for one year and named a plane he flew “Miss Ames.” One of Banning’s relatives will be at the event Saturday. ” One of the things we’re really excited about is during this dedication ceremony, which is 10 a-m on Saturday, June 17th, Christopher Hart will be speaking. Christopher Hart is the great nephew of James Herman Banning,” she says.

Hart served as the 13th chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. He has a private consulting company and degrees from Princeton University in aeronautics aeronautical engineering, and he has a law degree from Harvard. He will be talking about his great uncle’s legacy. “After the Banning dedication ceremony is over, there will be a reception in the airport terminal. And then we’re inviting everybody to come to Bandshell Park for the Juneteenth Celebration,” she says. “That will be happening from noon to 4:30, a free event with live music, food trucks, arts, crafts, games, face painting, and more. Learn more about James Herman Banning, and you can learn more about the history of our community at this event.”

James Banning. (photo from City of Ames)

Banning died at the age of 34 in 1933 as a passenger in a plane that crashed. Banning flew as a passenger in the plane after being denied entry into the event as a pilot because he was black.

(Bayard, Iowa) – Firefighters from Bayard and Coon Rapids responded to the scene of a two-story house that was fully engulfed in flames early this (Wednesday) morning. The Bayard Fire Chief told KJAN News crews from Bayard were page-out at around 3:37-a.m., to 113 3rd Street. When they arrived, the Coon-Rapids firefighters were requested for mutual aid at around 3:45-a.m., to provide tankers and more manpower. The house was abandoned/unoccupied. It was a total loss. No injuries were reported. Crews were on the scene until about 7:45-a.m.

The cause of the fire was undetermined. The Sheriff’s Office and State Fire Marshal’s Office were requested to conduct an investigation.

(Nevada, Iowa) — Authorities have released the name of a seven-month-old child from Nevada, whose recent death is being investigated. According to a news release from the Nevada Public Safety Department, officials were notified of the death of Xena Angel Shore a little after 6-p.m., Sunday. The child’s parents were identified as Sheyenne Shore and Juan Montalvo.

Officials said no other details will be released at this time, because of the ongoing investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – An annual report on child well-being has ranked Iowa sixth in the nation. The annual KidsCount report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Iowa ranks near the top nationally in areas like the number of high schoolers graduating on time. Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, says Iowa has a lot of room for improvement in other areas.

“One of those is teen birth rate, where we ranked 23rd. We ranked 25th on the share of three and four year olds who are attending preschool,” Discher says, “and then we ranked 29th on the share of 10 to 17 year olds who are overweight or obese.” Discher says the report shows Iowa parents also continue to face challenges around obtaining affordable and accessible childcare.

“Fourteen percent of Iowa children birth to five had a family member in ‘20, and ‘21, who either quit, changed or refused a job because of problems with childcare,” Discher says. The Kids Count report ranked Iowa third in the category of economic well-being, ninth for education and 11th for children’s health.

Des Moines, Iowa – The Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau reports 48-year-old Christopher Robin Cundiff, of Adel was charged with three counts of Fraudulent Submissions (Class D Felony), two counts of Forgery (Class D Felony), and two counts of Identity Theft (Aggravated Misdemeanor) following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.

The charges against Cundiff stem from an investigation which began in January 2023. According to a criminal complaint filed by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, while Cundiff was working as an insurance producer, he altered documents and submitted them in support of insurance policies knowing that they misrepresented material facts.

Cundiff was arrested on June 12, 2023 and booked into the Dallas County Jail. Cundiff posted a $10,000 bond and was released.

Christopher Cundiff (Photo courtesy of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office)

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Iowa DNR News) – A collision between a personal watercraft (PWC) and a pontoon Sunday afternoon at Black Hawk Lake sent two Harlan teenagers to the hospital.

The pontoon, operated by Charles Lierman, 75, of Ankeny, was traveling an estimated 15 miles per hour (MPH), pulling three grandkids on a tube and was in the process of making a sweeping left turn when Lierman saw the PWC coming from his left. He corrected to the right to try to avoid the collision.

The PWC was heading east across the lake at approximately 40 MPH when the operator, Averie Thometz, 16, of Harlan, saw the pontoon, and let off the throttle. A PWC is jet-driven meaning when it’s throttled down, the steering doesn’t work.

The PWC collided with the front port side pontoon and Thometz and her passenger Dakota Goede, 17, of Harlan, were ejected, hitting the pontoon and metal skirting. The girls were helped aboard the pontoon by the tubers then taken to shore for medical assistance.

Thometz and Goede were transported by ambulance to Loring Hospital in Sac City. Thometz was then sent on to Omaha for surgery to repair a lower leg fracture.

The incident occurred around 3:17 p.m., in the center of the lake, on the north side. Boat traffic was light for a Sunday likely due to cool air temperatures, plus wind and moderate wave action, said State Conservation Officer Nathan Haupert. The dredge was operating in the east bay and not involved in the incident.

The incident remains under investigation.