The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest this (Thursday) morning, of a Page County man on a warrant for Simple Assault. 34-year old Jeremiah Joseph Hicks, of College Springs, was taken into custody at around 9:45-a.m. on the warrant issued out of Union County. Hicks was being held for Union County authorities, on $300 bond.

The Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources reports the State’s 15-day annual pheasant population survey began with tempered expectations on Aug. 1, after a record setting wet spring, with cool temperatures that followed a snowy winter. Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources , coordinates and collects the data from the 208, 30-mile survey routes.

Bogenschutz says “When our pheasants do best, it’s after mild winters with less than 30 inches of snow followed by a warm, dry spring nesting season where we receive less than eight inches of rain. We had that scenario last year and our birds responded. But that is not the case this year.”

The nesting season is April 1 to May 31 and during that period, the average temperature was 51 degrees and Iowa received 15.4 inches of precipitation, including a significant snowfall during the first weekend in May. In years with similar weather, the pheasant survey found declines ranging from 4 percent to 51 percent. “It’s probably assured that the pheasant count will decline, the only question is by how much,” according to Bogenschutz, who says “We will know soon.”

The 30-mile routes are driven at sunrise on gravel roads preferably on mornings with heavy dew and little wind. The surveyors watch for hens moving their broods to the road edges to dry off before starting to look for insects. Surveyors note the number in the brood, any adult pheasants present and the size of the chicks, which tells Bogenschutz if this was an initial nest or if the nest was washed out and this brood was from a second or even third nest attempt. Each attempt after the first has fewer eggs than the previous attempt. They are the same routes each year.

The survey also collects data on cottontail rabbits, jack rabbits, quail and Hungarian partridge. The information will be available online at www.iowadnr.gov/pheasantsurvey by the middle of September.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Conductors of a monthly survey of business leaders in nine Midwest and Plains states say the region’s economy will grow in the coming months, despite a fourth month of decline in the survey’s overall index.  The overall economic index for the region declined to 53.5 in July from June’s 55.6, but any score above 50 suggests growth.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey. He says the regional economy will continue to add jobs, but at a slow pace. The survey of business leaders and supply managers uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth, while a score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

w/ Ric Hanson

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An official in Pottawattamie County reports that on Wednesday (July 31st),  seven Southwest Iowa non-profit animal welfare organizations came together to create the Southwest Iowa Animal Coalition.  Pott. County Supervisor Loren Knauss, facilitator of the Coalition, says the regional collaboration is comprised of: Catnip & Tails Rescue (in Council Bluffs), The Harrison County Humane Society (in Logan), Lusco Farms Rescue (in Malvern), Montgomery County Animal Rescue (in Red Oak), People for Paws (in Shenandoah), The Pottawattamie County Animal Shelter (Pottawattamie County), and the Western Iowa Feral & Homeless Cat Program (in Walnut). Each organization has committed to working together to improve the health, safety and quality of life of our communities through the humane treatment and management of animals in Southwest Iowa.

Knauss said “The Southwest Iowa Animal Coalition is the first regional collaboration of animal welfare organizations of its kind in Southwest Iowa.  We have made the decision to design a new way for animal welfare and government organizations to work together in an effort to increase the number of animal adoptions, to better promote spay/neuter and microchip programs, to increase education and outreach, and to help create a more consistent and effective approach to animal control in Southwest Iowa.”

Sheila McKern with the Pott. County Animal Shelter, says the problem of neglected and unwanted animals in Southwest Iowa has no borders.  McKern says “Owners that do not spay and neuter their animals have helped to increase the number of unwanted animals that are abandoned throughout Southwest Iowa.  To solve the problem in one community, you must also attempt to solve the problem in all the surrounding communities.  And this can only happen when everyone is working as a team.  The animal coalition is our team effort.”

Linda Hoefing, with People for Paws says “The Southwest Iowa Animal Coalition has become the foundation for what we see as a regional team effort to reduce the number of neglected, unwanted, and abandoned animals in Southwest Iowa.  Through shared adoption efforts, education programs, spay and neuter programs, microchipping, and a discussion on the best practices for addressing animal control, we feel we can take a realistic approach to reducing the number of unwanted and abandoned animals in our region.”

Knauss said the coalition has partnered with Petco in Council Bluffs, and Orschelin Farm & Home in Red Oak, Iowa to hold two regional adoption and microchip events in an effort to increase the number of animal adoptions and use of identification microchips in Southwest Iowa.  The use of microchips has helped to increase the likelihood that lost, stolen, and injured pets are successfully returned to owners.

The first regional adoption and microchip event will be held on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. at Petco, at 3271 Marketplace Drive, in Council Bluffs.  The second regional adoption and microchip event will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. at Orschelin Farm & Home in Red Oak. 

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Last month was much cooler and drier than the typical July in Iowa. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says the month started with some significant heat, but turned unusually cool over the last week. “Overall, temperatures for the month averaged about 1.2 degrees below normal,” Hillaker says. “It ranks as the 30th coolest July in 141 years of records.”

Many locations posted daily record low temperatures between July 28th and 30th. Here in Atlantic, the coldest and record-setting low temperature occurred on July 27^th, when we bottomed out at 41-degrees. Average low for the month was 58, whereas the normal average low is 63. The coldest temperature recorded over the month occurred last weekend when Battle Creek, in northwest Iowa, hit 39 degrees. “That’s the first time we’ve reached the 30s anywhere in Iowa in July in almost 30 years,” Hillaker says.

The highest recorded temperature last month was 98 degrees in Keokuk on July 19th. “That 98 at Keokuk is the highest temperature so far in the summer months this year in Iowa,” Hillaker says. “Oddly enough, it’s not the highest temperature of the calendar year. Way back on May 14th, Sioux City reached 106 degrees.” The hottest day in Atlantic, was 92 on July 17^th. The average high for the month was 85, which is just one degree shy of normal. Iowa has not reached triple digit temperatures this entire summer.

The statewide average rainfall total for July was 1.76 inches, making it the 9th driest July in state history. Hillaker says sections of north-central and south-central Iowa actually received above average rainfall, but most of the state received very little precipitation. At least one town, Carroll, posted a record dry July with just 18-hundredths of an inch of rain.

Atlantic was also very short on rain last month. We received just 13-hundredths of an inch of rain in July, but that did not break the record set last year, when just a trace of rain fell over the entire month in Atlantic. Normally, Atlantic receives 4.62-inches of rain during the month of July. Year-to-date, we’ve received 18.81-inches of precipitation (Jan.-July, including melted snowfall).

Not a single tornado touched down in Iowa last month. There have been 15 confirmed tornadoes in Iowa this year. That compares to 16 in all of 2012, which was the lowest tornado total in Iowa since 1953.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN weather records)

Iowa’s annual Sales Tax Holiday will be held over the next few days, as most purchases of clothing and footwear will be sales tax-free. Victoria Daniels, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Revenue, says there is a specific purpose to the two-day tax holiday, which runs tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. “A lot of people like to take advantage of it and get a head start on their back-to-school shopping,” Daniels says. This is the 14th year for the Sales Tax Holiday in Iowa. Daniels says the two days are favored by both shoppers and merchants.

“It’s pretty popular,” Daniels says. “There are limits to what you can buy so it’s not necessarily a free-for-all. One good thing is that you don’t have to be a student to take advantage of it. Anybody who purchases the qualifying items during the sales period is able to purchase them exempt from the sales tax.” Daniels says the items that are eligible for the sales tax-free weekend need to fall under the category of clothing and footwear, but they must also meet certain definitions.

“It doesn’t include things you would think of as accessories, like a watch, jewelry or umbrellas,” she says. “Anything you would not normally wear every day, something designed for athletic activity or protective use, those things are not going to qualify either.” Some examples include tennis shoes — which could be worn for gym class or for everyday — those would qualify for the exemption but football cleats would not qualify.

Learn more about the Iowa Sales Tax Holiday at: www.iowa.gov/tax/educate/holiday1.html

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

(Lenox) — An ATV accident in Adams County has claimed the life of a Lenox man, and injured a child. The Iowa State Patrol reports a volunteer firefighter found 41-year old Carey Ishikawa and an unidentified 9-year old boy were found underneath an overturned 1987 Honda ATV. The machine was located in a ditch near an intersection northwest of Lenox, at around 5:30-p.m., Wednesday.

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — A jury has awarded more than $80,000 to a former paralegal after finding that Floyd County didn’t respond appropriately to her repeated complaints about sexual harassment in the county attorney’s office. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that jurors returned their verdict yesterday afternoon, finding that Theresa Farmer was sexually harassed by fired County Attorney Jesse Marzen.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines police lieutenant who pleaded guilty to a mortgage scheme has been sentenced to six month of home confinement and three years of probation. The Des Moines Register reports U.S. District Judge James Gritzner signed a sentencing order yesterday for Lieutenant Wade Wojewoda of Grimes requiring home confinement except for employment. Wojewoda’s lawyer says his police officer certification will likely be revoked.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo man who failed to register as a sex offender has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports 41-year-old Dana Curry received the sentence Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Curry pleaded guilty to the charge in March. Prosecutors say he did not properly update his sex offender registration in Iowa from mid-2010 through end of 2012.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials are still trying to figure out how to remove excessive algae from a popular pond in Des Moines. Des Moines television station KCCI reports city officials added aerators to the pond at Greenwood Park in an effort to help circulate the water.

An ATV accident in Adams County has claimed the life of a Lenox man, and injured a child. The Iowa State Patrol reports a volunteer firefighter found 41-year old Carey Ishikawa and an unidentified 9-year old boy underneath an overturned 1987 Honda ATV. The machine was located in a ditch near an intersection northwest of Lenox, at around 5:30-p.m., Wednesday.

Ishikawa was pronounced dead at the scene. The boy was transported by helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. Officials say the accident remains under investigation.