(Radio Iowa) – A treasure hunt of sorts gets underway today (Monday) in a park in Pella. Glass orbs made by students at Central College will be hidden in Pella’s Big Rock Park for people to find. The president of the park’s board, George Clark, says he got the idea from an artist who hid his work in Rhode Island. “He actually was kind of inspired during the pandemic because there were so few people coming into his shop, his gallery I should say — and so that’s kind of where these were born out of making an effort to get more folks into his shop,” Clark says. There will be 23 brightly colored glass orbs to match the year 2023.

“We’re gonna spread it out, we’re gonna hide like five a month,” Clark says, “so June, July, August, September, and then probably end up with you know those last few in October.” Clark says the orbs will be hidden in the 83-acre park, but won’t be too hard to find because the idea is to get people involved. “We want folks to find your orbs, take pictures with your orbs, post them on our Facebook page. And you know and that’s supposed to be kind of part of that fun outing that families and you know citizens and visitors can take part in,” he says. Those who find the glass orbs can keep them.

“In the process of finding the orbs in the park we hope they discover the natural beauty of Big Rock Park,” Clark says. Clark turned to his fellow Central graduate and current art professor, Brian Roberts, to create the orbs. Roberts says students in his second year glass blowing glass took on the project. “It takes one person to shape the glass, and another person to put air into the blowpipe to expand the glass to make these circular spherical forms. And then another person eventually is gathering some collecting some hot glass to make the stamps,” Roberts says. The stamps are a symbol representing the park.

“Each of the orbs have a face of a barred owl stamped into ’em,” he says. The orbs are also numbered.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa is expanding its wilderness education program to reach 45-hundred elementary school children this year, and it should bring the outdoor learning experience to more than six-thousand next year. Jay Gorsh, director of U-I School of the Wild, says the program is typically a five-day field trip that takes fourth, fifth and sixth graders out of the classroom and into the woods. Gorsh says it helps kids to develop a sense of awareness and appreciation for nature. “Most often we use the three habitats in Iowa: prairie, wetlands and woodlands,” Gorsh says. “Then regularly we have a day of outdoor skills. Sometimes there’s an Archaeology Day in there. Sometimes you might have an entire day dedicated to wildlife or a specific type of wildlife. Here in Iowa City, we have an entire day dedicated to birds, so we have an Ornithology Day.”

Part of the thrill, he says, is getting kids to try things they’ve never had the opportunity to do before, like kayaking, or having what he calls a wildlife experience. “We can use some long-handled nets along the shore of a lake or in a creek and catch some frogs or tadpoles, and they can hold those frogs and tadpoles in their hand and be able to study them,” Gorsh says. “From there we can get into some biology by having them try to determine what specific type of frog is that that they’re holding. Is it male? Is it female? How do we know?” Kids today are being increasingly pushed indoors, he says, and too many of them know too little about the natural, wonderful world around us.

“What we would like to do is kind of disconnect, unplug the kids, get them out into nature, get them away from their electronics a little bit,” Gorsh says. “Also, there’s just a lot to be said about spending a day in the woods as far as how it makes you feel. For most people, that’s a pretty relaxing experience.” The U-I’s Wildlife Camps program started in 1991 and over time, morphed into becoming the School of the Wild. For many years, it was limited to the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids area, but just before the pandemic, they experimented with taking the program on the road so students elsewhere in Iowa could learn about nature in their own areas.

“It went really well. The feedback was very positive from families, from kids, from teachers, so we decided to go ahead and launch this thing across the state and see if it took off,” Gorsh says. “So now, there are programs that are running in county, state, even federal parks all across the state at different times in the year.” The School of the Wild is working with 83 schools in 50 Iowa districts in 36 counties this year, and Gorsh says it’s been expanding by about 15-hundred students every year.

https://wild.education.uiowa.edu/school-wild

(Radio Iowa) – State Treasurer Roby Smith sees room for expansion of the I-ABLE program his office manages for Iowans with disabilities. The money deposited in a tax-free I-ABLE account may be used to cover expenses related to a disability and the spending does NOT affect the person’s eligibility for government assistance programs like Medicaid or Social Security.

“There’s just a little over 2000 accounts,” Smith says. “I believe we can have a lot of growth there.” U-S Census data indicates nearly 400-thousand Iowans have some sort of a disability. I-ABLE accounts can accrue interest and help Iowans living with a disability cover expenses like housing, transportation and job training as well as in-home support services.

“It’s an important tool and we’ve got to do more reaching out,” Smith says. “Part of my job is to travel the state to talk about I-ABLE.” Smith recently made a presentation about I-ABLE in Pella and the treasurer’s office hosted a webinar with the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council this spring.

“We know that there’s a number of other agencies that deal with that population that could use it and help their lives,” Smith says, “and so we’re going to look to team up and sign up more people.” An Iowan with a disability may open their own account — or accounts may be opened by relatives, legal guardians or conservators who act on behalf of an Iowan with a disability.

The yearly contribution limit is 17-thousand dollars. Forty-nine states now offer the program after congress established the tax-free benefit for an Achieving a Better Life Experience or ABLE accounts in 2014. Iowa lawmakers created the I-ABLE program here the following year.

(Cass County, Iowa) – An accident on eastbound Interstate 80 late Sunday morning, in Cass County, had traffic backed-up for miles before authorities could detour motorists around the wreck. The crash involving a semi tractor trailer happened at around 10:54-a.m., near mile marker 66.

Authorities closed the westbound lanes so that emergency vehicles could get to the scene. Traffic was rerouted to Wiota and then through Anita before vehicles re-entered the Interstate near Adair.The Intestate re-opened to traffic about two-hours later.

There were no serious injuries, but one person was being checked-out as a precaution. Additional details were not immediately available from the State Patrol.

photo submitted to KJAN News

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol says there was one fatal, and one injury accident Saturday in the State. A three-vehicle crash in eastern Iowa’s Benton County resulted in a death. The Patrol says a 2012 Ford Focus was traveling west on 77th Street at around 2-p.m., and pulling a 1997 motorcycle with a rope. Both vehicles were traveling very slow. A 2015 VW Passat was also westbound on 77th Street and unable to stop before striking the motorcycle.

The cycle was pushed into the back of the Ford Focus, causing the motorcyclist to be ejected from their machine. The Ford rotated 180-degrees and faced east on the north shoulder of the road. The motorcycle ended-up in the north ditch, and the VW stopped on the north shoulder of the road. The operator of the motorcycle died from their injuries at St. Lukes Hospital. Their name and those of the others involved in the crash, were not released.

The other accident happened in Floyd County at around 7:22-p.m., Saturday. The Patrol says 39-year-old Joshua W. Duitscher, of Nora Springs, was traveling east on 115th Street when the 2004 Dodge he was driving went out of control and into the south ditch before rolling multiple times into a field. Duitscher was not wearing a seat belt. He was ejected from the vehicle and transported to the hospital by Mason City Ambulance. The crash remains under investigation.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Atlantic Police Department report that on Thursday, June 15th, 10th street between Olive and Spruce Streets, will be blocked off for the removal of a large tree in that area. Authorities say large equipment will be brought in and used to accomplish the task, which could pose danger to vehicles on the road.

Please plan your travels accordingly as the work is expected to take most of the day, Thursday.

(Lewis, Iowa) – The male operator of a motorcycle was injured Friday night in Cass County (IA), when the machine failed to negotiate a curve, entered a ditch and rolled at least twice. According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the accident happened at around 10:22-p.m., Friday, at Oxford Road and Lewis Road.

The unidentified man was flown by air ambulance to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, for treatment of what were described as life-threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation. Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted at the scene by Cass EMS, the Griswold and Lewis Fire Departments, and Life Flight, out of Audubon.

(Radio Iowa) – A new walking tour in the Iowa Great Lakes includes information about where music icons like Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash performed. Rebecca Peters is the director of Okoboji Tourism.  “People are always looking for a unique way to experience this area,” Peters says. “We really loved the idea of a walking tour because you get to explore the Arnolds Park area and you get to learn a little bit about some great rock and roll history.” The Roof Garden Ballroom in Arnolds Park was the second largest dance hall in the country when it opened in 1923. The Glenn Miller Orchestra was among its earliest bookings. In the 1950s, the venue began hosting rock ‘n roll acts. The Beach Boys performed there in 1963. Peters co-authored a book about the ballroom.

“We got to visit with people and hear stories about how friends would pile into their car and get as many people into a car as possible and come to Arnolds Park to listen to great music,” Peters says. “…Music has always drawn people here and so I think it’s really special to be able to have this walking tour that just remembers that history.”

The original ballroom was torn down in 1987. A brand new Roof Garden opened in 2019. That’s where the walking tour starts, at displays of memorabilia like signed contracts and posters for some of the concerts at the Roof Garden. The second stop is at the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association Museum. The final stop is at the site of the original Roof Garden Ballroom. Walkers can stand on a newly installed star positioned where the ballroom’s center stage was located — and bands like The Turtles performed.

(Radio Iowa) – A new book offers a glimpse into what it was like to grow up about a century ago in the small north-central Iowa town of Duncombe (DUN-cum). Author and former Webster City resident Kent Wills, who uses the pen name Jack Weicz, is releasing the book this week called “Duncombe Gal.” Wills says it’s about a woman in the last year of her long life reflecting back on her many experiences as a member of what’s considered the Greatest Generation.

While the woman is Wills’ mother, who was from Duncombe, he says it’s a work of biographical fiction as he had to imagine certain conversations. He says his mother never longed for more than an ordinary life while living through one of the most remarkable times in American history. The 77-page book is available on Amazon and Kindle.

(State News) – The Iowa State Patrol reports there was one fatal accident Friday night, and an injury accident Friday afternoon. In Polk County, 40-year-old Jerry Lee Baskett, of Des Moines, died when the 2004 Dodge RAM 2500 pickup he was driving, left Interstate 80 westbound at mile marker 150, and entered the ditch. The vehicle rolled several times before coming to rest. Baskett was ejected from the pickup and died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt. The crash happened at around 10:47-p.m.

The second accident happened at around 2:30-p.m. Friday, in northern Iowa’s Butler County. The Patrol says 69-year-old Duane Earl Gibson, of Shell Rock, was seriously injured when the 2005 Harley Davidson motorcycle he was riding struck a deer on westbound Highway 3, just west of the intersection with T-47 (Sinclair Avenue).

The motorcycle came to rest on the highway, with Gibson pinned beneath the machine. He was not wearing a helmet. Gibson was transported by air ambulance to a hospital in Rochester, MN.