Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say the annual $25,000 Winterfest Ice Fishing Derby is set to take place one-week from this Saturday, near Council Bluffs. The event will be held at Lake Manawa State Park, Saturday, January 26th from 7-a.m. to 1-p.m., with derby participants fishing for the biggest fish they can catch, as well as tagged fish worth up to $25,000.

Numerous door prizes will be given away as well as prizes for the biggest fish in youth and adult categories of bluegill, catfish, crappie, drum, walleye and wiper. Prizes will also be given for a chili cook-off and ice house decorating contest.

Volunteers are busy preparing for the derby and excited that the ice is seven to eight inches in most places on the lake! Shannon Meister, chair of the Winterfest Ice Fishing Derby Committee, says while several hundred people have registered so far, there is still plenty of room for more. Registration will be open the morning of the derby from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for $20 per person.

“Recycled Fish” will host an Ice Bash Friday, January 25th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for food, ice fishing tips, seminars and door prizes at the Hy-Vee on Broadway. For more information and ice conditions, surf the web to www.winterfestderby.com.  Or, contact the Lake Manawa State Park Office at (712) 366-0220.

A law enforcement official in Harrison County community of Dunlap is warning residents to be on the look out for thieves in the area. Dunlap Police Chief Darin Kline say there has been an increase in thefts recently, and he urges residents to keep their doors locked.

Kline says if residents of his community see anything suspicious or have any information with regard to the recent thefts, they should contact the Dunlap Police Department at 712-643-5721 or the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office at 712-644-2244.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports registration is now open for the 10th Anniversary Motorcycle Safety Forum. The rider-focused event is facilitated by Iowa’s motorcycle safety team, a diverse partnership of motorcycle safety advocates, the Iowa Department of Transportation and Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, and, motorcycle trainers, dealers and riders. The event is being held Friday, April 26th, at the Varied Industries Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To register, log on to http://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/ods/motorcycle.

A change in venue for the forum will allow much more space for vendor exhibits and provide motorcycle enthusiasts ample parking for a “ride in.” Also planned for this year’s event is a photo booth where participants can have their photo taken with their bike (weather permitting). Last year’s forum was a sold-out event, so don’t wait too long to register. Registration is only $15 and includes a continental breakfast, lunch, breaks and an opportunity to enter a drawing for an Aluma motorcycle trailer.

Once again this year, all paid forum participants will be provided a free coupon (value up to $245) that can be used to register for a Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s (MSF) Basic Rider Course I or II. Both courses are part of the Iowa DOT’s Rider Education Program and taught by Iowa-licensed, MSF-certified rider coaches. The coupons can be redeemed at any of the approved sites, which are located throughout the state.

The one-day, interactive forum will feature several presentations, safety displays, rider training, an exhibitor tradeshow, and other motorcycle-related exhibits. Presentations include:

• Vicki Sanfelipo, Conspicuity Inc.®, “6=0”
• Wayne Wierson, ABATE of Iowa, “MRF A&E 3R’s: I don’t want to ride in your funeral procession!”
• Karen Sprattler, Sprattler Group, “Impaired Riding”
• Dr. Nicholas Ward, Montana State University, “Motorcycle Riding Impairment and Different BAC Levels”

Participants are asked to be prepared to share ideas and thoughts with forum committee members and other riders throughout the day.

Iowans who are parents of newborns are encouraged to take their tots in for a free eye exam as part of a national effort. Dr. Melissa Billings, an optometrist in Urbandale, recommends children have their eyes checked when they’re still very young — between the ages of six and 12 months. Dr. Billings says, “We’ve found that if we can catch early problems, we can get them treated early and that way the patient doesn’t have to deal with a lifetime of visual problems, whether that would be a lazy eye, where one eye doesn’t see as well as the other, an eye that turns, poor depth perception.”

While it might sound like it would be pretty tough to check the eyesight of an infant, she says the test is tailored just for the very young. “We do a lot of things such as preferential looking to see if they’re looking at specific targets,” Billings says. “We always check their eye motility to make sure the six muscles in each eye are working fully and properly. We can also test their prescription without them saying anything at all by doing a technique called retinoscopy.”

The typical Infant exam has the baby seated on the parent’s lap and the doctor will use lights and other hand-held objects, similar to finger puppets, to evaluate how the baby’s eyes are working together. She says most eye doctors are taking part in the free program. “If you go to the website www.infantsee.org, that will pull up the InfantSEE website and give you a list of providers,” Billings says. “I have a feeling though that if anybody talks to their hometown provider, their provider is probably an InfantSEE provider.”

She says early intervention in a child’s first 12 months is crucial to successful and cost-effective treatment because an infant’s visual system develops very rapidly and it’s important to treat any problem that could hinder proper vision.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Ric Hanson

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Authorities in Montgomery County report the arrest late Wednesday night of a woman from Red Oak on an assault charge.  According to the Red Oak Police Department, 31-year-old Holly Ann Kelly, of Red Oak, was taken into custody on a Serious-Domestic-Assault charge. The woman was being held without bond early this (Thursday) morning, in the Montgomery County Jail.

Police in Shenandoah say a woman from their community was arrested Wednesday on three felony Identity Theft charges. 47-year-old Teresa Stitzel, of Shenandoah, was taken into custody on a Page County warrant.  Stitzel was being held in the Page County Jail on $29,250.

On Tuesday, officers with the Shenandoah Police Department arrested 26-year-old Nicholas Housh, of Shenandoah, on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear in court on an original charge of  OWI.  Housh was booked into the Page County Jail and subsequently released on $5,000 bond. That same day, 22-year-old Matthew Whitt, of Shenandoah, was arrested on a Page County warrant for Failure to Appear on drug-related charges. Whitt appeared before the magistrate and was unable to post the $1,000 bond. He was being held in the Page County Jail.

More people spent time last year camping in an Iowa State Park compared to 2011. Jim Lawson, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the parks were unusually busy in March of last year because there was no snow and temperatures climbed into the 70s.  “Our camping during March and April was probably up 25-percent over the previous year,” Lawson said. “So, we started off very strong and continued strong throughout the summer.” The DNR is reporting “total camping guest days” in Iowa State Parks at 709-thousand-five-hundred-ninety-five (709,595) in 2012. That’s up from 684-thousand-four-hundred-seventeen (684,417) in 2011.

The busiest campground in the state last year was no surprise. “Year after year, our top camping area is the Gull Point Complex in the Great Lakes region,” Lawson said. Okoboji’s Gull Point was followed in popularity by Rock Creek in Kellogg, Viking Lake near Stanton, Lake Ahquabi in Indianola, Clear Lake in Clear Lake and Lake Anita in Anita. Lawson pointed out that three state park campgrounds were closed last year for renovations; Emerson Bay in Okoboji, Wilson Island near Council Bluffs and Lake Darling in southeast Iowa. The Emerson Bay and Lake Darling campground areas are scheduled to reopen this year.
……………….
Top 10 busiest Iowa State Park campgrounds in 2012:
Gull Point Complex – Okobojii area
Rock Creek – Kellogg
Viking Lake – Stanton
Lake Ahquabi – Indianola
Clear Lake – Clear Lake
Lake Anita – Anita
Ledges – Boone
Brushy Creek – Lehigh
Backbone – Dundee
Lake Manawa – Council Bluffs

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County report the arrest Wednesday night of 25-year old Cody Wilson, of Corning. Wilson was taken into custody on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, after deputies responded to a dispute call at a residence in the 1900 block of Quincy Avenue, at around 10:50p.m.  Wilson was being held in the Adams County Jail on $1,000 bond.