(Radio Iowa) – One of the joys of fall in Iowa is going to an orchard to get apples freshly picked off the trees. I-S-U Extension fruit crop specialist, Suzanne Slack, says the drought has had some impact, especially for the growers who couldn’t irrigate their crop. One is the size of the fruit you see on the trees. “It looks like a lot of apples, but they’re really small. So the size isn’t good. They’ve also ripened up to three weeks early, which can be pretty detrimental, especially, you know, trying to get labor and operations up and running,” Slack says. Some apples are impacted in their appearance.

“Some cultivars, like honey crisp is a good one, they don’t transport calcium very well to begin with. And then whenever we have drought and hot conditions, they just don’t do it at all and we get a condition called bitter pit. So a lot of the Honeycrisp across the state have bitter pit this year, which is calcium deficiency,” she says. “It makes them ugly, it makes it makes them have little crevices, like a little pit. They call it bitter because it’s unfortunate and upsetting.” She says the smaller size and earlier maturation can impact taste as well. ” I think it makes them taste a little bit, not as strong of an apple taste, kind of like more of a mild apple taste,” Slack explains. “They’re still crunchy, they still have a good texture. But they might not have that, like, wham, pow apple flavor that some cultivars have. They also won’t be as juicy.”

Slack says getting the apples right out of the orchard is still the best way to ensure you are getting the freshest fruit possible. “Some of the apples that we’re eating this year from the grocery store might have actually been picked last year. The technology around storing apples is pretty impressive,” she says. “So we can store them for years with controlled environments. So the ones that you’d be getting locally were fresh picked this year.” She says finding an apple orchard in Iowa is not tough. )”According to my records, we have about 50, large to medium operations. But there’s a lot of smaller ones that may not be on my list. But pretty much if you live in Iowa, you live within about an hour from an orchard at least, most people live closer than that,” Slack says.

Slack says there are also a lot of people who grow their own from a couple of trees to bigger stands. “We have lots and lots of hobby growers with you know, there’s a couple of folks that have 50 to 100 trees and they don’t sell anything. So there’s every level you can think of,” she says. Slack says with the early maturation, you might want to get out sooner than later to find the best selection of fresh apples.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop near Highway 48 and Ratliff Road in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Pottawattamie County. Red Oak Police report 48-year-old Amy Pearl Hunter, of Council Bluffs, was pulled over at around 2:08-a.m. today (Monday). Upon further investigation, Hunter was arrested for having a suspended license through Iowa, with 17 withdrawals in effect. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $491.25 bond.

(Hampton, Iowa) – A collision Sunday afternoon in northern Iowa’s Franklin County resulted in a fatality and one person being injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash occurred at around 3:20-p.m. near Hampton. A 2007  Columbia golf cart operated by 84-year-old Robert Norman Irwin, of Hampton, was stopped at Highway 65 on 170th Street, and failed to yield the right-of-way to a 2023 Harley Davidson motorcycle, operated by 54-year-old Corey William Spear, of Hampton.

As the golf cart began crossing east-to-west, it was struck by the motorcycle in the northbound lane of traffic on Highway 65. Robert Irwin died from his injuries at the Franklin General Hospital. Spear was injured and transported to the hospital for treatment.

The crash remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The president and C-E-O of the Interfaith Alliance says religion can be a positive force in our democracy, but only if there’s equality for all religious traditions. Reverend Paul Brandeis Raushenbush has been the national leader of the Interfaith Alliance for about a year.

“My message to Iowa is…will these policies being put forth benefit everyone from every religious tradition, from every racial background, from every gender and sexuality?” he asks. “Can we really talk about equality in Iowa and what kinds of policies will get us there?” Raushenbush will speak Thursday afternoon at a “Challenging Christian Nationalism” forum at a Des Moines church.

“The country is in a turning point, a crisis point,” he says, “and I feel very called to it.” Two Iowa based evangelical Christian groups have recently hosted forums featuring most of the top Republicans who’re running for president. Raushenbush says the Interfaith Alliance offers a different vision about the role of religion in society.

“No one religion under the establishment clause of the First Amendment…should have pre-eminence. That is the genius of America,” he says. “We are a nation for all religions, not just some and that people will be trying to figure out how we can deal with one another with the utmost respect regardless of background, specifically in regards to religious background.”

Raushenbush, who grew up in Wisconsin, is an ordained American Baptist minister who was the associate dean of religious life at Princeton. He’s also the founder of a religious column on the HuffPost website.

(College Park, MD) – NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center released its latest monthly drought outlook for October 2023, showing where drought is expected to improve, worsen, or remain the same over the next month: Atlantic, Iowa is currently in Moderate Drought (D1), according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and conditions are expected to persist over the next month.

(Southwest Iowa) – In response to a rash of recent field and ditch fires having taken place, another southwest Iowa County has been placed under a Burn Ban. No open burning is allowed in Audubon County by Order of the State Fire Marshall, per a request from Audubon County Emergency Management Director Tyler Thygesen, acting on behalf of the fire department chiefs in Audubon County.

The Audubon County Burn Ban is in effect now (Oct. 1st) until further notice (when conditions are such that a danger to life and/or property does not exist from opening burning, and at the discretion of the Fire Marshal). Any violation of the proclamation is a simple misdemeanor, punishable by a $200 fine.

A burn ban does not prohibit the following:  supervised, controlled burn for which a permit has been issued by the fire chief of the fire district where the burn will take place, the use of outdoor fireplaces, barbecue grills, properly supervised landfills, or the burning of trash in incinerators or trash burners made of metal, concrete, masonry, or heavy one-inch wire mesh, with no openings greater than one square inch.

Previously, officials in Shelby County announced a Burn Ban was in effect beginning Oct. 1st, and until further notice. Harrison and Crawford Counties have also instituted a ban on opening burning over the  past 10-days.

(Sidney, Iowa) – Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports a Cass County (IA) man was among several people arrested on separate drug charges over the past week. This (Sunday) morning (Oct. 1st), Fremont County deputies arrested 21-year-old Gage Mitchell Mundorf, of Atlantic.

Gage Mundorf

He was arrested for two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd Offense, (Cocaine and Marijuana). Mundorf wass being held on a $4,000 cash/surety bond.

Last Thursday (9/28) Fremont County deputies arrested 57-year-old Chrissy Lee Farnsworth, of Riverton (IA). She was arrested for two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine and Marijuana), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and released after posting $2,300 surety bond.

Farnsworth

Strange

61-year-old John Allen Strange, also of Riverton, was arrested Thursday, for 3rd Offense Possession of Methamphetamine. He was released after posting a $1,000 surety bond.

On September 11th, deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a burglary of a previously flooded home under that was under construction in Hamburg. On September 26th, deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office conducted multiple search warrants at a residence in the 400 block of Main Street and the 3100 block of Washington Streets, in Hamburg. They were able to recover stolen property as well as controlled substances.

Downey

Forbes

Two men were arrested. 34-year-old Charles David Forbes, of Omaha, and 47-year-old Shane Michael Downey, of Hamburg, were charged in connection with the search warrants.

Forbes was charged with: Theft 1st Degree, a Class C Felony and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He is being held on $10,000 cash/surety bond. Downey was charged with: Theft 1st Degree, a Class C Felony; Possession of Methamphetamine, 2nd Offense; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs and Possession of Marijuana. He was released after posting a $10,000 surety bond. Additional  charges are pending in the case.

Other, unrelated arrests in Fremont County include:

• 70-year-old Patrick Lynn Greene, of Shenandoah, who was taken into custody on Sept. 26th, for Violation of Probation. He was released on his own recognizance.
  

  Greene

  

  Kalkas

• 41-year-old Dustin Eugene Kalkas, of Shenandoah, was arrested Sept. 28th, on an outside agency warrant. He was released to an outside agency.

(Creston, Iowa) – A teenage passenger in a car suffered minor injuries during a collision Saturday evening, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, 16-year-old Cain Harmening, of Creston, was transported by his parents to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, following the collision that occurred at around 7:40-p.m. at the intersection of Howard and Elm Streets.

Authorities say a 2005 Chevy Monte Carlo driven by 17-year-old Boone Zerick Virgil Pryor, of Afton, was traveling west on Howard Street. Pryor told police he was moving his food and not paying attention, when his car ran the stop sign at the intersection. As the Chevy entered the intersection, it was struck on the passenger side, by a southbound Chrysler 200, driven by 25-year-old Cheyenne Louise Goodnight, of Creston.

The Monte Carlo sustained disabling damage during the crash. The vehicles sustained estimated at $6,000 damage altogether. No citations were issued, but authorities say Goodnight was not able to provide proof of insurance.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Officers with the Red Oak Police Department arrested a Cass County (IA) man at around 11:40-p.m., Saturday. Authorities say 25-year-old Dawson Allen Squires, of Griswold, was arrested in the 200 block of E. Walnut Street in Red Oak, for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree, and Public Intoxication. Dawson was transported to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on a $300 bond.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Four people, two adults and two children from Nebraska, were injured during a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 29 two-miles north of Highway 34 in Mills County, late Saturday morning. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2009 Honda passenger car was traveling south on I-29 near mile marker 37 at around 10:50-a.m. The driver attempted to merge from the left lane to  the right. The driver noticed a semi already in the right lane and over-corrected to the left, causing the vehicle to leave the road and enter the median, where it rolled over and came to rest on its top on the northbound side of a cable barrier.

The driver, 20-year-old Gabrielle Wells and a passenger, 20-year-old Robert Baca, both of Omaha, were injured, along with the two children, a seven-year-old and a 10-year-old, whose names were not released. Wells and the 10-year-old were transported to the UNMC in Omaha by Glenwood Rescue. Baca and the seven-year-old were transported by Hamburg EMS to Jenny Edmundson Hospital, in Council Bluffs.

The Patrol said all of the crash victims were wearing their seat belts.