An Iowa State University scientist says if this coming spring is dry, record high temperatures are likely for the summer of 2013. Christopher Anderson is the assistant director of Iowa State University’s climate science program.”Our recent history tells us what can be predicted with certainty,” Anderson says. “Iowa’s wet years will become wetter and dry years will become drier (and) hotter.” Anderson says Iowa’s “deep, organic soils” help “modulate” the temperature in the summer — but only if the ground is moist.  “In Iowa, wet springs lead to cool summers. It seems counter intuitive, but the reason is because of our great soils. Recent examples are 2008, 2010 and 2011,” Anderson says.

“In 2012, rainfall was much below normal and we didn’t have floods, but instead July temperatures ranked third highest in the 140-year record.” According to Anderson, the summertime “cooling mechanism” that Iowa’s soil provides when it’s moist may be altered, however, by more frequent springtime floods that sweep away the topsoil. “The clearest trend that we’re seeing in Iowa’s climate records is in the spring rainfall,” Anderson says. “Our spring rainfall is much higher than it has been in the 140-year record and so what happens when there’s more spring rainfall is there’s potential and there is actual soil loss and if we lose our soil, we lose this ability to keep ourselves cool in the summer.”

There are about 450 different types of soil in Iowa. The average depth of topsoil in Iowa is between six and eight inches.

(Radio Iowa)

A handful of public meetings are scheduled to take place Monday, as we get back to business following the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. In Atlantic, the Cass County Board of Health will gather in CCMH Conference Room #3 for a regularly scheduled session that begins at 12:15-p.m. Later in the evening, the Exira and Elk Horn-Kimballton Boards of Education will hold a joint session in Exira, to discuss and possibly act on matters pertaining to a reorganization of the two districts. The session begins at 7-p.m.  The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will also meet Monday evening. The 7:30-p.m. work session at the High School Media Center will cover IASB Board and Administrator Training, along with an informal evaluation of Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein. And, the Audubon City Council is slated to meet at 7-p.m.

During the Cass County Board of Health’s meeting, the Board will receive an Environmental Health Report and review the Public Health Budget. They’ll also discuss Board Member terms, which expire December 31st. The Audubon City Council will hold a public hearing with regard to a Housing Set Aside Grant application, during their session. They’ll also hold discussion pertaining to a Wash Bay, and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds, for the Rec Center.

The Council Bluffs Police Department reports a single vehicle roll over accident resulted in a fatality early Saturday (11/24) morning on Interstate 29.  At approximately 3:35am Saturday officers responded to the accident on the I-29 Northbound on-ramp from I-80 eastbound near the state line.  A passing vehicle called the accident in reporting that they observed a vehicle off the roadway but did not observe anyone around the vehicle and continued on.

Upon arrival at the scene a white Nissan truck was observed on the west side of the roadway turned on it’s side.  The Council Bluffs Fire Department also responded to the scene and were the first to spot an adult male approximately 15 yards north of the truck.  The male was identified as 42-year-old Christopher A. Thacker of Bellevue and the CBFD pronounced him dead at the scene.

After investigation it was determined the vehicle was traveling on the 1-29 nothbound on-ramp from I-80 eastbound when it left the roadway to the right before over correcting and running of the road to the left.  Thacker then ran into a light pole and drove into the ditch where the truck flipped and rolled over before coming to a stop near the next light pole.  Thacker was the only occupant in the vehicle and appeared to have been ejected during the accident.  The truck was totaled and damage to the light pole was estimated at $1,000.

w/ Chris Parks

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Officers from the Council Bluffs Police Department responded to a robbery report at the Cricket Cellular store at 1509 West Broadway in Council Bluffs on Friday.

Two employees at the store were held at gun point by an unknown male suspect with what was believed to be a semi-automatic hand gun.  The thief was able to obtain an undetermined amount of cash and several cell phones before leaving in an unknown direction.  The suspect was a black male wearing a hooded sweat top over his head and a green scarf covering his mouth.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division or 328-STOP to leave information anonymously.

No injuries were reported after the driver of a 2010 Dodge fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle and crashed early Saturday morning in Interstate 80. According to dispatch reports, the accident happened on I-80 westbound, just west of the Highway 71 interchange, at around 1:20-a.m.

Reports indicated the driver of a Texas plated Dodge vehicle fell asleep, crossed the median and struck an unoccupied, broken-down Lincoln, registered to the person out of South Dakota. One of the vehicles ended up in the median, while the other reportedly rolled over. No other details are available.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports that a vehicle that was recently stolen from the Omaha/Red Oak livestock market was found in another location.

A tan 2000 Buick Century belonging to Hawkeye Ford in Red Oak was stolen sometime between November 20th and 23rd from the Omaha/Red Oak Livestock Market at 1511 200th Street.  The vehicle was later located on November 23rd at 7:00am at 240th and J Avenue with an estimated $4,000 damage.

Anyone with information on this theft is asked to call Montgomery County Crimestoppers at 800-432-1001.

An accident Friday morning northeast of Prescott in Adams County, has claimed the life of a Union County teen. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the unidentified 16-year old was a passenger in a van driven by a 17-year old. Both teens are from Creston. Neither was wearing a seat belt. Officials say a 2002 Honda van the teens were in was traveling west on a gravel road (190th Street), when as the vehicle crested a hill, the driver lost control. When the driver over-corrected, the van went partially into the north ditch. A second over-correction caused the vehicle to go into the south ditch, where it rolled over and ejected the 16-year old, who died at the scene. The driver of the vehicle was transported to the Adams County Hospital in Corning. A report on their condition is not available. The accident happened just after 8-a.m. The names of the victims had were being withheld pending notification of relatives.

w/ Ric Hanson

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