(Radio Iowa) – Farmers saw enough dry weather last week that planting season is closing in on the end. The U-S-D-A crop report shows 95 percent of the corn crop is now in the ground. That’s nine days ahead of last year and 12 days ahead of the five-year average. Sixty-five percent of that corn is poking through — about six days ahead of average.

Soybean planting moved from 69 to 84 percent complete in the last week. that puts farmers around one week ahead of last year and two weeks ahead of normal. Forty-three percent of the beans have emerged — which is six days ahead of average.

(Creston, Iowa) – A collision Monday afternoon (May 22) in Creston, resulted in one person being transported to the hospital for treatment of unknown/possible injuries. Creston Police report the accident happened at around 12:49-p.m. on Highway 34, near Sumner Avenue.

A 2000 Saturn LS1 driven by 27-year-old Jerrie Michelle Boothe, of Creston, was traveling westbound on Hwy 34 and approaching the intersection with Sumner. Boothe thought she was clear to make a left turn into the Creston Wal-Mart parking lot, but her car was struck on the front right side by an eastbound 2008 Chevy Silverado pickup, driven by 27-year-old Jose Luis Carreon, of Creston.

Boothe complained of neck pain. She was transported by ambulance to the hospital. Carreon was not injured. He was unable to provide proof of financial liability, and was cited. Damage from the collision amounted to $3,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says he expects D-C negotiators will strike a deal to raise the federal government’s debt ceiling. “To paraphrase Winston Churchill, when you try every other thing that doesn’t work, you somehow stumble upon what does work,” Goss says, “and I think there will be a solution.” But Goss says investors should expect volatility as the stalemate between Republicans in congress and President Biden remains unresolved.

“There will be some real deviations, some real swings here in the next week or so as they try to find that solution,” Goss says. “That would be swings in the stock market, swings in the bond market and also in terms of gold prices, for example.” If the impasse isn’t resolved before the U.S. government runs out of cash to pay its bills, Goss says things like Social Security checks could be delayed. The main impact of default, according to Goss, would be damage to the U.S. dollar, since central banks in other countries hold U.S. currency in reserve.

“The dollar will remain the reserve currency, but it will undermine it,” Goss says. Goss says it would aid China’s push to make the Yuan the reserve currency of the globe. Having the U.S. dollar be the dominant currency around the world aids U.S. trade and creates stability for the goods and services Americans buy.

(Dallas Center, Iowa) – The driver of a pickup truck died following an accident this (Monday) morning, in Dallas County. The accident happened on Highway E-44 near Dallas Center, at around 9:46-a.m.

The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2021 Chevy pickup driven by 69-year-old Michael Remus, of Grimes, was stopped in traffic westbound, waiting for other, turning traffic, when a westbound 2018 Kenworth concrete mixer driven by 32-year-old Kodi Hoback, of Grimes, struck the rear of the pickup.

Remus suffered fatal injuries in the collision. A passenger in the pickup,  65-year-old Julie Remus, of Grimes, was transported by Dallas County EMS to Methodist Hospital, for treatment of non-serious injuries. The driver of the Concrete mixer was not hurt.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Governor Reynolds has announced a schedule of informational webinars to assist parents and guardians who plan to apply for the state’s new Students First Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). The live webinars will be hosted by Odyssey, the program administrator selected by the state. Webinars begin Tuesday, May 23, and a total of six sessions will be offered through June 7. The complete schedule and registration links for each session are posted on the Department of Education’s ESA webpage. A recording of the webinar will also be available for parents and guardians who cannot attend a live session.

The ESA application period for the 2023-2024 school year will open on Wednesday, May 31, at 8 a.m.  A link to the online application will be provided on the Department of Education’s ESA webpage. Applications will be accepted through Friday, June 30, 2023.

The Students First Act was signed into law earlier this year and will provide state funding for eligible students who attend accredited nonpublic schools starting in the upcoming school year.

All incoming kindergarteners and all K-12 students currently enrolled in a public school district are eligible for the ESA program.

Families whose children currently attend an accredited nonpublic school are also eligible for ESAs based on their annual income during the first two years of the program. For the 2023-2024 school year, income eligibility is 300 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL); and 400 percent FPL for the 2024-2025 school year.

Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, all K-12 students in Iowa who choose to attend an accredited nonpublic school will be eligible for an ESA regardless of income.

Answers to frequently asked questions about the ESA application process, eligibility, and more are posted on the Department of Education’s ESA webpage

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will hold a Special Meeting beginning 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, May 24th, in the High School Media Center. During their meeting, the Board will act on Contract Recommendations for Bodie Johnson – Summer Grounds, and Maria Pearson – 6-through 12th Grade Teacher Librarian. The Board will also consider and act on the resignations of Dalton Franken – JV Boys Basketball, and Savannah Belt – Schuler Title 1 Teacher.

They will then proceed to consider the purchase of 1014/1016 E. 3rd Street Place, from the City of Atlantic (for the Building & Trades Program), and discuss/act on a District Developed Special Education Service Delivery Plan. Their final order of business, Wednesday evening, is action on a Pay Application, with regard to the High School Air Quality Project.

The Board will move into a closed session once the Special Session is Adjourned. The Closed Session – allowed under the Iowa Code – is being held to conduct the Superintendent’s Annual Evaluation. The next REGULAR meeting of the Atlantic School Board takes place June 14th, at 5:30-p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – A non-profit organization that works to bring locally grown food to people in need is getting more money from the U-S-D-A. Giselle Bruskewitz is the director of the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development program that works with food hubs, food banks, and Meskwaki nation. “It’s going out to under-served communities and a lot of different ways. It’s not a one size fits all program. So the food hub and food banks especially are working with folks all across the state,” she says.

She says there are a lot of people in Iowa right now who need food and they work to get high-quality produce, meat, and other products out to them. “In different areas, the need is different. So you talked to one pantry, and they’ll say that the need for fresh produce is really, really dire and it’s hard to find those really high-quality produce items,” Brusckewitz says. “And then sometimes you’ll talk to another community access site and they’re more interested in finding those local high-quality meat products.”

Brusckewitz says setting up distribution systems so the food can be delivered fresh is part of the project. “The food hub managers working group has been working with the Department of Ag for several years to try to develop this hub-to-hub network. So, through this program and even before the program, but definitely thanks to the program, we’ve expanded a lot of those routes from the food hubs,” she says. “And the majority of the producer relationships are through a food hub. And so they’re getting really creative about how to help better distribute that food to food banks and other sites.”

Brusckewitz says they have a range of prices that the producers tell them are fair prices that meet their cost of production to sell their products to sustain their businesses. “And so, there’s opportunity for producers that are smaller scale, or maybe beginning farmers to be able to get into this new market and be able to build those relationships to help build their businesses. And so that’s a really big deal to be able to have that flexibility in pricing range so we can get more people sustaining their business and growing food in our state,” Brusckewitz says.

The latest award is two-point-nine million dollars, bringing the total to over five-point-six million dollars for the three-year program. To learn more about the program or how to participate, visit: www.iowalfpa.org.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Department reports two people were arrested on separate charges last week, while two others were cited. On May 14th, 20-year-old Ashton Reece Turner, of Fontanelle, was arrested in Fontanelle, on two Adams County warrants for Failure to Appear in court on May 4th. Turner was handed-over to the custody of Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies.

On May 19th, Adair County Deputies arrested 31-year-old Kayla Dawn Herring, of Bridgewater, for Public Intoxication and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was taken into custody on Main Street in Bridgewater at around 10:10-a.m., in front of a bank, where she was seen yelling and making pointing gestures to an employee, through the window. After questioning Herring, a Deputy searched her for safety reasons, and found a smoking device used to inhale burnt marijuana. The pipe was found in one of the pockets in her shorts. Herring denied the pipe was hers. Her Breath Alcohol Content (BAC) measured .128%. Herring was released on a $300 bond later in the evening.

And, the Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports 38-year-old Lora Jean Day, of Charleston, West Virginia, & 20-year-old Tyler Lee Glenn, of Bellevue, NE., were arrested by Deputies Saturday afternoon in Bridgewater, following a disturbance at a residence. Day reported to a Deputy that her nephew, Tyler, allegedly threatened her, and had “gotten in her face,” so she grabbed him by the throat and neck area, which left a red mark on the left side of his neck. She was charged with Assault with Bodily Injury. Tyler Glen was charged with Simple Assault, after he allegedly “Chest bumped” Day into her own car.

Both subjects were cited at the scene, and released.

(Shenandoah, Iowa/KETV-Omaha) – A southwest Iowa family wants a safe taken off the market until the manufacturer can better protect it from being opened by children. KETV in Omaha reports a six-year-old boy in Shenandoah was able to open the safe without a combination, and take a handgun stored inside, to school. The family specifically bought the safe, with a registered fingerprint lock mechanism, to store the gun away from their son. Only a registered fingerprint can unlock it. At least that’s what the family thought.

In early March, the 6-year-old was on the school playground at recess, when teachers found a gun in his backpack. After school officials confiscated the weapon and notified police, Shenandoah Police Chief Josh Gray contacted the boy’s parents, who insisted the gun was in a locked safe. As it turns out, the child’s thumbprint was enough to unlock the safe and he was able to open it.

An officer went to the home and was even able to use HIS fingerprint to open the safe. The family quickly discovered ANY fingerprint, even a toe print, would unlock the safe, which is sold by a Chinese company named “BBRKIN.” The boy’s father bought the safe on Amazon.Com in November, for $229. Other Amazon purchasers of the safe reported similar concerns about the safe, with one user saying theirs opened with any of their finger or toe prints.

The company has since updated a chip in the lock, but the father of the six-year-old says there are older safe chips that can fail, and those should be recalled.

No one was injured during the incident in Shenandoah, and the Page County Attorney has declined to press any charges. Under Shenandoah school district policy, however, the 6-year-old was expelled from kindergarten.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa teenager will be part of the “Taps Across America” tradition NEXT Monday, May 29th. Seventeen-year-old Creighton Urban is from Callendar, a town of about 375 people in Webster County. “It’s just impactful to hear it, especially on Memorial Day,” Urban says. The “Taps Across America” tradition began four years ago when Memorial Day events were cancelled due to the pandemic. Thousands of musicians played Taps at 3 p.m. — wherever they might be — to honor those who’ve died while serving in the U.S. military. This will be the fourth year Urban has joined this Memorial Day tradition. “I just go out in my front yard and play it,” Urban says. “I live in a small town, so everyone in town can hear.”

Twenty-four notes make up the familiar, somber melody of Taps. It’s been played at military funerals for more than 140 years.  “I think the first time I heard Taps was when I was practicing it in middle school band room with my director,” Urban says.

Urban’s band director is the person who encouraged the trumpet player to participate in Taps Across America. Urban is finishing up his junior year at Southeast Valley High School in Gowrie. He’s not sure what he’ll do after high school, but becoming a music instructor is on his list. Urban is among about a dozen Iowans who’ve registered on the Taps Across America website, commuting to play Taps at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day. The time coincides with the annual National Moment of Remembrance that was established 23 years ago by congress. It’s to last a minute — about the time it takes to play Taps.

The country’s first Memorial Day ceremony was held in Waterloo, New York on May 5th, 1866. In 1971, the federal Uniform Holiday Act established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May.