(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being reminded that a recent critical security patch for Windows computers and cellphones is a good reminder to keep those software updates automatic. Information security expert Mike Masino says it’s the easiest way to ensure your computer or phone is secure. “Your machine’s only as good as the last update that you have on it,” Masino says. “If you’re not putting those updates on, you’re leaving yourself open for security problems.” Masino says the patch fixes a security bug that came as a surprise to Microsoft.  “When an advisory comes out like this, this means it is actively being used to attack people,” he says. “Patch it now. That’s the idea, or it can do a lot of damage.” Masino says updates like this keep hackers and criminals from getting into your computer and stealing files.

“If you’re one of the people who refuses to patch your computer, well, anyone who can find that code sitting online now has access to your computer,” he says. In the past, some system updates have broken functionality for some users, but Masino says the safety of your data and your financial information is vital. It’s best to set your system to automatically install updates, and when your phone or computer says a restart is required to fix something, you should do it right away to ward off attacks.

(Brandon, Iowa) – A single-vehicle accident early Monday morning in eastern Iowa resulted in a death. The Iowa State Patrol reports a vehicle was southbound on I-380 near mile marker 50, east of Brandon, when the vehicle left the road, vaulted into the air, and came to rest at 330th Street. The crash happened at around 6:30-a.m.

The driver’s name was being withheld pending notification of family. The crash remains under investigation.

(Washington County, Iowa) – A collision in southeastern Iowa Monday, claimed the life of a woman from Fairfield. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2015 Toyota Corolla driven by 76-year-old Ann E. Gary was traveling south on Highway 1 south of Washington, when the car crossed the center line of the road and struck a 2015 Nissan Altima, driven by 22-year-old Walker G. Ikerd, of Brighton.  Ann Gary, who was wearing her seat belt, died from her injuries.

The crash, which occurred at aroud 4:35-p.m., Monday, remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist Justin Glisan says a tornado outbreak is unlikely this month because Iowa is in a severe weather drought. “When you don’t have thunderstorms to drive rainfall, you don’t get a lot of severe weather and you get into pervasive drought,” Glisan says. So far this year in Iowa there have been 63 confirmed tornadoes.

“Four percent of the tornadoes that we see across the state of Iowa occur in September, so not a particularly high number,” Glisan says, “but recently back in 2018 we had 12 September tornadoes and then in 2019 we had nine and that’s an interesting thing to look at because 2018 was the second wettest year on record, 2019 the 10th wettest on record, so we had a very active storm track through fall.”

The mid-Atlantic and southern states are getting a lot of rain right now during hurricane season, but Glisan says those storm systems rarely bring beneficial rainfall to Iowa. “We did have a June tropical system back in 2019 that made it into eastern Iowa,” Glisan says, “and that had been the first time since 1900 that we had seen a tropical system actually make it into Iowa.” Glisan says what he calls the “moisture gate” from the Gulf of Mexico is blocked off right now, preventing the development of thunderstorms. Glisan warns, though, that tornadoes occurred in every month of the year.

“Think back to the December 15th outbreak in 2021 — 63 tornadoes across the state, the highest tornado count for any month in the state of Iowa,” Glisan says, “but also the highest tornado outbreak for a December outbreak in United States history.”

(Radio Iowa) –  An Iowan who won gold medals at the Paralympics in 2016 and 2021 has been inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame.

Joshua Turek of Council Bluffs was born with a condition called spina bifada and has used a wheelchair since childhood. He played professional wheelchair basketball in Europe for 17 years and was a member of four Team USA Paralympic men’s basketball teams. “I dedicated my life to this sport. I love this sport. I will always be around it,” Turek said at the induction ceremony. “…I owe every single thing to this sport.”

Two of Turek’s siblings played what he calls “able-bodied basketball” and they are both retired pro players. Elisha, his sister, played on a professional team in Spain. “If it wasn’t for her, pushing me every day,” he said, “making sure I got to the gym lifting, I wouldn’t be where I was.”

Joshua Turek shoots during Team USA Wheelchair Basketball game at 2021 Paralympics. (Photo courtesy of Joshua Turek)

Turek’s brother John, who’s six foot nine, was a starter for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and played professional basketball in several European countries. “It was not easy being in a wheelchair trying to play any sort of one-on-one, but he pushed me every single day to try to get better than him and it inspired me,” Turek said. “It really did.”

Turek also credits his mom, who was raising five kids, with somehow finding a way to get him connected to the sport. “Wheelchair basketball when I was a kid gave me a purpose,” Turek said, “it gave me a friend group, it gave me self-esteem.”

Turek said without the sport, he never would have gone to college at Southwest Minnesota State University, where he scored over 4000 points as a member of the school’s wheelchair basketball tem.

Turek, who is 44 years old, works for a company that provides technology and mobility devices for people with disabilities. He was elected to the Iowa House in 2022.

The National Wheelchair Basketball Association was founded in 1949 and there are more than 130 teams in the U.S. today.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer says the number of questions they’ve been getting about scams has continued to increase.”People who got a contact and thought to themselves ‘this sounds really strange this makes me suspicious’, so good on them they call the Iowa Lottery to check about it. They say ‘this just doesn’t seem right,’ and in fact it’s not right,” Neubauer says. She says those calls are scammers not connected to the Iowa Lottery, and are only looking to steal.

“Trying to you know, get them to maybe open a bank account and put some money in there because there’s a quote unquote processing fee that has to be paid before they would be able to be awarded a fictitious big lottery prize,” she says. “So we’re just we’re just reminding people scam attempts of all types are at record highs right now.” Neubauer says be aware that these types of scams are happening and don’t become a victim.

“You need to be careful you need to protect yourself and especially protect your personally identifiable information and any financial information,” Neubauer says.”Do not share that online. You know, these folks are just trying to get in with you and trying to figure out a way that they can trick you out of giving the money and you will never see that money again. If you end up paying that’s that’s the really sad part.” She says the Iowa Lottery does NOT seek out winners.

)”You’re a lottery winner you contact the lottery to say you have the winning ticket not the other way around. So, we just can’t remind people enough Be careful if you’re asked to pay any money upfront it is definitely a scam,” she says. There are resources where you can learn more about these scams. “The U-S Federal Trade Commission has a great consumer advice page online that you can go to it talks a lot about fake prizes sweepstakes and lotteries. And then here in Iowa, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has a great Consumer Protection Division, that if you have questions you are you’re always welcome to reach out to them,” Neubauer says.

Neubauer says make a call to those organizations before you do anything that might end up costing you money.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Produce in the Park is a weekly farmers market and community gathering held every Thursday evening from 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM in the Atlantic City Park, now – October 12th. Organizers say this week, Sarah Selders will be providing live music and two fan favorite food trucks, Pim’s Thai and Zipp’s Pizza, will be on site from 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM. Numerous vendors will be in attendance offering a variety of products including baked goods, produce, sweet treats and crafts.

This week you can look forward to the following vendors:

Aubrey’s Bows: new fall bows

Aubreys Bows

Bridgewater Farms: wide assortment of produce
Brun Ko Farms: radishes, peppers, sweet snacking peppers, 5, 10 & 20 lb boxes of heirloom slicing tomatoes, onions, garlic & jalapenos

Brun Ko Farms produce

Cake’s, Cookies & Confections: assorted pastries & desserts
CJ Treats: baked goods & candles, soaps, body scrubs & oil diffusers
CK3 Farms: wide assortment of produce including watermelon
Harrisdale Farmstead: assortment of produce
Holaday Baking Company: assortment of baked goods & concession items
Imagine Garden Gifts: unique garden gifts including antique, vintage, and repurposed planters.
Kringleman: assorted Danish pastries
Neighborhood Bakehouse: sourdough, baguettes, sandwich bread & mini chocolate baguettes
Noble Provisions: homegrown ribeyes, beef snacks (jerky, summer sausage, beef sticks), beef brats, patties, pork brats, Italian sausage, & ground pork
Piper’s Brae: assorted produce, jams/jellies, syrups & eggs
Sue’s Country Garden: assortment of plants, produce, baked goods & jams/jellies
Ter-Bear Honey: home raised raw packaged honey
The 11th Acre: wide assortment of produce, baked goods, cottage foods & crafts

Featured kids activities include bounce houses, provided by Nishna Valley Family YMCA. Visiting organizations include Zion Recovery, our September Market Sponsor, Cass County Cats and the Atlantic Public Library. Yard games will also be on hand, provided by Atlantic Parks & Recreation.

All vendors accept cash, with many accepting credit cards and Venmo. All qualifying food vendors accept SNAP/EBT (also known as food stamps) with all fresh produce vendors accepting Double Up Food Bucks–coupons given for SNAP/EBT purchases of fresh produce.

For updates and information on Produce in the Park or how to sign up to participate, visit www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com. ‘Like’ or ‘follow’ Produce in the Park on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram (www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/).

Produce in the Park is sponsored by: First Whitney Bank & Trust, Cass Health, Nishna Valley Family YMCA, Gregg Young of Atlantic, Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Atlantic.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – A traffic stop last week in Adair County, resulted in a woman being cited on a drug charge. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports a pickup was pulled over at around 8-p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30th, for having window tint, excessive speed, no front license plate, and an expired validation sticker.

While speaking with the driver and a passenger, identified as 32-year-old Kayln BreeAnn Durbin, of Greenfield, the Adair County Deputy noticed the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. When Durbin exited the vehicle, the Deputy saw a glass pipe typically used to smoke marijuana.

Durbin admitted the pipe was hers. She was cited for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and issued a written warning for having an open container with a beverage that contained alcohol, inside a Casey’s cup. Durbin was released from the scene on a summons to appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – The northwest Iowa event billed as the world’s largest county fair starts on Saturday. This is Jerome Hertel’s first year as manager of the Clay County Fair in Spencer. “This fair is pretty much similar, I guess, to the Alaska State Fair where I came from,” Hertel says. “It’s a 501c non-profit fair, which is like much like the Alaska State Fair; about the same attendance — 300,000 people; about the same number of buildings.”

Hertel’s first day on the job in Spencer was April 17th. Hertel says once the fair starts this weekend, it will give him a chance to learn about the fair’s culture. “Who are the people that attend this fair? What are those traditions that are here at the Clay County Fair?” Hertel asks. “This fair is a resource for the community. It’s a reflection of the community, so what is it reflecting, you know, in the community and what’s its position in the community?” Hertel says he’s not looking to make any big changes.

“This fair’s not broke, so if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Hertel says. “It’s got a great reputation in the industry as being the world’s greatest county fair, so I just want to continue that tradition.” Hertel says the staff and volunteers are paddling like crazy to get done before opening day.

The Clay County Fair starts this Saturday, the 9th, and ends on Sunday, September 17th. Hertel was general manager of the Alaska State Fair for nine years — and he grew up in Parker, South Dakota, across the street from the oldest county fair in South Dakota.

About one in every eight Iowa women will develop breast cancer during their lives, and a rise in breast cancer cases among women in their 40s is bringing new preliminary screening guidelines. The recommendation now is to get mammograms every other year starting at age 40, instead of starting at age 50. Radiologist Dr. Amy Patel says she doesn’t think those new guidelines go far enough to address women who are at higher risk of getting breast cancer.

“If you’re deemed high risk, we recommend an annual screening breast MRI from the ages of 25 to 29,” says Patel, “and once you turn 30, annual screening mammography, alternating every six months with supplemental screening in the form of breast MRI.” She says all women should be risk assessed by the age of 25. Also, Patel says the guidelines don’t take into account breast density when deciding how often women are checked for breast cancer.

“It is a strong risk factor,” says Patel. “About 50% of the United States population who are women have dense breasts, and some women opt to have supplemental screening in addition to mammography, as dense breasts can obscure a cancer on a mammogram that can be revealed on a supplemental tool, such as breast MRI or ultrasound.”

In Iowa, it’s estimated that 27-hundred women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and nearly 390 will die from it. Only lung cancer causes more cancer deaths among Iowa women.