(corrected phone number at bottom of story)

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say opportunities to spend the summer in an Iowa state park is available for individuals who serve as campground hosts. Hosts are needed for the season at Pine Lake, Pilot Knob, Walnut Woods, Lake Keomah, Lake Manawa, Lewis and Clark, Bellevue, Backbone, Beeds Lake, Clear Lake, Ledges, Nine Eagles, Pikes Peak, Viking Lake, Yellow River and Elk Rock. If an entire season is too much, three state parks have host needs of shorter durations. Hosts are needed from April through June at Lacey-Keosauqua, from the end of June through October at Prairie Rose, and for July and August at Volga River.

Campground hosts receive free camping at a designated site while they help state parks staff by assisting campers, explaining park rules, and helping with registration, and serving as an impromptu local tour guide. Hosts will help park staff to keep the park clean and with light maintenance.

Applications are available online at http://volunteer.iowadnr.gov then click on the campground hosts link toward the middle of the page.  Or, call 515-242-5074 to have an application mailed. Linda King, with the DNR’s office of volunteer services, said they would like to get hosts placed in parks by around the middle of March, so they are ready to go, in April.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying persons responsible for the recent theft of numerous tractor weights. Officials say they’re investigating six separate incidents, during which area farmers have reported the front weights of their tractors have been stolen. At this time, only John Deere brand tractors have been targeted. The thefts have resulted in several thousand dollars worth of losses.

If you have any information about the thefts, call Fremont County Crimestoppers. Your tip could lead to an arrest and conviction, result in a $1,000 reward. Call 1-800-432-9240 with your tip, or, 712-374-2424. Callers can remain anonymous and still be eligible for the reward.

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman wants to remind residents of the county who recently received their Voter Registration cards in the mail, that you DO NOT have to return the card, if all the information printed on it, is correct. You only need to return the postage paid card if information on it is incorrect, such as your name, your address or other, pertinent information.

The way the card was printed has caused problems for many county auditors’ offices, because it is confusing and seemingly contraddictory. But the bottom line is, that you do not need to return the card, if your information is correct. Returning cards with no changes to them costs the a little more than a dollar each time they are mailed and processed.

Wishes to Walt Disney World® Resort may be the most typical wish for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but there was nothing commonplace about a six-year old Underwood girl’s wish. Elizabeth (her last name was not released) wanted to go to the Disney Theme Park to meet Belle, Cinderella, Tinkerbell and Rapunzel, and when her wish was fulfilled, Elizabeth became the 2,500th child to receive a wish in the state of Iowa.

Elizabeth from Underwood gets her wish to visit Disney World, in FL

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Iowa grants the wishes of children living with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. A wish come true helps children feel stronger and more willing and able to battle their life-threatening medical conditions. For many wish children and their families, it marks a turning point in their fight against their illnesses.

The Iowa Chapter grants approximately one wish every other day and 82 cents of every dollar donated goes directly toward wishes. Examples of some of our wishes include to have a room redo, to meet a sports or movie celebrity, to be a dolphin trainer, and to go places like the Super Bowl or, like Elizabeth, to Walt Disney World® Resort.

In 2012, the Iowa Chapter is celebrating its 25th Anniversary and 2,500 wishes granted to Iowa’s children living with life-threatening medical conditions.

(Press Release from the Make-A-Wish Foundation)

A traffic stop on Interstate in Cass County Monday afternoon resulted in the arrest of a Washington State man on a drug charge, and the seizure of cash. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Wayne Brosam told KJAN news the arrest occurred after he pulled a 1999 Honda over for speeding, at around 4:40-p.m. near the Marne Exit (51-mile marker) on westbound I-80. Brosam says after the driver denied him permission to search his vehicle, Cass County Deputy Brian Quist and his K-9 partner “Kane” were called to conduct a free-air search around the car. The dog indicated on the presence of narcotics in the vehicle. During a “Probable Cause” search, Brosam and Quist located a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, along with $4,000 in cash, tucked away in suitcase, located in the trunk of the car. 

The cash was seized, and the driver, 42-year old Lloyd V. Dual, of Eatonville, Washington, was taken into custody on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance for Personal Use. Dual was booked into the Cass County Jail and released this (Tuesday) morning on $1,000 bond. Trooper Brosam said he became suspicious of Dual’s intentions when his travel plans didn’t make sense. The man told the Trooper he was traveling from Indiana to Washington State. While in the Trooper’s vehicle, Brosam said he could smell marijuana on the man’s clothes.

The latest data indicates two incumbent congressmen in Iowa will be battling for reelection in a district that has a slight Republican voter registration edge. After the 2010 Census Iowa lost one of its five congressional districts and Republican Congressman Tom Latham of Clive and Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell of Des Moines are running against one another in the new third district. That district now leans Republican. The district covers 16 counties in southwest Iowa and includes the city of Des Moines. 

The latest statistics indicate nearly 35 percent of voters in the district are registered Republicans, while about 33-and-a-half percent are registered Democrats. The rest are independents. The other two Democratic congressmen from Iowa — Bruce Braley of Waterloo and Dave Loebsack of Iowa City — are running in districts which have a Democratic voter registration edge. 

Republican Congressman Steve King has been representing a district that has a significant G-O-P edge. The new fourth congressional district has a 47-thousand more registered Republicans than Democrats. Former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack is challenging King’s bid for a sixth term. Go to www.radioiowa.com to see the latest information on voter registration in each of the four congressional districts.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

w/ Ric Hanson

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A Cass County man is set to receive a $1,000 cash award for his work in sustainable agriculture. Bernie Havlovic, of Lewis, will receive recognition and the 2011 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture award during a ceremony Thursday, March 1^st, in Ames. Havlovic is the superintendent of two Research and Demonstration (R&D) farms, the Armstrong ISU R&D Farm near Lewis, and the Neely-Kinyon R&D Farm in Adair County, south of Greenfield. He’s conducted agricultural research since the 1970’s, but has been involved in farming since childhood, while growing up in east-central Nebraska. Havlovic was the ninth out of 14 children born to his parents. He says his siblings helped out with the farming activities, but the opportunities to farm on his own were limited, so he went to graduate from ISU and work for the University’s Agronomy Department before moving on the work in the Research Farm system. 

He says that gave him an opportunity to farm, and get a better understanding of how crops grow and what affects their growth. He says he’s able to turn that knowledge around and show visitors to the research farms how new practices foster productivity in farming, and, provide an education to a wide variety of people. That includes “Master Gardeners,” and school children. Havlovic says interest in horticulture has really grown over the years, and blossomed from the simple “Green Thumb” gardener, to people who grow grapes for locally produced wine, and to those who use the “High Tunnel” structures to earn a living growing specialty crops. He says one of the latest special products being used in agricultural, is a material called “Bio-char,” which is a centuries old charcoal product created by a process known as “pryrolysis.”   Havlovic says it’s a material designed to make the soil more usable and sustainable. 

Havlovic and Michael Natvig, who owns a 420-acre organic farm in eastern Iowa’s Howard County, will share the Spencer Award for their efforts in developing sustainable farming practices and enhancing the stability of family farms, during the quarterly meeting of the Leopold Center Advisory Board, in Ames. The presentation of those awards will take place at around 11:30-a.m. Thursday, at the Hilton Garden Inn. The award, which was established in 2001 by an endowment from the Spencer family, was named in honor of Norman and Margaretha Spencer, who farmed near Sioux County, for 40-years. Learn more about the award at www.leopold.iastate.edu/spencer-award.

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GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) – A 20-year-old college student is expected to survive injuries she received when struck by a train near downtown Grinnell. Anika Manzoor was struck just before 5 p.m. Monday. Manzoor was hit after she fell while she and two friends were crossing tracks just west of downtown. The two other people were not struck. Iowa Interstate Railroad officials say the train was going about 21 mph, headed to Chicago from Council Bluffs.  Manzoor was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.