DES MOINES — A boil advisory was issued Monday for the communities of Greenfield, Fontanelle and Orient in Adair County following a water main break. Schools in the County will have bottled water on-hand for students and staff until the advisory is lifted.

The incident happened around 4:00 p.m. when a contractor hit a 10 inch main near the Greenfield city water tower, resulting in pressure loss. City officials isolated the leak, and repairs are underway. Once repairs are completed the affected area will be disinfected and flushed.

Along with the City of Greenfield, Greenfield Municipal Utilities (GMU) also supplies the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA) #1 – Greenfield and the City of Fontanelle with drinking water. Additionally, the City of Orient receives its water from SIRWA #1 – Greenfield.

Officials have notified affected residents through city Facebook pages and postings in public locations. Customers are encouraged to boil water that will be consumed or used for food preparation. Water should be boiled for two minutes and allowed to cool before use. Water is safe to use for showering, laundry, general washing and outdoor use without boiling.

Bacteria samples will be collected for testing. The boil advisory will be lifted when bacterial samples have tested negative for bacteria.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – More than half of Iowa soybeans and nearly a quarter of the state’s corn have been harvested as of Monday’s crop report. The warm and dry weather from September persisted into October and led to increased drought and burn bans across the state.  The Iowa Capital Dispatch says the crop report shows Iowa farmers harvested 31% of the state’s soybeans acreage during the reporting period of Sept. 30 through Oct. 6, bringing the total acres harvested to 58%. Harvest percentages for corn harvested for grain doubled from last week, with 22% of the crop harvested and 90% reaching maturity.

The state climatologist report for the same period said the Iowa saw a high temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit (reported in Atlantic) and a statewide average rainfall of 0.10 inches, or 0.64 inches below normal. The majority of topsoil and subsoil moisture rated short or very short, and a persistent decline in pasture conditions gave producers concern about water for livestock.

A small portion of west central Iowa moved from moderate drought to severe drought conditions over the span of a week, and more than 90% of the state remains in abnormally dry or worse conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. These conditions increased the likelihood of fires, especially on combines and other field equipment as it gets hot. The crop progress and condition report for the week said several combine and equipment fires were reported.

State Fire Marshal Dan Wood said he didn’t have a report of the number of equipment fires from the past week, but said 46 Iowa counties are in a burn ban. He urged Iowans, and farmers, to be cautious around things that could start a fire.  “Make sure that farmers are trying to keep their combines and tractors cleaned off of debris and stuff, especially the parts that get hot,” Wood said.

Iowa has 46 active burn bans, represented by a flame icon on the map, as of Monday. (Map courtesy of Iowa State Fire Marshal)

He said folks should take care to properly dispose of cigarettes during these dry, windy conditions, and call in anything they see smoking on the side of the road.

(Radio Iowa) – Efforts to reach an agreement on a new contract to end the strike at a Cargill corn processing plant in Cedar Rapids have failed to make any headway. The business agent for the local Teamsters chapter at the Cedar Rapids plant, Scott Punteney, says the company is busing in workers from other plants to continue production and has not responded to the union’s request to negotiate.

“We haven’t heard from them, and we’ve reached out through a federal mediator to try to resume talks. So we’re willing to talk whenever we were willing to talk the very next day after the strike happened,” he says.

The union’s three-year contract with Cargill expired last week. Punteney said workers are seeking a wage increase of more than three dollars an hour and are prepared to strike until the company meets their demands. He said striking workers are paid from a union fund to cover basic living expenses. Cargill has not responded to requests for comment. Punteney made his comments on the Iowa Public Radio Program, River to River.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa Health Care announced plans today (Monday) to buy a clinical cancer practice. The U-I Healthcare plans to buy Mission Cancer plus Blood’s more than 20 community clinics across Iowa, saying it will create a comprehensive state-wide cancer care network.

The Iowa Board of Regents will hold a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the proposed purchase that includes equipment, inventory, workforce, supplies, and active business operations for 280 million dollars.

Some of the facilities involved are in Des Moines, Ankeny, Pella, Oskaloosa, Fort Dodge and Grinnell.

(Creston, Iowa) – Three people were hurt in two separate crashes today (Monday), in Creston. According to Creston Police, one of the accidents happened at around 11:15-a.m. on southbound Sumner Street, when 17-year-old Brynn Tussey, of Creston, attempted to turn east into the Casey’s Store, as she was driving a 2017 GMC Acadia (SUV).

When the SUV turned in front of a northbound 2022 Toyota Corolla, driven by 40-year-old Clarke Howe, of Creston, the SUV was struck and came to rest on the side of the road. The car came to rest in the Casey’s driveway. Creston Police say both drivers complained of pain following the crash. Tussey was flown by EMS Air to the Greater Regional Medical Center (GRMC) in Creston. Howe was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Damage from the accident amounted to a police estimated $13,000. Both vehicles were a total loss.

The second crash happened at around 1:50-p.m. at the intersection of Lincoln Street and Highway 25, in Creston. Police say a 2016 GMC Acadia SUV driven by 47-year-old Megan Ann Andreasen, of Prescott, was traveling southbound when it entered the intersection, and was collided with a westbound 2016 Chrysler Town & Country van driven by 85-year-old Patricia Elaine Mielk, of Carroll.

Witnesses told police they saw the SUV enter the intersection under a red light. Following the impact, the SUV spun and collided again with the van before hitting a sign and a fence. The SUV came to rest on the shoulder at the northeast side of the road. Patricia Mielk complained of pain and was transported by ambulance to the GRMC.

The van was a total loss, while the SUV sustained “functional damage.” The total amount of damage from the collision was a police estimated $21,500 (including damage to a church sign and the fence).

Creston Police said there were no citations issued in either crash, as of the latest report.

(Clinton County, Iowa) – A collision this (Monday) morning in eastern Iowa resulted in the deaths of three juveniles. Three other people were injured. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened in the 3700 block of the outside lane of eastbound Highway 30, when a 1999 Jeep that was stopped in the lane for reasons unknown, was hit from behind by a 2023 Dodge 4500 pickup truck. The accident took place at around 9:20-a.m.

The impact caused the Jeep to be enter the south ditch, where it came to rest. The pickup came to rest on the south shoulder of the road.

Authorities say the three juveniles died from their injuries. None of them was wearing a seat belt. The driver of the pickup was transported by Clinton Fire to Mercy Hospital in Clinton. The driver of the Jeep, who was not wearing a seat belt. They were transported to helicopter to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. A passenger in the Jeep, who was not wearing a seat belt, was also transported to the UIHC.

No names have been released at this time. The crash remains under investigation.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A burglary investigation in Red Oak resulted in an arrest this (Monday) afternoon. According to Red Oak Police, 42-year-old Richard Alexander Doran, of Red Oak, taken into custody a little before Noon, in the 1600 block of E. Summit Street, and charged with Burglary in the 2nd Degree – a Class C Felony.

Doran was being held on $10,00 bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – There are over 70 public skate-parks in Iowa — and the newest is in northwest Iowa. Sheree Hausmann served on the committee that raised nearly 390-thousand dollars for construction of a skate-park in Cherokee. “We started raising our money in the fall of 2021 and we’ve received quite a few local donations and quite a few grants and so we came up with the money,” she says, “and the skate-park was supposed to have been done earlier this year, but when the floods came in June, everything came to a standstill, so we had to wait for everything to dry out.”

A California company that started building skateboard ramps in 1997 was the contractor for the Cherokee skate-park. Hausmann says unfortunately, the company had all its forms set up and was ready to start pouring concrete when the flooding hit Cherokee in June. “The forms are actually real heavy-duty Styrofoam and they all washed away in the flood,” Hausmann says. “We had to put our feelers out and start looking for them and, if you know Cherokee at all, you know there’s a lot of green space and a lot of trees, but as luck would have it we found all those forms and they were all able to be used.”

Cherokee’s skate-park covers about 10-thousand square feet and has typical features like ledges and a big bowl for skateboarders. Construction started in April and a grand opening was held at the end of September.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans might spot a few tractors in school parking lots this week as part of National 4-H Week. Emily Saveraid is executive director of the Iowa 4-H Foundation, which she says has more than a hundred years of history in the Hawkeye State.

“A lot of times we think of 4-H during county fair season and state fair season, and certainly that’s an important time for us too, but this is the time when clubs are meeting and kids in-school and after-school clubs are starting to kick off their programming for the year,” Saveraid says, “so it’s a fun way to be able to celebrate and talk about the great things that 4-H is doing.”

The organization now reaches more than 120-thousand young people in Iowa every year, and she says it’s grown well beyond just appealing to farm kids. “Certainly we started with our roots in ag, and have really progressed over the years to be able to serve and meet the needs of all young people,” Saveraid says, “and give them the skills that they need to be successful as they move forward for whatever’s next for them.”

She says 4-H is empowering Iowa’s youth to reach their full potential and creating a real impact on the state. “Certainly our traditional club program and our Clover Kids program is really strong still, but really thinking about the club program in a new way,” Saveraid says, “after-school clubs and in-school clubs and special interest clubs and really helping young people find their spark and what they’re excited about, and giving them an opportunity to dig in and dive deep and really get some important skills.”

Learn more by contacting the Iowa State University Extension and Outeach office in your county or at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/

(Radio Iowa) – Combines are moving across Iowa fields harvesting corn and soybeans and they are also cutting down a lot of cover that deer have been using. Iowa D-N-R deer biologist Jace Elliot says the harvest is one reason you should be looking for deer on the move in the fall. “With these crops being removed from the landscape, that’s going to shift how deer are moving and behaving, possibly making them more vulnerable to end up in a vehicle collision,” he says. You will likely see more deer in areas where there are trees and brush where they can hide. “Deer are likely shifting from these more agricultural areas into areas with woody cover or tall grass prairie,” Elliott says.

Mating season for deer is also underway and that’s another factor that could make them run across a road into the path of your car. “Bucks are pursuing goes for much of this time, and because of that, you may see a what seems like a single deer on across the road, but always keep an eye out for others that may be behind,” Elliott says. Elliott says drivers should be alert for deer in wooded areas, and especially so at down and dusk when they are more likely to be on the move.