Fireworks will be filling the sky tonight and while most people find them spectacular to view up close, for others, they can cause breathing problems. Iowa DNR environmental specialist Chris Maiers says it’s a good idea to keep a safe distance. “We’re not saying ‘don’t go to any fireworks displays,’ it’s just be aware of your surroundings and try to avoid that blow off smoke coming toward you at the end or during the displays,” Maiers says. “That can really hinder the enjoyment…not only will it be difficult to breathe, it’ll be difficult to see too.”

An air pollution monitor in Davenport detected unhealthy levels of fine particles following last year’s Fourth of July fireworks display. Maiers says that’s something to consider when you’re deciding where to sit during the celebration. “These actually have things like heavy metals in them because that’s what they burn to produce the colors and you really don’t want to breath that in…there’s all sorts of stuff in there that can make even healthy people have issues like coughing or even a little bit of chest pain,” Maiers says.

He suggests people with asthma or respiratory issues, children and the elderly should make sure to stay upwind and a safe distance away from the fireworks.

(Radio Iowa/IPR)

GREELEY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an eastern Iowa woman was killed when a homemade cannon exploded at a backyard gathering. Davenport television station KWQC-TV reports that 55-year-old Lori L. Heims of Edgewood was flown to an Iowa City hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The Delaware County Sheriff’s Department says Heims was injured at the gathering with friends in Greeley around 11:40 p.m. Saturday.

Investigators say the cannon was loaded and fired, and when it went off, the rear portion of the barrel blew out and sent fragments toward Heims. One of the fragments struck Heims in the head. Heims was taken to a hospital in Manchester before being flown to Iowa City, but doctors were unable to save her.

Greeley is about 80 miles north of Iowa City.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — The number of people killed or injured in accidents caused by use of electronic devices doubled in Iowa last year. The Globe Gazette in Mason City reports 14 people were killed in 2015, compared to seven the previous year.

The Iowa Department of Transportation says 601 people were injured in those types of accidents last year, up from 270 in 2014. The overall number of accidents caused by distracted driving rose to 1,100 last year, a 43 percent increase from 2014.

Pat Hoye, bureau chief for the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, says one reason for the increase is the growing use of cellphones.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office received a call Sunday night about a black Ford F-150 pickup that was running off the road on Corning-Carl Road. Deputies stopped the vehicle on 210th Street just after 11-p.m., and subsequently arrested 54-year old Guy David Matson, of Lenox. Matson was charged with OWI for refusing to give a sample of his breath. His bond was set at $2,000.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest of a Louisiana man on an alcohol charge, Sunday night. 18-year old Caleb Ross Patten, of Harrisonburg, LA., was arrested for Possession of alcohol under the legal age, at around 8:10-p.m.  Patten was later released on $360 bond, with his case set to appear in court.

The latest data shows there are more than 639-thousand registered Republican voters in Iowa and nearly 611-thousand Democrats. A new national survey indicates those partisans have a pretty negative view of people who’re in the opposing party. Carroll Doherty is political research director for the Pew Research Center.

“We knew that people had grown to increasingly dislike the opposing party. The question we had was: ‘Is it getting personal?'” Doherty says. “And, to a degree, it is.”
The Pew Center’s new research shows 70 percent of Democrats consider Republicans “closed minded” — while 46 percent of Republicans think Democrats are “lazier” than Republicans. Doherty says fear of what the other party might do with power is a big motivator.

“The bottom line is that negativity is kind of more powerful than positive feelings and negativity is driving a lot of political engagement these days,” Doherty says. “And the people who are the most negative are the most highly engaged, so there’s a real connection there.”

So-called “independent” voters are the largest segment of Iowa adults who are registered to cast a ballot in November. More than 670-thousand Iowans have checked “no party” on their registration, but Doherty says most of those independents tend to favor candidates of one party over the other. “They are more or less closet partisans and they feel very negatively about the opposing party,” Doherty says. “In other words, if they lean towards a party as most independents do — either lean towards the Republican or the Democratic Party — they don’t want to affiliate because they don’t have a particularly fond view of that party, but they also dislike the other side even more.”

The center’s latest survey found 47 percent of Republicans consider Democrats to be “more immoral” — and 55 percent of Democrats say the Republican Party makes them “afraid.” The Pew Research Center survey released last month found 68 percent of Democrats give Trump a “zero” rating — the very end of the negative scale, while 59 percent of Republicans rate Clinton a zero.

(Radio Iowa)