(Radio Iowa) – Officials in a city that’s been called the southern gateway to the Iowa Great Lakes have hired an architectural firm to study the housing market in Milford. Charlie Cowell, a lead consultant on the project, says Milford is like other lake communities in the Midwest that draw tons of visitors in the summer months and that drives up housing prices for year round residents.

According to Realtor-dot-com, 470-thousand dollars is the median listing price for homes that are for sale right now in Milford and that’s 24-and-a-half percent higher than a year ago. In late July, Milford’s City Council approved spending 18-thousand dollars on the housing research project and a final report should be ready by the end of the year.

(Radio Iowa) – A spokesman for the Polk County Sheriff’s Department says a man fired a gun at a deputy during an attempted traffic stop Tuesday, then barricaded himself inside a north Des Moines hotel. The traffic stop happened around 10:30 a-m and the man was taken into custody around 2:30 p-m without any problems.

The Saydel School district is nearby, and the district was put on lockdown as a precaution.

FORT DODGE – Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Corrections, Tuesday, said 31-year-old Devontae Raenall Mosley-Smith, a black male convicted of Robbery 2nd Degree and other charges in Webster County, failed to report back to the Fort Dodge Residential Facility as required, Monday.

Mosley-Smith is five-feet 11-inches tall, and weighs 242 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on August 1, 2023.

Persons with information on Mosley-Smith’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Mosley-Smith (IDOC photo)

(Radio Iowa) – The American Red Cross continues to need more blood donations. Red Cross Divisional Chief Medical Officer, Baia Lasky ( By-uh lass-skee), says there’s been a nearly 25 percent drop in its national blood supply since August. “The American Red Cross is currently experiencing a national blood shortage and we have an emergency need for type O blood and platelet donations of all types,” she says.

Doctor Lasky says the start of school and other fall activities have kept people busy and away from donating. “In recent weeks the number of donations has just not kept pace with hospital needs,” Lasky says. “So right now we are needing to collect about 10-thousand additional blood products blood products every week over the next month to meet hospital and patient needs.”

Lasky says natural disasters also impact donations. “When we see regions that are impacted by disasters, those regions it’s really more of a regional impact. And the American Red Cross does maintain a national inventory. So we are able to provide for impacted regions,” she says. “But that really just means it’s that much more important for regions that are not impacted for individuals to donate to be able to support the rest of the country.”

She encourages everyone to consider donating. “Anyone 16 and older can donate, we just asked people are healthy and well and if they’re interested we they can learn more about eligibility criteria,” she says.

You can find out more about donating blood at RedCross.org.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa might be quieter than usual around the holidays this year as a survey finds a large percentage of the state’s residents are planning to go, well, someplace else. Brian Ortner, spokesman for Triple-A Iowa, says Christmas is less than three months away and savvy travelers are booking early. “People are wanting to travel, especially across the state of Iowa,” Ortner says. “More than half of Iowans, 52% say they’re going to take a holiday vacation this year. The difference is, there’s about 40% of them booking travel plans right now due to higher travel prices, but people are still planning on traveling. They’re going to be taking at least one flight.”

COVID-19 is a distant, bad memory for many of us, and he says many Iowans are breaking the habits they formed in recent years by returning to taking vacations abroad. “The numbers for travel, as we’ve seen over the summer in the last couple years, are continuing to get back to pre-pandemic levels,” Ortner says, “so that’s a great sign for all of us who are ready just to get out and live again.”

Christmas falls on a Monday this year, so Ortner suggests you plan carefully to avoid a zoo at the airport. “A lot of folks travel two to four days prior to the holiday, so that means we might be seeing folks traveling on Thursday or Friday before Christmas. So those busiest days at the airport are probably going to be that Friday and Saturday,” Ortner says. “So if you can swing an extra day around Christmas to leave on Wednesday or Thursday, it might not be a bad opportunity or possibly even coming home and booking the day after Christmas, if you’re able to do that.”

According to a report from the travel app Hopper, airfares are down about nine-percent compared to last year, and they’re down ten-percent compared to 2019.

(Creston, Iowa) – No injuries were reported and no citations were issued, following an accident Tuesday morning, in Creston. Authorities say a 2010 Toyota Highlander SUV driven by 59-year-old Timothy H. Gerber, of Lenox, pulled in behind an unoccupied 2005 Chrysler Minivan at the Creston Wal-Mart service bay and attempted to stop, but the SUV hit the rear bumper of the mini-van.

Gerber told police his brakes failed. He attempted to back out, but struck the van again. The accident happened at around 8:22-a.m. Damage from the incident amounted to $3,000.

Witnesses told police the SUV’s brakes were functioning properly, in contradiction his statement. The report recommended Gerber have his driving skills re-examined because he “Showed his inability to safely keep his vehicle under control.”