(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowa ingenuity will be going into orbit and eventually onto the surface of the Moon. Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids is the choice to produce the next generation of spacesuits for American astronauts. Collins officials say their design offers enhanced mobility, they’re lighter than the current suits and will allow for longer missions. The suits are to be used by astronauts working outside the International Space Station and, in the next decade, on the Moon.

Collins Aerospace photo

The suits boast being able to accommodate nearly every body type and they can rapidly incorporate new technologies. Collins also designed the first spacesuits used by Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and ’70s.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a man was arrested on a felony warrant Wednesday afternoon, in Carter Lake. An on-duty Sheriff’s Deputy noticed the male passenger in a 2007 Saturn Ion was violating the seatbelt law, and conducted a traffic stop. As a result, a records checked revealed the passenger, 44-year-old Chad Ray Delezene was wanted for Violation of Probation. He was taken into custody and transported to the Pott. County Jail and later released.

And two people being held in separate Nebraska jails were transported to the Pott. County Jail, Wednesday, to answer to their Iowa charges. 45-year-old Rhonda Kay Tabler was picked-up from the Cass County, NE jail on an outstanding Theft in the 2nd Degree, warrant. 21-year-old Marc Anthony Aviles, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody at the Sarpy County, NE, Jail, on a warrant for Violation of Probation.

(Radio Iowa) – An organization that evaluates the reliability of the nation’s electric grid says there’s a high risk of energy shortfalls in Iowa this summer. The Des Moines Register reports the Iowa Utilities Board is urging the companies that provide electricity to Iowans to prepare customers for what may be ahead. A non-profit that analyzes the North American power grid note temperatures and drought conditions are predicted to be above normal this summer in the western half of the United States. That will drive up peak demand for electricity. The Electric Reliability Organization for North America warns there’s a high risk of power outages in Iowa and 14 other states over the summer months.

(Washington, D-C) – A federal judge in Washington, D-C, Wednesday, ordered a father and son from northern Iowa serve time in prison for their participation in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The men, 51-year-old Daryl Johnson and his son, 30-year-old Daniel Johnson, both of St. Ansgar, admitted to entering the building through a broken window and pushing through a police line once inside.

While the entire encounter lasted roughly twenty seconds, the pair were in the Capitol for 26 minutes. The pair were sentenced on one felony count of civil disorder, because of their guilty plea to that charge the other counts they faced were dismissed.

Daryl Johnson will serve 30 days in jail and Daniel Johnson with serve four months. Defense attorneys for both men sought probation and no jail time. Daniel Johnson has three prior convictions, all misdemeanors.

Both men expressed their apologies to Judge Dabney Friedrich and those at the capitol, for their actions on that day.

(Radio Iowa) – This week’s temperatures in Iowa are fairly on target for the season, but soon enough, we’ll be getting into the hot, humid days of summer. Today (Thursday) is Heat Awareness Day in Iowa and meteorologist Donna Dubberke, at the National Weather Service, explains the goals. “Heat awareness is really important because it’s an underrated hazard,” Dubberke says. “We know it’s going to be hot in the summer and sometimes we don’t take it seriously and you can have serious injury and even fatalities in extreme cases if you don’t do the right things.” She notes that spending too much time outside can mean more than just a bad case of sunburn.

“When we get hot and humid in the summer, it becomes really difficult for your body to make the necessary adjustments and stay cool enough,” Dubberke says. “If your body gets overheated, you can have heat illnesses, heat exhaustion, heat stroke. That’s why we’re encouraging people to learn what you need to do and to be ready for when it does get hot, even though it’s not going to be that hot this week.” Iowa motorists need to take special care with their passengers when the weather starts to warm up.

“Never leave a pet or a child and in a hot car,” she says. “It can heat up so quickly, so much hotter and so much faster than you think it normally would.” Find more tips about heat awareness at www.weather.gov/dmx

(Red Oak, Iowa) –  The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests: At around 12:10-a.m. today (Thursday, June 2nd), Deputies conducted a traffic stop at 110th and G Avenue, and as a result, arrested 51-year-old Martha Anngeline Oltmanns, of Council Bluffs. She was taken into custody for Driving While Barred, and held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

And, on Tuesday, Deputies in Montgomery County arrested 30-year-old Jesse Allen Luft, of Villisca, for Violation of a No Contact Order. Luft was being held on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Two Republicans are listed on this year’s Primary ballot for state auditor and the winner will face Rob Sand, the Democratic incumbent, in the General Election. Mary Ann Hanusa, who has been endorsed by Governor Reynolds, managed the White House Office of Correspondence for President George W. Bush. She was more recently elected to five terms in the Iowa House, representing her hometown of Council Bluffs for 10 years.

“I served as Government Oversight chair in the House when I was in the legislature,” Hanusa says, “I brought in front of the committee heads of state agencies, asking tough questions, making sure the Iowa taxpayers’ dollars were being spent appropriately.” Hanusa says Sand, the current state auditor, was wrong to audit and question how Governor Reynolds spent federal pandemic relief money on staff salaries and computer software.

“I believe that for the last four years our state auditor’s office has been politicized,” Hanusa says, “and there just isn’t any room for politics in this office.” Todd Halbur, of Clive, is the other G-O-P candidate for state auditor. Halbur sued the state in 2018, alleging he was fired from his job as chief financial officer the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division after he questioned some transactions. A spokesperson for the agency has said Halbur’s allegations are untrue. Halbur says if he’s elected state auditor, he’ll educate state employees on how to spot waste, fraud and abuse.

“The eyes and ears of all employees know what’s right and wrong,” he says. Halbur, who is a realtor, also owns a school supply business. He’s previously worked for three different banks and is taking the test to become a certified audit examiner. “I believe that Iowa needs an auditor that has the financial background and the qualifications that I have as a prior banker and the CFO of a large state agency of Iowa,” he says.

Sand, the Democrat who is Iowa’s current state auditor, is seeking a second term. The Democratic and Republican Primary Elections are next Tuesday, June 7th.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett, Wednesday evening, administered the Oath of Office to a member of the Atlantic Police Force, who was recently promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Before she did so, Mayor Garrett read from Caleb Smith’s bio, and explained his duties, past and present.

A graduate of the Red Oak High School, Sgt. Smith received an Associates of Science Degree in Criminal Justice in 2008 from Iowa Central Community College in Ft. Dodge. He and his wife have lived in Atlantic for 12-years.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett congratulates Sgt. Caleb Smith.

In report to the Council and citizens of Atlantic, Mayor Garrett said the City’s Code Enforcement Officer conducted 31 inspections today (Wednesday), that were in response to citizen complaints about properties. During the inspections, 12 additional violations were found.

Garrett said citizens are free to submit a complaint or concern, with the understanding there is a process that the City must work through, with regard to ordinances. Some of those processes are being tweaked to further resolve complaints.

She issued a “Thank you,” to those who are maintaining their property. If you are being a good neighbor, offer to help your neighbor with lawn mowing and sidewalk shoveling during the winter. If you truly need the help, the Mayor said, please allow someone to help you so the City doesn’t have to bill you to get the job done. In other business, City Administrator John Lund proposed having the Independence Day celebration for three days: July 2nd, 3rd and 4th (Saturday, Sunday, Monday). The hours will be the same as last year, from Noon until 11-p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and Midnight on July 4th. The Council was in agreement on the dates and times. The City of Atlantic’s fireworks display will take place the night of July 4th.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston, today (Wednesday) cited a man for Reckless Driving, following an investigation into a property damage accident that occurred a little after 1-p.m. Wednesday. Authorities say 18-year-old Marcus Eugene Carney, of Creston, was driving a 1999 Toyota Avalon westbound on the Spillway Road, and traveling approximately 50-mph in a 15 mph zone.

The vehicle went out of control on a slight curve in the road just before the campground, and began to fishtail. The car left the road and entered the campground, where it struck a legally parked, and unoccupied 2016 JayFlight camper. The vehicle then struck a water hydrant in the campground, causing it to bend.

Carney was not injured. Damage to the car, camper and City of Creston hydrant, amounted to $8,200 altogether.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – State climatologist Justin Glisan says the numbers show the state May temperature average was slightly warmer than normal. “We look at the average for all our weather stations we are about one and a half degrees above average at 61 degrees,” he says. Glisan says there were some 80 and 90-degree days in the month that brought the average up. He says the warm days helped make it an active month for severe weather.

“We actually had a derecho clip the northwestern part of the state, also forming what we call a haboob — or a large scale dust storm that we don’t typically get in the midwest,” he says. Glisan says those storms brought rain with them and May ended up wetter than May of last year. “But we were still drier than average. We were about …. one-point-six-four inches below average,” Glisan says. “The driest conditions in the southeastern part of the state.”

Glisan says the end of May marks the start of the climatological summer season that will run through August 31st.