(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is sponsoring a “Breakfast with the Birds” Program. The program will be held at Sunnyside Park, Camblin’s Addition Shelter in Atlantic, IA on August 17th 2024 at 9 am. Free will donations accepted.

Kay Neuman, Executive Director at S.O.A.R., Saving Our Avian Resources, will show and discuss several of her permanently injured birds and will hopefully have one that is fully recovered and ready to release back into the wild.

Please help the Cass County Conservation Board support raptors and education, by attending this event.

Shelby, IA – An old- fashioned ice cream social is planned for Sunday, August 18, 2024 at Carstens 1880 Farmstead near Shelby.  This will be a family friendly event for all ages.  The ice cream social will begin at 5 p.m. and conclude at 7 p.m. Carstens Board member Terry Torneten says “Our annual ice cream social gets us in gear for the Farm Days show which happens in about three weeks. It is a great time to come out and enjoy being on the farm.”

Torneten adds, “The homemade ice cream will be made by Benny’s Ice Cream, Minden, Iowa. Benny’s Ice Cream is our board member Ben Ausdemore and his wife Katie. I hope we see a good crowd come out for ice cream again this year.”

The annual meeting of Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc. to plan for the upcoming 42nd Annual Carstens Farm Days will take place during the ice cream social starting at 6 p.m. Reports will be given by various committees which have been organized for the show.

Members of Carstens Farm will be voting for three positions on the board of directors. The following board members’ terms are ending as of the date of the meeting: Charlie Leaders of Minden, Stan Kern of Shelby and Rick Newland of Persia will be up for re-election for another term. Additional nominations from the meeting attendees will be added to the ballot.

Continuing board members are David Dittmer and Gerald McCool of Minden, Bill Johnson of Shelby, Harvey Ferris of Missouri Valley and Terry Torneten of Harlan.  Results of the election will be announced following the meeting.

Carstens 1880 Farmstead is located at 32409 380th St, Shelby, just south of I-80 exit 34. Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc., a non-profit group of local volunteer members, maintains the farm as a working museum exhibit. It is located between Minden and Shelby, Iowa in Pottawattamie County. The farmstead is the home of Carstens Farm Days, which is held the first weekend after Labor Day each September.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information visit the web site: www.carstensfarm.com

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports Myron Allen Dumarce, who was convicted of Theft 2nd Degree, Eluding, and Assault with Weapon in Woodbury County, failed to report back to the Sioux City Residential Treatment Facility as required, Thursday.

Dumarce is a 20-year-old, 5’11”, 167-pound American Indian male. He was admitted to the work release facility on Aug. 8, 2024.

Myron Allen Dumarce

Persons with information on Dumarce’s whereabouts should contact local police.

(Radio Iowa) – This Sunday is August 11th or 8-11, the day Iowans are reminded about the three-digit phone number they’re required to call before doing any digging on their property. Ben Booth is spokesman for Iowa One Call which is marking what it calls 8-1-1 Day in advance of the fall planting season.  “Iowa law says you have to notify Iowa One Call prior to doing any type of digging, not just contractors and professionals, anyone in Iowa planning to do any type of digging or disturbance of the earth,” Booth says. “The reason is because there’s a lot of stuff underneath the ground that you can’t see.” The state law was enacted in 1993, mandating that Iowans use the service before taking a shovel to dirt, and especially before using anything larger to dig.

Call at least 48 hours in advance, and crews will mark the underground utilities with flags or spray-paint so you can know where -not- to dig. “I’m talking about your fiber optic, your broadband, your satellite cables, and then real serious stuff like high voltage electricity and pressurized natural gas,” Booth says, “of course, your water and sewer, all these fundamental services that we need that we just don’t think about because they are literally out of sight and out of mind.” Booth notes, digging can mean much more than just taking a shovel to dirt. “If you’re pounding a stake or a fence post or something like that in the ground, you could pierce one of those underground facilities, and that could have devastating consequences,” Booth says. “It could be hazardous, and of course, there’s the liability on the other side of that, because if you break something, typically, you’re going to get a bill to repair it.”

time an Iowan phones the call center, it typically triggers several more calls, depending on how many utilities may be buried on the property. Booth says they field about 600,000 calls a year, which equates to more than 3.6 million notices back to the utilities.

IowaOneCall.com

(Radio Iowa) – A few hundred-thousand people are expected to pass through the Iowa State Fair gates this weekend, and they’re all being reminded about the importance of hydration, even if high temperatures are only forecast in the 70s. Des Moines District Fire Chief Ed Haase says they’re encouraging fairgoers to bring in something extra this year. “They can bring in a sealed water bottle, or they can bring in a reusable water bottle, water glass, whatever, as long as it’s empty when, if it’s a reusable one, as long as it’s empty when they come in,” Haase says. “The fair is allowing them, pretty similar to what TSA does at the airports.”

The fair has placed scores of water bottle refill stations throughout the fairgrounds, which Haase says makes it easier for visitors to stay hydrated. “If you go to the Iowa State Fair’s website, they actually have a link to water stations,” he says, “and it’ll give them…actually pinpointed on the map.”

A portion of the Iowa State Fair map showing all water refill stations.

Last year’s state fair was a scorcher, and dozens of people had to be rushed to nearby hospitals. Haase says most of them simply hadn’t been drinking enough water. “They present with a little bit of confusion, just general fatigue type of thing,” Haase says. “So that’s why we encourage people to stay hydrated. I would say probably 75% of what we did last year with transports to the hospital had something to do with dehydration.”

At last year’s fair, the Des Moines Fire Department responded to:
355 Medical Cart responses in the fairgrounds
58 transports to local hospitals
283 ice packs used at first aid stations
42 bee stings treated
969 bandaids used at first aid stations
3 grease fire responses

The Iowa State Fair runs through August 18th.

Click to access 2024-IAstFairMap_WaterFountains_RefillStations.pdf

DES MOINES – Staff from the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) are conducting inspections of food stands, games, and Midway rides at the Iowa State Fair. Staff from DIAL’s Health and Safety Division are reviewing the operations of all amusement concession games at the fair today to verify the games are appropriately licensed and conducted in a fair and honest manner. Games must also be checked to ensure that an average person could perform under the game rules, and that the object of each game is attainable.

Food safety specialists from DIAL’s Food Safety Bureau began inspecting food vendors yesterday and will continue to make sure that all food items are prepared and served according to Iowa’s food safety laws for the remainder of the fair. Food inspectors will also respond to food safety concerns expressed by fairgoers.

Personnel from DIAL’s Building and Construction Division have been inspecting sections of the state fair amusement rides prior to assembly since Aug. 3, 2024. Inspectors will check the rides daily for correct blocking and fencing distances used to keep riders safe from the machinery. In addition to daily checks, the inspectors will also make sure the ride operators are conducting their own inspections of the rides. The division is responsible for licensing and regulating elevators, conveyances, boilers, pressure vessels, and amusement rides across Iowa.

DIAL Director Larry Johnson, Jr., says “The Iowa State Fair is one of the top events in the country. DIAL’s role is to ensure the Fair maintains its excellent reputation of safety and fairness. Our team of dedicated employees works in partnership with hundreds of vendors to ensure the Fair is a success.”

The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing is committed to protecting the health and safety of Iowans through regulation and oversight of health care, food, gaming, building and construction, and labor practices; professional licensure; application of administrative law; and investigation of Medicaid and welfare fraud.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department says a Creston woman was briefly detained and then cited, Thursday afternoon. 58-year-old Lorie Ann Stoneberger was charged with allegedly allowing an Animal to run At Large. Stoneberger was cited and released from the scene, on a Promise to Appear in court. And, at around 1:30-a.m. today (Friday), Creston Police arrested 46-year-old Brandie Sue Whitney, of Creston, for Driving While Barred. Whitney was taken to Union County Jail and released after posting a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI]— One of the greatest celestial shows of the year is nearly upon us — the Perseid (Per’SEE-id) meteor shower! While the Geminid meteor shower typically takes the cake for the greatest meteor display, it’s also during the second week of December which usually means much colder temperatures which can make for less comfortable viewing. The Perseids, which get their name from the constellation they appear to radiate from, Perseus, can bring up to 50-75 meteors per hour and have also produced more long-lived “fireballs.”

The peak of the Perseid meteor shower this year will be the night of Sunday, Aug. 11, into Monday, Aug. 12. The forecast does look like it could include some clouds and even a few showers. With that said, meteor activity has already picked up as the Perseids are a large meteor shower, and viewing will still be good Saturday evening into Sunday and possibly Monday evening into Tuesday as well. You can also watch the Perseid meteor shower online for free this weekend courtesy of astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project. The first livestream will begin at 9 p.m. EDT on Aug. 11 (0100 GMT on Aug. 12,) and the second will begin at 9 p.m. EDT on Aug. 12 (0100 GMT on Aug. 13.), weather permitting.

The Perseus constellation will be rising from the northeast Sunday night, which is the location from which the meteors will radiate, but with how large this meteor shower will be, we’ll likely see meteors throughout the night sky. Make sure to keep a broad view so you can pick them out. The moon will set Sunday at 11:22 p.m., making the night sky even darker. If you’re viewing Saturday night or Monday night, moonset will be 10:59 p.m. and 11:51 p.m., respectively.

(Space.Com: The Perseid meteor shower will peak around Aug.11-12, 2024. (Image credit: Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images))

Under perfect conditions, you may be able to see as many as 50 meteors per hour. Some years have had far more, with up to 150 meteors per hour, but that’s a rare circumstance. Again, this meteor shower has the possibility of shooting an occasional fireball across the sky as well, which is really a sight to see!

Meteors are produced from comet particles and debris from broken asteroids. When comets and asteroids navigate around the Sun, they create a train of dust and debris in their wake. Each year, the Earth rotates through the trail of debris, allowing it to impact the atmosphere and become visible to the naked eye.

(Radio Iowa) – When students return to Gehlen Catholic Middle and High School in Le Mars in a few weeks, they’ll be facing a new “no cell phone” policy. Principal Bryan Paulson says they’ve tried restricting cell phone use in the past, but it just wasn’t working. “Each classroom in grades seven through 12 had a cell phone holder, and the kids were to turn their cell phones in to the holders with the teachers, and then they would get the cell phones back at the end of class,” Paulson says. “Some students were just leaving them in their pockets. They were trying to just leave them in their bags. Cell phones were a big distraction in the hallways in between classes.”

The policy going into effect this fall will force all students to surrender their devices upon entering the building. “When the students get here in the morning, they will come to our center meeting area, and we actually have cell phone lockers. If you talk to the kids, they call them ‘jails,’ but there’s an actual case,” Paulson says. “Each kid will be assigned a slot to put their cell phone and their devices into, and then they’ll go off to class for the day, and we’ll lock those up.”

Under the plan, phones will be passed back out to students in the final five or so minutes of the day. Paulson says cell phone use by students was having a negative impact on their behavior and attitudes toward learning — and some weren’t engaged in the classroom. “Students were rushing through their tests just so they could get on their phone,” Paulson says. “We had a couple of teachers tell us, if they saw one student go on their phone, other students would start to wonder what they were doing on their phone, if they were Snapping, if they were missing something on TikTok. So we kind of saw their anxiety rise.”

There will be exceptions to the policy for students who need their phones during the day to contact a parent or to go to a doctor’s appointment. Paulson says Gehlen Catholic parents are urged to discuss the matter, and the new policy, with their children.