The City of Waterloo is rethinking bicycle transportation by painting its first quarter-mile stretch of bike lanes green, while moving them away from the curb to help cyclist visibility and traffic flow. Kyle Durant, a transportation planner with the Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments, helped implement the changes. Durant says the previous lanes were dangerous for the city’s cyclists.

Durant says shifting the lanes clears up confusion and safety concerns for the city’s cyclists.

Cedar Rapids and Des Moines have similar green-painted bike lanes for better cyclist visibility and safety.

(Radio Iowa) – Rainfall in the spring and early summer briefly relieved drought in the Corn Belt but it also contributed to elevated nitrate concentrations in many of the region’s waterways. During dry years, nitrates from soil microbes and farm fertilizers can accumulate in fields until it rains and a lot of it flushes into rivers, lakes and sources of drinking water. America’s Watershed Initiative executive director Kim Lutz works across 31 states.

Steve Kalkhoff is a hydrologist with the U-S Geological Survey, which collects a lot of this data.

Lutz says this pollution is a problem for habitats in and around affected waterways… and it’s hurting industries like fishing and tourism. It’s also costing communities a lot of money to treat drinking water. But Lutz says new federal funding and conservation practices like cover crops can help.

(Radio Iowa) – Congress has failed for a second year to pass a new Farm Bill. The one-year extension of the legislation expired yesterday (Monday) and the temporary spending package congress approved last week to keep the government operating through December 20th did not include even a temporary continuation of Farm Bill policies. Congressman Zach Nunn, a Republican who represents Iowa’s third district, had hoped the U.S. House would vote on a version of the Farm Bill that won bipartisan approval in the House Ag Committee four months ago.

Congress is now on recess through November 12th. Nunn says even if the House had taken action, the Senate Ag Committee hasn’t developed its version of the five-year Farm Bill.

Nunn acknowledges congress won’t revisit Farm Bill negotiations until after the election.

Lanon Baccam is the Democrat who’s running against Nunn in this year’s election. Congressman Randy Feenstra, the Republican who represents Iowa’s fourth district, is also a member of the House Ag Committee. Feenstra says it’s been nearly 130 days since that committee passed its version of the Farm Bill. Feenstra says given low commodity prices and declining farm income, congress needs to approve a new Farm Bill to deliver certainty and relief for Iowa agriculture. Ryan Melton, the Democrat who’s running against Feenstra, says Feenstra is serving in the least productive U.S. House in modern history and the Farm Bill is long overdue.

CLIVE, IOWA – The Iowa Pork Producer’s Association reports the annual competition for the title of Iowa’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin has been whittled down from 40 restaurants to just five finalists across the state, showcasing the best of Iowa’s beloved, hand-breaded delicacy!

The top five restaurants still in the running for the coveted title this year, listed alphabetically, are:

• Bronson Bar – Bronson
• Dairy Sweet – Dunlap
• Ruby’s Pub and Grill – Stuart
• The Blind Pig – Monticello
• The Market at the Tap– Monticello

IPPA marketing and programs director Kelsey Sutter says “There were 532 restaurants nominated for our 22^nd annual contest, which goes to show that Iowans love their breaded pork tenderloins. Over the years, I’ve seen firsthand that Iowa has no shortage of these hand-breaded favorites.”

To win the “Iowa’s Best Breaded Tenderloin” title, a restaurant must offer the sandwich on their menu year-round. Seasonal eateries, caterers, concession stands, and food trucks are not eligible. While the style of tenderloin can vary, the pork must be hand-breaded or battered to qualify! This summer, judging commenced for the top 40 restaurants, selected from public nominations. The list featured the five restaurants with the most nominations in each of IPPA’s eight districts, ensuring statewide representation.

IPPA members and industry affiliates visited these locations anonymously, evaluating the tenderloins on pork taste, quality, physical characteristics, and presentation. After reviewing all 40 evaluations, IPPA’s Restaurant and Foodservice Committee chose five finalists to move on to the next round. A panel of three judges was then appointed to visit each finalist and determine the first and second place winners.

The winning restaurant and runner-up will be announced later in October, during a month-long celebration of pork called Porktober, or national pork month. The runner-up will receive $250 and a plaque from IPPA, while the winning restaurant will receive $500, a plaque, a banner, and statewide publicity—which has been known to send pork tenderloin sales hog wild!

Winners from the past five years:

• 2023 – Cliff’s Place, Manning
• 2022 — Lid’s Bar & Grill, Waukon
• 2021 — Victoria Station, Harlan (closed)
• 2020 — PrairieMoon On Main, Prairieburg
• 2019 — The Pub at the Pinicon, New Hampton

See the full list of past winners, dating back to 2003.

(Omaha, Nebraska) – Police in Council Bluffs have identified one of the victims of Friday’s early morning crash that killed an adult male and two juveniles, and resulted in three others, including a juvenile, being critically injured. Authorities say 70-year-old Michael Sales, of Council Bluffs, died in the crash that happened a little before 1:30-a.m., Friday, near the Gene Leahy Mall at around 10th and Douglas streets.

The crash involved a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 33-year-old Rachel Bickerstaff, and a 2017 Subaru Outback driven by Sales. Investigators said Bickerstaff was driving east on Douglas Street when her vehicle hit the Subaru from behind, pushing both cars to the east. The accident occurred as Sales had just completed a left turn onto Douglas Street from southbound 10th Street. After the impact, the Subaru hit a light pole. Authorities said the Jeep hit a tree and then rolled. The force of the crash caused both SUVs to hit barriers and catch on fire.

Two children were found dead inside the Jeep, Omaha police said. A 38-year-old man who was in the front seat and a child from the Jeep were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for initial treatment, and then were taken out of state to a specialized burn unit at another hospital, according to authorities.

Omaha police said crash investigators are consulting with the Douglas County attorney’s office on pending charges for Bickerstaff. Speed and alcohol are factors being investigated in the crash, according to Omaha Police.

Verizon customers across the United States reported a phone service outage today (Monday). At one point mid-day, Downdetector noted more than 103, 540 Verizon customers had reported an issue with phone service. By 2-p.m., that number was down to 47, 475. Metro areas most affected include Chicago, Phoenix, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Omaha and Las Vegas. Users on X, formerly known as Twitter, expressed issues to Verizon Support. Many users reported having the SOS setting on their phones.

“We are aware of an issue impacting service for some customers,” Ilya Hemlin, a representative for the company, said. “Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue.” The cause is not yet known.

Communities hit by Hurricane Helene have been experiencing cellphone outages due to the aftermath of the storm. Verizon assured it was prepared for the storm, saying on X, “Verizon is ready for Hurricane Helene with 550 portable network assets and 1,000 mobile generators, ensuring communities, businesses and first responders stay connected. Verizon also has resources in place to support affected employees.”

(Radio Iowa) – More than a dozen American Red Cross volunteers from Iowa are now on duty in several southern states that saw destruction from the powerful winds, heavy rain and flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. Josh Murray, spokesman for the agency’s Nebraska-Iowa region, says they’ve dispatched 15 people to a list of sites were they’re needed the most.

Murray says the Iowa volunteers will be performing a series of valuable tasks while they’re deployed, including those driving the big white emergency response vehicle, or ERV.

Once it’s safe, others will be doing damage assessments in neighborhoods to determine the extent of the storm’s fury and what Red Cross resources will be needed.

The storm’s death toll is expected to top one-hundred while hundreds of thousands of people remain without power. Murray says there are several ways in which Iowans can help the Red Cross to help storm survivors.

The Red Cross deployed more than 45 emergency response vehicles across the southeast with another two dozen ERVs enroute. Murray says some 1,400 agency disaster workers are already helping, with more on the way.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers airing concerns about the delivery of absentee ballots for this year’s election. Hinson and other members of a House subcommittee quizzed the head of the U-S Postal Service during a hearing late last week.

Hinson mentioned the letter election officials from around the country sent Postmaster General Louis DeJoy earlier this month. The letter cited concerns the Postal Service had not made improvements to address the late delivery of absentee ballots that prevented those votes from being counted in 2022 and 2023 elections.

DeJoy says a year-round task force in the Postal Service has been focused on delivering mail-in ballots and he’s having meetings with Postal Service executives twice a week to review progress. Hinson asked DeJoy how complaints about ballot delivery issues will be handled.

DeJoy told lawmakers the Postal Service is pausing its consolidation of mail processing centers in October and the first half of November, to accommodate absentee ballot deliveries. The Republican who led the committee said those changes have caused broad problems with the delivery of all mail. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says those are major systematic changes and Iowans want delivery problems fixed.

DeJoy says nearly all mail-in ballots in the last presidential election were delivered within seven days, which he describes as the commonsense and recommended time frame for processing and delivering mail.

[UPDATED] (Radio Iowa) – A Sioux City man was found dead in his pickup after it went off Interstate-29 and into the Missouri River Friday. Sioux City Police Sergeant Tom Gill says it happened around 5:30 p-m Friday.

Gill says a passenger in the truck was able to get out and made it to shore.

The driver has been identified as 55-year-old Delana Jackson of Sioux City. The passenger in the truck has not been identified.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Nebraska was arrested Thursday morning (Sept. 26) in Nebraska. 56-year-old James Mut Nyang, of Bellevue, NE, was picked-up from Nebraska authorities, on an Adair County warrant for Violation of Probation. Nyang was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $2,o00 bond.