[COUNCIL BLUFFS] – Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Director Doug Reed, today (Friday) said “Based on received and anticipated precipitation in the current forecast and assessing that harvest is nearing 80% completion in the county, emergency management has requested the State Fire Marshal lift the current ban in Pottawattamie County effective today. “Residents are still urged to use caution after we come out of a few days of precipitation. Drought conditions have worsened in areas of the county and dead fuels won’t take long to dry out and easily support rapidly spreading fires.” Emergency Management urges all residents to sign up for Alert Iowa emergency notifications at https://pcema-ia.org. During emergencies or critical events, communication is key, and the Alert Iowa system is the county’s primary method of distributing alerts and information.

Logan, Iowa – An open burning ban remains in place for Harrison County. The open burning ban prohibits all open burning in Harrison County including all incorporated city limits within the county. Last (Thursday) night, residents in Harrison County received some much-needed rainfall. According to the National Weather Service in Omaha/Valley, Nebraska, residents saw on average a half inch to an inch of rainfall since Thursday afternoon. In Harrison County, reports indicate residents saw approximately 0.51 inches of rainfall overnight. Although this rainfall provided some relief to the dry conditions, Harrison County remains in a very high fire danger. The burn ban will remain in effect until conditions significantly improve.

Since the burn ban was implemented on October 28, 2022, fire departments have responded to eleven reported fires in the county. These fires have resulted in multiple departments and personnel called upon from Harrison County and the surrounding areas to extinguish them. Without the great work of our volunteer fire departments, these fires could have quickly become a very dangerous situation.

Harrison County Emergency Management Coordinator, Philip Davis stated, “We have been very fortunate that our local fire fighters recognize the need to act quickly, as these fires can quickly spread out of control. Even with the rainfall and the expected snowfall over the weekend, conditions are still volatile and extremely dry. Ground moisture is seeing unprecedented lows.”

Residents are encouraged to assist our local fire departments. Residents are reminded to properly discard cigarettes and to never throw them out of moving vehicles. Please reach out to farmers, property tenants, neighbors, friends and family and ask them to disk at least a forty-foot perimeter of all their fields.

For updated information on the burn ban, please visit the Harrison County EMA Facebook Page. Residents can also sign up to receive additional information by signing up to receive community alerts related to fire warnings, evacuation orders, severe weather threats as well as any emergency alerts issued from the community.

(Lebanon, Iowa) – The fight to win hearts and minds in the 2022 General Election continues until November 8th. And, while some in the political arena are sweating out these last few days over concerns Iowa may turns more blue or red, one candidate says he’s just looking forward in a positive light and is ready to accept the vote outcome, good or bad. Democrat Mike Franken is hoping to beat long-term Iowa Republican Congressman Charles Grassley in the upcoming election. He told KJAN News that he’s been trying to keep the rhetoric to a minimum, because it’s what the people want.

He says politicians should tone down the speeches and focus on what need to be done.

He says in some parts of the State, the “Iowa nice” mantra, seems to have been forgotten.

Retired Vice Admiral/Iowa Senate candidate, Mike Franken.

Franken says he isn’t a career politician. His advice for Iowans looking to get into politics on any level, is to remember “Don’t let power be corrupting.”

As for those who are heading to the polls on Tuesday, Franken of course, hoped you’ll vote for him instead of his opponent. But more importantly…

(Radio Iowa) – State officials are urging Iowans to be wary of scams that INCORRECTLY claim you can cast your vote online or by phone. Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens says his agency started investigating a Mahaska County case in September. “Phone calls were being made and attempting to gain either personal information or to leave a false impression that you could vote via the telephone,” Bayens says. “Obviously once that information gets passed up through the Mahaska County Sheriff’s office, it came into the Department of Public Safety and our FBI partners as well.”

As with most phone scams, Bayens says it’s been hard to track down the guilty party on the other end of the line. “Given current digital technology…they can bounce those numbers from across the United States or across the world and so we continue to kind of chase those breadcrumbs,” Bayens says. “In this particular instance, it does not appear that those calls generated in the state Iowa, but were from outside of Iowa.”

Election officials are reminding Iowans that every vote in Iowa is cast by paper ballot, either on Election Day or with an absentee ballot during the early voting period.

(Mount Ayr, Iowa) – The Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Clearfield was arrested Wednesday afternoon on drug charges. Authorities say 34-year-old Margaret J. Williams was arrested on an outstanding Ringgold County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd offense (Class-D Felony), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She also faces Felony charges of Theft/1st Degree (a Class C Felony) and a Controlled Substance Violation (a Class B Felony). Williams’ bond was set at $40,000.

During a Taylor County search warrant for stolen items on the western edge of Ringgold County, multiple items were recovered, controlled substances and paraphernalia seized. Two individuals were arrested, but an arrest warrant was issued for the defendant (Williams). She was located during another search warrant in Ringgold County and arrested on the outstanding warrant and additional charges. Margaret Williams was taken into custody and booked into the Ringgold County Jail.

Margaret J. Williams (Ringgold Co. S/O photo)

Investigative Department/Officers: Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office, Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, and Union County Sheriff’s Office

*Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations and any defendant are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – Parts of western Iowa could get snow late tonight (Friday) and into Saturday, with some forecast models showing the potential for several inches of accumulation. Conditions can change quickly and Iowa Department of Transportation spokesman Pete Hjelmstad says if there’s frost or snow covering your vehicle’s windows, it should be a no-brainer that you clear them off before trying to drive. “Unfortunately, many times, when I’m driving to work at 6:45 in the morning and I see people driving down the road and I really don’t know how they can see when I see their windshields,” Hjelmstad says. “You also see reports on social media a lot of times of the State Patrol or Motor Vehicle Enforcement or county sheriff’s or local city police departments pulling people over because their windows are not cleaned off.”

Hjelmstad says Iowans may need to brush up on their winter driving skills. No matter what the weather, drivers need to slow down, which is something he says hasn’t changed since the early days of the pandemic. “The theory is that there was so little traffic on the roads, and the roads were wide open, that people just felt they could drive fast and they have not changed their habits. There’s a lot of crashes because of speeding,” Hjelmstad says. “You are seeing a lot of times law enforcement posting pictures of somebody pulled over and their radar, and the radar is triple-digits. It’s beyond ridiculous.”

He says motorists would be wise to look before they leap into the driver’s seat. “Know what you’re getting into, check the weather forecast, check the 511 app,” he says. “Being prepared is knowing what’s out there.” Hjelmstad also suggests Iowans keep a winter survival kit in their vehicles.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police Investigators in Council Bluffs report an arrest was made Thursday in connection with an August injury accident on Interstate 29 southbound. Authorities say 20-year-old Evaristo Javier Garcia – who was wanted for two counts of Serious Injury by Motor Vehicle – turned himself-in to the Pottawattamie County Jail. Thursday (11/4/22). His next court date was set for November 10, 2022.

In our report following the Aug. 21, 2022 crash, authorities said the driver of a Dodge Challenger – now identified as Garcia – was operating the vehicle at speeds of more than 150-mph in a 70-mph speed zone when the car read-ended a Chevy S-10 pickup truck driven by 51-year-old Dorothy Drelicharz. The woman suffered multiple injuries during the crash. and was transported to the hospital by medical helicopter.

The passengers of the Dodge were transported to area hospitals by ambulance to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. Authorities said Garcia was being investigated for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

The Creston Police Department reports a traffic stop at around 2:50-a.m. today (Friday), resulted in the arrest of 30-year-old Taylor Parker, from Creston. Parker was taken into custody at Prairie Street and Sumner Avenue, on a charge of OWI/2nd offense. His bond was set at $2,000. And, at around 11:30-p.m. Thursday, 62-year-old John Edgar Dickerson, Jr., of Creston, was arrested at his residence for Possession of Controlled Substance – Marijuana 1st Offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Domestic Abuse Assault – 1st Offense. Dickerson was being held without bond in the Union County Jail until seen by a Judge.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The latest drought monitor released Thursday morning, shows just how badly Iowa could use rain. Right now, the entire state remains in some type of drought. Nearly 89% of Iowa is moderately dry with nearly 11% in extreme drought, that latter of which is showing up in northwest and western areas, and is up from seven-percent just last week. Cass and most contiguous Counties are shown to be in a Moderate drought, with parts of Shelby and Montgomery in a severe drought, along with Harrison, Mills, Fremont and Page Counties.

(Radio Iowa) – At the height of the pandemic, many Iowa drugs stores cut hours or closed a few days a week due to staff shortages, and pharmacists and pharm techs remain in very high demand. Liz Davis, director of admissions at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, says pharmacists play an exceptionally crucial role, as they’re arguably the state’s most accessible healthcare providers. “You can just walk into your community pharmacy and chat with a healthcare provider about ailments that you might be having versus calling your doctor, making an appointment, trying to travel to that appointment, and getting in to see a physician,” Davis says. “Our community pharmacists are so important in building those relationships and keeping our community safe and expanding that access to health care, especially in rural parts of the state of Iowa.”

Given the added stresses of the job during COVID, the state lost several dozen pharmacists due to burnout. While the U-I program graduates about one-hundred new pharmacists every year, that’s still not enough to meet demand from drug stores and hospitals statewide. “We are needing pharmacists in the pediatrics unit, in the emergency department, in the psychiatric units,” Davis says. “Over at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, there are probably 220 different pharmacists working there. They are all doing about 220 different jobs because they’re so unique in what they’re specializing in.” Davis says the U-I’s Assured Admission Program is designed to create a direct path for high school seniors to start a pharmacy education, headed for the Pharm-D, or Doctorate of Pharmacy degree. 

“If students are a part of the program, their spot in our PharmD program two years down the road from when they start at Iowa is theirs, as long as they pass all of their prereqs and dot all their Is and cross their Ts, that spot is theirs,” Davis says. “So it gives students that comfort, knowing, ‘Hey, as long as I do the things that they’re asking me to do, I can start the PharmD program.'” The U-I and Drake University in Des Moines offer the state’s only pharmacy programs. Davis says pharmacy technicians are also vital to keeping operations running smoothly, and they’re in high demand as well. “Anyone who wants to be a pharm tech, you just have to be 18 and have a high school diploma in the state of Iowa,” Davis says. “That’s a really great job for anyone in college or who’s wanting even just a part-time position to be a pharm tech. Also, most companies will help you pay to become a certified pharm tech, which is also really nice.”

Davis says U-I College of Pharmacy graduates are now practicing in 94 of Iowa’s 99 counties, while five in every ten pharmacists in Iowa were trained at the U-I.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Department of Agriculture announced that Carroll-based Region 12 Council of Governments had been selected to receive a 15 million-dollar grant from the new Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program. Region Executive Director Rick Hunsaker says the goal is to increase capacity. “As we saw during the pandemic, you’d have these big plants that would close down or that would make decisions that would impact everybody in the supply chain. The goal I think is not only to increase capacity so that there are more people making products and more places making them so that it can be a little more resilient,” Hunsaker says. He says more producers also means is increased competition and more markets for producers.

He adds the top four processing companies are excluded from the program to achieve those goals. Iowa joins Minnesota and North Carolina as the only states selected for this first round of funding. Hunsaker says the grant will be used as capital to start a revolving loan program for Iowa businesses involved in the meat packing supply chain. “We’ve heard rumors here and there of start-up lockers, interest in lockers expanding, and certainly we have a lot of producers in this region that could benefit from the increased competition where they might have more markets for their animals or ones that are closer so it’s cheaper to get their product to a producer,” He says.

Region 12 primarily includes west central Iowa, but this program is different, as it will be available to eligible applicants throughout the state. Hunsaker says initial funding targets kill facilities or secondary processors, but the program will open further within a few years. “That would include anybody that is U-S-D-A-inspected — so it’s going to be big meat packing plants — but not one of the big four. It could also be anybody that is custom-exempt, which as I understand it a lot of county lockers would be that way,” Hunsaker says. “They would be eligible for the funds. Once the moneys are revolved and come back in, it could be anybody in the middle part of that supply chain like wholesaling and aggregators and transportation companies.”

Hunsaker says they are already working with U-S-D-A to get Region 12’s staff trained on program administration, but it could be after the start of the new year before they are ready to begin accepting applications. Applicants interested in the program are encouraged to contact Region 12 directly for information.