(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.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, late Thursday afternoon, arrested a man on an OWI charge. 30-year-old Dixon Michael Nelson, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 1200 block of E. Cherry Street, for OWI/1st offense (a Serious Misdemeanor). Nelson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

GREENFIELD, Iowa (KCRG) – On May 21st, 2024, an EF 4 tornado spun a trail of destruction through Greenfield. Nearby wind turbines were bent in half and set on fire. Dr. Bill Gallus, a Professor of Meteorology at Iowa State University, told KCRG-TV, that in addition to the hot and humid air, which fueled the storms on that fateful Tuesday, a short distance between the storms may have strengthened the Greenfield tornado.

Dr. Gallus said there was another tornado that was only passing maybe 5 miles to the northwest of the Greenfield tornado, [and while their] instruments [were] not nearly close together enough to understand exactly what happened, he thinks there was probably some type of interaction happening with those two tornadic storms.

Engineers design wind turbines to withstand wind speeds up to 140 miles per hour. Meteorologist and engineer Tim Marshall kept that in mind as he watched video of the Greenfield tornado. Marshall said they would normally anticipate the turbine blades would shred, and that they would come apart in pieces and that’s exactly what happened. The tower which supports the turbine nacelle and blades was stronger.

Now, scientists are using their knowledge of meteorology and wind turbines to upgrade the EF Scale. Engineers such as Dr. Partha Sarkar, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University, are working to better understand how tornado winds impair wind turbines.

WAUKEE, Iowa — The body of a 31-year-old man was pulled from a Waukee pond Thursday evening after hours of searching. According to KCCI, a water rescue was reported to have taken place in the 2500 block of Grand Prairie Parkway near the Holmes Murphy office building and UnityPoint Waukee Medical Park around 3:30 p.m.

According to the Waukee Fire Department, two boys were fishing on the pond and lost their pole. When a man who had been working in the area went into the water to retrieve the pole, he started to struggle and the boys called 911. When Waukee FD personnel arrived, they entered the water and began searching for the victim. Around 5 p.m., Waukee FD said belongings on the shore suggested the man was still in the water.

Shortly after 6 p.m., the Metro STAR team recovered the body of a 31-year-old male. No other information is available at this time.

WINTERSET, Iowa — Movie theaters in Winterset and Greenfield say they are not planning on showing the movie “Twisters” this summer. KCCI in Des Moines reports the Iowa Theater in Winterset made the announcement Tuesday on Facebook. Manager Scott Smith said he watched the trailer and felt uncomfortable with what he saw.

On March 5, 2022, Iowa experienced one of the deadliest and most damaging tornado outbreaks the state had seen in years, including an EF4 tornado that touched down in Winterset. Smith said the images in the movie hit too close to home. He said many of the visuals looked too similar to what happened in Greenfield this spring. A deadly EF4 tornado tore through the town located 25 miles west of Winterset in May, killing four people and injuring dozens more.

Movie poster for “Twisters”

In a statement made to KCCI, the manager of the Grand Theater in Greenfield, Deb Lundy, said: “The Grand Theater had been planning to show the Twisters movie since the beginning of the year. When the tornado hit us, I called my movie broker and between the two of us we decided it was not the right time for us to show that movie.”