(Radio Iowa) – Many thousands of Iowans will be watching pro football on T-V Sunday and dozens of state troopers will be watching the highways after the big game for drivers who are putting themselves — and others — at risk. Trooper Paul Gardner, who’s based at the Iowa State Patrol office in Fort Dodge, says they’re planning to project a much more visible presence on the state’s roads than a normal Sunday. “Whether you’re rooting for the Chiefs or the 49ers, there’s going to be one way to win this Sunday: Let’s make sure everyone gets to the end zone, which is home safely,” Gardner says. “Our troopers will be out watching for impaired and drunk drivers. We highly encourage you to get a designated driver. Whether you’re hosting a party or attending a party, make sure that everyone gets home safely.”

If you plan to watch the game at a local watering hole or at a friend’s house, Gardner says it’s vital that you come up with a plan ahead of time to get yourself home. “Your most valuable player in these cases is going to be a sober, designated driver to get everyone home safely,” Gardner says. “That game plan should start now to get preparations going so that we can get people in line to be able to get people home, and that’s for parties that involve alcoholic beverages. We know that they’re going to be out there. We certainly encourage people to go out and have fun, but just please, do it responsibly.”

Gardner says last year’s Super Bowl Sunday did -not- bring a significant increase in traffic accidents or deaths in Iowa, and he hopes for a similar result this weekend. Trooper Kevin Krull, who’s based in Spencer, says for the cost of a drunk driving conviction, you could attend the Super Bowl in person.  “So if you get picked up for OWI, you could have just as well went to the game and bought a ticket to be at the Super Bowl,” Krull says, “because of the $10,000 that you’re going to spend probably on the OWI, between the insurance costs that are elevated after the fact, the fines and attorney fees.”

The key phrase Krull wants everyone to know for this weekend’s festivities is, “Fans don’t let fans drive drunk.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, received Quarterly Reports from County Veterans Affairs Director Mitchell Holmes and Conservation Director Micah Lee.
Holmes said he only had one request for emergency assistance. That came from the widow of a veteran, whose thermostat on her furnace stopped working.

Holmes said his office filed 13 claims for federal disability benefits.

For the quarter, Holmes said his office assisted 210 individual veterans. They received 150 office visits and held 12 home visits. Conservation Director Micah Lee discussed maintenance activities from the past quarter. He said at Cold Springs State Park, they are planting trees to replace the 100-year-old Oak Trees that had to be removed due to Oak blight.

He said they’re planting more diversified trees in some places.

At the Nodaway Wildlife Area…

At the West Nodaway Wildlife Area, Micah Lee says they installed Winter Rye cover crops in their food plots to control erosion. Cover crops were also put in-place at the Hitchcock House near Lewis. And, at the Outdoor Classroom near Massena, they winterized the outdoor shelter. He said also, they applied for a Fish Habitat grant.

The fish that inhabited the pond were killed-off last year, due to an invasion of the common carp and some lesser desired species. The pond was treated under the ice to kill what Lee said were “thousands” of carp. He said they don’t know where the invasive carp came from. If the grant is approved, they hope to construct another silt pond with an inlet, making it about 5-to 6-feet deep, and eventually restock the pond with desirable fish.

The Supervisors also received a Monthly report from County Mental Health/General Relief Coordinator Debbie Schuler.

She also provided a report on her January data.

Schuler and the Board discussed proposed new legislation coming out with regard to the consolidation of mental health regions into districts. If approved, the 16 current regions would shrink down to seven districts, “Making the State as the payer of last resort,” according to Schuler. She says “That’s crazy…it will be interesting to see…” [what happens]. She says “It feels like we are reinventing the wheel.”

She says there are still many unknowns as to how the whole thing will “shake out.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, during their meeting Tuesday morning, in Atlantic, heard a request from Craig Meyer, of Lewis, with regard to refurbishing some benches near the Cass County Freedom Rock site, in Lewis.

He said Weirich Welding in Lewis, which manufactured the benches, would be willing to transport the benches to Red Oak, for powder coating, which is a durable, electrostatically applied and baked-on paint, that when heated in a large, industrial over, cures to achieve a hard, smooth surface that is tougher than commercial paint. It resists rust and scratches.

Meyer said he would like to have the benches powder coated and back in-place by Memorial Day.

The Board agreed to look into the costs and put the request on the agenda for their next meeting on February 20^th, as part of the budgetary process.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Two Iowa couples are among those suing a company that makes medical devices. The couples claim defective products ruined their efforts to get pregnant through In vitro fertilization (IVF). One of the couples lives in Cedar Rapids; the other, in Stanwood.

They’re suing CooperSurgical over defective culture media. That’s the liquid that goes in the petri dish where a woman’s egg is fertilized to create embryos. The liquid essentially mimics the environment inside the womb. The lawsuits claim CooperSurgical failed to make sure all the right nutrients were in this liquid before it was packaged and sold to clinics across the country.

CooperSurgical has released this statement to a number of outlets: “While we cannot address ongoing litigation, quality and compliance are fundamental parts of the value we provide to our customers and are our core focus. In accordance with the requirements of our quality management system, a media recall was initiated to proactively address any possible issue with our products while we continue to investigate.”

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI]— Iowa lawmakers are trying to restrict inappropriate content on children’s devices, but they also want to avoid legal battles with big tech companies. HF 2114 originally looked to make it so phone and computer manufacturers would have to already have parental controls activated for minors as they receive the phone. Only a parent or guardian would be able to deactivate the settings.

As it was originally written, anyone who wasn’t a parent or guardian who disabled the settings would face a serious misdemeanor and a fine of up to $5,000. A subsequent violation would be an aggravated misdemeanor with a fine of up to $50,000. The reworked version of the bill would task schools with educating kids on the dangers of pornography and about what they may encounter in general on social media. Parents would also be educated on what parental controls are available on devices.

The reworked bill also looks to stop minors from finding themselves on pornographic websites. The bill did pass through a House subcommittee Tuesday. It’s now eligible to be considered by the House Judiciary Committee.

JEFFERSON, Iowa [KCCI]— A man accused of abducting his son from an elementary school is pleading not guilty. Brandon Duong, 34, of Jefferson, was accused of removing his 7-year-old son from Greene County Elementary last week, prompting an Amber Alert that eventually ended without injury after an hourslong armed standoff.

Duong was charged with second-degree kidnapping, to which he is pleading not guilty, according to court documents filed this week. Duong is also accused of violating a custodial order. An arraignment is set for later this month in Greene County.

(Radio Iowa) – Waterloo’s crime rate fell six-percent last year, and an annual report credits the police department’s community engagement efforts. Violent crime is down nearly four-percent in the past year, property crime plummeted 17-percent, a for the first time since the pandemic, the city’s police department is fully staffed. Police Chief Joe Liebold (LY-bold) says that increase of about 15 officers enables the department to engage with the community more meaningfully. The chief says it’s easy to see the connection as it’s clearly making a difference to have more officers interacting with more citizens every day. Liebold also partially credits the drop in the crime rate to ongoing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training for his officers.

(Radio Iowa) – The paddlefish snagging season provides anglers a chance to snag an unusual fish on the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers that may’ve put on a lot miles in the water. The D-N-R’s western Iowa fisheries supervisor, Chris Larson, says they recently heard about a fish tagged in Iowa that was caught in one of the reservoirs in Tennessee.

Larson says the fish was tagged in 2013 when it was around 29 inches and had grown to 40 inches and was about 20 pounds heavier. Larson says paddlefish live well over 50 years. The Iowa paddlefish season runs through April 30th.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a traffic stop at around 9:15-p.m., Tuesday, resulted in the arrest of a woman on a drug charge. Deputies initiated the stop in the 2300 block of Highway 48. During their investigation, the Montgomery County K-9 Unit was deployed. Deputies arrested 43-year-old Alexandria Dawn Lasley, of Shenandoah, for Possession of Methamphetamine/2nd offense. Lasley was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

And, at around 2:30-a.m. today (Wednesday, Feb. 7), a traffic stop in the area of Q Avenue and 110th Street in Montgomery County resulted in the arrest of 27-year-old Brittany Marie Asay, of Atlantic, for Driving While Barred. Asay was also being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 5:20-p.m. Tuesday in Montgomery County resulted in the arrest of a man on a felony, OWI charge. Red Oak Police report the traffic stop was conducted at the intersection of Highway’s 34 and 48. Upon further investigation, 42-year-old Anthony Thomas Germann, of Villisca, was arrested for OWI/3rd or subsequent offense – A Class D Felony.

Germann was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on the $5,000 bond.