(Radio Iowa) – Former Iowa Congressman Steve King has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. King says Ramaswamy is principled and smart — and knows the Constitution. King and Ramaswamy are outspoken critics of giving Summit Carbon Solutions eminent domain authority to force unwilling landowners to let the carbon pipeline run through their property.

King, in a written statement, praised Ramaswamy for promising to pardon peaceful January 6th protesters if he’s elected president and to end birthright citizenship. King served nine terms in the U-S House, but was rebuked by some fellow Republicans for controversial comments, stripped of his House committee assignments and defeated by Randy Feenstra in a Republican Primary in 2020.

King endorsed Fred Thompson before the 2008 Iowa Caucuses and campaigned with Ted Cruz in 2016. State Treasurer Roby Smith endorsed Ramaswamy this summer. Former Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz and former Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman are on Ramaswamy’s campaign team and often introduce the candidate at events.

Ramaswamy has wrapped up his second tour of Iowa’s 99 counties and has five more stops on his schedule today (Wednesday).

(Creston, Iowa) –  Officials with the Creston Police Department say two people were arrested early this (Wednesday) morning in the 1700 block of W. Townline Road. Authorities report 48-year-old Jennifer Suzanne Donez, of Cromwell, and 24-year-old Wiley James Lewallen, of Riverside, TX, were arrested on charges of Interference with Official Acts and Provide False Identification. Donez and Lewallen were being held in the Union County Jail, with bond set at $600 each.

Late Tuesday morning, Creston Police arrested 22-year-old Jesus Eduardo Gallo, of Mission, TX. He taken into custody at the Union County Law Enforcement Center and charged with Failure to Appear. Gallo posted a $2,000 bond and was released from the Union County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa — A man charged in a deadly crash with a tow truck driver will go on trial for vehicular homicide next month. According to court documents, Dmytro Prysich hit Joshua Villa, as Villa was getting out of his truck to help with a separate crash along Interstate 80/35, back in November.

Dmytro Prysich

Investigators say Prysich then left the scene. He was later pulled over and arrested by police in Clive. His trial is now scheduled to start Feb. 26.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa Healthcare officials say they have now performed over 10,000 robotic procedures, the program plans to continue growing. Robotic procedures have expanded to a variety of disciplines in UIHC from cardiac surgeries to transplants. These tools are specialized in soft-tissue procedures. Hospital staff use robotics in roughly 100 cases every month.

In a social media post, the UIHC said “Our Perioperative Robotics Program recently celebrated its 10,000th soft-tissue surgery using robotics and is performing approximately 100 cases per month, thanks to the collaborative work of the surgical specialties and expanded training programs for nurses and residents.” UIHC Medical Director of Robotic Surgery, Dr. David Bender, MD, says “Robotic procedures are done across all surgical disciplines for patients in need of surgery—many of whom have cancer. Urology, gynecologic oncology, thoracic oncology, general surgery and otolaryngology are among the specialties using this technology every day.

Robotics Nurse, Julie Delancey, RN, and nurse Megan Mulholland, RN, BSN prepare an Operating room and robot for a Robotic Prostatectomy at UIHC on Monday, November 7, 2022. (UIHC Facebook photo)

The program has been a 20-year work-in progress, with more than 40 surgeons having learned how to operate these machines. UIHC started rolling in robotic procedures over the last several years, but now the hospital says they’re used every day.

UIHC Robotics surgical specialists, nurses & residents. (UIHC Facebook photo)

AMES, Iowa (KCCI) -The FBI is now joining in the investigation into a missing five-year-old girl in Iowa. KCCI reports that Avery Doherty of Ames has been missing since October. Police believe her mother, Esther Bender, took her. She does not have custody of her daughter. Avery is 4′5″ and weighs 45 lbs. She has blonde hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who’ve resolved to lose weight in the new year might need a little help in reaching their goals. Rebecca Cripe, a registered dietician and nutritionist with Gundersen Health System, says it’s not an easy task to change our eating habits and consulting with a professional will increase the chances for success. “We are trained to look at health from a medical standpoint and how food, exercise, hydration and proper self care fit into that,” Cripe says. “We’re always going to do an assessment to see what’s inconsistent, is there too much of one thing, not enough another thing, and what that individual’s goals are and how we can start creating some balance with that.”

If you want to make the change and drop some pounds, Cripe says don’t wait until March, find a registered dietician now, as she says their primary goals are education and problem solving. “I might have a patient at the end of an initial appointment that will say, ‘Gosh, there’s a lot that I want to work on,’ and I’ll say, ‘Absolutely, but we’re going to have time to do that,'” Cripe says. “The average time to make a good lifestyle change is at least six months, so we’re going to take small steps. We might meet every two to three weeks, maybe four weeks, and implement small goals that are realistic.”

Especially with the new year, there’s a lot of messaging with fad diets that there’s a problem with the individual if weight loss goals aren’t met, and that’s not right, according to Cripe. She says we need to go into the process with realistic expectations. “Managing health, weight specifically, is multi-factorial. That means there’s many factors that go into that,” Cripe says. “It’s somebody’s genetics, it’s somebody’s other health issues, it’s our environment, it’s a lack of support, it’s the readiness to change. There’s so many little areas, so seek the help to individually see what’s going to fit for you and seek that support to help.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is facing a shortage of attorneys, and prosecutors in one northwest Iowa county are working harder to keep up. Woodbury County Attorney James Loomis says his office needs five more attorneys to be at the full capacity of 18, so he and his staff are working longer hours to cover an increasing criminal caseload. “So, it’s lent itself to many challenges,” Loomis says. “My day usually starts at six o’clock in the morning, and it usually ends around midnight, and then, I get up the next day and do it all over again.” The county recently approved higher salaries to try to entice people to apply.

The president of the Iowa State Bar Association, Ian Russell, says there is a need for lawyers in all areas of the profession, especially in smaller communities and for indigent defense work. “If there was a single reason why,” Russell says, “I would address that reason and do my best to fix it.” Russell says it’s a combination of factors that are keeping some from pursuing a career in law. “Some of it’s just the aging population, some of it’s people not interested in law,” Russell says. “Some if it’s people not interested in being in Iowa.”

From 2014 to 2022, the number of licensed lawyers who live and practice in the state has fallen by more than 260, or about 3.5%.

(Radio Iowa) – State lawmakers are being urged to provide incentives to attract much-needed first responders. Woodbury County Emergency Services Director Scott Mitchell says many small towns and cities across the state struggle with finding enough people to serve as firefighters, ambulance drivers, and E-M-Ts. “The volunteers aren’t there anymore, and I don’t know if it’s not the community dedication is like it used to be, but it’s becoming a very, very large issue,” Mitchell says. Mitchell is the mayor and volunteer firefighter for the small community of Hornick. He says there needs to be something that gives new recruits a reason to volunteer.

“You got to put in the training. There’s no incentive whatsoever for younger people to do it. And why would they want to give up their time if there’s nothing, they’re gonna gain?,” he says.

Mitchell made his comments during a recent legislative forum in Sioux City, where county supervisors and city clerks challenged lawmakers to find creative ways to attract recruits. Some suggestions include providing state-issued health insurance, access to the state retirement plan, and training grants.

(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist Justin Glisan says Iowa had a bit of a snow drought last month. “Climatologically December is the snowiest month for Iowa,” Glisan says. “The preliminary statewide average is 1.4 inches. That’s 6.5 inches below average.” Despite the lack of snow, December was one of four months out of 2023 that wound up with ABOVE average precipitation.

“A majority of our precipitation was rainfall and that rainfall was gradual over several days and it was able to soak in,” Glisan says. That’s because December temperatures were above average, keeping the ground from freezing solid. Glisan says there is a storm system in the Pacific Ocean that’s headed east. The long-term forecast indicates it may bring rain AND snow to Iowa as early as this weekend. Glisan cautions, though, that the storm system could weaken as it makes landfall on the west coast and moves across the Rockies.

(Radio Iowa) – A local official is calling for changes at the State Training School for Boys in Eldora. Hardin County Supervisor B-J Hoffman says the school should no longer be part of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. “We’ve asked that the state of Iowa transition the State Training School to the auspices of the Department of Corrections and put some actual security out there,” Hoffman says, “where they can stand up and not take a beating from these young men and there’d be some consequences.” Hoffman says Hardin County taxpayers are footing the bill for the response when juveniles at the facility get violent.

“It’s just a revolving door of charges and law enforcement presence at that facility,” Hoffman says. Minors who’ve committed crimes and declared delinquent in juvenile court are placed in the State Training School for Boys. In 2020, a federal judge ordered staff to quit using extended periods of solitary confinement and a full-body canvas wrap as discipline. A 2021 consultants report found mental health treatment and behavior modification had improved at the facility, but student assaults on other students continued to escalate. Hoffman, the Hardin County supervisor, says a number of violent offenders has jumped dramatically.

“That amount of violence has caused the Hardin County Attorney’s Office to be significantly more engaged than we ever have before,” Hoffman says. Hoffman says it’s interfering with the day-to-day operations at the Hardin County Attorney’s Office. According to the county’s website, there are two attorneys, a legal secretary and a paralegal working in the county attorney’s office.