(Radio Iowa) — New studies find farming remains one of the world’s most dangerous professions. Iowa State University Extension agricultural engineer,Chuck Schwab, is reminding Iowans in the industry to slow down and take breaks. “Agriculture, the industry as a whole, had roughly 2.2 deaths per 100,000 workers, which makes it the highest industry in the United States for the death rate,” Schwab says. That surpasses mining, construction, manufacturing and transportation. He says one reason for agriculture being so high with injuries and deaths is because it involves so many people from a wide age demographic. Schwab says, “We see a lot of the older farmers being hurt and again, when you’re talking about a uniqueness to this industry, agriculture doesn’t have that cap where when you get to 65, you stop farming.”

While older farmers may have many decades of experience, he says some of the tasks of farming become much more difficult and dangerous, the older you get. “What happens with older farmers, you tend to have different reactions times, you have balance issues, hearing issues, sight,” Schwab says. “All these senses play a role in how you make good, safe decisions and how to avoid injuries.” The same is true with younger generations, he says. The best thing a farmer of any age can do, according to Schwab, is take a break from the action and have a moment of rest. “The more your body is working and focused on a task without that break, you have a tendency to maybe not see some of the things that you would normally see,” Schwab says. “Or you put yourself at risk. You need to be hydrated. You need to have energy for your body.”

Besides helping your body recover, taking a break can also give your brain a rest from thinking about the chores at hand and you can come back to the job thinking more clearly.

Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County, Thursday evening, arrested a Villisca man for simple domestic assault and public intoxication. 47-year old William Edward Barr was taken into custody at around 6:45-p.m., in the 100 block of W. 6th Street, in Villisca. He was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Investigators say a state agency director who was a top ally of Gov. Kim Reynolds sexually harassed at least three female subordinates, routinely made inappropriate sexual comments and often drank on the job. An investigation found that Iowa Finance Authority director Dave Jamison grabbed one employee’s breasts in front of others at a bar near Okoboji in December 2016. The investigation found Jamison watched a pornographic video in front of that woman while they were driving together.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state ethics board says Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds did nothing wrong in accepting nine rides on private jets in the last 14 months, concluding they were legitimate in-kind campaign contributions allowable under Iowa’s gift law. The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board on Thursday considered complaints about a December trip to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, when Reynolds and family members flew on the jet owned by Sedgwick, a company with a $1 million state contract.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Relatives of the 22-year-old Iowa man charged in the stabbing death of a top amateur golfer from Spain say they are “devastated.” Collin Richards’ family said Thursday that their “thoughts and prayers” are with those close to Iowa State University student Celia Barquin Arozamena, whose body was found Monday in a golf course pond. Richards is charged with first-degree murder in Barquin’s death. Officers found Barquin’s body in the pond near the ninth hole at a public golf course in Ames.

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — A contempt charge has been dismissed against a former Iowa television reporter who was accused of violating a judge’s order last year not to take courtroom video of “The Bachelor” star Chris Soules. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that a judge dropped the charge against former KWWL reporter Elizabeth Amanieh on Thursday. KWWL published video of Soules’ April 2017 court appearance. Prosecutors said a judge had told Amanieh she wouldn’t allow video of the hearing.

Council Bluffs Police Thursday night reported an arrest has been made in connection with the robbery of a convenience store early Thursday morning. At around 5-p.m. Thursday, the Bluff’s P-D’s Uniform Division was contacted by Harrah’s Casino Security regarding a possible sighting of the suspect in the robbery of the Bucky’s store Thursday morning.

Officers were able to locate and detain 23-year old Nuradeen O Ahmend, of Omaha. The man was interviewed by the Criminal Investigaton Division, and, during the course of the investigation, the lead detective obtained information which led to the arrest of Ahmed on a charge of 2^nd Degree Robbery, in connection with the incident that took place at 3434 Nebraska Avenue, a little after 4:30-a.m., Thursday.

As we reported earlier, following the incident, officers were informed that a light skinned black male dressed in a red Nebraska Hooded Sweatshirt gave the clerk a note demanding merchandise and an undisclosed amount of money. After receiving the items, the man left the area on foot.

Nuradeen Ahmend

Police in Council Bluffs responding to a report of shots fired Thursday afternoon, arrested a man on two felony and four other less serious – charges. Officers arrested 45-year old Kevin Longo, of Council Bluffs, on the felony charges of Going Armed with Intent and Felon in Possession of a firearm, two-counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance (A serious misdemeanor), and lesser charges that include Possession Drug Paraphernalia and Discharging a firearm within the City Limits.

Officers were called to the area of Perrin and Lincoln Avenues at around 3-p.m. Upon arriving in the area, witnesses stated the suspect (Longo) had entered a truck in the alley south of Perrin Avenue. Officers located the truck and Longo, and were able to detain him without incident.

Their investigation revealed he had been involved in an argument with another man behind a house on 300 block of Lincoln Avenue. Longo became upset and pointed a gun at the male, then pointed it into the air, discharging the weapon. He then pointed the weapon at the male again before leaving. No one was injured during the incident.

A loaded .380 caliber handgun with a spent round was recovered at the scene.  Personal use quantities of methamphetamine and marijuana and drug paraphernalia were also recovered. Longo was booked into Pottawattamie County Jail on the aforementioned charges.

SPENCER, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials say flooding in northwest Iowa is causing multiple wastewater and manure discharges. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says 18 communities from Alton to Sioux Center have reported discharges from their wastewater treatment plants due to intense rains. Environmental specialist Lois Benson says 26 livestock operations also reported their manure storage systems were overflowing. Most of the discharging livestock facilities are in Lyon, Sioux, O’Brien and Clay counties.

The department is urging residents to stay out of floodwaters. Besides the risk posed by fast currents, floodwaters also carry debris and dangerous bacteria.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Investigators say a state agency director who was a top ally of Gov. Kim Reynolds sexually harassed at least three female subordinates, routinely made inappropriate sexual comments in the workplace and routinely drank on the job. An independent investigation released Thursday found that Iowa Finance Authority director Dave Jamison grabbed one employee’s breasts in front of several witnesses during a meeting at a bar near Okoboji in December 2016.

The investigation found Jamison watched a pornographic video on his cell phone in front of that woman while they were driving in a car for work in March. Investigators also found that Jamison repeatedly sexually harassed another female employee during work events, including twice when he asked her to go to his hotel room.

The report says employees may have been afraid to complain because Jamison frequently spoke about his close relationship with the governor, who promptly fired Jamison after two women came forward in March with complaints. The report found Jamison’s denials of incidents weren’t credible.

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — A judge has dismissed a contempt charge against a former Iowa television reporter who was accused of violating a judge’s order last year not to take courtroom video of “The Bachelor” star Chris Soules. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the contempt of court charge against former KWWL reporter Elizabeth Amanieh was dismissed Thursday.

KWWL published video of Soules’ April 2017 court appearance that Amanieh shot on her cellphone. Prosecutors said a judge had told Amanieh she wouldn’t allow video of the hearing and only photos would be permitted. The video of Soules was taken after he’d been arrested for a crash that killed Kenneth Mosher. Police say Soules rear-ended Mosher’s tractor and left the scene. Soules has pleaded not guilty.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — It was decades ago, but Sara Schwendinger remembers perfectly the panic she felt when she realized a car was following her as she ran along a country road at dusk, just outside her small Wisconsin hometown. She desperately tore into a cornfield and listened as the vehicle stopped. “I remember hiding in the cornfield and hearing them and then just running as fast as I could in the other direction and making it out of this cornfield and all the way to my house and being petrified,” she said. “That experience has never left me, and it’s 25 years ago.”

Now 41 and living in Des Moines, Schwendinger often recalls that evening as she hears comments yelled by passing motorists when she trains along city streets. It’s a disturbingly common part of life for female athletes, and it’s suddenly in the spotlight following the deaths of three women who were attacked while engaged in the sports they love. The killings raised alarms about how women can defend themselves and why they must be ready to fight off attackers in the first place.

“It’s not fair that they have a different situation than a man does,” said Steve Bobenhouse, the owner of a Des Moines-area running store and a longtime fixture in the city’s running community. “But it’s the way it is.” Iowa State University golf star Celia Barquin Arozamena was stabbed to death during a random attack while she was golfing by herself in broad daylight on a course not far from the campus, in Ames.

That attack came little more than a month after the body of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts was found hidden among corn stalks near her small hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. She had disappeared weeks earlier after going for a run. Police have charged men with murder in both of the Iowa killings. Tibbetts’ death prompted an outpouring from other runners, especially on social media under the hashtag #MilesforMollie.

Hundreds of women shared their experiences of being harassed and followed and vowed to keep running as a show of defiance. After Tibbetts’ death, Bobenhouse’s store set up a meeting to discuss safety issues and had to move the gathering to the city’s main library due to an overwhelming response. More than 200 women gathered that night to hear from police and share best practices on how to stay safe while running alone.

Kathleen Meek, who helped organize the event, said a key issue is situational awareness. “I’d be the first one to say that, even walking, I’ve had headphones in and I’ve thought ‘Oh my gosh. I don’t even know who’s around me,” Meek said. She urged women to “know what’s going around you so you can be confident in what you’re doing.”

Other suggestions included using the buddy system, joining a running/biking club and informing others of intended routes should something go wrong. Des Moines police spokesman Paul Parizek, who hosted the meeting, also warned women to know their abilities and understand their limitations should they find themselves in imminent danger. “There’s a lot of conversation now, especially since Mollie Tibbetts’ (death), about, do I need a gun? Do I need a stun gun? Pepper spray? What do I need? Well, that depends on what you’re willing to do, what you think you need to do and what you’re capable of doing,” Parizek said.

According to Joseph Giacalon, a retired New York City detective and sergeant who now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, one of the ways that women can also put themselves in danger is when they share their whereabouts on social media. Giacalon says his warnings to his students not to announce their plans on Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat can “fall on deaf ears.” But he also tells his students to change up their routines as often as they can and make sure their headphones aren’t turned up too loud to for them to not know what’s happening around them.

“These guys are just looking for that opportunity,” Giacalon said. “Women, specifically, need to be mindful of their surroundings, unfortunately, when they’re going out.”
If there’s one thing Parizek, Giacalon and Schwendinger agree on, it’s that women shouldn’t have to face these issues to begin with. But they do, and Schwendinger, the cross country coach at Roosevelt High in Des Moines, said it happens to her so often that she’s “almost” unfazed when she’s harassed while running. Recently, a truck full of men yelled out lewd comments to her in the middle of the day on a busy main street between downtown and the airport.

To Schwendinger, the issue is less about women learning to protect themselves and more about changing the dialogue about women being objectified. “We shouldn’t have to arm ourselves against men who are making those decisions,” she said. “You teaching me how to throat punch a guy is all well and good. But why do I need to be in the position to throat punch a guy?”

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 45-year old Chantel Sue Dewall, of Villisca, was arrested Tuesday on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Child Endangerment, and OWI 1st Offense. Dewall was released the following day on $3,000 bond.

Two people were arrested on drug charges, Monday, following a traffic stop in Cass County. 33-year old Michael Lane Charles, listed as homeless, was arrested on charges of Possession of Marijuana 3rd Offense, and OWI 1st Offense. 27-year old Kai Anthony Merritt, of Apple Valley, CA, was arrested on a charge of Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense. Both men were taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day, on $1,000 $2,000 bond, respectively.

This past Saturday, Cass County Deputies arrested 31-year old Jessica Leann Blumberg of Atlantic, on a charge of OWI 1st Offense. Blumberg was taken to the Cass County Jail where she was released the following day on her own recognizance.

And on Sunday, 35-year old Crystal Kay Namanny, of Atlantic, was arrested on a felony charge of Assault with Intent to Do Injury, and Assault with Intent to Commit Bodily Injury (an Aggravated misdemeanor).