A children’s garden at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women at Mitchellville is nearing completion thanks to the efforts of students from Iowa State University. Julie Stevens, an I-S-U professor of landscape architecture, says the garden is located just outside the prison’s visiting room. Stevens notes, young visitors sometimes spend all day at the prison after being in the car for hours. “This garden really gives children and other visitors an opportunity to be physically active, do different kinds of activities with their mom or aunt or grandmother, whoever they’re visiting,” Stevens says. “It’s also a distraction. We see it as a positive, natural distraction from the rest of the institution. We can’t forget that we’re working inside of a prison.”

While she initially thought prison management would be tough as nails, Stevens says it was refreshing to work on this garden project. “The Iowa Department of Corrections is incredibly progressive, they’re one of the most progressive correctional units in the country,” Stevens says. “They’re very much focused on treatment and helping these women, and the men in the men’s institutions, really better their lives and get back out into society more prepared to be a part of our communities.”  Stevens hopes there can be future collaborations between the design students from I-S-U and the women’s prison. “This is a huge population. There’s over 700 women in there. It’s a really large campus and there’s lots of needs for different types of outdoor spaces,” Stevens says. “We’ve built other therapeutic gardens. They’re very well used and received. Certainly, we’d like to see more trees, more recreation spaces.”

The goal is to have the garden completed within a few days. A dedication ceremony is slated for Friday, June 1st.

(Radio Iowa)

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, has announced she will hold a town meeting in Taylor County, Wednesday, as part of her 99 county tour to hear from constituents in the area about the issues most important to them. The town meeting, which takes place 11:15-a.m. at the Lenox Community Center (210 E. Dallas St.), is open to the public.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a Special Meeting 7:30-a.m. Tuesday, in the Schuler Elementary School Media Center. The Board will hold a Closed Session (per Iowa Code), to discuss a personnel matter, followed by action in an open session, on 2018-19 Coaches/Sponsors Continuing Contracts.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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AUSTIN, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is recalling more than 228,000 pounds of Spam and another product made by Minnesota-based Hormel after four consumers complained about metal objects in the food. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says the canned chicken and pork in question was produced in February at the company’s plant in Fremont, Nebraska. The agency says “minor oral injuries” have been reported. The recall covers 12-ounce metal cans containing “SPAM Classic” with a “Best By” date of February 2021 date. Those products were shipped throughout the U.S.

The production codes are F020881, F020882, F020883, F020884, F020885, F020886, F020887, F020888 and F020889.

The recall also includes 12-ounce metal cans of “Hormel Foods Black-Label Luncheon Loaf” with a “Best By” date of February 2021. Those products were shipped only to Guam, with production codes F02098 and F02108.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports three people were arrested Sunday, on separate charges. Just after 2-a.m., 40-year old David Benjamin Crowder, of Glenwood, was arrested for Public Intoxication, following an incident in the campground at Viking Lake State Park, east of Stanton. Crowder was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond. At around 9:37-p.m., following a traffic stop in Stanton, Montgomery County Deputies arrested 36-year old Robert Dean Surrell, of Corning, for Driving while license suspended. Surrell was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $566 bond.

And, at around 11:55-p.m. Sunday, 27-year old Chad William Perkins, of Villisca, was arrested following a traffic stop northeast of Villisca. Perkins was charged with Driving While License Suspended, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was also set at $566.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports two incidents occurred at Lake Icaria, Sunday. At around 7:30-p.m., Officers from Lake Icaria received a report about persons smoking marijuana in a vehicle parked in a parking lot. Adams County K9 “Baxo” was deployed and alerted to the presence of narcotics on a vehicle located in the area of the caller’s information. The vehicle was impounded. The case remained under investigation. At around 9-p.m., Adams County Dispatch received a call from a person  who was concerned about an intoxicated person getting ready to leave the beach at Lake Icaria. Deputies arrived and located the vehicle in question. They arrested Desirae Herbold, of Corning, for OWI/1st Offense.

Haley

Herbold

And, at around 11:19-p.m., Sunday, Adams County Deputies responded to a welfare check in the 800 block of Adams Street, in Corning. Upon further investigation, Brandon Haley, of Corning, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Interference with Official Acts.

Red Oak Police report a man was taken into custody at around 10:15-p.m. Sunday, for Simple Assault. 44-year old Henry A. Evans (no city of residence given), was taken into custody and booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300.

It’s been a record-shattering weekend, weather-wise, in much of Iowa. “How quickly we went from a rather wintry April to a very summer-like May.” That’s Cory Martin of the National Weather Service office in Johnston. Heat advisories were issued for central and northwest Iowa on Sunday. “It’s just a strong ridge of high pressure that’s right now pretty much parked over the central tier of the country and that’s brought some unseasonably hot conditions,” Martin said, “a pretty early season heat wave.”

Several locations reported record highs on Sunday, including here in Atlantic, where our High of 100 beat the record of 91 set back in 1931. It was the second day in a row for a record setting temperature in Atlantic. Saturday’s High of 100 broke the record of 96 set in 1926. Carroll and Spencer reached the 100 degree mark, Sunday. The temperature reached 97 in Davenport, Ottumwa and Waterloo. It was 98 in Mason City. Fort Dodge and Des Moines reached 99 degrees.  Sioux City was the hottest spot — topping out at 101 degrees. “Definitely an unusual heat event to see this early in the season,” Martin says.

It may be a degree or two cooler today (Monday), but the temperatures are likely to still reach into record high territory, according to Martin. “Through the middle of the week, looks like temperatures are going to fall back a little bit. We’re looking at highs Wednesday maybe in the mid-to-upper 80s,” Martin says. “That’s still a few degrees above  normal for this time of year, but as we get back into Thursday and Friday, it looks like we’re going to warm right back up into the 90s and then we’ll be watching another system coming our way this weekend which may bring us some relief, but that’s still a little ways out, so it’s kind of tough to tell what to expect out of that at the moment.”

Temperatures in Iowa are usually in the mid-to-upper 70s this time of year. With all the heat AND humidity in Iowa right now, Martin says there’s plenty of instability in the atmosphere right now to fuel some thunderstorms. “The issue, if you’re looking at tornadoes right now, is the jet stream is pushed well north of the area,” Martin says. “We don’t have any stronger winds aloft that would typically help us with storm organization, to really get some significant severe weather going.”

Some of the record high temperatures for this date in Iowa were set more than a century ago, in 1895.

(Radio Iowa)