(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa G-O-P’s chairman says Governor Kim Reynolds has delayed selecting a new lieutenant governor because she’s focused on the election. Jeff Kaufmann says Reynolds is busy campaigning with Republican candidates who’re on the 2024 ballot. “She is everywhere and anywhere right now. This is not the right time to actually be basically running the party — she’s the titular head of the party — and at the same time picking the person who is going to be the lieutenant governor,” Kaufmann says. “And we have in the case, God forbid, of a disaster, you know, the senate president could step in.”

Adam Gregg resigned as lieutenant governor in early September and the president of the Iowa Senate is next in line of succession. Kaufmann says Reynolds is a methodical decision maker and that’s how she’s approaching this situation. Kaufmann made his comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S — and he was asked who may be on the governor’s list as potential picks for lieutenant governor.

Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann (Iowa PBS photo)

“If I sat here and speculated…what do you think the chances are that Kim Reynolds would return my next phone call?” Kaufmann replied. Kaufmann has been chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa since 2014, when Terry Branstad was governor and Reynolds was lieutenant governor.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report ranks Iowa 13th in the nation for the health of women and children. The report, America’s Health Rankings by the United Healthcare Foundation, analyzed more than 100 indicators of women’s and children’s health. It shows Iowa women have one of the lowest rates of unemployment and among the highest rates of high school graduation. Lisa Saul, chief medical officer of women’s health for United Healthcare, says Iowa’s alcohol use also stood out.

“One being that it was high among adolescents,” Saul says, “but we also see that Iowa is in the lower half when we compare it to the rest of the country in terms of excessive drinking among women ages 18 to 44.” Saul says there are some categories where the state ranked high.  She says, “The low prevalence of unemployment among women, the high prevalence of high school completion, as well as the low housing cost burden among households with children.”

The report also found Iowa women rank low in terms of exercise habits and for eating fruits and vegetables.

(Afton, Iowa) – The driver of a semi was seriously injured when the truck crashed and burned late Thursday afternoon near Afton, in Union County. The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a call came in to the Communications Center at around 4:40-p.m., about a 2001 International semi tractor-trailer that was found on fire in a ditch off of Redwood Avenue near 220th Street. When a sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene, he was informed that the driver of the truck, 55-year-old Mark John Becker, of Tingley, was out of the vehicle, and was pulled away from the burning vehicle.

The deputy observed the semi was on its side in the east ditch, and the fire had spread about nine-yards in front of the vehicle before being extinguished. Firefighters were working to treat Becker in a pile of corn just east of the semi. The owner of the semi told the deputy that Becker was driving for him, and was hauling corn they had just finished loading. A firefighter on the scene that it appeared that the fire started from the semi’s hot muffler and spread in the dry grass, to the cab.

Becker suffered burns to his lower legs and head/neck injuries. He was transported by helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. A report on his condition was not provided. The Union County Sheriff’s Department report said a ticket would be issued to the truck owner, David Cheers, for “Permitting an unauthorized person to drive.” The semi sustained $10,000 damage and was a total loss.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest at around 2-a.m. today (Friday), of 47-year-old Shawn Jason Parmenter, of Creston. He was taken into custody at Highway 35 and Industrial Park, with the assistance of the Adams County K9 “Midge.” Parmenter was transported to the Union County Jail and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine – 1st offense. He was later released on a $1,000 bond.

CLIVE, Iowa — Officials with the Iowa Lottery say for just One-dollar, Anita Kent, of Burlington added the Power Play® option to her Powerball® ticket, and won a $100,000 prize. Kent won in Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, matching four white balls and the Powerball. The winning numbers in Wednesday’s drawing were 2-15-27-29-39 and Powerball 20. The Power Play was 2. The added Power Play multiplied her initial $50,000 prize to $100,000. She claimed her prize Thursday at the lottery’s regional office in Cedar Rapids.

Kent is the second Iowa Lottery player to claim a big Powerball prize in the past week. Anders Carlson of Forest City won a $50,000 Powerball prize in the Oct. 16 drawing. He purchased his winning ticket at Kwik Star, 806 U.S. Highway 69 N. in Forest City, and claimed his prize Oct. 18 at the lottery’s regional office in Mason City.

Powerball is played by 48 lotteries across the country with drawings at 9:59 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

FORT DODGE, Iowa — A Fort Dodge woman hit by a car while crossing the street Oct. 18th, has died. The Iowa State Patrol confirms she was 72-year-old Wen-Hsing Drew. A crash report says Drew was hit when the driver of a Ford Bronco was turning left after stopping at a stop sign. It happened at the intersection of 6th Avenue North and North 29th Street in Fort Dodge.

The report states there are no painted crosswalks in this intersection. The crash is still under investigation.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – Saturday is the second National Drug Take Back Day. The head of the Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy, Suzie Sher, encourages everyone to take part. “You can bring back any unused or unneeded medication to this event, any expired prescriptions or extra medications you have in your medicine cabinet at home, it’s a great time to clean out those cabinets and have a safe and anonymous way to properly dispose of those medications,” she says. Sher says there are two national take back days every spring and fall. “It’s a proper, safe way to dispose of those medications. It keeps them out of the hands of people who might either intentionally or unintentionally get a hold of those medications,” Sher. She says more than five-thousand (5,077) pounds of unneeded medicine was turned in at the first event in April.

Sher says if you miss the event this Saturday, there are other ways to properly dispose of the medication. “Iowa has 400 or so permanent drug take back sites. They’re in every county, in pharmacies, in law enforcement centers. You can go to the D-P-S website. We’ve got a map,” she says. Sher says the permanent sites offer a good option year-round. “And those are anonymous, you can go safely dispose of your medications, and they’ll take care of it from there,” she says.

A reminder too, that the Atlantic Elks Lodge and Atlantic Police Department are teaming up this year for “Drug Take Back Day.” The event will take place Saturday, Oct 26th from 9 am to 11 am at the Atlantic Elks Lodge, with a drive through drop off in front of the Elks lodge at 411 Walnut St next to the police station.  Nationwide, Saturday’s National Prescription Drug Take Back events will operate from 10:00 a-m until 2:00 p-m at designated sites across Iowa. You can also get rid of vaping devices and e-cigarettes as long as the batteries are removed from the devices.

For more information or to find a site near you, visit: https://www.dea.gov/takebackday

(Radio Iowa) – Scientists say they’ve developed a first-ever vaccine that’s designed to protect cattle from a potentially-deadly tick-borne disease that’s common in Iowa. Bovine anaplasmosis infects the red blood cells of cattle, and researcher Roman Ganta says the vaccine promises to be a tremendous game-changer. “It will change the way people raise cattle, raise meat, and milk production,” Ganta says, “as well as improve the wellbeing of many cattle farmers, especially in third world countries, besides in the U.S. how the industry is impacted.” Ganta, a professor of veterinary pathobiology at the University of Missouri, says the vaccine is performing exactly as hoped in trials.

“We found out that the animals, all the cattle that we tested, remained healthy,” he says, “whether the infection is coming from a mechanical route, which is the standard way many cattle get it in a cattle ranch, or by tick transmission.” There is no widely-available vaccine for the disease, which is blamed for causing nearly one-billion dollars in losses worldwide every year. Ganta says bovine anaplasmosis, also known as yellow bag or yellow fever, can lead to severe anemia in cattle, and in some cases, death. “We tested close to a thousand animals,” he says. “The infection prevalence is very high, which is about 50% of the cattle. It varied significantly from one cattle ranch to the other, but the fact remains that this disease has remained a high problem.”

Ganta says the vaccine will need to receive U-S-D-A approval before it can be used. He says if the testing and approval process goes well, he’s optimistic it will be available to cattle producers by 2030. The Iowa Beef Industry Council says Iowa’s cattle industry contributed nearly nine-and-a-half BILLION dollars in business activity to the state’s economy in 2023, including accounting for more than 32-thousand jobs.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A woman from Red Oak was arrested Thursday night on a Montgomery County warrant. According to Red Oak Police, 40-year-old Chandra Christine Baggett was taken into custody in the 200 block of 1st Avenue at around 7:40-p.m. She was wanted on a warrant for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. Baggett was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa — [KCCI] – The U.S. Marshals Service arrested a fugitive they say has been on the run for almost two months after cutting off an ankle monitor. Investigators say 25-year-old Kyle Boutchee was located at an apartment off of School Street around 2 p.m. Thursday. According to reports, he jumped from a second-floor window to get away from authorities. Boutchee was taken into custody at 10th Street and Keosauqua Way.

The Marshals Service says Boutchee was initially sentenced to more than five years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. That was in 2020. He was furloughed in May and placed on house arrest. Then, on Aug. 28, officials say he cut off his ankle monitor and disappeared.

Boutchee is now being taken to the Polk County Jail.