Iowa has a higher percentage of older residents than most states and a new study finds older drivers may be at a higher risk for car crashes if they have a history of falls. Nick Jarmusz (JAR-mus) with Triple-A-Iowa, says the agency’s research points to a correlation. Jarmusz says, “Our study found a link between falls and crashes, specifically, that older drivers who have a history of falls are 40% more likely to be involved in crashes than their peers who have not had a history of falls.”

Once someone’s had a bad fall and been hurt, it’s unfortunate, but Jarmusz says it can be something of a domino effect. “The injuries themselves that are caused by the falls can lead to a diminished capacity,” he says.

The study found the factors that may lead to a fall are the same sorts of things that may lead to issues behind the wheel. He says Iowans may need to have a conversation with a loved one. Jarmusz says, “If your parent or older relative has a history of falls, it may be a good idea to talk about how that may be impacting their driving or whether it’s still safe for them to drive or to drive in certain conditions.”

The study was conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

(Radio Iowa)

A report out of Nebraska say two people from Atlantic were injured during a collision at around mid-day Sunday on Interstate 80. According to the Nebraska State Patrol, the accident happened near the Waverly exit when an eastbound semi crossed the median and struck a westbound SUV occupied by 78-year old Robert Harlan and his 78-year old wife Joan, both of whom are from Atlantic.

The driver of the semi was also injured. He was identified as 45-year old Princewill Dabrinze, from Texas. All three were transported to a local hospital. The accident remained under investigation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Utility companies have restored power to most of their Iowa and Nebraska customers following the high winds and heavy rains on Christmas. The National Weather Service says wind gusts of 70 mph were recorded Sunday night at the Norfolk and Wayne airports in Nebraska, and gusts exceeding 60 mph knocked out power to more than 4,300 customers in the Sioux City, Iowa, area.

MidAmerican Energy in Des Moines said Monday morning that fewer than 200 customers were still without power. Nebraska Public Power District says only a dozen or so of its customers haven’t gotten back their electricity.

In Nebraska, nearly an inch of rain was recorded in Fremont and Lincoln over the past 24 hours. In Iowa, more than eight-tenths of an inch was reported in Council Bluffs.

Newly released national data shows children born in rural Iowa may be more at risk to drug exposure than kids in the state’s larger cities. Health officials say a higher percentage of newborns in rural areas are affected by prescription pain killers and heroin than in urban areas. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is offering an explanation.  “The challenge is rural areas is that sometimes you look for help and it’s not there because the facilities and the personnel aren’t there,” Vilsack says.

The statistics from 2013 show that five out of every 1,000 births in urban areas were affected by drugs compared to eight out of every 1,000 in rural areas. Vilsack, who served as Iowa’s governor from 1999 to 2007, says more people know each other in rural areas, so those who are struggling with drug addiction may be more reluctant to seek help out of fear their neighbors will find out. He says it’s important to recognize addiction is an illness, not a flaw. “It just makes it a little bit easier for people to come forward,” Vilsack says.

President Obama recently signed a bill designed to provide more education, prevention and treatment programs to rural areas.

(Radio Iowa)

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says a Red Oak woman was arrested Sunday afternoon following a traffic stop. 25-year old Christine McGlade was pulled over at around 1:50-p.m. for having expired license tags and a cracked windshield. McGlade was found to have had a warrant for her arrest issued out of Page County. She was arrested for Driving While Revoked, Failure to have an ignition interlock device, and Expired tags. McGlade was being held in the Adams County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Iowans involved in organ donation will be involved in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena again this year. Iowa Organ Donor Network spokesman, Tony Hakes says the Donate Life float in the parade on January 2nd will include a florograph with a likeness of organ donor Dyllan Lawson. “His family is going to go out and be able to decorate float and see the florograph actually on the float — and do a bunch of other fun things with the family,” Hakes says.

Lawson had just completed his first year at the University of Iowa in pre-medicine when he was involved in a car accident on June 30th, 2011 that left him with severe head injuries. His organs were donated to four people. “His family has done a lot of things to promote donation in the last few years,” Hakes says, “they hold a 5-K and they do some stuff at a baseball game. Dyllan was a big baseball fan and player.”

Hakes says this is a good way to honor Dyllan and thank his family for continuing the support of organ donation. “Turns out that his family is actually fans of the Rose Parade, they watch it every year, and they have been sending a rose out to the Donate Life Float each year,” Hakes says. “And so this year to honor him and them — we decided to send his parents and sister and brother out to represent us at the Rose Parade.”

Iowa is also sending a representative who had received and organ donation to ride the parade float, and another person who donated an organ to walk along with the float. “And it turns out that our walker is the liver donor of our walker, a mother and daughter team. So, that is going to be pretty special for them too,” Hakes says.

Cindy Newton is a living donor to her first and only daughter Carlie who was born with a disease that kept her liver from functioning. “I think she was just a few months old when her mother got tested and was able to donate a partial liver to her. So I think that was 18-19 years ago now, because she is a freshman at Iowa,” Hakes says.

This year’s float is called “Teammates in Life” and includes 95 other organ donor recipients along with Carlie Newton. The float is modeled after a Polynesian catamaran.

(Radio Iowa)

Information from the latest survey by the Iowa State University Extension department shows most farmland remains in the hands of “locals” when it’s sold. Economist Wendong Zhang conducts the annual survey. “We find that 72 percent of the buyers are existing local farmers and another two percent are existing or relocating farmers. Investors account for roughly 20 percent, new farmers are only three percent,” Zhang says.

He says the land generally stays with families until someone decides that no longer want to farm. “Estate sales account for over half of the land sold,” Zhang says, “and retired farmers account for another 23 percent,” Zhang says. He says there are few young people who own farmland. “Land owners 65 or above own half of Iowa’s land. Landowners 75 and above own one third,” Zhang says.

While the latest survey showed the third straight drop in land prices, Zhang says it is still hard for new farmers to find the resources to get into farming. “This is a still a very capital intensive industry that is a barrier for new farmers to enter,” Zhang says.

He says there are some farm programs now available to try and help young people get into farming. Zhang isn’t expecting a lot of big changes though in the next several years in the ownership of Iowa farmland.

(Radio Iowa)

Securing long-term funding for water quality programs remains a high priority for Iowa farm groups, but in light of the state’s nearly 100 million dollar budget shortfall, that task may be a bit more challenging. Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill says – for now – his organization is not promoting any specific solutions to water funding. “We’re leaving it open to our legislative leaders to find a way, a pathway, to add this long-term, dedicated funding stream that will provide us the confidence we can invest and have a commitment from the state,” Hill says.

The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) is also taking a more general approach, according to I-S-A president Roland Schnell of Newton. “We came out last year in support of the governor’s plan, and we’ve been supportive of the ‘I WILL’ three-eighth of a cent plan,” Schnell says. “But we’re really not nailing down anything specific, because we want to make sure the people understand that we’re supportive of anything that will provide us with long-term funding.”

Schnell says everything that happens in the 2017 Iowa legislature will take place with state budget constraints as the backdrop.

(Reporting by Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News)

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Sheriff’s officials in Adams County say a Union County man was arrested Sunday afternoon, on a drug charge. 31-year old Nathan Richard Hulett, of Creston, was arrested for unlawful possession of a prescription drug medication, and a was being held in the Adams County Jail.