(Radio Iowa) –  The Iowa Bicycle Coalition is under new leadership. Luke Hoffman is replacing Mark Wyatt as the statewide non-profit organization’s executive director. Hoffman says he has lofty goals for the future, starting with getting the Safe Routes to School program in every school and in every school district in Iowa so kids can experience the joys of alternative transportation, instead of riding a bus or in their parents’ car.

Hoffman says he’s dedicated to uniting all cyclists across the state through fun events, major rides and bike clubs. He also wants to develop a powerful lobby that will work with state legislators on behalf of all cyclists. One goal is to eliminate distracted driving by passing legislation requiring drivers to use hands-free cell phone technology.

(Radio Iowa) – The misdemeanor charge against a state senator from southeast Iowa legislator who was arrested during RAGBRAI has been dropped. Republican Senator Adrian Dickey of Packwood was arrested on July 24th north of Carroll. A Sac County deputy said Dickey was part of a large group blocking a rural road and Dickey argued with the officer, refusing to move. In a written statement, Dickey says it was a total misunderstanding because he wasn’t drinking and wasn’t part of the group blocking the road.

Dickey says in 50 years he’s never been arrested and he appreciates the Sac County Attorney’s decision to drop the charge and restore his reputation. The Sac County Attorney’s request to have the case dismissed said there was not enough evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Dickey had asked for a jury trial.

A jury trial will be held in Washington County in the legal dispute over an insurance payment made to Dickey after his daughter’s vehicle was wrecked in an accident. Dickey says he bought the car for his daughter who was going to college in California and she knew the title was in his name so she wouldn’t sell it for quick cash or trade it in for a vehicle she could not afford.

Dickey’s biological daughter, her mother and stepfather say the car was given with no strings attached and they had no idea Dickey held the title and would get the insurance check after it was totaled. Dickey was elected to the Iowa Senate during a special election in 2021 and reelected to a full term in 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says the terror attacks in Israel deserve a swift and lethal response. “They have a responsibility to not just defend themselves, but to use overwhelming force to wipe Hamas off the face of the earth,” DeSantis says. “They’re terrorists. What they are doing it barbaric.” DeSantis, who visited Israel in April, campaigned in northwest Iowa yesterday (Monday).

DeSantis blasted President Biden for hosting a picnic for his staff at the White House this weekend and for a recent prisoner swap that freed five Americans but also gave Iran access to six billion dollars in frozen oil revenue. DeSantis says it means Iran’s leaders can send more money to terror groups like Hamas.

“This is just pathetic,” DeSantis says. “We don’t need a president ‘missing in action.’ We don’t need any more presidents that are past their prime. We need presidents that are actually going to lead and actually do the job, particularly in these crisis situations.” During a stop in Le Mars, DeSantis touted the debate he’s scheduled to have next month on Fox News with California Governor Gavin Newson.

“California’s probably four or five years ahead of where Biden is in terms of going in a leftist direction,” DeSantis says. “A second Biden term or Harris or Newsom or whoever they throw out would basically mimic what California has done and all that will do is facilitate an even quicker decline of our country.” DeSantis says his own record as Florida’s governor since 2019 represents a model for American revival and he says as president he’d bring discipline to federal government spending to get inflation under control.

“You’re paying more for everything because of what the people in Washington, D.C. have done over the last four or five years,” DeSantis says. DeSantis wrapped up a three-day bus tour through Iowa with a stop in Storm
Lake. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley campaigned in Boone yesterday (Monday). Haley, who served as United Nations Ambassador during the Trump Administration, says now is not the time for the U-S to be divided or distracted because Israel should get all it needs to defend itself and destroy the terrorists in its midst. She’s also calling for an end to taxpayer support of any country that sides with Hamas or fails to denounce anti-semetic activity.

(Radio Iowa) – There are at least two hundred pickleball courts in Iowa and many city councils, particularly in urban Iowa, are planning to build more. Officials who represent the 17-hundred residents of Lake City in western Iowa who’ve been discussing where and how to build a pickleball court in their community are planning a private fundraiser that will go beyond just collecting cash and checks. Jacob Mathews, the city administrator of Lake City, says they’ll accept electronic payments through the digital app called Venmo.

All the printed materials for the Lake City fundraiser will feature a Q-R code — one of those black and white squares with a barcode.

According to a software that tracks philanthropy in the United States, 63 percent of donors prefer to give online with a credit or debit card and another 17 percent want to use another electronic method like Venmo. Only four percent want to give cash. Mathews says a 50-thousand dollar donation — in any form — will secure naming rights to Lake City’s pickleball court.

(Radio Iowa) – Forty-three-year-old Kyle Ricke has entered a written plea of not guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram last month.

Online court records show a pretrial conference has been scheduled for November 14th in Kossuth County District Court. If there are no delays in the case, a trial has been scheduled to begin on December 12th. Ricke is accused of shooting Cram, who was trying to serve an arrest warrant on the Algona man, and then fleeing the area around 8 p-m on September 13th. Ricke was apprehended near Sleepy Eye, Minnesota later that evening after an extensive search that involved law enforcement agencies from Iowa and Minnesota.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is investigating a fatal hunting incident that occurred Sunday night in northern Hardin County. Officials said today (Monday) 53-year-old Mark Arends, of Alden, was hunting coyotes with friends on private land approximately two miles north of Alden. The hunters were separated by several hundred yards when, around 8 p.m., Arends was struck by a single rifle shot. The incident remains under investigation. Arends was transported to Hansen Family Hospital, in Iowa Falls, where he was pronounced dead. The State Medical Examiner’s office will be conducting an autopsy as part of the investigation.

Coyotes are nocturnal animals so hunting coyotes is often done at night, with hunters utilizing various night vision technology including thermal imaging scopes. “We stress the importance of identifying your target before taking a shot, and that’s even more important when hunting at night and using thermal technology,” said Captain Matt Bruner, with the Iowa DNR’s Law Enforcement Bureau. “The same can be said about the importance of the hunting plan, especially at night, and following that plan when in the field.”

The Iowa DNR and the Hardin County Sheriff’s office responded to the incident last night and officers were on scene again early Monday morning.

(Radio Iowa) – The year-long commemoration of Jack Trice wrapped up at Iowa State Sunday with a closing ceremony on the day Trice died following a football game 100 years ago. Trice’s cousin George Trice spoke at the event, and referenced the letter he wrote prior to the game where he vowed to do more than his part.

He says the honorary degree award Jack was fitting, as he wanted to get an animal husbandry degree to go beyond sports.

George Trice says he can do things and go places that Jack couldn’t then because he was black.He says some schools had said they wouldn’t play Iowa State because Jack was on that team. That is part of the story that George says needs to continue to be told.

George Trice is also a graduate of Iowa State University.

Des Moines, Iowa – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered all flags in Iowa to be lowered to half-staff immediately on Monday, October 9, and remain at half-staff until sunset on Sunday, October 15, 2023, to honor the lives lost – including at least nine Americans – in the horrific attacks committed against Israel by Iran-backed terrorist organization Hamas.

“Iowans mourn for the families of those killed by Hamas in Israel. Hamas’ brutality knows no bounds, with reports of Holocaust survivors, women, and children taken by Hamas militants from their homes as hostages or brutally murdered,” said Gov. Reynolds. “Today and every day, Iowa stands in solidarity with Israel and their right to defend themselves.”

Flags will be flown at half-staff on the State Capitol Building and on flag displays in the Capitol Complex. Flags will also be at half-staff on all public buildings, grounds and facilities throughout the state.

Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect.

CRESTON, Iowa – Oct. 9, 2023 – The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Creston Construction Office says “If you drive on U.S. 59 north of Shenandoah you need to be aware of a bridge replacement project that begins on Monday, Oct. 16 at 8 a.m. until Aug. 1, 2024, that may slow down your trip. U.S. 59 will be closed one mile north of Iowa 48. While crews work on this project you will need to follow a marked detour route from Iowa 48 to U.S. 34.”

The DOT asks motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, you should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports area first responders were called Saturday (Oct. 7th) to the 66-mile marker of eastbound Interstate 80, for a semi tractor and trailer that slid into the ditch and tipped to it’s side.  Upon arrival, responders found that a 2010 Volvo semi tractor and trailer being operated by William Hair, of Winston Salem, NC, was traveling East on I-80, when the semi slid into the South ditch and eventually rolled onto it’s side.

Hair suffered minor injuries during the accident but had a cardiac event soon after that required emergency medical attention.  Life-light was requested and the driver was transported to a regional hospital for emergent care.