(Radio Iowa) – What’s billed as a celebration of the freedom to read, a Des Moines bookstore is hosting a Banned Books Festival this weekend. The event will feature readings by authors, panel discussions, and even a banned books trivia contest. Jan Danielson Kaiser, spokeswoman for Beaverdale Books, says there’s a real buzz over this topic and they decided to devote a full day to discussing and debating this hot-button topic. “We’ve had people who stopped into the store recently and they’re looking for titles for their book clubs to read,” she says, “and they specifically are looking for books that have been challenged or banned just so that they can speak more intelligently about maybe why they shouldn’t be banned.”

While it may be obvious from the covers why some books have raised controversy, Danielson Kaiser says it’s mystifying why other titles are being vilified, like “Charlotte’s Web.” “We’re featuring the authors of, ‘And Tango Makes Three,’ which is a delightful board book for kids,” she says. “It’s the story of two male penguins who are raising a chick and it’s based on a true story that happened in Central Park Zoo. It’s a beautifully illustrated little book.”

The festival will run from 10 A-M to 5 P-M on Saturday at the Franklin Events Center in Des Moines, and Danielson Kaiser says the store will have a wide selection of banned books available to browse and buy. She says one of the managers started making a list and was quickly overwhelmed. “He’s guessing we probably will have about 600 books for sale, now you know there’ll be duplicates,” she says, laughing, “but there’s going to be a lot of books there!”

Danielson Kaiser says she’s heard about one Iowa publisher who’s suggested he’d like to see one of the books he’s printed get banned, as the publicity almost guarantees a boost in sales. “The other funny thing is that when books are challenged, the schools oftentimes have to buy more copies just so that they can review, you know, they have a panel that reviews them, so that might help book sales that way as well.”

The daylong fest will feature a reading of banned poetry, story time for kids, a panel discussion on “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and a chat with Ashley Hope Perez, author of “Out of Darkness.” The event is free.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa farmers are making progress on the fall harvest, but some say their combines have been dirty, dusty, and becoming black in color when they’re done harvesting corn for the day. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomist Angie Rieck-Hinz says some farmers may think that black coating is what’s called “tar spot,” but that’s likely not the case. “When we get to this time of year and that corn matures, those leaves get infected with a saprophytic fungi, which just means they feed on dead tissue and those fungi are actually what breaks down our crop residue in the field. So they’re not a bad thing. They don’t cause any big concern for livestock feed.”

Rieck-Hinz offers some advice for those harvesting corn. “You can always take a look at those leaves. Tar spots pretty easily distinguish even still at this time of year. That black, dark spot is bigger than those saprophytic fungi spots. It’s darker in color and it’s actually raised. The saprophytic fungi does not exhibit those characteristics. So if you’re concerned, just take a leaf and look before you run that combine through those fields.”

Rieck-Hinz says she has heard of corn yields between 140 and 240 bushels an acre, while soybean yields have been between 40 and 75 bushels an acre.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University’s year-long commemoration of Jack Trice will wrap up this weekend in Ames. Toyia Younger chaired the committee that put together the celebration of the school’s first black athlete, and says they learned quickly that people didn’t really know Trice’s legacy.

Trice died 100 years ago from injuries he got playing in a football game for the Cyclones. The events of this year have focused on his legacy of breaking barriers, including a large sculpture near the football stadium that you can walk through.

The current day Cyclones will wear throwback jerseys for Saturday’s football game against T-C-U with five bars on them that were on the uniform that Trice wore.

Sunday is the 100th anniversary of Trice’s death, and Younger says a photo they found inspired them to include that at the closing of the commemoration.

The noon ceremony Sunday will be on central campus and include the awarding of a posthumous degree to Trice’s family, as he died before graduating.

Jack-Trice-in-1023.-(Iowa-State-University-Library-Special-Collections-photo)

Younger is a senior vice president at I-S-U and says they hope commemoration has educated many on Trice, who was an athlete, but also a student.

She also wants Jack Trice’s legacy to continue to be movement and not just a moment in time for the commemoration.

You can learn more about Trice at JackTrice100.com.

UNION COUNTY, Iowa (KCCI) —Authorities in southwest Iowa say two semi-truck drivers helped stop a high-speed chase Wednesday on Highway 34.

Union County Sheriff’s Office deputies located a woman suspected of assault driving westbound on the highway. When they attempted to pull Marissa Waigand over, she “intentionally drove into the south ditch at a high rate of speed, then re-entered Hwy 34 eastbound reaching speeds of 100 mph,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

Waigand, 23, of Afton, led deputies on a chase during which she “drove in the opposing lane of traffic and forced oncoming vehicles onto the shoulder, she passed other vehicles on the right shoulder at speeds of over 80 mph nearly causing numerous accidents,” the release said.

Heading westbound again after a U-turn, Waigand approached two semis that she had previously passed. According to the release, those semi drivers “slowed and blocked both lanes of travel. Waigand attempted to go around the semis on the shoulder and lost control of her vehicle and entered the north ditch.”

Multiple charges are pending against Waigand, who was taken to a Des Moines hospital after the crash.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa REALTORS Land Institute September farmland survey released today (Thursday) finds a small drop in value. The Institute’s Elliott Siefert the results at their meeting. “For the three farmland values, low, medium, and high quality land, across all regions, average down point-two percent. So essentially flat for farmland over the last six months,” Siefert says. He says the small change comes in the lower quality ground.

“Your, your really high quality ground is still bringing good money with medium and low quality, you know, most of them are still bringing about the same, but there might be a little bit of variability depending on your location,” he says. He says northwest Iowa was the region with the biggest drop.”Northwest Iowa being down two-point-nine percent and south-central being up one-point-three percent. Small changes there,” Siefert says. “This is the second survey in a row that we’ve had pretty flat numbers here. It was it was rising, as we all know there for the two years prior to that, but we’re getting more to that, that flat market right now. “

Siefert says when you expand to look at the 12-month view, there’s not much difference in values either. “From September 2022 through March and then March through the end of September in 2023, you see again not any very large changes,” he says, “just in Northwest down three-point-three percent to up four-point-four percent in south-central. So again, pretty flat as you look across the state here.” The Institute’s Matt Vegter says there optimism despite some of the economic issues landowners are facing.

“I think most folks, the general comments we saw in the survey, it’s a flat market, still a very aggressive market, net farm incomes, we planted a very expensive crop in 2023. And put prices were up. But I think the general theme I’ve heard as the the early crop yield reports, things are a little better out there in most areas than than what we thought.” He says the biggest headwind they’re facing is interest rates, which have risen and taken away a little bit of the buying power for land buyers.

Atlantic, IowaA – During October, Cass Health will host two sessions of their Healthy U lunch-and-learn series.

On October 19, Dermatology Nurse Practitioner Lace Sindt will present on skin cancer. Sindt is a board-certified family nurse practitioner with a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Lace Sindt

Dr. Matt Weresh

She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Iowa in 2019, after previously working as an LPN and RN for 10 years. With more than a decade of dermatology and facial aesthetics experience, Sindt offers a variety of dermatology care including skin checks, skin cancer screenings, acne, rashes, psoriasis, rosacea, toenail fungus, moles, warts, and other skin conditions.

On October 26, Dr. Matt Weresh will present on orthopedic surgery. Dr. Weresh is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hip and knee procedures, ranging from complex joint replacements to simple joint procedures and surgeries. With more than 25 years of experience in central Iowa, Dr. Weresh relocated his practice to Cass Health in 2018. He received his medical degree from the University of Iowa College of Medicine, and then completed his orthopedic residency at Akron General Medical Center. He then went on to complete an orthopedic trauma fellowship at the Carolinas Medical Center. Dr. Weresh is board certified and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Space is limited! A free boxed lunch is provided for all attendees, so reservations are required. Call 712-243-7479 to reserve your seat. For more information about Healthy U, visit casshealth.org/healthyu.

The administrator of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission reiterated today (Thursday) that the sports betting scandal among athletes at Iowa State and the University of Iowa has not turned up any attempts to fix games. Brian Ohorilko talked about the issue at the Commission meeting in Sioux City today (Thursday)

Ohorilko says they don’t believe the integrity of sports betting has been compromised.

The charges that were brought against the college athletes all involved underage sports betting or trying to hide underage betting. While college sports betting put the industry in the spotlight, Ohorilko says overall the industry has matured.

Ohorilko says it was expected after the big early push to get people signed up and all the promotions involved that things would settle in.

Sports betting began in the state in August of 2019.

October 5, 2023 (DES MOINES) – At today’s (Thursday’s) meeting, the Enhance Iowa Board awarded $430,000 in Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grants to a library in Waverly and a splash pad in Webster City.

Details for the projects receiving CAT grants follow:

Project Name: Make Room for Renewal, Waverly
Total Project Cost: $2,760,132
Amount Awarded: $375,000
Project Description: This expansion and renovation of the Waverly Public Library will include the extension of the footprint for the children’s area, the installation of a “story tree” art sculpture, the addition of approximately 1,200 square feet for a dedicated teen room, the renovation of conference space and surrounding area, and the complete renovation of the library interior to better fit the current needs of the community.

Project Name: Webster City East Twin Park Splash Pad, Webster City
Total Project Cost: $423,511
Amount Awarded: $55,000
Project Description: The project will construct a zero-depth, ADA-accessible splash pad with several zones consisting of 20 water features that cater to different age groups. Also included in the project are sidewalk paths to connect to the existing park and a new park shelter.

The Enhance Iowa Program provides financial incentives to communities for the construction of recreational, cultural, educational or entertainment facilities that enhance the quality of life in Iowa. To date, 130 CAT grants have been awarded by the board, totaling $43,260,023. The next Enhance Iowa Board meeting is scheduled for November 2, 2023.

(Radio Iowa) – October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Leigh Bair, program development director at the Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center in Fort Dodge, says they’ve seen a steady increase in demand from the 15 Iowa counties they serve. Bair says victims need to know they’re not alone.

“Domestic Violence Awareness Month is important just because it raises awareness for what we’re doing and why we’re doing what we do and why it’s so important,” Bair says. “It does also let people know that there are services available to those that need help that might not know that there’s help for them.” Bair says the center’s client list is continually growing. “Some quick stats,” Bair says. “We’ve served over 900 clients in the last year, over 6,000 nights in our shelter, and almost 400 crisis calls within the last six months.”

Bair says there many factors that may impact domestic violence cases. “I believe the economy, I believe COVID kind of had people in their house and then that got over and so people were wanting to get out,” Bair says. “There’s just a lot of things that we don’t know, but the numbers show an uptick.”

Bair says a ceremony will be held later this month in Fort Dodge to remember the victims of domestic violence.