(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa lawmaker is working on a bill that would give the owners or tenants on agricultural properties permission to capture or kill raccoons that are a nuisance. Representative Dean Fisher of Montour says raccoons have become a big problem. “The raccoon population has just expanded dramatically over the past few years,” Fisher says, “DNR’s got some data that indicates by 268%.” The hunting season for raccoons had been limited from November 5th through the end of January, but in December the Iowa Conservation Commission approved allowing raccoons to be trapped year round.

Fisher says trapping alone won’t fix the overpopulation problem because the market for raccoon pelts has collapsed. “And we can’t sell them to China and Russia anymore very easily,” Fisher says. “That market has kind of gone away due to the global issues, so nobody’s hunting them and they’re just an absolute nuisance to farmers and landowners out in the country.” Under current law, Iowans may only kill a raccoon that’s a direct threat to humans or livestock. Otherwise, Iowans must contact a licensed wildlife control business to trap raccoons that are a nuisance. Fisher says that’s just not workable.

“You cannot follow the DNR rules no matter what they say. You cannot call somebody at 10 o’clock at night. You’re just going to go shoot the sucker,” Fisher says. “There’s just practical realities here.” Fisher, who lives on a farm in Tama County, has some experience with raccoons. A few years ago, Fisher had a sweet corn patch that was attacked by marauding raccoons.  “The field was entirely stripped by raccoons,” Fisher says. “I mean I got one ear out of a 50-by-100 foot patch.” Fisher says he’s heard horror stories from farmers who’ve had raccoons destroy combines or eat all the feed for cattle and other livestock.

Raccoons will eat just about anything and can sometimes weigh up to 50 pounds. Raccoon are found in most every part of the United States, except for deserts. Raccoon fans say the animals are valuable to the ecosystem and control the population of wasps, which is beneficial to bees.

(Radio Iowa) – The Democratic National Committee has voted to eliminate Iowa from the list of states that will start the party’s 2024 presidential campaign. South Carolina is replacing Iowa as the lead-off state, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada, then Georgia and finally Michigan — a sequence President Biden recommended in December. Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison of South Carolina says these changes are long overdue.

“It expands the number of voices in the early window and it elevates diverse communities that are at the core of the Democratic Party,” Harrison said. Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingel drew cheers as she addressed national party leaders this weekend. “Here’s the reality: no one state should have the lock on going first,” Dingel said, to applause. The delay in announcing the results of the 2020 Iowa Caucuses due to a faulty smart phone app intensified criticism of the caucuses, after decades of being first in the nation. Leah Daughtry of New York, the former chief of staff of the Democratic Party, says Iowa law doesn’t give Iowa Democrats the divine right to defy party rules.

“We decided we wanted a calendar that will reflect who our party is now and not who our party was back then,” Daughtry said. Scott Brennan, a former Iowa Democratic Party chairman, is a member of the Democratic National Committee. He warned the committee that two of the states selected to be in the early group cannot hold their primaries on the dates national party leaders have set.

“We are creating a situation of continued uncertainty that will drag on throughout 2023,” Brennan said. “…We can approve this calendar, but we will leave here with absolutely nothing settled.” Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Rita Hart says the party will move ahead with its new vote-by-mail plan for the 2024 Iowa Caucuses. “Iowa has been put in a position that makes it impossible to comply with both DNC rules and our own state law,” Hart said, “which has exactly zero chance of being changed by the Republican legislature.”

Hart emphasizes that Iowa Republicans will host Caucuses in 2024 that will kick off the G-O-P’s presidential campaign. “They feed the narrative that Democrats have turned their backs on Iowa and on rural America,” Hart said. “In the coming weeks, our state will be flooded with Republican hopefuls, spreading this damaging message to every corner of our state.”

This weekend, prominent Iowa Republicans began blasting that message via Twitter. Governor Kim Reynolds said President Biden was too afraid to face Iowa voters. The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party said Biden upended the 2024 campaign schedule for Democrats because of his poor showing in the Caucuses in 2008 and 2020.

(Rural Sumner, Iowa) – One person is dead and another was injured, during a collision Sunday afternoon in northeast Iowa’s Bremer County. The State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 3:10-p.m, in rural Sumner. Officials say a 2007 Lexus ES350 driven by 22-year-old Carter John Harris, of St. Cloud, FL., failed to yield at the stop sign for County Highway C-33 and County Highway V-56.

The car struck the driver’s side of a 2023 Hyundai Elantra, driven by 22-year-old Derrius Grey Taylor-Ly, of Altoona (IA). Both vehicles came to rest in a ditch northeast of the intersection. Both drivers were wearing seat belts, but Taylor-Ly died at the scene.

Harris was transported by Sumner EMS to a local hospital, for treatment of minor injuries. The crash remains under investigation,

(Grand Junction, Iowa) – Authorities in central Iowa’s Greene County are investigating possible shooting. According to a press release from the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, the Greene County Communication Center received a 911 call at around 9:52-p.m., Saturday (Feb. 4), from the 1000 block of Main Street in East Grand Junction.

The caller reported they fell and hit their head against a door. When Grand Junction Rescue arrived, they assessed the scene and advised a Greene County Deputy the individual had suffered a possible gunshot wound. Green County Ambulance was also on scene.

The case remains under investigation by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Iowa DCI.

DES MOINES– Gov. Kim Reynolds today (Friday) announced her appointment of Patrick McAvan as a district associate judge in Judicial Election District 8A.  McAvan, of Fairfield, Iowa, currently serves as an Assistant Jefferson County Attorney. He received his undergraduate degree from Loras College and his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law.

McAvan fills a vacancy created by the addition of four new district associate judge positions authorized by the legislature in last year’s session. Judicial Election District 8A includes Appanoose, Davis, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe, Poweshiek, Wapello, Washington, and Van Buren counties.

DES MOINES – Today (Friday), the Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) announced personnel changes that will occur at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility (FDCF) and the Anamosa State Penitentiary (ASP).

Effective February 17, 2023, current ASP Warden Kris Karberg will be transferring into the warden position at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility. Also effective February 17, 2023, current FDCF Warden Nick Lamb will be transferring into the warden position at the Anamosa State Penitentiary.

Prior to becoming warden at ASP Karberg served the South Dakota Department of Corrections (SDDOC) for over eight years; where he ultimately served as the Deputy Warden of the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield. Prior to joining the SDDOC, Karberg worked for the US State Department as Site Commander of Security at the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. In total, he brings more than 30 years of security operations experience to his new role leading the FDCF team.

Prior to becoming warden at FDCF Lamb served the New Mexico Department of Corrections (NMDOC) as the Deputy Warden of Administration. Prior to joining the NMDOC, Lamb served in many positions throughout his 26-year-career in the Illinois Department of Corrections, where he most recently served as Assistant Warden of Operations at Stateville Correctional Center prior to his retirement from the IL DOC in 2020.

Commenting on the transfer of Warden Karberg and Warden Lamb, Department Director Beth Skinner said the following: “Warden Karberg and Warden Lamb are two incredible leaders within Iowa’s correctional system and we are lucky to have their expertise and dedication to public safety. As two of our newer wardens within our system, transferring them between these two institutions gives them an opportunity to gain additional experience with a new staff and a new facility. I cannot thank either of them enough for their leadership and eagerness to learn and grow as part of our greater corrections team. I have no doubt they each possess the abilities necessary to effectively balance reliable security within our institutions, while also overseeing effective treatment programs for those under our supervision.”

IDOC also announced plans to transition the security designation for ASP from a medium/maximum security facility (SD-5) to a strictly medium security facility (SD-4).

“Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, and in conjunction with Iowa’s prison population declining, IDOC has the bed space and resources needed to safely conduct and implement this transition,” said Skinner. “This decision was made after much consideration and detailed planning, and we feel certain that now is the time to make this transition. By transitioning Anamosa State Penitentiary to a strictly medium security facility, IDOC can focus on providing even further treatment opportunities for the system’s medium custody inmates, building upon two years of reducing Iowa’s recidivism rate.”

The security designation will not change until the transition process is complete. At the end of the transition, ASP’s general inmate population will be composed of inmates classified as medium custody. A majority of inmates designated as maximum security at ASP will be moved to the Iowa State Penitentiary, Iowa’s maximum security prison. Families and inmates have been notified.

(Boone, Iowa) – A collision Friday evening between an SUV and a pickup truck in Boone, left two women dead. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2017 Ford Escape driven by 55-year-old Pamela Mary Borkowski, of Boone, was sitting at a stop sign on southeast Marshal Street at around 5:11-p.m., Friday, at the same time 2008 Ford F-250 was westbound on Highway 30.

The SUV entered Highway 30 into the path of the pickup, driven by 20-year-old Joshua Ryan Lantz, of Pella. The pickup struck the SUV, causing fatal injuries to Pamela Borkowski and her passenger, 32-year-old Stephanie Jeanne Borkowski, of Boone. Both women were wearing their seat belts.

Lantz, and two passengers in his pickup, were transported to the Boone County Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds has selected Brig. Gen. Stephen E. Osborn as the 28th Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard.  According to the Governor, “General Osborn has been an invaluable member of the Iowa National Guard as our state has faced natural disasters, a pandemic, and civil unrest. Iowans can trust that the Iowa National Guard stands ready and prepared under General Osborn’s proven leadership capabilities.  He is a trusted advisor with a wealth of command experience at both home and abroad.”

Osborn is a native of Davenport, Iowa. He enlisted in the Army in July 1984 prior to commissioning as an infantry officer through the University of Alabama in 1990. He transferred to the Iowa Army National Guard in 1992 and has served in a variety of command and staff positions, to include: commander of the 1st Battalion,168th Infantry Regiment; deputy operations officer, 34th Infantry Division; director of operations, Joint Force Headquarters; commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division; and director of the Joint Staff.

Osborn is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. He deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 1991 in support of the Persian Gulf War. He deployed to Kosovo in support of Operation Joint Guardian in 2004 and to Iraq in 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

His significant awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Expert Infantryman’s Badge and Pathfinder Badge.  He has served as the Iowa Army National Guard’s deputy adjutant general since August 2018 and as the deputy commanding general of the Army National Guard at the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia. Osborn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alabama, a Master of Public Administration from Drake University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

The adjutant general is the highest-ranking position in the Iowa National Guard. Osborn will manage more than 2,000 federal and state full-time employees as well as nearly 9,000 part-time Soldiers and Airmen.  Osborn will replace Maj. Gen. Benjamin J. Corell, who has served as the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard since September 2019. Corell announced his retirement from the position in January 2023.