(Radio Iowa) — A weekend crash in central Iowa claimed a life.The Iowa State Patrol and Ames police are investigating a crash involving a motorcycle and a vehicle on Sunday afternoon that claimed the life of the motorcycle operator. The accident happened at the intersection of South Duff and South Second Avenue. Rescue crews transported the motorcycle operator to Mary Greeley Medical Center where the victim died of injuries. The name of the victim has not been released with the crash under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) — A new survey finds Iowans are very generous with their spare time, with more than four in ten of the state’s adults volunteering during 2018. Dan Cardinali, president and C-E-O of Independent Sector, says Iowa’s 41-point-five percent volunteer rate is among the best in the country, as the national average is about 30-percent. “Last year in Iowa, we saw a million folks volunteering,” Cardinali says, “and that creates an enormous amount of value when you see that each hour of those Iowans is worth about $23.41, which is up in terms of the value of each hour by about 3% from the previous year.”

Iowa’s volunteerism rate is the fourth-best in the nation, behind only Oregon, Montana and top-ranked Utah. The report finds Iowans donated more than 75-million hours of their time with an economic impact of nearly two-billion dollars.  “Volunteers do all sorts of amazing things, from working in food banks to supporting places of worship to volunteering at museums and donating time as board members,” Cardinali says, “or volunteering with kids in community health centers across the state, and really across the country.”

While volunteerism is vital to keeping the economic engine of the state and nation running, Cardinali says certain federal regulations tend to discourage people from donating their time. “If you were to get in your car and go to a work meeting, you would get reimbursed for that mileage and you would get about 54-cents for every mile that you drove if you were working and getting paid a wage,” Cardinali says. “If you did the exact same trip and were volunteering in the exact same place, you’d only get 14-cents back on that.”

A bill pending before Congress would level that disparity, he says. The Volunteer Driver Appreciation Act is sponsored by Congressman Collin Peterson of Minnesota.
https://independentsector.org/value-of-volunteer-time-2018/

(Radio Iowa) — GoServe Global in Eagle Grove is one of the groups helping with the flood recovery, and they are looking for more volunteers. GoServe spokesman, Dennis Anderson says they are now working in Hamburg. “Gutting and mucking out houses — which means we are tearing out contents which have been destroyed by the flood — and then taking our carpet and some drywall, everything that needs to be taken out to prevent mold from growing,” Anderson says.

Part of Hamburg is still under water and will eventually be ready for recovery. “On the north end of town we still have some work to do, as the water recedes there will be more and more work to do,” according to Anderson. “Unfortunately we’re probably looking at some of those houses as potentially being a total loss. But there are other homes we will have to go in and take out everything down to studs.”

He says they have seen a wide variety of emotions as they work to help the flood victims. “Everybody is different as we all know. Some people — they are really struggling with it at this point — and some of them don’t even want to go back into their houses,” Anderson says.  Other homeowners are on the opposite end of the scale. “You know they have a really good attitude about it — they understand it was a disaster and they had no control over it– and so they are just rolling with it,” He says. “Everybody will process it differently and so some of those people who are doing good now at a later date will probably really struggle with it.”

You can volunteer by calling Dennis Anderson at 712-887-0862. Or you can also donate at the GoServe website. (https://goservglobal.org/)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a gunshot victim has died at a Des Moines hospital. Officers were sent to a north Des Moines neighborhood around 8:40 p.m. Sunday to check on gunshots reported by several people. A few minutes later officers learned that a shooting victim believed to be from that neighborhood had been taken by private vehicle to MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center.
Police say the person has since died. His or her name hasn’t been released. Police say it’s the city’s third homicide of the year. No arrests have been reported.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report 24-year old Seancody Lee Anderson, of Villisca, was arrested at around 7:50-p.m. Sunday. Anderson was taken into custody in the 100 block of N. 2nd Avenue in Villisca and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where he was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. His bond was set at $1,000.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

JASPER, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say a 20-year-old South Dakota woman has died after falling off a cliff in northwestern Arkansas. Newton County Sheriff Glenn Wheeler says Andrea Norton was fatally injured on Saturday when she accidentally fell from a rock formation near Jasper, about 101 miles northwest of Little Rock. Wheeler says Norton was with a group of college students from Sioux City, Iowa, and was reportedly re-positioning herself for a photo when she fell about 100 feet off the Hawksbill Crag.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Most of the tens of thousands of people who lost electricity during a severe snow storm in the Upper Midwest have their power back on. The second “bomb cyclone” storm in less than a month knocked out power to more than 100,000 people in Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. PowerOutage.us reports that only about 3,600 are still waiting to have their electricity restored.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say two people have been arrested and charged with attempted murder after a man with a gunshot wound to his neck was thrown from a car into a parking lot. The Des Moines Register reports that 19-year-old Tyron Cratty and 20 years-old Madalynn Perez, both of Des Moines, were arrested shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday. Besides attempted murder charges, each faces charges of robbery and going armed with intent. The victim’s name has not been released.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis-based company has issued a recall for fruit products sold in 16 states after being linked to a salmonella outbreak. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday the recall includes cut watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe produced by Caito Foods LLC. The fruit has been sold under various brands or labels at Kroger, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Target and Whole Foods. Authorities say 93 people have been sickened, 23 of whom were hospitalized.

A traffic stop just before 1-a.m. Sunday in Adams County resulted in the arrest of a Union County woman on drug charges.  Cathy Maynes, of Creston, was charged with  Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and four counts of Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, after the K9 “Baxo” was deployed during the investigation, and alerted to the odor of narcotics. Deputies with the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports also, that on April 11th, Deputies assisted Joleen Most with a Court Order to gather personal property at a protected party’s residence. During the course of the court order, Most was placed under arrest for Harassment 3rd Degree. The following day, Most, who was still being held in the Adams County Jail, was additionally held on warrants for one count of Harassment in the 3rd Degree, and five counts of Violation of a No Contact Order.

JASPER, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say a 20-year-old South Dakota woman has died after falling off a cliff in northwestern Arkansas. Newton County, Arkansas Sheriff Glenn Wheeler says Andrea Norton was fatally injured on Saturday when she accidentally fell from a rock formation near Jasper, about 101 miles northwest of Little Rock.

Wheeler says Norton was with a group of college students from Sioux City, Iowa, and was reportedly re-positioning herself for a photo when she fell about 100 feet off the Hawksbill Crag, a popular hiking destination within the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest.

Wheeler says the crag is widely considered one of Arkansas’ most-photographed hiking areas, and several people have died in falls there in recent years. Also known as Whitaker Point, the rocky outcrop gets its name because it resembles a hawk’s bill.

The Griswold School Board is set to meet 5:30-p.m. Monday in the Central Office at the Middle School/High School Building. Among the New Business items on their agenda is:

• Approving the list of 2019 Graduates.
• Discussion and possible action on the Middle School Athletic Practice Schedule for 2019-20.
• Considering the approval of a Resolution requesting the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) and Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) reconsider a classification system.
• Approval of a Snow Make Up plan.
• Approval of the following sharing agreements: a Vocal Teacher w/Villisca; an Elementary Guidance and School Business Official w/Riverside; an Elementary Art Teacher w/CAM; and approval of a Transportation Director as well as a 2019-20 Industrial Technology Program w/Atlantic.
• Approval of a Resolution of Intent to sell property
• Approval of a Technology charge,
• and personnel contracts and related handbooks.

Those are just a few of the action items on the agenda.

The City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Dept. Board of Directors will meet 5:15-p.m. Monday (April 15th), in the City Council’s Chambers at City Hall. On their agenda is consideration and possible approval of bids for a new mower, and regular updates on the Schildberg Development Project, East Ridge washout repair and Mollett Park Community Gardens.

In his report to the Board, Interim Parks & Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen is expected to note: The Schildberg Campground is open; Sunnyside Park roads are open, as are most bathrooms; and that the search for Summer help has begun. He’ll also discuss Summer Swim Coach applications and provide an update on the flooding at the Schildberg Rec Area.