An El Nino Watch is being issued by the Climate Prediction Center, as conditions become favorable for the development of another round of Pacific Ocean warming. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub, based in Ames, says we’ll likely feel the impact in a few months. “We could see an El Nino occur probably into the fall, is what I would guess we’re looking at,” Todey says. “There is a fairly decent pool of warm water in the subsurface in the equatorial Pacific. When you start seeing that and the computer models all line up I’d say, yeah, we’re probably headed that way.”

Farmers across Iowa will need to take particular note as the weather pattern often shifts the region’s climate. Todey says the impacts of the developing El Nino will be felt late this year into next. “We have an increased chance of being warmer during the wintertime with El Nino,” he says. “The storm track moves up a little bit further north, you may have more mixed-precipitation-types of storms with the warmer temperatures than overall snowfalls.”  Todey says they are also watching the current warming trend across the Northern Plains. “Even if you’ve got decent soil moisture, warmer temperatures start to extract more water from the soil because of higher atmospheric demand,” Todey says. “We’re getting to that time of year where corn is starting to use more water anyway. That’s a more immediate concern and then it becomes how much more precipitation are we really going to get, and that’s been a tough call so far this year.”

Todey says a La Nina — or cooling of the ocean — ended last year and we’ve been in a neutral phase since then.

(Radio Iowa)

A Red Oak man was arrested Tuesday evening on an alcohol-related charge. Red Oak Police report 34-year old Kirby David Stoneking was taken into custody for Public Intoxication at around 7:45-p.m. in the 100 block of W. Coolbaugh Street. Stoneking was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, and held on a $300 bond.

**A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 8 PM TODAY (WEDNESDAY), FOR ALL BUT THE NORTHWEST CORNER COUNTIES IN IOWA**

Heat Advisory (Counties in orange) from Noon-to 8-p.m (7/4/18)

* TEMPERATURE… Temperatures in the lower 90s coupled with dewpoints in the middle 70s will result in heat indices between 100 and 105 degrees in most areas, and from 105 to 110 degrees in the far west/southwest counties.

* IMPACTS…Heat illnesses are possible for those active outdoors this afternoon. Vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly are especially susceptible. Those planning outdoor holiday activities need to take necessary precautions to beat
the heat.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A Heat Advisory means that a period of hot temperatures is expected. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a situation in which heat illnesses are possible. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned
room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

Fewer communities are allowing their residents to use fireworks this year, the second Fourth of July holiday since Iowa lawmakers legalized fireworks sales in the state. Many cities made changes to their fireworks policies after receiving numerous complaints last year. Marion, in Linn County, is among the communities limiting when fireworks can be used – from noon till 11 p.m. on the Fourth. Marion Police Department spokesman Tom Daubs is hopeful it will mean fewer complaints than last year.

“But, if you have too many people violating that, and too many people are upset and present a case to cancel the fireworks, I can see a case where we would go along the lines of a Waterloo or other communities and cancel it,” Daubs says. “But, I don’t think we’re to that point yet. I hope we’re still hoping people will use their common sense and be respectful, and we’ll see how it shakes out.”

Waterloo Fire Chief Pat Treeloar says local leaders banned the personal use of fireworks after getting about 800 complaints last year. He hopes this will be a quieter Fourth. “We’re certainly under the impression that the first year, last year…I think the novelty will wear off a little bit,” Treeloar says. “We’re sure hoping that our complaints and calls for service go down.”

Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Dubuque are among the other cities NOT allowing personal use of fireworks this year. Cities such as Council Bluffs and Sioux City, like Marion, ARE allowing their use, but for a shorter period of time than last year. Today (Wednesday) is the last legal day for fireworks use in Atlantic. They are permissible on private property only, from Noon until 11-p.m.  After today, fireworks are allowed from 6-p.m. New Year’s Eve 2018 through 12:15-a.m. New Year’s Day, 2019.

(Radio Iowa)

As Iowa’s first female governor seeks election to a full term as governor, she is calling on women to be “disruptive voices” in the workplace. Kim Reynolds has been the chief executive of the State of Iowa for 406 days — ever since Terry Branstad resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to China. Last week, Reynolds spoke about female empowerment at a gathering of women bankers in West Des Moines.

“Iowa needs women who are competitors and provide the big ideas that shape how we live and work now and in the future,” Reynolds said, “women who are not afraid to challenge outdated concepts and they see problems not as barriers, but as opportunities.”

According to Reynolds, this is a “time of transformation” for women in Iowa. “Iowa needs women who share their intellect and their creativity to drive diversity of thought in the workplace and women with transformational attitudes and disruptive voices that aren’t afraid to confront the status quo,” Reynolds said. Reynolds has said she sought a seat at the decision-making table from her very first days in the state senate. This is her advice to women who are reluctant to voice their opinions in the workplace:

“First of all, you don’t have to know everything and you don’t have to be perfect. You just have to have a passion for what you’re doing and your willingness to make a difference. If I…had waited until I thought I knew everything until I ran for office, I guarantee you that I would have never ran.”

Reynolds first ran for office in 1994. She wound up serving as Clarke County Treasurer for 14 years. As Reynolds prepared to run for the state senate, she attended a candidate event and a man walked right past her to asked her husband what senate seat he was running for.  “That poor guy, he felt so embarrassed. He was just mortified that he hadn’t thought it might be me that was running for the state senate and not my husband,” Reynolds said.

It happened again this year, as the governor and her husband, Kevin, were entering an event at the National Governor Association meeting in Rhode Island. “The people at the check-in said…not to me, to Kevin: ‘Governor, which state is it that you’re here with?’ And again, poor (Kevin), he’s like: ‘Well, I’m not the governor. I’m the first dude. It happens to be her that’s the actual governor of the State of Iowa,” Reynolds said.

Women who are forging a path in business and in politics have “moxie” according to Reynolds. “I love that word because it’s defined as having spirit, determination, courage, energy, know-how and attitude,” Reynolds said.

(Radio Iowa)

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

PANORA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a man shot and killed over the weekend by a Panora police officer in central Iowa. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says in a news release Tuesday that 26-year-old Joshua Reed, of New Virginia, Iowa, was the man killed Sunday night. Officers called to a Panora apartment complex say they found Reed in a hallway and ordered him to drop a knife. After he refused to do so, police say Officer Rock Armstrong shot him.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Officials in central Iowa say flooding from heavy rains this past weekend damaged the Clive Library and the Clive Aquatic Center. The Polk County Emergency Management Agency said in a news release Tuesday that the library and aquatic center had closed because of damage from storm water. Both have since reopened. A special flood-debris pickup has also been scheduled for Clive, a suburb of Des Moines, on Friday for residents and businesses in some areas.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered flags on state grounds to be flown at half-staff to honor five employees of a Virginia newspaper shot to death last week. The Iowa order asks that U.S. and state flags be flown at half-staff Tuesday until sunset. Iowa will join Annapolis, Maryland, and other states lowering U.S. flags in honor of those killed at the Capital-Gazette. President Donald Trump has also ordered U.S. flags on federal property to be flown at half-staff.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Public Safety has fired a state trooper who was on paid leave for 10 months. The department told The Associated Press that trooper Wade Karp was terminated Tuesday for violating rules governing employee conduct. The move comes one week after AP reported that Karp had been kept on paid leave since Sept. 5, 2017 and collected about $50,000 in salary since then.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest Tuesday of 20-year-old Dakota Giroux of Red Oak for Failure to Appear. Giroux was arrested at 4:08pm at 1004 East Reed Street in Red Oak. The original charge was a Red Oak charge of Breach of Peace. Her bond was set at $1,000 cash only and she is currently being held at the Montgomery County Jail until being seen by the District Court Judge.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s state police agency fired a trooper on Tuesday for alleged misconduct, days after acknowledging the employee had quietly been on paid leave for 10 months. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said trooper Wade Karp was terminated for violating department rules, including those that govern employee conduct. The department refused to elaborate further on the details of Karp’s alleged misconduct, and didn’t explain what took so long to investigate and render a decision on Karp’s discipline.

The Associated Press first reported last week that Karp, a 10-year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol, had been kept on paid administrative leave since Sept. 5, 2017. He has collected roughly $50,000 in salary since then. An official with the State Police Officers Council, a union which represented Karp during the investigation, didn’t immediately return a phone message.

Karp was based at the patrol’s Post 16 in Des Moines, which helps patrol the Capitol and other state buildings. The AP also reported last week that Karp was responsible for a service weapon that discharged inside the Post 16 office in December 2016. It’s unclear if that incident was accidental or linked to his termination.

In a statement released by department lawyer Barbara Edmondson, the agency said Tuesday that all other information related to Karp’s leave and termination “is confidential and protected from disclosure” under the Iowa open records law. The statement cited a law that exempts personal information in “confidential personnel records” from disclosure.

The AP is protesting that position, noting that an Iowa law that took effect last year requires state and local government agencies to release the “documented reasons and rationale” for terminating or demoting public employees. Agencies often release copies of termination letters to satisfy that requirement, but it isn’t settled how much information has to be released.

The Mills County K9 Unit conducted a traffic stop at around 8:15-p.m. Monday in Glenwood, and ended up arrested the driver on drug and other charges. 28-year old Thomas Michael Cash, of Glenwood, faces charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Deliver (91 grams of marijuana), Failure to Affix a drug tax stamp, and Driving While Barred. Cash was also cited for operating a non-registered vehicle. His bond was set at $12,000.

Authorities said also, 40-year old Andy Charles Andrews, of Pacific Junction, was arrested Monday afternoon at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Failure to Appear. His bond was set at $2,000. And, 27-year old Travis Wesley Christina, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Monday evening in Pottawattamie County, on a warrant for Failure to Appear. His bond was set at $10,000.

Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Public Safety, today (Tuesday), issued an update on the fatal, officer-involved shooting incident Sunday, in Panora. Authorities identified the subject shot as 26-year old Joshua B. Reed, of New Virginia, Iowa.  The autopsy of Reed was conducted by the Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny.  The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was ruled homicide.

The Panora Police officer involved in the shooting is Officer Rock Armstrong.  Officer Armstrong has been an officer for 17 years.  Officer Armstrong is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

The incident that lead to the shooting took place when Panora officers responded at around 7:20-p.m. Sunday, to a 9-1-1 call about a man with a knife threatening people in an apartment complex at 502 West Market Street, in Panora. Officers located Reed in a hallway and ordered him several times, to drop the knife. When he failed to do so, Officer Armstrong engaged Reed and fired his weapon. Reed was given medical aid but later died from his injuries.