DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa parks are facing staffing shortages after years of declining funding to the state Department of Natural Resources. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that department officials announced layoffs and the dissolution of the forestry bureau in July. The Iowa Legislative Services Agency recorded that of the 68 state parks or recreation areas managed by the natural resource department, only 24 percent have two or more full-time employees.

Department spokesman Alex Murphy says they have 101 vacancies statewide, but that they don’t plan to fill 80 of them due to lack of funding. He says the department’s budget is almost half of what it used to be in 2009, so there’s a trickle-down effect in limiting services. Local supporters of the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area in Dubuque say resources are going to waste.

Members of a Department of Natural Resources study team sorted through garbage taken to landfills by the state’s largest cities and found tons of material that’s being thrown out that could be recycle. The D-N-R’s Tom Anderson oversaw the 2017 study conducted in October, and says one thing stood out compared to the last study. “Food waste has nearly doubled since 2011. Food waste is the most landfilled material in Iowa, and has been for each of the four studies that we’ve done,” Anderson says. The study found food waste accounted for 20 percent of the materials going into the landfills and totaled more than 556-thousand tons. While the amount of food being thrown out went up — researchers found less of a common packaging material in the landfills. “The good news I guess is that corrugated cardboard has significantly decreased since the 2011 study,” Anderson says.

He says it’s obvious efforts to keep cardboard out of landfills has paid off. “Cardboard had been part of recycling programs pretty much since day one — but now we’re seeing increased participation from the residential side — but probably more importantly from the industrial, commercial and institutional side, seeing that decrease,” according to Anderson. “Cardboard has a pretty strong market value, so it’s good to see that material get pulled out of the waste stream.” The amount of cardboard dropped by 50 percent since the last study. Plastics were the second most landfilled item in the study. He says plastic bags and film pose a big problem for recyclers. “Typically they are not put in the curbside programs, the processors have issues with the bags and the film getting wrapped around their equipment so they are continually having to shut down their processing lines to get somebody to go in there and free up those machines,” Anderson explains.

Anderson says retailers have programs to take back the plastic bags, but that requires consumers to follow through and take them back. The amount of plastic film, wrap and bags found in landfills increased by 15 percent compared to 2011. Some communities have gone to a system where all recyclables are place in one bin for pick up and then sorted once they are trucked to the waste plant. Anderson says this makes recycling easier, but says there is a downside if people don’t follow the instructions “People you know think, well this is a plastic, it can be recycled. Not all recyclable materials can be put into curbside bins. You really need to follow the directions…what does your community program take,” Anderson says. The study found there are some bottles and cans with a deposit on them that are landfilled. He says overall the number of deposit containers landfilled is small, so he says it appears that program is working.

Paper was another large component of the material in landfills — totally 25 and-a-half percent. The study looked at the recycling market prices at the time of the study and found the value of the common recyclable paper and containers that are sent to the landfill instead of being recycled is more than 60 million dollars. Among the sites where the study was conducted, was the West Central Iowa Solid Waste Landfill and the Crawford County Transfer Station.

(Radio Iowa)

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Police in the Des Moines suburb of Clive say the overnight robbery of a gun store and shooting range saw thieves steal 18 guns, including seven fully-automatic weapons. Police say the robbery happened around 10 p.m. Thursday at Rangemaster’s Training Center. Officers responding to an alarm at the business found the front door glass and the interior vestibule glass smashed. A review of security camera footage showed by two masked suspects breaking in and taking nine handguns, two semi-automatic rifles and seven automatic weapons.

Clive police are working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate. Police say they are particularly worried about the automatic weapons being in the hands of criminals.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa City man is facing a felony assault charge after police say he pushed another man onto a burning couch during a fight last month. The Press-Citizen reports that the victim suffered second- and third-degree burns on his lower back and buttocks after allegedly being pushed Nov. 4 by 21-year-old Timothy Peiffer. Police say the men were fighting in a courtyard in Iowa City, and that someone had set the couch on fire before the fight.

Peiffer is charged with assault causing serious injury. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted. He was arrested this (Friday) morning.

Red Oak Police this (Friday) morning, arrested a man on an Adams County warrant. 40-year old Michael Todd Brace, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9-a.m., on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Brace was being held without bond until being seen by a magistrate judge.

Page County Sheriff’s Deputies, Thursday, arrested a man wanted on a Page County warrant for OWI/1st offense. 20-year old Austin Michael Larson, of Shenandoah, was taken into custody at around 3:30-a.m, Thursday. He was being held in the Page County Jail on $1,000 bond.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and Shenandoah Police Department assisted in the arrest.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating after the body of a Le Mars man was found in his home. Investigators say the death appears to be suspicious. The Sioux City Journal reports that the body of the 57-year-old John Peter Koley was found Wednesday afternoon on his kitchen floor. Officials believe Koley had been dead for several days before his body was found by his son.

Police were unable to immediately determine the manner of death. The body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, for an autopsy Friday morning.

ELLSTON, Iowa (AP) — Bargain hunters beware! A four-bedroom farmhouse in southern Iowa listed online for free comes with a catch: The new owner must move the building from the current owners’ land. Roger and Linda Dolecheck say in a Craigslist ad that the Ringgold County home will be torn down this winter if no one takes up their offer.

The Des Moines Register reports that the Dolechecks have been trying for years for sell the house where they raised their four children. The two-and-a-half-floor farmhouse is assessed at $52,700, even after the Dolechecks invested $150,000 in repairs. It also has historic value as the home to landmark hybrid corn innovation in Depression-era Iowa.

Roger Dolecheck says he just needs to find somebody who would like to live in an old house with character.

Deputies with the Fremont County K9 Unit, Thursday, arrested 45-year old James Leroy Clark, of Hamburg, as part of an ongoing investigation into narcotics distribution in Fremont County. Clark was arrested for distribution of less than 5 grams of methamphetamine within Fremont County. Clark is being held at the Fremont County Jail, pending initial appearance with a magistrate.

Clark

Officials with the Glenwood Police Department report 38-year old Matthew Tyson, of Pacific Junction, was arrested Thursday, for Violation of the Sex Offender Registry. Tyson was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $5,000 cash or surety bond. And, 21-year old Kayla Richardson, of Glenwood, was arrested today (Friday), for Gathering where controlled substances are used and for a Controlled Substance Violation. Her total cash bond or surety was set at $30,000.