(Radio Iowa) One of the world’s most deadly forms of cancer is the focus of an event in central Iowa this weekend that will gather survivors from across the state, as well as advocates and loved ones of those who’ve died from it. The Purple Stride Iowa walk will be held Saturday at Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines. Ryan Dwars, of Iowa City, is a three-year pancreatic cancer survivor and he’ll be giving a speech during the event’s opening ceremony.

“The Purple Stride event is to help those that are impacted by pancreatic cancer,” Dwars says. “It’s a way to give tribute to family members that may have been lost due to pancreatic cancer, but it’s really to raise public awareness and funds to hopefully have some better treatment options, resources and scientific research.” Symptoms of pancreatic cancer are often vague and can include abdominal or mid-back pain, unexplained weight loss, jaundice, loss of appetite, indigestion, changes in stool and new-onset diabetes. After some minor back pain grew and gradually spread into his chest, Dwars went to the E-R and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 36.

“Luckily, I was able to catch it soon enough which — a lot of people aren’t quite that lucky,” Dwars says. “My uncle was battling pancreatic cancer at the time as well, too. He has since passed. I was able to have surgery, but then I’ve still been battling it because it’s come back a couple other times, so I’m on my third chemo regimen.” The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is just 13-percent. It’s estimated more than 66-thousand Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and nearly 52-thousand will die from the disease this year, making it the third-leading cause of cancer death in the U-S. Dwars, a special education teacher at Iowa City West High School, says he’s faced a variety of challenges since being diagnosed.

“The chemo drug that I was on at the time, there was a shortage of that and I wasn’t going to be able to get it,” Dwars says. “We helped advocate and find the drug to be able to bring that to our local hospital, and not just to help myself but also to help about 50 other patients that were going to miss their chemo treatment because of a drug shortage.”

Saturday’s annual Purple Stride event is the only one in Iowa, and it’s among about 60 nationwide. The Iowa goal is to raise 145-thousand dollars toward a national goal of 19-million, in order to help change the lives of people facing pancreatic cancer and advance progress against the disease.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police report a local man faces charges in connection with a drug investigation. 28-year-old Nikolus Brenton Schooling, of Red Oak, was arrested late Tuesday afternoon on felony charges that include Drug trafficking methamphetamine–a Class B felony, Intent to manufacture or deliver a schedule 1 narcotic–a Class C felony, Controlled substance violation–a Class D felony, and Class-D felony Drug tax stamp violations.

Schooling was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $45,000 cash-only bond.

Separately, Red Oak Police Tuesday arrested 37-year-old Tyce Samual Watts, of Red Oak, for OWI/ 1^st Offense. Bond for Watts was set at $1,000.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a fertilizer spill Monday in the City of Burlington in Des Moines County. The D-N-R says a 700 gallon plastic tank containing fertilizer fell off a truck and an unknown amount of the fertilizer spilled onto the street and continued into a nearby storm sewer which discharges into Hawkeye Creek. D-N-R staff later observed fertilizer contamination at Hawkeye Creek, which flows through the City of Burlington to the Mississippi River. No dead fish have been found and the the D-N-R is working with the City of Burlington to address the fertilizer impact before entering the Mississippi River.

(Radio Iowa) – Things could be changing in the labor force as we head through spring into summer. Iowa Workforce Development executive director, Beth Townsend, says there’ll be some impact as college students graduate. “We have 61-thousand open jobs, so we’ve got a lot of really great jobs to pull from or take advantage us so hopefully we’ll see more people enter into the workforce as we get closer to graduation,” she says.

The pork plant in Perry will be closing as summer starts. “The layoffs are not supposed to start until the end of June. So, you know, assuming that some of the lines close in June, it probably will be July or August before we can ascertain how many folks had lined up employment, you know, and went right into another job and how many needed some additional time to find work,” she says. Townsend says they hope many of the employees find work they can transition to after the plant closes.

“We don’t typically see every single person who gets laid off on unemployment because they’ve, you know, found other jobs,” she says. “We know there are employers out there recruiting them. There was a job fair, the first week in April. We plan to have multiple job fairs in May and June as we get closer to people actually being ready to look for work.”

Townsend says they will continue to be focused on helping the Perry workers through the plant shutdown.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 7:30-p.m. Tuesday in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a man wanted on a warrant. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 48-year-old Timothy Lee Hutchison, of Decatur City, was arrested in the 1700 block of Highway 34, on a Decatur County warrant for Violation of Probation. Hutchison was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, pending extradition to Decatur County.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Legislature has approved up to eight MILLION dollars for the new Thrive Iowa program Governor Kim Reynolds proposed, to link people in need with faith-based and private sector groups that can help. It’s modeled after a similar program in Florida. In January, Reynolds said community support is just as important as government programs in helping Iowans get back and their feet and become self-sufficient.

“The good news is that many of these resources already exist across our state, from faith communities, to non-profits, and so many other wonderful organizations. They are doing life-changing work every single day,” Reynolds said. “Government’s role is not to replace these grassroots efforts, but to amplify and facilitate them.”

Republican Senator Mark Costello of Imogene says he’s not sure if the Iowa Department of Human Services will hire a company to run the Thrive Iowa program, although he says some of the eight MILLION dollars is for staff and developing an online system for requests and referrals. “It’s really the human element and using the navigators to assist Iowans that are in need. And it’s a closed loop referral system under HHS,” Costello says. “It’ll be statewide and connect the community provider to nonprofits.”

Senator Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democrat from Waukee, says the United Way already operates the 2-1-1 referral service for two MILLION dollars. “It doesn’t make sense to me to start a brand new program when the one we have right now, right here is already doing this work, especially when it’s going to cost up to $8 million for them to do the same thing,” Trone Garriott said. “That sounds like a really bad deal for Iowans.”

Trone Garriott says the extra eight MILLION dollars would have been better used feedy needy Iowa children this summer.

(Harlan, Iowa)- The Shelby County Board of Supervisors met in a special session at 9:00-a.m. Tuesday, April 23, 2024,  and held a Public Hearing for the 2025 Shelby County Budget. Having received no comments, verbal or written, the hearing was closed and the Board opened a Special Session, whereby they passed a Resolution (as show below), to adopt the Budget as proposed, along with the Shelby County Compensation Board’s recommendations.

RESOLUTION NO.  2024-19: ENTRY RECORD OF THE HEARING AND DETERMINATION OF THE COUNTY BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025

BE IT REMEMBERED, on the 23rd day of April 2024, A.D., at the hour of 9:00 A.M. of said day, the Board of Supervisors of Shelby County, Iowa, met for the hearing upon the county budget as filed with the Board.  There was present a quorum as required by law.

WHEREAS, the Board investigated and found that the notice of time and place of hearing had, according to law, and as directed by the Board, been published in the official county newspapers published in Shelby County and that affidavits of publication, therefore, are on file with the County Auditor.

THEREFORE, on said day, the budget was taken up and considered.  Present were interested parties and various department heads.  There were no other written or oral comments.  After discussion, the Chairman declared the hearing closed and the County Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 adopted, along with the Shelby County Compensation Board recommendations.

The above and foregoing resolution was adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Shelby County, Iowa, the vote thereon being as follows:    AYES: Kenkel,  Parkhurst. NAYES:  None  Abstain: Schaben

The meeting then adjourned.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Nishna Valley YMCA Executive Director Dan Haynes, today (Tuesday), issued a statement with regard another anonymous donation in support of operations at the Sunnyside Pool, in Atlantic. The donation will help to pay for five additional people to take the Lifeguarding Class, who plan to work at the YMCA, as well as a sign-on bonus to those who act quickly! The LifeGuard Classes begin next week.

(Radio Iowa) – Ground was broken this morning on Mason City’s Destination Iowa bike park project. City Administrator Aaron Burnett says a grassroots effort from a local organization turned into a state-funded project with help from a $4.5-million Destination Iowa grant.

Burnett says the bike park is specifically designed for off-road and mountain biking with features for all ages. The closest example of a facility like this is in Arkansas.

“A bike park is really a place where you can work on your skills, everything from a little kid just getting on a bike for the first year of their life and riding it around and going over some small bumps, all the way up to expert jumplines where you have a little more danger, but you are also getting air and experiencing that, working on your jumps, going over features,” Burnett says.

The Prairie Rock Trails Bike Park will be located on the southern edge of Lime Creek Nature Center and will link the 450-acre conservation area to Mason City’s new High Line Trail, the Riverwalk near Southbridge Mall and 20 miles of existing trails. Burnett says the bike park is the main feature of the city’s Destination Iowa grant, which includes the build-out of a trail system in the area.

“We’re building many miles of single-track trails here. We’ve got the bike park that we’re celebrating today with the groundbreaking, but we’ve already completed the High Line Trail,” he says. “The Riverwalk has been bid, and that will start construction this year.”

Alaina Santizo, of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, says Mason City’s application was part of a very competitive process in choosing award recipients for Destination Iowa grants.

“The county, city and these groups that really coalesced around one plan brought forward, but also the uniqueness of all,” Santizo says. “This is the first of its kind in our state and even in the Midwest, so it’s really exciting. During those COVID years, we really saw people just really craving those outdoor recreational opportunities and that’s just remained. The COVID days are past us now, but people still love doing some of that outdoor recreation.”

Photo by Bob Fisher, KRIB

Santizo praises the local efforts of Mason City and Clear Lake in recently receiving Destination Iowa grants for projects. This project fits into the program’s outdoor recreation awards, while the Clear Lake Surf District project received funding from the “placemaking” portion of the program.

She says, “The projects that both of those communities brought forward were extremely competitive, and so they scored well in our process, and we were pleased to be partners on both of those projects.”

The bike park is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2025.

(Radio Iowa) – The fines for trespassing in order to hunt deer will go up significantly July 1. The law — and the fines — have been expanded to include trespassing to hunt any wildlife. The trespasser can be arrested and officers will be able to confiscate animals from hunters who trespass on private property — and assess more fines based on how many animals the hunter has taken. Senator Tom Shipley, a Republican from Nodaway, said it’s “a big deal” in southwest Iowa.

“I think raising these penalties is very important to those people in areas where they have people coming in from all over the country just deciding it’s their ground to play on,” Shipley said. Senator Janice Weiner, a Democrat from Iowa City, is skeptical. “I didn’t hear any good arguments in committee or elsewhere that would necessitate us raising the fines for trespass,” Weiner said, “or that there have been really egregious instances.”

Senator Tom Shipley

Representative Monica Kurth, a Democrat from Davenport, said she doesn’t condone trespassing, but this law seems excessive. “If a farmer’s trying to rid his property of nuisance raccoons and crosses a property line to get after those varmints and happens to have three of those critters in his possession, he would suddenly be fined $500 for the trespass, plus $200 for each of those raccoons,” Kurth said, “making a grand total of $1100.”

Republican Representative Mike Vondran of Davenport said trespassing is trespassing and the law is needed. “The simple act of knocking on your neighbor’s door and asking permission to deal with critters and varmints is one thing versus just deciding to go out and take your weapon and cross over a fence line, cross into another property where you have no concept of who is where and what activity they might be undertaking at the time,” Vondran said, “so to some degree this is a large measure of safety as well.”

The governor signed the bill into law Friday. It raises the fine to $500 for a first offense of trespassing in order to hunt. It’s currently $265. The fine for a second violation would be a $1000.