(Radio Iowa) –  The Iowa Environmental Council has found Iowans will pay 333 million dollars over the next five years to remove nitrates from drinking water supplies if nitrogen pollution rates don’t change. Alicia Vasto is the water program director for the Iowa Environmental Council. The group has reviewed data from the state agency that issues permits for construction and operation of livestock confinements. “Our report outlines the costs of agricultural pollution, particularly from livestock operations here in Iowa, for everyday Iowans,” she says.

Vasto says the costs are eye-popping and include treatment for life-threatening health conditions. “Nitrate pollution is linked to increased incidences of cancer and a report just earlier this year found that Iowa has the second highest rate in the nation for overall cancer incidence,” Vasto says, “so there’s a growing body of research that is saying the drinking water standard for nitrate is not actually protective enough for these long term health risks.”

A Stanford University study found the risk of premature births doubled among women whose drinking water contained nitrates. The Iowa Environmental Council’s report concludes every Iowan is paying direct or indirect costs associated with nitrates. “When the nutrients in that manure or in that fertilizer can’t be taken up by plants, it leaves the farm fields and enters in our waterways,” Vesto says, “so that contamination can be very costly in terms of health care costs or drinking water costs, but also just costly to quality of life.”

According to the U-S Environmental Protection Agency, more than 250 new livestock confinements were built in Iowa in 2022. The Iowa Environmental Council cites state records which indicate there are more than nine-thousand a animal feeding operations in Iowa of various sizes. “There can be major spills or leaks from manure storage systems,” Vesto says, “but most of the contamination that is problematic is from the application of manure to farm fields.”

Vasto notes that every state agency is reviewing all state rules and regulations and that includes the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which oversees confined animal feeding operations. “We should be keeping in mind that when we loosen regulations, costs will increase for everyday Iowans,” Vasto says, “but if we increase enforcement and regulations we can help prevent some of those costs.”

It costs a lot to remove nitrates from drinking water. It costs the Des Moines Water Works 10-thousand dollars a day to operate its nitrate removal facility when nitrate levels are high.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R is easing off the collection of information on bobcats and otters in the state as it appears the two species are doing well. D-N-R furbearer biologist Vince Evelsizer says they had been collecting teeth samples from trappers who caught the animals. “So as to keep an eye on the age distribution of otters and bobcats. Make sure we were not over harvesting those species. So, for now we are taking a break from doing that,” he says. Evelsizer says they will still keep an eye on the populations in other ways. “We see either otters or Bobcats dip and start to go down with their population then we’d start asking them to collect keys for aging purposes again to see what kind of age distribution we have,” Evelsizer.

Evelsizer says the re-emergence of both bobcats and otters is a good thing for the state. “They’re considered to be a basically a wildlife success story for both of them, otter and bobcats are both doing well,” he says. “Bobcats came back into Iowa on their own and otters were reintroduced into Iowa.” Bobcats got a lot of attention and reports to the D-N-R as they started showing up more and more in the state.

Otters and bobcats are a comeback success story in Iowa. (DNR photo)

Evelsizer says people seemed to be more used to seeing them now, and it is fun when they are spotted. “They’ll get a lot of neat reports from land owners and homeowners that see them on their trail cameras or their surveillance cameras and stuff and are usually pretty excited to see a bobcat,” he says. “You know, they’re fairly secretive animal and so when they see one on their cameras, they have a chance to see one that was on their property. Maybe it’s a nice daylight photo.”

The D-N-R says otters were reintroduced in Iowa in 1985 and by 2006 had spread statewide. Bobcats had been an endangered species until their numbers started rebounding and a limited bobcat season began in 2007.

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Sioux City Police say one man has died after a pursuit Sunday night ended in a crash. According to the Sioux City Police Department, at about 7:50 p.m. Sunday officers tried to stop a 2014 Dodge Charger that was reported stolen earlier in the day.

Police say the driver, later identified as 24-year-old Gunnar Lee Kratz of Sioux City, refused to stop for police and a pursuit began. Police say the pursuit went through the west and north sides of Sioux City. At about 8 p.m. police say Kratz lost control of the car and crashed in the 1700 block of Floyd Blvd. The crash closed that area of Floyd Blvd for several hours.

Kratz was taken to a local hospital where he later died from injuries he received in the crash.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Luther College is set to rename an athletics facility after receiving the largest monetary gift in the school’s 162-year history.

The school announced on Monday that Michael and Nicole Gerdin gifted $10 million to help renovate the Regents Center which is home to Norse athletics and the wellness center.

Luther College will rename the facility the ‘Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness.’

Michael Gerdin is the CEO of Heartland Express in North Liberty and a 1992 graduate of Luther.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass County (Iowa) Democratic party report that on November 14th, first-term State Representative Josh Turek (House District 20: Council Bluffs, Carter Lake) visited Cass County to discuss voter concerns and legislation he’s championing. Born with Spina Bifida, and the first person who uses a wheelchair to be elected to the Iowa State Legislature, local party officials say Representative Turek brings important personal experience and perspective to legislation impacting Iowans with disabilities.

Last Spring, Representative Turek introduced HF403, legislation referred to as Work Without Worry, which is a Medicaid Buy-in plan for permanently disabled Iowans seeking employment. As Turek explained, currently in Iowa only 7% of permanently disabled individuals are employed, and this is mainly due to the low income and asset limits to qualify for Medicaid; Medicaid is the only health insurance coverage available to many Iowans with disabilities, and current laws prohibit people on Medicaid from earning more than $15,000 or holding assets of value more than $2000. Turek’s legislation would allow Iowans with disabilities the opportunity to work without the fear of losing their Medicaid
coverage.

Denise O’Brien (L) with State Representative Josh Turek in Cass County.

Representative Turek, according to the local organizers, is also passionate about banning cancerous carcinogens from
catheters, which many people with disabilities rely on. He introduced The Better Caths for Iowa Act (HF 387), and in addition to working on legislation in Iowa, he has visited Washington D.C. to lobby for similar laws at the federal level. For more information on this issue visit bettercaths.com.

Additional legislation Turek has introduced in Iowa includes HF502 Capping Insulin Prices, HF79 Housing Tax Credit for Disabled Veterans, HF121 Reducing Driver Registration Fees for Disabled Veterans, and HF692 Funding Mental Health Professionals in Schools.

The Cass County Democrats hosted Representative Turek at their November monthly meeting, which was open to the public. For more information on the Cass County Democrats, monthly gatherings, or to join the Cass County Democrats email newsletter, contact casscountyiadems@gmail.com or follow the Cass County Democrats on Facebook @CassCountyIADems or on Instagram @CassCountyDemocrats.

The Cass County Democrats’ December gathering will be a holiday party and cookie bake-off fundraiser held Tuesday, December 12, from 6-8 PM at Heritage House (1200 Brookridge Circle, Atlantic, IA 50022). All are welcome.

Council Bluffs, Iowa – Based on precipitation over the last week, officials with Pottawattamie County Emergency Management has requested the State Fire Marshall lift the current ban on burning in Pottawattamie County, effective today (Monday, 11/27/23).

Open burning is now allowable throughout the county EXCEPT in any municipal city limits where there is a standing ordinance prohibiting open burning on a regular basis. Before burning within any city limits, check with your local fire department or city clerk to determine whether your community has such an ordinance.

Residents are to continue using extreme caution whenever burning. The county is still experiencing abnormally dry conditions and seasonal outlooks indicate that will remain the case or even deteriorate in the upcoming months.

Emergency Management urges all residents to sign up for Alert Iowa emergency notifications at https://pcema-ia.org. During emergencies or critical events communication is key, and the Alert Iowa system is our primary method of distributing alerts and information.

(Radio Iowa) – Police in Fort Dodge are trying to determine what lead up to a dog attack that left a woman seriously injured Friday. Brooke Bickford reports:

(Radio Iowa) – Investigators have not yet determined the cause of a Saturday afternoon explosion and fire at the Poet ethanol plant in Shell Rock. There were no injuries. Witnesses reported seeing a fireball at that time and felt the explosion for a radius of several miles around the plant. Butler County Emergency Management reports that by the time emergency crews arrived on the scene, the fire had taken care of itself.

The cause is under investigation, but one possibility was a combustible dust explosion. The plant is running and is stable.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Sunday afternoon, of a man on an Assault charge. 54-year-old Patrick Lee Miller, of Malvern, was taken into custody at around 3:36-p.m. at a location on Wilson Avenue. He was transported to the Mills County Jail and charged with Simple Assault. Miller was being held without bond, pending a court appearance.

The Sheriff’s Office says also, a resident of Virginia Beach, VA, reported Friday morning, an incident of Theft in the 2nd Degree in the vicinity of Noyes Avenue, in Mills County. Additional details were not provided.