(Radio Iowa) – An expert at Iowa State University is conducting an online survey of Iowa wine drinkers to learn more about how and why they choose products made in the state. Aude Watrelot says the survey on white and red wines covers many aspects of the decision to buy a product. “Do they buy those wines at a specific place? So maybe at a winery, or is it more in a restaurant? Or is it in a grocery store? And then what do they look at when they try to purchase wine?,” she says.

The questions also ask about the packaging of wine and how that influences a purchase. “The design of the label, or do they look at the production of the wine? Do they look at the place of production of the wine,?” she says. “And then what do they do with this wine? As soon as they purchase the wine, they probably won’t drink the wine right away.” Watrelot is a chemist who focuses on the chemical composition of wines produced in the Midwest. She says the way wine is used once you get it home is an important factor. “Once you open the bottle of wine, if you don’t drink everything right away — what do you do with this wine? Do you keep it open? To have some air coming into in contact with a wine? Or do you close the wine? Do you try to remove the air? Do you store in the fridge?”

Watrelot says there are around 98 wineries in Iowa and some 250 vineyards, and the number of wineries is always increasing. She says the survey can help ensure they are moving in the right direction. “Those answers will be helpful for the grape and wine industry just to improve the winemaking practices. So trying to improve the quality during the process to make sure the wine that is provided to consumers is of high quality and will remain of high quality,” she says.

The survey is be available through February 13th. To take the survey, visit https://iastate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eJArChzeYKnSBzo.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – When the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education met Wednesday evening in the High School Media Center, they agreed to set March 8^th at 5:30-p.m., as the date and time for a public hearing on bids received for the Washington Elementary School Playground Improvement Project. The Board authorized Snyder and Associates’ Dave Sturm to begin the bid letting aspect of the project. The bids will be due by 2-p.m. March 7^th. Board President Laura McLean and Superintendent Steve Barber said it’s hoped that by fast-tracking the project, work can take place this summer.

Snyder’s Dave Sturm and Tim West, Snyder Landscape Architect, spoke with the Board about some of the agreed upon project features.

Speaking via video conference call, Tim West said they worked with the manufacturers to select structures that offer a whole range of developmental challenges and mobility.

There’s a large rope climber was chosen over a circular, spinning-type of element.

Not everything on the wish list, Dave Sturm said, could be included in platform footprint, like a split, high slide. Tim West…

The project would be paid for through SAVE, in the amount of $650,000.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report the arrest a little after 10-a.m. Wednesday, of a Creston man. 18-year-old Nathan Lee Novotny was arrested at his residence. Novotny was charged with Criminal Mischief 5th, Harassment 1st Degree, and Harassment 3rd Degree. He was taken to Union County Jail and held without bond until seen by Judge.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on three separate arrests that took place, Wednesday. At around 2:22-p.m., 30-year-old Jesse Robert Schleip, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a Montgomery County warrant for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $10,000.

A little before 4-p.m. Wednesday, Deputies in Montgomery County arrested 43-year-old Robert Charles Harvilicz, of Jefferson, following a traffic stop just north of Stanton. Harvilicz was charged with having expired license plates, and driving while license revoked. He was later released on a $2,000 bond.

And, at around 7:30-p.m., Wednesday, 50-year-old Timothy James Laughlin, of Villisca, was arrested in Villisca on a traffic stop for Failure to stop at a stop sign. Laughlin was charged with OWI/1st offense, and later released on a $1,000 bond.

Click to enlarge the image

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A public hearing for patrons of the Atlantic Community School District will be held during the March 8th, 2023 meeting of the Atlantic School Board. The hearing, which begins at 5:45-p.m., is with regard to the proposed 2023-2024 District Calendar.

Superintendent Steve Barber explained the proposed calendar was created through input from a Calendar Committee, consisting of Mr. Barber and Asst. HS Principal/ AD Andy Mitchell, five teachers and two parents.

The draft proposal for publishing, he said, has a couple of differences from last year.

When the Committee looked at days available, Barber said they looked at those days in the second semester.

The differences, he says boil down to not losing school on December 22nd. Spring Break this year was seven days, with students and staff coming back on January 2nd.

Steve Barber said the Committee looked at and decided to keep the Parent-Teacher Conferences dates in October and February as they are now. One change involved Spring Break.

The change will allow for the last place of school to be May 22nd, 2024. The Committee also moved the Nov. 22nd dismissal time from 1-p.m. to 1:30-p.m.to keep it consistent with Wednesday early out’s.

(Radio Iowa) – There’ll be lots of parties this weekend for the big game and there will also be plenty of patrol cars on the road looking for drunk and impaired drivers. Sergeant Paul Gardner of the Iowa State Patrol says an extra enforcement effort is planned to try and get everyone home safely. “In 2022 there was a spike in deaths across the country with 244 people killed in traffic deaths and the 12-hour period during and after the Superbowl game,” Gardner says. He says a study of the similar period one weekend later showed 187 deaths. Gardner says the increase in Superbowl Sunday deaths was also linked to drunk driving.

He says 46 percent of those during the Superbowl Sunday night who were killed in traffic crashes, alcohol was a contributing factor. Gardner says they don’t want to see the weekend end on a bad note. “Our plan is to have everyone make it to the end zone– which is home safely — and your M-V-P, your most valuable player in this case is going to be a sober designated driver to get home safely,” Gardner says.

Gardner says if you are hosting a party, make sure all your guests have a way to get home if they have been drinking.

(Radio Iowa) -The remains of a Monticello seaman who died in in World War Two are coming back to Iowa for burial.The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says Navy Seaman First Class Donald A. Stott was assigned to the battleship U-S-S Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on December 7th, 1941.

Navy Seaman 1st Class Donald A, Stott ((DPAA photo)

The Oklahoma quickly capsized, and Stott was among 429 crewmen who died. His remains were buried along with other unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. New methods that include D-N-A were later used to identify his remains, and they will be buried in Monticello on March 25th.

(Radio Iowa) – Most Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate have voted to set limits on pain and suffering damages from medical malpractice lawsuits. The move has been one of the governor’s priorities. Under the new guidelines, those non-economic damages for medical malpractice claims against hospitals would be limited to a maximum of two million dollars. For clinics, nursing homes and individual physicians the cap would be one million. Representative Ann Meyer, a Republican from Fort Dodge who’s a nurse, says the cost of liability insurance is hurting recruitment and retention of doctors, particularly in rural areas.

“Iowa has a target on its back for out of state, predatory lawyers,” Meyer says. “We are seeing them coming in and trying these cases and getting large verdicts.” The bill faced opposition from Democrats and 16 Republicans voted against it. Republican Representative Mark Cisneros of Muscatine says these aren’t frivolous lawsuits and more than 20 other states have similar caps that aren’t reducing medical malpractice insurance rates.

“What’s next on the priority list of corporate protection? Trucking companies? Carbon pipelines?” Cisneros asked. “Right now the corporate lobby is salivating at the prospect of passing this bill.” Senator Jeff Reichman is among the majority of Republicans who voted for the bill. He’s from Montrose, a 15 minute drive from the hospital that closed in Keokuk last fall.

“I’m not naïve enough to think this is going to be the 100% fix,” Reichman said, “but what we need to decide today is are we going to have lottery sized settlements or when our constituents arrive and need that hospital is there going to be one there for them?” Representative Megan Jones, a Republican from Sioux Rapids, says lawmakers are forgetting that medical malpractice verdicts for pain and suffering are for pain and suffering.

“These are people,” Jones said. “These are our friends, our neighbors and our loved ones. These are our babies and we’re not protecting them.” Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says guardrails in the bill are necessary to prevent verdicts that can cause closures or bankruptcies for health care facilities.  “A civil action isn’t supposed to be a lottery for anybody. It’s compensation for a loss,” Schultz said. “It’s not to produce a windfall of unearned wealth.”

Senator Nate Boulton, a Democrat from Des Moines who’s an attorney, says victims of medical malpractice who win verdicts have suffered horrifically. “Call up any of these families that got a nuclear award. I think you’re going to hear about nuclear damages,” Boulton said.”And, no, they don’t feel like lottery winners.”

Governor Reynolds says the bill is reasonable medical malpractice reform that will help Iowa’s health care system be more reasonable and accessible. Under the bill, economic losses and punitive damages for medical malpractice victims would remain unlimited. It also calls for creation of a task force to study medical errors.

DES MOINES – Today (Wednesday), Governor Reynolds issued the following statement after medical malpractice tort reform passed the Iowa legislature:

“I’m grateful to the legislature for passing reasonable medical malpractice reform, allowing Iowa’s health care industry to become stronger and more accessible. To the OBGYNs and physicians who have been worried about practicing in Iowa, we are ready for you! These reforms balance the needs of injured patients with the needs of all Iowans to have a robust health care system. As I said in my Condition of the State, these reforms could not wait another year.”

Atlantic, Iowa – Annie’s Project, a six-week course designed especially to help farm women develop their management and decision-making skills, is being offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Cass County. Online registration is available at www.extension.iastate.edu/womeninag or at the Cass Extension office. Classes will be held at Cass County Community Center at 805 W. 10th St. in Atlantic on Thursdays beginning Feb. 23.

Classes will continue March 2, March 9, March 16, March 23, and March 30. Classes will be held from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00p.m., with a light meal served at 5:30 p.m.  The cost is $75.00. Pre-registration will close a week in advance of the class, or if the class fills up, so organizers encourage those interested to register early!

Farm women participating in Annie’s Project courses become better business partners and owners by learning to manage and organize critical information for their own farms, while establishing networks with other farm women and agriculture business professionals.

According to ISU Extension and Outreach farm specialist, Tim Christensen, Annie’s Project covers five areas of agricultural risk management: financial, human resources, legal, marketing and production. “Our goal is to provide a program that is of great interest and value. Each session includes presentations, discussions and hands-on activities,” Christensen said. “In addition, guest speakers share their personal experiences and knowledge to help women become better business partners and owners,” added Christensen.

According to a 2012 survey conducted by Iowa State Extension and Outreach, 47 percent of Iowa’s farmland is owned by women. Annie’s Project supports these women by providing an agricultural business education program that empowers farm women who want to be more knowledgeable about their agricultural enterprises.

“Offering a quality program such as Annie’s Project benefits our community and we are excited to be able to offer this class, as we’ve had a great response from previous sessions,” said Kate Olson, Cass County Extension Director.

“We’re excited to host this class in Cass County again and look forward to sharing valuable educational tools and important resources with women in southwest Iowa, as well as helping then create a local network of support in their local area,” Olson added.

“Annie’s Project empowers women by offering a valuable set of business-based workshops. The program helps participants learn ways to make better financial and risk management decisions,” according to Madeline Schultz, ISU Extension and Outreach Women in Agriculture Program Manager.

More than 33 states have implemented Annie’s Project sites since its inception in 2002. According to post-program surveys, participants have reported that the program encouraged learning and that the nurturing environment has facilitated ongoing conversation with local speakers. In addition, respondents were able to network with other professionals and stated that they felt comfortable interacting with others for additional information and assistance. Overall, participants remarked that the courses were beneficial in understanding the factors in farming that pertain to women, their families, and the land.

For more information, contact Kate Olson at 712-243-1132, or e-mail keolson@iastate.edu. Register online at www.extension.iastate.edu/womeninag or find additional program details at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.