(Red Oak, Iowa) – A collision in Red Oak, Thursday afternoon, caused $11,000 damage, but no injuries were reported. According to Red Oak Police, the accident happened a little after 2-p.m., at the intersection of N. 8th and E. Coolbaugh Streets. The Police report says 79-year-old Jane Roberta Waltz, of Red Oak, was driving a 2016 Chevy Equinox on E. Coolbaugh Street, and attempting to turn north onto 8th Street. When she stopped at the intersection and then pulled-out, Waltz failed to notice a 2020 Toyota Corolla traveling northbound on 8th, and driven by 52-year-old Christina Marie Gresham, of Red Oak.

The right front side of Waltz’ SUV struck the car on the left rear side, causing the Toyota to slide into a street sign and scrape a fire hydrant. Red Oak Police cited Waltz for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign and Yield the Right-Of-Way. The report also noted Waltz should have a reexamination of her driving skills, due to “poor driving skills possibly due to eyesight and age.”

[Update 5/2/24: According to the Mercer County sheriff in Missouri, the medical examiner says there is not enough evidence to determine how Husted died.]

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — Missouri Highway Patrol says they’ve identified human remains found this week as Sebastian Tyrese Husted from Centerville. Husted was first reported missing in Iowa in January 2018. Investigators told KCCI he got a ride to work from a co-worker to clean a hog confinement farm in Lineville. They say he made it to the hog farm, but he never returned home. Troopers in Missouri say the remains were found by a turkey farmer in Mercer County along the state line.

AUDUBON COUNTY, IOWA – U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today spoke with students at Audubon High School as part of his annual 99 county meetings. Grassley and the students discussed several topics including bipartisanship, service academy nominations, The Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act and more. “I appreciated Audubon students’ thoughtful questions and willingness to learn,” Grassley said. “Speaking face-to-face with the next generation of Iowans is one of the highlights of my work. I look forward to seeing all they accomplish in their future endeavors.”(Photos courtesy Grassley’s office)

This is Grassley’s 44th straight year holding meetings in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. Grassley has held at least one meeting in every county, every year since he was first elected to serve in the U.S. Senate. He takes questions on any subject. Iowans set the agenda.

(Radio Iowa) – The presidents of the three state universities say they’re making progress on the directive by the Board of Regents to cut Diversity Equity and Inclusion efforts not necessary for accreditation or compliance. University of Iowa president, Barbara Wilson, says their effort includes changing the D-E-I office. “It will be called the Division of Access Opportunity and Diversity. And under that new division will have two offices, as I said, one that will focus on accreditation and one that will focus on on generally compliance issues and that one will be called the office of civil rights compliance,” Wilson says.

Wilson says they will not fill five positions in the office.”We’ve decided that we we can make this office even leaner than it was before and we’ll save about 360-thousand dollars from that restructuring,” she says. Wilson also discussed the directive that no one be required to disclose their pronouns.”We also will be prohibiting anybody from requiring pronouns and that will be added to all syllabi for all courses as of the fall,” Wilson says.

Iowa State University president, Wendy Wintersteen, says they have also taken action. “Iowa State has made the decision that our vice president for diversity equity inclusion office will close in July. So we will eliminate essentially five positions two positions that are currently filled and three vacant positions,” she says. Wintersteen says that move will save 789-thousand dollars. She says they have also taken action in other areas. “We have done a comprehensive review, and both of websites and promotional materials to make sure that everyone understands that all of our programs are available to all students,” Wintersteen says.

I-S-U is also addressing the pronoun issue with a new policy. “No employee student applicant or campus visitor is compelled to disclose their pronouns anyone may voluntarily disclose their own pronouns,” Wintersteen says. University of Northern Iowa president, Mark Nook, also made a presentation at Thursday’s Regents meeting. “The reorganization includes the elimination of the Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice Office, which has been and is an important part of the U-N-I experience for many of our students,” Nook says.”Because this office has served many students on our campus, we are creating new front line student-serving positions to expand our direct to student services for the entire U-N-I student population.”

He says the new system will continue to make all students feel welcome. “These positions and services are focused on building a stronger sense of community for each student, which is essential to ensuring that students who come to you and I are retained graduate, and as you heard this morning, prepared for their lives after graduation,” Nook says. He says the work will continue. “It will take time to adjust to these changes, we are confident that by making these structural and organizational changes we will be able to provide the personal attention and services each U-N-I student needs and deserves,” he says.

All three university presidents say they directive made them look at the issues in a different way, and expanded the way they thought about making everyone feel welcome on the campuses. The Board of Regents issued eleven recommendations to the schools in November falling a review by a study committee. State lawmakers approved a bill in the just ended session that puts many of the Regents directives into law.