(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Natural Resources Commission has approved funding for another year of a program to monitor bats. The D-N-R’s Kelly Poole says the program this summer will monitor bat sounds to track them and inventory their numbers. “Related to white nose syndrome, which is a disease that’s killing thousands of bats,” she says.

She says it is something they have done since 2013.” Iowa State University will be coordinating our community science program to actually collect the data. They’ll be processing the data and they’ll be submitting it to the North American bat monitoring program, which is a requirement of this grant,” Poole says. She says they anticipate using some 35 to 40 volunteers to run routes in the state to track the bats.

“The information is important to us because it’s part of our the D-N-R’S white nose response plan,” Poole says. The volunteers record the noises the bats make that help them navigate in the dark. The contract for the monitoring says the costs are not to exceed 27-thousand dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – A Senate subcommittee has advanced a bill that would let Iowans with a doctor’s recommendation have a darker tint applied to the windows of their vehicles. Senator Waylon Brown of Osage said the bill as written isn’t ready, but he’d like to figure out a solution.

“I have three people in my district who have what’s called Dracula Disease and sunlight actually causes the blood to come up to the surface of their skin,” Brown said, “so they can only travel at night.”

Dracula Disease is a real genetic disorder that’s likely the origin of the vampire myth. Iowans who suffered eye discomfort in bright sunlight, a condition called photophobia, used to be able to get a medical exemption and the DOT’s permission to have a darker tint applied to their vehicles’ windows, but legislators repealed that law in 2012. Brown said he has constituents who got those window tint exemptions before it began illegal.

“Those vehicles are about at the end of their life,” Brown said, “and they’re not going to be able to get the window tint they need to be able to drive during the daylight.”

Law enforcement officials say vehicles that have a darker tint on the windshield or the front side windows are a safety risk. Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Wade Major said tinted windows prevent eye-to-eye contact between motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians at intersections.

“Whether you have the right of way or not, essentially you’re going to look over to left or right and you make that eye contact,” Major said. “What we’re seeing nowadays with these tinted windows, those that are basically illegal in the state is not only the sides are being tinted, but also the fronts are being tinted, so that is a concern of ours because you do not have that eye to eye contact or clear vision as you go through there.”

Major also told lawmakers that officers approaching a vehicle during a traffic stop are trained to look for the driver’s hands. “Hands are what’s going to hurt us, usually. When we approach a vehicle, we want to be able to see those hands for officer safety issues,” he said. “With a window tint, it distorts the vision and you can’t really see in that well.”

Law enforcement officials say encountering more tinted windows will make it harder to enforce Iowa’s seat belt law or see when a driver is illegally using a smart phone.

ATLANTIC, IOWA – Cass Health is pleased to welcome three new providers to the team at AMC Rapid Care. Mark Habel, ARNP, Chanda Moreland, ARNP, and Linda Newsome, PA-C all recently began providing care to patients at Cass Health.

Habel is Family Nurse Practitioner who recently graduated from Chamberlain University with his Master of Science in Nursing. Previously, he worked for nearly 25 years as a Registered Nurse (RN) in a wide variety of specialties, with extensive experience in cardiac intensive care.

Moreland is also a Family Nurse Practitioner and graduate of Chamberlain University. She has worked as a nurse practitioner since 2018, and she first became an RN in 2009. She is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the Iowa Nurse Practitioner Society, Emergency Nurse Association, and the Iowa Emergency Nurse Association.

Chanda

Habel

Newsome

Newsome has worked as a Physician Assistant since 2004. She is a member of the Society of Emergency Medicine Physician Assistants, American Association of Physician Assistants, Iowa Physician Assistant Society, and the Nebraska Academy of Physician Assistants.

AMC Rapid Care is a walk-in clinic for minor injuries and illness. The clinic is open seven days a week and is located next to the Cass Health Emergency Department.

(Radio Iowa) – Several students are using the Sioux City School District’s career academy training to become firefighters once they graduate.

Sergeant Bluff Fire Chief Anthony Gaul leads the program that includes college courses. “They’ve got two classes they’re Western Iowa Tech credit classes, fire protection systems, principles of emergency services there’s the Emergency Medical Responder — they can’t take that until they are 17 — that’s a state rule,” he says. “Second semester of their senior year they can take firefighter one and hazardous materials.”

Gaul says many students are also getting real-world experience at local departments to go along with the classes. “Three in Sergeant Bluff, one at the 185th (Iowa Air Guard) fire department now. We have just added another one so there are five in North Sioux City and three in South Sioux City and more trying to come along all the time now,” Gaul says.

Sioux City students during firefighter training. (KSCJ photo)

Jackson Johnson of Sioux City East High School hopes to become the third generation of his family to be a Sioux City firefighter.
“Some days we’re in here learning about stuff on the TV and then other days we’re doing a lot of hands-on and go into stations, go into Sergeant bluff and we do stuff down there too it definitely opens your mind about a lot of this stuff in here,” Johnson says.

Chief Gaul says it’s fun to see the students get excited as they learn and train to be firefighters. Many fire departments across the state are struggling to find new people to fill their open positions, and it’s hoped this program will help fill the gap.

The Glenwood (IA) Police Department reports two arrests from the past couple of days. On Saturday, 19-year-old Michael Monson, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Theft in the 1st Degree ($10,000 cash or surety bond). And, on the 10th, 42-year-old Daniel Thomas, of Glenwood was arrested for Driving while barred, with bond set at $2,000 cash or surety. He was released on his own recognizance.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol will be participating in what’s being called a “High 3” project for 2023, focusing on two-lane highways, beginning this Wednesday. ISP Trooper/Public Information Officer Ryan Devault told KJAN News the project evolved out of data crunching from three-years of traffic accidents.

Devault says he was surprised to learn from the study that there were 58 fatalities on two-lane roads. That’s because there are more variables contributing to those crashes.

On Wednesday, February 15th, the Iowa State Patrol will be working with other law enforcement agencies and conducting a saturation project on Highway 2, Highway 34 and Highway 92. They’ll be focusing on speed and seat belt usage, in particular. Each month, Devault says, they will be picking three highways to focus on as part of the High 3 Initiative to get the annual fatalities in Iowa below 300.

ISP Trooper/PIO Ryan DeVault, District 3

Trooper Devault said there have been at least 10 more fatalities in Iowa than at this same time last year. He says they’re trying to get motorists to “put the driving back into driving.”

In addition to law enforcement on the ground watching out for speeders and erratic driving, there will be eyes in the skies.

And, just because the focus Wednesday will be on the area two-lane roads, doesn’t mean you can skirt the law by using the interststate. Trooper Devault says they will still have a visible force watching over the four-lanes.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports four recent arrests, with two of those persons released on citations.

On Feb. 5th, 40-year-old Brandon Thomas O’Neill, of White Lake, MN, was arrested by Police in Adair, for being a Felon in Control of a Firearm, and Open Containers as a Driver, 21-years of age or older. The man was arrested after an Adair Police Officer saw O’Neill allegedly take a bottle of alcohol out of the trunk of his vehicle and pour it into a glass, while he was parked in a convenience store parking lot. A subsequent search of the vehicle after the Officer and a Sheriff’s Deputy questioned O’Neill, resulted in the discovery of alcohol in the front seat cup holder, and a .9-mm handgun between the driver’s seat and center console. The gun had a round in the chamber and additional rounds in the magazine. A records check indicated O’Neill was a convicted felon ineligible to possess a firearm. He was transported to the Adair County Jail and released the next day on a $5,000 bond.

On Feb. 6th at around 4:30-a.m., Adair County Deputies arrested 32-year-old Logan James Hovick, of Cambridge, MN, for OWI/1st offense, Open Container, and Failure to Maintain Control. He was taken into custody following a single-vehicle accident that took place at around 3:30-a.m. on I-80 westbound  near mile marker 74, where his SUV had struck a cable barrier. His breath alcohol content at the Adair County Jail registered .216%. Hovick was cited and released on the charges.

At around 1:15-a.m. Friday, Feb. 10th, 29-year-old Dakota Eugene Brown, of Creston, was arrested in Orient, on an Adair County Felony warrant for Forgery, and on a Wright County Bench warrant for Failure to Appear at a hearing for Failure to Pay Child Support. His Cash/surety bond was set at $5,000. Brown was released a little bit later that same morning.

And, at around 11:30-p.m. Saturday, Adair County Deputies arrested 33-year-old Austin Lee Cooper, of Creston, for OWI/2nd offense and Speeding (93 mph in a 55 zone). His breath alcohol content came in at .131%.   Cooper was released with a citation.

“It should be noted that a criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.”