(Glenwood, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Mills County, Tuesday, issued a report on five accidents, during which there which no injuries….

On Dec. 19th, a 2004 GMC driven by 18-year-old Jeremiah Day, of Malvern, was traveling east on Highway 34 at around 7:30-p.m., when his vehicle went out of control due to the extreme ice and snow conditions. The vehicle entered the east ditch and hit several trees before coming to rest.

On the 21st, 42-year-old Floyd Cozad, of Glenwood, was leaving his residence at Gillens Court at around 12:23-p.m., in order to pick his kids up from school. Authorities say while backing up, Cozad’s 2003 Chrysler struck the driver’s side box of a 2015 SIlverado pickup, driven by 42-year-odl Jeremy Blum, of Glenwood. There was no recognizable damage to the Chrysler, authorities said, but the truck had a dent. Floyd admitted to being at fault, as he did not see the pickup. He was cited into court.

On Dec. 23rd, a 2014 Ford driven by 59-year-old Raymond Weber, of Glenwood, was traveling north on 221st Street at around 3:18-a.m., when the vehicle went out of control while Weber was negotiating a curve on the slick, snow-packed road surface. The vehicle struck a cable barrier on the east side of the road, causing the vehicle to change direction and further downhill, sliding into a ditch on the westbound side of the road, where the vehicle rolled onto its top.

Mills County Sheriff’s office say on Christmas Day, 64-year-old Carol Brehmer, of Clarinda, was driving a 2002 Dodge south on Highway 59 at around 8:24-p.m., when a deer ran onto the roadway. The road was  wet and slick, conditions which officials said made it impossible to avoid striking the deer. The impact occurred on the front driver’s side, and resulted in disabling damage.

On Monday (12/26), 35-year-old Corrie Lusch, of Glenwood, was driving a 2011 Nissan northbound in the 50,000 block of 221st Street, when his vehicle struck a deer. The accident happened at around 6:19-p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – If you’ll be making a New Year’s resolution on Saturday night, you may need to genuinely focus on making the change in order to keep the pledge. Alison Phillips, a psychology professor at Iowa State University, says our approach to making resolutions usually sets us up for failure.  “I’ve seen two different statistics, one is that 80% of resolutions fail by the second week in February,” Phillips says. “The other is a bit less depressing and that’s 40% of us are still hanging on after four months. Either way, long-term efforts at changing our behavior generally fail.” Phillips, who studies behavior change and habit formation, says to focus on how to make changes that will lead to creating a better version of yourself.

“This is important because behaviors that do stick around are those that become part of our self-identity, it’s how we see ourselves,” Phillips says. “They’re usually things that we’re proud of, that we’re good at, and they make us feel like we’re competent at something.” Zero in on things you can become good at and that you see yourself doing and take pride in, she says, as those are the kinds of things people won’t give up on. “Habits form as you repeat them in a stable context,” Phillips says. “Pick a time that’s pretty regular that you could do it and that will help you form a habit more quickly. Also, pick something that you relatively enjoy. You might not like exercise at all but pick something that you hate the least and that you would be proud of yourself to do.” If better physical fitness is your target, Phillips says it’s important to aim for specific goals that focus on behavior and not on certain outcomes, like a number on the scale.

“If you prefer bicycling to running, by all means, go for the bike,” Phillips says, “even if it’s in the gym and the stationary bike isn’t awesome, maybe try a spin class until the weather is nicer.” Everyone fails, she says, so plan ahead and rehearse how you will cope when you run into barriers. Also, social support is important, so in addition to having a workout buddy, make sure your family is on board, too, and will encourage you as you create new, positive habits.

(Radio Iowa) – Brenna Bird will take over Monday as Iowa’s attorney general, the first Republican to hold the office in 40 years. Bird’s central campaign promise was to — in her words — see Joe Biden in court. “Yes, I will be standing up for Iowa and joining any lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s overreach,” Bird says. Bird is still developing a proposed budget for the office, but one of her first moves will be to ask the Republican-led legislature to approve funding for more prosecutors.

“I will be beefing up the prosecution portion of the office to make sure that we can take the cases that Iowans need us to take to court,” she says. Bird, who has been Guthrie County Attorney, says she’ll miss prosecuting cases at the local level. She plans to review the state’s Crime Victim Assistance program. “We’re going to do an audit of all of those services and grants that are offered to crime victims and those organizations and make sure we are serving victims and that victims are coming first in the justice system,” Bird says, “and we’re also working to have a ‘cold case unit’ to make sure that no one gets away with murder.”

Brenna Bird

In 2021, the Iowa Senate unanimously voted to create a unit in the Iowa Department of Public Safety that would focus on unsolved murders and missing persons cases, but the bill then stalled and didn’t become law. This past year as Bird campaigned, she talked about creating a cold case unit in the attorney general’s office, because most other states have one. “We would work with all law enforcement agencies, including DPS, local police, sheriffs, ” Bird says. “We would work across the whole state.” Bird also wants to establish what she calls a “special victim’s unit” in the office.

“That would focus on those cases, like child molesters and other cases where it’s so important that people be brought to justice,” Bird says. Bird criticized her predecessor, Democrat Tom Miller, for failing to travel the state and meet with local law enforcement. Bird says she intends to visit every one of Iowa’s 99 counties each year. Bird has announced her top deputy will be Sam Langholz, who had served as chief legal counsel for Governor Reynolds until Miller hired him in 2021.

Bird ran against Miller 12 years ago and lost by 11 points. She won this year’s campaign against Miller by one-point-eight percent.