(Sidney, Iowa) – Officials with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office say because of the higher-than-normal car fatalities in the last couple years, and a lower percentage of seatbelt usage, the County has been asked to participate in the High Five Project to lower the number of major accidents and increase the percentage of seatbelt usage. That will be done through special projects involving the state patrol and deputies with a focus on seatbelt enforcement. The cost of not wearing or wearing improper is $175.50.

Statewide, in 2021,72% of fatal crashes in Iowa occurred on secondary rural roads. Approximately 79% of Iowa’s total roadways are considered secondary in nature. Due to these alarming statistics rural safety has become a major concern.

Beginning December 1, 2022, a new initiative identified as “High Five Rural Traffic Safety Project” will be launched to focus on traffic safety on Iowa’s rural roadways. After reviewing 5 years of crash data and looking at counties with low seat belt compliance rates, the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau along with a multi-disciplinary team of traffic safety professionals selected five rural counties to participate in this project.

The counties participating in the project include Appanoose, Fremont, Humboldt, Keokuk and Mitchell. The High Five project will involve a three-tier approach to include enforcement, engineering, and education with the ultimate goal to build a safer community. Through enforcement, media, and community outreach, participating agencies will work to educate drivers on the benefits of complying with traffic laws with an emphasis on Iowa’s seat belt law. From an engineering aspect, the focus will be to identify low cost safety improvements throughout the county.

Law enforcement and county engineers within the High Five counties are conscientious safety advocates who understand rural roads are unique because they are shared by a variety of vehicle types from passenger vehicles to large machinery and other farm implements traveling at slower speeds. The road surface types and speeds also vary. Enforcement efforts on roadways with higher volumes are common but with Iowa’s percentage of rural fatalities above the national average the need to have a special program focusing coordinated efforts on rural safety has become apparent.

The High Five project will begin December 1, 2022 and will conclude on September 30, 2023.

(Radio Iowa) – A motivational speaker is urging Iowa teachers, administrators AND students to separate from their smart phones and connect with the humans around them. Joe Beckman, a consultant based in Minneapolis, was at the School Administrators of Iowa conference in August and he spent a couple of days in Spencer schools last week. “How do we say yes to the benefits of tech, but not lose the one thing that got us here in the first place, which is human connection?…We know tech’s not going anywhere anytime soon,” Beckman says. “It’s not the bad guy in the room. If we use it in a way that makes our world and our lives better, if we use it as a tool rather than a companion.” Beckman says smart phones have become a crutch.

“We are trying to fill different voids in our lives that real human connections were able to fill in the past,” Beckman says. “Real lonelineeds, feeling that you are part of something that is bigger than just you, contribution towards something or someone that makes them better — all of that takes real interaction, connection, being with people. And that’s hard to do and it’s impossible to replace if we do it from a virtual side of things.” Beckman is the author of a book titled “Just Look Up” that he describes as a tool to engage with those around you.

“Our brains are really good at finding things that are easy. It’s how our biology is. We want to do the least amount of work and get the biggest benefit and human connection is hard. It’s a lot easier to look down than it is to look up because looking up is fraught with rejection and fear and, ‘What do they think of me?’ and yet at the same time what we know as adults is that sometimes the hardest things and the right things are the same thing and I believe human connection is the right thing.”

Beckman was a featured speaker at training sessions hosted earlier this year by the Grant Wood and Prairie Lakes Area Education Agencies. A recent Pew Research Center poll found 45 percent of teenagers are almost constantly on the internet and more than half felt anxious or lonely if they didn’t have access to their smart phone. Researchers from Iowa State University and other institutions who reviewed national data from 2009 through 2015 found an abrupt change in the sleeping habits of teenagers who used their smart phones at least two hours a day. Those with higher usage rates were far more likely to be depressed.

(Radio Iowa) – Making a big family meal for Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be a significant drag on your energy use. One tip from energy savings advisor Allison Trouy is don’t dawdle when you’re preparing to use the oven. “You want to make sure that the green bean casserole is ready for baking by the time the oven finishes pre-heating,” Trouy says. “Heating the oven for longer than needed is just going to waste energy and that’s going to waste your money.” Trouy says once something is in the oven, resist the urge to open the door to peek on its progress

“Don’t do it,” she says. “Opening the door can actually drop the temperature as much as 25 degrees, which will add cooking time and energy use.” Just flip on the oven light to check on baking food instead of letting out that heat. Another thing to keep in mind is that cooking in the kitchen may keep your house warmer than normal. “It is a great opportunity to just lower your thermostat a few degrees and you probably won’t notice a difference,” Trouy says. “And really, any time you can take the opportunity to lower that thermostat, it can really add up to some significant savings.”

Another way to save energy and time is to avoid the temptation of washing the dishes as you go. Instead, she suggests waiting until all your dishes need to be cleaned and you can fill the dishwasher before turning it on. “It is going to use the same amount of energy to heat up, whether it’s full or not,” Trouy says. “You might as well maximize that energy use and get everything in there you can before you run it.”

If you have a programmable thermostat, the U-S Department of Energy says to turn it down by 10 to 15-degrees before leaving the house for an eight-hour span, and you’ll save up to 15-percent a year on your heating bill.

(Pocahontas County, Iowa) – A man from Hartley died early Thursday morning when his pickup crossed the centerline of the road and struck a Mack truck. The accident happened northwest of Havelock, at around 2:28-a.m.  According to the Iowa State Patrol, 75-year-old Richard Leath was driving a 2007 GMC Sierra north on Highway 4 and it collided with the southbound Mack truck driven by 65-year-old Daniel Meyers, of Spencer.

Leath died at the scene. He was wearing a seat belt. Meyers was uninjured. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Pocahontas County Sheriff’s Office, Pocahontas Fire and Ambulance, Pocahontas Police, and Havelock Fire.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University supply chain expert says retailers face more costs now in handling returns, and many have looked at different ways to change their policies. Robert Overstreet says you can help by knowing the policy before you buy. “Certainly you need to look up the policy and one thing I would convey to consumers is to be more intentional in your purchases, take the time to make sure it’s what you want before buying it,” Overstreet says. He says holiday gift buying does fall into a different category for retailers when it comes to returns.

“Retailers generally treat the holidays a little differently — you know where they are more lenient with the policy. … If there’s a 30-day window they won’t start that 30-day window until say Christmas or the day after Christmas — they understand that you know people getting something as a gift will need more time to return it,” Overstreet says. He is an assistant professor of supply chain management and says the costs for dealing with the returns have increased for retailers with staffing and other issues. Overstreet says there are always some people who want to push the system too far and his research group asked people about that.

“We ask people ‘Do you consider yourself someone who violates a returns policy that goes beyond the intent of a retailer’s returns policy?’,” he says. “And only about one percent maybe two percent of those who responded identified as someone who’s abused a policy.” Overstreet says they figured people might be a little self-serving, so they asked the question in a different way. So we asked, thinking about your friends and family, what percentage of your friends and family do you consider someone who would on occasion violate a retailer’s returns policy. We got an answer closer to 11 or 12 percent,” he says.

Overstreet says retailers have tried all types of return policies and can have issues if they are too lenient, and also if they are too strict.