(Villisca, Iowa) — The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports deputies called to an apartment in Villisca at around 3:40-a.m., Sunday, arrested a man on an assault charge. Upon arriving at the apartments located in the 600 block of East 6th Street, authorities found a woman with multiple injuries to her face, arms and back.

Christian Meek

After an investigation, deputies arrested 27-year-old Christian Meek, of Villisca, on a charge of domestic abuse assault — first offense. Meek was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, pending an initial court appearance.

(Radio Iowa) – Today is statehood day. Iowa became a state on December 28th, 1846 — so this is Iowa’s 175 anniversary. Iowa hasn’t always been the word residents have used to refer to the state. You hear this word in the lyrics of the Iowa Corn Song. The song was written in 1912. Leo Landis, curator at the State Historical Museum, says Ioway was not only spoken and sung, but it was printed in newspapers. “Ioway was almost as common if not a more common pronunciation for our state into the early 1900s,” Landis says.

“I’ve seen a Cedar Rapids Gazette article talking about that transition in the 1920s, where you stop hearing, ‘Ioway.'” Landis says many states are named for native peoples. Albert Miller Lea, the soldier and engineer who conducted a survey of an area of the Midwest in the 1830s referred to the Iowa District of the Wisconsin Territory. “That’s how the Ioway Nation, indigenous peoples to our state, get associated with the land that we know as Iowa today,” Landis says. Iowa was first proposed as a state in 1844, with a northern border that would have extended up to an area that is today known as the Minnesota Twin Cities.

“The federal government didn’t feel like that was a manageble size of a state, didn’t want a state that large, so rejected one of the early bills on statehood,” Landis says. While Iowa was admitted to the union in 1846, there wsa a dispute about the southern border with Missouri.  “Missouri had tried to claim some of that land. There’s the small Honey War issue in the territorial period,” Landis says. “That was still being disputed into the 1850s, with a Supreme Court ruling finally establishing, firmly, what our southern border is.”

Landis says the first big celebration of Iowa’s statehood was held in Muscatine on July I4th, 1888. It marked the 50 years of Iowa as a U.S. territory, then as a state. Newspaper accounts from the time described the day’s promising beginning and Mother Nature’s intervention at the end. “They had a beautiful parade and pageant in the morning and they were shooting off cannons,” Landis says. “Then that night…it was in July, we get a lot more thunderstorms in Iowa…the barge that has the fireworks in Muscatine is sunk. They can’t save anything. The buildings with the bunting, the bunting is being blown away.”

The Iowa legislature appropriated 10-thousand dollars for a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Iowa’s statehood. It was held in Burlington, in October of 1896, and Landis says newspaper accounts described what happened during the opening day’s parade. “The reviewing stand collapses while the parade is going by with Governor Drake, Vice President of the United States Stephenson…People up front are pretty well protected, so Governor Drake and Vice President Stephenson escape with bruises and scratches, it’s described, but regrettably former Governor Sherman breaks his leg,” Landis says.

“…The Davenport Times has a really great story, one side of the newspaper talking about the beautiful celebration that’s taking place and then talking about a calamitous accident.” Landis says celebrations on the actual date of statehouse are uncommon because Iowa’s weather on December 28th is often less hospitable for gatherings. Landis says there are some important items in the State Historical Museum from the state’s territorial and early statehood period. ”

Artifacts like a drawing by Wacochachi, a Meskwaki elder who was living in Scott County and was friends with George Davenport as so, as a gift in the 1830s to George Davenport, drew animals that were sacred to the Meskwaki — still are sacred to the Meskwaki — and also some events from his life,” Landis says. An exhibit at the State Historical Museum titled “You’ve got to know the territory” includes materials from Territorial Governor Robert Lucas and his wife, Friendly Lucas.

(Thurman, Iowa) – A traffic stop Saturday afternoon on Interstate 29 between the Percival and Thurman exits, resulted in the arrest of two Nebraska men on drug charges. According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, deputies with the Fremont County K9 Unit stopped a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix for fraudulent license plates at mile-marker 19, southbound on I-29 at around 12:35-p.m.

The driver, 64-year-old George Haynes Sr., of Omaha, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of a schedule II controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and was cited for no valid driver’s license. He was being held at the Fremont County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

A passenger in the vehicle, 61-year-old Clinton Morris, also from Omaha, was arrested on an active warrant out of Nebraska. He was being held without bond, pending extradition.

(Radio Iowa) – The Loess Hills wildlife management area in western Iowa’s Monona County is shifting its conservation strategy. A forest stewardship plan is proposed, which means techniques would be used like forest thinning and timber harvesting to protect and attract new species. Forester Joe Herring says, in the past, wildlife areas would acquire property and leave the area to grow, but ecologists are pushing for a more hands-on approach.

This kind of active management is vital, Herring says, to solve major forestry issues in Iowa, like the decline of oak tree populations and the rise of invasive species. Iowa D-N-R wildlife biologist Doug Chafa says there’s a need for greater age diversity in the western Iowa woods. It’s a way to make sure a whole range of species can thrive in the 26-hundred acres spread across Monona County.

Similar plans have been developed statewide for many of Iowa’s wildlife areas already, but state foresters say much more active management needs to be done to protect Iowa’s woodlands.

(by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Omaha, Nebraska) – A motorcycle accident in Omaha, Friday, claimed the life of a man from Pottawattamie County. According to Omaha Police, at around 3:24-p.m., officers were dispatched to a personal injury crash involving a motorcycle at the on-ramp from southbound 60th St to I-80 East. An investigation determined that a 2010 Harley Davidson motorcycle operated by 54-year-old Jamie Richardson, of Council Bluffs, was traveling on the on-ramp when it left the roadway.

The motorcycle and Richardson separated as both went down the embankment. Citizens performed CPR until Omaha Fire Department Medics arrived. Richardson – who was wearing a helmet -was transported to Nebraska Medicine with life-saving measures in progress, but he died during surgery.

Alcohol impairment is being investigated as a factor in this crash.

Police in Red Oak, Christmas morning, arrested a man for 5th Degree Criminal Mischief. 35-year-old Torrance Fitzgerald Hillard was arrested at around 2:30-a.m, and transported to the Montgomery County jail, where he was being held on $300 bond.

And, 63-year-old Michael Edward Smith, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Red Oak, for driving while barred. Smith was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000.00 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – While some Iowans’ homes will be visited by a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer tonight (Friday), it’s hoped there’s not a visit tomorrow from a fire truck. Andrea Vaspis, public education director for the National Fire Protection Association, says if you’re trying to add some holiday ambience to the room by lighting a few candles, do so with caution.

Vaspis says, “Candles, on average, cause 21 homes fires a day in the United States with the peak days of candle fires being Christmas Day — at almost three times the rest of the year — and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.” December is the peak time of year for candle fires and studies find almost three of every five December home fires are started by candles.

“Candles are great but they are an open flame and when they’re placed too close to a mattress, bedding, cartons, decorations,” Vaspis says. “People leave the room and think they’ll be gone for 30 seconds but they’ve actually left for a lot longer, and now this candle is left unattended.” Christmas Day is also one of the top three days of the year for home cooking fires, but she says lighting candles may only increase the risk of a disaster.

“The key here is, if you’re going to use a candle, make sure it’s on a sturdy base. Make sure it’s at least 12 inches — one foot away — from anything that can burn,” Vaspis says. “We are big supporters of battery-operated candles because you can use them anywhere and not worry about putting them with your decorations.” Christmas tree fires don’t happen often, but when they do, they tend to be serious.

An association report finds, on average, one of every 52 reported home fires that began with a Christmas tree resulted in a death, compared to an average of one death per 135 total reported home fires.

(Shenandoah, Iowa) — Police in Shenandoah, Thursday, arrested a man for OWI/2nd offense, after he was found unresponsive in the driver’s seat of his vehicle in the Burger King drive-thru at around 10-p.m. Authorities report 33-year-old Travis Lee Bears, of Shenandoah, was remained in the Page County jail Friday, after be was unable to post a $2,000 bond.

DUBUQUE – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections, Friday, said a man convicted of Arson in the 1st Degree and other charges, in Pottawattamie County, failed to report back to the Dubuque Residential Facility as required, Thursday. Authorities says 38-year-old Damien Lawrence Hunt is a White male, 5-feet 9-inches tall. He weighs 197 pounds, and was admitted to the work release facility on October 14, 2021.

Damien Hunt

Persons with information on Hunt’s whereabouts should contact local police.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s not a mandate, but Iowa schools have been encouraged for the past few years to incorporate Iowa history in every grade — replacing the traditional practice of one unit of Iowa history in fifth or sixth grade. “So that it’s not a one-and-done experience.” That’s Leo Landis, curator of the State Historical Museum and a member of the Iowa History Council that recommended the change in 2016. Landis says for young kids, Iowa history can become part of learning about spaces and places. “They start understanding some of the basics of geography and directions and things and maybe introducing them to our borders and our big rivers,” Landis says. “It’s up to individual teachers who to incorporate those stories.”

Suzan Turner is an instructional coach in the Nashua Plainfield district. She works with teachers to infuse Iowa history into their lessons and encourage students to do things like search through local newspapers to gain insight. “How did that event uniquely impact our community and how did the people of our community and our state uniquely impact that event?” she asked. “That gives history a lot more meaning to kids when they can think about it through the eyes of their ancestors or their community. It makes it come to life much more than just talking about an abstract event that happened years and year ago.”

Turner is also works with students in the school’s talented and gifted program. One of her students won a 2021 National History Day award. Landis, the state museum curator, says he took one unit of Iowa history as a fifth grader. Over the past few years, Landis and others in the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs have been developing Iowa history curriculum for younger kids. “So that teachers looking for things at early learning levels can come to us and find some of that,” Landis says.

Kids learning about Iowa history may know that Monday is statehood day. December 28th, 1846 is the date Iowa became a state — so THIS December 28th is Iowa’s 175th anniversary.