(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters are warning Iowans about the potential one-two punch of severe summer storms today (Wednesday). Meteorologist Craig Cogil, at the National Weather Service, says wide sections of the state have already seen heavy rain and large hail move through this morning. “As we head into this afternoon, we’re going to see some redevelopment across northern Iowa and a lot of these storms could be severe,” Cogil says. “Right now, the main concern is from damaging straight line winds and large hail. There may be an isolated tornado or two but again, straight line winds are the main concern.” Despite the long-running drought, street flooding could become a threat with today’s downpours.

“The main flooding concerns are more in urban areas, not so much out in the countryside,” Cogil says. “Certainly, higher rainfall rates in urban areas can cause localized street flooding or maybe flash flooding but generally, out in the countryside, things have been dry enough so far this year that I don’t think it would cause any widespread issues.” This past Friday, parts of western and central Iowa were battered by hail as large as baseballs. Cogil says the forecast should begin to calm down by early tomorrow.

“It looks like the front is going to settle down into southern Iowa on Thursday,” Cogil says. “Still some thunderstorms across the southeast half of the state on Thursday, but it doesn’t look like any severe weather with that.” High temperatures across Iowa today should be anywhere from the low 70s to around 90 degrees.

(Updated 12:30-p.m.) (Radio Iowa) – The Jasper County Board of Supervisors has unanimously passed a resolution declaring rural and unincorporated areas of the county a “Second Amendment Sanctuary.” It bars city or county employees in Jasper County from enforcing state or federal mandates that infringe on gun rights in those areas. Jasper County Board of Supervisors Chairman Doug Cupples says the resolution changes nothing now and would only kick in if state or federal gun restrictions go into effect. “What we are saying is that if the state or federal government is going to enforce those laws, they are the ones that are going to have to come enforce them,” he says. “One is for the resources, that would be part of it, but also for the safety of the people of Jasper County.”

Jasper County Supervisor Brandon Talsma says banning any type of firearm is an infringement on gun rights. He also cites so-called “red flag” laws that lets police or family members get a court order to temporarily remove weapons from someone who may be a danger to themselves or others.  “It does away with your right to be able to face an accuser. It does away with your right to jury by your peers,” he says, “and further it completely does away with the entire premise that our judicial system was set up upon which is you’re innocent until proven guilty and instead it says you are guilty until you are able to prove your innocence.”

The supervisors held a public hearing before their unanimous vote before becoming the first county in Iowa to adopt the policy. One resident said it was an important pre-emptive move as the Biden Administration pushes for new gun laws. Others said there was no need for the resolution. Republican supervisors in Hardin County did the same Wednesday (today). Jasper and Hardin are the first Iowa counties to implement such measures. Elsewhere in the U.S., at least 1,200 local governments have declared themselves sanctuaries insulated from state and federal gun laws since 2018. An ordinance passed in Columbia County, Oregon, last year is the first to face a legal challenge over whether it can be enforced.

With Ric Hanson.

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(Iowa DNR News) – The Iowa DNR has developed an online mapping application to help visitors navigate trails in state parks. Through GPS and mobile data, the application can be accessed on mobile phones and helps the user identify trail names, trail heads, acceptable trail use (i.e. hiking, biking, etc.), and distances. The application is web-based rather than downloadable from an app store, so data service availability could be a factor when using the trail map application. To access trail maps, go to iowadnr.gov/stateparks and click on Iowa State Park Trails.

AMES, Iowa – All the information you need to more easily travel Iowa’s state and U.S. highways and interstates is now on one, cohesive website www.511ia.org. For many years Iowa’s authoritative source of traveler information has been available in different formats depending on the needs of the driver and the bandwidth of your internet service. A single, fully functional site is now available with just one click. Previous versions which included a “Streamlined” version for lower bandwidth connections and “Full Featured” versions for travelers and commercial drivers have been retired. The new site, which can easily be viewed on any device, has been ramping up its functionality over the last year, and the final pieces were added in late June to allow the old sites to be retired. Anyone who had bookmarked the previous sites will automatically be redirected to the new www.511ia.org.

The 511 system allows you to set up an account that alerts you of activity such as construction or incidents on routes or areas you have saved. In addition, you can save your favorite cameras to more easily see the traffic situation on routes you want to monitor. If you had an account previously set up on 511, your account was transitioned to the new site back in March.

With the retirement of the final legacy 511 website, we are launching a refreshed 511 logo. The popular 511 app for iOS and Android is also in the process of being updated and new features will be available in 2022.

As a reminder, www.511ia.org tracks traffic incidents, highway construction, and weather impacts on state and U.S. highways, and interstates. Traffic events on county roads and city streets are not shown on www.511ia.org.

There will also be an adjustment made to the 511 information on Twitter. The @statewide511 Twitter posts will no longer be retweeted to the @iowadot Twitter feed. All information input into the 511 system will continue to come to you on the @statewide511 Twitter handle. The @IowaDOT feed will focus on traffic safety and transportation-related information. There will be no change to the regional or metro 511 Facebook or Twitter feeds.

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AMES, Iowa – July 14, 2021 – The Iowa Transportation Commission will hold a public input meeting in Carroll at the Santa Maria Event Center, 218 West 6^th Street on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, to hear about transportation matters from representatives of local government, interest groups, and individuals. Items that may be discussed at the meeting include the Iowa Transportation Improvement Program; transportation policies; and highway, aviation, rail, river, bicycle, pedestrian, and public transit issues.

A brief business meeting will begin at 8 a.m. immediately followed by the public input meeting. A detailed agenda will be posted on https://www.news.iowadot.gov/ prior to the meeting. Final plans for the public input meeting are subject to change based on the status of COVID-19 in Iowa and the Carroll region.

While the meeting is anticipated to be open for in-person attendance by delegations and the public, participation via conference call or Teams is still encouraged to minimize the number of in-person attendees.

For more information concerning the meeting or to obtain a scheduled time on the agenda, contact the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Program Management Bureau, 800 Lincoln Way, Ames, Iowa 50010, telephone 515-239-1288 or email shawn.majors@iowadot.us. Please include the general topic you wish to discuss. The statements, presentations, or suggestions should be 10 minutes or less.

County Fairs in Audubon, Shelby and Montgomery Counties are underway this week. The first full day of activities today (Wednesday) at the Audubon County Fair includes:

• 2-p.m.: 4-H Communications & Table Setting event at the Agrihall
• 4-p.m.: Clover Kids Pet Show – Rabbit & Poultry Show Area
• 4:30-p.m.: Clover Kids Showcase in the 4-H bldg.
• 5-p.m.: 4-H Pet & Dog Show in the Livestock Pavilion
• 6-p.m.: 4-H Club booth and can sculpture displays must be set up.

In Red Oak, the Montgomery County Fair:

• 4-H/FFA Poultry Show; Red Oak Chamber & Industry Ag Appreciation Supper; Bingo this evening at the 4-H Exhibit Bldg.
• See the full schedule HERE

And, in Harlan, Shelby County Fair activities include: Opening Flag Raising Ceremony at the front gate (8-a.m.); Best of Iowa Contest (11:30-a.m.); Carnival 4-p.m.; A Tractor Pull at the Grandstand, beginning at 6-p.m.. (Cancelled due to expected bad weather) The full schedule can be found HERE.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Legal Aid is now operating four help desks in county courthouses across the state to help tenants avoid eviction. The agency opened its help center at the Johnson County Courthouse this week and has others operating in Polk, Linn and Black Hawk counties. Ericka Petersen, of Iowa Legal Aid, offers important advice to tenants, and is letting landlords know they can get rent assistance without seeking an eviction. “I think the number-one piece of advice for people is to come to your hearing,” Petersen says. “In several counties, you will now be greeted with people that can offer you legal assistance and people that can offer you and your landlord rent assistance.”

A recent federal survey shows some 84-thousand Iowans are behind on rent, many due to the pandemic. Petersen wants tenants to know they do have rights. “If you can, reach out early,” she says. “We’re there. We’ve got rent assistance folks there, but if you reach out to us beforehand, even better. We can get things rolling even faster, maybe we can avoid even having the court date in the first place.”

With the federal eviction moratorium set to expire July 31st, attorneys and service providers are anticipating a surge in evictions. Residents can call Iowa Legal Aid at 800-532-1275.
iowalegalaid.org

(By Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

(Update 9:50-a.m.) – Apparent engine failure is reportedly to blame for the emergency landing of a crop duster Tuesday evening, in Carroll County. According to reports, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in near a field off Mahogany Avenue near Swan Lake south of Carroll, at around 5 p.m. Tuesday. The aircraft ended up on a terrace, near a corn field.

Authorities say the pilot suffered no serious injuries, but he crop duster, an Air Tractor AT-401 registered to Central Ag, LLC of Corisca, S.D., was an apparent total loss.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) were notified and will be conducting a joint investigation into the incident.