(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University student is among the few nationwide chosen for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Emma Alstott is a global resource systems and horticulture major from Fort Dodge. Alstott learned she’d been picked for the academic honor last week after returning home from a three-month study visit to Greece. “I didn’t even think I would be selected as a campus representative because I had to do a preliminary competition as well, through the college,” Alstott says. “So even to be selected to move on to me was a huge honor, and then when I found out I was selected on the national level, I almost couldn’t believe it.”

Alstott has done two study abroad trips, spending two weeks in Kosovo in a city that has formal a sister city relationship with Fort Dodge. “I was very lucky to participate in the Sister City exchange in 2019 right before COVID happened, luckily, so I was the last group to go over there before we put a pause to the program,” Alstott says. “That was definitely a very foundational experience in me deciding what I wanted to study.”

Emma Alstott (ISU photo)

Alstott, who plans to graduate from I-S-U in 2026, says her latest educational journey in Greece was fully immersive. “I took five different classes, three were focused on horticultural sciences, such as olive production and viticulture,” she says, “and then the other two were focused on the Greek language as well as Greek culture.”

The scholarship covers the cost of tuition, fees, books and room-and-board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. It’s named for the late U.S. Senator and 1964 GOP presidential candidate Barry Goldwater of Arizona.

(Radio Iowa) – A southeast Iowa lawmaker estimates the budget in county could be cut by up to half a MILLION dollars due to the wide-ranging tax bill up for debate in the legislature today (Friday). One section in the bill gets rid of a law that dates back to Iowa’s horse and buggy days. It requires Lee County to maintain two courthouses — one in Fort Madison and one in Keokuk. Representative Martin Graber, who’s from Fort Madison, knows the history. “Originally the county seat was in Fort Madison and the courthouse was there and the people in the southern part of the county said: ‘Hey, we want something,’ so the original act of 1848 established one in Keokuk and they were happy,” Graber says. “They wanted to make sure that somebody who needed to file a court action in Keokuk didn’t have to go to Fort Madison to do it.”

The Lee County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution asking legislators to repeal the 1848 law, so the board has authority to close one of the courthouses. Graber says the county offices are in Fort Madison, but that courthouse is likely to be closed because the one in Keokuk is larger and has enough space to accommodate trials. Graber says it will be a positive budget move for Lee County taxpayers. “In Fort Madison there’s the courthouse itself. Across the street they own a house. They have to have a sheriff’s deputy present — all of this ongoing stuff,” Graber says. “What I’ve been told is it probably approaches half a million dollars a year because they’re aging buildings, they have to do maintenance on them and stuff like that.”

The courthouse in Fort Madison was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. “There’s somebody somewhere who’s going to want to buy that piece of property,” Graber says. “It’s a tremendous old building. I mean just great architecture, big pillars and I can’t hardly believe there isn’t going to be some business or venue that’s going to want to say: ‘Hey, we’re going to turn this into a restaurant or a speakeasy or whatever it may be.”

Fort Madison was originally a U-S Army post and the site of a battle in the War of 1812. It’s named for James Madison, the 4th president of the United States. The City of Keokuk is named for Chief Keokuk of the Sauk tribe. There’s also a Keokuk County — about a hundred miles northwest of the City of Keokuk.

(Hancock, Iowa) – A blaze that destroyed a two-story home in Hancock early this (Friday) morning, also claimed a life. According to Hancock Fire Chief Josh Billings, one person was found deceased inside the home located in the 300 block of Kimball Street. The blaze was reported at around 3:15-a.m. The structure was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived.

Hancock Fire received assistance at the scene from the Avoca and Oakland Fire Departments. The victim’s name has not been released, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.

Photo Credit: Alexa Brink

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop this (Friday) morning in Red Oak, resulted in an arrest. Red Oak Police say a little before 8-a.m., Red Oak Police conducted a traffic stop in the 1300 block of N. Broadway Street. Upon further investigation, the driver of the vehicle, 40-year-old Christopher Robert Fowler, of Red Oak, was arrested for Driving While License Denied or Revoked. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department, Friday (Today), said “In observation of National Work Zone Awareness Week (April 15th-19th)” they want to remind motorists about the “Move Over Law,” in Iowa.  Lt. Jill Knotek says the law found in the Code of Iowa, states “A driver shall change lanes when approaching a stationary vehicle with hazard or other lights flashing on the side of the roadway. If this is not possible, then the driver shall reduce the speed of their vehicle as they pass.” (the Iowa DOT’s full synopsis of the code can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yx2jd84u.)

In 2022, there were 8921 people killed and over 37,000 injured within work zones nationally.

On April 17, 2024, Council Bluffs Police Department partnered with Carter Lake Police Department, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol, and Arrow Towing, to focus on “Move Over violations,” and speeding on I-80 and I-29. The project took place from 8-a.m. until Noon. Authorities say during this four-hour period, there were a total of 151 citations and warnings issued, with 62 of those issued for failing to move over, and 39 for speeding.

The highest recorded speed was by the driver traveling nearly 30-miles per hour above the posted speed limit (91-mph in a 65-mph zone). Despite the project, officers are still observing high speeds on the I-80 Express lanes. Therefore, Police say they “Will continue to work with speed enforcement to bring those numbers down to a reasonable speed. We urge drivers to remember to Move Over when they see a vehicle on the shoulder.”

Officials with Triple A report as of today (April 19th), the price of regular unleaded gasoline had fallen 2 cents over the past week, to an average of $3.33/per gallon across Iowa. Gas prices are down 22 cents from a year ago. The national average is $3.68/gallon, up 5 cents from last week.

Retail diesel prices in Iowa are nearly steady, with a statewide average of $3.79/gallon. One year ago, diesel prices averaged $3.95 in Iowa.  The current Iowa diesel price is 26 cents lower than the national average of $4.05. The national price is 15-cents less than last year at this time.

Natural gas prices fell 21 cents.