Iowa is losing about one-thousand of its historic barns every year and a new film aims to inspire people to preserve some of the barns that still stand. Quad Cities-based filmmakers Kelly Rundle and his wife, Tammy, have created “The Barn Raisers,” which will premiere this weekend in Davenport. “We’re taking a look at vintage Midwestern barns through the lens of architecture,” Rundle says. “What does the way the barn was built tell us about when it was built and who built it, what its purpose was and we’re also trying to get at who those builders were and they’re a little bit of a mystery in most cases.”

Besides being very practical and useful for the farmer, Rundle says barns are “magnificent and important structures” that hold the stories of America’s past. “I think part of what led us to this particular story is my own experience growing up exploring my grandfather’s dairy barn in Wisconsin,” Rundle says. “As we traveled over the last three or four years to make the film, I was able to revisit a lot of those things I remembered as a child.”

The 57-minute movie will debut on Saturday at the Putnam Museum. “In addition to the premiere on the Putnam giant screen in Davenport, we expect there will be other showings in the region and the film will also air on PBS stations throughout the Midwest,” Rundle says, “so, we’re looking forward to sharing this film with everybody.”

Rundle says he hopes this movie will be used by barn preservation organizations around the country to further their efforts.  “‘The Barn Raisers’ is a companion to our Emmy-nominated film, ‘Country School: One Room, One Nation,’ and in that film we focused on country schools in Iowa, Wisconsin and Kansas,” Rundle says. “We turned to those states for this particular project and then added also Michigan and Ohio.”

The Rundles run Fourth Wall Films. Dates for the movie’s airing on Iowa Public T-V have not yet been announced.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The interim director of the Iowa Public Information Board says it’s jeopardized by a proposed budget deal. The Des Moines Register reports that the deal between Gov. Terry Branstad and the Legislature’s Republicans would cost the agency $75,000 of its $348,000 budget. The $75,000 would represent more than 50 percent of its remaining operating budget through June.

Interim Director Margaret Johnson told the newspaper Wednesday that even a temporary closure of the office could be more expensive for taxpayers because the public records and meetings laws complaints the office handles likely would end up as lawsuits.

A spokesman for Branstad says the governor believes the board can continue with a lower budget. Last year the board staff – typically three people – processed 875 cases, including 107 formal complaints.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office said today (Thursday), a man from Henderson was arrested Monday for Driving While Revoked/OWI related. A deputy conducted a traffic stop on 1999 Chevy Blazer at around 2-p.m. Monday, after the plates for the registered owner came back as revoked. 39-year old Edward Allan Blough, of Henderson, was arrested and brought to the Pott. County Jail.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Creston Police Department reports 33-year old Darrien Mead, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday evening for Pubic Intoxication/2nd offense. Mead was being held in the Union County Jail on $1,000 bond. A Creston resident was cited Tuesday afternoon, for Allowing an Animal to run At Large. 39-year old Terry Squibs was released after receiving the citation.

And, a resident of the 800 block of W. Adams Street reported on Jan. 15th, that sometime overnight Jan.14th-Jan.15th, someone entered her home and stole miscellaneous tools, jewelry, an LG cell phone and a sound bar. The loss was estimated at $480.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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If you’re clicking that remote start to warm up your car, you MAY be breaking state law. It all depends on where the vehicle is parked. Under current Iowa law, it’s illegal to leave a running vehicle unattended on a public street. A bill to change that has cleared a senate subcommittee. Senator Thomas Greene of Burlington says if it’s available, lots of people are using the auto-start to warm up their cars this time of year.”Unless it becomes an issue where someone leaves it unattended for hours or an extended period of time, I really see no problem with this,” Greene says.

Greene says sometimes there’s nowhere else BUT the street to park a car and it’s time for state law to “catch up” with the modern convenience of a remote start. “I’m driving a nine-year-old car, so I don’t have that option, but the wife’s car, she loves it,” Greene says. “Technology advances.”

The Iowa D-O-T is not opposed to the bill, but an agency expert says one reason it’s illegal to leave your car running, unattended, on the street is because the car could roll and cause an accident.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Council Bluffs arrested a man on a theft charge as well as numerous traffic offenses, following a chase early this (Thursday) morning. 37-year old Jason Byers, of Council Bluffs, faces a charge of Theft in the 2nd Degree in connection with a stolen vehicle. He was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Authorities says at around 1:30 this (Thursday) morning, Bluffs Police Officers witnessed a stolen vehicle heading east in the area of 32nd St. and 9th Ave. Those Officers lost sight of the vehicle, but a second officer located the vehicle in the area of S. 16th St and 9th Ave. The driver, later identified as Byers, tried to flee the area but was blocked by a train. He wrecked the stolen vehicle in the area of the 1500 block of
15th Ave. and fled on foot.

Officers set a perimeter and requested Omaha K-9 to assist with the search. Omaha K-9 arrived on scene and located Byers hiding in a garage a few houses down from the accident.

Jason Byers

Iowa Congressman Steve King is introducing legislation he says would go a long way toward eliminating abortion nationwide. King, a Republican from Kiron, is calling it “The Heartbeat Bill,” and under it, abortions would be banned once a heartbeat is detected in the unborn child. King says, “It requires any physician that’s planning to conduct an abortion has to check for a heartbeat and maintain records of the checking for that heartbeat.”

King suggests the bill could be a vehicle to overturn Roe versus Wade, the landmark 1973 U-S Supreme Court case which made abortion legal. “If a heatbeat is detected, the baby is protected,” King says. “There’s no penalty against the mother for seeking or having an abortion.” While the woman would be immune from prosecution, King says the doctor would face jailtime. “There is up to a five-year penalty for the provider if they violate the terms of this bill,” King says. “The heartbeat can be detected as early as 16 days.”

King says he has support from several other lawmakers in the House for the bill, The Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017. In a statement, King says: “Since Roe v. Wade was unconstitutionally decided in 1973, nearly 60 million innocent babies’ lives have been ended by the abortion industry, all with a rubber stamp by the federal government. Human life, beginning at the moment of conception, is sacred in all of its forms and today, I introduced a bill that will protect the lives of voiceless innocents.”

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Karla James, Omaha)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa legislators are moving forward with a bill to ban traffic enforcement cameras, despite concerns from police that it could increase crashes. A three-person Senate Judiciary subcommittee unanimously approved legislation Wednesday that would remove traffic enforcement cameras from Iowa roadways. It now moves to the full Judiciary Committee. Several Iowa police chiefs oppose the bill. Urbandale Republican Sen. Brad Zaun, who filed the bill, says he thinks governments primarily use the cameras to generate revenue. He says they also violate motorists’ right to due process.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A charity controlled by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has disclosed the names of donors who collectively gave $1 million toward 2015 events celebrating his tenure in office, two months after missing a deadline for doing so. The filing reveals that 68 Iowa companies, lobbying groups or individuals gave $5,000 or more for events celebrating Branstad’s inauguration to a sixth term and his achievement of becoming the nation’s longest-serving governor. The late filing could bring IRS penalties.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa fire academy official has been charged with making up scores on tests that were used to improperly certify more than 1,700 firefighters and emergency responders. A criminal complaint alleges that former Fire Services Training Bureau certification manager John McPhee assigned “random scores to exams” without properly checking or correcting them. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says bureau issued nearly 2,300 improper certifications between 2012 and 2016.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Muscatine officials are studying the feasibility of building a container port facility on the Mississippi River. The Muscatine Journal reports the study is funded by a state grant and a matching fund from Kent Corp. The Muscatine Community Development Office is expected to conclude the study in a few weeks. At a League of Women Voters event Tuesday, Dave Gobin of the MCDO says the port will divert truck and rail traffic from the highway to the river, benefiting the region economically.

CRESCENT, Iowa (AP) — School district officials recommend closing Crescent Elementary at the end of the 2016-2017 school year due to declining enrollment. The Daily Nonpareil reports the Council Bluffs Community School District board will hear a presentation on the potential closing on Feb. 14. Superintendent Martha Bruckner says the school is too small and only half full. Crescent Mayor Brian Shea says the move “pulls the guts out of the town.”