(Radio Iowa) – This is Farm Safety Week as harvest season gets rolling, and all farm hands are warned to stay especially vigilant for field fires during the drought. Iowa State University Extension ag engineer Kris Kohl says after a series of rural fires in 2012, a study was conducted that focused on variables like temperature, humidity and wind.  “We didn’t get any correlation to super high temperatures or really low humidity,” Kohl says, “but when you hit wind, if the wind was over 20 miles an hour in dry conditions, things can take off and burn really bad, really fast.”

Combine/Field fire east of Earling (File photo)

Kohl suggests farmers use a leaf blower to blast the dust and debris off their hot machinery, especially when the weather is perfect for a wildfire. “When we get to those kinds of conditions where we’ve got wind speeds predicted over 20 miles an hour, those are the days you’ve got to really watch out and make sure the combines are clean,” Kohl says. “Probably clean them off every couple of hours to make sure we don’t get a field fire taking off.”

Kohl recommends producers have a disc attached to a large tractor rather than trying to use water to battle any potential fire out in the fields.

(Radio Iowa) – A Fort Dodge-based farmers association took its systems offline after being hit by a ransomware attack, and officials with New Cooperative now says the hack was “successfully contained.” Iowa State University electrical and computer engineering professor Doug Jacobson says an attack like this can shake farmers’ sense of security. “Any organization that’s in possession of data, potentially the farmer data, if that data is lost or there’s a potential for that data to get leaked, the farmers or the people who use that data may lose confidence in that organization’s ability to keep their data safe.”

Jacobson says though the food system is fairly well distributed, it’s still vulnerable to attacks. He says the lasting reach of the hack remains unknown.”There’s always a potential impact,” he says. “Some of it’s confidence. A place like a cooperative holds a lot of farmer data. It’s unclear how much of that data may have been compromised.”

Jacobson says the food system is not highly interconnected like the power grid, and a co-op can move more easily to pen and paper, unlike a hospital. In May, the world’s largest meat processor, J-B-S, was hacked and had to temporarily shut down.

(Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Audubon, Iowa) – There’s no change in how the Audubon School District will mitigate efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19. That the decision the Audubon School Board made during their regular monthly meeting, Monday evening. Superintendent Eric Trager says that means there will not be a mask mandate.

He says the District currently has a very low COVOD case count. Trager says Guthrie County Public Health Epidemiologist Jotham Arber advised the board that even though variant is more contagious than last year, it is no more severe in terms of illness in children, so while there may be more cases in children, there is less likely to be any increases in severity.

Several other, large school districts – the latest being Ankeny and Johnston – have decided to implement a mask mandate. Mr. Trager said the lack of leadership puts Superintendents in a “really tough situation.”

Eric Trager wished districts that enacted a mask mandate, well, and expects that they know what’s best for their district. In other news, Mr. Trager said the Middle School/High School Renovation project is currently out to bid. Those bids will be opened on October 20th. Trager said they’re hopeful they’ll get some competitive bids and a reasonable price tag, so the project can move forward.

Enrollment numbers for the District look to be up by 20 students, according to the Superintendent. The Audubon School Board, Monday, approved a bus bid from Hoglund for a new 65 passenger diesel bus. A grant from Volkswagen pays for 30% of the vehicle. The School Board also approved a sidewalk project easement.

(Trager said the City of Audubon received a grant from the Department of Transportation to put in a sidewalk from the High School Building down to the Audubon Rec. Center and as part of that the City needed an easement for the property the sidewalk will sit on and the Board approved that easement to support that project.)

The broadcast News at 8:06-a.m.

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An accident near Shannon City, in Union County, was being blamed on the sun and trees obstructing the vision of two drivers. According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, a 2015 Chevy Equinox driven by 47-year-old Darla M. Parker, of Shannon City, was traveling west on 260th Street at around 6:50-p.m., Tuesday. She told authorities the sun was in her face, and trees were blocking her view of a farm entrance to the south. A 2000 John Deere 741 tractor with a bale of hay attached to a bale stabber, was pulling out of the farm drive in an attempt to turn left onto 260th. The tractor was driven by 56-year-old Ken E. Peppmeier, of Shannon City.

The hay bale struck the windshield of the SUV and front side of the vehicle, causing damage estimated at $2,500. Peppmeier told authorities his vision was also blocked by the sun and trees. Both drivers tried to avoid the collision, with the Parker slowing down and pulling off to the side of the road as far as she could. Peppmeier tried raising the bale to avoid striking the SUV.

There were no injuries reported, and no citations issued.

The broadcast News from 7:08-a.m.

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(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports one person suffered possible/unknown injuries during a collision Monday afternoon. Authorities say a 2019 GMC Terrain SUV driven by 24-year-old Shannon Marie Patricia Gravlin, of Creston, was stopped in traffic at a red light on Sumner Avenue, facing north in the inside lane. The driver of a 2006 Ford 500, 31-year-old Elisia Renae Savala, of Clearfield, was traveling north on Sumner, and was distracted by a passenger in her car. The vehicle struck the rear of the SUV, causing a total of $1,700 damage.

Gravlin complained of pain after the impact, but was not transported to the hospital. Creston Police cited Savala for Failure to Provide Proof of financial liability – accident related.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Corrections is pulling out all the stops to try and find more corrections officers and other employees. Director Beth Skinner says it’s a top priority to find more employees. “We’re not just limited to Iowa, we are looking at other states surrounding us. We are looking in the south, we are doing advertising in Nebraska, we are doing billboards, we are doing radio ads, career fairs, we are using chambers of commerce, community colleges. We’ll be doing some advertising at football games, Nebraska football games,” Skinner says.

The D-O-C is also using social media to look for employees. The state allocated more money to the department following the deaths of a nurse and corrections officer at the Anamosa prison. Skinner says they are touting the benefits available. “Starting salaries average right around 40-thousand per year with opportunities for yearly increases. You also have the opportunity to receive what I believe is some of the best training in the country,” she says. Skinner says one of the new jobs will be someone who will be a full-time recruiting — and work on keeping staff. “Because you can recruit all day — but you also have to retain current staff. We have to make sure we are taking care of our current staff as well,” according to Skinner.

Skinner says the job of a corrections officer has evolved and they want to let potential employees about its importance. “Working at corrections provides individuals a chance to become a public servants. And it’s a highly rewarding job. You are ensuring that there’s fewer victims in our state, and you are creating safer communities. So, there’s also that piece too — that you are giving back to your communities as well,” Skinner says. There is a full external review underway of the state’s nine prisons, and Skinner says that could have an impact on the positions available in the system.

“We are waiting to see in the next couple of months when we get that report from them what other gaps we may have to make those investments with the additional general funds we received this year,” she says. “So we are being very thoughtful and strategic and very methodical. We know where the needs are right now in terms of institutions that need staff — but also there is more to come.”

The Iowa Legislature increased the funding for prisons by 20 million dollars in the last legislative session.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says a new state law that raised the penalties for rioting and gave police new legal protections for on-the-job activities is a recruiting tool for Iowa law enforcement. Reynolds discussed the new law in a just-released podcast hosted by Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel.

“As a mom, you want to know that your kids are being raised in safe communities,” Reynolds said. “As a business, do you want to come invest in a community or in state where you don’t know if tomorrow they’re going to come riot and loot and burn your business down?” The podcast was recorded in late August, just as Iowa schools were opening for the fall semester. The pair blasted states where last spring’s standardized tests for students were delayed until this fall.

“A lot of states aren’t doing assessments,” Reynolds says. “…They don’t want to know the damage that they’ve done to these kids.” McDaniel interjected: “They don’t want to graded on what they’ve done.” Reynolds concluded with: “They don’t want to be responsible or held accountable.” Federal law requires states to test students each year to gauge progress in reading, math and other skills. Earlier this month, Florida’s Republican governor announced he will end that kind of standardized testing after this school year and replace it with shorter tests. The Republican National Committee’s chairwoman and Governor Reynolds also criticized mask mandates in schools.

“I don’t know the health of students. We don’t what’s going on in that family…The other thing is there’s no data. I am so tired of people talking about data and there really isn’t,” Reynolds said, adding: “Be honest.” McDaniel added: “My son getting the vaccine, a big part of him getting the vaccine was: ‘I won’t have to wear a mask in school.'” Reynolds interjected: “And they changed that!”

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn says wearing a mask indoors prevents the spread of Covid and Reynolds is wasting her days and the tax dollars of Iowans by going on partisan talk shows to spout dangerous disinformation about a deadly virus. The Iowa Department of Public Health’s website listing confirmed Covid cases will be updated later today (Wednesday). Last Wednesday’s report found 29 percent of Iowans who had tested positive for Covid in the previous seven days were under the age of 18.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken, Tuesday (Today), announced the bridge replacement project on Olive Street (N16) one mile south of I-80, between Boston Rd. and Chicago Rd. is now open to traffic.

Wolken says “Thank you for your patience during the construction of this project.”