(Des Moines, Iowa) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has ordered flags to fly at half-staff across the State, Friday, in honor of a Marine from Red Oak who was killed last month during a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Twenty-three-year-old Corporal Daegan William-Tyeler Page and 12 other US service members were killed in the August 26th ISIS attack near the Kabul airport.

Daegan Page. (Photo from the FB memorial page.)

The order calls for the flags to be lowered from sunrise to sunset on Friday, September 17. Reynolds says flags will be at half-staff on the State Capitol Building, all public buildings, grounds and facilities throughout the state. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties, and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly flags at the same time as a sign of respect.

Governor Kim Reynolds said in her order, “I join with Iowans and the nation in honoring the selfless and dedicated service of Cpl. Daegan Page who was taken much too soon. His sacrifice will serve as a constant reminder that the freedoms and liberties we enjoy as a country come at a heavy cost.” Page grew up in Red Oak and went to high school in Omaha. The Purple Heart recipient will be buried tomorrow with full military honors in Omaha.

(Radio Iowa) The Board of Regents today (Thursday) approved a funding request from the state of nearly 639 million dollars ($638.6). The plan would give a seven million dollar increase to Iowa State University, and four million each to the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. The three state university presidents touched on the need for funding in their regular remarks to the board. I-S-U president Wendy Wintersteen opened the remarks.

“Without an increase in state support, we will continue to be challenged to retain our excellent faculty and staff with competitive salaries. Increasing inflation for supplies and services is also a concern,” Wintersteen says. She says they also have technology needs. “I-S-U is in dire need of technology updates to improve operations and the student experiences — but which costs tens of millions of dollars to implement,” she says. U-N-I president Mark Nook says the school returns the investment to the state.

“The University of Northern uses the funds that it receives from the state to really invest in the future of the state of Iowa. By supporting students to reach their educational, personal and professional, and life goals by investing in the academic programs that match the current and future concerns and needs within our state,” Nook says. University of Iowa president Barbara Wilson says the increase will be targeted at student support. “We are laser-focused on those kinds of metrics to support students — particularly our students from Iowa — but really all of our students.” Wilson says.

The Board of Regents approved the appropriations request without any comment from the board members.

A man and a woman from Council Bluffs were arrested on drug charges the past couple of days, in Glenwood, and a man from Omaha was arrested for violations of the sex offender registry. The Glenwood Police Department reports 44-year-old Rebeka Cantu-Sosa, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Wednesday for Possession of Meth and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $1,300. And, 61-year-old Jeffrey Hurd, of Council Bluffs, was arrested today (Thursda), for Possession of Meth. His bond was set at $5,000.

Authorities said also, 56-year-old Kenneth Walters, of Omaha, was arrested Wednesday on two counts of failure to register as a sex offender. His total bond was set at $20,000.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen reports that on Saturday September 18th, 2021 the Parks and Recreation Department will be hosting Hyggefest at the Sunnyside Bandstand. In order to host the event, the Parks Department needs to close a small section of road between the Bandstand and the Kiddie Korral Shelter from 4pm-7pm.

The access road running past the skatepark will remain open to allow through traffic. There is a map to show the road closure as well as the through route. (See below) A reminder also, the Parks and Recreation Department is partnering with Brad and Lorrie Rasmussen, to bring you music in the park. The event takes place this Saturday also, beginning at 5-p.m.,  at the Sunnyside Park Bandshell, during Hyggefest. An accumulation of local talents is lined-up for a night of music and entertainment. Bring your own lawn chair/blankets, food and drinks.

Deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, served a Page County arrest warrant on Andrew Jackson Paez. The warrant was for Violation of Probation – Sentencing Charge of Arson 2nd Degree. Bond on this warrant was set at $25,000.00 by a Judge.

Paez was being held in the Page County Jail on charges of:

1. Controlled Substance Violation

2. Possession or use of False Drug tax stamp

3. Gathering where controlled substances are used

4. Possession of a controlled substance 2nd Offense.

Bond on those charges was set at $100,000 by a Judge. Paez remains in the Page County Jail on a bond of $125,000, pending future court proceedings.

(Radio Iowa) – Plan 1 for Iowa redistricting has been released, with redrawn boundaries for Iowa’s congressional districts showing NO potential match ups between incumbents. District lines are redrawn every 10 years, after the Census, to account for population changes. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion, a Republican, lives in the proposed first congressional district, which would cover a dozen counties. The cities in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Davenport, Burlington and Fort Madison would be in that first district.

Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa lives in the proposed second district. The 26-count area includes the cities of Waterloo, Ames, Marshalltown, Dubuque and Decorah.

The proposed third district, where Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines lives, covers 17 counties. It stretches from the Des Moines metro to the Missouri border, including the cities of Bloomfield on the east and Clarinda on the west. Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull, a Republican, lives in the proposed fourth district. It covers 44 counties and includes the cities of Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Mason City, Fort Dodge and Sidney in the southwest corner.

(Radio Iowa) – Students in the Sioux City Schools won’t have to wear masks after the issue failed to get votes at a special school board meeting Wednesday. The board heard more than two hours of discussion from more than 20 people in person and by phone — and then board vice president Monique Scarlett made a motion. “I move that all students, staff, visitors be mandated to wear a mask in district buildings. This includes audience members in extracurricular activities, and as participants in any meetings held within district buildings,” Scarlett said.  There was no second to that motion — which caught the board president Perla Alarcon-Flory by surprise. Alarcon-Flory asked what happens without a second and other board members said “We don’t vote on it.”

Board member Taylor Goodvin and two others had indicated during the meeting that they would not vote for the mask mandate in part because an overwhelming number of teachers had told them that they did not want it. Goodvin praised Scarlett for taking a stand. She replied, “That’s okay, I will sleep well at night. I did the right thing, I stood on and politics pushed me into a corner,” she said. “I know you will,” Goodvin replies. Goodvin also talked to the others at the meeting. “People who came here and respectfully voiced their opinion — I commend you,” Goodvin says. “The people who didn’t — I hope your kids don’t see it. The kindergarten teacher back there — I guarantee you that her students would have acted better.”

The union representing the teachers had declined to take a position on the issue. Board members agreed that they would continue to monitor the COVID numbers in the district and could revisit the issue if future numbers worsened.

(KCCI/Williams, Iowa — More than 60 classic cars from the 1930’s to 60’s and up will be auctioned-off this weekend in northern Iowa’s Hamilton County. The Hemken Classic Car collection auction takes place Saturday at the Hemken Farm/Museum, in Williams. All the cars belong to Daryl Hemken, who died in 2005. His wife Ann passed away in 2019.

His son told KCCI Daryl began collecting vehicles in 1960, when he purchased a 1914 Model T Roadster, which is also for sale.  The collection grew over the next two decades to include: post-war vehicles; many convertibles; thousands of parts; automobilia; porcelain signs; pressed steel toys; bicycles; pedal cars, model cars, and more.

The majority of the money raised from the auction will go to McPherson College in Kansas. Money that will endow a scholarship in the names of his parents Daryl and Ann Hemken. His son says Daryl Hemken chose McPherson college because it’s the only college in the country with a 4-year degree program in car restoration.

The live auction will be held both in-person and online, through Rich Penn Auctions.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report finds Iowa’s adult obesity rate rose significantly from 2019 to 2020. The study by the non-profit Trust for America’s Health found 36-percent of adult Iowans were considered obese last year, putting Iowa among 16 states with a rate above 35-percent. The Trust’s Dara Lieberman says the shift in many people’s daily routines and a reported decrease in physical activity during the pandemic may have contributed to the increase. Lieberman says, “We have seen several studies come out in the last year, including surveys of adults nationwide, that showed a large proportion of adults with unwanted weight gain and in some cases very significant weight gain.”

Adult obesity prevalence map. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (9/2021)

Lieberman says obesity is linked to an increased risk for many conditions like diabetes, heart disease and even getting severely ill from COVID-19. She says obesity rates differed along racial lines due to social and economic factors, with black Iowans having higher rates than white and Latino Iowans. “In Iowa, if you’re a black adult, you have a higher risk of poverty and a lack of insurance,” Lieberman says, “so those also put people at risk for obesity.”

Iowa is tied with Delaware for the seventh highest obesity rate in the country. Lieberman says lawmakers need to push for more resources to be invested in combating obesity.

(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

More area, and state broadcast News at 8:05-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

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