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Iowa DOT and first responders partnering with industry to gain better understanding of livestock-related crashes

News

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Ames, Iowa/Iowa DOT News) – It’s not unusual to travel down an Iowa interstate alongside a semi loaded with livestock or poultry. Easy access to world-class transportation and an abundance of corn and soybeans grown here make Iowa ideally suited for raising these animals. What we don’t often see, but can be a real issue, is the aftermath when one of these livestock trucks crashes, tying up a busy highway for hours, delaying your trip and increasing the risk of secondary crashes in the area. The more people you have at a crash scene, the higher the risk.  These types of crashes often require the assistance of animal handlers and veterinarians who aren’t used to being alongside a busy highway in a stressful situation.

Other unusual tasks such as rounding up loose animals and constructing temporary holding pens may be needed and cause additional delays and complications at the crash site. If the first responders are not trained in how to deal with traffic crashes involving livestock, the risk to the people at the scene, the animals, and drivers near the incident increases. To help educate responders, the Iowa Pork Producers Association developed a webinar series highlighting specific challenges when a livestock carrier is involved in a crash. Jamee Eggers from the Iowa Pork Producers Association explained why the training was initiated.  “We recognized that crashes, especially roll-over crashes that involve livestock, can impact both public safety and animal welfare,” she said. “We developed this series that includes topics like animal handling and scene management to help responders understand what they might encounter. First responders aren’t typically trained animal handlers and animal handlers don’t typically understand traffic incident management. The more we can educate first responders on what to expect and who to contact, the safer we’ll all be in the event of an incident.”

(Photo via IADOT, courtesy Hitz Towing)

Because these incidents don’t happen regularly, Eggers said there really are no trends or consistency in response. “It’s particularly important in these types of crashes that responders have relationships with animal handlers and veterinarians so they can reach out quickly. Finding rescue trailers and other equipment is another topic we touch on in the series.” Bonnie Castillo who works with traffic incident management for the Iowa Department of Transportation said, “From a road user perspective, the cost of these incidents is very high because they often take several hours to clear. Much of that time is spent trying to find the resources to provide care for the animals involved. If we can get the word out to responders on who to contact, that will speed up clearance times, reducing the inconvenience and increasing safety to the other drivers on the road.” Castillo continued, “The responders are very well trained on dealing with human crash victims, but not necessarily livestock and especially animals that may be injured. Since these types of crashes tend to take hours to be removed, it’s critical that responders know who to call to care for the livestock that are involved, but also maintain the safety and  security of the crash scene.”

Bringing people to crash scenes who don’t have experience in traffic incident management or chain-of-command can be a challenge in and of itself. “In one of the sessions we go over basic scene management and chain-of-command,” said Eggers. “This helps responders explain these elements to animal handlers and others who are called to the scene who may have never been involved in an effort like this before.” Eggers says the response to the webinars has been very positive. “We used real-world examples that resonated with the attendees,” she said. “These examples generated a lot of great questions and allowed us to provide resources that folks may not have been aware of. The series started conversations between people who don’t typically interact, but the relationships are essential in an emergency situation.”

This training is also being considered as part of the Statewide Traffic Incident Management conference being planned for 2022. Castillo said exercises with Iowa DOT district staff, the Iowa State Patrol, and others are also in the planning stages as funding is available. Eggers said, “Iowa pig farmers prioritize both animal welfare and human safety. We appreciate this partnership with DOT to help address both issues.”

Iowa home sales shatter more records during May

News

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The new report from the Iowa Association of Realtors confirms it’s a sellers’ market. The Realtors’ report says multiple records were set for home sales in May. First, houses across the state were selling faster than usual, spending an average of 41 days on the market, which is 34-percent fewer than during May of last year. The number of homes sold rose by more than 11-percent compared to a year ago, while median sale prices were up more than eight-percent.

The median price last May was 184-thousand dollars versus 199-thousand this May. Also, since there’s such high demand, a record number of homes are selling well over the asking price.

More live music venues in Iowa face closure without federal bailout money

News

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowa music venues are still waiting for federal funding to help them keep their doors open during the pandemic. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant offers money to live music venues that lost revenue due to COVID-19. Tobi Parks owns X-B-K, a small performing arts venue in Des Moines. She says venues have waited long enough and need the money now. “Every month that the expenses are coming again is another month that a venue ends up unfortunately closing its doors,” Parks says, “and we are in a desperate position.”

Congress approved the grant program in December of 2020, but it’s up to the U-S Small Business Administration to release and assign the funding. The grants are split up based on economic losses. Parks says many Iowa venues had losses and are in critical condition financially as they wait for the funds to arrive. “We are hanging on by a thread right now and that funding needs to come as soon as humanly possible,” she says.

The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, run through the S-B-A, allows for more than 16-billion dollars in grants. Parks made her comments on the Iowa Public Radio program, “Talk of Iowa.”

Federal fugitive arrested outside northeast Iowa farmhouse

News

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Marshals who’ve been tracking an accused drug dealer through several states for the past year arrested the man on a Iowa farm late yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. In June of last year, 39-year-old Untavious Davenport was indicted by a Missouri grand jury on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl. U.S. Marshals were called in after Davenport fled Missouri. They followed a trail to Chicago, then through other states and ultimately to a rural area just north of the town of Zwingle, which has fewer the 100 residents.

After days of surveillance, authorities identified Davenport outside of a farmhouse according to a news release from the U-S Marshals Service and Marshals from Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri along with Dubuque County law enforcement officers took Davenport into custody. He’s being held in Linn County’s jail in Cedar Rapids as federal officials seek his extradition back to Missouri.

(Podcast) KJAN News, 6/24/21

News, Podcasts

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The 8:05-a.m. broadcast news, with Ric Hanson.

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Travel projections for July 4th almost back to pre-COVID levels

News

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – With the 4th of July weekend just ahead, many Iowans will be declaring their independence from the pandemic by taking vacations for the first time in many months. Meredith Mitts, spokeswoman for Triple-A Iowa, says people are packing up for road trips and jaunts via airplane. Nationwide, more than 47-point-7 million Americans are projected to be plotting getaways between July 1st and 5th. “That means that we are nearly recovered from the pandemic levels,” Mitts says. “This is the second-highest Independence Day travel volume we have on record, trailing only behind 2019 with just 2.5% fewer Americans traveling this year compared to 2019.”

The travel predictions for the upcoming holiday represent an increase of nearly 40-percent compared to last year, what Mitts says is a remarkable figure. “Some of it is just pandemic fatigue and staying home is really getting to people,” Mitts says. “The summer is nice. People are wanting to get back out. Part of it is just that desire to go see people and be able to see things again. It’s been a long time since many people have traveled.”

While all modes of travel will see increased demand this Independence Day, road trips will dominate this summer. Despite the highest gas prices in seven years, Triple-A projects more than 91-percent of holiday travel will be by car. Gasoline prices in Iowa are now averaging two-89 a gallon, a significant hike from two-oh-five a year ago. “So, quite a big difference between 2021 and 2020, but that’s to be expected as there weren’t people traveling last year, there wasn’t this demand,” Mitts says. “We’re back to basically the pre-pandemic levels. We always see an increase around a holiday weekend and during the summer as people are taking to the roads.”

Iowa’s cheapest gas is in Council Bluffs at two-85 a gallon, while it’s most expensive in Dubuque at two-96. The national average is three-oh-seven.

(Podcast) KJAN News, 6/24/21

News, Podcasts

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The 7:06-a.m. broadcast news, with Ric Hanson.

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AG releases report on clergy abuse

News

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has released its report on clergy sex abuse within the Catholic Church. Attorney General spokesperson, Lynn Hicks, says the office started gathering information in 2018, and examined the records of 70 priests and 50 complaints. The statute of limitations has expired for all the cases reviewed. “Despite the fact that they fall outside the statute of limitations — we still think this was a good thing,” Hicks says. Hicks says the process led to 17 people who had never before reported allegations coming forward. “We think it was valuable even in that respect to allow people to come forward and tell their story,” Hicks says. “In many cases they were able to talk to a crime victims advocate in our office and we could offer them resources to see what they wanted to do going forward.”

The report also indicates that the four Catholic Diocese in Iowa have taken steps to address the issue. “Since 2002 — that’s when the U-S Conference of Bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children — there’s been very few, only about five reports since then involving Iowa priests,” Hicks says. “We note in our report that the diocese has become more responsive to victims and now reports all accusations to law enforcement authorities.” He says the changes put in place on give victims a chance to be heard. He says some of the diocese continue to get complaints and continue to investigate. “And we encourage people to come forward — even if a priest is no longer active, is deceased. We think that all of this is a good process and we hope brings healing to the victims,” Hicks says.

Hicks says they hope that victims will now know they will be heard. “We did hear that from some of the victims who came forward to us and said they felt they couldn’t come forward. They couldn’t trust the process,” he says. The four Catholic Bishops released a statement says the Attorney General’s review of cases will be studied for suggestions on how the efforts of the Catholic Church might be improved. It says the “Catholic Church is committed to do all that is humanly possible to protect minors from the sin and crime of clergy sexual abuse, and to promote healing.” The Catholic bishops of Iowa are Bishop Thomas Zinkula of Davenport, Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines, Archbishop Michael Jackels of Dubuque, and Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City.

Stanton man arrested for OWI

News

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop at around 5-p.m. Wednesday in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a man from Stanton. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 19-year-old Lucas Swanson was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and recorded a .125 Blood Alcohol Test. Swanson was held on $1,000 bond and cited for Possession of alcohol by a person under the legal age.

Testimony at US Senate hearing on cattle prices

Ag/Outdoor, News

June 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A year ago in the midst of the pandemic, the price spread between packers and cattle producers rose to 1500 percent and John Tupper, vice president of the U-S Cattlemen’s Association, says the four big meat packers still are making significant profits. “Packers have enjoyed unbelievable profits,” Tupper said, “harvesting around 120,000 head per day while cattle producers go out of business and consumers pay double or even triple at the meat counter.”

Tupper, an auctioneer and cow-calf operator from South Dakota, testified during a U-S Senate Ag Committee hearing Wednesday afternoon. Farm state lawmakers are considering bills that would give independent livestock operators more information about prices, as many cattle sales are now private. “There is a crisis in rural America. We are losing our producers at an alarming rate,” Tupper says, “all the while watching big corporate feeders, packers make record profits with the threat of verticle integration hanging over our head.”

There were about three-point-six MILLION head of cattle and calves in Iowa on January 1st, down more than 200-thousand from the previous year. Tupper says a steer is worth about 16-hundred dollars today. “Packers could buy that steer and sell it for beef alone, not counting byproducts, for over $2800 a head today,” he says, “for a gross profit margin of over 80%.”

The North American Meat Institute, a trade group representing meat packers, says prices are following market trends as supply for meat struggles to keep pace with demand. Iowa now ranks eighth among the states in cattle production.