(Radio Iowa) – The northwest Iowa town of Lytton hopes to set a world record on July 26th. Lytton, with a population of around 300, will be the first stop on day two of this year’s RAGBRAI route, as thousands of bicyclists make their way from Sac City to Fort Dodge. Scott Matter, co-chair of Lytton’s RAGBRAI committee, says they’ve done the research with the Guiness Book of World Records team.

“We want to have the largest ever goat yoga class. The current record is 500 people and 115 goats and our goal is to get 800 people and 160 goats, I think,” Matter says, “so that should be a lot of fun to watch.” There will also be hay bale challenge, to see how far someone can toss a square bale. Lytton’s theme for the day is “A Slice of Heaven” — fully leaning into the most popular food item on RAGBRAI routes.

“We like to say it’s the pie capital of America,” Matter says. “We have a group of people in town…who have come together to bake hundreds of pies…and our goal is to raise money for the fire station from all of that.”

Matter, who is formerly of Lytton, now lives in Des Moines and was among the crew who rode the RAGBRAI route Inspection Tour in mid-June.

(Radio Iowa) – July is the last month of what has already been a record-setting fiscal year for the Iowa Lottery. Lottery C-E-O Matt Strawn says people found lottery games a safe thing to do in the pandemic — with scratch tickets leading the way. “It will be a record year for scratch tickets sales, as the Iowa Lottery is on pace to sell 300 million dollars of scratch tickets for the first time in its history,” Strawn says.

Speaking during the recent Lottery Board meeting, Strawn talked about the impact of scratch ticket sales on the bottom line.”Through May, scratch tickets sales were slightly over 290 million dollars. This represents 69-point-seven percent of all lottery sales thus far,” Strawn says.  The sale of national lotto games did come back some after suffering during the pandemic. Strawn says big jackpots in Powerball and Mega Millions that exceeded 700 million dollars earlier this year allowed their sales to rebound in this fiscal year after an historic low performance in the previous fiscal year.

Strawn says the lotto games have not returned to previous levels. “Powerball and Mega Millions sales are collectively 29-point-eight percent ahead of last year’s performance through May,” according to Strawn. “However, despite that year-over-year improvement, both national jackpot lotto games continue to underperform their historic averages.”  Strawn says the poor performance of the lotto games is cause for concern.  He says the national lotto games are the ones that produce the strongest revenue margins for the Iowa Lottery.

Strawn says efforts are being made to bolster the national lotto games with things like expanding the number of weekly drawings.

(Radio Iowa) – A report by the United Health Foundation says Iowa’s senior citizens are at low risk for social isolation compared to the rest of the nation. It says Iowa’s 65-plus population has the sixth highest rate of volunteerism in the country and ranks seventh for low risk of social isolation. Rhonda Randall, chief medical officer with United Healthcare, says the rankings are based on pre-pandemic data so some may dramatically shift next year.

“A really good example is where we were facing issues with seniors in our nation in social isolation before the pandemic and then the public health guidance was to socially distance,” Randall says. “So, we’re concerned that that may have gotten worse.” The figures on social isolation are important, Randall says, as they point to other potential trouble spots.
“We see strong links with social isolation and poor mental health, strong links with social isolation and poor overall health,” Randall says. “So, it’s good news that that percentage is lower in Iowa than in most of the other states.”

The report also found Iowa’s seniors have high rates of obesity, as well as less access to geriatric health care professionals and high speed internet as compared to other states.

(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

A Ringgold County man was arrested July 1st on a Felony charge of Theft in the 1st Degree, following an investigation into an abandoned trailer located in rural Ringgold County. The Ringgold County County Sheriff’s Office reports 44-year-old Scott Thurman, of Delphos, was taken into custody for possession of stolen property, with a cash only bond set at $10,000.

Authorities say the VIN on the trailer had been removed, but after reaching out to the manufacturer and tracking the axles’ serial numbers, the original owner was able to be identified through their computer system as KC Nielsen LTD. Contact was made with the owner, who had filled out a report on June 21st, indicating the trailer had been stolen off their dealership lot in Laurens, Iowa, along with two new John Deere zero turn mowers and the pickup that was hooked onto the trailer.

Scott Thurman

The pickup was a tan 2006 Ford F150 4 door. Nielsen, LTD also reported that they had a missing 2011 Bobcat S750 skid loader from their Harcourt, IA store on June 29th . A few miles from the abandoned trailer at 2632 State St. in Redding, a skid loader that matched the description was located in the yard. After, a visit with homeowner to look at the skid loader the serial numbers matched the stolen skid loader from Harcourt.

Rescue personnel in the Omaha/Council Bluffs metropolitan area responded to a number of fireworks-related injuries over the weekend. KETV in Omaha reports one of the incidents happened at around 11:30-p.m. Sunday, in Council Bluffs. A mortar shell detonated in a man’s hand near Renner and Twin City drives. The individual suffered critical injuries and was transported to the hospital.

About an hour earlier, in Omaha, a woman was critically injured by fireworks near 32nd and Gold in Omaha. And, earlier in the evening, Sunday, a person was critically hurt by fireworks in Elkhorn, Nebraska. Officials found them near 185th and Taylor around 8:30 p.m.

Additional details on those incidents were not immediately available.

With Ric Hanson.

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(Atlantic) Cass County Democrats will host an Ice Cream Social and special guests, to honor the years of service Sherry Toelle has given to the Cass County Democrats organization. The event takes place in the downtown, Atlantic City Park, beginning at 7-p.m. on July 12^th.

Call 712-249-2992 or e-mail casscountyiadems@gmail.com to RSVP.

The 7:07-a.m. broadcast News, with KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, is expected to set July 21st as the date for a Public Hearing with regard to the sale of City-owned property at 101 Cedar Street. The City’s Personnel and Finance Committee has agreed to sell the parcel to Cook Sanitation, in exchange for the refuse company paying $2,000. The agreement says the property will be sold as-is, dilapidated house included. Cook Sanitation is required to have the home demolished by no later than Dec. 31, 2021, and have an industrial building on the site within five-years (Aug. 2026).

In other business, the Council will act on an Order to limit street parking to the east side of Palm Street, on July 31st, for the Cass County Fair Association. The Council will hold the second reading of an Ordinance (#1099), changing the method of elections to Runoff, instead of “Plurality takes all,” which requires a person to get the most votes on a ballot to win (50.01%). Under the current system, if for instance there were five candidates for Mayor, the person with 25% of the vote would be the winner. The alternative, or Primary System, calls for a True Majority (50.01%) of votes to win, with a run-off election if the vote is too close to call. The City’s Personnel and Finance Committee recommends the election system be changed to a majority, runoff-system.

On a related note, the Council will hold the second reading of an Ordinance changing the term of Park Board members from six-years to four, as they have requested. They will also act on an Order to “Authorize [the] initiation of Abandoned property action,” with regard to demolishing Atlantic’s blighted properties. In this case, the site identified is 411 Birch Street. And, the Council will act on a Order to appoint Councilperson Kathy Somers, Alexsis Fleener and City Administrator John Lund, to the Housing Committee – which is the predecessor to the Atlantic Housing Taskforce chaired by Bob Camblin, and which is exploring adding persons directly involved in residential home construction, property development and banking, for later appointment. Somers has agreed to assume the position of Committee Chair.

Fleener and Lund were always intended to act as advisors and be involved in the Committee, but it was determined that formal membership should occur. In their report to the Council, Atlantic Airport Managers Lori and Barry Reid are expected to mention the “5th Annual Heads-up Drag Race” will be held Sunday, Sept. 19th, from 10-a.m. until 5-p.m. The event has grown each year, with a variety of vehicles and their drivers who travel near and far to participate, according to the Reids.

(Radio Iowa) – More and more people are trying out kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards as we hit summer. D-N-R instructor, Todd Robertson, says you can have a lot of fun, but you need to learn a little before heading out. He says it’s best to practice first on a lake or pond. “The problem is, if you head straight to the river and you don’t have any paddling experience, you are going to run into trouble if you don’t know how to control that boat or that board. So, it is always advisable to hit flat water first,” Robertson says. He says there’s no current to deal with and you can learn some techniques. “Learn what it is like to dump the boat. What are you going to do when that happens,” he says. “Know all that stuff before you go out on a river,” Robertson says.

He says the type of craft you select depends on what you want to do. He says if you want speed and to track straight, the longer the boat or board the better. The shorter they are, the easier they turn and maneuver on the water. Robertson says Iowa also now has more advanced options for those who want more of a challenge. He says you can buy a whitewater boat and take lessons and go to one of the whitewater areas now available. “But you just have to use common sense, if we do that, we are going to be safe. It’s when we go out and we don’t have a life jacket, or we go on a river we are not ready for — that’s when we can end up in trouble,” he says.

Robertson says you can take kids along with you kayaking and canoeing. Robertson says as long as parents are experienced and you go out in a group, it can be safe. “Especially on a lake. That changes when you get out on moving water,” he says. “So you don’t want to be a new family with kids and have never been on a river before and just take the whole family out.”

Robertson says there are plenty of training courses available so you are ready when you decide to hit the water.