(Radio Iowa) – The second finalist to take over as the president of Iowa State University made his visit to campus Thursday and held a public forum. David Cook is an Ames native and I-S-U graduate. He became the president of North Dakota State in 2022 after 14 years in administration at the University of Kansas Medical Center. “That for me really was my first entree into to what a land grant is about, getting out in the rural community, serving the state, caring about workforce, providing in that case, access to desperately needed health resources,” Cook says.

Cook says he took the opportunity to become a president at North Dakota State and loved it and the people, but says I-S-U is a unique situation. “This opportunity, it’s the only one I probably would ever even consider, but it’s home, it’s deeply personal,” he says. “Our family are here, it’s where we grew up. It’s where education opened my eyes to what it can do and what it can do for generations of people and how important that is…. I mean, it’s coming home.” Cook says he understands that agriculture and engineering are top priorities at I-S-U, but he says you have to understand the environment education is currently in. “We’ve got to have our graduates better prepared. They’ve got to learn how to write, they’ve got to learn how to communicate, they have to work in teams, they have to have critical thinking skills,” Cook says. “Those are all hallmarks of a liberal arts education, so we can’t forget that.”

He says I-S-U has and influence in all of the state’s 99 counties, and that too is a big responsibility. “What can we do to impact all those small business owners that are out there across the state of Iowa, that’s our job and our responsibility. I stumbled across this report that talks about the brain drain. Our college graduates in this state who have four-year degrees, they’re leaving. What’s our role and responsibility to do better?,” he says. Cook has a series of other events while on campus.

Cook and the other finalist, Benjamin Houlton will be interviewed by the Board of Regents next Tuesday and the Board is then expected to announce its choice. The new president will replace Wendy Wintersteen who is retiring.

(Red Oak, IA) – A Montgomery County man was arrested Thursday night on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree [A Simple Misdemeanor]. Red Oak Police report 20-year-old Jaycob Dillion Nelson, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 7:10-p.m. in the 2400 block of N. 8th Street. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where Nelson’s bond was set at $300.

(Dallas County, IA) – Authorities say one person was ejected from a vehicle during a rollover accident Thursday morning, in Dallas County. The accident happened on Interstate 80 eastbound near the Dexter Exit, at around 6:16-a.m.

The Iowa State Patrol told Des Moines area television stations the person who was ejected was transported to a hospital in Des Moines. A report on their condition along with other details about the crash, had not been released as of early this (Friday) morning.

DES MOINES, Iowa [WHO-TV] — A special investigation by the Iowa Auditor’s Office into the city of Baxter has placed scrutiny on the former police chief, former city clerk, and former EMS coordinator. The Iowa State Auditor’s Office released its report on the investigation Thursday morning.

The special investigation covered between July 1, 2021, and February 29, 2024, and was requested by Baxter city officials over concerns regarding financial transactions processed by the former employees: Police Chief William Daggett, City Clerk Katie Wilson, and EMS Coordinator Randi Gliem.

Auditor Rob Sand said $75,073.73 of improper disbursements were identified, along with
$11,294.57 of unsupported disbursements, and $3,814.88 of unbilled, uncollected, and over-collected utility billings.

Among the improper disbursements:

• $51,275.62 in improper payroll costs and excess comp time payments to Daggett
• $3,509.55 of improper payroll costs and excess comp time payments to Wilson
• $1,461.09 of improper payroll costs and excess vacation balance payout paid to Gliem

The report has been filed with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Jasper County Attorney’s Office, and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

WASHINGTON (KCRG) – Iowa U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley says there will be a bailout to assist farmers dealing with the impacts of the government shutdown and Trump Administration tariffs. “There will be a bailout and there should be a bailout,” Grassley told reporters Wednesday. “The federal government ought to make up for what they’ve done negatively to hurt the family farmer.”

Senator Grassley said the bailout would likely range from $10 billion to $13 billion. This announcement follows President Donald Trump’s recent agreement with China to reduce tariffs and resume purchasing U.S. soybeans.

Grassley’s office was unable to provide further details on the plan.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – A federal court dismissed a lawsuit against pollster J. Ann Selzer over her pre-election poll showing Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump in Iowa during the final days of the 2024 campaign. The Center for American Rights filed the potential class-action case on behalf of West Des Moines resident Dennis Donnelly. The lawsuit was against the Register, Selzer, and the newspaper’s parent company, Gannett Co. It was one of two lawsuits related to the poll.

The lawsuit challenged a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll that Selzer conducted for the Register in the final days of the 2024 presidential campaign. The poll showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump 47% to 44% three days before election day. Trump beat Harris by 13 points.

The lawsuit alleged the Des Moines Register “utterly failed to live up to” its mission statement of being a trustworthy news organization. It also alleged the Register and Selzer ignored red flags that should have indicated the results would be inaccurate, citing a section of Iowa Code about consumer fraud.

In December, Trump filed a separate suit in Polk County District Court, claiming the paper violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act and alleging election interference. Courts later moved that case to federal court. Selzer’s team sought dismissal, arguing the lawsuit violated her First Amendment rights and relied on “flimsy legal theories.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is defending J. Ann Selzer pro bono against Trump’s lawsuit.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (KCRG) – Marshall County Public Health officials said they may never find exactly where an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease originated. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services first reported on the illness in the region on September 4. The disease sickened 74 people and killed two. A specific bacteria causes Legionnaires’ disease and can grow in water systems, like large air conditioners.

Linn County Public Health officials said places with stagnant water like hot tubs, humidifiers, or unused shower heads can transmit Legionnaires’ disease if not cleaned properly.

Officials reported the last case six weeks ago, and by late October considered the outbreak over. Marshall County Public Health officials said the Legionnaires’ bacteria likely came from a cooling tower. They tested 12 business centers where people most likely got sick. One center tested positive for the bacteria, but it did not match the strain from infected people.

Officials disinfected all cooling towers and will not count anyone who gets sick in the future as part of this outbreak.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Zach Lahn is promising to address the state’s water quality issues and Iowa’s rising cancer rate if he’s elected governor. “It makes me tremendously sad to continue to go to funerals for people that are 65 when their parents died at 80. That’s just wrong,” Lahn said. “…When it comes to this, I’m in and we’re going to figure out how to solve this.”

Lahn, who launched his campaign yesterday (Thursday), says politicians have been sticking their heads in the sand when it comes to addressing the cancer crisis in Iowa. “That has got to stop because big agriculture companies and big pharma companies have treated our farmers and our families not like neighbors, but as numbers,” Lahn said. Iowa has the second highest rate of newly diagnosed cases of cancer and is one of only two states with an overall cancer rate that’s rising.

Governor Kim Reynolds and the Republican-led legislature budgeted a million dollars this year for University of Iowa research to try to find the cause. Lahn says it’s time to hold companies accountable who are contributing to Iowa’s cancer crisis and embrace the Make America Healthy Again agenda of Robert F. Kennedy, Junior.

“Des Moines, Iowa, has the world’s largest nitrate removal system on its water supply and it can’t keep up. We are supposed to live in the Eden of our country. Iowa has 90% of the world’s ‘Grade A’ farmland,” Lahn said. “…I love my neighbors. I’m a farmer myself. These big companies are lying to them and we know they’re lying to them and Bobby Kennedy’s uncovering that they’re lying to them and as governor I’m going to stand right next to him and fight for the healthy of my people.”

Lahn spoke last (Thursday) night at the monthly gathering of a group of central Iowa Republicans and answered questions from the crowd. He was asked about the Iowa Utilities Commission decision granting Summit Carbon Solutions authority to seize land along its pipeline route from unwilling property owners.

“Private property rights are foundational to our citizenship as Iowans and eminent domain is not to be used for private gain,” Lahn said, to applause. “I would just venture to guess that not many of us have a problem with pipelines in general…I say make an Iowan happy, get the voluntary easements and write big checks and just contribute to our state more.”

The four other Republicans who’ve been campaigning for governor also say they oppose the use of eminent domain for the carbon pipeline.

(Council Bluffs, IA) [UPDATED 8-a.m.] – A woman from Nebraska died after being struck by a vehicle Thursday evening, in Council Bluffs. According to Bluffs Police, the accident occurred at around 5:47-p.m. near 8th Street and Kanesville Boulevard. Through the course of the investigation, it was determined that an eastbound car driven by 72-year-old Dennis Stark, of Council Bluffs, struck 47-year-old Heidi Divis, of Omaha, as she was crossing Kanesville Blvd., walking northbound through the intersection against the walk signal. The car was traveling east through the intersection with a yellow light when the vehicle struck Divis, who died at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha. .

Authorities say Stark was showing signs of impairment. A search warrant was granted to obtain his blood sample. The incident remains under investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Department Traffic Unit.

(Radio Iowa) – The City of Perry a new wastewater treatment plant now working that’s designed to cut nutrient levels from treated water before it’s discharged into the North Raccoon River. Iowa Department of Natural Resources director Kayla Lyon says the plant will help improve water quality. “This new plant uses state-of-the-art biological treatments to meet all the current Clean Water Act requirements. It also goes beyond the basics of removing both nitrogen and phosphorus, consistent with the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.”

The state’s strategy requires large municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities to reduce their nutrient discharge as part of renewing their permits. Perry wastewater plant superintendent Superintendent Dave Gliem says one of the treatment tanks has phosphorus-eating bacteria. “If you starve them for air a little bit, they’ll eat the phosphorus,” he says.

The latest data shows just over 40 percent of the plants in Iowa have met their nitrogen targets. Nearly a quarter have met their goals for phosphorus. The new 30 million dollar Perry plant will also increases the city’s treatment capacity to attract new companies and accommodate residential growth. Most of the funding came from the state’s revolving fund, which provides low-interest loans to water quality projects.