Officials with Travel Iowa say the Iowa Tourism Office and the Travel Federation of Iowa presented 12 awards recognizing excellence in the tourism industry during the 2012 Iowa Tourism Conference Thursday night. Among the award recipients, was the Manning Hausbarn/Heritage Park in Manning, which won for having an “Outstanding Niche Marketing Campaign,” and, the Council Bluffs Convention and Visitors Bureau, which picked up the “People’s Choice Award,” during a vote by the conference attendees.

The annual Iowa Tourism Conference brings together more than 250 industry representatives from across the state to network, attend educational sessions and discuss emerging industry trends.

Tourism in Iowa generates more than $7 billion in expenditures, employs 63,400 people statewide and generates $328 million in state taxes. The Iowa Tourism Office is part of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. For more information about Iowa tourism, visit www.traveliowa.com, call 800.345.IOWA or stop at any Iowa Welcome Center.

A new report from a motor club finds teen drivers in Iowa are much more likely to be involved in deadly crashes if they have another teen riding along in the car. Rose White, spokeswoman for Triple-A-Iowa, says the statistics from 2005 to 2010 are startling and emphasize the need for more training and discipline for younger drivers. “The prevalence of risky behaviors generally grew for 16 and 17-year-old drivers as the number of teen passengers increased,” White says. “Among 16 and 17-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes, it showed the prevalence of speeding increased from 30% to 44% just with another additional passenger in the vehicle.”

The study found the risk of death doubled with two teen passengers and quadrupled with three or more passengers. White says about one-third of all fatal crashes are caused by speeding, but for teen drivers, it’s nearly half. “Drivers aged 16 to 17 are involved in about seven times as many crashes per mile driven compared to drivers in their 40s, 50s or 60s,” she says.

In Iowa, teens between the ages of 14 and 19 have a higher death rate in crashes than any other age group. White urges Iowa parents to get involved in the driving process, especially during the early driving years, and to restrict the number of passengers allowed inside the vehicle. “In 2011, teenage drivers were involved in 21-percent of all crashes while only representing 7.3-percent of the driving population,” White says.

The study found teen drivers were also involved in 25-percent of all nighttime crashes, while in accidents where speeding was a factor, they were involved in 33-percent of all crashes. This is National Teen Driver Safety Week.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – An index of economic conditions in 10 Midwest and Western states jumped this month after three months of drought-induced doldrums.  The Rural Mainstreet survey of rural bankers rose to 56.6 for October from 48.3 in September. It was the first time since June that the index rose above growth neutral 50.  Survey organizers say any score above 50 on the 100-point scale suggests the economy will grow in the months ahead.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the effects of the drought are being more than offset by high incomes from high agriculture and energy prices. The survey covers Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Parts of drought-stricken Iowa, Nebraska and much of the Midwest are expected to be warmer and drier than normal in early winter.  The Des Moines Register reports that National Weather Service forecast maps issued Thursday show higher-than-normal temperatures are expected over the next three months for the western third of Iowa and all of Nebraska. But lower-than-normal moisture is expected for the eastern third of Nebraska and all of Iowa.

Mike Halpert, of the weather service’s Climate Prediction Center, says the predictions “are the weather service’s best guess, based on a variety of computer models. ”  Iowa state climatologist Harry Hillaker says “the clock is ticking” on refilling Iowa’s soil with moisture before the winter freeze.

Police in Clarinda are investigating three recent incidents of theft and or attempted break-ins. Officials say on Thursday, a Clarinda resident reported that her apartment on North 16th Street had been burglarized. Cash and electronic items valued at $1,050 were stolen. The incident, which occurred sometime between Oct. 16th and 17th at the Timber Creek Apartments, remains under investigation.

On Tuesday, Clarinda Police received a report of several padlocks on some storage units at 411 east Page Street having been damaged by someone using bolt cutters. At the time of the report, it had not been determined if anything was missing from the storage units owned by Dick Kline, of Clarinda. Damage to the units and padlocks however, was estimated at $50. The incident, which occurred sometime between Oct. 15th and 16th, remains under investigation.

And, on Sunday, Oct. 14th, employees with Randolph Excavation and Electrical reported to police in Clarinda, that someone stole copper from the business at 716 east Garfield Street. The loss was estimated at $900. The theft is believed to have occurred sometime between Oct. 12th and 14th. It also remains under investigation.

Officials with the Clarinda Police Department said Thursday a man from New Market was arrested on assault and disorderly conduct charges, following an incident that took place at around 4:30-p.m., near the intersection of 15th and Stuart Streets. Authorities say 21-year old Johnny Lee Blake allegedly hit 20-year old Travis Wilson Dunham, of Clarinda, with his fists, causing minor injuries to Dunham. Blake was brought to the Page County Jail and later posted a $325 bond.

No injuries were reported after a semi rolled over on Interstate 80 Thursday night in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2012 Peterbilt tractor trailer driven by 41-year old Frank Scott Hofreiter, of Santee, CA, was traveling west on I-80 near the Underwood exit, when for reasons unknown, the rig went out of control and entered the median, before rolling onto its side and spilling its load. The wreckage partially blocked the westbound left lane of the Interstate when the crash occurred, at around 9:40-p.m. The Patrol says it was rainy and windy at the time of the accident, but it’s not clear if that played a role in the crash.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources held its 12th and statewide park public forum in Shelby County Thursday evening. The forum was held inside the First Baptist Church in Harlan from 6:30 to 8:30pm. A crowd of over 30 people filled the community room inside the church. The event began with a short introduction by Bob Sherbomb, Regional Director of Parks followed by a video on all state parks in Iowa. The audience was then broken down into smaller groups to go over issues they face with state parks.

Kevin Szcodronski, Bureau Chief of State Parks for the Iowa DNR says the forum was to ask the public their top priorities. He said “Tonight we heard loud and clear the lake is important, fishing and a well kept up park.” Szcodronski says overall the public is not asking for big things. “If I had to summarize all 12 meetings it would be, Iowans are pretty traditional users of state parks. They want access. They want them well kept, open, trails to be good and more electricity.”

Other suggestions for Prairie Rose included a year round lodge or community center to hold family reunions or weddings along with a better office for the staff. Szcodronski says now that all the forums are complete, the DNR will compile the information and look for trends. “Then we are going to compare information from the small groups with information from our telephone surveys with general people of Iowa and compare answers. We want to see if there needs are different with current visitors. We will look at that very close and see what we can do in the future.”

All the information will guide the DNR to the 100th year celebration in 2020 to make all the State Parks in good shape when the spotlight shines on them. Szcodronski says the DNR will be releasing information about the public meetings on their website,  “Probably sometime in later November or early December, we will put some things on the website, some overall summaries and what we have heard from each park. It’s going to take us a while. It will be about a month, month and a half. We will post it on our website www.iowadnr.gov and keep track of it on there.” The public forum on Thursday finished with a short question and answer session with Szcodronski.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)