(Radio Iowa) – Tom Harkin — the Iowa Democrat who served in 40 years in the U.S. House and Senate — has had a change of heart about the ethanol industry.  “For most of my time in the Senate, I was one of ethanol’s biggest supporters,” Harkin said. “…I was wrong, at least in the magnitude.” As a senator, Harin pushed for federal policies to expand the use of ethanol and in 2010 Harkin blasted the E-P-A for delaying regulations to let gasoline with higher amounts of ethanol be sold. Harkin now says while ethanol has its place in the marketplace, it will not solve all the problems in the ag sector.

“The push to make ethanol sort of the end all and be all of agriculture production — that’s just not going to happen,” Harkin said. “…We’re going to have to start thinking of doing other things, encouraging other forms of agriculture, other forms of enterprises, things that will help us get through this mess that we’re in right now. I don’t want to lose another generation of farmers.” Harkin, who is 85, served in congress during the Farm Crisis. By the end of the 1980s, 300-thousand U-S farms had defaulted on loans.

Former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (Photo courtesy of the Harkin Institute)

“The ’80s happened because a secretary of agriculture in the early ’70s basically said plant fence-row-to-fence-row, go big or get out,” Harkin said. “…I remember sheep raising and cattle operations all over southern Iowa. Well, in the ’70s, they plowed it all up and started planting corn and beans.” Harkin says farmers got overextended with high interest rate loans for combines and other farm equipment — and that led to farm foreclosures in the 1980s. An I-S-U economics professor estimated that in every year during the Farm Crisis, nearly two-and-a-half percent of farmers left the business.

Harkin made his comments during a “Chautauqua Talk” in Algona hosted by Kossuth County Democrats.

(A report by the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – State officials have cited an Oskaloosa nursing home where a resident died after the staff couldn’t locate a crash cart, forgot to summon an ambulance and failed to realize the resident had standing orders in place for CPR to be administered. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the Oskaloosa Care Center, a 76-resident nursing home in Mahaska County, has been cited by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing with failing to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, in accordance with a resident’s wishes, and for workers’ inability to locate the facility’s crash cart, which had a defibrillator on board for restoring a patient’s heartbeat in cases of cardiac arrest. According to the state agency, these failures placed residents of the home in immediate jeopardy.

State inspectors allege that on the morning of Sept. 8, 2025, a certified nursing assistant and registered nurse entered a male resident’s room and found the man slumped over in his recliner and in distress – gasping, sweating profusely and stating he needed to sit. According to the inspectors’ reports, one of the workers left the room to obtain equipment to check the man’s vital signs, at which point the man’s eyes rolled back in his head as if he was having a seizure. The director of nursing arrived in the room and instructed a licensed practical nurse to call an ambulance and verify the resident’s “code status,” which would indicate whether the resident either had a do-not-resuscitate, or DNR, order in place, or wished to have potentially lifesaving measures, such as CPR, administered.

After one worker left the room to check the resident’s code status, a nurse communicated over a two-way radio that the resident had a do-not-resuscitate order in place. The staff then concluded the resident was dead and began to clean and clothe the body for the family’s viewing, according to inspectors. While one worker began the process of contacting the resident’s family, she noticed in the resident’s chart that the man was listed as “full code” — indicating life-saving procedures were to have been performed. She then reviewed other records and confirmed that information. According to state inspectors, the staff elected not to perform CPR at that point due to the man’s lack of responsiveness, ashen color, blotchy skin and lack of a pulse.

Pictured: The Oskaloosa Care Center in Mahaska County. (Photo via Google Earth)

A certified nursing assistant later told inspectors that shortly after the resident was found in distress, two of her co-workers began looking for the home’s crash cart but could not find it. The aide told inspectors she was able to locate the cart, noting that it was marked with a sign that read “AED,” for automated external defibrillator. According to the inspectors, the CNA noted that for residents designated “full code,” there was supposed to be a green sticker on the outside of their door — adding that there was such a sticker in this case, but it was located on the roommate’s side of the door, so the staff presumed the resident who died had a DNR order in place. The director of nursing allegedly told inspectors the resident’s door did not contain the correct sticker due to a recent room change, adding that she would have started CPR had she known the man was “full code” but believed she could trust the information given to her by the nurse. It was later determined that no one had ever called the ambulance and, according to inspectors, the worker who was tasked with that responsibility explained she “forgot to call” while searching for the crash cart.

As a result of the incident, the inspections department proposed, but then held in a suspension, a $10,000 fine. The state fine is being held in suspension so that the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services can determine whether a federal penalty should be imposed in its place. The inspections department also proposed, and held in suspension, a fine for a separate incident involving the staff’s failure to adequately respond to a lethargic female resident’s complaints of chest pain. The resident was later taken to a hospital where it was determined she had suffered a heart attack. Workers at the home allegedly told inspectors they had reported the resident’s worsening condition to a nurse. The nurse, they said, “dismissed” their concerns, “acted like it was no big deal,” and then asserted the resident was merely “playing possum.”

According to inspectors, when they later interviewed the nurse and asked whether she thought she should have notified the woman’s physician of the situation, the nurse refused to answer. State records provide conflicting information as the size of the suspended fine stemming from that incident, with some of the records stating $9,000 and some stating $9,500.

(Radio Iowa) – The 100th pheasant season in Iowa opens Saturday and D-N-R wildlife biologist Todd Bogenshutz says it is setting up to be a good one. “This past year was the fourth mildest winter in state history, like 150 years of record. So, we probably had virtually all of our hens survive from last fall,” he says. Bogenshutz says having that type of survival rate is fantastic, and those numbers make up for some loss of young birds in wet weather after the hatch. “The roadside survey showed that our chick survival wasn’t as good as last year, but it was only down a little bit, so the number of hens that were nesting more than made up for not quite as many chicks surviving. And so our counts still were up 40 percent statewide,” Bogenschutz says.

Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.

Some 77-thousand hunters head out to chase the ringnecks last year, and he says that number is likely to grow this season. “This year with the counts being so good, you know, Mother Nature smiled on us with good weather and we grew a lot of birds for the for the habitat we have, I would not be surprised at all if we’re over 80-thousand hunters,” he says. Bogenschutz says Iowa should stay at the top of the best states for pheasant hunting. “We’ve been the number two state in harvest for the last four years running at least, probably this will be the fifth year with this fall, only South Dakota can boast more pheasants harvested than us,” Bogenschutz says.

Bogenschutz the pheasant harvest could be in the 600 to 700-thousand range. The season runs through January 10th.

POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, Iowa — A fisherman in Pottawattamie County now holds the state record for reeling in the biggest catfish. George Thompson was fishing along the Missouri River earlier this month when he reeled in a catfish measuring 60 inches long and weighing 105 pounds, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It’s the same stretch of river where the previous record of 53 inches and 101 pounds was set back in 2004. The Iowa DNR says it took Thompson 35 minutes to battle the beast out of the water.

The DNR confirmed the measurements and the successful release.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa sheriff plans to end an agreement to house prisoners from a neighboring county in Carroll County’s jail — a move that sparked a debate during a public meeting this week. Carroll County Sheriff Ken Pingre says there have been a lot of issues with Calhoun County officials.

“I’m not getting his paperwork on time, not getting prisoners released when they’re supposed to,” Pingrey says. “It’s just come time to hopefully nix this agreement.” Pingrey says the turning point for him was the recent announcement that if Sac County voters approve construction of a new jail in Sac City, Calhoun County’s sheriff will send his county’s prisoners there once that new jail opens.

Carroll County’s sheriff says Polk County officials assure him they’ll be able to send Carroll County more prisoners from central Iowa once he stops accepting Calhoun County prisoners in January. Benjamin Smith, the county attorney in Sac County, says Pingrey’s move is appalling. “He can subsidize Polk County with Carroll County resources, but not the local counties that shop in Carroll, that send their kids to school in Carroll, law enforcement that works closely with Carroll,” Smith said.

Pingrey says Polk County inmates serving out a sentence are easier to deal with than the prisoners his facility gets from Calhoun County and he’s looking to make things easier for his jail’s staff. The Sac County attorney is accusing Carroll County’s sheriff of retaliating against Calhoun County for promising to send its prisoners to a Sac County jail — if it’s built. “That was the turning point,” Pingrey said. Smith asked: “So you’re admitting that’s retaliatory?” The sheriff responded: “Not retaliatory, no. I saw it as a good opportunity.”

A few moments later, Carroll County Supervisor Stephanie Hausman intervened. “Real quick, I’m going to shut this down,” Hausman said. “…I would ask you two, if you guys want to work some things out, do it outside of an open public meeting.”

The chair of Carroll County’s Board of Supervisors says the jail in Carroll was built so it could house out-of-county prisoners and those room-and-board fees are paying off the bonds that financed the facility’s construction.

(Tama County, IA) – An east-central Iowa man was said to be in critical condition, following an accident west of Tama, Thursday afternoon. The Iowa State Patrol says a dump truck pulling a pup trailer hauling gravel, turned westbound onto Highway 30 from C Avenue/Highway T47 at around 2:35-pm, and was building-up speed, when it was rear-ended by a 2017 Dodge RAM pickup truck.

The driver of the pickup, 29-year-old Richard M. Magoon, of Cedar Rapids, was injured and flown to University of Iowa Health Care by Aircare. The Tama County Sheriff’s Office reported that while emergency crews were responding to the initial crash, a secondary crash occurred nearby as a result of traffic congestion and slowed vehicles. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the secondary incident.

The Patrol was assisted in handling the the scene by Toledo EMS, Tama Ambulance Service Medic 1, Toledo Fire, Montour Fire, Montour First Responders, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Tama County 911 Communications, and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Atlantic, IA — Cass Health invites the public to attend a Halloween Trick or Treat event on Thursday, October 30, from 2:30 to 4:00 PM (originally, those hours were from 3-until 5-p.m.)

Parents and children are invited to come to Cass Health for an afternoon of indoor trick-or-treating and fun. Seventeen departments will be participating in this event.

Attendees are encouraged to use Parking Lot C and enter through either the Rehab Services or Rapid Care Entrances. For a map with parking and participating departments, visit casshealth.org.

(Atlantic, Iowa)  -The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Massena was arrested Monday (Oct. 20) on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault- 2nd Offense. 31-year-old Julia Marie Sheler was transported to the Cass County Jail and later released on bond.

And, on Oct. 17th, sheriff’s deputies in Cass County arrested 40-year-old Miles Blake Cooley, of Anita, for Driving While Barred. Cooley was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and later released on his own recognizance.

All criminal charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in the court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has directed the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to convene regular meetings with food banks and pantries since federal food assistance for over 130-thousand Iowa households will likely be delayed due to the government shutdown. Federal officials already directed states not to issue SNAP benefits in November. Iowa food pantries and food banks are preparing for a spike in demand. Annette Hacker is chief communications and strategy officer for the Food Bank of Iowa.

“All of us are doing everything we can to meet the need, but…the charitable food system cannot fill this gap,” Hacker said. “For every meal the charitable food system provides, SNAP provides nine.” Kathy Underhill is C-E-O of the Des Moines Area Religious Council, which runs a network of 14 food pantries.  “November is always the busiest month in the food bank and food pantry world,” she says, “and if SNAP benefits do not go out on time in November, the capacity of food banks and food pantries will be pushed to their very limits.”

Governor Reynolds says she’s reviewing the food insecurity response plan the state developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March of 2020, Reynolds appointed a Feeding Iowans Task Force after tens of thousands of Iowans were furloughed, laid off or saw a significant drop in their income. “If the Democrats would pass a clean CR, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” Reynolds said. “They need to come to the table and they need to pass a clean Continuing Resolution.”

Republicans in the U-S House passed a Continuing Resolution last month that extended current federal spending plans through November 21st. The legislation needs 60 votes to pass the U.S. Senate and Democrats in the Senate are pressing to add an extension of health care-related tax credits the package.

(Radio Iowa) – Leaders in Iowa’s most populous county say they’ll funnel 200-thousand dollars to the Iowa Water Quality Information System to help keep a network of river and stream sensors operating next year. The University of Iowa program lost state funding in 2023, and supplemental dollars from the Walton Family Foundation and I-S-U Nutrient Research Center are expected to run out next year. Matt McCoy is chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors.

“While I personally would like to see the state and federal government play a big role in helping us fund these data sets,” McCoy says, “unfortunately, they’ve made decisions at the legislative and at the federal level to not do that.” McCoy says the county has an obligation to ensure the water its residents rely on is protected. The funding from Polk County represents one-third of the annual budget for the water monitoring network. McCoy says the hope is that other counties will contribute funding to operate dozens of sensors across the state.

Rich Leopold, director of Polk County Conservation, says long periods of data are key for tracking trends and knowing whether certain water quality practices, like adding wetlands, are effective. Leopold says, “We’re investing time, energy and money into all these practices, and if we want to make sure that we’re doing something to make things improve, are things improving?”

The sensors collect real-time data for things like nitrate, flow and temperature. The Iowa division of the Izaak Walton League recently launched a GoFundMe page for the program.