(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has thrown out a drug possession case in Sioux City involving a drug dog. Yale Stevens of Sioux City was convicted of possessing meth following his arrest when his brother was pulled over in February of 2020 for having a tail light out. Stevens was a backseat passenger in the car and says the evidence should be suppressed because a drug dog indicated drugs were present at the driver’s door — but never indicated he had the drugs in his pocket.

The Supreme Court agreed the drug dog’s positive alert outside the driver’s door did not alone create probable cause to search a backseat passenger without a warrant.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she and her fellow Republicans in the House and Senate are about two-thirds of the way toward reaching a final agreement on a tax plan. The governor is raising concerns, though, about the Senate G-O-P’s idea to convert more than 800 local option sales taxes into one statewide tax. It’s a legal maneuver so lawmakers could use other state tax money to fill the empty Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Fund, but Reynolds says she’s concerned because the move impose a one percent sales tax in three counties* and four dozen cities that aren’t collecting it today.

Reynolds made her comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S. The other sticking point in the G-O-P tax negotiations is whether to cut the corporate income tax. Reynolds has proposed a significant cut. Senate Republicans propose a cut, along with reductions in some tax credits corporations typically claim. Reynolds says she’s not ready to agree to reducing the research activities tax credit, for example.

Reynolds says that study can start this summer. House Republicans have passed a bill that solely focuses on reducing personal income taxes and would not cut the corporate income tax rate.

*the three counties that do not have a local option sales tax are Clarke, Johnson and Osceola

(Glenwood, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 4:35-a.m. Friday (today), in Mills County, escalated into a pursuit and the arrest of a man and a woman. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a Sergeant the the Sheriff’s Office attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation. The vehicle refused to yield and a pursuit initiated. A short time later, the vehicle stopped, and the male driver took off on foot. His female passenger remained in the vehicle. She was taken into custody without incident.

The Mills County K9 unit, Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputies, the Iowa State Patrol and Montgomery County EMA all responded to the scene. The EMA launched their “Eagle One” drone, equipped with night vision (FLIR) technology, to locate heat signatures. After about two-minutes, the drone located a “hot spot” in the tree line, about one-half mile from where the driver abandoned the vehicle. The image showed a male laying face down.

Crowe & Hernandez (Mills County S/O booking photo)

A K9 search was formed and started down the tree line to locate the suspect. With continued assistance from the drone, the suspect – identified later as Vince Crow, of Seattle, WA, was taken into custody without further incident. An empty handgun holster was found on Crowe. The Mills County K9 “Danken” was deployed, and found the gun Crowe allegedly tossed into the tree line.

A probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted, resulting in the recovery of approximately 30.4 grams of heroin, 52.7 grams of marijuana, 90 Oxycodone pills, a small amount of meth, a digital scale, and multiple pieces of drug paraphernalia. Once at the Mills County Jail, the passenger who was in the vehicle gave a false name, but was eventually identified as Mariah Hernandez, of Dallas, Oregon.

Crow faces numerous charges, including: Felony Eluding; Possession with Intent/Heroin; Poss. w/intent-marijuana; Poss. of Oxycodone; 3 counts of Failure to Affix a drug tax stamp; Poss. of a Firearm by a convicted felon; Interference w/Official Acts, and multiple driving citations. Hernandez was charged with Poss. of Meth/3rd or subsequent offense, and providing false information to law enforcement.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office extends thanks to the aforementioned agencies for their assistance in handling the incident.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she and her fellow Republicans in the House and Senate are about two-thirds of the way toward reaching a final agreement on a tax plan. The governor is raising concerns, though, about the Senate G-O-P’s idea to convert more than 800 local option sales taxes into one statewide tax. It’s a legal maneuver so lawmakers could use other state tax money to fill the empty Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Fund, but Reynolds says she’s concerned because the move would impose that one percent sales tax in 50 local jurisdictions where it’s not collected today.

“With inflation at a 40 year high we have to be really careful about raising taxes right now. I’m interested in lowering taxes,” Reynolds says. “Even though, potentially, it would be an overall tax reduction, we just need to take all of that into consideration as we sit down and start to work through that compromise.”

Reynolds made her comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S. The other sticking point in the G-O-P tax negotiations is whether to cut the corporate income tax. Reynolds has proposed a significant cut. Senate Republicans propose a cut, along with reductions in some tax credits corporations typically claim. House Republicans have passed a bill that solely focuses on reducing personal income taxes.

(Des Moines, IA) The Iowa Department of Public Health reports Abbott is initiating a proactive, voluntary recall of powder formulas, including Similac, Alimentum and EleCare manufactured in Sturgis, Mich., one of the company’s manufacturing facilities. The recall does not include any metabolic deficiency nutrition formulas.

Affected products are in circulation in Iowa retail locations and have been distributed through the Iowa Department of Public Health’s WIC program. If Iowans possess any of the affected products, it should not be fed to infants.

Abbott is voluntarily recalling these products after four consumer complaints related to Cronobacter sakazakii or Salmonella Newport in infants who had consumed powder infant formula manufactured in this facility.

• Recall is isolated to powder formulas, including Similac®, Alimentum ® and EleCare®, manufactured at the Sturgis, Mich., plant
• Recall does not include any metabolic deficiency nutrition formulas
• No Abbott liquid formulas or other Abbott nutrition powders and brands are impacted
• Parents or customers with impacted product should visit similacrecall.com or call: +1-800-986-8540

While Abbott’s testing of finished product detected no pathogens, they are taking action by recalling the powder formula manufactured in this facility with an expiration of April 1, 2022, or later. No Abbott liquid formulas, powder formulas, or nutrition products from other facilities are impacted by the recall.

Cronobacter sakazakii is commonly found in the environment and a variety of areas in the home. It can cause fever, poor feeding, excessive crying or low energy as well as other serious symptoms. It’s important to follow the instructions for proper preparation, handling and storage of powder formulas.

What Parents and Caregivers Should Do

The products under recall have a multidigit number on the bottom of the container starting with the first two digits 22 through 37, contains K8, SH, or Z2 and with an expiration date of April 1, 2022, or after.

To find out if the product you have is included in this recall, visit similacrecall.com and type in the code on the bottom of the package, or call +1-800-986-8540 (U.S.) and follow the instructions provided. No action is needed for previously consumed product. If your infant has recently consumed one of these products and is experiencing any of the above symptoms, contact your health care provider.

This is a rapidly evolving situation and IDPH will share more details for Iowa families as they are available.

Example: Review numbers on the bottom of product

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court declined to address a lawsuit filed by bar and tavern owners who were forced to close by a COVID public health disaster proclamation. The governor’s proclamation required bars in six counties to close on August 27th of 2020 due to rising cases of COVID. Six establishments in Polk and Dallas County sued — but were denied a temporary injunction against closing. The governor rescinded her order on September 15th and the district court dismissed the lawsuit.

The bars asked the Supreme Court to still rule on the case — saying it is a public importance exception. The Court declined — saying they are not persuaded that the Governor rescinded her order in response to this lawsuit. It says the issues are important — but many of the conditions during late summer of 2020 are unlikely to be replicated — and a decision would not prevent future clashes over different pandemic-related orders made under changed conditions.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State researcher is studying how singing can help those who have Parkinson’s disease. Elizabeth Stegemoller says Parkinson’s disease affects an area of the brain that controls movement and she’s trying to find out how music impacts its symptoms. “We haven’t looked at whether or not it is going to hold off the progression of symptoms — but we do see that their singing can help improve some of the symptoms,” she says.

Stegemoller is an associate professor of kinesiology, and a music therapist with a doctorate in neuroscience, She says the first music study found patients were helped with their breathing and the muscles used for swallowing. “This is important because aspiration pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in people with Parkinson’s disease — because of swallowing issues,” Stegemoller explains. “And so the breathing part is even important because you want that forceful cough to get rid of any particular foreign material if it does get into the lungs.”

Stegemoller says one study found other benefits as well. “They reported that they felt less stress, that they felt a better camaraderie and bonding between participants. And one lady even mentioned — well several mentioned that they moved better,” she says. One of the symptoms of Parkinson’s that is most noticeable are the tremors that cause movement and says another study found similar movement results. “Their walking and tremors and posture improved after singing,” Stegemoller says.

Stegemoller says the symptoms can vary greatly among patients, so she is not trying to come up with one singing plan for everyone. “My goal is to really understand the why behind it. You know, why is this working? Because I think music in itself is so individualized that it would be challenging to standardize just one treatment that works for everyone that involves music,” Stegemoller says. She says Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease behind Alzheimer’s.  “Iowa in particular it is actually more prevalent than one would think. We have one of the highest populations of people with Parkinson’s disease because of kind of our environment in particular. Our herbicides and pesticides have been linked to Parkinson’s disease,” Stegemoller says.

Stegemoller received a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to determine the underlying mechanisms by which singing helps improve symptoms of those with Parkinson’s disease.