(Radio Iowa) – The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying Iowa native Peggy Whitson and her three-member crew is now making the slow descent toward Earth after an 18-day mission aboard the International Space Station. During a farewell ceremony on Sunday, Whitson expressed her appreciation to the seven astronauts who are remaining aboard the orbiting laboratory for their hospitality during the past few weeks.

“We really enjoyed ourselves up here. It was an amazing experience,” Whitson says. “It’s always great to work with a bunch of professionals, which you are, but it’s even more special to work with folks that have become our friends even more deeply.” The 65-year-old Whitson, who grew up on a farm near Beaconsfield, is wrapping up her fifth mission to the ISS, and became emotional saying goodbye to everyone as they gathered around the Dragon’s hatch.

Hugs all around as the Ax-4 crew prepares to leave the ISS. (Axiom Space image)

“We really appreciate the fact that the camaraderie and the teaching that you guys offered to some of the crew was really exceptional,” Whitson says, “and we thank you.” Whitson and her Axiom Space crewmates from Hungary, India and Poland completed some 60 experiments and demonstrations while aloft.

Their spacecraft undocked from the station early this morning and is scheduled for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean about 4:30/Central on Tuesday morning. Whitson is America’s most experienced astronaut and by the end of this mission, she’ll have spent almost 700 days in space, nearly two years of her life.

Atlantic, IA – The July session of “Healthy U” in Atlantic will be presented by Family Medicine Physician Dr. Jill Pollpeter on Thursday, July 17 at noon in Conference Room 2.  Dr. Pollpeter will be presenting on Urinary Tract Infections in Older Women. She will talk about symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, as well as additional information that’s important for older women to know.

Dr. Pollpeter is a board-certified family medicine physician who joined Cass Health in the fall of 2024. Dr. Pollpeter received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Creighton University in May 2017, and her Doctorate of Medicine from Creighton University in May of 2021. She then went on to complete her Family Medicine Residency at Unity Point Health Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines in June of 2024.

Dr. Jill Pollpeter

Dr. Pollpeter provides the full scope of family medicine care, and her special interests include women’s health, procedures, and preventative medicine, with her main goal being to treat each patient as an individual and provide the care that will help them reach their health-related goals.

Space is limited! A free boxed lunch is provided for all attendees, so reservations are required. Call 712-243-7479 to reserve your seat. For more information about Healthy U, visit casshealth.org/healthyu.

(Radio Iowa) – Thousands of bicyclists will be pedalling through the state next week on RAGBRAI — the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa — and many organizations in towns along the route are planning fundraisers. The Estherville Lincoln Central School District will be the main camping site for cyclists next Monday night and while Superintendent Andy Armstead says the football field is off limits, other green spaces are open for camping. “RAGBRAI’s official trailers and such will be set up in our parking lots,” he says. “Different groups in the athletic department are going to sell showers since the campgrounds are right there, so that’s awesome.” The district’s “After Prom Committee” has plans, too.

“The ‘After Prom’ has like four locations, I believe. They’re going to be making breakfast the next morning as the riders get ready to and stuff, so one of them will be right here at the central office, so that’ll be kind of cool.” The first pass through town for RAGBRAI riders on Tuesday, July 22nd, will be Armstrong. North Union Elementary Principal Katie Black says several of the district’s teachers will be selling chicken protein bowls — and each of them has a wish list of supplies they plan to buy with the profits.

The teachers partnered with the school’s head cook, who’s also a caterer and has a way to order the ingredients in bulk. Last year, a RAGBRAI fundraiser in Greenfield netted 50-thousand dollars for tornado relief efforts. This year’s RAGBRAI starts in Orange City on Sunday, with overnight stops in Milford, Estherville, Forest City, Iowa Falls, Cedar Falls and Oelwein. It ends on Saturday, July 26th in Guttenberg.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – An Iowa hospital nurse accused of “incompetent or unsafe nursing practices” has agreed to surrender her license. The Iowa Board of Nursing recently charged 64-year-old Loreen Benton,  of Guthrie Center, with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient, and failing to assess or evaluate a patient as required. According to the board, between March 2023 and February 2024, while Benton was employed at Guthrie County Hospital, she “displayed a pattern of repeated medication errors, documentation omissions, unprofessional workplace conduct, and poor performance.”

The board also alleges she was responsible for “numerous incidents related to incompetent or unsafe nursing practices that could have resulted in patient harm” and which were documented by the hospital. Without admitting any wrongdoing, Benton agreed to refrain from contesting the charges and also agreed to voluntarily surrender her license. According to her agreement with the board, Benton will be eligible to apply for reinstatement in one year upon a showing that the basis for the “revocation” of her license no longer exists and that it’s in the public interest for the license to be reinstated.

Other Iowa nurses recently charged or sanctioned by the board include:

— Registered nurse Chris Armstrong-Barger, 50, was recently charged by the board with misappropriating medications of a patient or an agency. The board agreed to settle the case by issuing Armstrong-Barger a warning, placing her license on probation for two years, and requiring her to submit to a substance-abuse evaluation.

— Licensed practical nurse Payton Hanni, 24, who was recently charged by the board with violating patient privacy laws. The board agreed to settle the disciplinary case by issuing Hanni a citation and warning and requiring her to complete 30 hours of continuing-education training on patient-privacy laws.

— Registered nurse Kelsey Ludwig, 33, of Norwalk, who was recently charged by the board with violating patient privacy laws. The board, which has not disclosed where Ludwig worked at the time of the alleged incident, agreed to settle the disciplinary case by requiring Ludwig to complete 30 hours of continuing-education training on documentation. The settlement agreement calls for no warning, citation or other sanctions to be imposed.

— Registered nurse Emily Mellott, who was recently charged by the board with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient and with failing to assess or evaluate a patient. The board agreed to settle the disciplinary case by issuing Mellott a citation and warning and requiring her to complete 30 hours of continuing-education training on documentation.

— Advanced registered nurse practitioner Daniel Bench of Ankeny. Although the board’s allegations aren’t clearly stated in the charging documents, they indicate that at some unspecified time in the past, while working in an assisted-living facility, Bench failed to complete a full review of a patient’s prescriptive history prior to doing something that involved a controlled substance called Vyvanse. To resolve the case, the board agreed to issue Bench a citation and warning and ordered him to complete additional training on ethics, documentation and prescribing controlled substances. State records indicate that in 2023, Bench was working at UnityPoint Health and CommonSpirit Health.

(Radio Iowa) – Revenue at the state-licensed casinos dropped slightly in the fiscal year that ended on June 30th. Racing and Gaming Administrator Tina Eick. “Year over year we. we were down two-point-six percent (2.6%),”Eick says. Gross revenue for the 19 casinos was off just under 45million dollars, to around one-point-six BILLION dollars (1,678,703,169). Eick says there aren’t any red flags in the numbers. “Most of the facilities were down a little bit. We saw one or two facilities that were slightly up. So that was a good sign,” she says.

The Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington, Diamond Jo Worth in Northwood, the Isle Casinos in Waterloo and Bettendorf, and Q Casino in Dubuque each saw slight increases in revenue for the fiscal year. Eick says the overall revenue drop was not unexpected. “We’re coming off of a couple of record-breaking years of high earnings subsequent to COVID and so sustaining that going forward was not something that was going to be realistic,” she says.

Eick made her comments Friday following the Racing and Gaming Commission meeting.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A man charged in a fatal Pottawattamie County UTV accident has entered a written plea of guilty to a charge of Homicide by Vehicle-Reckless Driving. Court records show 85-year-old Gene Fritz, of Oakland, will be sentenced August 14th in connection with the Dec. 26, 2024 death in Oakland, of 83-year-old Sandra Madron.

Fritz was heading home and as he often did, drove his UTV on the sidewalk, due to vision issues. Fritz did not have a valid driver’s license, and the UTV he was riding was not registered for roadway use.

He had previously stated he didn’t see Sandra Madron, and that she “must have been wearing dark clothing.” First responders found Madron laying on her side after she was struck. She later died at a hospital in Council Bluffs.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports five people were arrested over the past week. Two arrests took place Saturday:

• 48-year-old Travis Quinn Wambold of Creston, was arrested by Sheriff’s Deputies at around 12:15-a.m. in Bridgewater, on a Union County arrest warrant for Criminal Mischief in the 2^nd Degree. He was transported directly to meet with Union County deputies from the location of his arrest.
• 30-year-old Cody Alan Brommel, of Stuart, was arrested by Greenfield Police at around 10:15-p.m. Saturday in Greenfield, for Harassment in the 3rd Degree (A Simple Misdemeanor). Brommel was released later that night on a $300 bond.

Friday afternoon, Police in Adair arrested 33-year-old Taylor Jay Edelman, of Adair, for Harassment in the 1st Degree, and Disorderly Conduct-obstructing a highway or road with speed restrictions, following an incident in front of the Adair Fire Station. Edelman was released on a $5,000 bond.

Early Wednesday morning, following a traffic stop, Stuart Police arrested 73-year-old Sharon Ann Krstich, of Clearfield, UT, for OWI/1st offense, Possession of Marijuana/1st offense, and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia. The woman was released later that day on a $1,000 bond. And, at around 6:40-p.m. on July 7th, Adair County Deputies arrested 34-year-old Britney Marie Wilson, of Orient, in Orient, on charges that include Domestic Assault with Bodily Injury/1st offense, and Assault with Bodily Injury. Wilson was later released on her Own Recognizance.

(Radio Iowa) – A Republican from Humboldt has announced he’s running for Iowa’s fourth district seat in the U-S House. Thirty-two-year-old Kyle Larsen is a third generation farmer making his first run for public office. Larsen, who also works as a land appraiser, says he’s running because the rural way of life is being threatened by Washington elites and he says career politicians are focused on the next election rather than what’s best for the country. Larson says he would focus attention on the Farm Bill, trade, eliminating harmful death and estate taxes and combating ill-informed activists and social media influencers. Larson earned a degree in animal science from Iowa State University and has been president of the Humboldt County Farm Bureau board.

Two other Republicans have announced they’re running for their party’s nomination in the fourth congressional district. Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley is Majority Leader in the Iowa House. Chris McGowan is president of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce. Republican Randy Feenstra, who is currently representing Iowa’s fourth congressional district, is running for governor.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A man and woman on a motorcycle were injured Saturday afternoon during a collision with an SUV, north of Panora. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, the SUV, drive by 40-year-old Sarah Ann Hefel, of North Liberty, was traveling north on Highway 4 a little after 12-p.m., and slowed to turn west onto 180th Street. Witnesses confirmed the vehicle’s turn signals were on prior to making the turn. When she began to slow, Hefel’s SUV was struck from behind by a Harley Davidson motorcycle, operated by 63-year-old Dana Scott Rutherford, of Bagley.

Rutherford suffered suspected serious/incapacitating injuries, and was transported by Lifeflight helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. A passenger on the motorcycle, 70-year-old Lynn Rutherford, of Bagley, was also seriously hurt. She was transported by Mercy Air to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Sarah Hefel was not injured in the collision. Damage from the accident amounted to $20,000.

And, the teenage driver of a pickup truck suffered suspected minor/non-incapacitating injuries during a rollover accident late Friday morning in Guthrie County. The Sheriff’s Office says a 15-year-old female was traveling west on Highway 44, about one-quarter of a mile west of A Avenue at around 11:58-a.m., when, according to the report, she found a tick on her body, and became distracted. The 2007 Chevy Silverado pickup she was driving crossed the center line of the road, into the eastbound lane, before it entered the south (eastbound ditch). The teen over-corrected, causing the vehicle to cross both lanes of traffic and enter the north (Westbound) ditch, where it rolled over and came to rest in a field of standing corn.

The teen suffered minor injuries caused by her seat belt, but declined medical treatment. The pickup sustained $5,000 damage. Damage to the corn was estimated at $100.

(Creston, Iowa) –  The Creston Police Department reports four arrests occurred over the past week. Three arrests took place on Friday (July 11):

• 41-year-old Carlos Rafael Rivera, of Creston, was arrested at his residence at around 9:30-a.m., Friday, on a warrant for original charges that include: OWI/1st offense; Possession of a Controlled Substance (PCS)/1st offense, and PCS/Marijuana-1st offense. Rivera was being held in the Union County Jail on a $3,000 cash-only bond.
• 19-year-old Michael Joseph Cooley, of Afton, was arrested at around 11:30-a.m. Friday, on a warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order. Cooley was being held in the Union County Jail until seen by a judge.
• And, 42-year-old Nicki Renee Jones, of Creston, was arrested her home at around 6-p.m., Friday, on a charge of Theft in the 3rd Degree. She was released with a citation, and a Promise to Appear in court.

Creston Police said also, 42-year-old Rebekah Ann Baker, of Waukee, was arrested July 9th, for OWI/1st offense. Baker later posted bond, and was released from the Union County Jail.