(Radio Iowa) – Drought conditions continue to improve in the state. The latest U-S Drought Monitor shows most of the middle of the state has no drought conditions, which is about 64 percent — and is up from 57 percent last week. Less than four percent of the state has areas of moderate drought, including one county in northwest Iowa, six in the southeast, four in south-central, and two in eastern Iowa.

Around 36 percent of the state is abnormally dry, in sections along the eastern and western edges. Just 20 percent of the state had no drought conditions at the start of the year.

(Radio Iowa) – Another demonstration is planned this (Thursday) afternoon in Davenport, following a protest in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, after a West Liberty man was deported to Guatemala over the Fourth of July holiday. Members of the group Escucha Mi Voz, or Listen to My Voice, say 20-year-old Pascual Pedro Pedro was “unjustly deported by ICE without due process.” Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s aware of the case. “His advocates have been in contact with my office,” Grassley says. “I don’t know that he has been, and obviously we would need a privacy report, a statement from him, to get involved in his case.”

Today’s (1:30 PM) protest is planned outside the Davenport offices of Grassley, Senator Joni Ernst and Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Grassley, who’s in Washington D-C, did not say when he would meet with the group about Pedro Pedro’s case. “It’s been publicly reported that he was issued a lawful, expedited removal several years ago,” Grassley says. “That removal order was final and he since been staying in U.S. temporarily under certain conditions that I’m not sure that I can define.” Grassley says it’s the executive branch of government that carries out the nation’s immigration enforcement laws. “I’ll continue to pass along Iowans’ questions and concerns to the administration, if that’s what they want me to do,” Grassley says. “But I make law, I don’t enforce law. I can advocate for people, but I’ll have to go through the administrative branch of government.”

Wednesday’s protest was outside the Immigration Customs and Enforcement office in Cedar Rapids. Pedro Pedro reportedly had no criminal background and was swiftly deported, after spending the past seven years in eastern Iowa. Alejandra Escobar, with the nonprofit Escucha Mi Voz, spoke during the rally. “What happened in this office, we still don’t know the details, but we do know some things,” Escobar says. “One, is that Pascual was denied due process, a process that every single person deserves.” Escobar says Pedro Pedro was detained at an annual check-in at the Cedar Rapids ICE office and deported days later. His family found out when he called them from Guatemala City.

“Bring Pascual back now, where he belongs, in his community, in his church, with his family at home in West Liberty. Yes! Yes!” Pedro Pedro’s lawyer says when he entered the country at 13 years old, he was given an order for supervision that allowed him to stay, but ICE officers removed that order last week when they detained him.

(Additional reporting by James Kelley, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – The Army will be shutting down Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs at the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Dubuque and Buena Vista University. The University of Northern Iowa’s ROTC detachment was established in 1981. The University of Dubuque’s military program dates back to 1918 when the campus hosted the Students’ Army Training Corps. The University of Dubuque’s ROTC program was previously closed down in 1991, but reactivated in 2004.

Buena Vista University’s ROTC program has operated for the past 15 years. The Army’s plan will reorganize or shut down ROTC programs on 84 college campuses around the country and is part of a broader effort to streamline Pentagon operations.

The commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command says the moves will rebalance the Army’s requirements for officer commissioning, while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – As mentioned in our previous report, the Atlantic School Board, Wednesday, approved 2025-26 Employment Contracts. School Finance Director Lisa Jones reminded the Board they had already approved the Certified Staff Contracts, and the District settled with the Classified Staff Union, Tuesday night, and those rates are set. Other positions in the District are not covered under a Union Contract, so they are recommended for approval by Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen. The overall cost to the District, Jones said, is roughly $418,00 for all contracts, including FICA, IPERS and salaries. It does not include insurance.

Contracts for those who are not teachers were expected to go out to staff today (Thursday). The cost of insurance for the District increased by more than one-third over last year.

Switching health insurance providers, she said saved the district around $100,000 this year.

The numbers, she said, bear-out the reason for the change in insurance companies.

The District, Jones said, will have to reassess its costs and contribution next year.

Atlantic High School

In other business, the Atlantic School Board, Wednesday, passed a resolution authorizing bids for the High School roof project. Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen…

(Radio Iowa) – The Axiom 4 spacecraft carrying Iowa native astronaut Peggy Whitson and three crewmates is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station as soon as today (Thursday) to make the flight home, with splashdown planned in the Pacific Ocean. During an Axiom Space interview earlier this week, the 65-year-old Whitson said her team has made excellent progress on some 60 experiments during the two-week research mission on the orbiting laboratory. “One of Shux’s (Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla) experiments is growing microalgae, and they can be used in potentially future space missions as a food supplement, got lots of nutrients and things in it,” Whitson says. “And speaking of food, Tibor (Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu) is also growing radishes, and he’s doing a great job with the radishes and the miniature wheat.”

Whitson says she’s been particularly focused on advancing a breast cancer study nicknamed CLEO, a project she started during her first Axiom mission in May of 2023. “We’re continuing on the Cancer in Low Earth Orbit study,” she says, “where we’re growing cancer cells and treating them with two different types of drugs to see if they will be more effective at affecting and stopping the replication of the cancer cells.” The American Cancer Society estimates more than 300-thousand new breast cancer cases will be diagnosed nationwide this year, and the risks are one-in-eight that the average American woman will develop breast cancer.

Whitson says the cancer research they’re doing on this mission is promising. “We had previously, on Axiom 2 and 3, some very interesting results, and so this time it’s actual breast tissue from a subject on the ground that we’re testing the drugs against,” Whitson says, “so I’m very excited about those research results.” Whitson, who grew up on a farm near Beaconsfield, is completing her second mission to the orbiting station with Axiom Space, following three NASA missions. She retired from the agency in 2018.

Considered the United States’ most experienced astronaut, Whitson has now spent some 690 days in space, more than any other American.

(Greenfield, Iowa)…

THURSDAY, JULY 10 (Harlan, Iowa) 
6:30 – 8:00 a.m………….Enter & Weigh 4-H/FFA Beef Cows/Calves, Feeder Calves, Dairy Cows in Production, & Bottle/Bucket Calves – All livestock is to unload at dock and be inspected by a                                        Veterinarian.
8:00 a.m…………………..Poultry Exhibitors’ Meeting
8:30 a.m…………………..Judge 4-H/FFA Poultry (tent)
8:30 a.m…………………..Judge Open Class Non-Livestock Departments (if not judging Weds.)
8:30 a.m…………………..Enter 4-H/FFA Cats & Small Pets (cement pad North of Morgan Hall)
8:45 a.m…………………..Cat and Small Pet Exhibitors’ Meeting
9:00 a.m…………………..Judge 4-H/FFA Cats & Small Pets
9:00-9:30 a.m……………Enter Bottle Animals – Unload at dock and be inspected by a Veterinarian.
9:30 a.m…………………..Judge 4-H/FFA Feeder Calves, Beef Cow/Calves, Breeding Beef, and Dairy Cattle
10:00 a.m…………………Pie & Muffin Baking (check Green Book for your scheduled time.)
10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m….Little Hands on the Farm & Livestock Babies Barn Exhibits Open
12:30 p.m…………………Bottle/Bucket Calf and Bottle/Bucket Calf Plus One Exhibitors’ Meeting
1:00 p.m…………………..Judge 4-H/FFA/Clover Kids Bottle Bucket Calf Show
2:30 p.m…………………..Open Class Bottle Show
3:00-5:00 p.m……………Little Hands on the Farm & Livestock Babies Barn Exhibits Open
4:00 p.m…………………..Carnival Opens
6:00 p.m…………………..Shelby County Fair Parade – ‘”Shelby County Fair, How Sweet It Is!’
7:00-7:30 p.m……………Strolling Act – ‘Farmer Phil’
7:30-9:00 p.m……………Little Hands on the Farm & Livestock Babies Barn Exhibits Open
8:00-8:30 p.m……………Strolling Act – ‘Farmer Phil’
8:00 p.m…………………..Show Ring: Crowning of 2025 Shelby County Fair Queen and Hall of Fame Awards
9:00-9:30 p.m…………..Strolling Act – ‘Farmer Phil’

4-H & Open Class Buildings open following judging to 10:00 p.m.
Nishna Valley Model Railroad Building open from 4:00 – 9:00 p.m.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two people were arrested on separate charges, Wednesday. Creston Police Officers arrested 35-year-old Walter Ivan Malacara, of Lenox, at around 11:35-a.m.. He was charged at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, with Failure to Appear (in court). Malacara was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,000 cash-only bond.

And, at around 6-p.m. Wednesday, Creston Police arrested 42-year-old Heather Marie Davis, of Lorimor. Davis was charged with: Failure to Comply with Conditions for Pretrial Release; Providing False Identification Information, and Harassment in the 1st Degree. She was transported to the Clarke County Jail and held without bond until making an initial court appearance.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department says no injuries were reported following a collision Wednesday evening on Townline Street. Authorities say a 2016 Chevy Equinox (SUV) driven by 40-year-old Erin Miller, of Creston, was stopped at the intersection of Townline and Cherry Streets, waiting on traffic, when the vehicle was rear-ended by a 2015 Nissan Altima. Police said the driver of the car, 24-year-old Kayla Bendt, of Creston, didn’t notice the SUV was stopped, before her vehicle hit the Chevy. The accident happened at around 7:20-p.m.

Damage from the collision amounted to a police-estimated $4,500. No citations were issued according to the police report.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Roads Department reports some changes to the timeline for a couple of projects:

• The project completion date for 208th Street (between Magnolia and Pinoak Roads), has been postponed to to 4-p.m. Friday, July 11th. The road is closed to thru traffic due to construction on a crossroad pipe.
• The project completion date for 525th Street is extended to 5-p.m. July 18th, due to the weather. 525th Street is closed to thru traffic from Pioneer Trail (G-66) north to Beechnut Road, due to a crossroad pipe replacement.