Officials with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship report an insect that kills ash trees has been confirmed for the first time, in Audubon and Guthrie Counties. Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) larvae were collected from infested trees in rural Exira and Casey. The invasive, tree-killing pest has been found in 71 Iowa counties since 2010. EAB is a small, metallic-green beetle that attacks and kills ash tree species. In its larval stage, EAB bores beneath the bark disrupting the movement of water and nutrients within the tree.  Infested trees typically die within two to four years.

Ash trees infested with EAB might include canopy thinning, woodpecker damage, water sprouts from the trunk or main branches, serpentine (“S”-shaped)  galleries under the bark, vertical bark splitting and 1/8-inch D-shaped exit holes. Mike Kintner, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship EAB coordinator, says “Woodpeckers like to eat EAB larvae beneath the bark of ash trees. Despite it being winter, woodpecker damage is an indicator EAB may be lurking in a tree.” The adult beetle can spread naturally by flying short distances to area host trees; however, the more threatening long-distance spread is by human-assisted movement. Beneath the bark, larvae can unknowingly be transported in infested wood products such as firewood. People are encouraged to use locally-sourced firewood where they are going to burn it.

The entire state of Iowa is under quarantine for EAB. A federal quarantine, enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prohibits the movement of regulated articles such as living and dead material from ash trees and all hardwood firewood out of Iowa into non-quarantined areas of other states. At this calendar date, the window for all preventive treatments is closed. If a landowner is interested in protecting a valuable and healthy ash tree within 15 miles of a known infestation, he or she should have landscape and tree service companies bid on work, review the bids this winter and begin treating in spring 2020 (early April to mid-May).

To learn more about EAB and to view known locations in Iowa, please visit http://www.iowatreepests.com.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office says two people, including a juvenile, were injured during a single-vehicle accident Wednesday night, about two-miles southwest of Clarinda. Authorities report 19-year old Austin Tyler Laythe, of Villisca, was driving a 2006 Ford Ranger westbound in the 2700 block of 230th Street at around 9:15-p.m., when his pickup lost traction on the slush / snow covered roadway.

Laythe over corrected while trying to regain control of the vehicle, but it entered the north ditch and struck a fence post in the ditch before rolling onto it’s side coming to rest. Laythe and a juvenile female passenger were transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center by Clarinda Ambulance service for treatment of unknown injuries. Damage to the Ford Ranger was estimated at $8,000. No charges have been filed.

(Radio Iowa) — The forecast calls for plenty of snow to fly over the next few days, but thousands of Iowans will be thinking of sunny, summer days ahead as they attend one of the biggest one-day bicycling shows in the  “You’re going to see bikes, gear, destinations and events,” Wyatt says. “Really, people come there shopping for their summer. If you want to check out what the latest trail is, if you want to check out what the bike shops have as far as new gear to offer, this is the event for you.”

If you’re shopping for a new bike, whether it’s a traditional two-wheel road bike, recumbent, tandem or electric, Wyatt says there will easily be hundreds of options. “There’s a bike demo area,” Wyatt says. “We’ve got four or five vendors who will let you take a bike over and give it a short ride, right in front of the events center on the floor, so that’ll be pretty cool.”

There will be educational seminars to help riders get in touch with bike advocacy, a legal workshop, and new product launches at the event. While Iowa has hundreds of miles of paved trails, the expo features representatives from a host of “destination” bike rides in other states, including Minnesota and Kentucky. “There’s a lot of interest in the Iowa bicycling community,” Wyatt says. “Certainly, they see it as economic development that they can import to their states. We know that we’ve got to continue to develop that economic impact on bicycling here in Iowa.”

The Iowa Bike Expo is free and runs Saturday from 10 AM to 4:30 PM at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.
More info. at https://iowabikeexpo.com/

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(Radio Iowa) — A new report from the Iowa Association of Realtors shows the state’s real estate market wrapped up 2019 with sales up — and prices up — compared to the year before. Association president Scott Wendl, a realtor in Clive, says more than 42-thousand-200 homes were sold statewide last year. That’s up about 500 homes from the previous year. “Home sales were up a little bit, actually 1.2%,” Wendl says, “and the nice byproduct of that also is the actual sales price went up almost 5%.”

The median home sales price last year was 168-thousand-500 dollars compared to about eight-thousand dollars lower in 2018. “One nice thing about the state of Iowa is, we are still one of the most affordable areas in the United States to purchase a home,” Wendl says. “A lot of that is just the cost of living is lower which reflects to a better median sales price compared to some of the other markets around the country.” The median sale price for single-family homes was higher each month in 2019 when compared to the same month in 2018. “With the interest rates still low, it is still driving prices up a little bit,” Wendl says. “Inventory is a little bit tight, especially in the first-time buyer price range. If you’re looking in the upper price range, inventory is a lot better. There’s more to choose from.”

Houses sold quickly in 2019 with an average of 63 days on the market. That’s two days faster than in 2018. Wendl, in his 24th year as a realtor, is optimistic looking ahead into 2020. “I’ve got a positive feeling about it. I know there’s rumors of a recession, but indications for housing isn’t really pointed towards that,” Wendl says. “With the election year, interest rates are predicted to stay relatively flat, where they are right now.”

New construction rose during 2019 and it’s expected to continue rising into 2020, although many experts say new homes aren’t being built quickly enough to meet demand. The year is starting out with brisk sales as he says realtors he’s talked with are experiencing a much busier January than is typical.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) – A board of supervisors in southeast Iowa has voted to forgo pay raises in the next budget year, citing budget constraints. The Fort Madison Daily Democrat reports that the Lee County supervisors voted Tuesday to pass on the 3% pay increase recommended by the county compensation board or accept the 2% hike that was included in the preliminary 2020-21 budget. Board Chairman Ron Fedler says he’d like the money to go to Lee County’s five libraries, adding that libraries benefit everyone. Directors of the five public libraries asked supervisors for an additional $10,000 in county funding at the board’s Jan. 14 meeting. The five libraries got $2,000 each from the county in the last budget.

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Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety said today (Thursday), that on Jan. 12th at around 3-p.m., the Marion County Sheriff’s Office requested the assistance of the State Fire Marshal Division to investigate suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs) recovered from a fatal single-truck crash which occurred east of Knoxville around 12:04-a.m. that same day. Following an autopsy, the State Medical Examiner and Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory identified the driver in the crash as Del Sorey of Arnolds Park, Iowa. Sorey was the only person in the vehicle. The truck Sorey was driving caught fire, and much of it and its contents were destroyed.

Search warrants related to the IED’s were served on Wednesday January 15th at three addresses in Milford and Arnolds Park, Iowa, in Dickinson County. The case remains under investigation.

Agencies involved in the ongoing investigation include the State Fire Marshal Division, Iowa State Patrol, Division of Criminal Investigation, Division of Intelligence, Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, Milford Police Department, Arnolds Park Police Department, Okoboji Police Department, Local Drug Task Force, the Des Moines and Sioux City Offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Omaha Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports two separate accidents took place Wednesday, but there were no injuries. The first accident happened at around 9:48-a.m. on Highway 34. Authorities say 22-year old Kendra Mykkel Top, of Villisca, was driving a 2008 Ford Escape, when the SUV went out of control and entered the north ditch, before striking several trees. Damage from the crash amounted to $8,000. No citations were issued, due to the road conditions at the time.

And, at around 4-p.m., a two-vehicle, property-damage accident happened near the intersection of 1st Avenue and 4th Street, in Villisca. Officials say a 1997 Ford snowplow owned by the City of Villisca – and driven by 45-year old Donald Lee Sexton, of Villisca – was traveling west on 4th Street, when the blade caught the pavement and forced the vehicle left-of-center. The plow struck a 2012 Ford F-250 pickup, which was eastbound on 4th. The plow sustained no damage, but the pickup – driven by 35-year old Aaron WIlliam Focht, of Villisca, sustained $7,000 damage. No citations were issued.

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) – A man has been found guilty of setting a fire that injured two people at his eastern Iowa home. A jury convicted 45-year-old Shane Heins on Wednesday of arson and two counts of attempted murder. He’d pleaded guilty June 16 to misdemeanor domestic abuse assault, second offense. The online court records don’t list a sentencing date. Investigators say Heins set the fire March 2 last year in Independence in an effort to kill his wife, Christina Heins, and her uncle, Nick Necker. Both were taken for treatment to University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City.