(Radio Iowa) – With the 4th of July weekend just ahead, many Iowans will be declaring their independence from the pandemic by taking vacations for the first time in many months. Meredith Mitts, spokeswoman for Triple-A Iowa, says people are packing up for road trips and jaunts via airplane. Nationwide, more than 47-point-7 million Americans are projected to be plotting getaways between July 1st and 5th. “That means that we are nearly recovered from the pandemic levels,” Mitts says. “This is the second-highest Independence Day travel volume we have on record, trailing only behind 2019 with just 2.5% fewer Americans traveling this year compared to 2019.”

The travel predictions for the upcoming holiday represent an increase of nearly 40-percent compared to last year, what Mitts says is a remarkable figure. “Some of it is just pandemic fatigue and staying home is really getting to people,” Mitts says. “The summer is nice. People are wanting to get back out. Part of it is just that desire to go see people and be able to see things again. It’s been a long time since many people have traveled.”

While all modes of travel will see increased demand this Independence Day, road trips will dominate this summer. Despite the highest gas prices in seven years, Triple-A projects more than 91-percent of holiday travel will be by car. Gasoline prices in Iowa are now averaging two-89 a gallon, a significant hike from two-oh-five a year ago. “So, quite a big difference between 2021 and 2020, but that’s to be expected as there weren’t people traveling last year, there wasn’t this demand,” Mitts says. “We’re back to basically the pre-pandemic levels. We always see an increase around a holiday weekend and during the summer as people are taking to the roads.”

Iowa’s cheapest gas is in Council Bluffs at two-85 a gallon, while it’s most expensive in Dubuque at two-96. The national average is three-oh-seven.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has released its report on clergy sex abuse within the Catholic Church. Attorney General spokesperson, Lynn Hicks, says the office started gathering information in 2018, and examined the records of 70 priests and 50 complaints. The statute of limitations has expired for all the cases reviewed. “Despite the fact that they fall outside the statute of limitations — we still think this was a good thing,” Hicks says. Hicks says the process led to 17 people who had never before reported allegations coming forward. “We think it was valuable even in that respect to allow people to come forward and tell their story,” Hicks says. “In many cases they were able to talk to a crime victims advocate in our office and we could offer them resources to see what they wanted to do going forward.”

The report also indicates that the four Catholic Diocese in Iowa have taken steps to address the issue. “Since 2002 — that’s when the U-S Conference of Bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children — there’s been very few, only about five reports since then involving Iowa priests,” Hicks says. “We note in our report that the diocese has become more responsive to victims and now reports all accusations to law enforcement authorities.” He says the changes put in place on give victims a chance to be heard. He says some of the diocese continue to get complaints and continue to investigate. “And we encourage people to come forward — even if a priest is no longer active, is deceased. We think that all of this is a good process and we hope brings healing to the victims,” Hicks says.

Hicks says they hope that victims will now know they will be heard. “We did hear that from some of the victims who came forward to us and said they felt they couldn’t come forward. They couldn’t trust the process,” he says. The four Catholic Bishops released a statement says the Attorney General’s review of cases will be studied for suggestions on how the efforts of the Catholic Church might be improved. It says the “Catholic Church is committed to do all that is humanly possible to protect minors from the sin and crime of clergy sexual abuse, and to promote healing.” The Catholic bishops of Iowa are Bishop Thomas Zinkula of Davenport, Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines, Archbishop Michael Jackels of Dubuque, and Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City.

A traffic stop at around 5-p.m. Wednesday in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a man from Stanton. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 19-year-old Lucas Swanson was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and recorded a .125 Blood Alcohol Test. Swanson was held on $1,000 bond and cited for Possession of alcohol by a person under the legal age.