(Radio Iowa) – Carbon monoxide poisoning is usually associated with fall and starting up the furnace, but Iowans need to be aware that the colorless, odorless gas can be equally as lethal during the summer months — including while staying in a rental cabin or even while boating. Dr. Benjamin Orozco, an emergency physician at Emplify Health by Gundersen, says people need to know the causes and the risks.

Dr. Benjamin Orozco (Gundersen photo)

“When you start working on your lawn equipment for the spring, if you’re running a small engine inside a garage or in an enclosed space, that’s a common cause of carbon monoxide poisoning,” Orozco says. “If you’re pressure washing indoors with a gas-powered pressure washer, these are real problems.”

Carbon monoxide poisoning can also strike water skiers and anyone else being towed on the water, though it’s more rare.

“Even outdoors, right behind a boat, if the wind is right and you’re just breathing in that boat exhaust at a close distance, maybe wakeboarding or water skiing where you’re right behind it,” Orozco says. “If you’re getting a headache, you’re getting nauseous, you’re not feeling right, it has actually caused significant carbon monoxide poisoning in people in close proximity to motor sports.”

Many Iowans have plans for summer vacations and he suggests you consider packing a combination CO and smoke detector — with fresh batteries — to take along on the trip.

“When you’re in vacation rentals, sometimes the owners aren’t on top of changing those smoke alarms, and sometimes the equipment in there is getting used by various people at different times,” Orozco says. “There have been poisonings of families who are in vacation rentals, so I actually travel with a small carbon monoxide detector to keep my family safe.”

Emplify Health by Gundersen has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department say no injuries were reported following a collision that occurred at around 2-p.m. Tuesday, near the MATURA building at 212 N. Maple Street. Authorities say a car driven by 87-year-old Darlene Blazek, of Creston, was traveling southbound, and had pulled to the west side of the road in the marked parking area. Blazek thought she put her car into “park,” but it began backing up.

Police say Blazek failed to apply the brakes, and instead accelerated her vehicle in reverse before it struck a legally parked and unoccupied SUV. Authorities said in their report, she appeared to be very confused, and did not know how the accident happened.

Damage from the collision amounted to a police-estimated $3,500 altogether. No citations were issued.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – This week’s Produce in the Park (in the downtown Atlantic City Park), is being celebrated as “Beef Night.” The event takes place on Thursday, June 19th from 4:30-to 6:30-p.m.  This week’s farmers market features cow-themed fun for the whole family. Kids and adults alike will enjoy meeting baby calves and saying hello to Cass County Beef Royalty. Kids can get creative with a free cow-themed craft from Your Forte, and local beef vendor Noble Provisions will be grilling burgers for dinner. Market guests will enjoy free live performances by Dance Atlantic and sample guest chef Sloppy Joe recipes.

Two food trucks will be serving up dinner in the park June 19. In addition to Noble Provisions selling burgers, Hungry Spartan will be offering pizza.

The June 19 market includes more than 20 vendors offering farm-fresh produce like leafy greens, cucumbers, radishes, snap peas, and kohlrabi, along with local meats including beef products such as beef sticks, dried beef, and ribeyes, as well as pork, lamb, and chicken. Shoppers will find farm-fresh eggs, as well as baked goods and desserts like sourdough, Danish kringle, cinnamon rolls, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, cotton candy, bagels, and gluten-free options.

Cows and calf at Hoopy Hallow Ranch.

Beyond food, visitors will find handmade crafts, bath and body products, garden gifts, and home décor. Visiting organizations and sponsors sharing community information at the park June 19 include Cass County Tourism, Cass Health, Healthy Cass County, and the Atlantic Public Library.

Beef Night at Produce in the Park is made possible by support from June market sponsors Atlantic United Church of Christ, City of Atlantic, First Whitney Bank & Trust, Gregg Young Chevrolet of Atlantic, Cass Health, Cass County Tourism, Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, and Nishna Valley Family YMCA. Produce in the Park is held every Thursday evening in the Atlantic City Park from 4:30–6:30 PM through September. All are welcome, and admission is free. The market accepts SNAP/EBT and Double Up Food Bucks for all qualifying food items.

For the latest market updates, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark and Instagram at www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports 36-year-old Brandon Lee Gugenhan, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 8:30-p.m. Tuesday. He was arrested for Violation of a No Contact Order (A Simple Misdemeanor), and transported to the Montgomery County Jail. Gugehan was being held without bond, pending a court appearance.

(Radio Iowa) – County auditors are raising concerns about proposed rules from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office that would require the same training for every part-timer and volunteer who works on Election Day. Jenny Hillary is deputy commissioner of elections in the Dubuque County Auditor’s Office.

“There’s a lot of election personnel at the elections and all of the required training might not be necessary for people who are just picking up election night results or dropping something off on election morning,” she says. Election workers who open absentee ballots are trained on the rules for early voting and election workers at each precinct who screen voters and hand out ballots are trained about Election Day voting rules.

“And our election staff who are just picking up results to get back to the courthouse so we can timely get them uploaded to the state, so the public can see, probably don’t need all of the voter check-in process,” Hillary says. Eric Gookin, legal counsel for the Secretary of State’s office, says he and others on staff are reviewing those concerns. “Part of the trick is that the (Iowa) Code language says, is pretty flat about anybody who works in a polling place on Election Day,” he says, “and so we’re really looking at that to see if we can further define that down to address some of those issues.”

The proposed guidelines for training of what Gookin calls “precinct election workers” or P-E-Os were discussed this week during a meeting of the legislative panel that reviews all the rules state agencies develop. “The list of training requirements, the topics we chose were those that we already do heavily training on, both us and the counties, as sort of a baseline starting point, so that way everybody — all PEOs across the state are getting a similar baseline training,” Gookin says. “They also are reflective of the questions that we most frequently get from either the public or counties as we’re doing trainings.”

Gookin says the secretary of state’s office is developing new training materials, too.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A crash during heavy rain Tuesday night in Guthrie County claimed the life of a man from Coon Rapids. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a car driven by 60-year-old Jerry Hager, of Coon Rapids, was traveling east on Highway 141 at around 9:15-p.m., just east of Oak Avenue ( about a mile west of Bagley), when the vehicle crossed the centerline of the road and side swiped a westbound 2024 Jeep Wrangler driven by 56-year-old Michele Pudenz, of Carroll.

After the initial collision, Hager’s car – a 2009 Chevy Impala – collided head-on in the westbound lane, with a westbound 2018 GMC Terrain driven by 26-year-old Gillian Streit, of Manilla. The Jeep and GMC came to rest in the westbound lane of Highway 141. The car came to rest in the eastbound lane.

The Patrol says Hager, who was not wearing a seatbelt, suffered fatal injuries from the crash and died at the scene. The other drivers and a passenger in the GMC were wearing seatbelts, and were not injured. The crash resulted in the roadway being closed for about four-hours.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A Public Hearing will take place during the Wednesday, June 18th Atlantic City Council meeting, with regard to an amended FY2025 Budget. The meeting at City Hall begins at 5:30-p.m.

In the Agenda packet, City Administrator John Lund explained this year, four of the nine budget categories require the amendments, including increases to:

• Public safety, in the amount of $88,593.
• Health and Social Services, $2,647 (for water, air & mosquito control).
• Culture and Recreation (a total increase of $72,795)
• and General Government, an increase of $45,815.

An additional $365,000 in transfers is also being amended. Lund says amendments such as those mentioned, are a routine matter. The hearing will be followed by action on passing a resolution “Declaring [a] surplus and Authorizing [the] Transfer” of funds, and passing a resolution approving the transfer of funds for FY2024-25.

The Council will also consider and act on passing the second reading of an ordinance amending the City Code of Ordinances, by changing the current run-off system of City elections back to a “Plurality takes all,” which the City previously had, up until July, 2021.  Other business includes action on the second reading of ordinances that:

• Change the speed limit on 29th Street from 35- to 30-mph, from Chestnut Street to the Southern City limits.
• Change the speed limit on 29th Street from 35- to 30-mph from Chestnut to Palm Street.
• Amends the language on Ordinance 1059 to read “On 29th Street from the Palm Street intersection to a point 800 feet West of [the] intersection.” The reduction to 35-mph remains unchanged.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will hold a Public Hearing on the plans, specifications and Forms of Contract for the 2025 Concrete Street Improvements, followed by action on a resolution approving the aforementioned street improvements, and a review of the bids for the improvements, along with the awarding of a contract for the work.

(Des Moines, Iowa/ KCCI-TV) – Republican leaders of the Iowa House say they have enough signatures from its members to convene a special legislative session in order to vote to override Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ veto of House File 639. House File 639 was a key piece of legislation passed this spring by the Iowa House and Senate. Proponents said it would strengthen private property rights.

Iowa landowners have been fighting for this legislation for years, as Summit Carbon Solutions continued work on its proposed $8.9 billion, 2,500-mile carbon capture pipeline, which would run through Iowa and other states. In a statement released after vetoing the legislation, Reynolds said HF 639 was about more than eminent domain and would set a “troubling precedent that threatens Iowa’s energy reliability, economy and reputation as a place where businesses can invest with confidence.”

Immediately after Reynolds’ veto, Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, called for the legislature to reconvene in a special session to override the veto. The House petition collected signatures from 70 lawmakers, surpassing the two-thirds majority required to call for a special session. The Iowa Senate would also need to collect enough signatures — also a two-thirds majority — on a petition to convene the special session.

Last week, Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, said he did not believe the Senate would “be interested in any attempt to override her veto.” Two-thirds of both chambers would need to vote for an override for the bill to become law without the governor’s approval.

The last time the Iowa legislature convened to override a governor’s veto was in 2006.

(Radio Iowa) – The annual “Water Rocks” summit is underway at Iowa State University for some 31 teachers representing 24 Iowa school districts. Spokesperson Ann Stout says the workshop participants range from kindergarten to high school teachers. “It’s helping to build educators’ awareness and their knowledge base of different environmental and agricultural topics, the interconnection of our water, our land, our wildlife in the state of Iowa,” Stout says. One topic they learn about is watersheds.

“So a watershed is an area of land that all drains to a common water body. So, everything that happens on that land can ultimately affect the rivers, the streams, the lakes where that water ends up,” she says. Stout says it’s something that has been at the top of the news lately with high nitrate levels in rivers that are impacting the water supply for Des Moines and surrounding cities. The event focuses first on water issues, but Stout says they also include some other environmental topics. They will have a professor from Central College in Pella teaching about the various bats in the state.

“He’s going to share some information about the exciting role of bats, the different bats that we have here in Iowa,” she says. “And then as part of that, we will also be going on a field experience and netting bats. So, he’ll be setting out large nets and we’ll be going out at dusk to be able to see what sort of bats use different habitats here in Iowa.” Stout says the goal is to give the teachers information they can use to teach their students about these topics.

“We’re not giving them a curriculum, but we’re giving them, I would describe it as enhanced learning activities that they can then put into their existing curriculum,” Stout says. The “Water Rocks” summit got underway today (Tuesday) in Ames and wraps up tomorrow.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Two members of the non-profit Anita Economic Development Corporation (ADC) appeared before the Cass County Board of Supervisors this (Tuesday) morning, to seek a loan from the County for a new housing development project in Anita, to transform what Darrell Hockenberry said “What was once one of the worst parts of Anita into one of the best areas in town.”

He said they have acquired about 80-percent of the dilapidated trailer park for the construction of new homes. Snyder and Associates Engineers have surveyed the property for the organization. Hockenberry said they have a great deal of support for the project from the City of Anita, Atlantic Municipal Utilities and CADCO (Cass-Atlantic Development Corporation), which has agreed to provide a $100,000 interest-free loan.

The homes will be built with a crawlspace foundation and will include a detached two-car garage. Local builders will construct the homes. Hockenberry He asked the county if they would be interested in backing a loan of about $250,000 so the AEDC can place their order for two of the homes. He said “We’re not looking for a hand-out. We’re just looking for some help to fund the project.”

No decision on the request was made during Tuesday’s meeting. The matter will instead be placed on the next meeting agenda for possible approval.