(Radio Iowa) – A state panel has approved payments to settle two malpractice lawsuits against University of Iowa Health Care. The family of Jeffrey Spahn of Dubuque sued after the 63-year-old died of a heart attack during surgery on a broken leg. The family alleged Spahn exhibited warning signs during surgery and the procedure should have been stopped. The State Appeal Board has approved a one-point-five million dollar settlement on that case and a two million dollar settlement with 60-year-old Sheryl Pruin of Argyle.

She sued after fluid from an I-V leaked into her leg during plastic surgery on her upper body. Her lawsuit alleged her leg is permanently damaged and she is unable to walk normally.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors held their regular weekly meeting today (June 10), in Red Oak. During their session, the Board received a regular weekly Montgomery County Secondary Roads report from Engineer Karen Albert, who mentioned an incident of weaponized vandalism to County property.

The Supervisors expressed their disgust at the act. Supervisor Bryant Amos was more direct….

Bryant suggested Albert post something on social media, in hopes someone will provide a tip on who may be responsible. The McGreer’s Hawkins Bridge (formerly the 250th Street bridge) was renamed in honor of the McGreer family, and dedicated on May 25th.

The Board then received a report from Montgomery County Recorder Carleen Bruning. They discussed and approved a Fiscal Year 2026 Solutions software license/support and Information Technology (IT) Statement Of Work (SOW) agreements. They also discussed and approved a FY26 tobacco products retail permit application for Cubby’s, and an application for the suspension of taxes on a parcel located at 401 Linden Street, in Elliott.

In other business, the Montgomery County Supervisors discussed and agreed to advertise the Highland-Annex space as being for rent, since the former occupant (Family Connections) moved out of the space some time ago. Auditor Jill Ozuna will begin the process of posting an advertisement.

And, they approved the adding of a Dorsey-Whitney Urban Revitalization proposal, and Schmuacher Elevator proposal, to next week’s (June 17th) meeting agenda.

(Radio Iowa) – This morning’s (Tuesday) scheduled launch of an Axiom Space mission — commanded by an Iowa native — is being pushed back to tomorrow. The launch was originally planned for liftoff this past Sunday morning, but stormy weather persists over Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Axiom Space will try again Wednesday morning, with the launch now slated for 7 AM/Central.

Ax-4 crew (Axiom Space photo)

Ax-4 will carry Peggy Whitson and three crewmates to the International Space Station for a two-week stay. Considered America’s most experienced astronaut, Whitson, who grew up on a farm near Beaconsfield, has spent 675 days in orbit, more time than any other woman astronaut. It’ll be her 5th trip to the orbiting space station.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture says he doesn’t yet know how proposed cuts of billions of U-S-D-A dollars might affect Iowans. Agencies that would be impacted include the Farm Service Agency and Rural Development programs, and likely the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps low-income families purchase food. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig says he trusts U.S. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins.

“I know that Secretary Rollins has said many times she wants to bring USDA back to its core mission and to be farmer-focused,” Naig says. “We’re going to take them at their word, and so there’s everything from, how is USDA reorganized and rightsized and does it continue to put farmers first?”

Mike Naig (Iowa PBS photo)

Naig says he’s hopeful countries will continue trade negotiations after the U.S. recently signed a deal with Vietnam in which Iowa farmers will receive 800-million dollars for ag products — mostly corn, soybeans, and pork.

(Radio Iowa) – A series of events in Iowa this summer are designed to give kids between the ages of eight and 17 their first free airplane ride — and mentoring if they decide to train to be a private pilot. Jett Korver, president of the Sheldon Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, says the “Young Eagles” program launched in 1992. “The sole mission is to introduce and inspire kids in the world of aviation,” he says, “and as of today, 2,431,634 ‘Young Eagles’ have been flown since the beginning of the program.”

On Wednesday, starting a six p.m., Korver and another licensed pilot will be at Sheldon’s airport to meet with up to 24 kids who are interested in flying. “A parent or guardian does need to be with the youth to sign a waiver and once that’s done we kind of have a time of ‘ground school,’ if you will, where we kind of show them an aviation sectional and a map of kind of what route we’re going to fly,” Korver says, “and then we’ll go out and do a pre-flight inspection and have a 20 minute airplane ride after that.”

Forty-eight kids took their first flight during a similar event last summer in Sheldon. “I got interested in aviation because I took a ride with a local pilot and I kind of got the bug,” Korver says. “The Young Eagles program offers a lot more than just a free airplane ride.” Kids who sign up get access to online educational materials, plus the Experimental Aircraft Association will cover the cost of an initial flight lesson and the association will pay the fee for the F-A-A’s written test to obtain a private pilot’s license.

Over 130 kids are registered for a Young Eagles event Saturday at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids. There are Young Eagles program coordinators in 13 Iowa cities, at the following airports: Ankeny, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clarinda, Clear Lake, Davenport, Dubuque, Marshalltown, Muscatine, Rockwell City, Sheldon, Spencer and Waterloo.

(Radio Iowa) – A major plan is in the works to enhance a recreational area in western Iowa’s Loess Hills. A ski hill has been in operation since the 1960s at Crescent Hill at Hitchcock, north of Council Bluffs, an area that includes a 15-hundred acre nature preserve. Jeff Franco, executive director of Pottawattamie County Conservation, says they’re working to raise at least 25-million dollars for a project that could include a new tubing hill, cabins, an amphitheater, and plenty of public spaces. “It’ll take a little bit for us to work through this plan to ensure that we’re doing this in a sustainable manner,” Franco says, “but we’re confident that once we finally get there with all of this, this is going to be something great for the state of Iowa.”

Hitchcock Nature Center (Photo by Michael Leland, Iowa Public Radio)

Franco says his county and the state lack public spaces for recreation, and studies rank Iowa near the bottom in the nation. “We’re really kind of falling behind,” he says, “so this is an opportunity for us to better serve the citizens of this county and its visitors.” Pottawattamie County owns and operates Crescent Hill and the nature area, which includes some of the largest remaining sections of prairie land in Iowa. Franco says, “We also want this to be a place where we leverage our mission in a way that recreation, conservation, and education, kind of all come together in one space.”

Franco says the upgrades to make the property a four-season destination may take five to ten years to complete and will be funded without using taxpayer money.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A man from Red Oak was arrested Monday afternoon on a harassment charge. According to Red Oak Police, 18-year-old Ayden Jose Olivas was arrested at around 2:15-p.m., for Harassment in the 3rd Degree, a Simple Misdemeanor. Olivas was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

IOWA FALLS, Iowa [KCCI] — A U.S. Army airman from Iowa Falls killed during World War II will soon be brought back to his hometown. Cpl. Melvin Huff was reported missing in January 1945 after friendly forces lost contact with his bomber. He was 19 at the time.

CPL. Melvin Huff

Huff’s remains were discovered in Papua New Guinea in 2011. They were retrieved by an underwater recovery team a few years later. Last year, his family learned he had been identified. Huff’s remains will be brought back to Iowa Falls later this month, on June 24, by military escort. A burial is planned for June 28.

The full story:

(Iowa DNR News, June 9, 2025) – Happy Wild Turtle Week! Wild Turtle Week is a week-long celebration of turtles led by the Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. For more information visit the Wild Turtle Week website.

Iowa is home to 13 turtle species; western painted turtle, snapping turtle, midland smooth softshell turtle, eastern spiny softshell turtle, red-eared slider, northern map turtle, Ouachita map turtle, northern false map turtle, ornate box turtle, Blanding’s turtle, wood turtle, eastern musk turtle, and yellow mud turtle.

Many of Iowa’s turtle species are aquatic or semi-aquatic, living in lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, marshes, and wetlands while ornate box turtles are primarily terrestrial, meaning they spend nearly all of their life on land, often in prairie areas.

Iowa’s Most Familiar Turtles

Western painted turtles, snapping turtles, and eastern spiny softshell turtles are widespread across the state and are turtles you may be likely to encounter.

Western painted turtles get their name from their bright coloration and can be identified by their yellow/orange plastron (meaning the bottom of their shell) that has a yellow/orange design outlined in black.

Snapping turtle adults are typically large with a large head in comparison to their body with a large, sharp, beak. Snapping turtles have a very distinctive appearance with a dark brown to black carapace (meaning the top of their shell) that has spikes at the back, a long tail with bumps along the top, and a reduced plastron with a tan or yellow color.

Eastern spiny softshell turtles get their name from their soft and flexible shell which has short spines along the upper portion near their head. This is one way they can be distinguished from the similar-looking smooth softshell turtle. They have a very long neck with a long, narrow, snout and large webbed feet. Eastern spiny softshell turtles often have circular markings on their carapace.

Turtle Conservation Challenges

Many of Iowa’s turtle species are in decline due to threats such as habitat loss and road mortalities. Since most of Iowa’s turtles spend part or much of their lives in or near water, they depend on healthy streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, and lakes. Turtles are long-lived animals and take a long time to reach reproductive age, with few young turtles reaching that age. Therefore, the loss of even a few adult turtles from an area can be very detrimental to a local population. All of Iowa’s turtles besides painted turtles and red-eared sliders are identified in Iowa’s State Wildlife Action Plan as species of greatest conservation need. Blanding’s turtles, ornate box turtles, and eastern musk turtles are listed as state threatened and wood turtles and yellow mud turtles are listed as state endangered, meaning it is illegal to kill or collect these species.

What can you do to help Iowa’s turtles?

Contribute to non-game wildlife conservation through the Chickadee Checkoff, buy a Natural Resources License Plate, or donate directly to the Wildlife Diversity Program.

Avoid hitting turtles in the roadway and move them out of the roadway if it is safe for you to help them. Make sure to never pick up a turtle by the tail as this can damage their spine and only handle snapping turtles if you know how to safely and properly handle them. Make sure to always move the turtle across the road in the direction they were headed and never take a turtle with you to a different location. For more information on helpful tips for moving turtles out of the road check out this article from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Plant and create more habitat! You can take steps to make your property or yard more wildlife friendly and even if it doesn’t benefit turtles directly there are also many indirect benefits. Follow along this year with our Wildlife Where You Live series to learn more about how you can take steps to benefit wildlife on your property. Iowa DNR’s private lands program has staff that help advise private landowners about possible conservation practices that could be implemented on their lands. This includes wetland restoration, restoring and establishing grasslands, and forestry practices.
Want to learn more about turtles in Iowa?

Check out iowaherps.com or herpnet.net to learn more about Iowa’s turtle species!

(Radio Iowa) – An 18-year-old has been charged with shooting a man to death in Davenport early Sunday morning. At about 3 a.m. Sunday, Davenport Police responding to a 9-1-1 call about gunshots in a residential neighborhood found a man who’d been shot. Twenty-eight-year-old Douglas Meier was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Police say their investigation determined Alyx Hinton of Minnesota fired into a group of people. He’s been charged with first degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon.