(Radio Iowa) – Wet weather in the past week stalled planting progress for Iowa farmers.  The U-S-D-A weekly report shows corn planting increased by only four percent to 95 percent complete. It is still six days ahead of last year and two days ahead of the five-year average. Bean planting increased from 84 to 92 percent complete. That’s more than two weeks ahead of last year and eight days ahead of average.

Seventy-six percent of the corn has emerged, and 83 percent is rated in good to excellent condition. Sixty-percent of soybeans have emerged and 80 percent are rated in good to excellent condition.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — The National Weather Service has determined that a third tornado formed in Iowa back on April 17th. The tornado, rated an EF1, touched down in southwestern Union County near the intersection of 270th Street and Beechwood Avenue around 10:21 pm.

The NWS survey shows it traveled more than four miles east-northeast, damaging multiple sheds and one home over the next seven minutes. The tornado lifted about eight miles straight south of Creston around 10:28 pm. The tornado followed two others in far southwest Iowa earlier in the evening, including one that measured over a mile wide in Fremont & Page counties.

So far, just four tornadoes have struck Iowa in 2025. More than 90 had formed in the state at this point last year.

(Radio Iowa) – A free series of outdoor concerts has been held on the Iowa Capitol grounds for nearly eight decades, but this summer’s concerts will be staged elsewhere. A new state rule prohibits organizations from holding more than one event per year at the Capitol. Dan Stevenson, executive director of the Des Moines Metro Concert Band, says they’ve found other venues for this summer’s “Music Under the Stars” events.

“We just kind of are focusing on this year and we’ll see what happens going forward,” he said. “Our job is to serve our listeners and serve Iowans.” All four of the band’s concerts on Sundays in June will be held on the lawn of Hoyt Sherman Place, a Des Moines theater that opened in 1923. The band’s fifth and final summer concert will be held in Waterworks Park in Des Moines.

The municipal band for Iowa’s Capital City was chartered 78 years ago and William Beardsley, who was Iowa’s governor at the time, gave the band permission to perform on the west side of the Capitol. Stevenson, the band’s current executive director, has played clarinet in the band for years. “A tradition like this belongs to the people of Iowa,” Stevenson says, “and that’s what we’re going to keep in mind going forward.”

The musicians in the Des Moines Metro Concert Band come from all over the state, including some who have played in symphony orchestras in other cities. Iowa’s tradition of town bands is linked to famous composers like Meredith Willson of Mason City and Karl L. King. King moved to Fort Dodge in 1920 to lead the city’s Municipal Band and was the band’s conductor until his death 50 years later.

SIGOURNEY, Iowa (KCRG-TV) – Fire officials said two people were killed in a house fire in Sigourney, Monday. The fire occurred Monday afternoon at a home on Highway 149 just south of Sigourney. Firefighters said there were reports of people inside the home and crews tried enter the residence, but couldn’t, because the fire was too intense.

Several departments were called to the scene. After the fire was put out, crews found two people dead inside the home. The victims named have not been released at this time. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victims,” Sigourney Fire Chief Bill Halleran said.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and is under investigation by the state fire marshal.

ELDORA, Iowa [KCCI-TV] – Two people are now facing criminal charges more than a year after a 13-year-old girl was shot and killed in Eldora. Keeley Baer died April 14, 2024, after she was shot by a 12-year-old boy. Hardin County authorities at the time told KCCI the boy was taken into custody and the matter was being handled in juvenile court.

The boy obtained a pistol and shot Baer, which investigators say was accidental and the two children were friends. Now, two adults are facing charges connected to the fatal shooting. James Charles Ainsco, 42, and Robin Louise Raper, 35, were both taken into custody in Hardin County and are being held at the county jail.

Both Ainsco and Raper are listed as a “parent, guardian, or person having custody or control over a child” in court documents. Criminal complaints allege they knowingly left a loaded and unsecured firearm accessible in the home.

They are each charged with involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment causing death and making firearms available to a minor.

(Radio Iowa) – Provisional numbers released by the Centers for Disease Control show national drug overdose deaths decreased by 27% last year, but were down only 7% in Iowa.

The assistant director of the University of Iowa Addiction and Recovery Collaborative, Andrea Weber, says fewer opioid related deaths are driving these numbers. She says Iowa still needs to do a better job of getting the opioid-reversal drug naloxone into the community. “We kind of focused on making sure that our first responders had naloxone, which is great, but you know, really identifying that the first person who responds to someone who’s using drugs and experiencing overdose is actually people who are using drugs,” she says.

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Weber says Iowa still has a lot of laws and policies that make it harder for people to get help. “Things like syringe service programming is still illegal in the state of Iowa. Those programs have been shown to reduce overdose death rates,” Weber says.

The provisional data from the CDC showed drug overdoses in Iowa dropped from 447 reported cases in 2023 to 425 in 2024.

(Radio Iowa) – The Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors has temporarily tabled a decision on a road use plan developed by a Minnesota company that will be replacing dozens of wind turbines in northwest Iowa.

Josh Yernatich, a project developer for ALLETE Clean Energy, spoke with county officials this morning. “There are several points in those roads where we’ll need some sort of remediation,” he said. “Where we’ll know for certain where those are and what the fix that’s needed or the temporary improvement that’s needed is when we move forward with engineering.”

ALLETE Clean Energy purchased two wind farms in Buena Vista County, near Alta, in 2014. The company will be replacing 259 existing wind turbines and plans to add 44 high efficiency turbines at the two sites in 2027. Buena Vista county supervisors plan to speak with the county’s engineer before taking a vote on ALLETE’s road use plans during the project.

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The two wind farms have been operating since 1999. The company says refurbishing its Buena Vista County wind farms will improve turbine performance and reliability and support the renewal of power sales agreements. The electricity generated at the two wind farms is sold to MidAmerican Energy, Alliant Energy and a regional electricity transmission organization known as MISO.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Workforce Development is shutting down its system for filing unemployment claims tonight (Tuesday) as they move to upgrade it. I-W-D spokesperson Jesse Dougherty says they are merging the system with the IowaWorks.com system, where you go to get training or find a new job. “That means for Iowans on a daily basis, if they’re filing for unemployment or employers who are working in the unemployment system, they’re going to be operating from one central location. That’s something we’ve never been able to do before,” he says.

Dougherty says the system will be shut down for one week to make the change. “We’re going to convert all of the information and securely transfer all of the data over from one system to the other. An unemployment system as complicated as it is, is not something you can do with a flip of a switch,” Dougherty says. He says they’ve been letting everyone know about the changeover, and most have probably already filed for this week.

(RI photo)

“Most people on unemployment are going to file their weekly claim on a Sunday or Monday, that’s the start of the benefit week. And we expect that to happen again this week. But for any claimants who did not have the chance to file or are new to unemployment. They can immediately file as soon as the new system goes live. On June 3rd,” he says. Dougherty says they are making the switch now to try and minimize the impact.

“Late May and early June are typically the lowest times historically of claims that are filed. We wouldn’t make such a change, you know, during the winter months when you have temporary layoffs. and a higher volume of claims, we want to do that in the time with the minimal impact,” he says. “And so that’s why we’re looking to make this change and have this transition during a June time period,” Dougherty says they had originally started the process for the changeover in 2019, but the pandemic then caused it to be delayed. He says the new system should be a lot simpler for everyone.