(Radio Iowa) – Police officers in central Iowa negotiated a safe end to a potentially deadly situation over the holiday weekend. Des Moines police got a 9-1-1 call on Sunday just after noon from a caller reporting a man was standing outside the guardrail on the top floor of an 11-level downtown parking ramp. The caller was concerned the man might jump or fall.

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Firefighters and police responded to the ramp on 5th Avenue and trained officers began talking with the man. After almost two hours, officers convinced him to climb back over the railing. Police are saying little more about the man, other than they helped to connect him with the right resources for his situation. A Metro STAR Crisis Negotiator credits the officers with saving the man’s life.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Goldstar Military Museum at Camp Dodge in Johnston is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Museum curator Mike Vogt says the museum idea came from retired World War Two veteran and National Guardsman Al Rolfes from Le Mars, who noticed photos and memorabilia in buildings around Camp Dodge. “He made the comment at a meeting one time of the Iowa National Guard Memorial Association. He said, ‘You know, it’s too bad all that stuff isn’t gathered together somewhere, so when the soldiers come to drill or people come to Camp Dodge, they can learn something about the state’s, military history, ‘” Vogt explains. Vogt says that comment came in the early 1980’s and since Rolfes had the idea, he was put in charge of making it happen.

“The Museum’s origins date back to its first open house in late June of 1985 on the first floor of the Chapel. After about ten years, they moved into the old headquarters building. In the mid-1990s and then via an appropriation from the state legislature in the early 21st century recognized the importance of the stories that we told out here, we received funding to put 18-thousand square feet on,” he says. They started with the photos and memorabilia linked to the Iowa National Guard and Vogt says about 20 years ago they opened things up to include all branches of the service to recognize all Iowans who served. That now includes tanks and airplanes that sit outside the museum.

Goldstar Military Museum curator Mike Vogt (back row sixth from left) with other reinactors. (RI photo)

“Those are all loaned to us from the U-S Army Museum system. So they’re hand receipted to the museum. They still belong to the taxpayers and, they’re cared for here at Camp Dodge by the National Guard personnel and by museum staff,” Vogt says. “But 99 percent of the artifacts in our collection are donated, either by the veterans themselves, or by their descendants.” The exhibits inside expanding to tall the various stories of Iowa veterans, including a Cold War era periscope that you can use to look out over the base. Vogt says there is room to add some more exhibits as the Goldstar Museum moves forward. “We have some gallery area that we would like to develop into a temporary exhibit space. There has been some discussion of adding on maybe an auditorium, so we could have programs and seat more visitors,” he says. “There’s been talk about putting an addition onto the museum that would hold some of our larger items that are currently on cement pads outdoors.”

Vogt says the exhibits are important so everyone can see how soldiers and sailors and airmen lived, but the most important part is getting the stories behind the artifacts. “When the items come in, if they come in from the veterans themselves, they’re the only ones that can provide the unique story of how they obtained that item, whether it was foreign or issued to them, or picked up as a souvenir,” Vogt says. “So, if you can capture that story that’s related to the item, that’s what really provides that connection between the artifact and the Iowa veteran’s story.”

The Iowa Goldstar Military Museum is open 9 a-m until 3 p-m Tuesday through Friday, and Saturday from 10 a-m until 2 p-m. It is free and open to the public.

(Radio Iowa) – The mandatory retirement age for all judges in Iowa will soon change. Under current law, judges in Iowa have to retire in the year they turn 72. A state law that goes into effect July 1st raises the mandatory retirement age to 78 and it applies to Iowa Supreme Court justices and judges on the Iowa Court of Appeals as well as all district court judges and magistrates. The change cleared the Iowa House and Senate without debate this spring. Once Iowa’s new mandatory retirement age for judges goes into effect this summer, only one other state will have a higher retirement age for judges. Judges in Vermont have to retire sometime during the year they turn 90.

A mandatory retirement age for Iowa judges was first established in 1965. The president makes lifetime appointments to judges in federal courts and there is no retirement age enforced in 15 states.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, today (Tuesday), held a public hearing on proposed amendments to the County’s Wind Energy Conversion System Ordinance (WECS) amendments, pertaining to wind turbines. The current Ordinance was established in 2007. The county has previously extended a moratorium on commercial wind energy conversion systems.

Barb Allen, a member of the County’s Planning and Zoning Commission today (Tuesday), said the commission met in April and held a public hearing at that time to gain input before coming up with updates to the Ordinance. The Commission, she said, addressed several concerns in creating the revised Ordinance. Including proximity to a Wind Energy Conversion System.

The Commission ultimately recommended the Supervisors adopt the amended ordinance as proposed.

Montgomery County BOS 5-27-25

Montgomery County Auditor Jill Ozuna read several letters, ranging from those who didn’t clearly specify their stance on the ordinance,and those who were in favor of the ordinance. The Board then received numerous spoken comments from the public. After considering all of the comments, written and spoken, Supervisor Mike Olsen read a summary of the amended ordinance as proposed. Here’s a portion of the summary…

During Board discussion, Olsen said he has a problem infringing on property owners’ rights, and the potential loss of revenue due to “walking away” from the chance to erect new turbines.

A roll-call vote showed all Supervisors voting to approve the 1st reading of the ordinance. After a motion to waive the second and third reading was proposed and passed, the Ordinance was adopted as proposed. The Board also approved FY 25/26 Library Contracts for financial support, as presented. The Board also approved FY 25/26 Library Contracts for financial support, as presented. In other business, Jill Ozuna announced the Montgomery County VA Commission will resume a search for its new director, after the previously approved Director Bret Sherkenbach declined the appointment after the Supervisor’s earlier meeting.

(Radio Iowa) – Reports say at least 14 Ukrainian civilians were killed, dozens hurt, in aerial assaults by Russian rockets and drones over the weekend, prompting Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley to tweet on Monday: “I’ve had enuf of Putin killing innocent ppl (people).” Grassley also used X to call for President Trump to “take action,” including, in all caps, “AT LEAST SANCTIONS.” In this (Tuesday) morning’s conference call with Iowa reporters, Grassley expanded on his frustrations with the Ukraine war and the Russian leader. “It’s time President Trump makes clear to Putin that his friendship is exhausted,” Grassley says. “Putin’s going to keep on killing and America is looking like Russia is playing us for a sap.”

Grassley says the efforts to launch peace negotiations have proven fruitless and a practical solution to end the violence is long overdue. “It’s got to end and it will only end when we take the strong action that should have been taken months ago when Putin was playing around with these negotiations,” Grassley says. “Let him know that the United States, and particularly President Trump, has had enough of being fooled by Putin.”

Grassley, a Republican, says the United States’ next move needs to be firm sanctions on Russia. “I just read yesterday in a report that somehow it wouldn’t affect what they call secondary banking,” Grassley says, “and if secondary banking would be the real pincher on Putin, it ought to include secondary banking.” Those types of sanctions would be on financial institutions that do business with Russia but that aren’t located in Russia.

President Trump said on Truth Social that Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY!” with regards to the weekend drone attacks. Trump also scolded Ukrainian President Zelensky, saying, “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has provided (some) additional information with regard to Saturday’s fatal accident southeast of Marne. Authorities say “On Saturday, May 24th at approximately 12:58-p.m., the Cass County Sheriff’s Office responded to a single vehicle rollover on Highway 83 and Fayette Road. Upon arrival officers identified the driver as 33-year old Lucas Nelson, of Marne. Nelson was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Marne Fire and Rescue, Cass EMS, and the Atlantic Police Department assisted with the accident.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold Work and Exempt sessions Wednesday evening. Both sessions will be held 6:30-p.m. in the Conference Room at the Achievement Center on SW 7th Street.

The Work Session will feature a presentation from and discussion with District Architectural Firm SVPA. During the Board’s work session in late March, SVPA officials said discussions with school officials included making Washington Elementary fit the space needs of students as a top priority for the district with regard to a master plan for the district buildings. They said that could mean adding an addition onto building to the west and/or renovating parts of the current building. Any project with renovation of or addition to Washington Elementary carries an estimated price tag of $15-to 20 million dollars.

Another identified priority was the addition of a field house near the high school. That also carries an estimated cost of $15-to 20 million, with a smaller option costing between being $12-and $15- million.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board, Wednesday, will hold an Exempt Session for the purpose of staff salary Negotiations.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports a man from Stuart was cited for Driving While Barred, May 18th. 47-year-old James Wade Black was cited by Stuart Police at the AmericInn in Stuart. He was released from the scene of his traffic stop with his citation.

And, as previously mentioned, on May 20th, 42-year-old Margaret Nicole Siegwarth, of Greenfield, was arrested in Greenfield on two Union County warrants charging her with Accessory after the fact (an Aggravated Misdemeanor)/False information for Citation (which carries a $3,000 bond), and, Interference with Official Acts (a $300,000 bond).

She was transported to Union County, posted bond on the 22nd, and was released from the Union County Jail. Her preliminary hearing is set for May 30th.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports five arrests took place over the Memorial Day weekend:

33-year-old Howard Jay Davis, of Creston, was arrested Monday (May 26) in the 300 block of S. Vine Street. Davis was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Violation of Probation. He was being held without bond in the Union County Jail.

Monday night (May 26), Nathan Lee Novatny, of Creston, was arrested in the 900 block of N. Sumner Avenue, for Interference with Official Acts, and Driving While Suspended. He later posted a $600 bond and was released from the Union County Jail.

On Saturday (May 24), Creston Police arrested: 36-year-old Rikki Le Klos, of Afton, Saturday evening, for Possession of a Controlled Substance 1st Offense- Marijuana, and on two counts PCS/1st Offense. She was later released on a $3,000 bond; And, 30-year-old Samantha Jo Little, of Creston, was arrested Saturday night, for OWI/2nd offense, Public Intoxication/1st offense, and on three-counts of Child Endangerment with Substantial Risk. Little was later released on an $8,300 bond.

Friday afternoon, Creston Police arrested 46-year-old Lela Ann Churchill, of Creston, for OWI/1st offense, and Interference with Official Acts. She was later released on a $1,300 bond.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – A little-known, not-taught facet of the nursing profession is the art of the workaround, Allison Hurt said — taking something that isn’t working in the situation and making it fit for whatever the patient or fellow staff members need. When she started working in the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics burn unit, Hurt said one workaround was cutting gauze and dressings to better fit the burned area of a patient’s body. Later, when she transferred to the medical intensive care unit that later became the COVID-19 unit at the start of the pandemic, workarounds involved using long lines of IV tubing to have machinery and equipment outside of a patient’s room, allowing nurses to administer medicine and check information while saving important personal protection equipment. “I didn’t realize I was innovating when I was doing it,” Hurt said.

In her current role as a Nurse Innovator Liaison for the UI Office of Innovation, Hurt helps other nurses identify challenges, recognize the innovations they’ve been making without realizing it and look ahead to how they can help others with their ideas. The University of Iowa’s Iowa Nurse Innovators Program connects nurses to the resources and expertise they need to turn workarounds into specially crafted, even marketable, solutions. With early successes from UIHC nurses currently getting off the ground, the program is working to reach health care professionals across the state.

UI Chief Innovation Officer Jon Darsee, who oversees and helped launch the program in fall 2022, said there are many programs aimed at helping faculty or physicians develop their ideas into products or services, but nothing geared specifically toward nurses. With his background in medical technology, Darsee said he learned early on to listen to nurses and their needs. May is National Nurses Month. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, this is a “time to honor and celebrate the incredible work of nurses.”

The UI Office of Innovation celebrated the month by sharing information about the nurse innovation program and stories of nurses seeing success from their product development. Since the project’s launch, 1,300 nurses have engaged with the nurse innovation program, according to a newsletter from the UI Office of Innovation. There are 38 active projects in the program, eight of which came from nurses outside of the UI system, and several patent disclosures have been filed. There are four products currently being used by nurses. A requirement of a donation from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City was that the innovation program expand beyond the UI and offer opportunities to nurses across the state, which Darsee said was a brilliant idea that hadn’t come to him yet. “Contributing to the health and happiness of nurses in rural Iowa environments is one way this program can influence patient safety and ultimately the quality care on a local level,” Darsee said.

From left, Anna Young, Allison Hurt and Courtney Smith celebrate Smith’s graduation from the UI Nurse Innovator Program. Smith has developed a clamp to get cords and wires off of the operating room floor. (Photo courtesy of the University of Iowa Office of Innovation)

Each of the products designed by nurses have come from challenges they’ve faced in their profession or see others struggling with in the health care system. They’ve developed their own ways of dealing with these issues in the day-to-day, using “workarounds” as Hurt described them. Nurses commit to around 27 workarounds per 12-hour shift, Hurt said, and program staff learn about them by visiting different hospital units personally to speak with staff. “We’ve discovered that the way that works best is having nurses identify their challenges where they’re happening,” Hurt said. “It’s obviously kind of fresh in their mind — in-the-moment frustration is really kind of what we’re going for.”

Once a nurse has identified a challenge, Hurt said the program and its partner, prototyping company MakerHealth, work with the nurse on their schedule to further discussions about the problem, how they’ve tried to solve it in the past and what solution they’re hoping to develop. It was on one of these visits when Courtney Smith learned about the program. The nurse innovator team had brought their “innovation station” to a nurse staff council committee meeting and asked if anyone knew about innovation projects, which Smith had previous experience with at a different job.

For nurses just starting out on their idea, Hurt said the program provides them with a kit full of materials to design and craft a low-fidelity, or rough draft, version of their product. After figuring out what works and what doesn’t, the nurse has more discussions with the team before trying out new materials and designs, until they have a functional prototype. All of this is at no cost to the nurse.

Read more HERE.