(Radio Iowa) – Bicycling enthusiasts will hold somber rides in six Iowa communities tonight as part of an international movement called the Ride of Silence.

Iowa Bicycle Coalition executive director Luke Hoffman will be speaking prior to the 21st annual ride in Des Moines, which aims to memorialize and call attention to the cyclists who were injured or killed in collisions with motor vehicles over the past year.

“We do a reading of the folks who have been hit and killed since the last Ride of Silence, so we list all those folks out,” Hoffman says, “and then we proceed from there to do kind of a demonstration, so for every person whose name is read, somebody walks up onto this area and then lays down to represent the person who’s been hit.”

After the short program, everyone gets on their bikes for a deliberately slow group trek through town.

Bike Iowa image from last year’s Des Moines ride

Hoffman says, “We kind of do a slow ride and as the name indicates, it’s a silent ride where we’re very slow, almost like a funeral procession, to remember those who have been hit and killed.”

Four cyclists were killed by vehicles in Iowa last year. In a typical year, another 350 cyclists are injured in such collisions, but an official with Bike Iowa says the actual number of injuries may be three times higher, as police reports aren’t always filed.

Hoffman says Iowa cyclists scored a significant victory with this year’s passage of the so-called Hands Free law by state legislators. It will allow law officers to pull over and warn anyone holding a cell phone while driving, and beginning in January, fine them up to $100. While that’s a deterrent to distracted driving, Hoffman says the work isn’t done.

“Iowa is one of the 13 states that does not have a safe passing law, meaning, a defined and reasonable distance for a vehicle passing a bike,” he says. “We’ve been arguing for many years for a full lane, but we’d of course love just something — three feet, six feet — to help protect people. We know that this is important because the number-one reason why people are getting killed is because someone was passing too closely.”

Along with Des Moines, Rides of Silence are also being held tonight in: Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Charles City, Mason City and Sioux City. In addition, rides are being held in more than 200 cities across the U.S. and in at least 15 other countries.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s college commencement season, and thousands of new graduates will be entering the world of work. Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says the state historically does see a little bump in job numbers as college students.  “Sometimes those are offset because you get the school bus drivers who all go on vacation in the summer months, so they all file for unemployment. And so sometimes that can offset your numbers a little bit,” she says. Townsend says some graduates already have jobs lined up, but there are plenty of opportunities for those who don’t.

“But we do hope that they all stay, and I went, we have, you know, 48-thousand open jobs posted on iowaworks.gov. So there are a lot of great jobs to be had,” Townsend says. “People think that jobs posted on iowaworks.gov are not great jobs. They are, they’re in every industry we have in Iowa. Townsend says the jobs are with some top companies in the state. “A lot of them are high wages, so there are a lot of great opportunities, and so college graduates should expect, if they haven’t already found a job, that they’re going to have a lot of opportunities once they actually start looking,” Townsend says.

Townsend says employers of all types are looking for qualified people to fill their open positions.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Davenport man was sentenced yesterday (Tuesday, May 20) to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. According to public court documents, Jason Douglas Ringold, 26, while on parole through the State of Iowa, was responsible for the distribution of more than ten pounds of methamphetamine and illegally possessing and selling firearms. Ringold conspired to distribute methamphetamine in the Quad Cities with co-conspirators, Rosston Tate, 40, and Kyle Ogden Antle, 23, both Quad Cities residents. After completing his term of imprisonment, Ringold will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

In December 2024, Tate received a 20-year sentence, followed by a five-year term of supervised release. In March 2025, Antle also received a 20-year prison sentence and a five-year term of supervised release. United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The case was investigated by the Davenport Police Department, Iowa Department of Public Safety—Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Rock Island Police Department, Scott County Sheriff’s Office, and Bettendorf Police Department.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

AMES, Iowa – May 21, 2025 – Life provides us endless learning opportunities, and traveling around our beautiful state can be quite educational, not to mention fun. To help you navigate Iowa’s highways and byways, one of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s most popular publications, the printed version of the 2025-2026 Iowa Transportation Map, is now available.

The 2025-2026 Iowa Transportation Map features a Monarch butterfly on the cover panel. Interstate 35 has been named the Monarch Highway to celebrate this iconic butterfly species and the migration route that it shares with motorists along the I-35 corridor. Seven bridges between Ankeny and Ames on I-35 are being rebuilt, and will feature a unique Monarch butterfly wing pattern designed into the brickwork to commemorate the role this pathway plays in nature.

You can pick up a copy of the 2025-2026 Iowa Transportation Map at Iowa DOT’s driver’s license service centers, county treasurer’s offices, all six Iowa DOT district offices, Iowa’s welcome centers, and the state’s rest areas.

An electronic version of the map is available to view, print and download at iowadot.gov/travel-tools/maps along with a mobile app version, and a link to order the map.

The Iowa Transportation Map shows all highways, airports, rail lines, lakes, rivers, and major county roads. Detail maps are shown for the state’s 16 largest cities that identify highways, major streets, and city boundaries. The map information also includes a chart to find mileage between select Iowa cities; and an index listing the cities shown on the map, along with their populations and map location.

Because the transportation system is always changing, the Iowa DOT makes several hundred changes to the map with each printing. While the map is printed every two years, the online and mobile app versions are updated annually.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Attorney, James L. Varley, today (Wednesday, May 21) issued a report on activities in the Iowa District Court for Page County, during the week of May 5, 2025:

Andrew William Berner, age 55, of Council Bluffs, appeared by counsel admitted to violating his probation and was found in contempt of court. Berner previously pled guilty to Forgery and received a Deferred Judgment. That Deferred Judgment was revoked, and Berner was sentenced to 5 years of incarceration and fined $1,025. Both the term of incarceration and the fine were suspended, and the Berner was placed on probation for 2 years. He was sentenced to 30 days in the Page County Jail for contempt and ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

Mary Irene Cook, age 63, of Council Bluffs, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Count I, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Methamphetamine 1st Offense; and Count II, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Marijuana, 1st Offense. Cook was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with all but 3 days suspended, on Count I and 2 days in jail on Count II. The sentences shall run concurrently with each other and Cook will be placed on probation for 9 months. She was fined $430 on each count, which was suspended, and ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

Page County Courthouse

Joseph Robert Luethje, age 49, of Clarinda, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Failing to Report a Violation of Iowa Code Section 719.7, Possessing Contraband. He was sentenced to 2 years of incarceration, which will run consecutively to his present term of incarceration. Luethje was fined $855, the fine was suspended, and he was ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

Nicholas Ryan Pruett, age 34, of Clarinda, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Criminal Mischief, 3rd Degree. Pruett was sentenced to 180 days of incarceration, with credit given for time served, and fined $855. The fine was suspended and he was ordered to pay court costs, surcharges, court-appointed attorney fees and restitution.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University Extension’s annual survey shows the first statewide decline in cash rental rates for farmland since 2019. Rental rates went up nine percent in 2023 and were stable last year. Ann Johanns, a program specialist with I-S-U Extension, says the average drop this year is eight dollars per acre. “I think it was probably what we were kind of expecting to see for 2025’s rents,” she says.
The survey does not seek information about cash rental rates for individual farms. Farm operators, landowners, realtors and professional farm managers are asked instead about cash rental rates for cropland in their counties. Cash rental rates for corn and soybean fields dropped in 68 out of Iowa’s 99 counties.

“Almost all the crop reporting districts were down slightly except for the southeast corner of the state,” Johanns says. “It’s kind of hovered around $250 an acre the last few years and it was up just a couple of dollars at $254 (an acre).” The biggest decrease was in south central Iowa, where rental rates for cropland fell nearly seven percent.

The statewide average rental price per acre for rented farm ground was 271 dollars this year. Landowners rent nearly six out of every 10 acres of cropland in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans are busy making their summer travel plans, which for some of us starts with the three-day Memorial Day weekend ahead. Triple-A-Iowa spokesman Brian Ortner says some Iowans are having to cut back on more lavish vacations this year in favor of shorter jaunts that are closer to home.  “We aren’t hitting the travel records, but the prediction is 3.7 million people from the West North Central region are going to travel 50 miles or more,” Ortner says. “That’s 116,000 more than last year, but it is 71,000 less than the overall record set back in 2005.” The region includes Iowa as well as Nebraska, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri and the Dakotas.

While most Iowans who will be getting away on Memorial Day will be driving or flying, but there are transportation alternatives.  “The one area where we do set a record — like we did last year — is in what’s classified as the ‘other’ modes of travel, and that would be like buses, trains, cruises and those sorts of things,” Ortner says, “with 375,000 folks from our region hitting those other types of travel.” Triple-A says the statewide average price for a gallon of gasoline during Memorial Day weekend last year was three-59 a gallon.

Prices today in Iowa are averaging two-93, or 66-cents a gallon cheaper. That’s part of the reason Ortner predicts a good summer travel season ahead. “Even despite economic uncertainty and global challenges, travel remains a priority for individuals all across the U.S.,” he says, “and it’s about making memories and taking advantage of those long weekends.”

The AAA survey shows Iowa’s cheapest gas is in Des Moines at $2.84 a gallon, while the most expensive pump prices are in Ames at $3.09.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – High-speed internet provider Kinetic is providing a free dinner to every member of the Greenfield community today, May 21st, as part of an event marking the one-year anniversary of the devastating tornado that destroyed a significant portion of the town. The $5,000 donation intends to bring comfort to those impacted by the storm and speaks to the company’s commitment to supporting Greenfield’s comeback story.  Kinetic is also donating $1,500 to Greenfield’s Tree Memorial Fund, which aims to replant trees lost in the tornado. The contribution will help the town—well known for its tree-lined streets before the storm—maintain its beloved landscape for residents and visitors.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is slated to be in Greenfield this afternoon, for a ceremony commemorating recovery from the May, 2024 tornado that devastated the community, and celebrating efforts since then, to recover and rebuild.

State Representative Ray Sorensen, a Republican from Greenfield, said he is “Grateful for Kinetic’s unwavering support for Greenfield; they stood by the community in its darkest hour, and they continue to show up every day for these residents while they work toward full recovery. Kinetic’s donations will help preserve the beauty of Greenfield and offer an opportunity for the entire community to come together to remember, grieve, acknowledge progress, and heal—on a day that will undoubtedly be challenging.”

In the aftermath of the tornado, Kinetic crews took immediate action to restore connectivity and a sense of normalcy for Greenfield residents and business owners. Kinetic also identified the need to ‘build back better,’ replacing the damaged, copper-based network infrastructure, with buried fiber to create a faster, stronger, and more weather-resilient network.  Kinetic invested $250,000—and more than 3,200 hours from May to November 2024—to rebuild the fiber-optic network, which delivers high-speed internet to 310 homes and businesses. In addition, Kinetic broke ground this week on Monday, May 19, to build out the remainder of its fiber network in Greenfield, investing another $400,000 to bring faster speeds to 610 more homes and businesses.

Construction has already started on the new build, and once completed, Greenfield is expected to have 99,100 feet (around 19 miles) of buried fiber. Covering the town, 920 homes and businesses will have access to critical high-speed broadband fiber internet to support their daily needs, today and many years to come.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – The family of a Sioux City man who died after an EMT allegedly injected him with the wrong drug is suing the city and its emergency medical providers. The family of the late James Joseph Foster Jr. is suing the City of Sioux City, Sioux City Fire and Rescue, the Sioux City Police Department and 10 of their employees in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

The lawsuit claims that in the early hours of Aug. 18, 2023, a Sioux City police officer responded to a call about Foster, who was sitting or lying along the curb of a deserted residential street. Foster told the responding officer he had injured his arm, and eventually eight people from the police department and Sioux City Fire and Rescue responded.

According to the lawsuit, the 26-year-old Foster “never posed any threat” to the responders and was instead acting disoriented and fearful, repeatedly moving away from them. At one point, paramedic Deanna LaMere allegedly decided the situation called for the use of a chemical restraint in the form of the incapacitating drug ketamine. With the assistance of other responders, Foster was “held down and injected against his will,” the lawsuit claims. “However, instead of injecting him with ketamine, LaMere injected him with a lethal dose of the paralytic medication rocuronium,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit claims body-cam footage shows Foster soon was gasping for air. Minutes later, Foster lay motionless with his eyes open. In an ambulance en route to a hospital, Foster’s heart stopped and LaMere allegedly called ahead and falsely reported Foster had been given a dose of ketamine.

Foster died two days later, allegedly from an anoxic brain injury due to the administration of rocuronium, according to the lawsuit, whicht claims LaMere falsely recorded in an incident report that she had conducted an advanced life support assessment of Foster when she arrived on scene, although body-cam footage reportedly shows that this was never done. LaMere also is alleged to have falsely recorded that she and her EMT partner had verified the correct dose of the injection administered to Foster,

The lawsuit seeks compensation for past and future economic losses and funeral and medical expenses, plus punitive damages. The city has yet to file a response to the allegations, and a representative of the city’s legal department declined on Tuesday to comment on the case.

Separate from the civil lawsuit, court records show that on Jan. 16, 2025, LaMere was criminally charged with involuntary manslaughter and that she entered a not-guilty plea on Feb. 3, 2025. A pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for July 18, 2025.

State records indicate LaMere’s paramedic license with the Iowa Bureau of Emergency Medical and Trauma Services is in good standing, with no history of public disciplinary action, and that it expires in March 2027.