(Des Moines, Iowa) – This holiday weekend, 13 beaches in Iowa have advisories posted with regard to swimming. (More information can be found HERE) Beaches are updated each Friday with advisories Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

The Iowa DNR’s State Park Beach Monitoring Program indicated the following:

10 Beaches with an E. coli Advisory:
Backbone Beach (Dundee, Delaware County, IA)* 
Beed’s Lake Beach (Hampton, Franklin County, IA)* 
Denison Beach (Black Hawk Lake, Lake View, Sac County, IA)*
Lake Darling Beach (Brighton, Washington County, IA)*
Lake Manawa Beach (Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, IA)* 
Lewis and Clark Beach (Blue Lake, Onawa, Monona County, IA)* 
Lower Pine Lake Beach (Eldora, Hardin County, IA)* 
Nine Eagles Beach (Davis City, Decatur County, IA)* 
North Twin Lake West Beach (Rockwell City, Calhoun County, IA)*
Prairie Rose Beach (Harlan, Shelby County, IA)* 

3 Beaches with a Microcystin Advisory
Green Valley Beach (Creston, Union County, IA)*
Lake Darling Beach (Brighton, Washington County, IA)*
McIntosh Woods Beach (Clear Lake, Ventura, Cerro Gordo County, IA)*

3 City and County Beaches exceed the state’s advisory threshold for E. coli.*
(City and County beaches do not report levels of algal toxins) 
View the map on our website to see where.

*Data from the Iowa DNR State Park Beach Monitoring Program
**Data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District

Note: Monitoring has been suspended at Lake Keomah due to renovation activities. George Wyth Park is closed due to flooding.

 No advisories
 E. coli advisory
 Microcystin advisory
 E. coli and microcystin advisories
 Exceeds state advisory threshold for E. coli (what does this mean?)
 Beach closed

(Radio Iowa) – Des Moines Police say a man driving a classic car hit a police patrol car nearly head on early this (Friday) morning and drove away. Des Moines Police says they found the vehicle and the driver about three minutes after the patrol car was hit.

The officer and the driver of the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air had minor injuries. Sixty-two-year-old Daniel Thornburg of Des Moines has been charged with first offense drunk driving, improper lane use and leaving the scene of the accident.

Des Moines PD Facebook page photos

(Radio Iowa) – The Figge Art Museum in Davenport is one of just ten museums chosen to receive historic works from the National Gallery of Art’s permanent collection. Co-Senior Curator Vanessa Sage says the exhibition includes major Northern European works that are typically reserved for cities like New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

The loaned works are part of the gallery’s two-year “Across the Nation” initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Sage says the paintings date from 1537 to 1700. The exhibition will be on display through April of 2027.

(Radio Iowa) – Nearly 150 workers at two Marshalltown facilities are facing lay offs. On August 1st, 62 workers at the Lennox factory will lose their jobs. Lennox is Marshalltown’s third largest employer.

A spokesperson for the company told the Marshalltown Times-Republican newspaper that Lennox has transitioned to new regulations requiring chemicals used in air conditioning to have a low Global Warming Potential score and the company has adjusted production to normalize its inventory. FedEx has also notified state officials it will be laying off 84 workers at its Marshalltown facility on September 1st. A

spokesperson for the company says those workers were notified of the layoffs several months ago.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – An investigation in Montgomery County resulted in the arrest on Thursday, of a man from Stanton. According to Red Oak Police,  43-year-old Jason James Suggs, of Stanton, was arrested Thursday afternoon on 11 counts of possessing a depiction of a minor in a sex act–1st offense.

He was taken into custody at around 3:30-p.m, in the 2700 block of 220th Street, as the result of a joint investigation between Red Oak Police and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Suggs was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $55,000 bond.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is in the middle of its annual Canada goose banding effort across the state.

Geese that nested and had young are currently flightless, allowing staff and volunteers to capture the waterfowl, collect some demographic information, and place a metal band on their leg before being released.

“This is one of the best sources of information on Canada geese – it allows us to monitor where the birds are captured, where they are recovered, either by hunter or by the general public who can report the band, which provides important estimates for demographic rates, such as survival rates, recovery rates – and that’s really the fine scale information that allows us to manage the population,” said Orrin Jones, state waterfowl biologist with the Iowa DNR.

To learn more about the Canada goose banding project, go to the DNR’s YouTube channel

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for help with the annual wild turkey production survey.  During the months of July and August wild turkey sightings are recorded to estimate this year’s nesting rates and nest success.

Participation is easy – just note the date and county in which the turkey was seen, if it was an adult female or adult male – males have beards on their breast – and if and how many poults (baby turkeys) were present. The survey is available online at www.iowadnr.gov/turkey, then click on Wild Turkey Survey. There is also an identification guide on documenting wild turkey broods on the survey webpage, that provides tips on how to determine males from females, and different flock scenarios with poults of different ages.

Annual population surveys conducted by the DNR are an important component of managing the wild turkey. Turkey populations can fluctuate annually across all regions of the state.  All participation is appreciated.

(Radio Iowa) – As Iowans head off for Independence Day picnics and potlucks, an expert on food-borne pathogens offers a few reminders so everyone can enjoy the delicious dishes and avoid a trip to the ER. Michael Pentella, an epidemiology professor and director of the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa, says it’s important to control food temperatures and to only bring out items from the refrigerator or cooler when it’s time to eat.

“You don’t want to leave it out there too long and give the bacteria time to multiply,” Pentella says. “It’s really important to keep cold food cold and hot food hot.” When grilling out, he recommends using a meat thermometer to make certain the pork, beef or chicken is being properly cooked to eliminate diseases like salmonella and E-coli.

“In the food prep stage, cross-contamination between foods that you’re going to cook and foods that you’re going to eat uncooked can occur,” Pentella says, “and washing your hands between touching the two are really important as well, and not using the same utensils, like the same knives.”

After the meal is over, before you head off to the lake or to play volleyball, be sure to put leftovers in the fridge or cooler as soon as possible to prevent bacterial growth. “When you transport food, it’s also important to transport at the right temperatures,” Pentella says, “so if you’re going to be taking food that should be kept cold from the refrigerator, it’s in another site, keep it cold during the transport.”

Lastly, he suggests checking the FDA website to insure nothing that’s on the menu or on your table has been subject of a recall or alert.

(Radio Iowa) – An eye doctor who serves northeast Iowa dreads being on call during the Fourth of July weekend, as she says there’s always a case of someone being blinded by fireworks. Dr. Anna Kitzmann, an ophthalmologist at the Emplify Health by Gundersen Clinic in Decorah, says fireworks can cause devastating injuries to the hands, face and especially to the eyes.

While manufacturers of fireworks recommend the use of hearing and eye protection before lighting the fuse, Kitzmann says she’d go a big step further.

Some items being sold in the big tents for Independence Day don’t go bang, and they’re considered fine for kids, but Kitzmann disagrees.

State health officials say the number of fireworks injuries in Iowa has more than doubled since fireworks were legalized for sale here in 2017, with many more children being hurt and more people needing amputation.

(Radio Iowa) – Meals from the Heartland passed the one million mark for meals distributed to Iowa food banks and pantries on June 1st, which beat the record total of 952-thousand meals for all of 2024. Marketing Manager Daniel Rieck says it’s good that they can produce that many meals, but sobering that they need to.

Rieck says higher food prices have driven the increased need. They get a big start on packaging meals in January and she says things tend to slow down in the summer.

The Hunger Fight is October 6th through the 11th and they have some four-thousand volunteers who help package two million meals.

A meal packaging event. (Meals from the Heartland photo)

Those meals go out internationally. The meals they make for Iowa are called the Taco Mac meal, with macaroni noodles, soy protein, taco seasoning and cheese inside the bag.

Rieck says the finished meal is similar to Hamburger Helper. The meals they send internationally are called hearty pack.

To learn more about the organization of find out how you can volunteer, go to mealsfromtheheartland.org.