(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.

(RI file photo)

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.

(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.”