(Radio Iowa) – Iowans have seen radical temperature swings lately, with highs in the 80s followed by snowfall days later, but one outlet predicts the summer ahead will be stuck on one setting: steamy. Sandi Duncan, editor of the Farmer’s Almanac, warns Iowans had better stock up on sunscreen. “I hope you’re ready for some heat, because the heat is on for this summer, and in fact, we do think there’s going to be some possible record breakers,” Duncan says. “It does look like it’s going to be a very warm summer for you guys, so be prepared.” Since 1818, the almanac has been using a proprietary formula to forecast the weather, based on historical and celestial factors. Duncan says Iowa’s long-running bouts with drought will likely return this summer.

“Looking ahead, the Farmer’s Almanac is saying this should be about average on rainfall, so that’s good, not too wet, not too dry,” Duncan says, “however, with the very hot temperatures, you can imagine that you might have to do some supplemental watering for your garden or for your irrigation systems, because it’s going to be a hot one for sure.” The almanac predicts thunderstorms for the 4th of July in Iowa this year, and she suggests making plans either for the next day or to be indoors. Duncan says Iowa will be far from alone in trying to beat the summer heat.

“As we do, the long-range weather forecast does look like it’s going to be quite hot in almost every area,” Duncan says. “We are seeing some very dry conditions out in the California area, which is kind of concerning with all the wildfires that happen out there.” Last year, Des Moines saw 27 days with temperatures at or above 90 degrees, with the highest temperature of 99 degrees set last August 26th. The Lewiston, Maine-based almanac boasts a forecast accuracy rate of 80% to 85%. The prognosticating formula was developed more than two centuries ago, based on factors including sunspot activity, planet positions, and the effect the Moon has on the Earth.

Besides long-term weather predictions, the Farmers’ Almanac also contains a wealth of information on gardening, cooking, home remedies, folklore, managing your household, living in harmony with nature, and more.

On the web at: https://www.farmersalmanac.com/

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two arrests took place Wednesday night.  49-year-old Elizabeth Lea Reents, of Creston, was arrested at around 11:05-p.m., for Driving While Suspended. She was cited and released at the scene on a promise to appear (in court).

And, at around 11:45-p.m., Wednesday, 51-year-old Amy Stiner, of Clearfield, was arrested for Driving While Suspended. She was also cited and released on a promise to appear.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a man from Boone was sentenced last week (March 28) to five years in federal prison for attempted transfer of obscene material to a person he believed to be a minor.

According to public court documents, 40-year-old Travis Lee Morgan used a Facebook account to communicate with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old female, but was instead a law enforcement officer. Between June and August 2023, Morgan sent numerous videos and images to the female, including images of his genitals and himself engaged in a sex act, and discussed in-person sex acts Morgan desired to occur with the minor female.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Morgan will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by the FBI Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force, the Altoona Police Department, and the Iowa Department of Public Safety-Division of Criminal Investigation-Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, with assistance from the Boone Police Department and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

(Neola, Iowa) – Iowa State University Extension and Outreach officials have announced Youth Mental Health First Aid training will be held Thursday, April 17, 2025, at Tri-Center High School. The event is open to the public. Danielle Day, Human Sciences Educator, says “Research from the National Alliance for Mental Illness shows that 1 in 5 teens and young adults lives with a mental health condition. Additionally, over 64% of youth living with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment according to recent data from Mental Health America.”

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has responded to these alarming statistics by offering Youth Mental Health First Aid. This program provides adults with tools they can use to identify when a youth (ages 6-18) in their life might be struggling with a mental health and/or substance use problem. Participants also will learn how to connect youth to appropriate support and resources when necessary. A five-step action plan will be taught to guide participants through the process of reaching out and offering appropriate support.

Everyone can benefit from taking a Youth Mental Health First Aid course; including paramedics, social workers, coaches, school counselors, youth faith leaders, teachers, 4-H Leaders, parents, siblings and other community members. “Learning more about mental health can help reduce the stigma associated with seeking appropriate professional help. When we can recognize signs of trouble, we can help people get the assistance they need,” said Day.

ISU Extension and Outreach will offer Youth Mental Health First Aid on April 17th from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Tri-Center High School, Neola, Iowa. Private classes for groups of 15-30 participants are also available to be scheduled. The program is available to the public at no cost thanks to funding provided by a Project Recovery Iowa grant for the Presidentially declared FEMA disaster counties.

For more information, contact Danielle Day at daday@iastate.edu or call 641-229-6563. Class size is limited so register today at https://go.iastate.edu/WUNTSM. Registration closes April 4^th, 2025.

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, is launching a Campus Master Plan, a visionary initiative to enhance our 35-acre campus, celebrate Danish-American heritage, and create a more engaging visitor experience. In collaboration with Seelman Landscape Architecture and Jensen Ecology, this project will blend history, community, and ecology in a way that invites deeper connections and exploration.

• An online survey (approx. 10 minutes) to gather feedback.
• In-person focus groups on April 10, where community members can discuss ideas and priorities for the museum’s future.

More details, including links to the survey and focus group sign-ups, can be found at danishmuseum.org/campus-master-plan.

(Radio Iowa) – Staff members from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are running the roads at night in all 99 counties this month, shining spotlights out both sides of their vehicles as they search for creatures from otters to badgers. Jace Elliott, a deer biologist with the D-N-R, says this annual Springtime Spotlight Survey is one of the agency’s largest and most comprehensive efforts that provides valuable information on about a dozen species. “It’s a nocturnal survey where staff in every county of the state run two 25-mile transects with spotlights and note any mammals,” Elliott says, “both furbearers and deer that are spotted along the way.” The surveys start about an hour after sunset, preferably on nights with low wind, high humidity and above-freezing temperatures.

Elliott says the routes cover different habitats — from river bottoms to farm fields, prairies, woodlots, pastures and timber stands — and they’re seeking out critters of all kinds. “Very common species like deer, raccoons, possums, skunks, those are typical to detect in any county,” Elliott says, “but then there are also some more rare or elusive species, like bobcats, mink. There’s about a dozen wildlife species, everything from deer to house cats.” Keeping the routes and conditions consistent provides more reliable data, he says, and it offers an important index of observations about a variety of Iowa’s animal populations.

“We’re running only 50 miles in a county, which is a big effort, but we still can only hope to see approximately 5% of the landscape,” Elliott says. “The numbers that we track every year are, of course, not a census, but they reflect a trend. If we were to detect less deer year after year in a certain county, then we can infer that that population is declining.” The survey was started in the 1970s as a way to collect information on the raccoon population, but it’s been greatly expanded. The results will be posted this summer on the Iowa DNR’s website.

https://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/Population-Harvest-Trends

(Iowa News Service) – Iowa is the nation’s leader in wind energy production but one of the biggest factors in pursuing alternative energy now hangs in the balance. More than half of Iowa’s electricity comes from wind power. The Iowa Environmental Council estimates the state saves at least $500 million a year by using wind. Congress is considering repealing the technology-neutral electricity tax credit which puts incentives to use green fuel in danger.

Dan O’Brien, senior modeling analyst at the think tank Energy Innovation, said a reduction in wind power would hurt not just households but Iowa farmers, too.

“In the Midwest, over 90% of wind turbines are sited on crop land because farmers use these
renewables, as often called drought proof cash crops,” O’Brien explained. “They bring in money for farmers, even outside of harvest season when it doesn’t rain enough, when the cost of labor goes up.”

One report said repealing the energy tax credits would increase Iowans’ household energy prices by as much as 3% as soon as next year, which could translate into an average annual hike of at least $460 over a decade.

National Economic Research Associates said energy prices are already projected to rise 7% this year, the result of climate change, an overreliance on fossil fuels and rising transmission costs. O’Brien stressed anti-alternative energy legislation would send them still higher. “If you don’t have sources like solar batteries, wind on the grid that can push down electricity prices and that are supported by incentives, like the tax credits, you’re going to see business costs go up,” O’Brien contended.

Nationwide, overall energy costs increased 22% between 2018 and 2023. The Trump administration said it is trying to reign in federal spending.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says President Trump is using tariffs as leverage to force trading partners to the negotiating table. Reynolds issued a written statement after Trump revealed a slate of tariffs on Wednesday afternoon. Reynolds said her job, as governor, is to protect Iowans and Reynolds said she’s working directly with the administration to ease the short-term impact, keep the ag economy strong, and open the door to new export opportunities.

Reynolds said Trump’s tariffs will put America’s farmers first and she accused the Biden Administration of consistently ignoring the needs of Iowa farmers. Brooke Rollins, Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture, was in Iowa earlier this week. Rollins said she was planning a series of payments to farmers to make up for trade-related losses.

This past Monday, Rollins told Iowa reporters the government does not have as much money as it had for during Trump’s first term as president for farmers who’ll take a financial hit due to tariffs. A few hours after Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday, four Republicans in the U-S Senate joined Democrats to pass a resolution to end new tariffs on Canada. Trump had been urging his fellow Republicans to reject the bill and Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst voted against it.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says the Republicans who represent Iowa congress are either inept or too afraid to fight a president who’s more focused on tariffs than on lowering prices.

(Radio Iowa) – A Senate committee has overhauled a wide-ranging bill that key House members said would — in their words — “clean up the mess” the Iowa Utilities Commission created by granting a pipeline permit to Summit Carbon Solutions. Republican Senator Mike Bousselot of Ankeny has proposed a 34-page alternative and it got support from the other Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee.

“House legislation over the past few years has discriminated by project type, creating protected classes of landowners,” Bousselot said. “or it was simply intended to attack a particular project.” The bill is now eligible for debate in the full Senate, which has never considered any pipeline-related bill since Summit’s project was first proposed in 2022. This year’s original House bill would have set a 25 year limit on the operation of a carbon pipeline. Bousselot gets rid of that limitation and, instead, sets some standards for any type of pipeline, transmission line project or structures to generate power proposed since last year.

“I believe it is important that we pass legislation protecting all landowners, not just those impacted by a certain pipeline project by taking into account all potential future contingencies,” Bousselot said. Former Congressman Steve King of Kiron  was at the Iowa Capitol yesterday (Wednesday), urging senators to stop Summit’s carbon capture project.  “This is dangerous material. We don’t have regulations for it,” King said. “…People are at risk here.” Kim Junker, a Butler County farmer, expressed her frustration during a Senate subcommittee hearing.

“My husband and I are registered Republicans and frankly I’m sick and tired of the games the Republicans have been playing with our lives, our livelihoods, our business, our property and our legacy,” she said. “You guys work for us, your constituents, not just your big donors.”

Bousselot’s plan says the Iowa Utilities Commission would have to decide within a year if a project qualifies for eminent domain.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic’s Mayor and Councilman Mike McDermott sparred over an item on the City Council’s agenda this (Wednesday) evening, with regard to an amendment to an agenda item that only called for discussion and an order regarding a Letter Of Intent (LOI) and Financial Commitment, for Vision Atlantic. The LOI pertained to the proposed improvements to the YMCA, the building for which is owned by the City of Atlantic.

McDermott called for the amendment to add action on passing a Resolution that the Mayor and members of the Council had only received prior to the meeting.

Mayor Garrett said she would not approve adding an amendment for a Resolution, based on legal advice from the City’s Attorney, and because each member of the Council who approve the amendment to the agenda without the appropriate 24-hour public notice, could be fined $2,500.

McDermott said he spoke with the City Attorney, and was told an entirely different legal version on the procedure to add an amendment.

After considerable back-and-forth discussion that lasted about 30-minutes, the Council passed a motion Ordering the LOI only. Vision Atlantic President Christina Bateman then implored the Council to take action on a Resolution of Support approving a commitment for the $2.5-million YMCA project prior to April 16th, even calling for a Special Meeting to keep the process moving forward, because of a requirement by the Charles E. Lakin Foundation for a large grant.

She said an LOI is not enough to move forward.

No action was taken by the Council on setting a date for action on the Resolution, because of the aforementioned, needed, legal review. In other business, the City Council approved a low bid from Omni Engineering (out of Omaha), for the 2025 downtown street improvements. City Engineer Dave Sturm said he was very pleased the bid came in at slightly more than $1.07-million, when the projected cost estimated was nearly $2.2-million.

Sturm said there were five bids for the project. Start and completion dates for the project have not yet been set, because the bid was not approved until tonight’s (Wednesday night’s) meeting. The Council approve a 2025 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Atlantic YMCA, with regard to management of the Sunnyside Pool. There were no financial changes to the agreement.