(Washington, D.C. –  The Congressional Medal of Honor Society on Thursday, announced that Perry Principal Dan Marburger will be posthumously awarded the Citizen Honors Award by Medal of Honor Recipients. A panel of Medal of Honor Recipients reviewed nominations from around the country and chose five individuals and one non-profit organization to receive the Citizen Honors Award, an award given to those who exemplify the ideals of the Medal of Honor — courage, sacrifice, integrity, commitment, citizenship, and patriotism.  Perry Principal Dan Marburger was one of the five selected to receive the award for his brave and selfless actions during the January 4, 2024 shooting at Perry High School that resulted in the death of himself and sixth-grade student Ahmir Jolliff.

Congressional Medal of Honor

The CMH Society says in honoring Marburger with a Single Act of Heroism Award, “Principal Dan Marburger demonstrated extraordinary heroism during the tragic shooting at Perry High School on January 4, 2024, when a student opened fire inside the school. Marburger selflessly confronted the shooter in the hallway, putting himself in harm’s way to protect others. Despite being shot, he continued engaging with the shooter, enabling students and staff to evacuate to safety. Marburger was struck four times during this brave intervention and managed to walk to safety, but ultimately lost his life due to his injuries. His courageous actions exemplified the highest level of dedication to protecting his students and staff, making the ultimate sacrifice in service of others.”

The award ceremony will take place in Arlington, Virginia on March 25th.

(Radio Iowa) – The leaders of a central Iowa company that makes chambers for laboratory research are being named Iowa’s Small Business Persons of the Year by the U-S Small Business Administration. Joni Campidilli is a vice president at Percival Scientific, which employs 86 people in the Dallas County town of Perry. “We build environmental chambers for lots of different research needs,” Campidilli says. “For instance, we build chambers for plant growth. We build chambers for insect research. We build chambers for really anything a researcher might want to test an environment with.” The smallest chamber, or benchtop, is about the size of a small refrigerator and they can be as large as walk-in rooms. Percival Scientific built the chambers in the butterfly house where the fragile creatures emerge at Rieman Gardens at Iowa State University.

An example of one of the chambers the company builds (Percival Scientific photo)

The company has evolved dramatically over the decades, as it opened 135 years ago in Des Moines with a focus on selling butcher tools and animal hides. “They transferred into a more of a refrigeration company, and then they moved to Boone, Iowa,” Campidilli says. “That is where really our current business began in the 1950s we began doing this work, really at the request of Iowa State University. They asked us to build the first plant growth chamber, so that’s where the business started in this direction.” Now, more than 150 different models of the company’s research chambers are being used in all 50 states and in more than 79 countries worldwide. Campidilli was asked what she thinks helped to set Percival Scientific aside for this statewide recognition. “We are a very unique, niche company in the state of Iowa that does just some fascinating, neat things,” Campidilli says, “and I think that we promote the workforce and the employment in our area, in our community, and yet we’re still a global, international company that does a lot of business internationally.”

As Iowa’s Small Business Persons of the Year, Campidilli and her colleagues (president and CEO Jake Oakland and V-P of Sales Jamie Jackson) will represent Iowa at National Small Business Week in Washington D-C in May. They’ll be in the running for National Small Business Persons of the Year.

(Des Moines, Iowa/Iowa Capital Dispatch) -Iowans gathered at the Iowa Capitol Thursday to celebrate the parks, trails and outdoor spaces across the state. The gathering was also intended to serve as a reminder to lawmakers that Iowans care about the outdoors and about preserving access to trails and public lands. Joe McGovern, president of Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, encouraged attendees to think of the creek, park trail or family farm that was special to them and to bring those feelings into the crowded rotunda. Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, said the outdoors gives Iowans a sense of commonality, which he said is “sometimes sorely missing” at the State Capitol. Baeth said the outdoors can’t be taken for granted, and pointed at urban sprawl as a major contributor to Iowa’s loss of prairie, wetland and forest habitats. He encouraged attendees to remind legislators that the outdoors are a “top priority” for Iowans.

Adam Shirley, CEO of Iowa’s County Conservation System, said outdoor recreation is Iowa’s top source of tourism and accounts for $8 billion annually in economic output, according to a recent study. Shirley said state, county and city parks alone account for $3 billion of that, which is a big increase since the last time his organization did a study in 2012 and found parks had an economic output of less than $1 billion. Shirley said the study, which is not yet published, also found the trails, lakes and conservation sites create positive environmental impacts and health outcomes for Iowans. Luke Hoffman, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, said cycling and trails in Iowa have an economic impact that is on par with that of the top 50 industries for the state. This comes from a study published in January that found biking and trails have a $1.4 billion impact in the state.

Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, said at every town hall, or community event he has done in the 10 years as a lawmaker, someone brings up the need to fund the natural resources and outdoor recreation trust fund. The trust was established in 2010 via a constitutional amendment that had more than 60% approval at the ballot box, to fund parks, trails, water resources, conservation efforts and natural areas in the state. The trust, however, has not had any allocations or withdrawals to date. “The people spoke overwhelmingly, and we need to get this done,” Kaufmann said.

Iowans gathered for Celebrate Iowa’s Outdoors Day to champion outdoor recreation in Iowa. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said he tries to think of tax policy, as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, not just in terms of dollars and cents, but also to make a better state. “If we’re going to have a state that’s going to grow … and keep people in here and have generational families continue to be here in Iowa, we have to find some of those place making opportunities as well,” Dawson said.

The senator said he and his colleagues need to find a “tax pathway” to do what Iowans have asked them to do. The state would have to raise its sales tax rate by three-eighths of a cent to fund the trust, but Iowa has not increased sales tax rates since 2008.

Earlier this session, senators introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal the natural resources trust fund and replace it with one that would provide property tax relief. Senate Joint Resolution 6 did not advance beyond its subcommittee hearing ahead of the legislative funnel deadline.

Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, said Iowans consistently show up to make their voices heard when legislation threatens the trust fund, or the acquisition of public lands.

Senators advanced Senate File 553 to would restrict the Department of Natural Resources’ ability to purchase land and grow the amount of public land in Iowa. Trone Garriott opposed the bill in committee, because she said constituents had flooded her inbox with messages on the importance of public lands. Trone Garriott said Iowa policy and budgets need to reflect the values and priorities of Iowans.

(Creston, Iowa) – Two people were arrested on drug charges early this (Friday) morning, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, 25-year-old Jacob Steven Hilts and 20-year-old Owen Harley Davis, both of Creston, were arrested at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center at around 1:30-a.m.  Both were charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana-1st Offense. Hilts and Davis later posted $1,000 bonds each, and were released.

And, at around 1:40-p.m. Thursday, Creston Police arrested 45-year-old Juliann Marquis Edsall, of Creston, for Failure to Appear (in court). Edsall was taken to Union County Jail and then transferred to Guthrie County Jail. Bail is set in the amount of $2000 cash only.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KETV)— A former Council Bluffs firefighter pleaded guilty to embezzling tens of thousands of dollars over the last decade from the city’s fire union. KETV in Omaha reports in an agreement with prosecutors, former union treasurer John Pier pleaded guilty to the theft. Pier will serve two years probation and pay restitution to the union.

The union president spoke in court, saying Pier betrayed public trust and should have received stronger punishment. The judge told Pier if he violates probation, he could spend 10 years in prison.

Pier has already paid over $90,000 back to the union.

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – A crash involving a wrong-way vehicle on Interstate 29 early Thursday morning in Sioux City, left one person dead and another injured. KTIV in Sioux City reports the accident happened at around 5:30-a.m., in the southbound lanes of I-29 near the exit for Hamilton Boulevard. According to Sioux City Police, a Toyota Rav 4, driven by a 58-year-old man from Sioux City, was driving in the wrong direction on I-29 when it collided with a Honda Accord traveling in the southbound lanes, driven by a 39-year-old female from Centerville, South Dakota.

The male driver of the wrong-way vehicle died at the scene. The female driver of the other vehicle was taken to a local hospital with what police described as “significant” injuries. Her current condition is not known at this time. The names of the two involved are not being released and the accident remains under investigation.

The southbound lanes of traffic were closed for over two hours Thursday with traffic rerouted around the crash.

(Radio Iowa) – The blizzard this week saw thousands of people left without electricity and trigger a big response from the state’s largest utility company. MidAmerican spokesman Geoff Greenwood says they had some 97 utility crews and another 61 tree crews who responded. “When we have such a large response, it’s kind of an orchestra, and we do have a conductor who is overseeing all of the operations, but then we have people in the field as well who are coordinating with our control center,” Greenwood says. He says they also have field coordinators who help get crews in place. “Making sure that they’re at the right location, making sure that lines are not energized so we can work safely on those lines, and then making sure that they’ve got the right equipment and personnel,” he says. “And then once we get that repair, we coordinate back with the control room to let them know that circuit is okay to turn back on again, and then that’s what the control room coordinates as well.”

Greenwood says the crews work long hours in tough situations, so it’s important to get them in the right place. “We are also making sure that they are getting breaks and that they’re getting food water and rest and just making sure that everybody is working safely and is okay,” he says. Greenwood says they brought in several crews from other states to help with this response.

Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative Facebook page photo (3-20-25)

“In situations where we have crews coming in from outside of our service area, we are making sure that they are briefed on the situation, that they know where to go and what needs to be assessed and repaired, and then we’re making sure that they have adequate food and water resources and that they’ve also got a place to sleep,” Greenwood says.

He says crews from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska, and Wisconsin came to Iowa to help with this storm.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The case of a Pottawattamie County man charged connection with the death of a woman struck by a UTV, will head to trial in mid-May.  As previously reported, 83-year-old Sandra Madron, of Oakland, was struck by a UTV that was operating on a sidewalk in Oakland, at around 4:30-p.m. on Dec. 26, 2024.  An investigation determined 84-year-old Gene Fritz, of Oakland, was heading home from a bar after having a couple of beers, and authorities say as was often the case for him, he drove on the sidewalk because, as he explained to Deputies, he can’t see well. Fritz said also, he “drives very slow.” He acknowledged he didn’t see Madron until his UTV struck her. He told authorities “she must have been wearing dark clothing.

Deputies found the woman laying on her left side, with a member of the Oakland Rescue Squad providing assistance at the scene. She died from her injuries at Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs.

Deputies conducted a traffic investigation and asked Fritz to undergo field sobriety tests due to his admission of drinking alcohol and being involved in the accident. Fritz complied with the tests and a preliminary breath test (PBT). His daughter-in-law told KJAN that Mr. Fritz passed both tests (That information was not included in the Sheriff’s report or any subsequent updates).

Deputies also discovered that Fritz did not have a valid driver’s license and that the UTV was not registered for roadway use. Fritz was released to his son, while the UTV was impounded. He was  charged last month with Homicide by Vehicle/Reckless Driving. Fritz posted a $10,000 bond and was released.

His jury trial is set to begin May 13th at 9:30-a.m.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report a man was arrested on drug charges Thursday night. Authorities say 18-year-old Isaac Allen Johnson, of Red Oak, was taken into custody around 8:15-p.m. in the 2400 block of N. 8th Street, on charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana-1st offense – A Serious Misdemeanor, and Possession  of Drug Paraphernalia – A Simple Misdemeanor. Johnson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) -Governor Kim Reynolds was at the White House Thursday as President Trump signed an executive order calling for the U.S. Department of Education to be dismantled. Reynolds called the event “historic” and she posted a message on social media thanking Trump for his leadership and commitment to education freedom.

Reynolds also wrote an opinion piece for a Washington, D.C. publication called The Hill. She announced Iowa is the first state to submit a plan to have federal education dollars delivered as a block grant. Reynolds said state officials would be able to tie federal block grant funding to student outcomes. The money’s currently divided among nine programs. Reynolds says it amounts to small dollar investments that fail to move the needle for Iowa students or teachers.

The president of the Iowa State Education Association says the U-S Department of Education was created to ensure every student has access to education and the agency’s demise puts students at risk. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart says the executive order puts rural schools and special education programs at risk.