Iowans who have a child, born between 1993 and 2009, are being encouraged to replace their wallet-sized birth certificate issued to newborns in the state during that time period. Melissa Bird, with the Iowa Department of Public Health, says the smaller cards are missing vital information that make them useless for various identification purposes.

“The issues that we’ve seen, coming out of that period of time, include the Department of State not being able to accept these types of cards for passport purposes and the Department of Transportation has issues with these cards because they lack identifying information,” Bird says.

Parents of many children have already exchanged the wallet-sized certificates, but the Iowa Department of Public Health is now offering the exchange at no charge. Bird says over 634,000 people were born in Iowa between May of 1993 and October 2009, when these smaller birth certificates were issued.

Iowans who were born in the state during that time period can get a new birth certificate for free, but must surrender the old wallet-sized card. “In exchange, at no cost to the customer, we will provide an 8-1/2 by 11, letter-sized, certified copy of that birth certificate,” Bird says.

The application can be filed online through the Iowa Department of Public Health’s website. Bird says, due to the volume of requests, it may to 4 to 6 weeks to process each application. Iowans can also make the exchange through their local county recorder’s office or the newborn birth cards may also be exchanged by mail or in person with the Bureau of Health Statistics, 321 E. 12th St., Lucas State Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319.

(Radio Iowa)

Forecast snowy weather has prompted the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency to reduced the field/grassland Fire Danger category to “Low,” from now through Monday, when the next update will be available. Earlier this week, dry and windy conditions, as well as numerous recent grass and brush fires in Shelby County, had resulted in the Fire Danger being elevated to High.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State University President Steven Leath will not be charged over allegations that he used school airplanes for personal benefit. The Division of Criminal Investigation said Wednesday that Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds declined to charge Leath Feb. 3 after determining “there was no probable cause to substantiate a violation of Iowa law.”

The six-week investigation focused on whether Leath violated a law barring the use of state assets for any private purpose or personal gain. A DCI summary says agents interviewed “many people” and analyzed records. It began after a Board of Regents audit in December found Leath used university planes for medical appointments in Minnesota, personal flight lessons and trips to his North Carolina home. He’s now reimbursed the university for those flights.

Earlier Wednesday, regents took no action against Leath after an audit found he may have violated policy by storing and transporting guns without written approval.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a warrant was issued Wednesday for the arrest of a Cass County man in connection with ongoing harassment. Authorities say 64-year old Duane Edwin Myers is wanted for Harassment by Communication/Intimidation, after deputies were called to a home on Contrail Avenue in Griswold, just before 9-p.m. Wednesday. The father of an 18-year old female advised deputies his daughter was just harassed by their neighbor, identified as Myers, and that the problem is an ongoing issue.

And, a Des Moines woman was cited Wednesday afternoon for Possession of a Controlled Substance (Nearly 50 grams of marijuana), following a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in Pottawattamie County, near mile marker 10. After the 2016 Chevy Suburban was pulled over for speeding at around 12:45-p.m., a probable cause search was conducted, and the driver, identified as 29-year old Katren Elizabeth Anne Delger, was cited and then released from the scene.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

MANLY, Iowa (AP) – A woman has been accused of stealing more than $9,300 from a northern Iowa high school athletics booster club when she was treasurer. Online court records say 37-year-old Autumn Dillavou is charged with theft. Authorities say she took the money from the Central Springs High School Athletic Booster Club in Manly from May through December 2016.

The Creston Police Department reports 40-year old Teresa Earley, of Creston, was arrested at around 5:50-p.m., Wednesday, for Driving While Suspended (DWS). Earley was taken into custody in the 1100 block of Patt Street, and later released from the Union County Jail on a $300 bond.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) – A paddle wheel boat built in Dubuque back in 1969 that was out of commission for about four-years, has returned to cruising the Alabama’s Black Warrior River. The popular “Bama Belle,” which was repaired under its new owner, Jasper, Alabama-area businessman Craig Dodson, has begun offering weekend cruises.

The 90-foot long, 54-ton Bama Belle, which can carry 149 passengers, has been part of Tuscaloosa’s river scene since 2001, but it stopped offering cruises in June 2012 after holes developed in the engine cooling systems’ coolers on the bottom of the boat, causing an engine to fail.

After it was built in Iowa, the Belle was christened as the “Captain Ann,” but later renamed “Emerald Queen,” and was based in Destin, Florida. In 2001, the boat was renamed the Bama Belle and brought to Tuscaloosa.

The “Bama Belle” and its owner Craig Dodson (A-P photo)

The Council Bluffs Police Department reports a Nebraska man was arrested this (Thursday) morning for Theft in the 2nd Degree, in connection with the recovery of a stolen vehicle. 29-year old Terry L. Eddy, of Omaha, was arrested following a traffic stop at around 2:34-a.m. in the 2600 block of Avenue B, in Council Bluffs.

Uniform patrol officers located a stolen 1998 Honda Accord traveling west bound on Avenue B and made a coordinated traffic stop before taking Eddy into custody without incident. Authorities say the vehicle he was driving had been reported stolen out of Omaha on Wednesday (February 22nd, 2017).