(Ames, Iowa) – Researchers from Iowa State University have partnered with Michigan State University to develop a robot that would detect nitrates and monitor tile health to help farmers keep their land productive. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports nearly half of Iowa’s harvested cropland has tile drainage, according to ag census data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The underground drainage systems help to boost crop productivity, but environmental and water groups have pointed out they can also deliver excessive amounts of nitrate and other nutrients downstream.

Mike Castellano, a professor of soil science at ISU, said the robots and nitrate sensors could help farmers detect where, how and how much nitrate they are losing. Castellano spoke at a virtual field day with Iowa Learning Farms Dec. 19. “That allows farmers to better manage their field at a precision scale, to improve both productivity and environmental performance of our crop production systems,” Castellano said.  Castellano said current technologies limit nitrate testing to the end of the tile pipe, but the robot would be able to pinpoint “exactly when and where those nutrients are being lost.”

Liang Dong, the director of the microelectronics research center at ISU has worked with Castellano to develop the nitrate sensor portion of this technology.  Dong said the sensor is completed and is being commercialized to be an affordable technology for farmers.   “When the sensor is small enough and the price is low enough, farmers can put the sensors into their drainage tile, and then they will know what is the waterflow and what is the nitrate loss from their field,” Dong said.

Christian Luedtke, a researcher at Michigan State University, demonstrates a prototype of a tile robot. (Screenshot from Iowa Learning Farms)

The end goal is to put the nitrate sensor, along with a camera and a waterflow sensor, onto a robot that can crawl through an entire tile drainage system and store the information for farmers. The robot, which is being developed by team led by Xiaobo Tan, a professor of electrical engineering at Michigan State University, is still a prototype. Christian Luedtke, a graduate researcher working with Tan on the project, spoke at the virtual field day and demonstrated the current prototype.  The nearly two-foot long robot is currently designed to use several fin-like barbs on the front and back to move through corrugated pipes.

Luedtke said he has learned through this project that not all tile is corrugated and it often will change diameters across a field, which present additional challenges to creating the robot. “We do not know that being engineers and not farmers,” Luedtke said.  These are things he learned while in Iowa this summer while talking about the project with farmers, many of whom have clay or concrete tiles that were installed many generations prior. Luedtke said the robot also needs to be quicker at moving through the pipes, have a battery life of at least a couple of hours and be waterproofed before the research team can begin practical tests in actual tile.

“The water quality issues here in Iowa, if we can help provide a cheap and easy solution for farmers to make decisions to help that, I think that’d be a great effect for our work to have,” Luedtke said.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports a woman was arrested this (Thursday) morning (12/26), on an OWI charge. 44-year-old Katie Church, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Her bond in the Mills County jail was set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Geologists at the University of Iowa are leading a more than 11 MILLION dollar project to see if carbon can be successfully stored deep underground near a power plant in Council Bluffs. The study is exploring whether liquefied carbon could be injected into basalt rock a half mile underground. Ryan Clark is a geologist with the Iowa Geological Survey and the principal investigator of the study. “What we need to do is drill deep enough to grab some of these rocks and do some laboratory experiments to see if this will actually work or not,” he says, “and then use modeling software and other techniques to sort of evaluate if we think that it can be up-scaled to to handle the amount of emissions that the Department of Energy thinks is going to be, you know, beneficial.”

The U-S Department of Energy is funding the research. Clark says one of the most important parts of the project is measuring potential seismic activity. “It’s up to us to gather as much data as we can and really comb through it to see if we can identify any of those potential hazards ahead of time, because injecting again underground is, in some cases, offsetting the natural balance,” he says, “and so we have to make sure that we’re doing this responsibly and that, you know, there aren’t going to be any hazards later on down the line.”

Clark made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Public Radio. The federal government offers 85-dollars’ worth of tax credits for every ton of carbon stored in rock.

(Creston, Iowa) – Two women from Creston were arrested recently on separate charges. Creston Police report Tuesday evening, 43-year-old Candy Lee Jones, of Creston, was arrested at her residence. Jones was charged with Assault. She was cited and released at the scene, on a Promise to Appear.

Wednesday night, 50-year-old Christine Lynn Selvy, of Creston, was arrested at her residence on charges that include: Disorderly Conduct, Public Intoxication and Harassment 3rd Degree. She was taken to the Union County Jail and later released after posting a $900 bond.

(Des Moines, Iowa) –  After 42 years since the passing of her husband, an Iowa World War II veteran, Jane Buck finally received the recognition she had been waiting for. The acknowledgment came in the form of a package delivered to her home. Buck’s husband, Yeoman First Class William John Buck Jr., passed away in 1982 from lymphoma, a condition linked to radiation exposure during his service in Japan after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. KCCI reports Jane cherishes a collage of Bill’s medals, uniform patches, and even his diary, which notes his presence in Kure, Japan, on Christmas Day in 1945.

However, one piece had been missing from her collection dedicated to honoring her gold star husband: official recognition of his status as an atomic veteran. Last week, nearly 80 years after his exposure, Jane received official paperwork from the Department of Defense and a new gold medal, confirming his status.

The Buck family were Atlantic residents for 20 years. Mr. Buck worked for Walnut Grove and died in the Cass County Memorial Hospital November 28, 1982. Their children, Linda and Tom both graduated from AHS.

GROTON, Conn. — A date is now set for the commissioning of Iowa’s newest namesake. The U.S.S. Iowa fast attack submarine will be commissioned 10-a.m. April 5th, in Groton, Connecticut. With the sponsor ordering the Captain to “Man your Ship and Bring Her to Life!”, the commissioning, ordered by the Navy, is generally open to the public and will be live-streamed as well. The Commissioning Committee will make every effort possible to open this event to as many IOWANs as possible.

The Commissioning Committee will start accepting invitation requests on Dec. 26 through Jan. 13. Requests are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

USS Iowa SSN 797; roll-out at General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut – August 2023 (Photo via https://www.seaforces.org/usnships/ssn/SSN-797-USS-Iowa.htm)

To request an invitation, visit SSN797.com.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Des Moines police are investigating a shooting on Christmas day. KCCI reports Officers responded to a home in the 2900 block of East 40th Court around 4:13-p.m. Wednesday, to investigate a shooting incident. At the scene, officers found two people with gunshot wounds. A woman was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, while a man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Des Moines Police Department said the initial investigation shows the shooting was a “domestic-related situation.” One off duty officer also responded upon hearing gunshots. The shooting remains under investigation.

This is the 17th homicide of 2024 in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – If you got an ugly Christmas sweater, something in the wrong size or a duplicate item as a gift, ’tis now the season for returns — and the lines at customer service counters are likely long. Margo Riekes, spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau, offers Iowans a few tips to keep the line moving smoothly. “Be patient because all of the sales employees, especially the first few days after Christmas, are overwhelmed with all the returns,” Riekes says. “If you’re patient, you’re more likely to get some action.” Standing in line for 45 minutes may try your patience, but she says to consider what it must be like to be the person hearing peoples’ complaints all day long.

“The customer who’s trying to return the gift should always be calm and polite when trying to do so,” Riekes says. “People will be much more willing to help them.” When returning an item, make sure to keep it in the original packaging and in like-new condition. “Do not take the tags off the things because once the tags are off, it’s probably impossible to return them,” she says.

If the gift giver was thinking far enough ahead to enclose a gift receipt in your wrapped box, it will make the process infinitely easier.

(Radio Iowa) – Several improvement projects at Iowa’s commercial airports are moving ahead on schedule. The D-O-T’s Shane Wright says the governor allotted 100 million federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan to the state’s Commercial Aviation Infrastructure Fund. Money was awarded based on traffic volume, and the Des Moines International Airport got the largest chunk. “They were awarded 58-point-seven million dollars. Their application was to complete the 30 percent design for the terminal project, as well as construct five-story parking garage, which amounted to 11-hundred-50 new parking spaces,” Wright says. During a recent presentation to the Transportation Commission, Wright says the volume of traffic out of Des Moines is projected to continue to increase.

“Three to four percent annually from an enplanement standpoint, and they expect to see that continue. So for a terminal that was basically already at capacity, that three to four percent is a lot for an airport,” he says. They expect to open the new Des Moines terminal in 2027. The eastern Iowa airport in Cedar Rapids was awarded a little more than 28 million dollars for its terminal expansion to handle more traffic.  “This adds additional capacity, with four new boarding bridges, new administrative offices, and then there’s also renovation going on at a few of the existing bridges and gate areas, again, to accommodate that larger traffic,” he says. ” Because Cedar Rapids is seeing the same thing with the larger aircraft and more passengers in those in those gate spaces.” The Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City was awarded three-point-one million dollars.

“This was to begin a phase one of a north T hangar development. So this was kind of a green space T hangar area, because the airport hangar area was full,. And there’s been a lot of general aviation demand in that area. So the airport elected to construct 210 unit T hangars,” Wright says. He says this project is farther ahead than some of the others. “All of the hangers have been leased out, I’ll say, except for two. And I believe probably by now, those two are leased out as well. And they had several more interested parties,” Wright says. “So again, very strong demand at the at the Sioux Gateway Airport for anchor space. We expect this grant to be closed out soon.” The Dubuque Regional Airport was awarded two-point-seven million dollars.  “To construct a large box style hangar. The hanger is being built adjacent to the existing aircraft apron parking lot next to the University of Dubuque aviation program, their new flight building apron space. And this hangar is complete, and it was occupied by the University of Dubuque. It will house up to 14 of the training aircraft,” he says.

(Radio Iowa photo)

The Waterloo Regional Airport, was awarded two-point-one million dollars.  “Their application was for constructing parking lot canopies, so covered parking with LED lighting as part of an overall land side modernization that the airport’s going through,” Wright says. He says the Waterloo project will cover ticketing lanes, pay station lanes, as well as parking structures for some of the high use parking spaces and disabled spaces. The Fort Dodge Regional Airport was awarded one-and-a-half million dollars to construct three modern box hangars. The Mason City Municipal Airport was awarded one-point-five million dollars to construct a T hangar building and the taxi lanes. The construction of this T hanger building is already complete and the hanger is fully occupied. The southeast Iowa Regional Airport in Burlington received one-point-five million dollars to construct a large box hangar for storing larger aircraft, and construction is nearly complete.