(Radio Iowa) – The holiday season can be a stressful time of year for people struggling with their monthly budgets. Food Bank of Iowa C-E-O Michelle Book says that of them don’t have enough food to eat. “As I go out and visit our pantry partners, what I’m hearing from them is that the increase in the lines for food pantry service is made up of two demographics; one, it’s young families with children who are working, or two, it’s folks living on fixed income, people living on Social Security and disability,” she says.

Book says every month since COVID-19 aid ended in 2022, food pantries across the state have seen more and more traffic. “Iowa is among three states that saw the largest increase, 44 percent, in the number of people facing food insecurity according to Feeding America’s latest “Map the Meal Gap” report,” Book says. With Thanksgiving just a few days away and December holidays around the corner, she worries about Iowans faced with making some tough financial choices. “If they’re struggling to make ends meet, save your financial resources to pay your heating bill or to cover the cost of transportation and find food assistance near you. People can come to foodbankofIowa.org, and click the “find food” button,” Book says.

Iowa is served by six Feeding America food banks – with 40% of food going to children.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans will go around the table at Thanksgiving and list the things for which they’re thankful, but a University of Iowa study finds simply expressing gratitude can help to improve heart health. Dr. Harleah Buck is director of the U-I’s Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence. Buck says research shows gratitude can help to reduce inflammation, blood pressure, and heart rate, and it’s an odd coincidence we offer thanks during this particular holiday. “The foods that we eat at Thanksgiving tend -not- to be good for our heart. They’re heavy in the fats and things that we know are not good,” Buck says, “however, expressing gratitude around the table, I like to think ameliorates some of that.”

Research finds gratitude may help to boost a person’s ability to care for themselves, whether that’s taking their medication or getting more sleep. Buck and her team reviewed more than a dozen research studies involving the impact of gratitude on more than four-thousand people. “One of the studies that we looked at actually showed that expressing gratitude results in people feeling more confident that what they do makes a difference with their heart,” Buck says, “so it really is the gift that keeps on giving.” Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, killing more people in recent years than even COVID-19. Buck, who’s also a professor in the U-I College of Nursing, says it’s fascinating something like gratitude can have such a far-reaching psychological and physiological impact.

“In the scientific literature, gratitude is defined as an emotional response to other people’s kindness, but it can also be a mood that focuses on what we cherish in life,” Buck says, “but the important part is it can become a trait. It can be something, a practice, that you can actually make part of your life.” How do we put more gratitude in our lives? Buck says there are all sorts of ways, and one of the easiest may be writing in a journal — on your laptop, in a notebook, or even on your phone. “Start out by writing what you’re thankful for each and every day. That can help you to track new things and remind you of the good things in your life,” Buck says. “At Thanksgiving around the table, we can share our gratitude. We can express it directly to people, and then we can listen to theirs, which also helps to lift our mood.”

The website for the Csomay Center says its mission is to advance innovations in research, education, and practice to promote optimal aging and quality of life in all older adults and their caregivers.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrats in the Iowa Senate have selected their next leader. Janice Weiner of Iowa City will be the Minority Leader in the Iowa Senate when the legislature starts January 13th. Weiner is a retired U-S State Department foreign service officer who moved back to her hometown of Iowa City in 2015, served on the city council and was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2022. Democrats will hold just 15 of the 50 seats in the Iowa Senate in January, their lowest point since 1970.

Weiner says Senate Democrats will work to hold those in power accountable and fight to ensure opportunity for all Iowans. Weiner is the third leader for Senate Democrats in less than two years. In mid-2023, Senate Democrats ousted Senator Zach Wahls of Coralville after he hired new staff to work for Senate Democrats and fired two longtime employees.

Iowa Senate Minority Leader-elect Janice Weiner (D-Iowa City) (official photo)

Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque has been Minority Leader in the state senate since then. She did not seek reelection and is retiring about 32 years as a state legislator.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University researchers say an earlier planting date for soybeans in the spring takes better advantage of nitrogen left behind from corn production. I-S-U agronomy professor Michael Castellano says it would help reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

“Forty percent of the emissions from a two-year sequence — or rotation we might call it — of corn and soybeans comes during the soybean part of the crop rotation that doesn’t receive nitrogen fertilizer,” Castellano says. “…This was a big surprise and really required rethinking of approaches to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from crop production.” Crop rotation – planting corn in a field one year and soybeans the following year — already reduces emissions by 50 percent.

Castellano says most research has focused on reducing the amount of nitrogen applied to help corn grow, which also reduces farm chemical costs. Castellano says this new research finds that once nitrogen for corn production is reduced to the optimum level, the main way to cut nitrous oxide emissions is to move up the planting date of soybeans.

“It takes better advantage of the nitrogen being produced by the microbes in the soil, so the plants use it and less of it is lost to the atmosphere as nitrous oxide,” Castellano says. “Simple, practical, scalable solutions to help reduce nitrous oxide emissions from crop production that we may not often hear about.” Nitrous oxide is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions from crop production. Nitrous oxide is the byproduct of microbial activity in soil that is essential for growing grain.

Castellano says farmers tend to focus on getting corn in the ground early because it’s a more expensive crop to grow, but moving up the soybean planting date is likely to result in higher soybean yields because the plants have a longer growing season. “Springs are getting warmer in Iowa and another real challenge, though, is that the spring are getting wetter, too,” Castellano says, “and so it’s going to require farmers to think about opportunities to manage their soil and their cropping systems.” Castello and another I-S-U researcher worked on this project, which dramatically increased the amount of time plants are growing on farmland.

Cover crops were planted after the beans were harvested. “And also got reductions in nitrous oxide as well as nitrate leaching,” he says, “so water quality benefits as well.”

The study was published in the November issue of a scientific journal called “Nature Sustainability.”

(Ames, Iowa) – Researchers say increasing the police presence in schools isn’t the best way to address classroom violence. One expert in Iowa says educators would do better to treat the underlying causes. Fifty years ago, just 1% of the nation’s public schools had police officers on campus. That number has jumped to more than 40% now.

The 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado prompted officials to harden schools with more police presence, thinking it would keep students safer. Iowa State University Associate Dean for the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Monic Behnken said academic research shows that hasn’t worked. “What the literature is clear about for the past 20 years is actually the thing that you want to do is, you want to soften your schools,” said Behnken. “You want to increase access to therapists, counselors, social workers, community liaisons.”

Behnken said these professionals can address the emotional and social stressors among kids before they’d commit crimes. She added that although school shootings have increased and get huge media attention when they happen, they are still statistically rare. Behnken said data show that School Resource Officers (SROs), have next to no impact on stopping violence, bullying, or even schoolyard fights – but they do have a big impact in other areas.

Female police office standing in classroom showing transmitter device to group of kids on career day at school

“The research shows that SROs are good at policing,” said Behnken. “So, they are fantastic in a school that has a drug problem. They are fantastic at a school that has a gang problem.”

Behnken said otherwise, more officers on school campuses can do more harm than good – because school staff may learn to rely on SROs to solve discipline problems that administrators could handle without having to involve the police.

(Iowa News Service)

(Creston, Iowa) – An accident Friday night in the Creston City limits caused $2,000 damage to a 2020 Ford Explorer SUV, but no one was injured. The Union County Sheriff’s Office says the SUV, driven by 31-year-old Mark Donald Cooley, of Mount Ayr, was heading south on Highway 25, when a deer came out of the west ditch and struck a vehicle heading north, causing the animal to go back into the southbound lane, where it was struck by the SUV. The vehicle sustained damage to its fender and radiator, but it was able to be driven away, while leaking fluid.

The accident happened at around 6:53-p.m., Friday.

ATLANTIC, IA (November 23, 2024) – Produce in the Park’s Harvest Market is this Monday, November 25 from 3-6 PM at the Cass County Community Center, 805 W. 10th Street in Atlantic. Local shoppers are invited to pick up food and  decorations for their thanksgiving celebrations and get a head start on holiday gift shopping when they browse the wide variety of locally grown and home-made items.

This year, everyone 18 and older who attends Harvest Market can enter a free drawing for a $100 gift card to spend at the upcoming Christmas Market in December. Produce in the Park Board President Bailey Smith explained the drawing is designed to encourage people to visit Harvest Market and bring awareness to Christmas Market. “We’re hoping that the chance for a $100 gift card encourages more people to check out our amazing Harvest Market. Additionally, folks love Christmas in Atlantic, and we want everyone to remember that the Christmas Market is part of that.” Produce in the Park’s Christmas Market will be held on Saturday, December 21 from noon to 3:00 PM at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA in Atlantic.

Harvest Market is always held the Monday before Thanksgiving so shoppers celebrate with local foods, gifts, and decorations. This year’s Harvest Market is expected to offer a plethora of local vegetables including greens, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and squash, along with local meats, desserts, pastries, baked goods, honey, eggs, jams, jellies, syrups, popcorn, and more.

In addition to local foods, Harvest Market offers an opportunity to purchase local and handmade holiday decor and gifts. Shoppers can expect to find evergreen decorations, candles, soaps, crocheted toys, earrings, artwork, lavender products, wood crafts, seasonal hand towels, and more.

This year’s Harvest Market also includes a soup supper for those wanting a warm bite to eat before or after shopping. Imagine Gifts and Greenhouse will be selling Chicken Noodle, Vegetable Beef, and Loaded Baked Potato soups by the cup or bowl for dine-in or carry-out. Lastly, as is common for Produce in the Park farmers markets, local organizations will be in
attendance providing information and resources to the public. Visitors to Harvest Market can expect to find information on Cass County Tourism, Healthy Cass County, and the Cass County Grow Another Row program.

Harvest Market 2024 is sponsored by Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, Cass County Tourism, Cass Health, City of Atlantic, First Whitney Bank & Trust and Nishna Valley Family YMCA. For the latest information on Harvest Market, and all Produce in the Park markets, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/).

Produce in the Park continues to accept vendor applications for Christmas Market, and additional holiday markets planned for winter 2024-2025. Vendor applications can be found online at www.ProduceInTheParkAtlanticIowa.com; printed copies of the application are available at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce (102 Chestnut St., Atlantic, IA 50022). Produce in the Park seeks vendors selling handmade or homegrown products, including local foods, as well as beauty products, candles, crafts, art, and decorations.

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The Exira-Elk Horn/Kimballton School District’s Board of Education will hold their regular, monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 25th (2024), beginning at 6:30-p.m. Their session takes place in the Exira-EHK Conference Room inside the High School. The meeting agenda can be see below:

Re-Shows must be scheduled by December 18 in Cass County

The Cass County Extension office is again hosting continuing instructional courses (CICs) for local commercial pesticide applicators, but wants to remind anyone who has yet to attend the training that all CIC training must be completed by the end of December to keep a license current. To avoid conflicts with year-end scheduling, Cass County Extension is requiring that all training dates be scheduled by Wednesday, December 18^th.

‘Year end is a busy time for all, but we don’t want anyone to miss the opportunity to attend their annual required training, as time to meet those annual requirements is getting short,” according to Kate Olson, Cass County Extension Director. “We do offer trainings on a first-come, first-serve basis, and our hours will be slightly different during the holidays, so we’d like to remind folks to call and get their classes scheduled before our year-end calendar fills up.”

According to Olson, reshow dates can occur after December 18^th, as scheduling allows, but they must be on the calendar before then to be honored. To ensure a spot on the training schedule, applicators needing to complete CIC for the year are asked to call as soon as possible if they have a preferred training date, but no later than Wednesday, December 18^th at 4:30 PM. Applicators calling after this date will NOT be placed on the training schedule. Training dates can be scheduled locally by calling the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or by emailing Office Manager Lori Anderson at lander@iastate.edu. For more information on the Commercial Pesticide Applicator program or the CIC classes, please visit www.extension.iastate.edu/psep/.