Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DENVER, Iowa (AP) — Farmland sales are happening at a brisk pace this fall partly because farmers are worried about the tax increases that may take effect January 1st if Congress can’t address the fiscal cliff. The worries about possible increases in capital gains and estate taxes are adding to the normally busy time for farmland sales after harvest in Iowa and Nebraska. Des Moines lawyer Bill Hannigan of the Davis Brown firm tells the Des Moines Register that anyone thinking of selling farmland should do so before the end of 2012.

Jim Hain, vice president of agricultural sales for Omaha-based Lund Company says his firm is the busiest it has been with farmland sales. He says the possible tax law changes and the current high prices have prompted more people to sell.

While authorities have declined to release the name of the teen killed in an Adams County crash Friday morning, a local funeral home has identified the victim. The Powers Funeral Home website says 16-year old Dalton Hribal, of Creston,died from injuries he suffered in the crash near Prescott, at around 8-a.m. Friday.

Dalton Hribal (Powers Funeral Home photo)

Hribal was a passenger in a Honda mini-van driven by an as-yet still unidentified 17-year old. The driver was transported to the hospital in Corning. The teens were not wearing their seat belts when the van crested a hill on a gravel road, went out of control and rolled, ejected Hribal, who died at the scene.

The funeral home says Dalton is the son of Christy Ann (Lowe) Hribal and Shane Joseph Hribal. He was educated in Creston School system, where he was active in wrestling and football. His sister MyKenna is in the 7th grade at the Creston Middle School. Dalton also worked at Fareway grocery store in Creston. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at Creston High School Gymnasium in Creston.

(Additional funeral information can be found at: www.powersfh.com)

A pair of studies done this year and in 2010 found the number of Iowans diagnosed with cataracts rose by five-percent in just those two years. Ophthalmologist Dr. Bonnie An Henderson says she doesn’t think there’s been any sort of outbreak that’s causing the lenses in Iowans’ eyes to cloud over. “People are living longer, they’re healthier, they’re more active,” Dr. Henderson says. “They are noticing that they’re having more symptoms earlier on and they may be having eye exams earlier and therefore, they’re being diagnosed with cataracts. I think the increase in diagnosis is one of the main causes why you’re seeing a higher statistic.”

While many perceive cataracts as being a disease that only afflicts the elderly, it can often appear in people as young as their 40s. Eating carrots or wearing sunglasses won’t have any impact either as there’s no way to prevent it, Henderson says, it’s just a part of aging.  “People worry that if they’re looking at their computer, which, everyone now stares at their computer all day, they’re worried that looking at their computer increases the risk of developing a cataract and that’s just not true,” Henderson says. “Staring at the computer may be hard on your eyes for eye strain or dry eyes or headaches, but it does not cause cataract formation.”

After significant advances over the years, the surgery to have a cloudy, cataract-laden lens removed is now about a ten-minute procedure. Plus, Henderson says, the new lens that’s implanted can be modified to correct a patient’s other vision problems. “That lens actually decreases a patient’s dependence on glasses both for distance and for reading and there’s another lens for people who have astigmatism,” Henderson says. “It’s now become more of a refractive procedure as well as a medical procedure and it really helps the overall functioning and improves the quality of life.”

The survey found 15-percent of Iowans questioned in 2010 had cataracts while the figure rose to 20-percent in 2012. Henderson says the larger study found more than half of all Americans would develop cataracts by the time they’re 80, though she believes the figure is much higher and many people just don’t have the condition diagnosed.

(Radio Iowa)

An Iowa State University scientist says if this coming spring is dry, record high temperatures are likely for the summer of 2013. Christopher Anderson is the assistant director of Iowa State University’s climate science program.”Our recent history tells us what can be predicted with certainty,” Anderson says. “Iowa’s wet years will become wetter and dry years will become drier (and) hotter.” Anderson says Iowa’s “deep, organic soils” help “modulate” the temperature in the summer — but only if the ground is moist.  “In Iowa, wet springs lead to cool summers. It seems counter intuitive, but the reason is because of our great soils. Recent examples are 2008, 2010 and 2011,” Anderson says.

“In 2012, rainfall was much below normal and we didn’t have floods, but instead July temperatures ranked third highest in the 140-year record.” According to Anderson, the summertime “cooling mechanism” that Iowa’s soil provides when it’s moist may be altered, however, by more frequent springtime floods that sweep away the topsoil. “The clearest trend that we’re seeing in Iowa’s climate records is in the spring rainfall,” Anderson says. “Our spring rainfall is much higher than it has been in the 140-year record and so what happens when there’s more spring rainfall is there’s potential and there is actual soil loss and if we lose our soil, we lose this ability to keep ourselves cool in the summer.”

There are about 450 different types of soil in Iowa. The average depth of topsoil in Iowa is between six and eight inches.

(Radio Iowa)

A handful of public meetings are scheduled to take place Monday, as we get back to business following the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. In Atlantic, the Cass County Board of Health will gather in CCMH Conference Room #3 for a regularly scheduled session that begins at 12:15-p.m. Later in the evening, the Exira and Elk Horn-Kimballton Boards of Education will hold a joint session in Exira, to discuss and possibly act on matters pertaining to a reorganization of the two districts. The session begins at 7-p.m.  The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will also meet Monday evening. The 7:30-p.m. work session at the High School Media Center will cover IASB Board and Administrator Training, along with an informal evaluation of Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein. And, the Audubon City Council is slated to meet at 7-p.m.

During the Cass County Board of Health’s meeting, the Board will receive an Environmental Health Report and review the Public Health Budget. They’ll also discuss Board Member terms, which expire December 31st. The Audubon City Council will hold a public hearing with regard to a Housing Set Aside Grant application, during their session. They’ll also hold discussion pertaining to a Wash Bay, and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds, for the Rec Center.

The Council Bluffs Police Department reports a single vehicle roll over accident resulted in a fatality early Saturday (11/24) morning on Interstate 29.  At approximately 3:35am Saturday officers responded to the accident on the I-29 Northbound on-ramp from I-80 eastbound near the state line.  A passing vehicle called the accident in reporting that they observed a vehicle off the roadway but did not observe anyone around the vehicle and continued on.

Upon arrival at the scene a white Nissan truck was observed on the west side of the roadway turned on it’s side.  The Council Bluffs Fire Department also responded to the scene and were the first to spot an adult male approximately 15 yards north of the truck.  The male was identified as 42-year-old Christopher A. Thacker of Bellevue and the CBFD pronounced him dead at the scene.

After investigation it was determined the vehicle was traveling on the 1-29 nothbound on-ramp from I-80 eastbound when it left the roadway to the right before over correcting and running of the road to the left.  Thacker then ran into a light pole and drove into the ditch where the truck flipped and rolled over before coming to a stop near the next light pole.  Thacker was the only occupant in the vehicle and appeared to have been ejected during the accident.  The truck was totaled and damage to the light pole was estimated at $1,000.

w/ Chris Parks

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Officers from the Council Bluffs Police Department responded to a robbery report at the Cricket Cellular store at 1509 West Broadway in Council Bluffs on Friday.

Two employees at the store were held at gun point by an unknown male suspect with what was believed to be a semi-automatic hand gun.  The thief was able to obtain an undetermined amount of cash and several cell phones before leaving in an unknown direction.  The suspect was a black male wearing a hooded sweat top over his head and a green scarf covering his mouth.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division or 328-STOP to leave information anonymously.