(Radio Iowa) – A New London man will spend two years in federal prison after admitting to using union funds for his personal expenses. Fifty-three-year-old Darin Boatman pleaded guilty to using a credit card from the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 617 in Fort Madison for his personal expenses.

He was the president of the union representing Conagra employees, and the expenses included vacations to Florida, work on his car, and attorney fees. He also admitted to writing checks from a union account for personal expenses. Boatman agreed to pay 74-thousand dollars in restitution

(Radio Iowa) – A national group is helping a family near Wellman continuing to recover from the damage done by the March 31st tornado, as planting season gets underway. Clint Whetstine’s family’s farms have been in Wellman since the late 1880s. There are multiple farmsteads, and while not every one saw destruction — Whetstine tells K-C-R-G T-V the E-F4 tornado wiped out one. “Did not have a structure left standing here,” Whetstine says, “the machine sheds, the livestock buildings, they’re all gone.”

Dan Erdmann and the non-profit group Farm Rescue is helping the Whetstines with the big task of recovery. “The whole goal is to lighten the burden. He said, “As you might imagine, there’s still quite a bit of debris strewn about so we’ve been cleaning up the fields. But the last few days we’ve been doing that tillage work.”  While the nonprofit gets many requests, he tells K-C-R-G T-V this particular instance is one that has taken priority. “As you might imagine, there’s still quite a bit of debris strewn about so we’ve been cleaning up the fields. But the last few days we’ve been doing that tillage work,” he says.

Farm damage near Wellman, IA. (KCRG-TV photo)

Erdman says they call it a hand up, not a hand out. He says they’re providing tangible support just to get them through this crisis and onto the next season, and hopefully keep them farming long-term.

(Radio Iowa) – There’s Effigy Mounds National Monument in the northeast Iowa town of Harpers Ferry, but outside of that, Iowa has no big national parks that draw visitors from around the world. Still, Iowans are encouraged to sign up to lend a hand during this National Volunteer Week through the National Park Service. The agency’s volunteer program manager Shari Orr explains what the effort is all about. “National Volunteer Week was created many years ago by Points of Light,” Orr says, “and it was really just an opportunity to recognize the value and impact of volunteers across the country.”

The week was established in 1974 and has grown exponentially each year, with thousands of volunteer projects and special events scheduled. “Our two internal goals for this week are to say ‘thank you’ to all of our current volunteers,” Orr says, “and to say ‘join us’ to folks who haven’t volunteered in a while or who have not yet volunteered with us.” While volunteering is a way to give back to your community, for some, giving back is also a way to receive. Orr says if you’ve always wanted to visit a particular national park, say Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, or Yosemite, this could be your golden opportunity.

“People like to get involved in that special place in their community, but they also like to volunteer to those parks that they’ve dreamed about traveling to for their whole lives.” She encourages Iowans to search the National Park Service’s website — N-P-S-dot-gov — and see what opportunities they find.

nps.gov

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa crop report shows farmers were able to get some planting done last week. The week saw severe storms and snow flurries, but farmers also got some unseasonably warm weather and planted seven percent of the expected corn crop. That’s almost two weeks ahead of last year and six days ahead of the five-year average. The report says some farmers are still waiting for extended warm days to bring the soil temperature up — while others are hoping for some more rain before putting the planter into the fields.

(Radio Iowa) – One hundred members of the Iowa legislature have voted to let Iowa dairy farms sell raw milk. If the governor signs the bill into law, it would still be illegal to sell unpasteurized milk at farmers markets or in restaurants, but raw milk and products like cheese or yogurt made with raw milk could be sold at the farm where it’s processed. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, celebrated last (Monday) night as the senate was on the verge of taking a final action on the bill.

“Senate File 315 is the fresh milk, the freedom milk bill I call it…and I have been waiting actually 17 years to say: ‘Madame President, I mooove the Senate concur’…and ask for a yes vote,” Schultz said, getting a round of laughter from his peers. Forty-nine legislators in the House and Senate voted against the bill. Representative Megan Srinivas, a Democrat from Des Moines, says drinking raw milk can be dangerous and as an infectious disease doctor, she’s treated several children who were exposed to bacteria in raw milk.

“As an infectious disease physician, anecdotally I have seen several cases of kids who are brought before me because they’ve been exposed to the bacteria that come from unpasteurized milk,” Srinivas says. “…It’s one thing if it’s an adult choosing what milk that they’re consuming, but when we have children who are falling victim because they are given milk that can make them sick, have permanent or even lethal ramifications, that’s where I get concerned.” Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says people have been consuming raw milk for thousands of years.

“It’s just an option, just like I can get eggs, a quarter of beef, honey or an apple,” Kaufmann says. “We’re simply adding this to a list of foods that people can get without ‘Jiminy Cricket’ the government sitting on their shoulder and whispering what’s best for their families.”

The dairy industry opposes the bill, arguing if there’s an outbreak of serious illness associated with raw milk, then ALL milk sales will decline. If the bill becomes law, raw milk sold at an Iowa farm would have to be stored below 45 degrees and sold within seven days of a cow being milked.

Photo credit to Jill & Callie Rudy, Hade DeVore

Atlantic, IA- Seventeen high school’s teams competed in very tough conditions with Riverside student anglers Caden Forristall and Mason McCready capturing the top spot in Powerade High School Series at the Brocker, Karns, Karns / Danish Mutual Insurance SWIFT bass tournament at Lake Anita on Saturday. They hauled in an impressive bag of 5 fish weighing 17.04 pounds, with one fish weighing over seven pounds.

It was very competitive between the next five teams which was only separated by .36 lbs. Owen Brentyn Hoover from CAM, finished in the runner up stop, third was Joaquin and Jake Wailes, fourth was Cameron Hoden, Tri Center and Wyatt Conrad, AL and rounding out the top five was Grady Joens and Lucas Bose from Underwood.

Even with cold and windy weather conditions it didn’t stop the high school anglers from reeling in combined weight of 172 pounds and 73 total fish. Over 14 teams earned the Bass Pro Five Alive prize and the AM Cohron & Son Big was a battle, eight anglers’ big fish was over four pounds. Caden Forristall earned the Big Fish award with his 7.45 fish, Nathan Bentler was second at 6.12 and Joaquin Wailes was third with his 5.88 fish.

Other winners from the tournament were.

Big Bite Baits Fish On- (first fish caught)- Hannah Thomas
Fast Metal First Five in the Box- Jordan Robinson / Nathan Bentler
Ole Blue Bait & Tackle – Jordan Robisnson
Fishing Assault Beat your best- Caden Forristall, Joaquin Wailes, Nathan Bentler
Dump Truck Jig Haulin in the Bass- Caden Forristall / Mason McCready
Atlantic Auto Ag Boat Captain Move of the Tournament- Don Switzer
Middle River Buck Blinds Off the Hook- Conor Britten / Korben Brunt
Trevor Frederickson Leadership Award- Hunter Quist

Place     Team                                                  City

1          Mason McCready / Caden Forristall- Macedonia / Carson
2          Owen Hoover / Brentyn Hoover- Anita / Anita
3          Joaquin Wailes / Jake Wailes- Wiota / Wiota
4          Cameron Hoden / Wyatt Conard- Persia / Council Bluffs
5          Grady Joes / Lucas Bose- Underwood / Underwood
6          Jordon Robinson / Nathan Bentler- Menlo / Stuart
7          Colton Rudy / Colin Rudy- Atlantic / Atlantic
8          Jarrett Hansen / Christan Thompson- Atlantic / Atlantic
9          Emmett King / AJ Draper- Panora / Linden
10       Eli Becerra / Mason McIntosh- Honey Creek / Modale
11       Hannah Thomas / Kai Carritt- Little Sioux / Logan
12       Blake Schwartz / Gavin Lindstrom- Panora / Panora
13       Cody Swank / Gavin Dougherty- Harlan / Atlantic
14       Braxton Hass / Hunter Quist- Atlantic / Atlantic
15       Tegan Steinkuehler / Brock Limerick- Harlan / Harlan
16       Conor Britten / Korben Brunt- Red Oak / CAM
17       Evan Powell / Sawyer Nelson- Indianola / Indianola

The next event for SWIFT will be Sunday April 30^th at Prairie Rose Lake. This will be a Fair Life Junior division only.

Central Iowa Student Anglers will host a high schools and junior tournament on Saturday April 29^th at Big Creek Lake.

For complete details and updated information visit www.swifishingteam.com

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(Atlantic, Iowa) – Trees Forever spokesperson Dolly Bergmann reports Atlantic Trees Forever Spring tree vouchers are now available. “With the past year,” Bergmann says, “we have had there are many people needing trees this spring. We ask that you limit one voucher per homeowner so more people can get a start replacing trees that were destroyed or being removed.”

Tree vouchers are a great way to help with the cost of a tree to plant. The vouchers are worth $30 off the cost of a tree, and can be obtained at Pymosa Farms, north of Atlantic. There are a limited number of vouchers available. Those at Pymosa Farms can help you determine what kind of tree would work best in the location you would like to plant a tree. It is important to water the trees this spring and during the summer.

Pymosa Farms is located at 50979 Buck Creek Road, Atlantic, but Bergmann suggest calling owner Tim Reavis, at 402-659-1213 before driving out to the farm to ensure someone is available to help you.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the nation’s largest state gatherings of agricultural education students is getting underway at Iowa State University. Scott Johnson, executive director of the Iowa F-F-A Association, says it’s gratifying to see how membership in the organization has continued growing in recent years, and this 95th annual Iowa F-F-A Leadership Conference at I-S-U’s Hilton Coliseum promises to be the biggest yet. “I think we could be expecting an attendance record here for our conference this year,” Johnson says. “I don’t know if 7,000 is possible, but I think we’re in striking distance of that, and that would be around 200 more than our previous attendance record, which was set in 2019.”

F-F-A members can range in age from 12 to 21 and the statewide membership numbers recently reached a milestone, which Johnson says they’ll tout during the event. “We’re really excited to welcome 258 of our 260 FFA chapters, based on our online registration numbers,” Johnson says. “The 19,000 members actually represents record membership that we just set about a month ago and we’ll recognize the 19,000th member on stage as part of the conference on Tuesday.”

While there’s a focus on farming, Johnson says the organization makes a positive difference in students’ lives by developing their potential for leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. He says the conference provides ag-ed students the chance to take part in a wide range of career development and leadership skills-building events. “We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 different competitive events in a variety of structures, some things that are speaking-based, some things that are skills attainment, assessment and judging-based,” Johnson says. “What we would consider non-competitive events involves a career show that’s coordinated by the Iowa FFA Foundation. Some FFA chapters in attendance will go on tours.”

The conference opened Sunday in Ames and will conclude Tuesday night. The Iowa FFA Association was organized by delegates from 23 schools at Iowa State College on May 17, 1929.

(Radio Iowa) – An environmental advocacy group is launching a new river clean-up project with an event in Des Moines this week to introduce the effort and recruit volunteers. Luke Hoffman, is a native of Thurman, in Fremont County. He’s the executive director of Iowa Rivers Revival, and says the Service Squad program is designed to create a comprehensive service learning and action network that will clean up Iowa’s waterways.  “We’re doing that in a way that it’s not just another river cleanup,” Hoffman says. “It’s not just about picking up trash, there’s that component, too, but it’s also a family-friendly festival about building community, educating folks about the importance of water, and building access points so that people can really enjoy those rivers and streams.”

Through a quarter-million dollar grant, the Service Squad will host between eight and ten river clean up projects each year over the next three years. Hoffman says the program will create cleaner rivers, educate Iowans on the importance of clean waterways, and organize for legislative action on issues relating to water trails, water quality, river restoration and more. “The theme is all about building partnerships and collaboration,” Hoffman says. “We didn’t invent river cleanups but what we do want to do is, if your listeners go to our website, they can find any cleanup or submit one if they want to organize one themselves on our website. You can just do that at IowaRivers.org/squad.” A

As a southwest Iowa native, Hoffman says he developed a passion for the water early on. “One of the things that I really cherish about my childhood was following the stream with my dog,” Hoffman says. “I wasn’t thinking about was the river clean or not, I just was enjoying it. That experience of adventure, that sense of being able to appreciate and enjoy, that’s what we want all future generations to be able to have, free from the concern of whether or not that water is going to do you any harm.”

The kickoff event is today (Friday), from 5-7 P-M at Big Grove Brewery in Des Moines. RSVP for the event at: iowarivers.org. The first clean-up event is scheduled for Saturday on North Walnut Creek in Urbandale.

(Radio Iowa)- While Mason City set a record high temperature of 88 degrees on Wednesday, this week’s unseasonably warm weather is prompting many farmers in north-central Iowa to fire up their tractors and start planting. Angie Rieck-Hinz, a field agronomist with Iowa State University, says things are suddenly very busy, considering there was snow on the ground just a matter of several days ago.

“We have manure application, we have dry fertilizer, we have anhydrous, we have lime, we have tillage,” Rieck-Hinz says, “and there are a lot of people planting. Our soil conditions are, in most places, exceptionally good for this time of year.” Parts of Iowa have struggled with soil that may be too dry one month and flooded the next, but she says we’re in a sweet spot right now.

“It has warmed up and with all this wind and low humidity, our soils have dried out up in the top couple of inches,” Rieck-Hinz says. “While most people I think were thinking at the end of last week, they would hold off on planting because it was still a little wet, that has definitely changed this week.” After all the weather challenges farmers have been facing in recent years, she says it’s a nice reward to be able to get started on planting this week.

“I’m glad to see the soil conditions are in great shape. We want that soil temperature at 50 degrees and warming — which has been happening,” she says. “We want good, dry conditions so we make a good furrow for that seed and we can get good roots established, because all those things have an impact on what happens all growing season long.”

Forecasters say we’re in for a change as soon as this (Friday) afternoon, with cooler temperatures expected and the likelihood of rain through the weekend.