(Radio Iowa) – The 100th pheasant season in Iowa opens Saturday and D-N-R wildlife biologist Todd Bogenshutz says it is setting up to be a good one. “This past year was the fourth mildest winter in state history, like 150 years of record. So, we probably had virtually all of our hens survive from last fall,” he says. Bogenshutz says having that type of survival rate is fantastic, and those numbers make up for some loss of young birds in wet weather after the hatch. “The roadside survey showed that our chick survival wasn’t as good as last year, but it was only down a little bit, so the number of hens that were nesting more than made up for not quite as many chicks surviving. And so our counts still were up 40 percent statewide,” Bogenschutz says.

Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.

Some 77-thousand hunters head out to chase the ringnecks last year, and he says that number is likely to grow this season. “This year with the counts being so good, you know, Mother Nature smiled on us with good weather and we grew a lot of birds for the for the habitat we have, I would not be surprised at all if we’re over 80-thousand hunters,” he says. Bogenschutz says Iowa should stay at the top of the best states for pheasant hunting. “We’ve been the number two state in harvest for the last four years running at least, probably this will be the fifth year with this fall, only South Dakota can boast more pheasants harvested than us,” Bogenschutz says.

Bogenschutz the pheasant harvest could be in the 600 to 700-thousand range. The season runs through January 10th.

POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, Iowa — A fisherman in Pottawattamie County now holds the state record for reeling in the biggest catfish. George Thompson was fishing along the Missouri River earlier this month when he reeled in a catfish measuring 60 inches long and weighing 105 pounds, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It’s the same stretch of river where the previous record of 53 inches and 101 pounds was set back in 2004. The Iowa DNR says it took Thompson 35 minutes to battle the beast out of the water.

The DNR confirmed the measurements and the successful release.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa sheriff plans to end an agreement to house prisoners from a neighboring county in Carroll County’s jail — a move that sparked a debate during a public meeting this week. Carroll County Sheriff Ken Pingre says there have been a lot of issues with Calhoun County officials.

“I’m not getting his paperwork on time, not getting prisoners released when they’re supposed to,” Pingrey says. “It’s just come time to hopefully nix this agreement.” Pingrey says the turning point for him was the recent announcement that if Sac County voters approve construction of a new jail in Sac City, Calhoun County’s sheriff will send his county’s prisoners there once that new jail opens.

Carroll County’s sheriff says Polk County officials assure him they’ll be able to send Carroll County more prisoners from central Iowa once he stops accepting Calhoun County prisoners in January. Benjamin Smith, the county attorney in Sac County, says Pingrey’s move is appalling. “He can subsidize Polk County with Carroll County resources, but not the local counties that shop in Carroll, that send their kids to school in Carroll, law enforcement that works closely with Carroll,” Smith said.

Pingrey says Polk County inmates serving out a sentence are easier to deal with than the prisoners his facility gets from Calhoun County and he’s looking to make things easier for his jail’s staff. The Sac County attorney is accusing Carroll County’s sheriff of retaliating against Calhoun County for promising to send its prisoners to a Sac County jail — if it’s built. “That was the turning point,” Pingrey said. Smith asked: “So you’re admitting that’s retaliatory?” The sheriff responded: “Not retaliatory, no. I saw it as a good opportunity.”

A few moments later, Carroll County Supervisor Stephanie Hausman intervened. “Real quick, I’m going to shut this down,” Hausman said. “…I would ask you two, if you guys want to work some things out, do it outside of an open public meeting.”

The chair of Carroll County’s Board of Supervisors says the jail in Carroll was built so it could house out-of-county prisoners and those room-and-board fees are paying off the bonds that financed the facility’s construction.

(Tama County, IA) – An east-central Iowa man was said to be in critical condition, following an accident west of Tama, Thursday afternoon. The Iowa State Patrol says a dump truck pulling a pup trailer hauling gravel, turned westbound onto Highway 30 from C Avenue/Highway T47 at around 2:35-pm, and was building-up speed, when it was rear-ended by a 2017 Dodge RAM pickup truck.

The driver of the pickup, 29-year-old Richard M. Magoon, of Cedar Rapids, was injured and flown to University of Iowa Health Care by Aircare. The Tama County Sheriff’s Office reported that while emergency crews were responding to the initial crash, a secondary crash occurred nearby as a result of traffic congestion and slowed vehicles. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the secondary incident.

The Patrol was assisted in handling the the scene by Toledo EMS, Tama Ambulance Service Medic 1, Toledo Fire, Montour Fire, Montour First Responders, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Tama County 911 Communications, and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Atlantic, IA — Cass Health invites the public to attend a Halloween Trick or Treat event on Thursday, October 30, from 2:30 to 4:00 PM (originally, those hours were from 3-until 5-p.m.)

Parents and children are invited to come to Cass Health for an afternoon of indoor trick-or-treating and fun. Seventeen departments will be participating in this event.

Attendees are encouraged to use Parking Lot C and enter through either the Rehab Services or Rapid Care Entrances. For a map with parking and participating departments, visit casshealth.org.

(Atlantic, Iowa)  -The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Massena was arrested Monday (Oct. 20) on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault- 2nd Offense. 31-year-old Julia Marie Sheler was transported to the Cass County Jail and later released on bond.

And, on Oct. 17th, sheriff’s deputies in Cass County arrested 40-year-old Miles Blake Cooley, of Anita, for Driving While Barred. Cooley was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and later released on his own recognizance.

All criminal charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in the court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has directed the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to convene regular meetings with food banks and pantries since federal food assistance for over 130-thousand Iowa households will likely be delayed due to the government shutdown. Federal officials already directed states not to issue SNAP benefits in November. Iowa food pantries and food banks are preparing for a spike in demand. Annette Hacker is chief communications and strategy officer for the Food Bank of Iowa.

“All of us are doing everything we can to meet the need, but…the charitable food system cannot fill this gap,” Hacker said. “For every meal the charitable food system provides, SNAP provides nine.” Kathy Underhill is C-E-O of the Des Moines Area Religious Council, which runs a network of 14 food pantries.  “November is always the busiest month in the food bank and food pantry world,” she says, “and if SNAP benefits do not go out on time in November, the capacity of food banks and food pantries will be pushed to their very limits.”

Governor Reynolds says she’s reviewing the food insecurity response plan the state developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March of 2020, Reynolds appointed a Feeding Iowans Task Force after tens of thousands of Iowans were furloughed, laid off or saw a significant drop in their income. “If the Democrats would pass a clean CR, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” Reynolds said. “They need to come to the table and they need to pass a clean Continuing Resolution.”

Republicans in the U-S House passed a Continuing Resolution last month that extended current federal spending plans through November 21st. The legislation needs 60 votes to pass the U.S. Senate and Democrats in the Senate are pressing to add an extension of health care-related tax credits the package.

(Radio Iowa) – Leaders in Iowa’s most populous county say they’ll funnel 200-thousand dollars to the Iowa Water Quality Information System to help keep a network of river and stream sensors operating next year. The University of Iowa program lost state funding in 2023, and supplemental dollars from the Walton Family Foundation and I-S-U Nutrient Research Center are expected to run out next year. Matt McCoy is chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors.

“While I personally would like to see the state and federal government play a big role in helping us fund these data sets,” McCoy says, “unfortunately, they’ve made decisions at the legislative and at the federal level to not do that.” McCoy says the county has an obligation to ensure the water its residents rely on is protected. The funding from Polk County represents one-third of the annual budget for the water monitoring network. McCoy says the hope is that other counties will contribute funding to operate dozens of sensors across the state.

Rich Leopold, director of Polk County Conservation, says long periods of data are key for tracking trends and knowing whether certain water quality practices, like adding wetlands, are effective. Leopold says, “We’re investing time, energy and money into all these practices, and if we want to make sure that we’re doing something to make things improve, are things improving?”

The sensors collect real-time data for things like nitrate, flow and temperature. The Iowa division of the Izaak Walton League recently launched a GoFundMe page for the program.

(Radio Iowa) – The nonprofit that runs statewide homelessness assistance programs is expecting significant funding gaps due to the federal government shutdown and the Trump administration’s shift in housing priorities. Courtney Guntly, director of the Iowa Balance of State Continuum of Care, says the agency is running out of the time to figure out if it will receive enough funding to cover the cost of programs. Guntly says more delays in the application process could affect services.

“The state is just not in a place that they would be able to fill in that gap if federal funding does significantly change or is significantly reduced,” she says. Guntly says she hasn’t received any information on how to apply for federal funding in months. Guntly says the leaders of some programs in Black Hawk County are concerned they won’t receive new funds in time before their current funds run out. “These projects are going to lose their funding to be able to provide rental assistance, which means that those projects will no longer be operational,” she says.

The agency disperses more than eight-million dollars to fund homelessness assistance programs across Iowa.