(Radio Iowa) – Experts say they’re seeing higher than usual cases of hand, foot and mouth disease that mostly affects kids under the age of five, but it can hit everyone. Doctor Christine Davis at UnityPoint says parents should look out for low grade fevers, low energy and rashes that commonly start on the buttocks. “When kids are around each other, it’s typically spread, you know, either fecal, oral or oral, oral or respiratory contact,” she says. And so good hand washing, you know, making sure that you know if someone is sick, that you’re not sharing food and drinks and other things like that.”

Davis says the infection can be treated at home with over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and Tylenol.  “So a lot of times, because they do have these sores in the back of their throats, they’re not wanting to eat or drink very well,” Davis says. “And so signs of dehydration, especially in really young kiddos, would be, you know, less frequent wet diapers, you know, and just refusal to take any oral intake in.”

Figure, Hand, Foot, and Mouth Virus, Lesions. MidgleyDJ, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons ] – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf

Davis says symptoms include a low-grade fever and low energy. She says the rash for children commonly starts on the buttocks. It’s believed the increase in cases is due to the warmer temperatures this summer and fall.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Vision Atlantic, today (Thursday), announced family of Doug and Jill Leonard have donated $25,000 to Vision Atlantic’s transformative project, which will bring a housing development, new child development center, and YMCA expansion to Atlantic. Doug Leonard said “We are very happy to support the goals of Vision Atlantic in Jill’s memory. She understood the value of quality childcare from raising our children Cooper and Reagan and her work with the Parents as Teachers program through Cass Health.”

Vision Atlantic, through extensive research and surveying of the community and surrounding region, identified three areas that will help increase Atlantic’s population: expanded childcare, quality housing and quality of life amenities. Infrastructure for the 142 mixed unit Camblin Hills housing development and 300 capacity child development center is almost complete, with construction of 48 homes currently underway. Construction of the child development center and YMCA expansion is slated to begin early 2026.

Vision Atlantic has a fundraising goal of $39 million, which will be used to construct the YMCA expansion and child development center. To date, they have raised $26.5 million of that goal, thanks to an $8.6 million lead grant from the Charles E. Lakin Foundation and significant support from local donors. In addition to their grant support, the Lakin Foundation has created a separate investment fund of $23 million that will be used to construct homes in the Camblin Hills housing development. The capital will be used as a line of credit, and as the dollars are paid back, the Foundation will donate up to 5% of the interest paid back to Vision Atlantic, who will use those dollars to operate the child development center.

Vision Atlantic’s Project Committee is actively working to secure the remaining $12.5 million needed to meet their fundraising goal. If you are interested in helping transform Atlantic, whether it’s through monetary donations or acts of volunteerism, please contact Vision Atlantic at visionatlanticiowa@gmail.com. Visit www.visionatlantic.org and follow on Facebook for behind-the-scenes access to project updates and in-depth information of the project scope.

Vision Atlantic is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to empower growth, enhance lives, and build a thriving community together through the economic development of Atlantic, Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – Demolition work is underway to tear down the entire East Wing of the White House to clear the way for a new 90-thousand square foot ballroom President Trump wants to build. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says Trump isn’t doing anything that hasn’t been done by previous residents of the executive mansion.

“Past presidents have decided to change things at the White House,” Grassley says. “I don’t recall any objections through history of the times where it’s been changed from time to time.” Trump estimates the new ballroom will cost 300-million dollars, up from an estimate of 200-million just days ago, but he insists it’s all from private donations, not taxpayer dollars.

Reports say several corporations have contributed to the project, including: Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Google, Comcast and Meta. As for the ballooning nine-figure price tag, Grassley says “hardly anything” gets done at the original estimated cost.

(Audubon, Iowa) –  The Audubon County Secondary Roads Department reports, beginning Monday, October 27th, 2025, MidAmerican Energy will begin roadway construction along 300th St from Littlefield Drive (Co Hwy F58) to Thrush Ave, and on Thrush Ave, approximately 1 mile north of the Thrush Ave./300th St intersection. The widening is necessary for access to the Eclipse Wind Energy Farm site.

Construction will consist of widening the intersection at 300th St and Littlefield Dr. and widening the intersection of 300th St. and Thrush Ave. The project should be completed by Friday, November 7th.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senate candidate Jim Carlin says the government is hurting rather than helping the American people right now and it’s time for major reform. “Big government and big business got married,” Carlin says, “and the happy couple has given us the credit card bill.” Carlin says government policies have created monopolies in all sectors of the economy — particularly in health care, banking and agriculture.”There’s a reason why politics is big business. They invest hundreds of millions of dollars in politicians,” Carlin said. “We all know that.”

Carlin supports term limits for members of congress. And he’s calling for a ban on so-called “Super PACs” that can spend unlimited amounts of money on elections, while keeping the names of donors secret. “These businesses want to monopolize our political system to where with the hundreds of millions that go in, our voices get silenced and they own the game,” Carlin said, “and I think that has a lot to do with where we are.” Carlin says the country won’t have election integrity until there is campaign finance reform.

Carlin made his comments at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale, a group that regularly hosts Republican candidates for state and federal office. Carlin challenged Senator Chuck Grassley in the 2022 Republican Primary and he’s now competing against Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who’s running for the Senate in 2026.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – [**updated 10/24] The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, Wednesday, announced community Trick-or-Treating in Atlantic, will be held on Thursday, Oct. 30th, instead of the previously announced date of Oct. 31st. The change is being made because, according to Chamber Executive Director Kelsey Beschorner, “Our hometown football team has made it into the playoffs (go Trojans!), and to ensure everyone can enjoy both the big game and our beloved Halloween traditions.” The Chamber, City, and community partners, she said have agreed to move festivities up by one day.

Here’s the updated schedule for Thursday, October 30th:

Cass Health Trick-or-Treating**
2:30–4:00 PM

Atlantic News Telegraph / South O Roofing Costume & Coloring Contest
Registration: 3:15–3:50 PM
Judging: 4:00 PM

Downtown Trick-or-Treating
3:30–5:00 PM

City-Wide Trick-or-Treating
5:00–7:00 PM

Beschorner said, “We appreciate your understanding and flexibility as our town rallies together to support our kids. If your business is not located Downtown, please feel free to come and join the festivities on Chestnut Street!”

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau (IIDFB), Wednesday, said an Urbandale man, 42-year-old Jared Harrison, was charged on October 14, 2025, with one count of Acting as an Adjuster without a License, a Class D Felony, following an investigation by the Bureau. According to criminal complaints filed by the IIDFB, Harrison, who is General Manager at R3 Roofing and Exteriors, engaged in public adjusting without a license when negotiating an insurance claim for a client from which he and his company could benefit. Harrison was arrested Wednesday and booked at the Polk County Jail.

(Photo of Harrison courtesy of Polk County Jail)

Iowa law restricts a contractor completing the repairs from acting as a public adjuster on the insurance claim.  Iowans can view a list of licensed public adjusters in Iowa at the Iowa Insurance Division’s website.

Officials say no further information regarding this case will be provided at this time. Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Radio Iowa) – Halloween – which is officially a little more than one-week away – can be a scary, stressful time for Iowans’ pets, with doorbells ringing, strange noises, and costumed kids darting through in the yard. Megan Matamoros, director of shelter operations at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, offers a few tips to keep your dogs and cats comfy and safe during this spooky season. “Make sure that you are paying attention to where your animal is, so when we’re opening and closing doors, we’re making sure our pets don’t go out and greet the trick-or-treaters,” Matamoros says. “They can be left in your room with the door shut, like your main bedroom, or maybe in a crate where they sleep with some light radio on, or a TV to kind of create a white noise thing.”

Some pets may appear to like Halloween candy as much as kids, but many sweet treats can be harmful and even poisonous to dogs and cats. Matamoros says it’s important to take precautions with the candy you’ll be passing out, and with the bags of edible loot kids bring home. “Candy should absolutely be left out of reach. Dogs and cats and all animals should not be getting human candy, so keeping them in an enclosed pet-proof container before you’re giving them out to trick-or-treaters is great,” Matamoros says. “If you do have a bowl, make sure you keep that high enough where your cat or your dog cannot reach it and cannot jump up and get into it.” If your pet eats something it’s not supposed to, contact your veterinarian or emergency vet immediately, or call the ASPCA’s Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

Halloween decorations inside and outside the house can also pose a threat to a pet, so don’t let them get access to chew on light bulbs, inflatables, or anything else with a battery pack. “Those fake spider webs are really cool and make it a really spooky house, but if it is within the pet’s reach or they’re really interested in it, they can get entangled in those fake webs,” Matamoros says, “so you want to make sure that those are very secure and that your animals aren’t interacting with them.” She urges pet owners to make sure their animals are equipped with an I-D tag and a microchip with your updated information to give them the best chance of being reunited with you if they manage to scamper away.

More info. at ARL-Iowa.org

(Radio Iowa) – In an update to an earlier report, a spokesman for the trade group called Fur Commission U-S-A now says around two-thousand mink were released into the wild after fences were cut down cut down and pens damaged at a mink farm near Woodbine Monday night. The spokesman says about 60 percent of the animals were recovered by the farmer.

The farmer is also involved in conservation programs that support national wildlife repopulation efforts and suffered additional losses when starving mink preyed on those animals in his care.

(Radio Iowa) – A Des Moines woman who was convicted of vandalizing the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017 is now out of federal prison. Jessica Reznicek was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for conspiracy to damage an energy facility with a terrorism enhancement. Frank Cordaro of the Catholic Worker House in Des Moines picked up Reznicek at the federal prison in Minnesota October 1st, and she is now serving time at a halfway house. “She has two more years to do, they’re cutting off two full years of the eight years, so she’ll end up doing six years,” he says. “And the halfway house will keep her until she’s ready to transition to home arrest with an ankle bracelet.”

Reznicek and Ruby Montoya vandalized a sign outside the Iowa Utilities Commission office in 2017 and then admitted to damaging the pipeline using an oxy-acetylene cutting torch and setting fires near pipeline instruments and equipment in Mahaska, Boone, and Wapello Counties. Reznicek was also ordered to pay more than three million dollars in restitution. “That’s just not going to get paid, not through the halfway house employment or through the rest of her life. But what she deals with now is paying what they take from her, whatever paycheck she gets at a minimum wage job,” Cordaro says. Cordaro says Reznicek glad to be back in Iowa.

Jessicca Reznicek (Photo from Frank Cordaro)

“She’s very happy. She’s looking forward to dealing with the yet another crazy system and being close to home,” he says. It just makes it all that much closer, gets it that much closer to her freedom. She’s she’s done some hard time, and it’s time to get free. And she’s at a literally halfway house, it’s halfway out half way in.” Cordaro says The Catholic Work House has supported Reznicek, and he says she wants to come back there when she ends her time in the halfway house. “When she gets to be at home arrest, she can probably hang out with the workers, help us do the soup kitchen work and be part of the community. So, that’s all real good news for us. That’s better than having her in Minnesota in a federal penitentiary,” Cordaro says.

Reznicek and Montoya defended their actions saying they were climate activists. Cordaro says he believes they are heroes. “I think these young women took risks to stop the great sin of our times, the way in which we use oil to destroy the planet,” Cordaro says.

Montoya was sentenced to six years in prison. Cordaro says he does not know where Monotya is now.