(Creston, IA) – The were no injuries or citations reported following a collision mid-morning, Friday, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, vehicles driven by 68-year-old Christine M. Oclair, of Creston, and 76-year-old Nancy Lee Mach, of Corning, collided at around 10:10-a.m., at the intersection of W. Prairie and N. Sumner Streets.

Authorities say a 2019 Toyota Camry driven by Oclair was stopped on W. Prairie Street, facing eastbound. A 2015 Chevy Equinox driven by Mach was traveling north on N. Sumner and making a left turn onto W. Prairie St. While making the turn, Mach turned too sharply, authorities said. Her vehicle struck the front left side of the Camry, causing minor damage to each vehicle (for an estimated total of $5,000).

JOINT FORCE HEADQUARTERS – DES MOINES, Iowa (2/28/26)  – Approximately 575 Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division are arriving back in the United States as part of the continued phased return from their deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

Officials with the Iowa National Guard say during their deployment, these Soldiers worked alongside coalition and regional partners to significantly reduce the capabilities of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, helping improve security and stability throughout the region.

As operations transition and mission objectives are achieved under U.S. Central Command guidance, Soldiers and units are redeploying in phases based on mission requirements, personnel needs, and transportation availability. Some Soldiers return earlier as their specific missions conclude, while others remain deployed to continue essential responsibilities such as partner support and base security. Every Soldier contributes to mission success and to ensuring the safe return of the force.

Details regarding welcome home ceremonies in Des Moines, Sioux City and Cedar Rapids will be announced as they are finalized.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R will hold a series of listening session across the state starting Monday. The D-N-R’s Pete Hildreth says they want to get input on proposed changes in hunting and fishing regulations.

(as said)”These sessions offer a direct opportunity to provide feedback to our staff before formal proposals are submitted to the Natural Resource Commission,” Hildreth explains.

He says input from the from past meetings has led to significant regulation changes.

(as said)“Including adjustments to Canada goose seasons, raccoon hunting dates, and antlerless deer quotas. We encourage all the public to attend, ask questions, and share their perspective on the topics,” he says.

Hildreth says the sessions are also a way for people to discuss the highlights of the recent seasons.

(as said)” For example, folks that are interested in understanding or hearing how the 25-26 deer season went, that’s an opportunity for people to hear that,” he says.

Hildreth says the complete schedule of meetings is available on the D-N-R’s website. In southwest Iowa, meetings will be held in:

• Creston, March 3, 6 p.m., Performing Arts Building multi-purpose room (124), 1201 West Townline Street
• Council Bluffs, March 5, 5:30 p.m., Bass Pro Shops, 2901 Bass Pro Drive

(Glenwood, IA) – Police in Glenwood report a man was arrested Thursday morning on an assault charge. Officials say 47-year-old Joshua Robert Saunders, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 12:45-a.m. in Glenwood, for Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense. His bond was set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials say there’s a serious risk of fast-spreading wildfires again today (Friday) as much of Iowa will see unseasonably high temperatures and gusty winds amidst very dry vegetation. Red Flag Warnings are posted for some two dozen counties, including five counties in northwest Iowa, across much of the southern two tiers of counties, and into eastern Iowa. Meteorologist Jim Lee, at the National Weather Service, says an abrupt temperature shift is coming.

“We’ve got temperatures in the 60s in parts of western and southern Iowa, maybe even pushing 70 near the Missouri border,” Lee says, “but then one day later, on Saturday morning, we’re looking for snow across far northern and northeastern Iowa, so rapid changes on the way.” A Winter Weather Advisory is being posted for several northeastern Iowa counties, while Lee says the possibilities of snow will shift to the south for the latter half of the weekend. “We do have some snow chances on Sunday, yes, but it looks like most of that will be more across about the southern half of Iowa,” Lee says. “Up in northern Iowa, very little to no snow on Sunday, but down in southern Iowa, near the Missouri border, some places could get some light accumulations.”

The long-range forecast shows temperatures warming into the 40s and 50s next week for much of the state.

(Radio Iowa) – House Speaker Pat Grassley says House Republicans are wrestling with the governor’s proposal to raise the state tax on tobacco products and start assessing a 15 percent sales tax on vaping products. He suggests it doesn’t fit with their recent moves to cut state income taxes. “Obviously we’ve continued to reduce taxes on Iowans — looking a 3.8% flat (income) tax, eliminating it on retirees,” Grassley says. Reynolds told reporters yesterday (Thursday) that she’s not a governor who raises taxes, but supports raising taxes on products that have been linked to lung cancer aligns with the Make America Healthy Again or MAHA agenda.

House Republicans have already taken the step of removing the tax increase from the governor’s MAHA bill. “Whether it pops up again, I can’t say,” Grassley said, “but our first action was not to include it in the bill that it was proposed in, so right now I think that’s kind of the holding pattern we’re in at this point.” Before the 2026 legislative session started, Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh — a former smoker — said vaping productts deliver nicotine just like cigarettes and he’d have a conversation with his fellow Republicans in the senate about taxing vapes.

The governor’s broader proposal which would tax vapes AND raise tobacco taxes failed in a senate committee last week. A state report indicates the cigarette smoking rate among Iowa adults has dropped to five-point-six percent, but the use of e-cigarettes continues to rise and 23-and-a-half percent of 18 and 24 year olds vape regularly.

(Creston, IA) – Police in Creston say a man from Polk County was arrested Thursday night at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center. 34-year-old James Edward Jonsson, of Des Moines, was arrested at around 10:20-p.m., on a charge of Failure to Appear. Jonsson was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,000 cash-only bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra says there will be a vote to end the E-P-A smog rule that keeps E-15 gasoline from being sold nationwide in the summer. The U-S House deadline for the bill passed Wednesday, and Feenstra says there were reasons the vote didn’t happen. “We had a couple discussions with the speaker. We have to understand, so there was a February 25th date. We had a snowstorm that hit D-C on Monday, and then we had the State of Union on Tuesday, and we’re done on Wednesday,” he says. Feenstra says the missed deadline doesn’t kill the issue.

“This is going to pass. It’s just a matter of if it’s this coming week, and we’re just making sure that when we take this vote, all right, whether it be this week or next week or this coming week, is that it gets passed, and then it moves on to the Senate,” Feenstra says. “I mean, we’ve been at this for ten some years now, and we’ve got to finally get it passed. It’s energy independence, it’s domestic energy. And, you know, it helps our commodity prices.” Feenstra leads the House Rural Domestic Energy Council and has been negotiating with lawmakers who represent states with oil refineries in trying to find a compromise on E-15.

“It’s a civil war within the oil refineries right now on E-15. The large refineries, small refineries, one of them refineries are sort of struggling. It’s not a win for everybody. We’re trying to get everybody to the table and say, hey, let’s get to neutral,” Feenstra says. The need for a new bill came after House G-O-P leaders removed a mandate for year-round E-15 sales from a budget bill that passed in January. The president of the Renewable Fuels Association says he is not terribly optimistic that we’re going to see the E-15 legislation passed before summer.

(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Lawsuits claiming that greenhouse gas emissions from an agricultural operation impacted the climate would be prohibited under a bill passed Thursday by the Iowa House.  Supporters of the bill, which passed with a vote of 66-24, said the bill protects against “frivolous” climate lawsuits, while opponents of the bill worried the language was too broad and would limit Iowans’ abilities to seek damages.  House File 2527 would limit farmers’ and ranchers’ liability in cases alleging an “actual or potential” effect on the climate caused “wholly or partly” by greenhouse gas emissions.

Rep. Derek Wulf, R-Hudson, introduced the bill and said on the floor that the “ag friendly bill” allows farmers to “continue to do what they do best, and that’s farm and ranch.” Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, introduced an amendment to the bill to exempt lawsuits related to nuisances or weather-related damages that could be tied to climate change. Scholten said the amendment clarified some of the “broad language” of the bill. He argued that without the amendment, a neighbor “suffering real tangible harm” like a farmer with damaged drainage, decreased property value or a polluted well, could be unable to seek damages in an Iowa court.

Scholten also took issue with the section of the bill that protects from lawsuits that are “wholly or partly” attributed to greenhouse gas emissions. This language, he argued, could be applied more broadly and allow a defendant to “escape liability entirely” for something like a “straightforward” weather damage claim, especially, as he argued it’s not uncommon for severe weather events to be partly attributed to climate change. Wulf said the bill’s intent was not to affect nuisance claims, nor to protect bad actors.

The House voted in favor of the bill and also adopted an amendment from Wulf that added “petroleum source” to the list of greenhouse gas emissions described in the bill. The House also passed, unanimously, House File 2596 to update language for Iowa’s grain indemnity program, which was revamped in 2025, and helps farmers get paid for sold grain when their buyers go bankrupt. The inclusion of credit-sale contracts – when a seller has sold and delivered the grain but will receive payment at a later date – was a source of conflict among lawmakers as they updated the grain indemnity program. Credit-sale contracts were included in the final version of the bill signed by the governor.

Both bills were sent to the Senate.