(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State president Wendy Wintersteen is retiring at the end of the year after working there since 1979, and becoming the school’s first woman president in 2017. Wintersteen says she doesn’t agree with the idea that the cost of a college education now isn’t worth it to students. “We see over and over again just the return on investment for our students in terms of the placement rates and the salaries that they are able to earn once they graduate,” she says. Wintersteen says she worries that students who could help fill jobs where there are shortages aren’t coming to college. “I think it’s important to think about that in terms of the future of the country. We have a lot of really smart kids in Iowa that should come get a degree in biomedical engineering, get a degree in electrical engineering and physics, chemistry, get a degree in material science engineering, precision agriculture, animal science,” Wintersteen says.

Wintersteen say 75 percent of I-S-U students get a get a scholarship from a private donor and they are working to increase that. “Forty-four percent of our students graduate without any debt. And so that’s a great number to remember and the average debt at Iowa State is around 28-thousand, 29-thousand dollars, and we have a very low default rate,” Wintersteen says. She says graduates get good jobs and are able to pay off the loans and it raises a question. “Well, how else could you spend that money? So investing in your future. it’s a pretty good way to do that,” she says.

Wintersteen says they require all students at Iowa State to take educational program on what it means to take out a loan and they have to sign a piece of paper that they’ve done that educational training, understanding they have to pay the loan back. Wintersteen retires January 2nd.

(Radio Iowa) – Small Iowa businesses struggling to compete with giants like Amazon might consider what’s called crowdshipping, where customers — who are not store employees — would be asked to deliver merchandise ordered online in exchange for a reward. University of Iowa business analytics professor Jeff Ohlmann is studying the crowdshipping concept and says it seems unconventional to ask a customer to make a delivery, but it could work in some circumstances. “People are always looking for side hustles, and if you can make a little extra money doing very minimal effort, that’s kind of what this is targeted at, it’s that type of individual,” Ohlmann says. “Of course, there’s other individuals who might have a carload of kids and they’re like, ‘No way, in fact, I need a crowdshipper for myself.'”

Customers who make the delivery might be compensated with a gift card or some other incentive, but Ohlmann says they’d first need to be registered and screened.  “The crowdshipping program would have to be done something like somebody who would enroll and be vetted, much like a customer loyalty program, where that store in some sense knows that person and has vetted them,” Ohlmann says. “It’s not just any random shopper who walks into the store and says, ‘Hey, I’ll deliver a package.'”

A recent U-I study looked at how much crowdshipping would be needed to cut delivery costs enough to make it worthwhile. He says it could lower costs and cut delivery times if even five-percent of in-store shoppers agreed to make deliveries that extend their trip home by up to 30 minutes. The idea might make some people uneasy, but Ohlmann says times are changing, and so are traditions. “Currently, we have Door Dashers and Uber Eats and people delivering food that are essentially non-uniformed individuals and so it’s not that much of a stretch, in that regard,” Ohlmann says. “Depending on the scenario, if you’re going to leave a package on a porch and just notify the person, there doesn’t have to be any interaction if you don’t want there to be.”

Crowdshipping isn’t just for mom-and-pop businesses either. He says corporations like Walmart, Target and Home Depot are all trying out similar pilot projects.

(Guthrie Center, IA) – Authorities in Guthrie County reports one person and a dog died during a shed fire early Saturday morning in rural Guthrie County. Guthrie Center Fire Chief Cory Campbell said in a news release, the Guthrie Center Fire Department and Panora EMS were paged to a secondary structure fire at 2094 Hickory Avenue, at around 5:17-a.m., Saturday.

Upon arrival, crews found a shed fully engulfed in flames. The flames were threatening a nearby residence. The occupants of the home were alerted and safely evacuated. Firefighters were able to stop the flames from spreading to the residence, and extinguished the blaze. Upon putting out the fire, responders located a deceased victim and canine within the structure. The scene was then turned over to the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office.

The name of the victim was not immediately released.

Aside from those previously mentioned, agencies responding to the incident included: The Coon Rapids and Bayard Fire Departments, and the Guthrie County Emergency Management Agency. In a social media post, Chief Campbell said “The Guthrie Center Fire Department would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to the families impacted by this tragic incident.”

(Villisca, IA) – Officials say a malfunctioning water heater was the apparent cause of  fire Sunday afternoon in rural Villisca. Accordng to Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce, firefighters from Villisca, Grant, Red Oak and Stanton responded to a reported basement fire at 2374 Union Avenue, or about two-miles north of Villisca, at around 12:40-p.m., Sunday.  Soon after they arrived, crews safely evacuated the lone occupant of the residence.

Firefighters were then quickly able to extinguish the fire in the basement. Chief Bruce says the fire apparently started by a mechanical malfunction with a water heater that ignited combustible materials nearby. Family and friends were assisting the homeowner in finding a temporary means of shelter.

No injuries were reported, and damage to the home was limited. Other agencies assisting during the incident included: Villisca Ambulance; Montgomery County Communications; The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and MidAmerican Energy.

(Radio Iowa) – Two candidates from Odebolt are running in Tuesday’s special election for an open seat in the Iowa House. Republican Representative Mike Sexton of Rockwell City resigned from the seat in September after President Trump appointed him state director for U-S-D-A Rural Development. Wendy Larson, the Republican candidate, ran against Sexton in a G-O-P Primary last year and lost by just 53 votes.

Trump won the district with nearly 75 percent of the vote and the latest data shows for every Democrat in the district, there are more than three registered Republican voters. “And they want a conservative leader who has their values and their beliefs,” Larson said, “and will represent them the way that they believe and the way that they want.” Larson is a stay-at-home mom with a background in sales.

Rachel Burns, the Democratic candidate, says some Iowans are really struggling and she’s been able to connect with voters. “GOP control of Iowa over the past several years — things are not going well,” Burns said. “Things are not getting better for rural Iowans.” Burns is a speech-language pathologist and volunteer firefighter and E-M-T. The district covers Calhoun, Pocahontas and Sac Counties and part of Webster County, to the west of Fort Dodge.

This is the fifth of six special elections scheduled this year to fill vacancies in the Iowa House and Senate. The final special election will be held December 30th to fill a seat in the Iowa Senate that had been held by Democrat Clair Celsi, who died in October.

(Anita, IA) – The CAM Community School District (CSD) Board of Education will hold their Annual and Organizational  Meeting of the retiring and newly elected School Board, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, beginning at 6:30-p.m. The meeting takes place in the CAM High School Media Center, and begins with a Public Hearing on the District’s Instructional Support Levy (ISL). During their meeting last month, the Board held discussion with regard to the voted PPEL and ISL were held. A special election for renewal will be held in March.

The Annual Meeting of the Retiring CAM School Board will follow. The Consent Agenda includes action on approving: Open Enrollments; Personnel matters, such as resignations and contracts, along with other administrative matters. The Board will hear from Mrs. Brahms, with regard to the STEAM/TAG programs.

Once the Annual Meeting concludes, an Organization Meeting of the new Board will be called to order, and includes the Election/Oath of Office to the (elected) Board President, who will then preside over that portion of the meeting. There will also be an election for the Board Vice-President along with administering of the Oath of Office, and the appointment of the School Board Secretary/Treasurer.

The new Board will vote on establishing the date, time and location of their future meetings, and act on several matters to come before them, including: Snow Removal Bids; a Carpet Bid, and other matters. See the full agenda here: 4.1 December 8, 2025 Public Hearing and Organizational Meeting Agenda

(An IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH report) – Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have expanded Iowa public lands access with two parcel acquisitions in Fremont County. The 350 acres abut existing public lands owned by state and federal agencies and will be enrolled in the Iowa Habitat and Access Program to allow public hunting access while employing habitat management practices to improve the prairie.

The Iowa Habitat and Access Program is managed by wildlife biologists at Iowa Department of Natural Resources who help to improve the quality of wildlife habitat on a property. The first parcel is a 174-acre addition to the Copeland Bend Wildlife Area. The conservation groups’ acquisition connects multiple tracts of the existing public lands northeast of Nebraska City. The second parcel, also 174 acres, is a few miles southeast of the first site and connects portions of the M.U. Payne Wildlife Area along the Missouri River. The groups said the site will improve access to the northern end of the existing wildlife area.

The acquisition of the sites was funded by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Build a Wildlife Area program. The program has led to permanent protections and publicly accessible land for more than 243,000 acres in 17 states since 1982, according to a news release from the nonprofit organizations. The news release said the newest parcels add habitat for the game birds in areas that are “heavily utilized” by Iowan and Nebraskan hunters.

In 2024, hunters bagged an estimated 460,000 roosters, or male pheasants, and 27,500 quail in Iowa. Quail Forever acquired another Iowa parcel in August that similarly connected several areas of public land, near Centerville, managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Iowa DNR.

(Union County, IA) – No injuries were reported following a collision Saturday afternoon (12/6), northeast of Kent, in Union County. According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, a pickup truck driven by 38-year-old Jacob L. Hubbard, of Creston, was traveling west on 240th Street at the same time a Chevy Cruze driven by 40-year-old Juaneber De La Cruz-Ruiz, of Kent, was traveling north on Clover Avenue.

Authorities say when De La Cruz-Ruiz failed to stop at the posted stop sign intersection, his vehicle struck the pickup truck on the left rear, causing the pickup to turn and hit the other stop sign before ending-up in the ditch. The Chevy Cruze came to rest on the roadway. The collision happened at around 2:30-p.m.

Both vehicles were towed from the scene, with the damages estimated at $8,000 altogether. The Sheriff’s report said there were no citations issued at the scene, but that De La Cruz-Ruiz would be issued a citation for running the stop sign, and the citation would be sent through the mail.

(Greenfield, IA) – In an update to our social media posts Friday morning, with regard to a two-vehicle accident in northwestern Adair County, a report from the Adair County Sheriff’s Office said 16-year-old Kason Jene Calhoun, of Anita, was injured in the crash that occurred at occurred at around 8:15-a.m., in the 1700 block of Brown Avenue (near 170th Street).

Sheriff’s officials say a 2012 Dodge Durango SUV driven by Kason Calhoun was traveling northbound on Brown Avenue at the same time an end loader driven by 35-year-old Kyle Christian Jorgensen, of Anita, was traveling southbound. The SUV and end loader met at the crest of a hill. Calhoun swerved to the right and drove into snow on the side of the roadway. The SUV lost traction and veered to the left the driver’s side of the before it struck the end loader.

The SUV then entered the east ditch and rolled an undetermined amount of times before coming to rest on its wheels. Jorgensen told authorities he swerved to the right in order to try and avoid the collision. Calhoun was found outside of the SUV. Authorities believe he may have been ejected.

Calhoun was transported by Anita Fire and Rescue to Cass Health in Atlantic (CCHS) before being flown by Lifeflight 3 helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.