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Maquoketa Caves State Park ready to open with new look

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A view from Maquoketa Caves State Park. (DNR photo)

A popular eastern Iowa state park with very unusual geological features is reopening to the public next week after being closed more than three months for extensive renovation.

Park Ranger Scott Dykstra says Maquoketa Caves State Park will again be a spectacular destination for nearby residents and for visitors from around the world. Dykstra says you’ll notice the changes right away.

“The biggest thing will be our road construction that we had go through the whole park,” Dykstra says. “They replaced the old asphalt road with concrete, and then we upgraded electricity in our campgrounds. We only had 30 and 20 amp receptacles. Now, we’re at 50, 30 and 20 and we increased the number of electrical sites in our campgrounds.”

One of the largest of the many caves, Dancehall Cave, has new LED lighting for energy efficiency and increased brightness. That cave also has Raccoon Creek running through it, which brought in tons of debris over the years.

“The creek floor had about 8 to 12 inches of mud and rock and dirt,” Dykstra says. “We took equipment in there and were able to clean out that sediment. And then the lights will really make a big difference. People now can see the cave formations a lot better without a flashlight in that cave.”

Other upgrades include: a new footbridge on Woodland Trail, new boardwalks on all trails, a new check-in station for campers and a new parking lot with sidewalks near the cave entrance. Soon enough, the park should be pulling in plenty of visitors to explore the six miles of trails and its many unique caves, limestone formations and rugged bluffs.

“We would see roughly anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 people per day on a Saturday and Sunday,” Dykstra says. “Then, on average, it was hit and miss on weather, about 400 to 500 people on the weekdays. We’re hoping to see that happen.” The park reopens to visitors and campers next Friday, August 24th.

 

New soybean pest found in 16 western Iowa counties

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Soybean Gall Midge.

Iowa soybean growers have a new threat to worry about, the soybean gall midge.

The recently-discovered pest is confirmed in 16 western Iowa counties so far and it’s destructive. Professor Erin Hodgson, an extension specialist in entomology at Iowa State University, says there are still many unknowns about the new bug and they haven’t yet confirmed its species.

“The immature of the larvae is pretty interesting,” Hodgson says. “It starts off as kind of a clear, almost translucent larvae and then as it matures, it gets darker. It almost looks like like a mandarin orange slice. It pops really orange when you slice open a soybean stalk.” Once they reach the fly stage, the midges are small — just two or three millimeters in length. They have long antennae and unusually hairy wings.

“It’s the larvae that we really care about because it eats at the base of soybean stems on the inside,” Hodgson says. “When it consumes that plant tissue, basically the plant doesn’t have anything to stand on so it lodges and it tips over.” So how do you kill it? That’s an excellent question, Hodgson says, but she can’t yet offer a practical solution.

“When pests are inside of plants, like corn borers and other types of corn pests that get inside the ear, it’s really hard to treat because our full ear insecticides don’t penetrate that plant tissue,” Hodgson says. “I don’t have a good answer for people on how to control these larvae once inside the plant.” Eventually, there may be an adult control program but for now, there’s no good defense. Treating seeds with insecticide does -not- appear effective in holding off the midges, she says. The soybean gall midge is confirmed in these counties: Buena Vista, Cass, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Fremont, Harrison, Ida, O’Brien, Page, Plymouth, Pottawattamie, Lyon, Montgomery, Shelby and Woodbury.

 

State universities trying to teach composting to students

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College composting bin.

Iowa’s three public universities are urging students to adopt the composting habit in hopes it’ll stick for life.

The University of Iowa is offering 1,000 individual compost bins to first-year students and others who live in dorms. Beth MacKenzie, the U-I’s recycling coordinator, says there are composting programs being held today and Friday where the bins are being handed out.

“They’re small green bins. They’re about a gallon and a half in size,” MacKenzie says. “They have a little sign on the front of them that tells you what can and can’t be composted. Each student that signs up for the program will receive one of those as well as some educational materials.”

The goal is to get students to compost even a pound or two a week to recycle their food waste and keep those leftovers out of the landfill. “Ideally, we would prefer they not have any food waste,” MacKenzie says, “so, it’s one of those balances between we don’t want them to generate food waste in the first place, but if they do, you want to make sure that it’s composted.”

In addition to food and scraps, the compost bins can also be used for things like tea bags, paper towels and pizza boxes. There is a concern about the bins eventually raising a stink, and MacKenzie has a solution. “We are educating the students who do choose to enroll on the importance of making sure they’re emptying it regularly, wiping it out to remove any food residue,” MacKenzie says. “We’re also suggesting that they keep it in their refrigerator, if they have one. That will slow down the decomposition and reduce the odors and potential pests.”

Iowa State University’s Compost Facility is now in its 11th year and has the capacity to take in 10,000 tons of waste. Manure from ISU’s Dairy Farm accounts for about 80% of the facility’s incoming material.

The University of Northern Iowa is offering students a downloadable composting toolkit from its Residential Food Waste Reduction webpage. Food waste from UNI’s dining halls is composted into fertilizer and soil supplements for the Panther Plot student garden — which grows fruits and vegetables that are featured in the dining halls, completing the cycle.

 

Updated report shows 21 tornadoes touched down July 19th

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Two tornadoes are spotted in Bondurant as seen from Iowa DOT traffic camera in Altoona.

It turns out more tornadoes hit Iowa back on July 19th than first thought.

After more detailed research, the National Weather Service now says the number of tornadoes that touched down statewide that day is now 21. That’s up from 16. Officials say five more tornadoes — most of them in corn and soybean fields — were identified through the use of high-resolution satellite images.

The largest twister that day hit Marshalltown, an EF-3 that destroyed 90 homes and damaged more than 600. Another EF-3 hit Pella, a pair of EF2s struck Bondurant, with three EF-1’s landing near Keosauqua and Monroe.

That leaves a total of 14 EF-0’s.

 

Senator Grassley supports Space Force if it is needed for national defense

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Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’ll back a Trump administration plan to create a Space Force as a new branch of the U.S. military.

Last week, Vice President Mike Pence outlined a proposed effort which would be established by 2020 to face “emerging threats on this new battlefield.” Grassley says the way Pence describes it, America is losing ground in the field where we were once the world leader.

“The United States is behind other countries as far as our concern about outer space, both from a military and an educational and a scientific point of view,” Grassley says. “We need to do more to protect our interests in space.” The Space Force would become the sixth branch of the U.S. military, following the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

The administration plan would have the Space Force established as soon as 2020. “I’m a strong believer in a strong national defense and if there’s a need to set up a separate branch of the military, I guess I’m willing to do it,” Grassley says, “just because of my interest in the number-one responsibility of the federal government: to defend our citizens.”

One concern Grassley raises is that there would be no duplication of duties between the new entity and existing divisions within the current military system. Grassley says he has concerns about our future security. “I can tell you, China is looking at all of this stuff in space and using it for defense, besides the scientific advantages you can have or the communications advantages you can have,” Grassley says. “Particularly, if they move ahead, we can’t cede space to any of our adversaries.”

The last time a new branch of the military was created was the Air Force in 1947, shortly after the end of World War Two.

 

Historic World War II ship to travel up Mississippi for stops in Dubuque and Bettendorf

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LST 325

A historic U.S. Navy ship that provided a crucial service in the pivotal D-Day invasion of Normandy, France during World War Two will sail up the Mississippi River this month, docking for tours in two Iowa cities.

Known as LST 325, the landing ship tank changed the course of the war, according to volunteer Chris Donahue, who serves on the ship’s board of directors. “It can go to any unimproved beach in the world without the use of port facilities,” Donahue says, “unload 20 battle-ready Sherman tanks, about 30 trucks and 200 troops.”

The LST was commissioned in 1943 and served in multiple battles in North Africa and Italy before heading to Normandy for the D-Day invasion — part of the largest armada in history — on June 6th of 1944. Because of its versatility, Donahue says the U.S. never lost an invasion once this type of ship was put into use, allowing the military to land tanks and troops right on the beach.

“The LST won the war,” Donahue says. “Between ’43 and ’44, it was the most sought-after ship because they had all these invasions to do. We talk a lot about Europe on our ship because it was at every major European invasion. The 60-some-odd landings in the Pacific after D-Day and the LST was at the forefront of all those.”

The LST 325’s home port is on the Ohio River at Evansville, Indiana, which produced more LST’s than any other shipyard in the country. More than 1,000 LSTs were built during the war, but this is the only one remaining that’s preserved and able to sail under its own power.

“I won’t say it’s full of holes but it’s got holes in it from German aircraft,” Donahue says. “It’s got some dents and bends in the sides. Other than painting it up, we wanted to keep it as it was.” The ship is almost as long as a football field and measures 50 feet across. It craft is being brought to the shores of Iowa so aging veterans who were carried into battle aboard one of them some 74 years ago can get another look.

Donahue says the tours are very popular. “Really, people of all ages, and we do see a lot of the old timers, this means a whole lot to them, some of the guys who were on these,” Donahue says. The rare ship will dock at the Port of Dubuque from August 23rd through the 27th, and then will visit the Isle Casino Hotel in Bettendorf from August 30th through September 3rd. Tours are available daily for a fee, while World War Two veterans can come aboard for free.

NASA solar probe will carry experiment designed by U-I physicist

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NASA depiction of solar probe.

You think it’s hot on the Midway at the Iowa State Fair? A NASA space probe, designed in part at the University of Iowa, will be launched tomorrow morning on a mission to the sun.

U-I physicist Jasper Halekas, a co-investigator on the Parker Solar Probe, says his main experiment is focused on what’s known as the solar wind. “It’s ionized hydrogen and helium and electrons,” Halekas says. “Those compose what we call the solar wind which is this stream of hot plasma that flows out from the sun constantly at around a million miles an hour.”

Halekas’ helped to design SWEAP, which stands for Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons. It’s housed in three clusters of instruments onboard the spacecraft. With a reflective heat shield comprised mostly of carbon foam, the compact car-sized probe is built to withstand the incredibly scorching heat of the sun.

Jasper Halekas

“We’ll get to about 25 times closer to the sun than the Earth is, which is about seven times closer than any human-made object has ever been before,” Halekas says. “In actual terms, that’s about four million miles.” By comparison, the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is about 36 million miles from the sun, so he says this probe will get “right in there.”

The spacecraft will do a fly-by of our solar system’s second planet, Venus, in order to use its gravitational pull to “slingshot” the probe closer to the sun. “About two months into the mission, we do our first fly-by of Venus and about a month after that, only three months after launch, we do our first close pass of the sun,” Halekas says. “Then, over the course of seven more years, we do six more fly-bys of Venus and nudge ourselves closer and closer and closer into the sun.”

The front of the heat shield will have to withstand temperatures of around 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The cooling system is so amazingly efficient that the back of the spacecraft, in the shadow of the heat shield, will be below room temperature.

Launch of the solar probe is scheduled for about 2:30 AM/Central on Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket.

Audio: Matt Kelley interview with Halekas: 7:00.

 

Norwalk preparing to host visitors form Kosovo

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Norwalk delegation in Kosovo.

Officials in the Des Moines suburb of Norwalk will host a delegation from their sister city in Kosovo next week.

Norwalk economic development director Hollie Askey says four elected officials from the town of Vushtrri are in the group as well as three generals from the Kososo Security Force. A busy week of activities is planned, including trips to the Iowa State Fair and an Iowa Cubs game.

“Tours of the downtown, the capital, the Supreme Court building, Terrace Hill,” Askey says. “We’ll have a private showing of the movie, ‘With A Cup of Sugar,’ and then we’ll have a big night, Thursday the 16th, where we’ll do a Kosovo flag raising ceremony at City Hall, followed by a public reception at Warrior Run Golf Course.”

That film chronicles the relationship between Kosovo and Iowa. It dates back to 2011 with a partnership between the Iowa National Guard and the Kosovo Security Force. One goal of this visit is to broaden that partnership by establishing global trade opportunities.

“We have a lot of similarities in our industry and business climate and we have a lot of ways to connect our businesses,” Askey says. “That’s really our primary purpose, besides connecting and sharing with educational opportunities and cultural opportunities, but really with our business and trade industry, we feel like several of our companies can connect and expand.”

Askey was among four Norwalk leaders who were a part of the Iowa delegation that went to Kosovo in May, and this will be the first sister city visit to Norwalk for officials from Vushtrri. “They have so much love for Americans and they’re so appreciative of our help during the war and our help rebuilding their nation that they are so willing to do anything right now,” Askey says. “They even have a new industrial park program where they are offering free land and no property taxes to American businesses that want to build or expand there.”

Language shouldn’t create any barriers during the visit, as Askey says most Kosovars speak excellent English. The delegation from Vushtrri is scheduled to arrive on Sunday, departing next Friday, the 17th.

 

SBA opens office in Marshalltown for tornado recovery

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Downtown Marshalltown prior to clean up.

The damage in Marshalltown from last month’s EF-3 twister is so severe, the U.S. Small Business Administration is now staffing an office in the central Iowa city to process loans to rebuild.

SBA spokesman Burl Kelton says the low-interest loans are for business owners, in addition to homeowners and renters who saw damage in the powerful July 19th storm. Kelton says, “We have statutory interest rates, the maximum term is 30 years, and for businesses $2-million of actual damage, for homeowners $200,000 for physical damage and $40,000 for personal property, including vehicles.”

The loans are through the federal government, he adds, not a bank. The federal disaster declaration for Marshall County makes SBA assistance available to people in the surrounding counties as well: Grundy, Hardin, Jasper, Poweshiek, Story and Tama.

“We’re in Marshalltown probably for the next couple of weeks so folks can come in and talk to a customer service representative, find out whatever information they’d like to and actually make an application while they’re here to see us,” he says. The National Weather Service says 13 tornadoes hit Iowa that day, but only Marshalltown was hit with an EF-3, with winds of up to 144 miles-an-hour.

While some business owners and residents may have lost nearly everything, Kelton says if possible, they should bring in as many of the following items as possible. “Any insurance information, insurance policy numbers and amounts, a recent tax return if they have that, work stubs, pay stubs, that sort of thing,” Kelton says, “because what we do is use that information to determine the cash available for additional debt.”

Around 90 homes in Marshalltown were destroyed in the twister, more than 600 were damaged. The SBA’s Disaster Loan Outreach Center is in the Fisher Community Center at 709 South Center Street in Marshalltown. It’s open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Iowans can also apply online by downloading applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela, or call 800-659-2955.

Nebraska judge tosses out evidence in fatal accident involving Iowans

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A judge has thrown out much of the evidence against the driver of an SUV who’s accused of killing four Iowa motorcyclists in Nebraska last year.

Authorities say 23-year-old Jeser Cisneros-Hernandes of Liberal, Kansas, crossed the center line of a Keith County, Nebraska, highway in July of 2017 and hit two motorcycles head-on. The four who died in the accident were  62-year-old James Matheny and 55-year-old Sheila Matheny of Bedford, Iowa, and 61-year-olds Michael and Jerolyn Weese of Council Bluffs.

The judge ruled this week much of the state’s evidence against Cisneros-Hernandes is inadmissible. The Ogallala police officer reportedly never read him his rights when arresting him for vehicular homicide and reckless driving. The officer’s body-cam footage reportedly shows Cisneros-Hernandes admitting he’d only had one hour of sleep before trying to drive from Montana back to Kansas.