IOWA FREE FISHING WEEKEND
The annual Free Fishing Weekend in Iowa takes placer now through Sunday.
This is Nick Beeck, Plymouth County Conservationist,
Any Iowa resident of any age can go fishing without a license this weekend. All other rules apply
This applies on all water resources in Iowa.
This includes Plymouth County…
Plymouth County Conservation does stock some of its ponds with fish
Beeck says great fishing weather is anticipated this weekend.
MERRILL DAZE
The annual Merrill Daze is today and tomorrow. Mayor Bruce Norgaard says the highlights today are cars and ice cream
The car show is a great social event.
One iof the highlights for Saturday is an open barbeque contest.
BBQ contestants will arrive early, and there’s also a bicycle parade at 9 am
Norgaard says the parade Saturday morning will include the kids only.
Most of the rest of the activities Saturday are at the Merrill Community Center. A street dance at the fire station will close out the weekend activities.
IOWA TORNADO TALLY IS GROWING
Iowa’s twister tally is growing, approaching all-time record As the experts study the damage, satellite photos and other data, the number of tornadoes that have hit Iowa this year continues to rise. The National Weather Service now says Iowa has had 94 tornadoes touch down in the state this year, in what’s still considered a preliminary count. That includes 45 tornadoes during April, which broke the record for the month of 40, set in April of 2001. Iowa had 48 more tornadoes in May, and one confirmed so far in June. One of the latest reported was an EF zero tornado which touched down briefly in northeast Sheldon a week ago, causing damage to a shed and a nearby RV dealer. The yearly total record for Iowa is 120 tornadoes, set in 2004. There’s still roughly three weeks left in the three-month tornado season, though twisters can strike during any month. Back in 2021, Iowa had a record of 63 tornadoes in a single day – in December.
IOWA RETURNS TO NORMAL AFTER FOUR-YEAR DROUGHT
After four years of below normal rainfall and drought conditions, the State of Iowa has returned to normal hydrologic conditions, according to the latest Water Summary Update.
The last time Iowa was free from any drought designation by the U.S. Drought Monitor was June of 2020.
May’s preliminary statewide precipitation was 7.51 inches across the state, or 2.67 inches above normal. The increased rainfall has led to improved streamflow and soil moisture conditions across the state, with the spring months of March, April, and May ranking among the top ten wettest on record. May had an average statewide temperature of 50.7 degrees, just over two degrees above normal.
DNR hydrologist Tim Hall says six of the last eight months have been wetter than normal, the trend they have been waiting to see.
June through August normally sees an increase in water demand, so having a recharged hydrologic system is important as the summer season begins.
GOLDSTAR MUSEUM FEATURES IOWANS WHO WERE PART OF D-DAY
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Europe.
Iowa Goldstar Museum curator Mike Vogt says Iowans participated in many different phases of what is the largest military amphibious landing in history. He says the war was the first time many of them had traveled out of the state, and they were very young with the average age of a World War Two soldier was about 21-22 years old. One of the soldiers, John Marshall, wasn’t in the fight long after parachuting into Normandy with the 82nd Airborne Division. Vogt says Marshall landed and looked up and there was a German soldier there. Marshall spent the rest of World War Two in a German prison camp. Vogt says D-Day was a major event in deciding the fate of the world.
The Goldstar Museum at Camp Dodge in Johnston has a special display on the Iowans who participated in D-Day. Vogt says some Iowans were in the very thick of combat.
Another soldier from northeast Iowa took care of the wounded.
Other Iowans were in the air or climbing the cliffs.
The Goldstar Museum is free and open to the public.
DENISON FATAL
One person is dead and four others injured following a two vehicle accident Tuesday night near Denison.
The Iowa State Patrol says 23-year-old Brent Stephan of Oklahoma, the driver of an eastbound car on highway 30 in Crawford County lost control and collided with a westbound S-U-V near “N” Avenue.
Stephan and two passengers received serious injuries.
A passenger in the S-U-V, 35-year-old Cory Beer of Bayard, Iowa, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The driver of the S-U-V, 19-year-old Morgan Andersen of Shelby, Iowa, was taken to the Denison Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The crash remains under investigation.
HISTORIC CAR WITH IOWA PLATES WILL BE A BIT LATE REACHING THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY
A century-old car with a fabled history for road trips was -supposed- to be chugging across Iowa today (Friday), but as happens with aging vehicles, it’s developed engine trouble. Tim Matthews, curator of the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska, says this was the ten-millionth Model T produced by Ford, and its already been driven coast-to-coast three times over the decades. Matthews says things were going well on this 100th anniversary trek when they left New York City last Sunday, but the engine blew apart in Pennsylvania. Repairs are being made and it should be back on road soon, resuming its 45-hundred mile “Sea-to-Sea in a Model T” trek from New York to San Francisco. It’s following the Lincoln Highway, or Highway 30 in Iowa, which will take it through communities including: Clinton, Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown, Ames, Carroll and Denison.
IOWA HOSTS FREE FISHING WEEKEND IN JUNE
If you’ve never tried fishing before, you can give it a whirl next weekend as part of the state’s annual free fishing weekend, June 7th through the 9th. D-N-R conservation officer Nate Carr says it’s a wonderful pastime, plus, you might catch dinner. Carr says the weekend is free for all Iowa residents and you don’t need a fishing license. Some Iowa law enforcement agencies are sponsoring fishing events for kids and their families during the weekend.
