IOWA – Early voting begins across the state in-person today at county courthouses. Voter ID laws remain the same, so a driver’s license or other qualifying document must be brought. Registration can be done in person at any of those sites on election day and during the early registration window. Ballots can be requested for absentee voters until 5 p.m. on October 21st through mail. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on November 5th. IOWA – Continued dry weather and above normal temperatures allowed Iowa farmers 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending October 13, 2024, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Field activities included harvesting corn and soybeans, baling corn stalks, applying manure and fertilizers, and fall tillage. Fire danger in fields remains a threat. Topsoil moisture condition rated 35 percent very short, 41 percent short, and 24 percent adequate, Corn reached 97 percent mature or beyond, and the crop harvested for grain reached 45 percent, which is three days ahead of last year and six days ahead of the five-year average.ANKENY – For the third consecutive year, new cancer diagnoses in Iowa ranks the second highest in the nation. KCRG-TV reports there were 21,000 new cases of cancer in the past year, and an estimated 6,100 will die this year in the 2024 Iowa Cancer Report. While there is no one reason, the report cites increasing excessive alcohol use as one area for concern.

IOWA – A Council Bluffs man was arrested Monday for the alleged murder of a woman found dead this past February. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is accusing 45-year-old Justin Sickler of being responsible for the death of 28-year-old Brianne McIntosh. Earlier this year, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office found an unidentified dead body with severe injuries that resulted in her death. McIntosh was reported missing in December 2023. Sickler is charged with first degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and theft in the 3rd degree. WASHINGTON – A Washington High School student died in a crash involving a train early Monday morning. KCII Radio reports the Iowa State Patrol responded to a vehicle vs. train collision. The Iowa State Patrol says a Ford Fusion ran a stop sign and entered the crossing. The Washington Community School District told parents the person who died in the crash was a student, identified as Rowan Ross. AMES – While the Iowa State football team makes its first landing in the Associated Top 10 rankings this week, so does another athletic team in Ames. The Cyclones Men’s Basketball team is the No. 5 preseason team in the country. ISU returns four of its top five scorers from its No. 2 seeded 2024 NCAA tournament team.

DELAWARE COUNTY – Three people were killed in a crash that resulted in a major fire on Highway 20 in Delaware County early Sunday morning. The Iowa State Patrol reports a Chevy Impala was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes at 3:36 a.m. and collided with a semi traveling the correct direction. Both vehicles became fully engulfed. Dozens of emergency personnel from surrounding communities responded. IOWA – The beginning of this week marks the end of the growing season in Iowa. Many communities experienced their first hard freeze of the season in the western half of the state overnight Sunday, and the rest of the state remains in a frost advisory and freeze watch through Wednesday. The coolest morning will see low temperatures dip into the 20s Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Warmer weather is set to return later this week, with highs in the 70s again throughout most of Iowa by Thursday. IOWA – Iowa corn production is forecast at 2.64 billion bushels, up five percent from the previous year, according to the latest USDA Crop Production report. Based on conditions as of October 1, yields are expected to average 214.0 bushels per acre, up 2.0 bushels per acre from the September 1 forecast and up 13.0 bushels per acre from last year. Corn planted acreage is estimated at 12.9 million acres. An estimated 12.4 million of the acres planted will be harvested for grain.

FAIRFIELD – A Fairfield High School student who plotted to kill his Spanish teacher will have to serve 35 years in prison before the possibility of parole. The Des Moines Register reports the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision that Willard Chaiden Miller will receive the full sentence. There is an Iowa law that deals with mandatory minimum sentencing and juveniles — both Miller and his accomplice Jeremy Goodale were teenagers at the time of the murder of Nohema Graber. CALHOUN COUNTY – The man accused of murdering a teenager in Calhoun County has entered a plea of not guilty on Friday. WHO-13 reports Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney faces charges of abuse of a corpse and first degree murder for the death of 17-year-old Michele Luna Jackson of Farnhamville. A criminal complaint alleges that Bevers-McGivney cut the victim’s throat with a knife and stabbed her multiple times, and then attempted to hide her body on September 22nd. IOWA – A couple of record highs were tied on Friday in both Des Moines and Ottumwa with 86 degrees at each site. The previous record for both was in 1962. This comes during an unusually warm and dry fall season so far, with some locations in Iowa having received less than an inch of rain since early August, according to the National Weather Service. Most Iowans will see their first frost of the year early next week, but warmer weather returns by next Friday.

IOWA – Active solar weather has continued in 2024, with many Iowans taking in the aurora borealis multiple times this month, including late last night. Several observers have found seeing the northern lights much easier with the use of longer exposure videos and images on smart phones. There were multiple instances of the northern lights visible in Iowa back in May as well. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has found solar activity to be high this year, which has also disrupted some radio and GPS services intermittently. CEDAR RAPIDS – A Cedar Rapids woman has been arrested for allegedly abandoning two children this summer. KCRG-TV reports Heather Ann Perez Miranda is accused two children younger than 10 years old at the corner of a street on June 30th. One of the children found has been determined as not being able to care for themselves due to medical issues. Police say video shows the mother dropping off the two children near Interstate 380 in Cedar Rapids. Perez Miranda faces two counts of neglect and child endangerment. IOWA – Drought has once again expanded in Iowa as an unusually warm and dry October continues. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor Report shows now more than half of Iowa is once again in drought, seven percent of which is considered severe. While no major precipitation is on the horizon, many corners of the state are expected to see their first frost by early next week, according to the National Weather Service.