Dar Danielson

Des Moines

Reporter at Radio Iowa

Radio Iowa Reporter, Dar Danielson

Articles

Tons of tulips and plenty of food available at Orange City festival

1 day ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

The annual Orange City Tulip Festival, celebrating the town’s Dutch heritage, is underway. Spokesperson Avery Kelch says thousands of tulips are blooming in this good weather. “Windmill Park is where a majority of our tulips are found, and then we also have quite a few tulips lining the streets as well,” she says. The Dutch Heritage Society brought in one special tulip this year, which is bred and named after Orange City.
Iowa rail traffic not showing any tariff impact

1 day ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

The latest report from the Iowa Department of Transportation doesn’t show any slowdowns in rail shipments due to tariffs on foreign goods. The DOT’s Stuart Anderson gave an update to the Transportation Commission Tuesday. “You’ve probably seen some headlines about volume coming into some of the west ports is starting to decline. That is not apparent at least through March, and we do have some April data as well that shows the intermodal traffic is still high on the rail system,” Anderson says.
Iowa driver's license stations see record numbers in Real ID rush

2 days ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

The implementation of the Real ID driver’s license requirement for flying led to record numbers of people visiting DOT driver’s license offices. DOT Motor Vehicles Division director Kathleen Meradith-Eyers says traffic picked up as the May 7th deadline approached. “Starting with a 20% increase in April, early April, then 30%, then 40%. And this past week we issued 56% more cards across the state than normal,” she says.
Iowa DNR reports thousands of fish killed in Lizard Creek spill

2 days ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

The Iowa DNR has released fish kill numbers from a spill last month in the south Branch of Lizard Creek in Fort Dodge. The DNR says 71,933 fish were killed after a fertilizer byproduct leaked from the CJ Bio America plant and into the creek on April 14th. A statement from DNR fisheries biologist Ben Wallace says cooler water and higher flow reduced the number of fish impacted, and larger fish species may have still been in the Des Moines River and not the creek.
Iowa farmers had a good week for planting

2 days ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

Dry weather gave farmers almost one full week to pull their planters through the fields, and they got a lot of seed into the ground. The U.S.D.A. report says corn planting moved from 49 to 76% complete by the end of last week. That percentage pushed the planting from two days behind last year to eight days ahead. Soybean planting has moved from 38 to 64% now completed. Corn planting is three days ahead of the five-year average, and soybean planting is five days ahead of average.
DNR reviewing public input as it looks at new hunting and trapping regulations

3 days ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

The Iowa DNR is moving closing to making some changes in hunting and trapping regulations. The DNR’s Chris Ensminger discussed findings from public input meetings during the recent Natural Resources Commission meeting. “For deer, just general comments, we received 427, which is over half of the total comments received for just general comments, 110 for Waterfall, 112 for furbearers. Turkeys received 32 upland 66,” he says. Ensminger says the deer comments focused on some key areas.
Supreme Court throws out lawsuit over English only election documents

6 days ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling from a group seeking to allow the printing of election documents in languages other than English. The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, argued the law hampered its voter registration efforts and forced it to spend additional money and resources.
Iowa's fallen law officers remembered in state ceremony

6 days ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

The state held its annual ceremony honoring fallen law officers today at the Peace Officer Memorial near the State Capitol. There were no new names added to the memorial this year. Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Bayens says it’s important to pause and remember the officers represented there. “These names, etched in granite, serve as a perpetual reminder that there is a group of brave men and women who are willing to stand in the gap between order and chaos,” he says.
Vietnam era jet takes flight over Sioux City on way to makeover

1 week ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

A Vietnam-era military jet flew over Sioux City for the first time in years Wednesday with the help of two Iowa National Guard Chinook helicopters. The A-7 jet was moved from the old Martin’s Airfield to the 185th Air National Guard base, where it will be restored and then be on permanent display at the Siouxland Freedom Park. Freedom Park board member Marty Hogan says they are excited to see the project happen.
TSA reports no major issues in Iowa on first day of Real ID

1 week ago | radioiowa.com | Dar Danielson

The spokesperson for the TSA in Iowa and other Midwest states says they made it through the first day of the Real ID requirement without any real issues. “We saw smooth operations at airports across the region, no major disruption, and the majority of passengers in compliance, which is great news,” according to Jessica Mayle . Those who haven’t flown in a while and haven’t upgraded their driver’s license to a Real ID do have other options like a passport to get on an airplane.