Lyon County, Iowa — Weather facts, community announcements, church announcements, nursing home announcements, menus, school activities, cash grain prices and more.

Heard on KIWA-AM 1550 every weekday morning at about 8:45 AM, and available here for 24 hours afterwards. (Friday edition is available until Monday edition is uploaded.)

As reported by KIWA News Director and Rock Rapids resident Scott Van Aartsen

Click the play button below to listen to KIWA’s Lyon County Daily News:

Rock Rapids, Iowa — A Canton man is now behind bars in Rock Rapids after Sheriff’s Officials say he stabbed a man in Inwood in late April.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office reports that on Saturday, April 27, 2013, at about 10:45 PM, Lyon County deputies responded to a reported stabbing underneath the Highway 18 bridge west of Inwood. A Canton police officer, as well as the Canton-Inwood Ambulance, also responded to the location. A twenty-two year old man was transported to the Sanford Canton-Inwood hospital in Canton, SD. He was treated and released.

Nineteen-year-old Damion Lee Williams of Canton is accused in the stabbing. Sheriff’s officials say he fled the scene in A Dodge Durango. Deputies located the Durango a few miles from where the incident occurred, but Williams had fled from that location. A warrant was issued for Williams the following day.

This past Wednesday, (5/15), Williams was arrested in Sioux Falls, SD. On Thursday (5/16), Williams waived extradition and is now being held in the Lyon County Jail. He has been charged with willful injury, a Class D Felony and Aggravated Assault, an Aggravated Misdemeanor.

Sioux Center, Iowa — Two young men from northwest Iowa have been charged with firearms trafficking.

The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office reports that they arrested 18-year-old Skyler Gonnerman of Sioux Center on Tuesday (5/14) on a charge of trafficking stolen firearms.

Twenty-year-old Dakota Acevedo of Rock Rapids was also formally charged with trafficking stolen firearms; but he is currently an inmate of another jail on unrelated charges. Once those charges are completed, the Sheriff’s Office says Acevedo will be transported to the Sioux County Jail.

Trafficking stolen firearms is a Class D Felony.

The charges stem from an investigation following a report of stolen guns being sold in January of 2013.

The Sioux Center Police Department assisted the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office with Gonnerman’s arrest; and the Sheldon Police Department assisted the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office with the investigation.

The Rock Rapids Utilities advise that the recycling eligible list has expanded.

Some things that were not recyclable in the past are now OK. The main items that are in that category of “not okay before” but “okay now” are fiberboard boxes, such as cereal, pop, and Kleenex boxes; and plastics numbered up to number five.

Due to the hazard it presents to those sorting the recyclables, glass is still not allowed.

For the full list, go to www.rockrapids.net.

Rock Rapids, Iowa — A noise complaint in eastern Rock Rapids led to a party bust Saturday.

When Lyon County deputies got to the home in the 200 block of South Lincoln Street, they found a party, and underage people drinking. Two juveniles and seven people between 18 and 21 were charged with underage possession.

Those between the ages of 18 and 21 were 18-year-old Luke Grooters, 19-year-old Dalton VanBeek, 20-year-old Alex Rust, and 20-year-old Brian Friedrichsen, all of Rock Rapids; 19-year-old Ken Knoblock of Larchwood; 18-year-old Louren Williams of LaGrange, Kentucky; and 20-year-old Paige Burggraaf of Rock Valley.

George, Iowa — A barn north of George was destroyed by fire on Saturday, and three fire departments helped to put it out.

George Fire Chief Bill Sprock says the call went out about 3:30 Saturday afternoon. He says it was a place owned by a corporation, but the contents of the barn were owned by Nate Schulte of Rock Rapids. The address of the fire was 1652 Jefferson Avenue. Sprock says that’s four miles north, a mile west, and another mile and a half north

No one was living on the place.

Chief Sprock says by the time the first fire crews were on-scene, the barn was already down, so they concentrated their efforts on defending the other buildings on the property. He says the fire fighting effort was made more difficult due to the 35 mile-per-hour winds that were blowing on Saturday.

At this time, the chief says the cause seems to have been electrical in nature.

He says 35 head of baby calves were lost in the fire, and the building was completely destroyed. There was also some hay in the barn as well. The chief estimates damage will top $50,000.

The George Fire Department called for water from the Ellsworth (MN) and Little Rock Fire Departments.

The chief reports about 20,000 gallons of water were used to fight the fire, and crews were there for about 3 hours — until 6:30 PM.

“How luscious lies the pea within the pod.”

Emily Dickinson

Finally, the ground has thawed, my tulips have surfaced and I was able to get my cool-season vegetables in the garden. I planted leafy greens, carrots and beets and something new – garden peas. I am a novice pea grower. Growing up my mom always grew peas. I remember shelling them for dinner and used to get scolded for eating more peas then I put in the bowl. Read The Full Story…

Larchwood, Iowa — Toxicology reports are in and it appears alcohol was a factor in the accident that killed two near Grand Falls Casino in March.

The accident happened on March 14th (2013). Investigators have determined that the driver of the SUV, 39-year-old Charles J. Rice of Sioux Falls, was driving under the influence. In fact Rice, who was pronounced dead at the accident scene, had a blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit of .08 percent. Rice’s passenger, 39-year-old Kristin Loudermilk of Sioux Falls also died in the accident. Read The Full Story…

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach helps carry Iowa State’s land-grant mission beyond campus, to be the university that best serves the citizens of Iowa. With Iowa State University, Extension embraces the land-grant philosophy of:

• access to high-quality education
• research applied to the needs of Iowa, the nation, and world
• extending knowledge to strengthen Iowa’s economy and citizens’ quality of life

Iowa State University Extension does that by offering practical, how-to education based on powerful university research. It’s available to any resident of Iowa and is tailored to meet the needs of Iowans, needs we know firsthand. Extension educators, specialists, and volunteers live and work in all 99 Iowa counties.

We recently spoke with Extension Family Life Program Specialist and Certified Nature Explore Instructor Lori Hayungs about classes coming up to teach adults how to help children explore nature.

Click the play button (triangle) below to hear the report.

Rock Rapids, Iowa — It’s time for our report from the Rock Rapids Chamber. We talked to Rock Rapids Chamber Director Angie Jager recently. She told us about the city-wide rummage sales going on now, several meetings, some school activities, graduation, city-wide cleanup days, a coffee shoppe, and more.  Plus we also touched on Heritage Days, which is scheduled for June 13th through the 16th.

Click the play button below to hear the chamber report.

You can get more information by going to rockrapids.com or by calling the Chamber at 712-472-3456.

Sioux Center, Iowa — A brief Internet outage in the 11 AM hour affected Premier Communications customers in the communities of Rock Rapids and Melvin on Monday morning (4/29).

Premier Communications officials say the outage affected hundreds of customers in those communities but lasted less than an hour. They say it was caused by equipment in their facility.