Guthrie County Deputy Sheriff Shane Martinson reported a single-vehicle accident occurring on Jan. 27 at 7:01 p.m. on York Avenue. Marshall Lee Dickson, 18, of Stuart was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo LT that entered the ditch. Deputy Sheriff Martinson reported that upon his arrival, the vehicle was already loaded onto a car trailer. Dickson said he was test driving the vehicle because he was going to buy it from a friend. Dickson said he lost traction on the rumble strips in the gravel and entered the left ditch and struck several small trees. Dickson was issued a citation for failure to maintain control of the vehicle. Damage to the Monte Carlo is estimated at $2,600.

From the Iowa Department of Natural Resources

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is hosting a series of town hall-style meetings where local staff provide updates on recently completed hunting seasons, discuss possible changes to hunting rules and regulations, and address other topics as requested. 

Locally, the Iowa DNR will be at the Forest Park Museum administration building, 14581 K Ave., near Perry, on Feb. 19. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. 

“We want people to come out, listen to the hunting seasons reviews, ask questions and hear directly from our staff,” Todd Bishop, chief of the Iowa DNR’s Wildlife Bureau, said. “Part of the meeting will be devoted to discussing potential rule changes and collecting feedback as we work through the rules process.”

The meetings are open to the public. Comments collected from these public meetings will be considered along with other related comments received by the Iowa DNR prior to proposing changes to hunting rules and regulations. Proposed rules will be presented to the Natural Resource Commission during a regular public meeting for consideration and additional public comment. 

Any person attending the public meeting and has special requirements, such as those related to mobility or hearing impairments, should contact the Iowa DNR or ADA Coordinator at 515-725-8200, Relay Iowa TTY Service 800-735-7942, or Webmaster@dnr.iowa.gov, and advise of specific needs.

From the Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Ice conditions at many Iowa lakes have been changing quickly over the past few days. Those changes are only likely to accelerate with the warm weather forecast for the next week..

This past weekend, nine OHV/ATVs broke through the ice — seven at the Iowa Great Lakes on the Minnesota border, and two at Lake Rathbun, on the Missouri border. The vehicles have all been removed, and no injuries were reported.

“Between the cold weather and lack of snow cover, we should have excellent ice thickness and quality, but that’s not the case,” Craig Cutts, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Bureau, said.

Snow covering ice often acts as a blanket of insulation, slowing ice from forming during cold temperatures and protecting ice from melting during warmer weather. Given the cold winter over the upper Midwest and the lack of snow, ice thickness shouldn’t be an issue in late January.

But it is.

In Dickinson County, sections on area lakes have had open water all winter and seams in the ice have been opening during the day, then skimming over at night. These hazards have been avoidable during daylight, but have caused issues after sunset. The lack of snow has also created slick conditions making it difficult to walk without ice cleats and has caused stopping issues for OHV/ATVs even while traveling below five miles per hour.

These conditions have also impacted lakes in South Dakota and Minnesota.

At Lake Rathbun, pressure ridges had formed in certain locations on the big reservoir creating hazardous conditions and when the OHV/ATVs drove over the pressure ridge, they broke through.

Ice conditions have been changing by the day, and even by the hour in some places. Use caution if heading out and keep plenty of distance from open water. The standard safety practices of checking ice thickness frequently, and including a life jacket, throwable floatation and 50 feet of rope with your fishing equipment is encouraged.

“We emphasize the point that ice thickness varies on each body of water and we’re really seeing that this year. It’s a good reminder that no ice is 100% safe — and to trust your instincts — if it doesn’t look right, stay off,” Cutts said.

Looking ahead, the warm weather, wind and rain in the forecast will likely end ice fishing across southern Iowa and cause significant issues on lakes with pockets of open water in other regions.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

The Port, located at 5404 Chimra Road on Lake Panorama, has been listed for sale at a price of $2,950,000. The property includes a 22-room hotel with pool, restaurant, bar and event/meeting space. The assessed value is listed at $2,479,100.

General Manager Kayla Valentine reports that, for now, no changes are planned regarding hours of operation, and a re-opening date of March 20 is still planned. The listing can be viewed at www.loopnet.com/Listing/5405-Chimra-Rd-Panora-IA/34542748.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

February is the shortest month, but there are plenty of events upcoming at the Panora Library.

• Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. is Kids Bingo
• Thursday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. is Card making class with Judi Zimmerline
• Friday, Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. is story time with a Valentine’s Day theme
• Monday, Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m. is the meeting of the library board
• Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. is Winter STEM activity (Color Creation)
• Friday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. is Kids’ movie (“The LEGO Movie”)
• Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. is movie (“The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society”)
• Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. is Kids’ Craft
• Friday, Feb. 28 at 9:30 a.m. is Page Turners and at 10 a.m. is story time (Friends)

More information is available at www.panoralibrary.com.

And looking ahead, mark your calendar for the library’s free shredding event, 10 to noon on Saturday, May 3. Bring tax forms or any documents to be safely shredded and discarded.

From the Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Osprey on nest, photo by Courtney Celley USFWS Midwest Region.

Monitoring of nest sites is accomplished primarily by volunteers. Volunteers are assigned to a particular nest or nests and new nests are reported opportunistically. Volunteers visit each nest multiple times during the breeding season and try to gather information on nest activity at the start of the nesting season and whether the pair is successful in fledging young toward the end of the nesting season. Some opportunistic reports of nesting activity are also accepted if no formal data are available.

Statewide map showing 2024 Osprey nest locations (39 active, 11 inactive, 4 not monitored).

In 2024, 23.1% of monitored active nests had an unknown outcome (i.e. do not know if the nest successfully fledged young or failed). This rate is lower than last year (36.4% unknown outcome nests in 2023). Volunteers help to improve reporting, and the DNR will continue to work with monitors to reduce the percentage of unknown outcome nests in future years. More complete reporting improves the certainty of our trend data for this species.

Summary of 2020-2024 Osprey nesting results.

In future years, the DNR will continue to monitor osprey nest sites with the partnership of volunteers. An ongoing challenge is that osprey like nesting on cell phone towers. Osprey don’t generally cause damage to the towers but conflicts can arise when work must be done on a tower during the nesting season, especially since more than 75% of the 2024 active Iowa nest sites were on cell towers. DNR will continue to work with partners on managing this potential conflict.

Contact the Volunteer Wildlife Monitoring Program Coordinator if you are interested in helping with monitoring in the future at vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.

The average number of Osprey young fledged per known-outcome nest from 2016-2024.