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ISU trying to find ways to improve lithium-ion battery safety

By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

An Iowa State University researcher is using a special tool to test the limits of lithium-ion batteries. Todd Kingston says the device called the accelerating rate calorimeter or ARC.

“It enables us to do various types of electrochemical, thermal, mechanical and electrical abuse testing in a very safe manner. It’s specifically designed to contain a thermal runaway event, explosions of the battery,” Kingston says.

Kingston purchased the ARC with a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Naval Research. He says they can use it to push the batteries beyond their charging limits, or submit them to mechanical abuse. “Mechanical abuse could be like a crush test. So if you apply pressure to a battery, some batteries are designed, they have a kind of a rigid can and can withstand some pressure. But after enough pressure is applied, you can start to have mechanical deformation and start to actually mechanically deform the active materials inside of the battery,” he says.

Kingston is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and says they want to learn how to prevent issues with the batteries. “Ultimately we are interested in improving the safety and the performance of batteries. That being said, I don’t design batteries myself, but we can provide lots of information that would inform the design or the guidelines or the use of battery in various applications,” Kingston says

Waste haulers say lithium-ion batteries have increasingly caused problems with fires in garbage trucks and landfills, and are encouraging everyone to recycle batteries. Kingston says his research could also help in the recycling process.  “Recycling them, even the collection and transport of batteries, you know, ones that are reached their end of life and are looking to be recycled, there’s a lot of safety concerns associated with just, you know, that process the recycling process and how do we safely transport them, how do we safely recycle them. So there’s a lot to learn and a lot that we need to still improve on,” Kingston says.

He says the are testing a range of batteries used for various applications from smaller ones to larger ones used in electric vehicles.

Extreme Heat Warning to Go into Effect Today

DES MOINES – An Extreme Heat Warning will be in effect for our area today.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines issued the warning for portions of central and southern Iowa, and it will be in effect from noon today till 8pm this evening. The National Weather Service in the Quad Cities likewise issued a warning for portions of southeastern Iowa for the same time frame.

Dangerously hot conditions are in the forecast for this afternoon and evening, with heat index values of 110-115F expected. The risk of heat-related illness increases significantly during extreme heat and high humidity events, so officials urge caution for those who must be outside for extended periods. The NWS advises those in the area to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

Oskaloosa City Council Special Election to be Held One Week from Tomorrow

OSKALOOSA – The city of Oskaloosa’s special election for its vacant at-large city council seat is happening one week from tomorrow.

Former councilmember Charlie Comfort held the seat until he announced his resignation in May. The Oskaloosa City Council temporarily filled the seat via appointment, but a petition was received requesting a special election to fill the vacancy. 

There are three candidates on the ballot for next week’s election:

  • Manny Garcia
  • Nicholas Ryan
  • Andy Holmberg

Oskaloosa residents will be able to vote at one of four polling locations around the city, depending on their home address.

Oskaloosa – Ward 1

  • Ag Extension Office: 212 North I Street

Oskaloosa – Ward 2

  • Gateway Church of the Nazarene: 140 Gateway Drive

Oskaloosa – Ward 3

  • Assembly of God Church Gym: 716 S. 17th Street

Oskaloosa – Ward 4

  • Old YMCA: 414 North 3rd Street

More information on the election is available here.

Jazz legend Chuck Mangione, known for ‘Feels So Good,’ dies at 84

NEW YORK (AP) — Two-time Grammy Award-winning musician Chuck Mangione, who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-flavored single “Feels So Good” and later became a voice actor on the animated TV comedy “King of the Hill,” has died. He was 84.

Mangione died at his home in Rochester, New York, on Tuesday in his sleep, said his attorney, Peter S. Matorin of Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP. The musician had been retired since 2015.

Perhaps his biggest hit — “Feels So Good” — is a staple on most smooth-jazz radio stations and has been called one of the most recognized melodies since “Michelle” by the Beatles. It hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top of the Billboard adult contemporary chart.

“It identified for a lot of people a song with an artist, even though I had a pretty strong base audience that kept us out there touring as often as we wanted to, that song just topped out there and took it to a whole other level,” Mangione told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2008.

He followed that hit with “Give It All You Got,” commissioned for the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, and he performed it at the closing ceremony.

Mangione, a flugelhorn and trumpet player and jazz composer, released more than 30 albums during a career in which he built a sizable following after recording several albums, doing all the writing.

He won his first Grammy Award in 1977 for his album “Bellavia,” which was named in honor of his mother. Another album, “Friends and Love,” was also Grammy-nominated, and he earned a best original score Golden Globe nomination and a second Grammy for the movie “The Children of Sanchez.”

Mangione introduced himself to a new audience when he appeared on the first several seasons of “King of the Hill,” appearing as a commercial spokesman for Mega Lo Mart, where “shopping feels so good.”

Mangione, brother of jazz pianist Gap Mangione, with whom he partnered in The Jazz Brothers, started his career as a bebop jazz musician heavily inspired by Dizzy Gillespie.

“He also was one of the first musicians I saw who had a rapport with the audience by just telling the audience what he was going to play and who was in his band,” Mangione told the Post-Gazette.

Mangione earned a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music — where he would eventually return as director of the school’s jazz ensemble — and left home to play with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

He donated his signature brown felt hat and the score of his Grammy-winning single “Feels So Good,” as well as albums, songbooks and other ephemera from his long and illustrious career to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 2009.

Iowa boy awarded Guinness World Record for most premature baby

By James Kelley (Radio Iowa)

An Iowa baby now holds the Guinness World Record for the most premature baby.

Nash Keen was born last year at just 21 weeks — so early that most hospitals couldn’t deliver him, but doctors at University of Iowa Health Care resituated the baby at birth and supported him using advanced ultrasound technology to measure the blood supply to his heart and lungs.

“We don’t really know…We don’t have any research on babies this young and so we just held on to hope,” said Mollie Keen, Nash’s mother. “That was kind of what we did for the first month until Nash started to show us that he was really fighting.”

In the beginning, doctors told the family the baby boy had a zero percent chance of survival. Dr. Patrick McNamara, the UIHC’s director of neonatology, said this case opens a new frontier in his field.

“Nash is resilient,” he said. “What we have learned, and not just necessarily with Nash, is that survival is possible at 21 weeks gestation, but not just survival — meaningful survival.”

Nash, who lives with his parents in Ankeny, turned one on July 5. He was born at 21 weeks and weighed 10 ounces. The previous Guinness World Record for most premature baby was a boy born in Alabama five years ago — at 21 weeks and one day.

Ottumwa Woman Arrested for Forgery, Theft

OTTUMWA – An Ottumwa woman was arrested this week after allegedly using counterfeit money to make purchases at a gas station.

Court records show that 56-year-old Tammatha Lea Brown made two separate purchases at the Hy-Vee Gas Station in north Ottumwa in June using fake $100 bills. Both were described as smaller transactions, allowing Brown to receive large amounts of real cash in change.

Authorities say that Brown was aware she was using counterfeit money when making the purchases. She has two prior theft convictions on her record, one of which occurred in 2010, and the other of which occurred last month.

Brown was arrested on a warrant on Wednesday and charged with 3rd Degree Theft, an aggravated misdemeanor, and Forgery, a Class D felony.

Oskaloosa’s Sweet Corn Serenade Held Yesterday

By Sam Parsons

Oskaloosa Main Street Hosted their 38th Annual Sweet Corn Serenade yesterday. Plans were changed early, as rain had been forecasted for the afternoon, resulting in many of the festivities being held indoors at Penn Central Mall.

Vendors were set up inside Penn Central Mall at noon, and food trucks lined the downtown Osky square at the same time. Delicious hamburgers and sweet corn were served later in the afternoon, and a performance from Thunderkatz took place indoors for much of the evening. The Oskaloosa City Band concert at 8pm was still held in the city bandstand.

Oskaloosa Main Street’s next flagship event is their annual Lighted Christmas Parade, which is scheduled for December 6.

Close call between a B-52 bomber and a commercial jet over North Dakota puts focus on small airports

MINOT (AP) — The evasive action an airline pilot took to avoid a B-52 bomber in the skies over North Dakota has focused attention on the way small airport towers are often run by private companies without their own radars.

Neither one of the pilots of the bomber or of the Delta Air Lines jet seemed to know the other plane was there before the airline pilot saw the B-52 looming in its path. The incident last Friday is still under investigation. But the Air Force has said the controller at the Minot airport didn’t let the bomber’s crew know about the airliner, and the SkyWest pilot flying the Delta flight told passengers he was surprised.

Passengers were alarmed by the sharp turn and dive the pilot of Delta Flight 3788 executed to avoid the bomber that had just completed a flyover at the State Fair in Minot, and a video shot aboard the plane captured the pilot’s explanation afterward.

“Sorry about the aggressive maneuver. It caught me by surprise,” the pilot can be heard saying on the video posted on social media. “This is not normal at all. I don’t know why they didn’t give us a heads-up.”

This close call is just the latest incident to raise questions about aviation safety in the wake of January’s midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. Here’s more about the way small airports like Minot operate:

Many small airports lack radar

It is common for small airports across the country to operate without their own radar systems because it would be too costly to install them at every airport. But there generally aren’t many problems with that.

The controllers at small airports are able to guide planes in to land visually with binoculars and radios as long as the weather is clear. Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said if the weather is bad, a regional FAA radar facility may be able to help, but ultimately planes simply won’t land if the weather is too bad.

Sometimes small airport towers do have a video feed that gives controllers a view of a radar screen at an FAA facility miles away. Because the radar is so far away the display may not be as detailed about planes flying close to the ground, but the system does give controllers more information. It’s not clear if the Minot tower has one of those systems because the company that runs it, Midwest Air Traffic Control Inc., hasn’t responded to questions since the incident.

The overlapping network of FAA radar facilities across the country also keeps track of planes flying between airports, and an approach control radar center in Minneapolis helps direct planes in and out of Minot before controllers at the airport take over once they see the planes. The Minot airport typically handles between 18 and 24 flights a day. That’s how it works at many small airports.

“Most times it works just fine,” Guzzetti said.

Some of these small airports could gain radar as part of a massive overhaul of the air traffic control system, but that will depend on how busy the airports are and how much funding Congress ultimately approves for the multibillion-dollar project. So far, $12.5 billion was included in President Trump’s overall budget bill.

Private companies operate the towers

The FAA says that 265 airport towers nationwide are operated by companies as part of the contract system. The Transportation Department’s Inspector General has said the contract towers that handle more than one quarter of the nation’s flights are more cost effective than comparable FAA towers and have similar safety records. In some cases, local governments help pay the costs of contract towers.

The program began in 1982 at five less busy towers that had closed because of the air traffic controller strike the previous year, and it has expanded significantly over the years because it has been so successful. Most of the airports with contract towers would have no controllers without the program.

“Common sense would tell you that having an extra set of eyes controlling the local traffic — especially in good weather — would be safer than having no controller and just having the pilots talking to each other,” Guzzetti said.

That’s exactly how it works at the vast majority of the 5,100 public airports nationwide that are smaller than Minot. Pilots at those uncontrolled airports use their radios to coordinate takeoffs and landings with other planes in the area. Only about 10% of all airports have towers.

The FAA says it works closely with the companies that run contract towers to ensure their controllers are properly trained. It is easier to get certified at a contract tower because they handle fewer flights than FAA towers even though controllers are held to the same standard.

More controllers are needed nationwide

The ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers has persisted for years partly because it takes so long to train and certify new controllers. The FAA has said that it is roughly 3,000 short of the number of controllers it should have at its facilities.

The staffing situation at private towers is similar because they hire from the same pool of candidates. All the roughly 1,400 controllers at these smaller airports have to meet the same qualification and training requirements. But contract towers also have the ability to hire controllers who retired from an FAA tower before the mandatory retirement age of 56. The contract towers don’t have a retirement age.

The FAA has been working for a long time to hire more air traffic controllers to replace retiring workers and handle growing air traffic. But it can be hard to find good candidates for the stressful positions who can complete the rigorous training.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced several efforts to hire and retain more controllers. The FAA is trying to shorten the time it takes between when someone applies to the air traffic controller academy in Oklahoma City and when they start training, and the agency is also trying to improve the graduation rate there by offering more support to the students. The candidates with the highest scores on the entrance exam are also getting top priority.

The FAA is also offering bonuses to experienced controllers if they opt not to retire early and continue working to help ease the shortage.

Weekly Fuel Report

DES MOINES — The price of regular unleaded gasoline rose 2 cents from last week’s price and is currently averaging $2.95 across Iowa according to AAA.

Crude Oil Summary

  • The price of global crude oil fell this week on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by $1.48 per barrel over last week, currently priced at $65.07.
  • Brent crude oil fell by $0.34 and is currently priced at $68.33.
  • One year ago, WTI crude sold for $78.24 and Brent crude was $82.20.

Motor Fuels

  • As of Wednesday, the price of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.95 across Iowa according to AAA.
    • Prices rose 2 cents from last week’s price and are down 34 cents from a year ago.
    • The national average on Wednesday was $3.16, remaining unchanged from last week’s price.
  • Retail diesel prices in Iowa rose 5 cents this week with a statewide average of $3.58.
    • One year ago, diesel prices averaged $3.53 in Iowa.
    • The current Iowa diesel price is 16 cents lower than the national average of $3.74.
  • The current Des Moines Terminal/Rack Prices are $1.97 for U87-E10, $2.30 for Unleaded 87 (clear), $2.57 for ULSD#2, $2.82 for ULSD#1, and $1.93 per gallon for E-70 prices.

Heating Fuels

  • Natural gas prices were down 44 cents at the Henry Hub reporting site and are currently priced at $3.09 MMbtu.
  • We will continue reporting retail heating oil and propane prices in Iowa in October.

Tips for saving energy on the road or at home are available at energy.gov and fueleconomy.gov.

Ottumwa’s Market Street Landing Play Space Project Receives $1.4 Million Investment

OTTUMWA — The Market Street Landing Inclusive Play Space, a flagship project of Ottumwa’s Riverfront Revitalization initiative, has been awarded nearly $1.4 million through the State of Iowa’s Destination Iowa program. This significant investment underscores statewide recognition of the project’s potential to elevate quality of life, attract visitors, and foster inclusive community development

Funded through Destination Iowa, an initiative created by Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Economic Development Authority to bolster tourism and placemaking, the grant will help bring to life a dynamic, fully accessible 8,000square-foot play space along the Des Moines River in downtown Ottumwa. The park is designed to welcome individuals of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds with features such as accessible play equipment, sensory zones, adult changing tables, a water feature, and shaded gathering areas

This is definitely one of those projects that will improve quality of life for lowans,” said Representative Hans Wilz of Iowa House District 25. There is tremendous need for spaces like this, so advocating for state support was easy.” 

As the driving force behind Ottumwa’s Riverfront revitalization, the Legacy Foundation is leading the vision for a more accessible and inclusive community. The Tenco Foundation contributes decades of experience enriching the lives of individuals with disabilities, while First Resources Corp. offers essential communitybased programs that champion diversity and inclusion. Together, these partners are fundraising to create a space where individuals of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds can connect and thrive

We are working to build something pretty special here a vibrant, inclusive play space right on the riverfront that’s designed so every child, teen, and adult, regardless of ability, can feel a sense of joy and belonging and we are grateful that our state partners share and support this vision.” adds Legacy Foundation President/CEO, Kelly Genners

The Inclusive Play Space is a key element of the Market Street Landing Riverfront Master Plan, and its creation is expected to draw thousands of local residents and regional visitors each year. Construction is anticipated to begin this year, with a grand opening projected for late summer of 2026

To learn more or support the campaign, visit www.marketstreetlanding.org or email inclusiveplayspace@ottumwalegacy.org

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