Iowa

Expert says 2020 derecho may have helped poison hemlock thrive in new places

Published

6 months ago

June 29, 2025

Press Room

Expert says 2020 derecho may have helped poison hemlock thrive in new places

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Poisonous plants are continuing to spread in the state of Iowa.

Last summer, TV9 brought you a story about poison ivy and poison hemlock spreading in eastern Iowa.

A year later, an expert with Iowa State University says there are a variety of things causing poison hemlock to spread.

The plant with the white flower on top looks pretty unassuming.

“It looks a little bit like Queen Anne’s Lace,” said Shelly Wilson. Wilson was enjoying the Freedom Festival in Cedar Rapids this weekend with her friends when TV9 asked if she’d ever heard of Poison Hemlock.

“I have never heard of it, it’s always good to be aware,” said Donna Moeller, Wilson’s friend.

“I had never heard of it either,” Wilson added.

Experts at Iowa State University say the plant is highly toxic to people and animals and can be deadly if ingested.

“One of the problems with poison hemlock is that it can look like some species that are edible,” said Meaghan Anderson, a field agronomist at ISU.

Anderson says these dangerous weeds may be popping up in more places than they used to for a variety of reasons, including the 2020 derecho.

“It didn’t physically move these plants anywhere that they weren’t already. I think that’s fairly unlikely,” said Anderson. “I think what the derecho probably did do was it opened up a lot of what was historically good tree cover under fairly full shade, and perhaps provided lots of species, including poison hemlock, a little bit more of a niche where it got more sunlight and more opportunity for some of these invasive species that we think of like our bush honeysuckle type species, poison hemlock, poison ivy, garlic mustard, all kinds of these species we know we don’t like to see on the edges of woodlands or within woodlands, but it probably provided them with a pretty good opportunity to get better established than they would have if there was full canopy cover in these tree areas.”

Another way the plant spreads is through the movement of soil caused by human activity.

“We’re really effective as people in building things and expanding things and we move a lot of stuff around on equipment, so I do imagine that’s helping it a bit,” Anderson said.

The weed is commonly found along the edges of woodlands, fence lines, and crop fields, and is becoming increasingly common in ditches alongside roads.

If it pops up on your property, you can remove it yourself, just use caution. Wearing gloves is recommended.

“You can dig up those giant plants right now. Given the fact that they’re basically all flowering everywhere, I probably wouldn’t just lay it down on the landscape and leave it to rot, I would probably dispose of it as trash this time of year,” Anderson said.

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Iowa

Semi-truck crash causes Iowa power outage impacting hundreds

Published

4 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Semi-truck crash causes Iowa power outage impacting hundreds

TAMA COUNTY, Iowa — A pair of power outages left more than 700 people without power in Tama County Friday afternoon.

Alliant Energy says the larger outage, just north of Garwin, was caused by a semi-truck striking one of their power poles. That outages impacted 690 customers as of 5 p.m. Friday.

The smaller outage impacted roughly 36 people in Tama. The outage was caused by equipment needing repairs.

Alliant says crews are on site and working to fix both outages.

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Iowa

Iowa Great Lakes businessman Butch Parks dies at 81

Published

16 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Iowa Great Lakes businessman Butch Parks dies at 81

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (KTIV) – The Iowa Great Lakes community is remembering Leo “Butch” Parks, a longtime lakes-area businessman and founder of Parks Marina.

He died Tuesday, Jan. 6, at the age of 81.

Parks established the marina on East Lake Okoboji in 1983, growing it from a small fishing boat operation into a business with marinas, sales, service, rentals, storage, and popular destinations like the Barefoot Bar.

Parks and his wife, Debbie, also owned Okoboji Boat Works for 23 years.

Funeral services are set for Friday, Jan. 16, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Spirit Lake. It will be followed by a celebration of life at Snapper’s restaurant in Okoboji that evening.

Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.

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Iowa

Iowa woman accused of pandering for prostitution and harassment after incidents at Casey’s and a daycare

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Iowa woman accused of pandering for prostitution and harassment after incidents at Casey’s and a daycare

AURELIA, Iowa (KTIV) – A Northwest Iowa woman is facing charges of harassment and pandering for prostitution after two incidents took place in December 2025.

Forty-seven-year-old Kristal Miller of Odebolt was taken into custody on an arrest warrant and faces three charges: one count of pandering for prostitution and two counts of first-degree harassment, according to court documents.

Kristal Miller(Cherokee County Jail)

The charges stem from two separate incidents that took place on Thursday, Dec. 18. 2025.

According to court documents, at 6:15 a.m., Miller reportedly went to the Casey’s General Store, located at 100 Pearl St. in Aurelia. Documents state Miller approached an employee and customers, requesting money from them.

Authorities state Miller claimed she was wanted by the FBI and told people, if anyone called the police, “she would kill them.”

During this encounter, she also allegedly asked an employee to remove the string from her hooded sweatshirt. Documents state when the employee refused this request, she threatened to strangle them.

That same day at 7 a.m., Miller reportedly approached a female employee outside an Aurelia daycare and asked them for money.

Court documents stated Miller suggested the unnamed employee leave her boyfriend. Miller reportedly told the employee, if she did, then she and Miller would both be paid.

Authorities say when she was told no by the employee, Miller became upset and started yelling at them.

Miller also allegedly threatened to “steal her car” and ”take her away to her guys to start a new life.”

She was booked into the Cherokee County Jail on a cash-only bond of $5,000. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in Cherokee for Friday, Jan. 9, at 10 a.m.

Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.

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