April 2020

Originally broadcast 04/29/2020
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Carolyn Raffensperger and Pat Schlarbaum started our show with a discussion of Ecological Change -- and how a small change in one species or location has unintended consequences elsewhere.  Our Roundtable of Iowa Farmers Union members responded to the crisis caused by COVID-19 in Meat Processing Plants in Iowa.  Aaron Lehman, Chris Petersen, and John Gilbert described the food distribution system before the "Get Big or Get Out" era of Industrial Agriculture and gave us some ideas about how to adapt it to the 21st century and shared the alternatives that they themselves are implementing. Cornelia Flora ended the program by describing historically, how America developed from being a colony exporting raw materials to developing regional self-sufficiency to returning the colonial model of growing on a few crops and animals feeding into farm value chains controlled by a few large corporations -- leaving our food system vulnerable to attacks -- human or crop diseases or weather.  The decline of local control and the change in rules and regulations at the state and federal level increased the vulnerability of family farmers and we need to use this crisis to try to increase the resilience of our farming systems and rural communities. 

Originally broadcast 04/27/2020
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On Fridays at noon, Ames Police CommunityResource Officer Kruger now reads children’s books on KHOI. Officer Kruger introduces himself and explains how the Ames Police Force is actively finding ways to put an approachable and human face on the police force, especially during the Covid-19 crisis. He tells us that his own children pick the books he should read on the air but feel he should “stop reading storybooks and get back to work!”

Pat Schlarbaum, KHOI naturalist and Local Talk host, reports on a pair of Ospreys who are nesting next to Wells Fargo Bank in DesMoines. There is a bird-cam for watching their progress.

Morgan Feltner, owner of the organic hair salon, Wild-Root, located in Nevada, gives tips on how to cut hair yourself for a spruce-up in the absence of professional hair appointments. Morgan also explains why she specializes in organic hair products and explains how she and other local businesses are offering gift certificates to buy now for future use, to help tide businesses over while they are closed.

Anna Banana brought Heart to Heart Messages. Send Anna your message to read on the air. Text it to 515-809-0077 or email it to khoiradio@gmail with Heart to heart in the subject line. 

Originally broadcast 04/22/2020
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After an inspirational Earth Day message from Carolyn Raffensperger, we took a ZOOM road trip to revisit towns from our listening are we haven't heard from recently.  First we spoke with Kathy Vaughn, the new director of All Cultures Equal in Webster City.  We learned how COVID-19 has affected the food supply and businesses of the town -- from community gardens at ACE, to restaurants, to food pantries, and restaurants providing take-out orders. Moving to south Story County, we spoke with Ottie Maxie the superintendent of the Ballard Community School District about their unique efforts during the school closures to meet the educational and nutritional needs of students in the towns of Cambridge, Huxley, Kelley, and Slater, as well as the rural areas around them. Pat Schlarbaum ended the Earth Day Program with a preview of the KHOI broadcast of the ECO Fair as well as news of the 2020 ECO Scavanger Hunt.