Category: Iowa

John Heim aka Big Mo Retiring from the Big Mo Blues Show

We were listening to the KCCK radio Big Mo Blues Show last night when John Heim aka Big Mo announced he’s retiring as of May 15, 2026. Iowa musician Ed English (Uncle Ed of the Beaker Brothers band) was also in the studio and remarked that he’ll be taking over the show sometime after that. The Beaker Brothers Band will also be retiring around the same time frame. It was a surprise to us.

I’ve been listening to the Friday night blues show off and on probably for about 18 years. And here’s a shout-out to Bobby DeForest who first started “da Blues” back in 1992 (Little Village news story). After that John Heim (aka Big Mo) came on. Bob DeForest still has a blues music show on Saturday night.

I don’t remember who was doing the Friday blues show during the times when I was listening (although Sena says it was Big Mo) which probably started back in the mid-1990s or so—but I do remember that Iowa blues star and member of the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame Kevin Burt substituted for a couple of weeks sometime between 2005 and 2011. Despite my faulty memory for some things, I’m pretty sure about that. There’s no mistaking Kevin Burt’s voice.

Ed and his band will be retiring sometime this summer. They have several gigs planned in June. Ed mentioned he might record some of the Friday night blues shows after May 15th. By the way, I’ve got a blog post from last August about my post from April 14, 2024 entitled “KCCK Big Mo News and More.”

Ed left a comment on it: “Always available on the web and the KCCK App, too… ;0).”

The first part is clear, although the emoticon puzzled me. I looked it up but couldn’t find anything about it except that it might mean amazement. It looks like wink.

Other than the music, I like Big Mo’s sense of humor, which he often displayed in little comedy bits which are about “Sponsors de faux.” The main one is MayRee’s Hand-Battered Catfish. There are a few others like Shorty’s Adult Diapers (they’re ready when you aren’t) and Big Furry Shaving Products. There was a podcast about those.  And I can’t swear to it but I think he tried to start another one about “fish psychics” back in October 2025. But I can’t swear to it and I’ve not heard it since.

I have suggested that KCCK make a tee-shirt with a MayRee’s hand-battered catfish logo on it, but apparently that’s a non-starter.

Anyway, we wish Big Mo all the luck in the world after his retirement and hope he enjoys it as much as he can. I retired from psychiatry 6 years ago and look how well I turned out! That reminds me, I always like to pretend that, during the shout-out part of his show, when he mentions “Jim the Shrink” he means me.

What’s Happening with the Hawks?

This morning I got a couple of videos of one of the hawks perched on the side of the nest fiddling with something in it. We can’t tell what’s happening with it, but I don’t think anything has hatched, if any eggs are in there.

We’re hoping the chicks hatch so we can see them before the foliage gets too dense on the trees.

Red tailed Hawk Pair Trade Places on the Nest

Early this morning, we saw the Red-tailed hawks trade places in the nest. This gives the mate a chance to grab a bite to eat while the other incubates the eggs we hope are in there.

Little birds tend to chase the hawks away from their territories. Even though the hawks are 3 times bigger than the little ones, they meekly oblige by moving away.

Sena’s Out in the Garden on Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day and Sena is out in the garden working. She’s doing it not just because it’s Earth Day. She’s doing it because she cares a lot about the garden and not just that. She’s often way out in the outlot beyond our back yard.

We got a message in our mailbox from Forever Green in Coralville. Of course, it’s an ad about a sale to buy stuff at their store on Earth Day through Arbor Day (April 22-25). The great part of their message is:

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. 

Sena cares a whole awful lot. Happy Earth Day!

The Question of Ethical Principles Regarding the Ivermectin Portion of Governor Reynolds MAHA Bill HF 2676

I think the Iowa legislature bill HF 2676 (Governor Reynolds’ MAHA bill) has just been sent back to the Senate, maybe based on fiscal issues, according to the most recent information I could find on the web. The ivermectin piece probably isn’t in a section that bears heavily on fiscal matters, so if the Senate approves it this time, it might either go back to the House for more debate about budgetary issues—or it might go to Governor Reynolds’ desk to sign (if it even has to be signed by the governor).

The ivermectin part of this bill would allow pharmacists to decide (it’s not mandatory; it’s permissive) on whether or not to offer ivermectin over-the-counter—for whatever reason a patient wants it, which could be for treating Covid-19 infection for which there’s no evidence of its effectiveness.

Because the language of the bill states that pharmacists would be immune from civil and criminal liability for bad outcomes from using ivermectin for treating Covid-19 infection, it would be up to individual pharmacists to choose whether or not to provide it for that purpose, based on their ethical principles to act out of their sense of clinical duty to ensure patient safety.

The ivermectin part of the bill is in Section VII and, in my opinion, should be removed.

How are the Red-tailed Hawks Doing?

How about them Hawks! I’m not talking about the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Today, I got another video of the Red-tailed hawk pair in their nest that might make you seasick. It’s windy. Sena tried to get a video but often gives me the camera.

According the internet they mate around March or April and lay 2-4 eggs which hatch in 4-5 weeks.

They poke around in the nest as if maybe they’re turning eggs (we think). Tree leaves are starting to bud out so visibility will unfortunately diminish.

What’s Up with the Ivermectin Bill in Iowa?

I’m trying to find out what’s happening with Governor Reynolds’ MAHA bill (HF 2676) which includes allowing Iowa pharmacists to provide ivermectin without a prescription to those who prefer taking it, most likely for something else other than what’s indicated for, which is treating parasitic infections. The risk is that persons will try to use it to self-treat other diseases such as Covid 19 infections, for which there is no convincing evidence supporting ivermectin’s effectiveness.

There’s a list of bills signed into law by the governor as of April 16, 2026 which doesn’t include HF 2676. My understanding is that this year’s legislative session would be ending maybe as soon as tomorrow.

I found one source on the web which indicates the Iowa House passed it. It then went to the Senate, which passed the bill with the ivermectin part intact and it was returned to the House. It’s not clear whether Governor Reynolds actually needs to sign it into law.

My usual go-to news source for Iowa lawmaker news is the Iowa Capital Dispatch, but it doesn’t seem to have any recent updates on this bill.

The language of the bill regarding so-called over-the-counter ivermectin is permissive, meaning pharmacists may (not must) provide ivermectin, not making it mandatory for Iowa pharmacists to hand over ivermectin to anyone who requests it. And pharmacists would be exempt from “…professional discipline or civil or criminal penalties for distributing ivermectin…”

It doesn’t look like anyone considered what recourse patients might have if they suffer injury as a result of taking ivermectin for a non-FDA approved (off label) condition.

How About Some Good News?

How about some good news for a change? See the Daily Iowan report on research being done at The University of Iowa examining how transcranial magnetic stimulation can help clinical neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease. There’s also a link to the open access study which gives more detail about the process.

Reference:

Li, Z., Trapp, N.T., Bruss, J. et al. Multimodal evidence for hippocampal engagement and modulation by functional connectivity-guided parietal TMS. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70346-x

Hawks and a Bald Eagle in the Rain Today!

We saw not only the Red-tail Hawks today, but a bald eagle to boot. The hawks were making eyes at each other and the eagle was making colonic bombardments. They were getting soaked.

It’s hard to regard the bald eagle as a majestic bird when its head feathers are flattened down like it’s been styling with Brylcreem—and it lets fly with intestinal ammo. Anyway, we’re doubling down on bird videos today.

Hunkered Down Hawk!

We got this sudden string of thunderstorms come up this afternoon in eastern Iowa and it blew pretty hard briefly for a short while. We got barely pea-sized hail. It buffeted the Red-tail Hawk around so much I couldn’t really tell which end of it was up. And then it quickly calmed down. If you don’t like the weather in Iowa-just wait a bit.