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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
KJAN News can be heard at five minutes after every hour right after Fox News 24 hours a day!
Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
Des Moines, IA — This evening, the Iowa Delegation to the 2024 Democratic National Convention met virtually to discuss the 2024 Presidential Nomination and decided to unanimously endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart, who also chairs the Iowa delegation to the convention, is excited to rally behind the Vice President’s campaign.
“This is a historic moment for our country and for Iowans. We’ve seen a swell of support in the last 24 hours since Vice President Kamala Harris announced her campaign for the White House. Not only has Vice President Harris broken national fundraising numbers – here in Iowa, we’ve had a substantial number of people reach out asking to volunteer.
Iowans know what’s at stake this November. Our reproductive freedoms, our public schools, Social Security and Medicare, and our values are on the ballot. I’m proud to lead a united delegation in Chicago that will work relentlessly to elect more Democrats in Iowa and help get Kamala Harris elected as the next President of the United States.”
RAGBRAI is in full gear as day two brings the excited riders in to Atlantic by a 40-mile ride from Red Oak. These cyclists are from all over the country and bring in their own particular stories of what they’ve seen while on the route. Two riders who have been enjoying every second of RAGBRAI and the hospitality shown to them is John Snidarich from Minnesota and Gail Tisch from Wisconsin.
Tisch shared the unique sights and sounds she’s encountered while pedaling through Iowa.
For Snidarich the magic of RAGBRAI is not from the different vendors, but the people he’s been able to ride and connect with throughout the day.
Another individual who has felt the vibrant energy brought to Atlantic from RAGBRAI is volunteer Kim Phillips.
Phillips noted that with the thousands of people flooding inside downtown Atlantic, it creates an opportunity to meet a wide variety of individuals.
Day three of RAGBRAI will take cyclists 82 miles from Atlantic towards Winterset.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being warned to use extreme caution when taking weight loss drugs they bought online, because they either can’t afford or can’t find FDA-approved medications like Ozempic. Marisa Pruitt, a registered dietician with the Gundersen Health System, says there’s a lot of buzz about these so-called miracle weight loss drugs, and taking them without a doctor’s close guidance may be very risky.
“There are definitely shortages,” Pruitt says. “The demand for these drugs has outpaced the quantity and supply, so it’s very difficult to get Ozempic or Wegovy for weight loss, they’re the same medicine but it’s very difficult to get that medicine right now.”
Marisa Pruitt, registered dietician (Gundersen photo)
When there are shortages, Pruitt says what’s known as “compounded” drugs will frequently appear on the market, and it’s often unclear exactly what’s in them. She says cheaper doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better buy.
“The brand of this drug is probably around $1,000 a month, so that can be very limiting for many people,” Pruitt says, “versus the compounded medicines are being sold for a fraction of that, so very appealing in that sense.”
Some of the medications that are being purchased online may actually work, but Pruitt says any money you might be saving is at the sacrifice of important supervision, which could put your health in jeopardy.
“Weight loss just for weight loss sake isn’t necessarily healthy either,” she says. “In our clinic, when we prescribe these medicines for patients, they’re seeing a dietician. They’re working with a wellness coach. They’re working with a doctor who’s closely overseeing the prescription and the weight loss. We want to ensure that patients are losing weight the right way safely — from fat mass, not muscle mass. We want to make sure that their nutrition isn’t sacrificed.”
Patients should undergo a thorough medical evaluation, she says, before any weight loss drugs are prescribed.
Gundersen Health System has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.
(Radio Iowa) – Many parks, trails, waterways and docks in northeast Iowa are reopening as early summer floodwaters recede, but safety for parkgoers remains a concern as bacteria and other contaminant levels in area rivers remain high. Lori Eberhard, park director for George Wyth State Park in Black Hawk County, says even though the rivers might look safer with the water levels down, the risk of illness for swimmers remains high.
“If our bacteria level’s high at the beach, I would still swim there before I would swim in the river after flooding,” Eberhard says, “especially when you have major flooding, it gets into those different systems all the way down the river, and that’s what’s in the water.” The Iowa D-N-R tests bodies of water weekly to track those levels, but contaminants are still elevated due to stagnation and sediment that comes with flooding. When hiking, Eberhard stresses caution even when the ground appears stable.
file photo
“There are low spots that still have water on them,” she says. “We don’t recommend going through flooded trails or water, because you don’t know what’s under there, you don’t know if there’s a hole or things like that. And now, with all the water along the trails, trees will just fall down.”
The D-N-R says around a dozen beaches at Iowa lakes are not recommended for swimming this week due to high levels of e-coli, algae toxins, or both.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa D-O-T records show a decline in the number of cars and pick-up trucks registered to drive on Iowa roads last year. In 2023, there were just over a million cars registered for use in Iowa and just over a million pick-ups for personal or business use. However, there was a nearly four percent drop in the number of automobiles registered in Iowa last year. Pick-up truck numbers in Iowa fell a percentage point from 2022 to 2023. 
The D-O-T’s data includes semi tractors, mopeds and other types of vehicles. It shows more than three-point-seven million vehicles were registered in Iowa in 2023.
(Radio Iowa) – Managers of an Iowa Great Lakes amusement park have set a 50-thousand dollar goal for a benefit concert to help Spencer residents impacted by flooding. Jon Pausley is executive director of Arnolds Park, which is on the shore of West Lake Okoboji. “All of us in northwest Iowa got affected somehow by all of this floooding, but we were very fortunate here at Arnolds Park to really just have minor inconveniences as compared to many people down in Spencer who were just devastated,” he says, “and we certainly wanted to do something to help our neighbors to the south.”
The concert will be held Sunday afternoon, the 28th of July. Pausley says several local musicians have volunteered to perform, including two musicians from Spencer. “Hormel Foods is going to be providing a lunch that day for residents of Spencer, so as residents sign up to come and their families, the park is also going to open up the amusement park for no cost that day,” Pausley says.
Spencer residents may register this week at the Spencer Chamber of Commerce for free Arnolds Park admission on Sunday and the free lunch. Funds raised at Sunday’s event will be donated to the Spencer Chamber Foundation.
(Radio Iowa) – Researchers recently discovered what’s known as a “remnant prairie” at the Iowa State University Horticulture Research Station and they’re working to restore it. Remnant prairies have never been plowed or completely converted into non-native species. Only about zero-point-one percent of this original habitat remains in Iowa, though it once covered nearly 80-percent of the state. Nick Howell is superintendent for the horticulture research station. “This was found as a fluke,” Howell says. “When I started here in 2006, you couldn’t even get to it. It was just completely full of scrub brush.”
He says the one-and-a-half acre area beside a lake was totally overgrown, but three years ago, a researcher recognized seeds pods under snow while working on a fish habitat project. Howell says prairie specialists came out that spring to confirm it was a remnant. “It had been protected for a long, long time,” Howell says, “and once we cleared the brush and started burning it, the prairie species started to re-appear.” Prairie intern Rachel Sents says it’s taken a significant amount of work to get the prairie back into its original shape. “Really what we’re doing out here is we’re trying to fight back on those species that are out-competing with the natives,” Sents says, “and give the natives a better chance.”
Monarchs flourish on native Iowa milkweed plants — Photo by Karl Schilling
I-S-U ecology professor Brian Wilsey says the remnant prairie at the research station north of Ames is a true gem, filled with all sorts of native plants. “This is a wild bergamot and then of course, there’s rural milkweed, one of the hosts for our monarch butterflies,” Wilsey says. “Most prairies that you visit are reconstructions, so they’re seeded prairies on old crop fields like at Neal Smith and other places. The remnants are really rare.”
Reconstructed prairies are becoming more common, Wilsey says, and they currently account for one-to-two-percent of the state.
(by Rachel Cramer, Iowa Public Radio)
(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston arrested six people over the past three days. Two people were arrested early this (Monday) morning: 44-year-old Ronnee Colleen Abel, of Creston, was arrested at around 1:04-a.m. in the 500 block of W. Adams Street. Abel was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd offense, non-marijuana. She was transported to the Adams County Jail and later transferred to the Adams County Jail, where her bond was set at $5,300; and, 66-year-old Vicki Jo Abell, of Indianola, was arrested at around 1:10-a.m. at the intersection of Adams and New York Streets, in Creston, for Poss. of Paraphernalia and Poss. of Meth/1st offense. She was later released on a $1,300 bond.
Three people were arrested on separate charges Sunday, in Creston: Laura Ann Phelps, 51, of Afton was arrested at around 9:40-p.m., at the intersection of Highway 34 and Pole. Phelps was charged with OWI 2nd Offense. She was taken to the Union County Jail then transported to the Adams County Jail where she is being held on a $2,000 bond; at around 7:21-p.m., Jenifer Lee Johnson, 41, of Lenox was arrested at the intersection of Russell and Peterson. Johnson was charged with Driving while Suspended. Johnson was taken to the Union Conty Jail and later released on $300 bond; and, at around 5:10-p.m., Sunday, Creston Police arrested Ashley Dawn Vandel, of Creston. She was taken into custody at the Holiday Motel and charged with Animal at large. Vandel was cited and released from the scene on Promise to Appear in court.
And, 24-year-old Mark Thomas Bregar, of Creston, was arrested at around 12:50-a.m. Saturday, and charged with Driving While Barred. Bregar was later released on a $2,000 bond.
Des Moines, Iowa — Twenty lucky people will get the chance to win up to $5 million at a live lottery game show at the Iowa State Fair this year. One of the contestants is Tamara McMahon, from Council Bluffs. The Iowa Lottery said there were over 67,000 entries for its Fair Fever promotion. This will be the first lottery game show at the Fair since 2012. Contestants were chosen through the Iowa Lottery and Iowa State Fair’s scratch game that was released earlier this year. Those who didn’t win instant prizes on their tickets could enter them into the Fair Fever promotion for a chance to compete in the show or win a Grandstand concert prize package.
Each contestant will have to get through a series of games to win the prize. All contestants will take home at least $10,000 and the finalist will win at least $500,000 and have a chance to win up to $5 million. The show will take place on Aug. 8 at 5:30 p.m. on the Grand Concourse.
The rest of this year’s contestants include:
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