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(Update 10-a.m.) Amber Alert suspect in custody

News

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Johnson County, IOWA – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report the suspect in Saturday’s Amber Alert has been apprehended.

Kenneth Johns

Kenneth Johns

48-year old Kenneth Johns was taken into custody at around 9:35-a.m. today (Sunday), by the Davenport Police Department’s Tactical Unit, at a residence on Farnum Street and Central Park Avenue, in Davenport. No injuries were suffered during the arrest. The subject of the Amber Alert, 9-year old Brianna Crane, of Solon, was dropped-off safely by a third party, to law enforcement at around 1:30-a.m. today.

Brianna Crane

Brianna Crane

No further information will be released at this time due to the on-going investigation.

How to have the talk with older Iowans about giving up driving

News

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Iowa’s population is among the nation’s oldest and some motorists continue to drive on Iowa’s roads well into their 90s, which for some, may pose a risk to themselves and others. Nick Jarmusz, at Triple-A-Iowa, says family members need to be direct with their elders when safety is clearly becoming an issue. “It’s important for families to remember that the issue isn’t necessarily driving itself,” Jarmusz says. “The issue is about mobility and independence.” Older drivers themselves can often be the best judges of when it’s time to give up the keys, knowing their personal challenges with vision, hearing, mobility, reaction times and more.older driver

“Self-assessment is a critical part to this,” Jarmusz says. “We actually have a lot of resources on the topic for senior drivers at a website we’ve set up. The site, aaa-dot-com, includes suggestions for having that difficult talk with an older driver.  “We recommend families avoid the intervention-style or anything that can come across as overly confrontational and make elderly relatives feel like they’re being backed into a corner or being talked down to,” he says. While the conversation may be uncomfortable, it should be driven by compassion and a concern for everyone’s health and safety.

“It doesn’t have to be a binary discussion, you know, you either have your keys and are driving or you’re not,” Jarmusz says. “There’s a lot of space in between there to self-regulate or to set up parameters for when it is and is not acceptable to drive.” A national Triple-A survey found nearly 90-percent of motorists who are 65 years old and older suffer from health issues that may affect driving safely.

(Radio Iowa)

Construction begins on USS Omaha

News

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The future USS Omaha is now under construction in an Alabama shipyard.
The Navy says a keel laying ceremony was held for the USS Omaha last month. Austal USA is building the vessel. The USS Omaha is a littoral combat ship, which can operate in shallow and deep water. It will be roughly 420 feet long.

The future, USS Omaha's sister-ship, (the identical) USS Independence.

The future, USS Omaha’s sister-ship, (the identical) USS Independence.

The USS Omaha will be designed to deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors to fight mines and submarines.

Safety concerns block effort to raise interstate speed limit

News

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa drivers will stay out of the fast lane for now, after lawmakers did not advance a bill that would have boosted the speed limit on interstate highways, bringing it in line with many nearby states.  The bill sought to raise the speed limit on interstate highways to 75 mph, up from the current limit of 70 mph. It died in the state Senate several days ago, amid questions about the safety ramifications.

That means Iowa drivers will continue at slower speeds than those behind the wheel in many nearby states. Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota all have speed limits of 75 mph.  Iowa’s interstate highway speed limit was last increased in 2005, up from 65 mph.

Iowa early News Headlines: Sun., March 8th 2015

News

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

(Des Moines) – An AMBER ALERT issued Saturday afternoon in Iowa has been cancelled The Iowa Department of Public Safety reported early Sunday morning 9-year old Brianna Crane, of Solon, was safely returned to her family. The girl was allegedly abducted at around 2:30-p.m. Saturday, by her step-father, 48-year old Kenneth Eugene Johns and the pair were thought to have been in southeast Iowa hours after the Alert was issued.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – A Burlington glass manufacturer has told employees the plant will close its doors May 1st, leaving the eastern Iowa city with about 30 fewer jobs. The Burlington Hawk Eye reports that the PPG Industries plant announced the impending closure on Friday. Employees were told of the plan Thursday. The 29 employees affected will be given an opportunity to transfer to PPG manufacturing plants in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Wichita Falls, Texas.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The clear rift over immigration opened up publicly Saturday at an Iowa forum on agriculture, energy, trade and food policy. Most of the nine possible Republican presidential candidates for 2016 called for enforcing existing laws. But outliers Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, and South Carolina’s Senator Lindsay Graham proposed offering the estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally a path to legal status.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Police in Cedar Rapids are investigating a shooting that has left one man with critical injuries. The Cedar Rapids Police Department says it received reports of several shots fired just before 3 a.m. Saturday. Police have not yet released the name of the man shot or other details of the shooting.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Iowa State wrapped up the Number 2 seed behind Kansas in the Big 12 tournament in the last game of the regular season. The Cyclones’ 89-76 win Saturday night at TCU locked in the pairings for the tournament that starts Wednesday in Kansas City.

Essex man arrested on drug charges early Sun. morning

News

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop in Red Oak early this (Sunday) morning, resulted in a man being arrested on numerous drug charges. Red Oak Police say 31-year old Matthew Wayne Echternach, of Essex, was taken into custody at around 12:25-a.m. near the intersection of North Broadway and West Oak Streets. The man was charged with OWI Drugged/1st Offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Echternach was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 cash bond. Red Oak Police were assisted during the traffic stop, by deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

Red Oak man arrested Saturday night while on an ATV

News

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop Saturday evening in Montgomery County led to the arrest of a Red Oak man. Red Oak Police say 57-year old Jeffrey Alan Runyan was arrested at around 7:40-p.m. for driving an ATV on a public street, while allegedly intoxicated. Runyan was charged with OWI/3rd offense and Driving While Revoked. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond.

NWS weather forecast for Cass & area Counties in IA: 3/8/2015

Weather

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

348 AM CDT SUN MAR 8 2015

EARLY THIS MORNING…MOSTLY CLOUDY. EAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.

TODAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 50S. NORTHEAST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S. NORTHEAST WIND NEAR 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTH AFTER MIDNIGHT.

MONDAY...SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 50S. SOUTH WIND NEAR 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON.

MONDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE MID 30S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TUESDAY…SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 60S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TUESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE UPPER 30S.

WEDNESDAY…SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 60S.

Harlan beats Western Dubuque 56-46 for 2nd straight 4A title

Sports

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Taylor Frederick scored 17 points and teamed with Jess Schaben to dominate play around the basket as Harlan beat Western Dubuque 56-46 Saturday night to win its second straight Class 4A state championship. Top-ranked Harlan’s victory in the battle of unbeaten teams came with little drama and capped an impressive run through this year’s tournament. The Cyclones (26-0) won their first two games at state by 23 and 26 points before their solid victory over No. 2 Western Dubuque (25-1), which also lost to Harlan in last year’s state finals.

Schaben added 14 points, nine rebounds and six blocks and Elle Kloewer scored 11 for Harlan, which ran its two-year winning streak to 52. Megan Maahs led Western Dubuque with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Morgan Pitz scored 10.

Waukee rolls past Valley 72-58 to win 5A championship

Sports

March 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Reilly Jacobson scored 24 points and No. 2 Waukee capitalized on top-ranked West Des Moines Valley’s shooting woes to beat the Tigers 72-58 Saturday night and win the Class 5A state championship. The Waukee guards set Jacobson up for easy shots inside with crisp entry passes, and she converted to help the Warriors (24-2) claim the title in their first trip to the finals. Jacobson went 10-for-14 from the field, grabbed 12 rebounds and was named captain of the all-tournament team.

Valley (23-3), which beat Waukee 72-66 during the regular season, fell behind while it was missing 15 of 16 shots during a stretch spanning halftime and never made a serious run to get back in it. Grace Vander Weide led Valley with 20 points and nine rebounds.