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Iowa imprisoned for enticement, child porn

News

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 54-year-old registered Iowa sex offender has been given nearly 30 years in prison for child pornography and enticing a child into sexual activity.  Timothy Koenck, of Fenton, was given 355 months earlier this month after pleading guilty to several charges in September. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Sioux City.

Koenck also was convicted in 2002 of enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography. Koenck must serve 10 years of supervised release after leaving custody.

LELAND LANDON, 83, of Atlantic (Svcs. 2/20/14)

Obituaries

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

LELAND LANDON, 83, of Atlantic, died Sun., Feb. 16th, at the Atlantic Nursing & Rehab Center. Funeral services for LELAND LANDON will be held 11-a.m. Thu., Feb. 20th, in the Chapel at the Hockenberry Family Care Funeral Home in Atlantic.

Visitation with the family will be from 10-to 11-am, Thursday, at the funeral home. Online condolences may be left at www.hockenberryfamilycare.com.

Memorials may be directed to the Cass County Historical Museum.

Burial will be in the Atlantic Cemetery.

LELAND LANDON is survived by:

His brothers – Don (Norma) Landon, of Griswold & Harland Landon, of Tacoma, WA.

His sisters – Helen Tritt, of Kennesaw, GA, & Linda Landon, of Bethany, OK.

CATHERINE BUMAN SCHOMERS, 82, of Harlan & formerly of Portsmouth (Svcs. 2/22/14)

Obituaries

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

CATHERINE BUMAN SCHOMERS, 82, of Harlan (& formerly of Portsmouth), died Sun., Feb. 16th, at home. A Mass of Christian Burial service for CATHERINE SCHOMERS will be held 10:30-a.m. Sat., Feb. 22nd, at St. Mary Our Lady of Fatima Church, in Portsmouth. Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan has the arrangements.

A visitation at the church will be held from 1-to 8-pm Friday, with a Wake service at 7-pm.

Burial will be in the St. Mary’s Cemetery at Portsmouth.

CATHERINE BUMAN SCHOMERS is survived by:

Her sons – Jim (Diane) Buman, of Harlan; Paul (Ann) Buman, of Portsmouth & Larry Buman, of Council Bluffs.

Her daughters – Sharon (Mike) Coenen, of Defiance, & Susie (Dennis) Schwery, of Panama.

Her step-sons:  Jerry (Patricia) Schomers, Randy (Lisa) Schomers, & Bill (Tracy) Schomers, all of Omaha; and Don (Judy) Schomers, & David (Rose) Schomers, all of Westphalia.

Her stepdaughters: Shirley (Ted) Herbst, of Cedar Rapids; Nancy (Greg) Thrasher, & Linda (Jim) Gidley, all of Omaha; Mary (Craig) Rasmussen, of Cincinnati, OH, & Julie (Kurt) Andersen, of Waukesha, WI.

Her brothers – Tony (Mildred) Reinig, & Alvin (Millie) Reinig, all of Harlan; Joe (Arlene) Reinig, of Portsmouth;  & Don (Joyce) Reinig, of Hood River, OR.

Her sisters – Mary Slaven, of Portsmouth, & Cecelia Tunnell, of CA.

7 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren, 30 step-grandchildren & many step great-grandchildren.

(podcast) Skyscan Forecast: Mon., Feb. 17, 2014

Podcasts, Weather

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

The (podcast) Freese-Notis weather forecast for the KJAN listening area, and weather information for Atlantic.

Play

Iowa foster care program seeks volunteers

News

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A program that assigns a volunteer to speak on behalf of a child in Iowa’s foster care system is looking for more participants. Organizers behind the Court Appointed Special Advocate program say they currently have 460 volunteers advocating for more than 900 children in the system. They want to double the number of volunteers over the next two years.

Jim Hennessey, an administrator who helps oversee the program, says judges and service providers believe an increase in volunteers would benefit the children. The volunteer’s main job would be to represent the interest of a child during any judicial proceeding. A volunteer will complete a 30-hour training course and spend an average of 10 hours per month getting to know the child and his or her circumstances.

Winter Weather Advisories continue Monday morning

Weather

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Winter Weather Advisories continues for the entire KJAN listening area this (Monday) morning. In far west/southwest Iowa (Monona-Harrison-Shelby-Pottawattamie-Mills-Montgomery-Fremont and Page Counties), the Advisory is in effect until 8-a.m. For the remainder of our listening area, the Advisory is in effect until Noon today.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW…SLEET…OR FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

Significant Weather Alert for far west/sw IA 2/17/14

Weather

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

COUNTIES: MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT

PAGE….351 AM CST MON FEB 17 2014

A BAND OF LIGHT SNOW WILL MOVE THROUGH EASTERN NEBRASKA AND INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA EARLY THIS MORNING. A BAND OF OCCASIONALLY MODERATE SNOW FROM NEAR WAYNE AND PENDER THROUGH DAVID CITY…WAHOO…LINCOLN AND BEATRICE WILL MOVE TO THE MISSOURI RIVER BY 5 AM…AND SPREAD INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA BETWEEN 5 AND 6.

THE SOUTHERN PART OF THIS BAND FROM LINCOLN SOUTH COULD START OUT AS FREEZING RAIN FOR A TIME AS IT MOVES TOWARD NEBRASKA CITY AND FALLS CITY…THEN TOWARD RED OAK AND SHENANDOAH. AREAS NORTH OF LINCOLN WILL SEE VISIBILITIES DROPPING TO A MILE AT TIMES…WITH ABOUT A HALF INCH OF SNOW…INCLUDING THE OMAHA METRO…TEKAMAH…FREMONT AND WEST POINT…THEN INTO WEST CENTRAL IOWA NEAR MISSOURI VALLEY…HARLAN AND ONAWA.

THIS WILL BE ON TOP OF AREAS THAT RECEIVED LIGHT ICING FROM EARLY FREEZING RAIN. SLIPPERY ROADS AND SIDEWALKS HAVE BEEN REPORTED ACROSS THE AREA…AND WILL CONTINUE INTO THE MORNING COMMUTE. AS THE SNOW COMES TO AN END AN HOUR OR TWO AFTER BEGINNING.

NORTHWEST WINDS WILL PUSH SLIGHTLY WARMER AIR INTO THE REGION…HELPING TO BEGIN THE MELTING OF THE ICE AND SNOW AFTER SUNRISE.

NWS Forecast for Cass & area Counties in IA 2/17/14

Weather

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

(Update 3:50-a.m. 2/1/7/14)

**Winter Weather Advisory in effect until Noon**

EARLY THIS MORNING…FREEZING RAIN…SNOW AND SLEET LIKELY. SOME NEW SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE. A LIGHT GLAZING EXPECTED. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 70 PERCENT.

TODAY…CLOUDY WITH SNOW AND RAIN THROUGH MID MORNING…THEN MOSTLY  SUNNY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW BEFORE NOON. SUNNY IN THE AFTERNOON. BREEZY…WARMER. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 1 INCH. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. WEST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 90 PERCENT.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

TUESDAY...SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 50S. WEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

TUESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S. WEST WIND NEAR 15 MPH.

WEDNESDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 50S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH INCREASING TO AROUND 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE MID 30S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 50 PERCENT.

THURSDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S.

Regents “efficiency” study targets Iowa, ISU, UNI athletics, too

Sports

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

The firm hired by the Board of Regents to review operations at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa to find new “efficiencies” has been directed to examine the university athletic departments, too. I-S-U athletic director Jamie Pollard says he welcomes the process, but he makes it clear cutting the athletic department’s budget won’t save taxpayer dollars.

“We’re self-sufficient, so every dollar that we spend we have to cover through ticket sales, donations, television revenue and anything we can do to save money I’m all ears because in some ways it would make my job easier,” Pollard says. Gary Barta, the athletic director at the University of Iowa, says his department is “100 percent self-sustaining,” as well. “So there’s no tax dollars, no university funds, no student fees,” Barta says. “It’s all generated through the revenue that we are able to bring in and create.”

Iowa’s athletic department paid the university over 10-million dollars ($10 million) this year to cover tuition costs for all Hawkeye student athletes in 24 varsity sports. Iowa State has 18 varsity sports. “I think we run, at least within the athletics department, a very streamlined organization and work extremely hard to try to be as efficient as possible,” Pollard says. Barta says he can’t foresee the future, but the last thing he wants to do is cut a sport. He, like Pollard, says he welcomes the efficiency review the Regents have ordered. “Anytime someone comes in and looks at your operation from a different perspective, it’s very healthy so I’m very comfortable with that,” Barta says.

Pollard and Barta made their comments during a weekend appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program. The University of Northern Iowa uses about four-million dollars from general university operations to finance its athletic department. That’s 44 percent of the total U-N-I athletic department budget, but that’s also the lowest level of tuition and taxpayer support for Panther athletics in more than a decade. The university plans to reduce that even more by increasing student fees and using those extra funds to finance U-N-I athletics. Seventeen varsity sports are currently offered at U-N-I.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa early News headlines: Mon., Feb. 17th 2014

News

February 17th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Daycare oversight in Iowa is under review at the Capitol, as lawmakers in the state House ponder legislation that would expand reporting requirements for in-home child care providers. Under the legislation approved by a subcommittee last week, all home-based daycares in Iowa would have to register with the state, with some exemptions for family members providing care. Currently, home-based daycares with five or less children do not have to register.

EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) — Residents of several Iowa cities are being forced to boil their water because of water main breaks. Officials in Evansdale, Brighton, Wilton and Bondurant have all ordered residents to boil their water as a precaution. Boil orders are typically in place for at least several days until tests show the water is safe to consume.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa law that allows retired health care professionals to return to work part time has helped to head off a nurse shortage, but it’s due to expire this summer. The Sioux City Journal reports that some groups argue the law is no longer needed, but Iowa hospitals want the exception extended.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Students in Marshalltown are going to be getting pedometers as part of their physical education classes thanks to a federal grant. The Times-Republican reports the Marshalltown Community School District bought 4,200 pedometers to encourage students to be more active. The district plans to spend $80,000 on the pedometers.