(Radio Iowa) – The La Nina weather system often brings Iowa and the Midwest an above-normal helping of precipitation, but even though the pattern is expected to stick around for yet another winter, we’re still suffering with drought. Doug Kluck, the climate services director for the Central Region of the National Weather Service, says there would normally be a lot more rainfall, especially in the Missouri River basin. Kluck says, “It is possible that La Nina can contribute in a positive manner more usable precipitation for the basin.” The expected amount of precip simply hasn’t been materializing, he says, and it’s unclear whether that will change with the snowpack in the winter season ahead.

“The last two years have been La Nina and those last two years have been something like 88 and 90% of normal snowpack, where we would hope that La Nina would give us over 100%,” Kluck says, “but that didn’t happen.” Kluck says this situation is what adds to so much climate prediction uncertainty. “It tells you the fickleness, to be honest, of using La Nina only as a forecast tool for that neck of the woods,” he says.

The National Climate Prediction Center is forecasting this La Nina will fade away by early spring. The latest report from the U-S Drought Monitor shows 80 percent of Iowa is either abnormally dry or in some level of drought.

Police in Red Oak, Tuesday evening, arrested 53-year-old Fred Francis Welch, IV, of Red Oak. Welch was taken into custody on a valid Montgomery County warrant for Failure to Appear, on original charges of OWI/1st offense, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa man caught getting meth through the mail has been sentenced to nearly two decades in federal prison. According to the U-S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, 55-year-old Armando Silva Reyes of Spencer gave a quarter pound of meth to an informant on two occasions.

On February 3rd of last year Silva Reyes and others received three pounds of meth through the U-S Post Office in Spencer. Prosecutors say Silva Reyes was part of a network that distributed meth by the pound in northern Iowa.

Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and two counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Des Moines, Iowa – Governor Kim Reynolds today (Tuesday), announced her appointment of Jessica Noll as a district associate judge in Judicial Election District 3B. Noll, of Akron, Iowa, currently serves as a magistrate in Woodbury County and practices law with Deck Law, P.L.C. in Sioux City. Noll received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Dakota.

District Associate Judge Jessica Noll

Noll fills a vacancy created by the addition of four new district associate judge positions authorized by the legislature in this year’s session. Judicial Election District 3B includes Crawford, Ida, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux, and Woodbury counties.

(Radio Iowa) – Members of the 185th Iowa National Guard in Sioux City have been in Woodbine, building a giant tension fabric structure (tfs) that is a precursor to an Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) mission soon to take place at the Woodbine High School. Woodbine Schools Superintendent Justin Wagner, is also a colonel with the 185th, and says the fabric structure will initially house teams of U-S. military members traveling to the area to help construct a new Ignite Pathways building already under construction in Woodbine.

“And they’ve done exactly what they’ve done overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq. They took something completely bare just like this field. And they’re building this and these folks have been up in the morning at 7. They’re working to 7 p-m,” he says. “I’m not sure I’ve seen a better example of the Iowa National Guard connecting with the community for a value added project.” Wagner requested the support of the Department of Defense I-R-T program to help construct the new ignite building as well as the accompanying structure.

“It’s called Ignite Pathways it’s a 45-thousand square foot facility completely focused on Career and Technical Education. And so it’s the skills kids learn by doing and so that process to get approved as a D-O-D I-R-T project is taking about 18 months,” Wagner says. This is the first ever I-R-T in Iowa. As part of their annual training, Iowa guard members from the 185th Air Wing set up the privately donated 30-thousand square foot structure in woodbine. Wagner says when construction on the adjacent Ignite building is complete, the school plans to use the tfs building as an indoor athletic facility.

“It combines two really important things, the governor’s push on current technical education and our future-ready Iowa initiative which is really on the school side what we’re really trying to push, and then that D-O-D I-R-T push being the first ever in the state of Iowa is pretty special to us,” he says. The Ignite building project is scheduled to be completed at the beginning of the 2023 school year. Colonel Wagner also serves as the vice wing commander with the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City as a traditional guard member.

(Radio Iowa) – A security breach at one of the nation’s largest health systems has affected hospitals in Des Moines and Omaha. Officials at Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health say an I-T security incident happened on Monday. Some MercyOne facilities in central Iowa have been affected. A MercyOne spokesman says some I-T systems have been taken offline and that may include electronic health record systems.

The Omaha World Herald reports the Creighton University Medical Center and two other C-H-I hospitals in Omaha have taken steps to respond to the security incident as well. It’s unclear how extensive the hack may have been. News reports in other states indicate hospitals in Tennessee and Georgia have rescheduled some surgeries and doctors’ appointments.

Firefighters and Cass EMS personnel were dispatched to the scene of what was initially described as a barn fire west of Atlantic this (Tuesday) evening. The call about the fire at 58935 Indian Creek Street went out at around 5:30-p.m.

Atlantic Fire Chief Tom Cappel told KJAN the fire didn’t amount to much. “A little fire started in the back of a small goat barn. The homeowners got the goats out and started throwing buckets of water on the barn. We finished putting it out when we arrived on the scene.” Cappel said there was “Very minimal damage.”

(Radio Iowa) – A report from the Iowa Attorney General’s office finds 12 people have died from domestic violence statewide so far this year, a list that includes nine women and three bystanders. Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, director of the Crime Victim Assistance Division, says the majority of domestic violence homicides are committed with firearms.

Tibbetts Murphy says, “Until we have a better system for maintaining proper and safe firearm possession, making sure that those who should not have firearms, those who are a threat to their families have those taken away, I think we’re going to continue to see this.” The report documents eight instances of domestic violence committed in the first eight months of 2022, including high-profile shootings at the Cornerstone Church in Ames and the Taboo nightclub in Cedar Rapids.

“It points to the easy access of firearms,” Tibbetts Murphy says, “the lack of verifiable, effective means of retrieving firearms from those we know are dangerous to their partners and their families.” According to the report, 375 men, women and bystanders have been killed in Iowa as a result of domestic violence since 1995.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Des Moines, Iowa – October 4, 2022) – Kirk Tyler, the long-time leader of Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, announced to employees yesterday (Monday), that Rob Feeney and his wife, Jessica, have become majority owners of the company. Rob will become the CEO and Kirk will remain Chairman of the Board. Tyler, who succeeded his own father, Jim, as leader of the family-owned company, is a 48-year veteran of Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

Feeney said “My previous position as President and COO has provided me with valuable insights and experience regarding the company and our team, so I know we are well-positioned for continued growth. Feeney has served as an executive in the company for the past seven years. He said “I am excited about the future and am confident in what we can accomplish, but I also want to thank Kirk, the board and the Tyler family for giving me the opportunity to lead the company. I am both grateful and humbled by this opportunity.”

Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, which was originally founded by Kirk Tyler’s grandfather in 1909 in southwest Iowa, now boasts well over 100 years of success. Feeney and his wife, Jessica (Tyler) Feeney, represent the fourth generation of the family to run the business, which now has more than 800 employees and nine distribution centers that supply customers with a wide variety of products in five states.

“It is hard to believe it has been 42 years since I moved to the Des Moines area to help lead the company my grandfather started, but I am very proud of what we have accomplished, as the company has quadrupled in size and we have even bigger plans in-store,” offered Tyler. “But I know it is time for the next generation to step-up and move the company forward, just like my dad gave me the opportunity to do years ago.”

For both Tyler and Feeney, continuing to have strong family involvement in the company is important, so several members of the family currently work for or serve the company in various capacities. “I plan to continue visiting our various locations as a representative of the family. I will also stay active in industry affairs and serve on other boards, including continuing my role as Chairman of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and Chairman of Southeastern Container Corporation,” he said.

Feeney said he is focused on continued growth by reinvesting back in the business, employees and the communities which they serve. Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company will focus on growth, while maintaining the company’s position as a private, family-owned, independent bottler and distributor for all Coca-Cola products. “Succession planning is a part of every successful company, and Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company is no different. Kirk and I have been working on these long-term plans for several years and I cannot thank him enough for the confidence in me and our team,” offered Feeney.

“Kirk’s dedication and commitment to our business has led to impressive levels of growth and success, so I want to personally thank him for his many years of service and leadership and congratulate him on his career.”