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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
(Radio Iowa) – Iowans in need can get a free smoke alarm installed in their house or apartment through an American Red Cross program called Sound the Alarm. The agency’s Iowa spokesman Josh Murray says home fires claim seven lives every day nationwide, but having a working smoke alarm can cut the risk of death in half. “We respond to a lot of home fires after they happen, but we also want to be on the front end of it,” Murray says. “How can we help people prepare and maybe avoid some of the dangers that come with that? So that’s what our Sound the Alarm campaign is about, to help people understand the importance of having certain things like a smoke alarm, makes sure it works, make sure it’s functional, make sure it’s in the right place in your house.”
Starting this weekend, the Red Cross will begin visiting neighborhoods in several Iowa communities as part of the campaign, installing smoke detectors and helping people to develop home fire escape plans. “We will be sending our volunteers out to canvass the area,” Murray says. “We’re going to knock on people’s doors and say, ‘Hey, would you mind us coming in and checking your smoke alarm for you? Do you have them? Do you know if they work? If you don’t, can we install a couple for you?’ We’ll make sure you’re safe and share those home fire resources.” The Red Cross recommends checking smoke alarms once a month and changing the batteries, if necessary. 
Smoke alarms should be placed on every level of a home, including inside and outside of bedrooms and sleeping areas. Experts agree that people may have as little as two minutes to get out of a burning home before it’s too late. Iowans who want to help the campaign can visit SoundTheAlarm.org. “Each smoke alarm costs us about $15, so we tell people, ‘Hey, if you want to give us just $15, you’re gonna buy someone a smoke alarm, or if you give us $45, that’s three smoke alarms, if you want to think about it in that way,” Murray says. “Every every dollar counts and every smoke alarm we put in may be one that saves a life, so they’re all important.”
Volunteers for the program will be in Iowa City on April 30th, Des Moines on May 14th and Omaha/Council Bluffs on June 11th. To make an appointment for a volunteer stop by your home, visit that same website.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – One lucky ticketholder in Arizona has won the $473-million dollar Powerball Jackpot, following Wednesday night’s drawing. The winning numbers were: 11, 36, 61, 62,68, and Powerball 4. It was not immediately revealed where in Arizona the winning ticket was sold or the identity of the individual, or if pooled, the group of individuals. The winner also has the cash option of $283.3 million. A ticket sold in Indiana matched all five white balls to win $1 million.
The Powerball jackpot last hit in Connecticut in the Feb. 14 drawing, when a single ticket got a lucky winner $185.3 million, according to Powerball officials. The drawing is held three times per week (M-W-Sa), and holds the world record for the largest jackpot of $1.586 billion which was shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee in 2016.
The jackpot falls back to $20 million, with a cash option of $12 million for Saturday night’s drawing.
(Hull, Iowa) – A collision in northwest Iowa, Wednesday morning, resulted in two deaths and one person injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports the accident happened at around 10:33-a.m., a little northwest of Hull. Authorities say a 2017 Dodge Caravan driven by 56-year-old Suzanne Barron, of Sioux City, was traveling west on 310th Street, at the same time a 2019 Freightliner truck driven by 46-year-old Jamie Hueschen, of Sioux City, was traveling southbound on U-S Highway 75. A 2009 Chevy Silverado driven by 31-year-old Ethan Kooima, of Hull, was eastbound on US Hwy 18, waiting to turn south onto Hwy 75.
When the van failed to stop at the intersection, it was struck on the passenger side by the Freightliner truck. Both vehicles exited the southwest corner of the intersection, where the van hit two stops signs and overturned, coming to rest on the driver’s side. The Silverado pickup was struck by flying vehicle debris from the initial collision.
Suzanne Barron and her passenger, Rene Ross, II, of Hull, died from their injuries. The driver of the semi was hurt and transported by Sioux Center Ambulance to the Sioux Center Hospital. All of the crash victims were wearing their seat belts.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is urging the Justice Department to drop its appeal of a ruling that struck down the mask requirement for public transportation. “Americans’ decisions to wear masks should be up to them,” Ernst says. “…Americans are tired of the masks. They’re ready to move on and get on with their life.”
Last week a federal judge in Florida ruled the Centers for Disease Control had exceeded its authority by issuing a mask mandate for planes, trains, buses and subways. Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, points to President Biden’s statement last week that it’s now up to Americans to decide whether to mask up and she says pursuing an appeal creates uncertainty for businesses and travelers. “This is a point in the pandemic, and I wish that we would start calling it an endemic, that people can make up their own mind,” Ernst said.
The now cancelled nationwide mask mandate for public transportation was set to expire May 3rd. Ernst says the Biden Administration should focus its public health measures on immigrants who are illegally crossing the southern border. “You don’t know if they have been vaccinated. You don’t know if they are carrying COVID,” Ernst says. “You simply don’t know the background and their circumstances.”
Ernst opposes the Biden Administration’s plan to end a Trump era policy that has sent unauthorized immigrants and asylum seekers back to Mexico to wait for immigration court action on their cases. Human rights groups say the policy has led to an increase in violence in areas where migrants are waiting in Mexico. Ernst and other Republicans say ending the policy will lead to a dramatic increase in illegal border crossings.
(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City residents are being asked to voluntarily conserve water because of the ongoing drought. The flow in the Missouri River is low and Sioux City Utilities director Brad Puetz says wells that are used to provide water in the system are low, too. “What we’re seeing right now is significant lower levels in those supply wells,” he says, “and we’re having to valve them back a bit just to keep those wells in water.”
Puetz says residents can reduce lawn watering, take shorter showers and adjust the length of washing cycles on dishwashers and washing machines — and he emphasizes these are voluntary moves for Sioux City residents. “There is a conservation plan in place. This step does not start step one of the conservation plan,” Puetz says. “We’re trying to head it off as early as possible, asking citizens to conserve water in the home as much as possible.”
City officials are reducing street cleaning in Sioux City and will not flush fire hydrants unless it’s necessary. The Missouri River helps replenish the city’s water wells. Puetz does NOT expect the Army Corps of Engineers to boost the water flow out of the Gavins Point Dam upstream in Yankton, South Dakota. “I can’t speak for the Army Corps of Engineers, but I think right now the max releases are going to say right around 25,000 to 26,000 cubic feet per second, just to meet navigation and recreational purposes,” Puetz says. “They’re dry up north, too. The larger basins — (Lake) Sakakawea, Garison and Fort Peck — they’re 10 to 11 feet low.”
Sioux City Utilities also provides water to South Sioux City, Nebraska and Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. Puetz says if customers start voluntarily conserving water now, it will lower the possibility the city will have to mandate restrictions early in the summer.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Board of Education for the Atlantic Community School District met in a Special Session this (Wednesday) evening. During their session, the Board received an update from Guy Somers on the iJAG (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates) Program. They are also discussed School Social Work/Therapeutic classroom programs.
Superintendent Barber reminded the Board of the following dates of events:
The Atlantic School Board approved the following resignations and Contract Recommendations:
The Board also approved the High School Gymnasium Sound System improvements. Superintendent Steve Barber said the original system was installed in 1995, and that they are “lucky” it’s lasted them this long. “We’ve looked at two different systems,” Barber said, “One that comes out of the scoreboard, which is limited to reach, and then a comprehensive one,” which would include acoustics, and is under the cost estimate of $51,000. It includes multiple speakers and controls, and will be an upgrade from the system they’ve been struggling with all year.
The goal is to have the work complete by sometime in August.
(Woodbury County, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division report 64-year-old Jay Wickey, of Sergeant Bluff, recently pled guilty to two counts of Forgery (Aggravated Misdemeanor) following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau. The investigation began in February 2019 after a complaint alleged Wickey had falsely endorsed the signature of a financial institution on multiple insurance checks. Wickey was arrested on December 21, 2019.
The investigation determined Wickey falsely endorsed the signature of his vehicle’s lienholder, Regional Acceptance Bank, without their knowledge or consent, allowing him to collect proceeds for himself. Wickey’s actions prevented Regional Acceptance Bank from protecting their financial interest by confirming the vehicle’s repairs had been completed.
“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,” Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said. “I appreciate the hard work of our Fraud Bureau and the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office in the prosecution of this case so Mr. Wickey was held accountable for his actions.”
Photo courtesy of the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office
Following his guilty plea, Wickey received a two year suspended prison sentence, two years of probation, and was ordered to pay a fine of $625 as well as a probation enrollment fee of $300.
Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.
(Radio Iowa) – A new report details the healthiest — and least healthy — counties in Iowa, based on more than 30 factors that influence how long and how well people live. Michael Stevenson, a team leader at the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute, says Iowans can log on and see how their individual counties stack up. “The healthiest counties in the state of Iowa are Dallas coming in at number one, Winneshiek coming in at number two, and Sioux coming in at number three,” Stevenson says. “The counties ranking among the least healthy in Iowa this year are Monona, Lee and Montgomery.”
One of the big expenses families face is child care. The report finds the typical Iowa family with two children will spend 24-percent of their annual income on child care, just one-point below the national average of 25-percent. “There’s multiple factors that influence how long and how well we live,” Stevenson says. “This includes things like access to health care or health behaviors, things that we traditionally think about when we think about health, but it also includes things like access to a good job or access to safe and affordable housing.”
UWPHI graphic
The report’s authors hope the information is used by leaders from public health and health care, business, education, and government to provide everyone a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being. “What’s important to understand is that every county has its strengths and weaknesses,” Stevenson says. “So even though a county may be ranked low in comparison to other counties within the state, there are things that they’re doing well, but there are also opportunities for them to make a difference, and to really improve the conditions that help us all be healthy.”
This is the 12th year for the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, which offers communities across the nation the tools and resources to help them take action to improve health.
(Radio Iowa) – A new report from a progressive think tank finds 15 percent of Iowa households with at least one full-time worker did not have enough income to meet basic needs in 2020. The “Cost of Living in Iowa” report from Common Good Iowa finds nearly half of single-parent families needed government assistance to cover basic living expenses. “Half the jobs in Iowa don’t pay enough for a single parent with two children to make a living and cover the costs of child care.” That’s Peter Fisher, research director for Common Good Iowa who is the report’s co-author.
The report focuses on mid-2020, the most recent period when detailed data was available. Fisher says it means the analysis doesn’t reflect the current impact of inflation. “Inflation has started to take off and wages which until recently were keeping up with inflation probably in the last several months have not,” he says. According to Fisher, most Iowa workers need to earn at least twice the minimum wage to have an income that covers a barebones budget for food, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and — if there are kids — child care.
“For example, a single person now needs $13.84 an hour. A single parent with just one child would need $18.24 an hour,” Fisher says. “A married couple, both working, with two children would need to each earn $15 an hour.” The report concludes nearly 114-thousand Iowa households where at least one adult has a job needed food assistance along with government-paid health care coverage and child care assistance in 2020. Natalie Veldhouse, co-author of the report, says the majority of residents in those households are white, but racial minorities are more likely to live in an Iowa home where money is tight.
“That’s 34% of black working households,” she says, “26% of Hispanic working households.” Common Good Iowa executive director Anne Discher says the earning power of workers who are paid by the hour has eroded over several decades. Common Good Iowa supports raising the rate to 15 dollars for all workers who are paid by the hour, plus it’s calling for an increase in government spending to supplement the wages child care workers as well as employees who provide direct care to elderly and disabled Iowans.
“The economic bind of those industries are that workers are paid extraordinarily low wages and yet families struggle mightily to pay for them and there’s really a role for the public sector — and in particular I’m thinking of Medicare reimbursements or our child care assistance program — to really fill in the gap,” she says. “so that folks can work in those job and make a barebones (income) and families can afford to get the care they need for their loved ones.”
Common Good Iowa was formed 16 months ago by the merger of the Iowa Child and Family Policy Center and the Iowa Policy Project. The Iowa Policy Project had issued seven previous “Cost of Living in Iowa” reports.
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