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!
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!
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa prison inmates have donated more than 11-thousand dollars to the families of the two prison staffers who were allegedly killed by two inmates at the Anamosa prison in March. The funds represent a significant amount for inmates who make between 27 and 87 cents an hour. Sue Hutchins, spokeswoman for the advocacy group Living Beyond the Bars, says it demonstrates the compassion of inmates. “My understanding is that because the stimulus checks have recently come in for people, a good number of the inmates are donating more than they normally would be able to given their salaries,” Hutchins says, “which shows to me that they really do have compassion and they really do care.”
Nurse Lorena Schulte and corrections officer Robert McFarland were murdered during the escape attempt on March 23rd. Hutchins says many inmates knew the victims personally. “Yes, there are people who belong in prison and yes, there are also people who are good people in prison who have made mistakes and who have just as much compassion and just as much empathy as a lot of us out here,” she says.
According to the Department of Corrections, inmates at all nine state prisons have donated to memorial funds for the victims. Inmates Michael Dutcher and Thomas Woodard are scheduled to go to trial June 22nd in Jones County. They’re each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of second-degree kidnapping.
(reporting by Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)
Atlantic, IA, 2021 – The New Life Church is conducting a shoe drive fundraiser from May 1st to July 1st, to raise funds to send kids to camp that otherwise could not afford to go. New Life Church will earn funds based on the total weight of the pairs of gently worn, used and new shoes collected, as Funds2Orgs will issue a check for the collected shoes. Those dollars will benefit paying for kids to go to camp this summer. Anyone can help by donating gently worn, used and new shoes the drop box located on front porch of 1111 Plum street..
All donated shoes will then be redistributed throughout the Funds2Orgs network of micro-enterprise (small business) partners. Funds2Orgs works with micro-entrepreneurs in helping them create, maintain and grow small businesses in developing countries where economic opportunity and jobs are limited. Proceeds from the sales of the shoes collected in shoe drive fundraisers are used to feed, clothe and house their families. One budding entrepreneur in Haiti even earned enough to send to her son to law school.
“We are excited about our shoe drive,” said Ali Pieken, NLC Outreach coordinator “We know that most people have extra shoes in their closets they would like to donate to us. By doing so, we raise money to send kids to camp and we have the chance to help families in developing nations who need economic opportunities. 100% of proceeds raised will go toward sending children to camp this summer. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
By donating gently worn, used and new shoes to the New Life Church’s shoe drive, the shoes will be given a second chance and make a difference in people’s lives around the world.
The broadcast news from 8:06-a.m., with Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.7MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports six arrests over the past few weeks. Mostly recently, on April 28th, 31-year-old Paul Maxwell Ely, of Chicago IL was taken into custody by the Will County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois, on an active warrant out of Shelby County, and active warrants out of Pottawattamie County. Ely was transferred to the Will County S/O after signing waiver of extradition to cross state lines. Officials say Ely has an active warrant for two counts of burglary 3rd and is currently being held under a $5000 cash/surety bond. He also has an active hold with no bond pending appearance in Pott County District Court, for theft 2nd and child endangerment charges.
On April 26th, 35-year-old Payton Thomas Watzke, of Audubon, was arrested on active warrant for Violation of Probation out of Shelby County. Watzke was transported to the jail and held under bond pending court appearance and was released a few days later upon agreement between the courts, probation, and defendant. On the 25th, 30-year-old Cole Jacob Benton, of Hamlin, was arrested following a traffic stop in Shelby County along Highway 44 near Jacksonville. Upon further investigation it was determined that Benton’s driving privileges are currently barred in the State of Iowa. Benton was transported to the jail and charged with driving while barred and issued citations for speed and no insurance. He was released a short time later after posting the surety bond.
On the 21st, 31-year-old Cody Emmett Lister of Omaha, NE was taken into custody for pending jail time, as ordered by 4th judicial drug court. Lister, who was found to be in violation of rules regarding the program, will have an appearance with the courts coming up on May 5th, and currently being held in jail without bond. And, there were two arrests on April 18th in Shelby County: 28-year-old Jose Cruz Gutierrez Villanueva, from Denison, was taken into custody following a traffic stop along highway 37 in Shelby County. He was charged with driving while revoked. Villanueva was transported to the jail without incident where he was held under bond; and, 46-year-old Michael Joseph Stessman, of Defiance, was arrested on an active warrant out of Shelby County following a traffic stop in Defiance. Stessman had been charged with Operating while Intoxicated from previous investigation pending test results. He was transported to the Shelby County Jail and released under bond, a short time later.
The Creston Police Department reports six recent arrests. At around 3:40-a.m. Monday (May 3), 29-year-old Casey Welcher, of Afton, was arrested in Creston for Interference with Official Acts. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 bond. Sunday evening, 44-year-old Travis Wambold, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Barred. His bond was set at $2,000. Sunday afternoon, 30-year-old Devon Keller, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, for simple Domestic Assault. He was being held pending a bond hearing.
At around Noon, Sunday, 25-year-old Jacob J. Davis, of Cromwell, was arrested in Creston on a Madison County warrant for Failure to Appear, on original charges of OWI/2nd offense, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense. He was turned over to Madison County Deputies. Early Sunday morning, 31-year-old William A. Bethke IV, of Creston, was arrested in Creston for Public Intoxication. He was later released on $300 bond.
And, Friday afternoon, 38-year-old Luke A. Mullen, of Des Moines, was arrested at the Union County LEC, on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. He was being held on a $5,000 bond, plus an additional hold on a warrant issued out of Pueblo County, CO.
The 7:07-a.m. broadcast news, with KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.1MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Atlantic City Council has a full slate of action items on their agenda for their 5:30-p.m. meeting at City Hall, on Wed., May 5th. That includes a Mayoral Proclamation that May 2nd through the 9th is Professional Municipal Clerks Week, in Atlantic, as a means of honoring their “Precise organization, record and book-keeping skills,” which without, “The City as a business organization could not function.”
The Council will act on the following orders pertaining to upcoming special events:
The Council will then hold a Public Hearing on the sale of City-owned real estate at 211 W. 6th Street, as discussed in past council meetings. The hearing will be followed by a Resolution calling for the lot to be sold to Jeff Pross, for the sum of $1.00, with the provision he must build and occupy a home valued at $100,000 or more. The Council will also review and act on a recommendation with regard to a bid on City-owned properties at 204 W. 3rd, 202 W. 3rd and 211 Locust Street.
Chuck Templeman has proposed purchasing the lots for $4,810, which is the assessed value, and for the purpose of building a garage estimated to cost $10,000. Templeman owns 209 Locust Street, which is a rental house located to the north of the aforementioned lots. In addition, the Council will review and act on a recommendation for a bid of $650 for City-owned property at 611 Linn Street. The bid from James Hemphill is considerably less than the assessed value ($8,300). Hemphill wants to merge the lot with his property to the north. City Administrator John Lund says he cannot recommend the Council approve the bid, because a $100,000 home is not planned for the proposed lot. Lund says because of that, the policy would require $8,300 for the transaction.
The Council will act on setting a Public Hearing for May 19th, to amend the FY 2021 Budget, and they’ll hold the third and final readings of Ordinances pertaining to the timeframe and removal of snow and vehicles from sidewalks and streets. If approved, the Ordinances as written would reduce from 72-hours to 24-hours following the conclusion of a snow event, to clear sidewalks, and remove vehicles so the plows may clear the streets more effectively.
(Radio Iowa) – Growers planting the traditional corn and bean crops in the state have a pretty conventional process — while industrial hemp growers face a lot more questions. Robin Pruisner from the Iowa Department of Agriculture says there are four options for most hemp growers. “So you have to kind of figure out what you’re growing before you start — which is different from what we have with our normal crops in Iowa. Typically with corn, you raise it and then you can decide if you are going to sell it to a feed mill or an ethanol plant,” She explains. “Hemp is a little more complicated than that and you have to start planning earlier.”
With hemp you can grow it to extract the C-D-B, to create seeds, for grain, or for fiber. Pruisner says the different uses cause growers to use different methods in tending those crops. “You will see an incredibly wide spectrum of fertilization techniques and products out there — with some people not fertilizing at all. Others investing in very specific products to their crop,” Pruisner says. Pruisner says the cost of the inputs used for the crop are also varied. “Depending on whether you plant seed and if it is feminized seed — it can cost a dollar or more a seed. And it can cost a lot less if it is not feminized. And if you are planting clones or seed starts — they can run as high as five dollars a piece. And then you have you labor and planting costs,” Pruisner says.
Weather conditions are a factor for all crops — including hemp. “Once its established, it likes it on the dry side. It is not uncommon to see people irrigating if they are going for the high-value flower crop for extraction,” according to Pruisner. “It is also not uncommon to just see it planted out in the farm field with no irrigation. I really do see it from Alpah to Omega the way people are raising it.” Pruisner says hemp growers do not want wet conditions around harvest time because that can cause the plants to get moldy.
(Radio Iowa) ) The rare and powerful derecho that rampaged across Iowa last August caused extensive damage to hundreds of thousands of trees, but not all of the wind storm’s damage was negative. Billy Beck, a forestry specialist at the Iowa State University Extension, says the state’s woodland owners -can- recover and make their forests even more resilient than before. “We want to treat this as a forest management opportunity,” Beck says, “and not like an insurmountable setback.” Much like a wildfire can help a forest by clearing out dead trees and undergrowth, the derecho has provided the chance to rebuild some of the state’s key woodlands.
Beck notes oak trees, which are important to Iowa’s environment, love the sunlight. “They actually rely on disturbances such as this that open canopies up and expose young seedlings to sunlight to keep their species on the landscape,” Beck says. “If not, if the canopy closes, a lot of other species that love shade, still good trees but not oaks, will creep up in the understory and eventually take over the canopy.” Diversity is vital in a forest, Beck says, and that includes diversity of species, age, size and structure, as well as distribution on the landscape. He says one plot of forest land in Linn County is a good example of how diversity helped during the derecho.
“This particular property had a lot of younger plantings, a lot of middle age plantings, and some older established forests,” Beck says. “The older established forests were hit pretty hard but the younger and middle age stands of trees that were planted were not. So, this person, although they had some damage, has a forest resource for the future because of their management efforts.” Beck is releasing a series of four short YouTube videos that explain how woodland owners can rebuild after the destructive storm. “There’s really no cookbook method to rebound,” Beck says, “so what these four initial videos were really doing is giving folks a general overview of some big concepts to start thinking about, some resources that are out there that can help them, and just some things to keep their eyes open for following storms.”
Next, Beck plans to release several longer videos that offer more detail about how to start over with woodlands. Iowa has nearly three-million acres of forestland, and saw one-and-three-quarter million acres of forests, wind breaks and urban canopies impacted by the derecho. Iowa’s forestry industry supports 18-thousand jobs and pumps nearly five-billion dollars a year into the economy.
Link to the first of four videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkvaCJrLxMo
Police in Council Bluffs are investigating a shooting that took place in the parking lot of the Ameristar Casino early this (Monday) morning. Authorities say at around 2-a.m., officers were dispatched to the casino at 2200 River Road, with regard to a security officer who was out with a man, who had suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Officers spoke with the unidentified victim, who told them he was walking in the parking lot, when a dark colored SUV drove up to him, and someone inside fired a shot at the man. The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Anyone with information about the incident and/or who may have been in the area at the time, is encouraged to the the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, at 712-328-4728, or Crimestoppers at 712-328-7867.