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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!
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A jury has convicted a man of first-degree murder for the 2019 shooting death of another man in a Des Moines home. Television station WHO-TV reports that that Stanley Wofford was found guilty Monday in the Aug. 31, 2019, death of 45-year-old John Belcher. Wofford was charged in the case nearly three weeks after the shooting. Police testified that Wofford called 911 about half an hour after the shooting and claimed to have found Belcher’s body. Police later determined it was Wofford who did the shooting. Wofford faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison when he’s sentenced on April. 23.
(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says there’s a humanitarian crisis at the country’s southern border and the Biden Administration should no longer allow unaccompanied minors to stay after they cross into the United States. Miller-Meeks is among a dozen Republicans from the U.S. House who toured facilities in El Paso this week and met with Border Patrol agents. “I saw firsthand the crisis they are facing,” Miller-Meeks says, “and believe it is our job, as congress, to do everything in our power to address it.”
The number of immigrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is at its highest level since 2019. “To put this in perspective, President Obama’s secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, stated during his tenure that 1000 apprehensions a day was considered a bad day,” Miller-Meeks said. “We are at more than three times that now and, on top of it, we continue to face a global pandemic.” Miller-Meeks says it’s time to require Covid tests for migrants seeking asylum who are released to stay with family in the U.S. until their court hearings. “As a physician and the former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I know that the Covid-19 pandemic is not yet over,” Miller-Meeks said. “We must ensure that any individuals the Biden Administration insists on releasing into our communities do not have Covid-19.”
Border Patrol agents assess the health of migrants, but only those who show Covid symptoms are tested and treated before release from custody. Rapid tests of migrants buying tickets at the Brownsville, Texas, bus station are finding about six percent test positive for Covid. “Without proper testing and quarantine, they are likely to bring Covid-19 with them and the communities to which they are transferred are unaware,” Miller-Meeks says.
A Democratic congresswoman from El Paso accused Republicans of using the stereotype that immigrants bring diseases into the country to stoke fear and anger toward migrants. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says House Republicans are trying to distract attention from their unified opposition to the pandemic relief package Democrats enacted last week.
The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (10-a.m., Wednesday), shows 601 additional positive test results for COVID returned from the labs, for a total of 371,793. Pottawattamie County topped 11,000 positive cases during the pandemic, for a total to-date of 11,010. There were 15 additional deaths over the past 24-hours statewide, for a pandemic total of 5,657. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,222 of the total number of deaths across the state.
Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks remain at one. Hospitalization data indicate: 161 Iowans are hospitalized with COVID; 41 are in an ICU; 37 people were admitted to a hospital across the state, and 18 patients remain on a ventilator.
RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show those hospitalized with COVID are at 13, eight people are in an ICU, there was one admission, and four people remain are on a ventilator.
The 14-day and seven-day positivity rates are both down slightly, to 3.9% each.
In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} – if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:
The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, said 45-year old Shane Morgan was arrested at around 8:45-p.m. Tuesday, in Council Bluffs. Morgan was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense, and later released from the Pott. County Jail.
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Nebraska was arrested on numerous charges at around 3:20-p.m. Tuesday, following a traffic stop. The Fremont County K9 Unit stopped a 2008 Honda Civic for a traffic violation and an excessive number of passengers in the vehicle, near the 24-mile marker southbound Interstate 29. The vehicle was discovered to be stolen out of Papillion, Nebraska.
Emma Faith Smith
The driver, 18-year old Emma Faith Smith, of Papillion, was arrested for Operating a Motor Vehicle without Owner’s Consent, Possession of Marijuana, two counts of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, Interference with Offical Acts, and several traffic offenses. She was being held at the Fremont County Jail on a $3,900 bond. The Iowa Stated Patrol assisted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office with the call.
March 17, 2021 — The new round of stimulus checks are on their way. Direct deposit payments are hitting Americans’ bank accounts now, and checks will be mailed out in the coming weeks. Previously, BBB Scam Tracker received numerous reports from people who were contacted by scammers through text message, email and phone calls about their COVID-19 stimulus checks. BBB believes many of these same tactics may be used again.
Is that call or text a con or the real deal?
Watch out for an email or text messages instructing you to click a link to “request benefit payments.” The link connects to an application prompting the entering of personal information in order to “make sure you are getting all the payments owed to you.” Beware! This “application” is really a way to phish for personal details and commit identity theft. In a phone variation of the con, the scammer pretends to call from a government agency. The con artist insists on being paid immediately – or confirmation of personal information – before a stimulus check is sent. Other times, scammers claim additional funds are available or that the consumer can receive funds immediately once a small “processing fee” is paid with a pre-paid debit card. These are all red flags and should be reported to BBB Scam Tracker at bbb.org/scamtracker.
Tips to Spot a Government Imposter Scam:
For more information about scams related to the coronavirus, see BBB.org/coronavirus. If you’ve spotted a scam (whether or not you’ve lost money), report it to BBB.org/ScamTracker. Your report can help others avoid falling victim to scams.
Atlantic Rising, along with Atlantic Parks & Recreation, are hosting Easter at Sunnyside Park, Saturday, April 3rd, from 9:00 AM-11:00AM. Atlantic Rising Social Chair Kelsey Beschorner says “Last year’s Easter Egg Hunt event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year we wanted to provide kids a safe way to celebrate the holiday.” Located at the Kiddie Korral, children will have the opportunity to take a socially distanced picture with the Easter Bunny and receive a goodie bag that includes coupons and eggs filled with candy. Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company will have a pop stand in the park to provide a free refreshment to all in attendance.
The event is in conjunction with Atlantic Parks & Recreation’s Second Annual Easter Egg Cruise. Children and adults alike are encouraged to pick up, paint and return a provided wooden Easter Egg by Friday, March 26th. The decorated eggs will be used to decorate Sunnyside Park on Easter weekend. On April 3rd, residents are encouraged to cruise Sunnyside Park and vote for their favorite egg.
According to Bryant Rasmussen, Parks & Recreation Director, “Each wooden egg has a number attached. Families that choose to cruise on Saturday from 9:00AM & 11:00AM will be encouraged to cast their vote with the volunteer stationed at the end of the route.” The winner of the contest will be announced on the Atlantic Parks & Recreation & Atlantic Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.
For more information, including a map of the activities, visit www.atlanticiowa.com or call the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712-243-3017.
The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from rural Essex was arrested Tuesday night on an assault charge. 42-year-old Shane Michael Farley was taken into custody for Domestic Abuse Assault, following an investigation into a domestic disturbance at a residence in the 1200 block of 130th Street, or about three-miles northwest of Essex, at around 7:50 PM.
Shane Farley
Farley was transported to the Page County Jail where he is being held without no bond, pending further court proceedings.
Cass County Auditor Dale Sundermen, today (Wednesday), issued a statement says there appears to be a misunderstanding among the public, on what a ‘tax levy’ is. A property ‘TAX LEVY,’ he says, is the simply the amount in dollars that is to be generated by taxing real estate property after all other sources of revenue/funds have been considered
[Total Expenses – All other sources of funds/revenues = amount to be raised by Real Estate Property Taxes] (See the PDF link below to see data/spread sheets)
See the line titled “Total Tax Levy’ on the first page of the attachment as an example. [Note: The Maximum Proposed Property Tax Levy only covers the ‘regular’ levies;
which means it does not include voted levies, debt service levies, ag land levies, capital project levies, etc.]
The line below that line is ‘Tax Rate’ or the rate that is calculated by dividing the ‘Tax Levy’ by the “Regular Taxable Valuation/1,000”. When the valuation increases, the ‘Tax Rate’ goes down. Note column three compared to column 2.
Column 4 of line ‘Regular General’ shows ‘TAX LEVY’ increased (but the tax rate is still 8.10000).
Why is it showing increased tax dollars: The regular general levy for cities must be at 8.1 before the supplemental levies (such as FICA and IPERS) may be used. To calculate whether or not the ‘TAX LEVY’ increased or decreased compare column 3 to column 4 for each individual tax levy (column 1). In this example: Column 5 ‘Annual % CHG’ reports that the combined ‘TAX LEVY’ increased a little more than 2.87% and the tax rate increased from 12.42 dollars per $1,000 of taxable valuation to 12.45 dollars per $1,000 of taxable valuation.
Summation: to decide whether or not the TAX LEVY has increased, decreased or remained the same: compare column 2 Current Year Certified Property Tax 2020-2021 of the NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING- CITY OF ATLANTIC – PROPOSED PROPERTY TAX LEVY to column 4 Budget Year Proposed Maximum Property Tax 2021-2022; or compare column (A) on current year ending June 30, 2021 Adoption of Budget and Certification of City Taxes (page 3 of attachment) with the column headed Request with Utility Replacement (page 2 of attachment).