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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) — Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in January as more residents joined the workforce. The state’s Workforce Development department reported Monday the rate was down from a revised 3.7% rate for December and compared to a 2.8% rate a year ago, before the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a severe economic slowdown. Workforce Development says the state added 8,200 workers in January.
There were 57,400 unemployed residents. Iowa was tied with Kansas for the nation’s sixth-lowest unemployment rate. South Dakota and Utah had the lowest rate, at 3.1%. The national unemployment rate for January was 6.3%.
Guthrie County Deputy Sheriff Jesse Swensen, Monday (Today), announced the placement of a permanent Medication Dropbox located in the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office, at 200 North 5th Street, in Guthrie Center. Deputy Swensen said the drop box is made possible through a small grant from the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy to address the increasing problem of prescription drug abuse. The drop box will be accessible to the public during normal business hours. Citizens wishing to utilize the medication drop box are asked to place all medications in sealed non-breakable containers and are requested to not include any “sharps” (syringes or lancets) or any other item that could cause injury to the Sheriff’s Office staff servicing the drop box.
Dale Woolery, Director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy said “his office is pleased to partner with the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office in providing citizens a secure and environmentally responsible option to dispose of unused prescription drugs, thus preventing their potential diversion and abuse. Woolery added “Most prescription drugs that are abused come from friends or family, so cleaning out medicine cabinets can save lives.”
Prescription drug abuse is Iowa’s fastest-growing form of substance abuse, and addiction to powerful pain relievers is also fueling more heroin use. Prescription pain pills and heroin are both opioid drugs. The combination is contributing to an increase in opioid-related overdose deaths in Iowa and the U.S. According to Deputy Swensen, “many people become addicted to prescription drugs because they started using a family member’s leftover prescriptions. Once addicted some of these individuals may then eventually move to heroin to fulfill that addiction.”
Additional information on prescription drug abuse/opioid abuse and properly disposing of unused medication can be found at:
The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (10-a.m., Monday), shows 203 additional positive test results for COVID returned from the labs, for a total of 370,725. There were eight additional deaths statewide over the past 24-hours, for a pandemic total of 5,641. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,217 of the total number of deaths across the state.
Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks are down to just two. Hospitalization numbers are fluctuating: 161 Iowans are hospitalized with COVID; 42 are in an ICU; 26 people were admitted to a hospital across the state, and 21 patients are on a ventilator.
RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show those hospitalized with COVID are up slightly, to 11, eight people are in an ICU, there was one new admissions, and four people are on a ventilator.
The 14-day positivity rate is up just a bit, to 3.9%. The seven-day rate is steady at 3.8%.
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:
(Left to right) Emily Plagman, 2021 Cass County Pork Ambassador; Paige Jensen, 2021 Cass County Pork Queen.
Cass County Pork Producers, Sunday, crowned Paige Jensen as Cass County Pork Queen and Emily Plagman as County Pork Ambassador. Paige is a Junior at CAM High School who is involved in 4H and FFA. Her parents are Ryan and Eva Jensen. Emily is a Senior at CAM. She’s the daughter of Mike and Kristi Plagman, and is also actively involved in 4H and FFA. Paige Jensen will act as a role model for the youth of Cass County, attend parades if it’s safe to do so (with regard to COVID), and help the pork producer board with promoting pork in Cass County. She will receive a scholarship as an additional reward for her involvement in the pork industry.
She explained why she wanted to be involved in the pork industry this year.
She started showing pigs in her 5th Grade year, and have developed a bond with the swine she’s had, and with the various leadership opportunities that have been presented to her. Agriculture, she said, runs in her blood.
Emily Plagman will promote pork, attend parades if they are safe, assist in promoting pork within the county, and she’ll also receive a scholarship for future schooling or advancing in the pork industry. She said she’s had a love for pigs since she was young, and this was a natural progression in that passion.
She too has always been involved in 4H and FFA ever since she was young, and growing up on a farm, and she wants to spread a message about pork.
Paige Jensen says her message is simple.
The Junior says after high school she plans to study Ag Communications, Marketing or Business in college, and afterward start raising beef and swine on a family farm. Emily says she wants to get an Associates of Agriculture Degree at a community college, then transfer and get a double major in Ag Media and Ag Education, with a Minor in Communications. She says she wants to stay in a rural area and promote ag the best she can.
A woman from Creston reported Saturday afternoon, that someone had stolen her motorcycle. The theft of a black, 2007 Harley Davidson occurred sometime between 11-p.m. Friday and 1-p.m., Saturday, from the vicinity of 412 N. Maple Street, in Creston. The motorcycle was parked in front of the residence on the sidewalk, and keys were not in it. The loss was estimated at $16,000.
The 7:07-a.m. News with News Director Ric Hanson.
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Audubon county hard surface roads and gravel have several inches of slushy snow on them this morning (March 15), and the hard surface roads are slick under the snow. Plows will be out at to clear hard surface roads. Give yourself extra travel time and stopping distance this morning. Gravel roads will be soft under the snow in areas after the amount of rain we received over the weekend. Drive safe.
A Public Hearing will be held electronically Tuesday morning, in Atlantic, on the FY 2022 Cass County Budget. The hearing begins at 9:05-a.m. during a meeting of the Cass County Board of Supervisors, and is accessible via ZOOM (see related data for the meeting below). Following the hearing, the Board will reconvene their regular session, and review County Compensation Board recommendations for elected officers’ FY2022 compensation, and act on those recommendations.
The Board will also take action on adopting the FY2022 Cass County Secondary Roads, and Cass County, Budgets. They are then expected to receive an update from Secondary Roads Dept. Engineer Trent Wolken, followed by the appointment of a Sheriff’s Deputy, and Lincoln Township Clerk (the latter of which is for the remainder of a term ending 12/31/2024).
[ZOOM Meeting info.: Meeting ID: 138 870 131 Password: 012064 ]
(Radio Iowa) – March is “Problem Gambling Awareness” month and the head of Iowa’s treatment program says they are trying to let everyone know that things don’t have to get out of control. Eric Pruess says that’s why they have started their “Be Number One at Getting Help” campaign. “To help those who might not understand much about gambling have a bit more empathy understanding and support for those individuals — to encourage them to reach out for support rather than anger and I can’t believe you did this, how could you do this? Why do you have this problem and no one else has this problem,” Pruess says.
He says the gambler and those around them need to know what’s involved. “It’s a disease, it’s something that people need help for and there’s help available. That’s really what we are trying to get at,” Pruess says. “And certainly within the theme of Problem Gambling Awareness Month is awareness plus action makes good things happen.” Sports betting has taken off in Iowa since becoming legal — and Preuss says there’s no doubt it increases the temptation for those who might gamble illegally. “All you have to do is watch T-V and know there is a very high level of competition that is going on with the new sportsbooks when the sports law changed,” Preuss says.
He says there are a lot of offers out there trying to get people into sports gambling. “They’re competing for a limited number of Iowans and trying to build that relationship with Iowans to do sports wagering. And they are doing it in some very enticing ways — bet a dollar win a hundred. We guarantee you won’t lose your first 25 dollars,” Preuss says. ” For a person who hasn’t gambled before, it sounds like ‘why wouldn’t I try that?” He says gambling doesn’t have to take over your life. “We really just want to get the message out to them to play responsibly — to stay within their means. Make sure you are only wagering your discretionary income and not looking at it to make money,” according to Pruess. ” I mean, it’s fun, it’s entertainment. If you win great, if you don’t, you walk away and you had fun doing it, that type of thing.”
He says if you feel you have a problem there is help at 1-800-BETTS-OFF or by going online to yourlifeiowa.org. “And they can initiate a chat session there. But they can also find more information about responsible gambling, what a gambling problem might look like, and other resources to assist them,” he says. Pruess says about one percent of Iowans meet the criteria for a gambling disorder and about 14 percent who may be at risk for gambling disorder.