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ISP: Deadly UTV crashes on pace to surpass previous years numbers

News

May 9th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — While the Iowa State Patrol says UTV deaths are on the uptick, some cities are considering letting them on public roadways. The Iowa State Patrol points to a trend they’ve noticed over the last two years as deadly UTV crashes started to increase during the same year a law was passed giving municipalities the power to allow the vehicles on public roads. Twelve people were killed in 2022 and 12 in 2023.

This year, troopers are fearful they’re on pace to surpass previous marks — they’ve already recorded seven, and the busy season is just beginning. At the same time, the Johnston City Council discussed the possibility of allowing UTVs on city roads at a work session Monday.

The state patrol warns that UTV crashes happen on paved roads just as often as gravel ones — one of the most common factors they see in deadly UTV crashes is victims not wearing seatbelts.

Heartbeat Today 5-9-2024

Heartbeat Today, Podcasts

May 9th, 2024 by Jim Field

Jim Field visits with Dante Hedrington, Quincy Sorensen and Abby Muller, some of the top seniors in the class of 2024 at Atlantic High School.

Play

Des Moines Police make an arrest in a Human Trafficking investigation

News

May 9th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Des Moines Police Department Vice and Narcotics Control Section has rescued three victims, and made an arrest in a months long human trafficking investigation. According to Des Moines P-D Public Information Officer, Sgt. Paul Parizek, responding to neighborhood complaints regarding suspicious activity at a massage parlor in the
800 block of Hull Avenue, investigators began an investigation in January 2024. On Wednesday, May 8,  2024, investigators executed a search warrant at the business. Three adult female victims were found within the business at the time of the search warrant. Polk County Victims Services is assisting with safe housing, and connecting the victims with support and recovery services.

Huirong Zhou

Evidence indicating forced labor and commercial sexual activity was recovered, and more than $80,000 has been seized. Following consultation with the Polk County Attorney’s Office, 42-year-old Des Moines resident Huirong Zhou has been charged with three Class-B Felony counts of Human Trafficking. Zhou is currently being held at the Polk County Jail.

The Des Moines Police Department Vice and Narcotics Control Section are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged trafficking activity. For more information on human trafficking awareness, and how you can help fight the crime, go to DHS.gov/Blue-Campaign.

Local Extension Offices Partner to Provide Tractor and Machinery Safety Certification for Teens

Ag/Outdoor, News

May 9th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Corning, Iowa) – Officials with ISU Extension in southwest Iowa say an online course is being offered to teens who are seeking employment, and must be certified to drive or operate, tractors or farm machinery for hire. AgSafety4u is designed for youth, 14 and 15 years of age. It includes required 24 hours of training, and a written and driving test in order for participants to be certified. The online program can be used for the classroom portion of the Hazardous Occupations Order for Agriculture (HOOA) safety certification program. The training is required by law for any 14 or 15 year olds who want to safely operate a tractor over 20 HP and other machinery on a farm, acreage or any other business. Youth aged 13 must be turning 14 during the summer of 2024 in order to be eligible for the certificate.

Extension Offices in Adair, Adams, Cass, Montgomery, Page, Ringgold, Taylor and Union County are partnering with the Southwest Valley Agricultural Education Program to provide the additional hands-on training and test-out that is required for issuing a US DOL certificate. This hands-on training will be Saturday, June 1 at Agrivision Equipment, 74235 Richland Road in Massena. The training and test-out will run from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM, and participants should plan to stay for the entire time to complete education and testing requirements. Participants MUST complete the training online, and pre-register for the in-person training prior to attending the driving and testing event on June 1. The online certificate course costs $10/person, and must be paid online before completing the course. There is no additional cost to attend the drive/test date.

To complete the online training, visit https://ag-safety.extension.org/ and scroll down and find the “Online Safety Course” option. Youth will receive a certificate upon completion of the course that they are required to bring with them to participate in the driving and testing day. To pre-register for the driving day, please scan the QR code on the event flier or visit https://form.jotform.com/240924783634059. Registrations must be received by Friday, May 24 for the June 1 driving day. Due to scheduling, no late registrations or walk-in registration will be allowed. With questions regarding the training, contact class coordinator Chandler Arnold at Adams County Extension: 641-322-3184 or ckarnold@iastate.edu, or one of the other partnering Extension Offices listed above.

Boys Golf Sectional Results

Sports

May 9th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

CLASS 1A SECTIONAL 2 AT ST. EDMOND

District qualifiers: 1. West Fork 325, 2. Coon Rapids-Bayard 337.

Other area team scores: 6. IKM-Manning 381, 7. Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 404.

Area individual district qualifiers: 3. Max Shirbroun, Coon Rapids-Bayard (79).

Other Coon Rapids-Bayard scores: Logan Kenyon 82, Gavin Heiderscheit & Cole Cretsinger 88, Toby Benninger 91, Landon Cook 92.

IKM-Manning scores: Josh Walker 91, Miles Nuzback 92, Ashton Ahrenholtz 97, Karsyn Lorenzen 101, Kasche Huehn 104, Zander Richards 113.

Exira/EHK scores: Jameson Kilworth 98, Josh Nelson 99, Alex Hansen 103, Jackson Radcliff 104, Cole Brabham & Chase Schwab 105.

 

CLASS 1A SECTIONAL 5 AT WEST MONONA

District qualifiers: 1. Alta-Aurelia 330, 2. MMCRU 334

Area team scores: 3. Riverside 348, 5. St. Albert 368, 6. Logan-Magnolia 397.

Area individual district qualifiers: 1. Ben Krohn, St. Albert (74), 4. James McCready, Riverside (79).

Other Riverside scores: Taven Moore 88, AC Roller 89, Garrett Hough 92, Nathan Smith 97, Peyton Amdor 98.

Other St. Albert scores: Max Goltl 91, Joey Mazzella 100, Jonah Zuehlke 103, Mack Daley 108, Joe Hughes 123.

Logan-Magnolia scores: Gavin Kiger 95, Jack Straight 98, Skyler Stolley 101, Jace Straight 103, Calvin Collins 104, Crosby Yoder 110.

 

CLASS 1A SECTIONAL 8 AT MOUNT AYR 

District qualifiers: 1. Mount Ayr 341, 2. CAM 347, 3. East Union 354

Other area team scores: 4. Bedford 401, 5. Lenox 412, 6. Griswold 419

Area individual district qualifiers: 1. Chase Jahde, CAM (75), 2. Zayne Eslinger, East Union (77), 3. Jaxson Greene, Mount Ayr (80), 4. Tanner Streit, Mount Ayr (80), 5. Dylan Graham, Mount Ayr (85), 6. Micah Johnson, Bedford (87), 7. Bradyn Bohnsack, CAM (88), 8. Hogan Hook, Griswold (88).

Other Mount Ayr scores: Louden Main 96, Trevin Victor & Avery Wolfe 98

Other CAM scores: Coby Venteicher 90, Braxton Dennis 94, Austin Eblen & Madden Cary 98.

Other East Union scores: Brock Jones 89, Austin Lack & Josh Lopez 94, Kyson Kessler 97, Ty Tallmon 105.

Other Bedford scores: Braydon Hensley 100, Bryson Ewart 103, Klemit Olney 111, Lane Mason 156.

Lenox scores: Laramie Stoaks 98, Cash Brammer 100, Dayton Tull 102, Kolben Robinson & Dausen Gregg 112, Patton Adams 121.

Other Griswold scores: Alex Nelson 108, Colten Taylor 109, Callan Keiser 114, Brayden Lockwood 117.

Mormon Trail scores: Coy Stripe 105, Bryce Arnold 158.

 

CLASS 2A SECTIONAL 3 AT KUEMPER CATHOLIC 

District qualifiers: 1. Kuemper Catholic 299, 2. Cherokee 335, 3. Ridge View 342

Area individual district qualifiers: 1. Maverick Schwabe, Kuemper Catholic (69); 2. Braxton Vonnahme, Kuemper Catholic (71); 5. Jack Lenz, Kuemper Catholic (79), 6. Carter Putney, Kuemper Catholic (80)

Other Kuemper scores: Kayden Schon 82, Dawson Billmeier 88

 

CLASS 2A SECTIONAL 5 AT INDIANOLA (HOST: INTERSTATE 35)

District qualifiers: 1. Panorama 313, 2. Des Moines Christian 331

Area team scores: 3. Shenandoah 336, 4. Clarinda 342, 6. Red Oak 365

Area individual district qualifiers — 4. Jade Spangler, Shenandoah & JJ Martin, Shenandoah (79).

Other Shenandoah scores: Ethan Laughlin 88, Levi Green 90, Logan Twyman 96, Clay Foutch 102.

Clarinda scores: Justus Fine 84, Kort Neal 85, Carson Turner 86, Sam Kline 87, Caden Butt 89, Jack Kline 91.

Red Oak scores: Weston Couse 89, Carson Roeder 90, Tyler Beeson 92, Cyrus Mensen 94, Hunter Jarrett 104.

Southwest Valley scores: Isaac Currin 90, Ethan Bruce 97, Gage Sesker 98.

 

CLASS 2A SECTIONAL 6 AT TRI-CENTER 

District qualifiers: 1. Treynor 306, 2. OABCIG 317

Other area team scores: 3. Missouri Valley 321, 4. AHSTW 358, 5. Nodaway Valley 358, 6. Tri-Center 379, 7. Underwood 381

Area individual district qualifiers: 2. Ethan Konz, Treynor, 3. Zack Gebbie, Nodaway Valley, 4. Evan White, Missouri Valley.

Other Treynor scores: Bradley Stock 76, Luke Mathews 77, Brock Poland 82, Aaron Ehmke 89, Jace Tams 95.

Other Missouri Valley scores: Jackson Tennis 77, Brody Lager 81, Layton Maasen 87, Daylen Kocour 88, Daxton Myler 89.

AHSTW scores: Kaden Jorgensen 82, Drew Lee 87, Nate Jorgensen 94, Zach Nielsen 95, Tyson Osbahr 96, Cash Freeman 97.

Other Nodaway Valley scores: Xander Hogan 89, Landon Klobnak & Jack Jensen 98, Bradley Gebbie 101, Ty Rardin 111.

Underwood scores: Danny Stein 87, Owen Larsen 92, Jack Vanfossan 100, Will Tiarks 101, Luke Seidler 102, Nick Hackett 105.

Tri-Center scores: Jayden Johnson 91, Zach Murley 93, Brant Freeberg 97, Christian Dahir 98, Brooks Anderson 99, Kai Sonderland 110.

 

CLASS 3A SECTIONAL 7 AT LEWIS CENTRAL 

District qualifiers: 1. ADM 303, 2. Atlantic 313

Other area team scores: 5. Lewis Central 331, 6. Denison-Schleswig 339, 7. Harlan 342, 8. Glenwood 363

Atlantic scores: Gage Gross 75, Hudson McLaren 78, Tristan Hayes & Roth DenBeste 80, Sam Brosam 81, Brady Wood 89.

Lewis Central scores: Jack Larsen 79, Nate Baetke 83, Ely Wilbur 84, Ethan Peterson 85, Joe Miller 94, Kamdyn Cross 103.

Denison-Schleswig scores: Easton Emery 79, Cody Schulte 83, Kole Towne 86, Landon Wulf 91, Michael Collins 92, Nash Langenfeld 94.

Harlan scores: Owen Neve 84, Jonas Reynolds 85, Braydon Ernst 86, Kiron Leinen 87, Brock Loudy 97, Kamden Kimmen 109.

Glenwood scores: Brody Sneed 76, Briten Maxwell & Wyatt Madison 93, Grant Schroeder 101, Jace Woodward 108, Mason Camden 111.

High School Girl’s Golf Results from Wednesday

Sports

May 9th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

Abraham Lincoln Tournament

1. Glenwood 213,

2. Shenandoah 214,

3. Abraham Lincoln 221,

4. St. Albert 240,

5. Heartland Christian 283,

NTS. Thomas Jefferson 

Medalist: Sarah Pickens, Shenandoah (43)

Runner-up: Avery Joyce, Glenwood (48) & Ella Narmi, St. Albert (48)

Other Glenwood — Katy Plambeck 49, Emily Walters 56, Alyssa Liddick 60, Kelsey Sutton 67, Charli Sorenson 71 

Other Shenandoah — Rachel Jones 55, Ashlee Dinges 55, Taylor Henderson 61

Other St. Albert — Eva Jones 63, Grace Christensen 64, Clare Christensen 65, Lexi Narmi 66

Abraham Lincoln — Samantha Richard 50, Suri Quigley 51, Joanna Kern 59, Kylie Gardner 61, Lily Knau 66, Claire Schoening 67 

Heartland Christian — Kayci Brennan 65, Kaylee Johnson 72, Jules Thomas 72, Emma Brown 74, Holly Lehmer 75 

Thomas Jefferson — Ashleigh Rank 70, Jackie Garcia 71 

High School Boys Tennis Results from Wednesday

Sports

May 9th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 4 SINGLES & DOUBLES AT DENISON-SCHLESWIG

Singles state qualifiers — Landon Murch, North Polk (Champion) & Mason Reicks, Kuemper Catholic (Runner-up)

Doubles state qualifiers — Ethan Moon/Easton Moon, North Polk (Champion) & Noah Narmi & Cole Pekny, St. Albert (Runner-up)

CLASS 1A DISTRICT 7 SINGLES & DOUBLES AT RED OAK

Singles state qualifiers — Andrew Lawrence, Shenandoah (Champion) & Christian Jensen, Lewis Central (Runner-up)

Doubles state qualifiers — Kayden Anderson/Brody Taylor, Glenwood (Champion) & Nolan Waters/Kinnick Juhl, Atlantic (Runner-up)

 

Creighton survey shows some positive news for Iowa, Midwest

News

May 9th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Creighton University survey of manufacturing supply managers for Iowa and eight other states was above growth neutral for April after two straight months below the mark. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey.  “The overall Index rose to its highest level since September of last year, and of course that’s a good sign,” Goss says. The survey questions the business managers in several areas and scores the overall index on a 100 point scale. Goss says there’s several positives in the survey. “Inflation is in a moderate range, although it is still a bit tighter than we’d like to see. We asked the supply managers about wage gains and three and a half percent, which doesn’t sound like much it’s better than what we’ve been seeing,” Goss says.

He says the wage gain comes as the wage trend has been a bit down to sideways. Goss says a negative involved workforce numbers. “The supply managers reported that their companies had lost jobs for the month and of course, that’s not good,” he says. “The growth that we’re seeing at employment levels at the national level those are concentrated in certain industries that will be healthcare and government and leisure and hospitality. So manufacturing at the national level has also been declining.” Goss says Iowa has lost around one-thousand manufacturing jobs in the last month, which is not bad compared to other states. “Iowa is holding its own, but again we’d like to see some better numbers in manufacturing — that’s certainly the case for Iowa and for the region,” Goss says. He says all of the states in the index are pretty similar in the overall index.

“Minnesota on the lower end and South Dakota on the higher end. But when you put it all together Iowa is moving I would say, a bit up to sideways in the manufacturing economy. Of course that’s somewhat connected to what we call the durable goods sector and durable goods, again connected to exports. So that’s what we’re seeing,” Goss says.

Goss says some of the managers say the price of fuel and housing are starting to impact their business dramatically.

Puppy mill update: Eight Iowa breeders or kennels cited for violations

News

May 9th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Ames, Iowa) – Eight Iowa dog breeders or kennels were cited for federal regulatory violations during the first quarter of 2024. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports two of the Iowa operators cited for violations were also the subject of criminal referrals by the Iowa-based animal-welfare group Bailing Out Benji, the organization that compiles quarterly data on violators throughout the nation.

Bailing Out Benji reported that between January and March, eight Iowa breeders or kennels were cited for violations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. During that same period, 16 Wisconsin kennels or breeders — the most of any state — were cited for violations. Other states with a significant number of violators included Missouri, with 11, and Pennsylvania, with nine.

In terms of the number of violations cited, Iowa ranked second with 19 violations in the first quarter. Missouri ranked first with 21 violations, according to Mindi Callison of Bailing Out Benji. She noted that 37% of the violations in Iowa during the quarter pertained to veterinary care, the attending veterinarian or inadequate veterinary care. “That can be compared to the national number of 29.19% for those same violations,” she said.

A dog photographed by offficials from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at the Iowa kennel operated by Dennis and Donna Van Wyk in 2017. (USDA photo courtesy of Bailing Out Benji)

Among the Iowa breeders cited for violations in the first three months of 2024, was William Davenport, Afton – During a Feb. 5 USDA inspection, Davenport was cited for one violation pertaining to veterinary care. The inspector reported that for the two most recent litters of puppies, there were no records of internal parasite medications being administered, and vaccination records were missing for one of the litters. At the time of the inspection, Davenport had 29 dogs and three puppies on hand. Davenport was also cited for violations in 2022 and 2023.

Other breeders in the report included:

  • Wuanita Swedlund, of Cantril
  • Larry Albrecht of Coldwater Kennel, Greene
  • Dennis and Donna Van Wyk of Prairie Lane Kennels, of New Sharon
  • Ed Van Doorn of Squaw Creek Kennels, of Barnes City
  • Heath Meyers of Century Farm Puppies, in Grundy Center
  • Helene Hamrick of Wolf Point Kennel, in Ackworth
  • Ida and Sarah Kauffman of Sunset Grove Kennels (aka Backyard Kennels), of Hazleton.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Thursday, May 9th, 2024

Weather

May 9th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Mostly cloudy w/a 50 chance of showers & possible thunderstorms this afternoon. High near 65. N/NE winds 10-20 mph.
Tonight: Showers & thunderstorms ending late; gradually becoming mostly clear. Low 41.
Friday: Mo. sunny w/a very slight chance of showers late in the day. High near 72. W/NW winds 5-15 mph w/gusts to near 20.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 75.
Sunday: Partly sunny w/a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 78.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 79. Our Low this morning, 45. We received .01″ (One-one hundredth) of an inch of rain yesterday. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 74 and the Low was 56. The Record High was 96 in 1985. The Record Low was 24 in 1980. Sunrise: 6:08. Sunset: 8:26.