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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) – A group of senators is working on a bill aimed at unscrupulous recruiters who supply workers for taxpayer-funded construction projects in Iowa. Felicia Hilton of the Carpenters Union says they’ve documented cases of labor brokers who pay substandard wages to workers — or don’t pay them at all. “Right now, they’re hidden,” Hilton says. “We’re not talking about the workers. We’re talking about the broker, the coyote, the people trafficking or bringing people into the state of Iowa to perform work this way and to leave them unpaid.”
Peter Hird, a lobbyist for the Iowa Federation of Labor, says people who aren’t involved in the construction industry probably don’t understand how prevalent the problem is on private and public projects. “These people can hide in the shadows and exploit workers,” Hird says. Brian Ewing, an assistant director of organizing for the Carpenters Union, is based in Altoona. He says when workers brought in by so-called coyotes are paid in cash rather than by check, proper payroll taxes aren’t being paid.
“We see it every day. We have affidavits. We tons of proof of guys not getting paid,” he says. “We help people file mechanics liens. They are totally taken advantage of and the reason they’re taken advantage of is because they can.” The bill would require that the names and contact information of labor brokers involved in publicly-funded projects be filed with a state agency.
Three senators have voted to make the bill eligible for committee consideration, but the group is planning to make changes to it. Associations representing the state’s construction industry oppose the bill. A lobbyist for the Master Builders of Iowa says the subcontractors hired by general contractors to work on public projects are licensed by the state, but GENERAL contractors may not know all the people the SUB-contractors hire to finish a job.
(Des Moines, IA) The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), in partnership with Walgreens and CVS, Wednesday, have announced the availability of COVID-19 vaccine for approximately 32,000 Iowans age 65 and older. Unused vaccines which were originally allocated to the Long-Term Care Pharmacy Partnership Program have been redistributed to a limited number of Walgreens and CVS stores in select Iowa counties, and reserved for Iowans age 65 and older. This is a one-time, additional allocation of vaccine.
Iowans age 65 and older can register online for a vaccine appointment at a participating Walgreens or CVS location near them. Appointments are limited to the number of vaccines available at each location. If you are not able to secure one of these vaccine appointments, be assured that more vaccines are coming to the state on a weekly basis.
Walgreens: Beginning today (February 3rd), Iowans age 65 and older can sign up to schedule an appointment at a Walgreens store location in one of the counties listed below. Register online here. View the registration guide here.
CVS
Beginning February 4, at 8:00 a.m., Iowans age 65 and older can sign up to schedule an appointment at a CVS store location in one of the counties listed below. Register online here. View the registration guide here.
Iowans are encouraged to remain patient as more vaccine arrives in the weeks and months ahead. It is also critical to continue practicing the mitigation measures that can slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus:
(Corrects date of arrest) Officials with the Atlantic Police Department, Wednesday, said 50-year old Binte Binios, of Atlantic, was arrested Tuesday, on charges that include OWI, Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree, and Driving While License Denied or Revoked. Binios was booked into the Cass County Jail, and held.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, said a man from Kansas City, Missouri was arrested Tuesday afternoon. Authorities say 38-year old Johnathan Selby was taken into custody on a Montgomery County warrant for Violation of Probation. His cash bond at the Montgomery County Jail, was set at $1,000.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton University has unveiled a plan to build a $75 million medical school facility, much of the funding for which will come from C.L. and Rachel Werner of Omaha. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Creighton’s president, the Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, announced the plan during his annual convocation Tuesday, saying the planned health sciences facility will serve as the new front door for the Creighton School of Medicine.
The building will be named the C.L. Werner Center for Health Sciences Education. Werner is the founder of Werner Enterprises, an Omaha-based trucking company. The building will house programs for medicine, nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy and other disciplines.
(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa study finds people who work long-term in the agricultural industry have 46-percent greater odds of developing dementia than those in other fields. Professor Kanika Arora in the U-I College of Public Health, says hearing impairment, depression and isolation can all be linked to dementia and to farm work, but it’s possible pesticide exposure is also a culprit. “We did find that agricultural workers had lower scores on distinct cognitive tests related to memory and attention and processing speed,” Arora says. “While our data does not allow us to examine the role of pesticide exposure directly, previous work has found links between a history of such exposure and poor scores in these tests.”
The U-I research mined 16 years of data from a study of 20-thousand people over the age of 50. In addition to farming, similar results were also found for people who worked in the forestry and fishing sectors. There is a message, Arora says, for older Iowans who’ve worked in the ag industry for a good portion of their lives. “It is important to keep a lookout for early signs and symptoms which might include memory problems, subtle impairment in activities such as managing money, exercising financial judgment, handling medications, or just generally impaired reasoning or judgment,” Arora says.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, and six in ten Alzheimer’s patients might wander from home, which can be of particular concern for people who live in rural areas or on farms with manure pits and heavy machinery. A dementia diagnosis among farmers may be missed or delayed for a variety of reasons, she says, causing even greater safety concerns. “It is important to talk about Alzheimer’s disease whether it is with your primary care provider or family members and friends, early detection and adaptation to a diagnosis are critical,” Arora says. “It is important to be honest about being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, especially as an older farm worker in the capacity of an employer or an employee.”
The study is being published in the peer-reviewed Journal Gerontology: Social Sciences.
More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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Creston Police, Wednesday (today) report the arrest Tuesday afternoon, of 23-year old Paige O’Neall, from Creston. O’Neall was taken into custody at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree. She was cited for the offense and released on a Summons to Appear in court.
And, a man residing in the 800 block of W. Adams Street, in Creston, reported to police Tuesday, that sometime between Jan. 31st and Feb. 1st, someone slashed a rear tire on the vehicle, while the vehicle was parked outside of the man’s home. The damage was estimated at $150.
The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (Wednesday, 10-a.m.) shows there are 1,197 new, positive cases of COVID-19 in test results since 10-a.m. Tuesday, for a pandemic total of 321,536. The IDPH says there were 56 additional deaths recorded over the previous 24 hours, for a pandemic total of 4,975. Officials attributed 4,504 deaths to an Underlying Cause, while COVID was a contributing factor in 471 deaths. In western and southwest Iowa, there was one new death in Cass County (for total of 46), and Shelby County (30 total); Two more deaths in each of: Harrison (67 total); Mills (20 deaths); Montgomery (32); Pottawattamie County (129), and Union County (29 total).
Long-Term Care (LTC) facility data, Wednesday, show there are 48 current outbreaks among those facilities in Iowa. Those facilities account for 1,431 of Iowa’s positive cases, while 887 LTC patients have recovered from the virus. LTC deaths make up 2,043 of the State’s total number of deaths.
The IDPH reports there are 382 people hospitalized with COVID symptoms (compared to 390, yesterday). Officials say 86 COVID patents are in an intensive care unit (ICU), the number of patients admitted over the past 24-hours is up from 49 Tuesday to 58 today, and there are 34 people on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa), 22 are hospitalized with COVID symptoms, eight are in an ICU, no one was admitted since 10-a.m. Tuesday, and three people are on a ventilator.
The Health Dept. reports also, 263,248 doses of the vaccine have been administered. Of those doses, 135,156 persons have received their first, or initial dose, while 64,046 have received their second dose. The State’s 14-day positivity rate is 9.5%, and the seven-day average is 7.7%. A total of 288,312 Iowans have recovered from the virus.
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:
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