United Group Insurance

Johnston CSD student arrested following an alleged threat that placed the middle school on lockdown

News

September 27th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Johnston, Iowa/KCCI-TV) –  The Johnston Middle School was briefly placed on lockdown status on Thursday afternoon after a weapon was reported in a restroom in the building. According to the district, a student reported seeing a weapon in an upstairs restroom around 2:48 p.m., and the school was placed in lockdown. All students and staff were required to stay in their current locations until given the all-clear, which came 20 minutes later when students were dismissed at 3:08 p.m.

The District cancelled all evening activities while an investigation into the incident was being conducted. The Johnston Police Department says that after a “thorough search” of the school building, no weapon was found. A student was taken into custody.

Iowa Secretary of State encourages Iowans to make a plan to vote, track their absentee ballots

News

September 27th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is reminding every Iowa voter to have a plan in place to be successful in casting their ballot this election. Whether you plan to vote absentee by mail, early absentee in-person, or in person at the polls on Election Day, it’s never too early to make a plan. Those who plan to vote absentee by mail should be prepared to request their absentee ballot by October 21, 2024. Part of that plan should also include tracking your absentee ballot. Iowans can visit VoterReady.Iowa.Gov to track their ballot. This process allows Iowa voters to see if and when their local county auditor has received the absentee ballot request, the specific date that the ballot was mailed out, and the date the county auditor received the ballot back from the voter. Iowa law requires absentee ballots to be returned to the county auditor’s office by the time polls close at 8pm on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5.

In efforts to remind Iowans to head to the polls, political parties and candidates may send voters “absentee ballot request” mailings. In some instances, this may result in one voter receiving multiple mailings regarding absentee ballot requests. County auditors have a number of procedures in place to ensure that if multiple absentee ballot requests do come in from one voter, only one absentee ballot will be mailed out. Iowans are encouraged to call their county auditor if they have any specific questions regarding this process.

It is important that political parties and candidates that coordinate absentee ballot mailings to Iowa voters first and foremost ensure their processes follow Iowa law (Iowa Code Ch. 53) and secondly, verify with the post office that their mail pieces are in compliance with postal regulations. This due diligence should also include confirming the cost of return postage and who will bear this cost, and making sure an accurate return address is included in the event the mailing is undeliverable.

Iowa voters who plan to vote early absentee in-person can do so at their county auditor’s office or a special satellite location. Voters who plan to vote in-person at their polling site on Election Day can find their polling site at VoterReady.Iowa.Gov. Every voter who votes in person must present their voter ID (Iowa driver’s license, voter identification card, non-operator ID, military or veteran ID, passport, or tribal ID card/document).

Iowa’s election integrity approach requires multiple layers and following Iowa law and election procedures are critical to maintaining safe and secure elections. If Iowans are looking for additional information on this process and other voting processes, please visit VotingProcess.Iowa.Gov for a video series about different voting procedures and laws in Iowa.

DATES TO KNOW:

October 16: First day absentee ballots can be mailed; first day of in-person absentee voting
October 21: Voter pre-registration deadline; deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed; both by 5pm
November 4: Last day of in-person absentee voting
November 5: Election Day, polls open from 7am-8pm; absentee ballots must be received by county auditors by 8pm

Gov. Reynolds appoints Christine Hensley to Iowa Board of Regents

News

September 27th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa) — Gov. Kim Reynolds, Thursday, announced the appointment of Christine Hensley to the Iowa Board of Regents.  Early in her career, Hensley worked closely with developers on affordable housing projects across the state of Iowa as a business development manager for Midwest Housing Equity Group. Hensley also previously served as Vice President of Community and Government Affairs for Bank of the West after acting as a Des Moines City Council member for 24 years.

Hensley has served as president of the Iowa Student Loan Corporation, Iowa League of Cities, and the Metro Advisory Council among other boards. She currently serves as chairperson on the Horizon Science Academy governing board. Standing out from her list of honors, Hensley was inducted into the Iowa Women Hall of Fame in 2017.

“Chris is a remarkable person who has shown time and time again what it means to be a true leader in her community. Across her long and accomplished career in education, business, and elected office, Chris has proven she has the skills and innovative spirit necessary to work alongside our regent universities in the pursuit of academic excellence for our students,” Governor Reynolds said. “I’m confident she will work collaboratively with her fellow board members to ensure graduates are prepared for success in Iowa’s diverse economy.”

“I am honored to be appointed to the Iowa Board of Regents. I appreciate the confidence Governor Reynolds has in me with this appointment,” Hensley said. “I look forward to learning from my fellow board members and working with them to ensure our universities are able to provide outstanding education to the citizens of Iowa.”

Hensley attended Drake University and St. Joseph Academy. She was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Grandview University in 2017.  Her appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

ACGC travels to Riverside to take on the Bulldogs

Sports

September 27th, 2024 by Christian Adams

Over the last six years, the ACGC football team has developed a winning culture, and that’s exactly what they will take to Riverside this Friday night for their Matchup with the Bulldogs.  They are currently  4-0 and seeking their second consecutive undefeated regular season. They’ve also made it to at least the second round of the playoffs every season since 2020-21. When asked about the team’s winning culture, head coach Cody Matthewson said it didn’t happen overnight.

The Charger defense has been excellent over the first four games. They have allowed less than 21 points in each of the first four contests and gave up just one rushing touchdown last week. Leading the way is junior Xander Harwood. Harwood ranks in the top 20 in the WCAC in total tackles and leads the team in Solo tackles and tackles for loss. Matthewson credits his defense’s performance to the group’s defense mindset.

Offensively, the ACGC run game is a force to be reckoned with. In four games, the Chargers have run for 1459 yards and have three players that are averaging 100 yards per game or more. Mike Fuller, Jathan South, and Joe Crawford are ranked third, fourth, and fifth in the conference in rushing yards. When talking about their style of play, Matthewson attributes his continuity in personal and their ability to play ard nose football for the team’s success on offense.

ACGC will face a tough test on the road in Riverside. Like the Chargers, the Riverside run game is a force to be reckoned with, amassing 1197 yards on the ground. 803  of those yards come from star running back Jaxon Gordon. However, Matthewson’s philosophy is more than just stopping the Bulldogs’ key asset.

You can catch all the action on KJAN with pre-game coverage starting at 6:30 pm with kickoff at 7 pm.

 

Results from the MVAOCOU Cross Country Meet

Sports

September 27th, 2024 by Christian Adams

Girls Team Results

1. Ridge View  – 50 pts
2. Denison-Schleswig – 58 pts
3. Lawton Bronson -86 pts
4. South Central Calhoun – 89 pts
5. WC-KP-RV – 99 pts
6. Hinton – 131 pts
7. Westwood – 164 pts

Girls Individual Results

1.Iris Melody -South Central Calhoun (20:09.01)
2. Rachel Putze – WC-KP-RV  (20:34.40)
3. Lola Mendlik – Denison-Schleswig (20:56.43)
4. Addy Tesch – Ridge View  (21:16.79)
5. Alexa Tremblay – Denison-Schleswig (21:32.63)
6. Addison Lomholt – OABCIG (21:46.14)
7. Ava Lang – Hinton (22:07.71)
8. Clara Todd – Ridge View (22:29.36)
9. Hayden Armstead – MVAOCOU (23:11.76)
10. Emily Grell – MVAOCOU – 23:14.09

Denison-Schleswig

12. Emily Bahnsen – 23:23.71
23. Charlotte Schrum – 24:59.80
26. Leilany Morales-Garcia – 25:21.01
37. Stella Mahrt – 26:43.93
52. Jenna Meadows – 30:04.82

Boys Team Results

1. Lawton Bronson – 89 pts
2. East Sac County – 102 pts
3. MVAOCOU – 103 pts
4. Winnebago – 108 pts
5. Dension-Schleswig – 118 pts
6. Ridge View – 124 pts
7. WC-KP-RV – 188 pts
8. OABCIG – 190 pts
9. South Central Calhoun – 194 pts
10. South O’Brien – 207 pts
11. Hinton – 209 pts
12. Westwood – 330 pts

Boys Individual Results

1. Redge Potts – South Central Calhoun (16:54.41)
2. Landon Sporrer- East Sac County (17:10.35
3. Charlie Forbes – MVAOCOU (17:21.95)
4. Kevin Sanchez – DENISON-SCHLESWIG (17:26.30)
5. Owen Engel – East Sac County – (17:33.38)
6. Riley Aragon – East Sac County (17:49.70)
7. Kael Hamann – MVAOCOU (17:54.60)
8. Gabriel Bergman – OABCIG (18:01.75)
9. Ethan Olsen – DENISON-SCHLESWIG – (18:08.26)
10. Kellen Medina – Winnebago (18:10.94)

Denison-Schleswig

25. Ivan Ledesma – 19:51.54
41. Raul Castillo – 20:53.67
43. Israel Bernal-Serrato – 21:01.94
55. Raul Salas – 21:51.32
57. Jax Luetje – 21:54.

UI’s new insurance major ranks #8 in the nation

News

September 27th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa’s undergraduate insurance degree program has only been around a year, and it’s already being named among the top ten such programs in the country. Martin Grace, who heads the U-I’s Risk Management and Insurance program in the Tippie College of Business, says it’s a thrill to see national recognition for such a new effort. “The program has actually been around for a number of years,” Grace says. “You could get a minor in it, or they called it a certificate, which sounds better than a minor, but it’s like four or five classes, and then last year, they made it an official major.” More than 200 students have signed on for the new major at the Iowa City institution.

“It seems like it’s relatively small, but that’s a strong signal of commitment by the Tippie College as well as the university to support this academic field,” Grace says. “It’s actually a professional field, and it makes our program very strong.” This week, U.S. News and World Report named the U-I’s insurance degree program number-eight in the nation, its first appearance in the rankings. While the state is widely known for its hogs, corn and soybeans, more than 200 insurance companies are headquartered in Iowa. “It’s as important as agriculture in the state, and you think of this state as being an agricultural state, but to have another sector that important?” Grace says. “I think it’s like 12-and-a-half percent of the state’s GDP. In the typical state, it’s one-sixth of that.” He says the risk management and insurance industry is the state’s largest non-agricultural economic sector, while the finance and insurance industries account for some 95-thousand Iowa jobs.

“It’s not just insurance sales, right? So a lot of what insurance companies do are pay claims and invest. So there’s just a lot of jobs, finance jobs, there’s some sales jobs, but the insurance companies in Iowa don’t just sell in Iowa. They sell all over the country.” He predicts the demand for risk management and insurance graduates will continue to grow, especially as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce refers to Des Moines as a “global hub of the insurance industry.”

Drought monitor shows some change

Ag/Outdoor, News, Weather

September 27th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The latest report from the U-S Drought Monitor showed a slight improvement with six percent of the state showing no dry conditions. D-N-R hydrologist Tim Hall says the majority of the state is listed as “abnormally dry,” or just before the drought level. “That’s either a precursor to or remnants of coming out of drought. So in the conditions we’re in where we’re kind of on the edge of being in drought and not being in drought,” Hall says. There are some areas in western Iowa and far northeast that have moderate drought. Hall says the dry weather can be an asset to farmers right now.

“From an ag producer perspective, being dry is great because it doesn’t cause any problems with getting into the field. You get really good grain dry down. Those are all good,” he says. Hall says it would not be good to go much longer without some rainfall. “Thinking forward to the next crop year, we need to be adding some moisture into the soil profile,” Hall says. “So it’s not good when we have a September like we’re in. This is likely to end up being the driest September ever on record for the state of Iowa.” Hall says when you look outside of agriculture needs, the state’s water systems are okay.

“Fortunately for the state of Iowa, we had some wetter than normal months for most of the last 12 months, going back to October of last year. So coming out of some pretty decent wet months this spring and early this summer, we’re in much better shape than we would be had we not had that rain,” he says. Hall says rain naturally drops off as we head through fall and into winter, so making up the gap from the dry September may not be easy.

Volleyball Scoreboard from Sep. 26, 2024

Sports

September 27th, 2024 by Christian Adams

Hawkeye Ten 

Denison-Schleswig -3 vs  Atlantic-2

Lewis Central-3 vs Shenandoah-1

Clarinda-3 vs Creston 0

Rolling Valley  

Exira/EHK-3 vs  Ar-We-Va-0

#13 Coon Rapids-Bayard-3 vs West Harrison-0

Boyer Valley-3 vs Paton-Churdan-0

Woodbine-3 vs CAM-1

Western Iowa 

AHSTW-3 vs IKM-Manning-1

Underwood-3 vs Logan-Magnolia-1

Riverside-3 vs Tri-Center-1

Treynor-3 vs  Missouri Valley-0

Non-Conference 

Griswold-2 vs CAM-0

Griswold-2 vs Woodbine-0

Southwest Valley-3 vs Stanton-2

#13 Coon Rapids-Bayard-2 vs Madrid-0

West Harrison-2 vs Madrid-0

John Deere Recalls Compact Utility Tractors Due to Crash Hazard

Ag/Outdoor, News

September 27th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Bethesda, MD) – Officials with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report John Deere is recalling multiple models of its Compact Utility Tractors over concerns that their brake systems could fail, creating risk for crashes or injury. The Illinois-based company says there have been four reported incidents — including one hospitalization, two injuries, and some minor property damage. The recalled Compact Utility Tractor models are 1023E, 1025R and 2025R. John Deere says those models can be identified by the model numbers printed on the machines’ hoods. Consumers should stop using these tractors immediately.

The affected models were sold by authorized John Deere dealers from November 2017 through July 2024, and cost between $12,700 and $21,000. The company estimates about 147,900 units are affected. Customers can also check serial numbers for recalled models at the John Deere recalls page.

(Courtesy of John Deere via U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)

John Deere advises customers to stop using the affected machines and to contact an authorized John Deere dealer to schedule a free repair of the front bell crank in the brake linkage. The company says it’s also reaching out to known purchasers directly.

For more information, customers can visit John Deere online or call Deere & Company from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Saturdays.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area: Friday, Sept. 27, 2024

Weather

September 27th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny, with a high near 82. N/NE winds 5-10 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 53. N/NE wind around 5 mph.
Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 84. N/NE winds 10-20 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 83.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 84.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 67.

Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 83. The Low was 44. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 77 and the Low was 46. The Record High in Atlantic on Sept. 27th was 94 in 2021. The Record Low was 28 in 1893. Sunrise: 7:12. Sunset: 7:09