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Bottle Bill reform plan clears Senate committee

News

March 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans on an Iowa Senate committee have approved making changes in Iowa’s Bottle Bill — tripling the amount of deposit fees that go to redemption centers that accept empties and pay back the nickel deposits on cans and bottles. Democrats say the entire package of changes will crush the Bottle Bill. Republican Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig says it’s time to stop waiting for grocers and beverage distributors to come up with a compromise.

“Iowans, I think, are increasingly and justifiably enraged that we’ve let this go this far,” Schultz says. If the bill becomes law, beverage distributors would maintain mobile trailers that accept empties AND the state’s beer excise tax would be reduced next year. The bill also says grocery stores could quit taking back cans and bottles in 2023.

“This is a very real move to reinvigorate and modernize Iowa’s decades old Bottle Bill,” Schultz says. “Every poll shows, every forum that I go to shows…and my own family shows that they want to have it. Iowans love the Bottle Bill.” A survey conducted last month found the Bottle Bill remains popular with 84 percent of eligible Iowa voters. Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, says it’s been one of the most popular laws on the books for years.

“This bill, the way it is written, is the de facto end of the Bottle Bill,” Dotzler says. “…You’re not going to be able to find a place to get rid of your bottles and cans.” Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says that’s already happened — with no consequences to retailers. “The Bottle Bill’s on life support and it’s on life support because HyVee and Fareway and convenience store chains have quit taking the containers that consumers buy,” Bolkcom says. Schultz says while there could be some tweaks, his overall reform plan is the only viable option that could pass the Senate and the House.

“This is the opportunity to make the Bottle Bill live for another 10 years,” Schultz says. “It’s the only way to look at it. It’s hard to imagine any other way you could look at this situation.” The bill passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday and is now eligible for debate in the full Senate.

Posted in News |

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley, 3/18/22

Weather

March 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

Today: Mostly cloudy w/a snow-rain mix. A late High of 38. N/NE @ 15-30 mph.
Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 23.
Tomorrow: Areas of morning fog; Becoming Mo. Sunny. High 58. SW @ 10-15.
Sunday: P/Cldy. High 72.
Monday: Mo. Cldy w/showers & thunderstorms developing late. High around 68.

Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 49. Our Low this morning was 30. We received 2.1 inches of snow overnight into early this morning, at KJAN. Thursday’s rainfall and snow amounted to 1.58″ of liquid precipitation. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 51 and the Low was 20. The Record High on this date was 81 in 2012. The Record Low was -1 in 1893.

Posted in Weather |

Winter Weather Advisory for Cass & area Counties until 4-p.m. (3/18/22)

Weather

March 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

256 AM CDT Fri Mar 18 2022

Rain has changed to snow across the advisory area this morning and continue through the day. Roads may become snow or slush covered at times causing slick conditions to develop.

Guthrie-Dallas-Cass-Adair-Madison-Adams-Union-Taylor Counties

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON…

* WHAT…Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 4 inches. Locally higher amounts on grassy or elevated surfaces may occur. The wind will gust as high as 35 mph.

* IMPACTS…Plan on snow or slush covered roadways and slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact this mornings commute.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

Slow down and use caution while traveling. For the latest travel conditions, check the Iowa 511 app, www.511ia.org or dial 511.

Posted in Weather |

CAROL JOHNK, 89, of Griswold (Svcs. 3/26/22)

Obituaries

March 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

CAROL JOHNK, 89, of Griswold, died Wed. March 16th, at the Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, TX. Funeral services for CAROL JOHNK will be held 10-a.m. Saturday, March 26th, at the Griswold United Methodist Church. Rieken Duhn Funeral Home in Griswold is assisting the family.

Visitation with the family will take place at the church one hour prior to the the funeral service.  Lunch will be held at the church, immediately following the funeral service.

A private family interment will be in the Oaklawn Cemetery at Oakland.

Posted in Obituaries |

Creighton rallies for overtime win over San Diego State

Sports

March 17th, 2022 by admin

The Creighton Bluejays finished regulation on a 9-0 to get to overtime against San Diego State. The Jays then finished the extra session on a 6-0 spurt to win it 72-69 and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Trey Alexander came up huge late in the game after battling through some foul trouble early in the game. Alexander finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. 5 Bluejays scored in double-figures with Ryan Kalkbrenner dropping 16 points to go along with 10 boards. Alex O’Connell added 15, Arthur Kaluma had 12, and Ryan Hawkins had 10 to go along with 8 rebounds.

San Diego State missed a couple of short shots that would of tied the game and then turned it over on their last good chance to tie or take a lead. That last giveaway came with .8 of a second left and KeyShawn Feazell made 1 free throw before Alexander tipped away the final inbound attempt for the Aztecs. San Diego State was led by 16 points from Matt Bradley and their season ends at 23-9.

Creighton improved to 23-11 and will play on Saturday against the winner of the Kansas/Texas Southern late contest.

Posted in Sports |

Marshall files for re-election as Cass Co. Treasurer

News

March 17th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports Republican incumbent Cass County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall, Thursday, filed her nomination papers for re-election, in advance of the March 25th deadline for the June 7th Primary Election.

Marshall is currently finishing her fifth term as County Treasurer.

Posted in News |

8 Hawkeyes advance through opening round of NCAA Wrestling Championships

Sports

March 17th, 2022 by admin

DETROIT — The University of Iowa wrestling team wrestling team advanced eight wrestlers to the round of 16 Thursday afternoon at the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships at Little Caesars Arena.

Iowa scored bonus points in three of its eight wins, including a technical fall by Austin DeSanto at 133, a fall from Max Murin at 149 and a major decision from Jacob Warner at 197.

DeSanto gave up an early takedown but responded with 13 straight first-period points at 133 pounds. He scored six more in the second before terminating the match in four minutes, nine seconds with a 19-3 technical fall, his 11th of the season.

Murin was leading 10-3 before securing a fall in four minutes, 48 seconds at 149. The fall was his first of the season. Warner piled up over four minutes of riding time in an 8-0 major decision at 197. The major was his third of the postseason and sixth of the season, tying a single-season career high.

Returning NCAA finalists Jaydin Eierman and Michael Kemerer were two of five Hawkeyes to move on with a decision. Eierman scored four takedowns in an 11-4 win at 141. Kemerer scored a takedown in the first 30 seconds and added points for an escape and riding time in a 4-0 shutout at 174.

Kaleb Young’s second-period takedown was the difference in a 3-2 decision at 157. Alex Marinelli scored a pair of takedowns in a 7-2 win at 165, and Tony Cassioppi closed the dual with a 4-0 shutout at 285.

Freshman Drake Ayala and sophomore Abe Assad both dropped decisions in their NCAA debuts. Ayala fell 12-9 at 125 and Assad, who qualified for the national tournament before it was cancelled in 2020, lost 6-3 at 184.

The Hawkeyes have 12.5 team points, tying Michigan for second place. Penn State leads the team race with 15.5 points.

Posted in Sports |

ISU advances three at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Sports

March 17th, 2022 by admin

DETROIT – Three Iowa State wrestlers picked up wins Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Championships, as they advanced to the second round Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena. The second round of the NCAA Championships starts at 6 p.m. (CT) and will be available on ESPN.

David Carr (157), Marcus Coleman (184) and Yonger Bastida (197) all earned wins to open the day. Their victories sent them to the second round, which will be held Thursday evening. Carr’s victory was the 1,600th all-time win by a Cyclone at the NCAA Championships.

Penn State leads the team race after the first session with 15.5 points, while Iowa and Michigan are tied for second with 12.5 points. Iowa State is 18th with 5.5 points.

Posted in Sports |

Iowa upset by Richmond at NCAA Tournament

Sports

March 17th, 2022 by admin

The Iowa Hawkeyes shot a cold 6 of 29 from three-point range and just 36.4% from the field and fell to the Richmond Spiders 67-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

Richmond held a slim lead for much of the first half and were up 29-28 at the break. The Spiders made enough plays to build a 6 point advantage late and held on for the win. Jacob Gilyard led the way with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Tyler Burton had 18 points and 11 rebounds and came through with 4 huge late free throws to seal the win. Richmond improves to 24-12 and advance to face 4th seeded Providence in the second round on Saturday.

Iowa was led by 21 points and 9 rebounds from Keegan Murray. Patrick McCaffery was the only other player in double figures with 18 points. The Hawkeyes end the season with a mark of 26-10.

Posted in Sports |

Governor offers concession for seasonal workers on bill to cut unemployment benefits

News

March 17th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Proposals Governor Kim Reynolds unveiled earlier this year have stalled in the legislature, including her call to reduce the number of weeks Iowans may receive unemployment benefits. Reynolds told reporters she’s working with lawmakers to come up with a compromise to get that “across the finish line.”

“Right now, people that qualify for unemployment benefits, they qualify for those for over six months and that is just too long,” Reynolds said during a news conference Wednesday. “And so the bill that we’ve proposed, it moves that down to four months which is still responsible, reasonable.”

A controversial part of her plan delayed payment of the first week of jobless benefits, but Reynolds said she’s willing to make accommodations for seasonal workers, especially in construction, who rely on unemployment benefits when the Iowa weather makes it impossible to work.

Her original workforce bill also included new liability protections for the trucking industry. The bill that dramatically stalled in the House Wednesday night when Republicans couldn’t muster 51 votes to start debate included those provisions. While Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley said he was surprised by some of that opposition, there’s still time to come up with a compromise.

“We want to continue to try and make progress and so I don’t think you’re going to see it all of a sudden just disappear from the conversation,” Grassley said, “whether it’s the rest of this session or moving forward into next.”

Democratic leaders say the proposed cut in unemployment benefits for laid off workers has stalled because a recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll found 53% of likely voters oppose the idea.

Posted in News |