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Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Wed. May 1st, 2024

Weather

May 1st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Partly sunny w/just a slight chance of showers & thunderstorms this afternoon. High near 70. West wind 5 to 15 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Low around 52. E winds @ 15-25.
Tomorrow: Showers and thunderstorms. High near 66. E/SE winds 15-25 shifting to the West Thursday afternoon.
Tom. A chance of showers and thunderstorms, otherwise P/Cldy. Low around 42.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 71.
Saturday: A 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm; Partly sunny, with a high near 66.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 75. Our Low this morning, 43. We received just .08″ rain Tuesday. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 64 and the Low was 35. The All-time Record High on May 1st was 90, in 1965. The Record Low was 24, in 1909. Sunrise: 6:17; Sunset: 8:17.

State Auditor touts non-profit’s report about ‘paper ceiling’ in state government

News

May 1st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand says he’s worked with a non-profit group and identified more than two dozen state job classifications that could be rewritten to widen the pool of applicants. Sand, a Democrat, says Opportunity at Work did a similar analysis for Republican Larry Hogan when he was the governor of Maryland. The number of state jobs in Maryland requiring a college degree was cut in half as a result.

“There are all kinds of jobs in the public sector where the job description states that a four-year college degree is required or it states that a four-year college degree is preferred,” Sand says. “That ‘paper ceiling’ stops a lot of really well qualified people from applying for those jobs or getting those jobs.” Sand says 60 percent of Iowa’s working age population has the skills necessary for government jobs through alternative routes, like military service, a community college degree or work experience.

“The bottom line is that there are a lot of jobs in the public sector, in public service in Iowa that are not getting filled on a timely basis,” Sand says. “There’s work to be done and we need more people to feel qualified and welcome to apply for those jobs.” Sand says the non-profit’s report identified 28 job DESCRIPTIONS in state government that could be rewritten to include people who did not have a college degree, but Sand did not have a specific number of actual jobs or employees that would be impacted. Two years ago, Sand eliminated the requirement that auditors in the state auditor’s office have a four year degree, so those who have a two-year degree in accounting are eligible to apply.

“There’s lot of smart, practical, hardworking Iowans who go get those degrees. They look at the situation and they say: ‘Well, I can get a degree in the same field in half the time, for less than half the money,” Sand said. “It’s a wonderful, value oriented mindset that we certainly want to encourage people to have if they are working for the taxpayer’s watchdog.”

Sand held a news conference in his statehouse office to discuss the non-profit’s report about reclassifying other jobs in the state government. Sand indicated the Department of Administrative Services is the agency that would rewrite job classifications for other areas of state government, but Sand has not yet forwarded the non-profit’s analysis to that department.

Hawkeyes Rally Past Redbirds

Sports

April 30th, 2024 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team defeated Illinois State, 8-7, on Tuesday night at Duane Banks Field.
After five innings of play the Redbirds led 4-2 and after six innings led 5-4, before the Hawkeyes would take the lead in the seventh. Gable Mitchell singled with the bases loaded and would come all the way around to score on a throwing error by the catcher on the “little league grand slam.”
Illinois State would plate two runs in the ninth, but the Hawkeyes stifled the comeback attempt.
“It is always good to find a way to get the win,” said head coach Rick Heller. “It didn’t look good for a while, and finally got a rally going in the seventh. Got a big hit out of Gable and had a few free bases and the error ended up giving us what we needed to hold on.”
Ganon Archer started for the Hawkeyes. He threw two innings and struck out three without allowing a hit or a run.
Six Hawkeyes saw action on the mound with Ben DeTaeye having the longest outing. He earned the win closing out the game with 2 2/3 innings of work allowing two earned runs and striking out four.
Davis Cop and Mitchell each had two hits for Iowa and Mitchell tallied two RBIs. Reese Moore scored three runs and had a solo home run.
Illinois State stranded 14 runners on base to Iowa’s four.
“It was an okay performance in all areas,” said Heller. “Wasn’t great offensively, but we found a way to score enough. It got dicey but we held on and hopefully we play better tomorrow.”
The Hawkeyes return to action tomorrow at 4:05 p.m. (CT) at Duane Banks Field against North Dakota State.

DCI assisting Oelwein PD with death investigation

News

April 30th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Mrs. CAROL BROWN, 86, of Exira (Memorial Svc. 5/11/24)

Obituaries

April 30th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Mrs. CAROL BROWN, 86, of Exira, died Monday, April 29, 2024, at Cass Health in Atlantic. A Memorial service for Mrs. CAROL BROWN will take place 11-a.m. Saturday, May 11th, at the Exira Christian Church. Kessler Funeral Home in Exira has the arrangements.

Interment is in the Exira Cemetery. Following the committal service, the family will greet friends with a luncheon in the fellowship hall of the Exira Christian Church.

Memorials may be directed to the Carol Brown family, and sent to the funeral home, at P.O. Box 523, Atlantic, IA, 50022.

CAROL BROWN is survived by:

Her husband Todd Brown.

Her son – Michael Brown, of Exira.

Her daughters – Kim, and Teresa, both of Atlantic.

5 grandchildren, her in-laws, and other relatives.

Northern Iowa softball hosts Iowa Wednesday night

Sports

April 30th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

The Northern Iowa softball takes a nine-game winning streak into the final week of the regular season which begins Wednesday night at home against Iowa. The Panthers are 28-15 overall.

That’s UNI coach Ryan Jacobs. The Panthers last played a nonconference game back on April second at Iowa State. Jacobs used three different pitchers in an 8-3 loss to the Cyclones. UNI closes Missouri Valley Conference play beginning Friday with the start of a three-game series at Valparaiso.

Iowa center Logan Jones on backup QB Marco Lainez

Sports

April 30th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

With Deacon Hill in the transfer portal Marco Lainez he backup quarterback at Iowa heading into summer workouts. The redshirt freshman from New Jersey made a brief appearance in a Citrus Bowl loss to Tennessee but led the Hawkeyes in rushing with 51 yards. Iowa center Logan Jones.

Jones says the ability of Lainez to run the ball does not change the blocking assignments.

Starting quarterback Cade McNamara was limited during spring drills as he recovers from an ACL injury. He is expected to return to full strength this summer. The Hawkeyes open next season at home on August 31st against Illinois State.

Iowa State’s Caleb Bacon on team chemistry

Sports

April 30th, 2024 by admin

Iowa State linebacker Caleb Bacon likes the chemistry on thre team heading into next season. The Cyclones return 18 starters from last year’s team that fininshed 7-6. Bacon is a former walk-on from Lake Mills ad is part of a defense that returns nine starters.

Bacon feels the added experience will help the defense be even better next season.

Bacon finished second on the team last season with 60 tackles and says he is a much more confident player.

The Cyclones open next season at home on August 31st against North Dakota.

Change of venue requested in murder trial of Algona Police officer

News

April 30th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The man accused of killing an Algona Police Officer last September is asking for his trial to be moved out of Kossuth County. Forty-three-year-old Kyle Lou Ricke is asking for a change of venue for his first-degree murder trial, which is scheduled to begin in late June.

In his motion, Attorney Matthew Pittenger states that media coverage of the case was intense following the shooting death of Officer Kevin Cram on September 13th, 2023. He says that publicity has created a substantial likelihood that a fair and impartial jury can not be impaneled from Kossuth County or any surrounding county.

The state will file a written response to the motion before a judge makes a ruling. Ricke is currently scheduled to have a pretrial conference on May 31st. His trial is scheduled to begin on June 25th, pending the outcome of this motion.

Tree Vouchers no longer available

News

April 30th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Trees Forever today (Tuesday) announced that the spring tree vouchers are no longer available. They have all been used. The limited number went in just a couple days.

Atlantic Trees Forever would like to thank those that used the voucher. They have never had the vouchers go so quickly before. They realize with all the tree removals many more people were looking to get trees replaced.

Atlantic Trees Forever would also like to thank the Atlantic HyVee for their support of the tree vouchers. The goal is to do vouchers again next spring and hopefully we will be able to do more at that time.