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Creston Police report (9/12)

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Police in Creston report a man was arrested early this (Thursday) morning, for Public Intoxication. 54-year old Craig Hauser, whose city of residence was not available at the time of the report, was taken into custody at around 1:30-a.m. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Podcast) KJAN Morning News & Funeral report, 9/12/19

News, Podcasts

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Play

Ex-janitor pleads guilty to taking locker room pictures

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A former janitor has pleaded guilty to taking pictures of women in an eastern Iowa college locker room. Linn County court records say 46-year-old Jeffrey Pospisil entered the pleas Wednesday to two counts of invasion of privacy. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 18.

The investigation began when students at Cornell College in Mount Vernon reported seeing a cellphone held in an open doorway leading to the locker room. A coach found Pospisil in the area. He was an employee with a business that provides custodial service for the college. He told police he had been texting on the phone. But a search of the phone revealed more than 100 images taken in the locker room as students were fully or partially nude.

Pospisil was fired from his job.

Frederickson Memorial Fund donates $500 to District Special Olympics event

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund recently donated $500 to the District Special Olympics Bowling Event which will be held in Atlantic on October 4th and 5th.  Fund spokesperson and Trevor’s mom, Melanie Petty said “We are pleased to be able to help with this event again this year and hope that all of the participants have a wonderful weekend of bowling and friendship!”

Grant Petty and Gaylord Schelling are pictured (Photo courtesy Melanie Petty)

The Fund recently held their 11th Annual Golf Tournament and all proceeds from their event will go to things that meant something to Trevor.  Petty says they are looking forward to an amazing year of giving back to the community in Trev’s name.  The fund is a 501(c)3 non profit organization and to date has been able to give back upwards of $220,000.00.  Plans are already in the works for the 12th Annual TFred Memorial Golf Tournament to be held on August 8th, 2020.

You have to register at casino before betting at your local watering hole

News, Sports

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Buffalo Wild Wings last week announced a deal with M-G-M Resorts to bring M-G-M sports betting into their restaurants in states where sports betting is legal. But Iowa gambling regulators says you won’t be able to go into the restaurants here and sign up for sports gambling accounts. Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission administrator Brian Ohorilko says the only way to sit down to eat wings and gamble is to first sign up for a mobile sports betting app at one of the state’s licensed casinos.

“Iowa law strictly limits sports wagering to casinos that have a gaming license, and so wagering inside a retail setting would be limited to those facilities. Wagering is also permitted under Iowa law through mobile wagering devices, and so folks could access their phone or other mobile device from anywhere within the boundaries of the state of Iowa,” Ohorilko says, “but with respect to any other entity offering sports wagering, that could not occur under the current laws of Iowa.”

Ohorilko says right now there are only two companies licensed in the state of Iowa allowed to offer advanced deposit sports wagering through mobile apps. You have to go to one of the seven casinos they serve to sign up.  “At any of those seven locations if a customer were to sign up, get the application that they need, and the account through any of the two licensed companies, than those customers could wager on their device from a Buffalo Wild Wings or from any other restaurant or location,” according to Ohorilko.

Sunday will mark one month since sports gambling was legalized in the state of Iowa.

Iowa expanding Highway Helper program to Davenport area

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say help for Iowa motorists will be available for more hours and at more places along the state’s highways. The Iowa Transportation Department announced Wednesday that it is expanding Highway Helper to the Davenport area and is increasing hours of the free service in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines and Iowa City.

Highway Helper workers aid stranded drivers in replacing flat tires, jump-starting vehicles and obtaining fuel for empty tanks. The workers will transport stranded drivers to safe locations to make arrangements if extensive repairs are needed.

Highway Helper vehicles patrol high-traffic roadways looking drivers who need help. The department also uses traffic cameras to spot stranded drivers. The department said in a news release that if people are stranded and need assistance, “the safest thing to do is call 911.”

Iowa’s New PE Standards Promote Kids’ Lifelong Fitness

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Iowa News Service/Des Moines, IA – Iowa schools are introducing new physical education standards this school year that provide teachers with a framework to strengthen instruction from kindergarten through 12th grade. Stacy Frelund with the American Heart Association of Iowa says the organization was on the team that made the recommendations.

She notes that Iowa has the 10th highest obesity rate for youths ages 10 to 17. She says that’s likely because screen time by kids is creeping up – from phones, to social media, to online gaming – making the new health and physical education guidelines more important than ever.

“Physical education classes are classes, and they have curriculum just like science and math classes do. You can’t just go out and play dodgeball for an hour; it gets into mental health, even, and how to adapt PE to kids that might have challenges.”

The American Health Association recommends parents and kids adopt the daily 5-2-1-Zero rule: five fruits and vegetables per day, two hours of screen time, one hour of exercise and zero sugar-sweetened beverages.

Iowa’s new health and physical education standards, which are optional for schools, outline what a student should know and be able to do at each grade level. Frelund says like adults, kids who exercise report reduced anxiety, better sleep and improved blood sugar control. She notes there also are long-term cognitive benefits.

“Kids’ health is so important that it shouldn’t be something that we forget and make last on the list. Especially when you look at how physical activity and physical education can really impact, like, kids’ brains and the test scores and how they’re doing in some of their other classwork.”

The American Heart Association’s “Kids Heart Challenge” teaches elementary students the importance of keeping their heart healthy by participating in basketball, dance, obstacle-course activity and jumping rope. Funds raised through the program support scientific research and outreach programs.

Iowa early News Headlines: Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa appeals court has upheld a judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging a private jet flight Gov. Kim Reynolds and her family took to watch a football game when she was a candidate for governor. The Iowa Court of Appeals said in a ruling filed Wednesday that a state court judge was right to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Des Moines attorney Gary Dickey.

BONDURANT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa school district won’t be getting nearly $900,000 it wanted to spend as part of this year’s budget, because officials have learned the budget was based in part on erroneous tax valuations from the county. The Des Moines Register reports that Facebook’s fourth data center building in Altoona is tax exempt. But the county included the $52.4 million building in tax base numbers given to the Bondurant-Farrar school district. Now the district won’t get the erroneous windfall.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — A second murder trial has begun for a southeast Iowa woman accused of the 1992 killing of her former boyfriend. The Muscatine Journal reports the trial began Tuesday in Muscatine for 56-year-old Annette Cahill, who was charged in May 2018 with first-degree murder in the beating death of Corey Lee Wieneke. Wieneke’s body was found in October 1992 on his bedroom floor in rural West Liberty. The first trial ended in a mistrial in March 2019. Cahill, of Tipton, has pleaded not guilty.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Investigators say a suspect has been killed in southeastern Iowa after fleeing from and shooting at law enforcement officers. The Division of Criminal Investigation says the man died early Wednesday at the Great River Medical Center. Police say the shooting occurred after Burlington police officers and a Des Moines County deputy responded to a call of shots fired.

Bruckner will not seek re-election to Atlantic School Board

News

September 11th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education met Wednesday evening at the High School. During their session, Board member Alison Bruckner announced she would not be running for re-election to another 4-year term on the Board. Her current term expires this year. Bruckner said she’s enjoyed her past four-years, but she started working on obtaining her Doctorate of Education last year, which, along with her full-time job, takes up a great deal of her time. Earlier this summer, another Board Member, Dr. Keith Swanson announced he too, would not be running for re-election. It’s unclear whether School Board Member Jenny Williams will run for her seat on the Board. Swanson and Williams’ terms are up this year, also.

In other business, the Board approved a recommendation from Superintendent Steve Barber, to hire Bob Sweeney as Athletic Facilities Project Liaison between the district, contractors and sub-contractors, effective Sept. 26th, the date construction bids are to be opened. Sweeney will be paid $22.50 per hour or an estimated $20,000 for the duration of the project construction.

Superintendent Barber said a pre-bid conference meeting was held Tuesday with FRK Architects, two General Contractors (GC’s) and three Sub-Contractors, two of whom were local. In all three GC’s have taken physical documents and diagrams out for review, as well as other In- State and Out-of-State organizations. Some documents may also have been requested digitally.  The documents and diagrams lay-out the terms and project schematics for interested contractors, which enables them to better draw-up their bids for the Three-Phase Athletic Facilities Projects.

Board Secretary/District Finance Director Sarah Sheeder reported during the meeting, Wednesday, that the District is running close on their General Fund Line-Item Budget of $16.995-million, but she and Superintendent Barber are confident they can keep a tight reign on that part of the budget so they don’t hit $17-million.

Superintendent Barber said the District’s Official Enrollment Count begins Oct. 1st. He said their most recet review of the students the District is serving, shows a small decline in both the Certified Enrollment and number of Open enrolled-in students, with the ratio to open enrolled vs. Out a small increase. Those numbers are subject to change. He said also, and the other Administrators agreed, that the new student pick-up and drop-off system for Schuler and Washington Elementary students has been going very smooth, and their have been few complaints since the new driveway and parking lot were constructed this summer.

Court rejects challenge of Reynolds’ use of private plane

News

September 11th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa appeals court has rejected a Des Moines attorney’s challenge to Gov. Kim Reynold’s use of a businessman’s private airplane, upholding previous rulings that Reynold’s use of the flights did no real harm and were allowed by Iowa law. The Iowa Court of Appeals said in a ruling filed Wednesday that a state court judge was right to dismiss the lawsuit filed by attorney Gary Dickey.

Dickey, a Democrat, filed a complaint last year with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, alleging Reynolds, a Republican, underestimated the value of the flight she and her family took to the Liberty Bowl in Tennessee in December 2017.

The jet was owned by Reynolds’s campaign contributor David North, CEO of a company that has a contract with the state. The board dismissed Dickey’s complaint, ruling the flights were allowable under Iowa’s gift law. Dickey appealed and a judge agreed with the dismissal. The appeals court says Dickey failed to show he suffered perceptible harm required by Iowa law to justify a court overturning the board’s decision.

Dickey says he will ask the Iowa Supreme Court to review the decision.