The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:07-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.4MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:07-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.4MB)
Subscribe: RSS
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is warning aquarium owners a popular product they purchased could have the potential to spread an invasive species into state waterways. D-N-R aquatic invasive species coordinator, Kim Bogenschutz says the product is used to absorb harmful nutrients in the water– but has been found to have invasive zebra mussels in them. “They are called moss balls — but they are actually an algae, so it’s a balled algae. They were imported — we think from Ukraine — but they are distributed around the world,” Bogenschutz says.
Bogenschutz says they could lead to a much greater spread of the zebra muscles in the state. “The concern is that the people who have bought them for their aquariums and then decide they no longer the plants and fish and then dump them in a local waterway or down a storm drain and then they get into our lake and rivers,” she explains. “And that is certainly something we do not want to happen.” They are called Marimo balls too and can be sold as the “Betta Buddy” product. They were first found in Washington state on March 3rd and have since been found in pet and aquarium stores in several states. Bogenschutz says there are a couple of things you can do to kill the mussels before throwing them away. “Freeze them for a day, boil them for a minute. Or they can also disinfect them with chlorine and put them in a ziplock bag and throw them in the trash,” according to Bogenschutz. “If they have water in their aquariums, they should disinfect that as well. If they have a small amount they can boil it or disinfect it with chlorine.”
She says they are no longer for sale. Bogenschutz says state and federal law enforcement have gone to all the chain stores and confiscated the product. Zebra mussels grow rapidly and choke out all other species. Bogenschutz has led the effort to get boaters to keep from spreading them. “We’re doing really well. We don’t have them in too many locations, but there is always a potential for the spread between those water bodies too,” Bogenschutz says. “That’s why we need people to clean and drain and dry their equipment, the things you hear me talk about in the summer with your equipment, and now with the aquarium. This goes for goldfish or anything else that is in your aquariums…they never should be dumped out in ponds or lakes or rivers.”
Zebra mussels look like small, D-shaped clams that have alternating light and dark bands. Most are less than one inch long. Find more information about aquatic invasive species and how you can help prevent their spread in Iowa’s waters on the D-N-R’s website at www.iowadnr.gov.
The cause of a fire in Anita late Tuesday (March 9th) was unknown, as of the last report. Firefighters from Anita and Wiota were dispatched to the scene at 306 Elm Street, at around 11:49-a.m. Dispatch reports indicated the residents were out of the home and safe. Anita Fire Chief Josh Peach said the fire caused minimal damage to a patio on the back of the home, and no damage to the house itself. No injuries were reported.
(Radio Iowa) – Republican lawmakers are blasting Ames school officials for material used in a Black Lives Matter Week of Action in the district. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton specifically cites online resources for teachers that classify voter I-D laws as voter suppression. “You’re indoctrinating kids with this garbage,” Kaufmann said, “and so I want to know how you can justify presenting one side of a blatantly wrong viewpoint.” G-O-P lawmakers called four officials from the Ames district to the statehouse for a House Oversight Committee hearing.
Anthony Jones, the district’s equity director, says the goal was to affirm black and L-G-B-T-Q students and improve their mental health and academic outcomes. “Letting them know that we see them, we hear them, we care about them,” he said, “and we appreciate them.” Representative Holly Brink, a Republican from Oskaloosa, says some of the L-G-B-T-Q material discussed in Ames classrooms was not age appropriate, making some children confused and unsettled.
“I do care about the mental health of our children, their mental welfare and when I hear individuals and children suffering, it concerns me a great deal,” Brink said. “…I just hope that you learn it’s education, not indoctrination.” Representative Rick Olson, a Democrat from Des Moines, says state regulations direct schools to take steps to integrate students.
“As a lawyer, I don’t hear anything coming from the table that the Ames school district did something wrong or illegal,” Olson says. The statehouse hearing lasted nearly two hours. Three Republicans mentioned police officers in Ames saying their children are being bullied at school and one had their car vandalized. An Ames School Board member asked G-O-P lawmakers to forward these and other complaints they’re receiving, with names redacted.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has approved a bill that would remove the requirement that license plates be attached to the front bumpers of SOME vehicles. Front plates would still be required on commercial vehicles, like semis and delivery trucks, but antique vehicles and newer, luxury vehicles that require gluing or drilling into the bumper to mount a plate would be exempt.
“The rest of the cars, the vast majority of cars, are still going to have a plate.” That’s Dan Zumbach, of Ryan, one of 29 senators who voted for the bill. Seventeen senators opposed the move. Senator Kevin Kinney of Oxford, a retired Johnson County Sheriff’s deputy, says a front license plate is a tool for law enforcement.
“I can think of at least three investigations which were serious investigations in which we were able to apprehend the suspect because of the front license plate,” Kinney says. Kinney says one was a convenience store robbery and the other two were bank robberies where the front license plates were recorded on security footage the crime scene. Another senator said the bill would be a financial hit for a company in Marion that makes license plate frames for front bumper plates. If the bill becomes law, police would not be able to make traffic stops solely on the basis of a missing front license plate.
The Page County Sheriff’s Office released a lengthy report on arrests and incidents dating back to February 26th.
That same day (Feb. 26th), at around 11:07 PM, Page County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of a motor vehicle accident on the HWY 2 Bridge over the Nodaway River. This is approximately 1 mile east of Clarinda, IA. The Deputies located Clara Sue Davison (29) of rural Clarinda, IA near the accident scene. The vehicle, a 2012 Dodge Journey, is registered to Darren Davison of the same address in rural Clarinda, IA.
Clara Davison stated that she was not driving the vehicle and didn’t know who was when the vehicle that was traveling east on HWY 2 crossed the center line of the bridge and struck the north railing prior to coming to rest in the westbound lane of the bridge. Davison was transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center by Clarinda Ambulance service with unknown injuries.
The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Clarinda Police Department, the Clarinda Fire Department, and the Clarinda Ambulance Service. Clara Davison was cited into the Page County Magistrate on charges of Public Intoxication. Damage to the Davison vehicle was estimated at $14,500. Damage to the bridge is estimated at $6,000.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An organization representing Iowa’s Hispanic population has filed a lawsuit to challenge a new Iowa voting measure passed with only Republican votes a day after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it into law. The League of United Latin American Citizens is represented by Washington-based voting rights lawyer Marc Elias in the lawsuit filed in state court in Des Moines. The law shortens time for voters to cast mail ballots, reduces days voters can request a ballot and shortens the time polls are open on Election Day. The lawsuit claims it creates an undue burden on the fundamental right to vote citing numerous violations of voters’ constitutional rights.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa journalist recounted getting pepper sprayed and arrested while covering a protest for racial justice last year, testifying in her own defense at her widely-watched trial on charges stemming from the incident. Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri told jurors she was running away from a scene where riot police had shot tear gas to disperse protesters outside a mall in Des Moines, Iowa. She said that after she rounded the corner of a Verizon store, she saw an officer charging at her and she put her hands up and said she was press. She said she was grabbed, pepper sprayed and arrested anyway. Sahouri and her former boyfriend are charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts. Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Wednesday.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A 33-year-old Georgia man has been sentenced for using information from dozens of University of Iowa employees to obtain federal tax refunds. Federal prosecutors say Edoghogho Collins Oloton, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors say Oloton worked with other people to launder dozens of money orders bought with the fraudulent tax refunds. The scheme netted more than $60,000 from tax refunds from University of Iowa employees. More than $1.4 million in illegal funds passed through bank accounts associated with the scheme between February and April 2015.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A 24-year-old man is facing life in prison after being convicted of killing a 4-week-old child in 2018. A Fayette County jury on Tuesday convicted Dean Alan Hettinger, of Westgate, of first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. Prosecutors say 4-week-old Holten Smith was hospitalized in Sumner in April 2018. KCRG-TV reports the child died a month later. Doctors said he had a brain bleed and an autopsy found 36 rib fractures. Hettinger was one of the child’s caretakers. He faces a mandatory life sentence plus up to 50 years when he is sentenced.
JON JAY BURMEISTER, 79, of Harlan, died Tuesday, March 9th, in Harlan. A Public Viewing for JON BURMEISTER will be held from 2-until 8-p.m. Thursday, March 11th, at the Burmeister-Johannsen Funeral Home, in Harlan.
A Private graveside service will be held at a later date.
Online condolences may be left at www.burmeisterjohannsen.com.
JON JAY BURMEISTER is survived by:
His wife – Beverly Burmeister, of Harlan.
His son – Seth (Kimberly) Burmeister, of Omaha.
2 grandchildren, other relatives & friends.
Class 2A Quarterfinals
#3 Des Moines Christian 58, #6 Beckman Catholic, Dyersville 38
#2 Western Christian, Hull 71, #7 Camanche 55
Class 3A Quarterfinals
#1 Ballard 68, #8 Clear Lake 45
#5 Assumption, Davenport 56, #4 Dallas Center-Grimes 42
#6 Sergeant Bluff-Luton 38, #3 Epworth, Western Dubuque 37 OT
#2 Pella 59, #7 Monticello 46