(Radio Iowa) – We are starting to slowly move out of the subzero temperature pattern the state has been in the last several days. National Weather Service Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff says temperatures across much of Iowa are already on the positive side.

“We’ll be in the low single digits this afternoon, here for Tuesday. So that will be warmer than we’ve seen the past few days,” she says. “Of course, at this point, everything’s relative based on how cold it has been.” She says they’ve we’ve transitioned the wind chill warning to a wind chill advisory that will last through Wednesday morning. Then we’ll have a small heat wave hit the state.

“We’ve got highs in the low 20s across a good portion of Iowa. So there’s our warm up. Unfortunately, that Wednesday warm up will be a little short lived. We’re going to be back into the freezer for Friday and Saturday highs in the single digits,” Hagenhoff says. The single digits will only last a couple of days.
“Sunday we’ve got highs in the 20s and by Monday and Tuesday we’ve got mid 30s across most of Iowa, so that’s whenever the real warm up starts to take place,” Hagenhoff says.

She says the warmer temperatures will help melt some of the snow that was part of the reason for the extremely cold temperatures. “It does a really good job of keeping us cold. Part of that is because it’s really reflective and so you get the sunshine on it and reflects that heat right back out. And so we don’t get as warm,” Hagenhoff says. “So we’ll have to overcome that a little bit here. Which is a reason that we tend to stay so cold once you get a snow pack like that. But the good news is it does still look like by early next week we should start to eat away at that snow pack.” She says we tend to get a these Arctic outbreaks a couple times each winter.

(Creston, Iowa) – No one was injured during a collision this (Tuesday) afternoon, in Creston. According to Creston Police, a 2015 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 58-year-old Jimmy Lee Flanigan, of Creston, was traveling north on Park Street at around 1:27-p.m., when the pickup was struck by a 2009 Chevy Silverado pickup. The driver of the Chevy was identified as 71-year-old Robert Kevin Cottrell, of Creston.

Police say Cottrell failed to yield the right-of-way at the intersection of Park Street and Lake Avenue as he was eastbound on Lake. After the Chevy pickup struck the Ford pickup on the left rear side, the Ford struck a telephone pole head-on.

No citations were issued. Damage from the collision amounted to $10,000 altogether.

DES MOINES, Iowa – On January 11, 2024, a Marshalltown man was sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to crimes of insurance fraud.

In 2018, following the EF-3 tornado that hit Marshalltown, Iowa, Timothy D. Sletten, 32, engaged in two separate schemes to defraud State Farm, the insurer of Sletten’s numerous residential rental properties, including presenting false work invoices for claim benefits. Again in 2020, following the derecho disaster in Marshalltown, Sletten presented false work invoices from contractors alleging he had paid the contractors for repairs to disaster-related damage to his rental homes when in fact he had not done so. As a result of these fraudulent schemes, State Farm paid Sletten loss claim benefits totaling just over $180,000. Following the 2020 derecho, State Farm opened an internal investigation that caused the company to deny payment of disaster-related claims made by Sletten.

Additionally, Sletten was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay full restitution. Following his prison term, Sletten will be required to serve three years of federal supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Iowa Insurance Fraud Bureau and the Marshalltown Police Department investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Laura M. Roan prosecuted the case.

ATLANTIC, IA (January 16, 2024) – Produce in the Park is seeking to hire a farmers market manager with skills in marketing and event promotion and a passion for community. The farmers
market manager is a part-time position responsible for managing Produce in the Park’s weekly summer farmers market on Thursday evenings in the Atlantic City Park and four holiday farmers markets just prior to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter.

Produce in the Park farmers markets don’t just focus on local food and craft vendors, the events create community by offering activities and entertainment for people of all ages. While knowledge of local food and business management skills are preferred, the market manager will be primarily responsible for marketing and promotion of the farmers markets through social
media, radio, and print media, as well as vendor and sponsor recruitment and scheduling market activities and entertainment.

In this part-time position, the market manager will be required to be on-site in Atlantic at all farmers markets from set up through clean up, while market preparation work can be done
off-site on a flexible schedule. The position requires approximately 20 hours a week from mid-May through mid-October, and approximately 5-10 hours a week in the off-season. The position is expected to pay $15-20 dollars per hour depending on experience.

Produce in the Park is a non-profit organization, and the market manager will report to a board of directors who set market policies and deadlines. For additional details on the position and to apply, visit https://www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com/now-hiring.html.

For the latest information on all Produce in the Park markets, follow Produce in the Park on
Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/).

(Radio Iowa) – The acts are being announced for the popular Hinterland Music Festival that’s held in the southern Iowa town of Saint Charles. A total of 24 acts are being released now, with more to come later. Some of the headliners include: Hozier, Vampire Weekend, Noah Kahan, Lizzy McAlpine, Orville Peck, Hippo Campus and Charley Crockett.

Founded in 2015, the three-day concert series is billed as a music and camping festival, curated for people who love both music and the outdoors. The venue is the Avenue of the Saints Amphitheater in Saint Charles, about 30 miles south of Des Moines.

The dates are August 2nd through the 4th and tickets go on sale this Friday.

(Radio Iowa) – The body of Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger will be returned to Perry today (Tuesday). The 56-year-old Marburger was wounded in the shooting at the school January 4th and died Sunday morning at a Des Moines hospital. Community members are invited to line the procession route and dress in blue to honor Marburger.

The procession is expected to arrive in Perry around 1:30 this afternoon off Highway 141 on its way to the Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home.

Eleven-year-old student Ahmir Joliff died in the shooting — and investigators says the student shooter — 17-year-old Dylan Butler took his own life.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is postponing the trout stockings scheduled for this Friday, Jan. 19 at Big Lake, Council Bluffs, and Moorland Pond, Fort Dodge, due to unsafe ice conditions and extreme cold weather.

The stockings will be completed after the ice thickens. A news release will announce when the stockings have been completed.

The family fishing event also scheduled for this Saturday at Big Lake has been canceled and will not be rescheduled.

Upcoming trout stockings are still on schedule with significantly colder weather in the forecast. Winter storms last week may slow ice formation by insulating the ice with snow. Check the DNR Trout Fishing website at www.iowadnr.gov/trout for the most up to date information.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County (IA) Auditor’s Office has released the open positions for Cass County and the signature requirements needed to appear on the ballot in advance of the June 4th Primary.  Nomination papers can begin to be circulated at anytime to collect the needed signatures, however, these papers can not be filed with the Auditor’s Office until March 4, 2024 thru March 22, 2024.

Here are a couple important dates for candidates and registered voters to remember:

• March 4 County candidate Filing begins
• March 22 County candidate filing ends (Auditor’s Office open until 5:00 p.m.)
• March 26 First day to submit absentee ballot requests (to be mailed)
• May 15 Absentee voting begins in office and by mail
• May 20 Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail (Auditor’s office open until 5:00 p.m.)
• June 1 (Saturday) Auditor’s office open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for voting purposes
• June 3 Last day to vote in person in the Auditor’s office
• June 4 Primary Election Day
• June 4 All absentee ballots must be received by 8:00 p.m. to be counted
• June 11 Official Canvass of Election (results official)

Additional details will be forthcoming. Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns said she wanted to get this information out to now, as there are already candidates and voters asking many questions.

Click HERE for information on the signature requirements.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Montgomery County, today (Tuesday), set the date for a public hearing on an FY 23/24 Budget Amendment. The hearing takes place Feb. 6^th, at 8:45-a.m. In their Board Room at the Montgomery County Courthouse.

They also tentatively set Feb. 27^th as the date for setting the first hearing on the FY 24/25 Budget. The hearing would then be held March 19^th, and the second hearing on April 9^th.

Auditor Jill Ozuna said the while date of February 27^th is not set in stone, there’s also “Not a lot of room for error” in getting the public hearing dates set, as the budget deadline is April 30^th.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County (IA) Board of Supervisors, during their meeting Tuesday morning in Atlantic, approved the County’s use of a funding request form. Board Chair Steve Baier explains…

The form is designed to provide a standardized means of submitting information in applications for County funding by non-profit organizations and agencies, and a means of accountability. In other business, the Board approved the hiring of a Cass County Attorney/Sheriff’s Office liaison, at a rate of $25 per hour.

Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas explained.

The person hired will hopefully start within a couple weeks, according to Strazdas.