The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.6MB)
Subscribe: RSS
(Radio Iowa) – While there have been scattered showers, parts of Iowa have had very little rain since mid-summer and the continued dry weather is drawing down soil moisture levels. State climatologist Justin Glisan says while drought conditions are lessening in some areas, they’re worsening elsewhere, as much of Iowa’s western third is now in moderate to severe drought. “Subsoil conditions across much of the region show a below-normal percentile,” Glisan says. “Recent warm and windy days produced higher evaporate demand in the atmosphere, so the atmosphere is thirsty, especially for this time of year, those conditions allow for extraction of any subsoil moisture or surface moisture that we see.”
We’re heading into a drier time of year, so Glisan says it will be difficult to recharge soil moisture levels before spring. “With a lack of precipitation, this makes rainfall infiltration when we do get it harder to get down deep,” he says. Glisan says that lack of soil moisture may bring some help to Iowa’s farmers in the spring. “The silver lining here is that moving into the growing season, drier-than-normal conditions will make field work and planting easier,” Glisan says. “If you go back, the last two or three years, we’ve had pretty wet conditions going into the growing season with record subsoil moisture which delayed planting.”
Conditions could change within a matter of several weeks, as Glisan says the trends point to above-normal precipitation for January through March.
(Radio Iowa) – The annual Farm Bureau survey finds the cost of a typical Thanksgiving dinner for ten people has dropped by two dollars this year. The Iowa Farm Bureau’s director of agriculture analytics and research, Sam Funk, says the drop in overall meal cost comes as the turkey cost fell seven percent — to around one-dollar, 21 cents per pound. The other dishes include: stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee and milk. Funk says the producers of some of the side dishes haven’t had the easiest year. “Some of the dairy products — such as the whipped cream that might be going on that pumpkin pie — or you think about of some of these other products coming to the marketplace, overall its been a year of ups and downs, but overall it ends up being a more affordable Thanksgiving dinner,” he says.
Funk says some people like to have a ham for the holiday too — and they did a side survey on their cost and found no change. “While we may have an unchanged price for hams to go on the table, according to the survey, that’s still a pretty good factor to think about the recovery that the meat industry has been able to have — that they have enough hams through all this adversity through this pandemic to again put hams on your plate,” according to Funk.
Funk says the actual cost for the meal came in at 46-dollars, 90 cents. He says the inflation-adjusted price was lower than we have had in a very long time. “That’s a multiplied blessing for a lot of families.” Funk says farmers have seen some recent increases in commodity prices, but he says they go into next year with concerns. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty as you look at it going forward. I think one of the aspects that we need to consider now and to be thankful for is the fact that we have an abundance of food in the United States,” Funk says. “We still have one of the lowest costs of food that you’ll find. The percentage our disposable income that we will pay for food in the United States is frankly one of the lowest that you will find across the world.”
This is the 35th year the Farm Bureau has conducted its Thanksgiving dinner survey.
Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard today (Tuesday), shows 19 additional deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 since Monday’s 10-a.m. report, for a total of 2,224. The number of deaths attributed to a pre-existing condition statewide are up two, to 1,312, while deaths at Long-Term Care facilities amount to 1,008, four more than on Monday. There is one more death to report in each of Adair and Shelby Counties.
Officials say there have been 3,860 new confirmed, Positive cases of the virus reported since yesterday, for a total since the pandemic began, of 215,512. Cass County has 11 new, Positive cases of COVID, for a total of 755. There are 24 more Long-Term Care facility (LTC) outbreaks, for a record total of 143. Those care facilities report 4,553 positive cases and 1,944 recovered. Cass County’s three LTC facilities have a total of 205 confirmed positive cases and 121 recovered.
After five days of lower hospitalization rates, the stats nearly doubled, from 1,333 Monday to 1,351 today. There are: 275 patients in intensive care; 165 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, up from 135 a day earlier, and there are 155 people on a ventilator, 20 more than on Monday. In western/southwestern Iowa: there are 71 COVID patients in the hospital (Up 6 from Monday); 18 are in an ICU (4 less than yesterday); 13 people were admitted to a hospital (8 more than Monday), and seven people are on a ventilator, an increase of two from yesterday.
The state’s data shows that 1,177,279 Iowans have been tested for coronavirus. Test results received yesterday amounted to 8,101, with 6,288 coming back Negative and 1,800 Positive. Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate is 19.7%, and the Individual Positivity rate is 18.3%. Cass County’s Positivity rate is at 19.9%. Union County has the highest rate in southwest Iowa, at 25%, followed by Taylor County, at 24.1%. Audubon County is the lowest, at 11.5%.
The IDPH says 119,685 Iowans have recovered from the virus. In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,
Red Oak Police have arrested two people on separate charges. At around 2:22-a.m. Tuesday (today), 23-year old Skylar Lee Bingham, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 500 block of E. Nuckols Street, on a Cass County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding air flow. Bingham was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $2,000 bond. And, at around 10:32-p.m. Monday, Red Oak Police arrested 18-year old Angel Rose Arzola, of Red Oak, for Simple Assault. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.
GAY BANNISTER, 86, of Atlantic, died Sunday, Nov. 22nd, at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic. An open visitation for GAY BANNISTER will be held from 4-until 7-p.m. Friday, Nov. 27th, at the Hockenberry Funeral Home in Atlantic.
Private graveside services will be held in the Arlington Heights Cemetery in Audubon.
Memorials may be directed to the family’s wishes.
GAY BANNISTER is survived by:
Her daughters – Tami (Louie) Aquirre, of Arlington, TX; Shelly (Tom) Schwenneker, and Angie (Donnie) Cook, all of Atlantic; and Jane (Andy) Kidder, of Council Bluffs.
9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa sophomore forward Jack Nunge is expected to miss the Hawkeyes season opener on Wednesday against North Carolina Central. Nunge’s father, Mark, died over the weekend.
That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery who says Nunge is with his family in Indiana.
(Radio Iowa) – The leader of the union that represents correctional officers says it’s time for the state prison system to quit accepting new admissions from county jails. AFSCME Council 61 president Danny Homan says if that inconveniences sheriffs and others in the criminal justice system, so be it. “We don’t need their problems coming in there,” Homan says. “We need to shut this department down. Leave all inmates where they’re at and we need and we need to do this for four weeks, so that we can figure out what’s going on inside the walls.”
A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections says halting admissions shifts the burden to county jails, most of which are ill-equipped to handle overcrowding or deal with an outbreak of the virus. Coronavirus outbreaks have been reported at state prison facilities in Coralville, Fort Dodge, Mount Pleasant, Anamosa, Rockwell City and Clarinda. Homan says he’s concerned the state prison in Newton will be the site of the next outbreak. The department’s website shows 11 Newton inmates have recently tested positive for Covid.
“If we’re going to stop this inside the Department of Corrections, inside the state’s institution, we have to take drastic action,” Homan says, “and I believe the only way to do that is to stop admissions.” Last week, state officials confirmed a staffer at the state prison for women in Mitchellville died of Covid. Homan says the corrections department now plans to distribute N-95 face masks, which provide an elevated level of protections, to all staff, not just those who have direct contact with a Covid-positive inmate. Homan says another key concern is more staff are working double-shifts because others are sick or in quarantine because of an exposure.
“They’ve expended every ounce of energy they can and they’re just going to work on sheer will and that makes them vulnerable for a lot of other things,” Homan says. “Staffing is one of the biggest problems we have within the Department of Corrections.” Homan, who held an online news conference Monday afternoon, says staff should be able to get regular access to Covid testing. “I am a proponent of all staff getting tested, simply because they’re working inside a petri dish called a prison,” Homan says.
But Homan says he’s well aware that because of the nature of the virus, a negative test result today doesn’t mean someone might not test positive for the virus tomorrow. Cord Overton, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections, accuses Homan of trying to score cheap political points rather than focus on how to best support each other through the pandemic.
(AMES, Iowa) — Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly will quarantine for 14 days following exposure to the coronavirus. Fennelly said he has since tested negative along with everyone in the Iowa State program but is following medical advice that includes the quarantine. “I am thankful to have an amazing staff to manage the program while I’m away,” Fennelly said in the statement. “It will be hard to miss games, but I will watch and cheer along with the best fans in the nation. Our focus continues to be, as always, on the team and we are committed to doing everything we can to allow them to play safely.”
The Cyclones are scheduled to play games against Omaha, South Dakota State, TCU and South Carolina during Fennelly’s absence. Associate head coach Jodi Steyer will take over while Fennelly is in quarantine.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Chicago White Sox will host the New York Yankees in the rescheduled Field of Dreams game at Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 12. MLB says the plan is tentative, contingent on the status of public health next summer. The teams had been scheduled to play at the ballpark next to the “Field of Dreams” movie site last Aug. 13. When the schedule was revamped because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Yankees were replaced as the opponent by the St. Louis Cardinals, but the game was called off on Aug. 4. The rescheduled game will be MLB’s first in Iowa.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Scott Frost says linebacker Collin Miller is unlikely to play the rest of the season after he injured his spine making a tackle against Illinois. Miller suffered a spinal concussion, which is characterized by a temporary sensory impairment and motor weakness. It usually goes away in one to three days with no lasting effects. Miller was hurt early in the fourth quarter Saturday and taken off the field on a stretcher. He was hospitalized overnight. The senior captain from Fishers, Indiana, is the Cornhuskers’ fourth-leading tackler. He visited his teammates Monday at practice.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jared Goff threw for three touchdowns and the Los Angeles Rams held Tom Brady in check during a 27-24 win over the Buccaneers at Tampa Bay. Cooper Kupp had 11 receptions for 145 yards and Roberts Woods finished with 10 catches for 130 yards and a TD. Jordan Fuller picked off two passes from Brady, who finished 26 of 48 for just 216 yards and two touchdowns as the Bucs fell to 7-3.