Iowa’s weather during the first month of 2018 featured a lot of extremes. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says the statewide average temperature of 18.9 degrees was just slightly (1/2-degree) colder than normal for a January in Iowa, but it was bitterly cold over the first half of the month and unseasonably warm over the second half. “Temperatures were as high as 60 degrees at Ottumwa and Keosauqua on January 26 and down as low as 28-below zero back on January 2 at several places across northern Iowa – among them Sioux City, Webster City and Sheldon,” Hillaker said.

Here in Atlantic, the average high for the month of January was 29. The average low was 9. The coldest day here in Atlantic, -27 on January 1^st. On New Year’s Day morning, a wind chill reading of 50-BELOW zero was recorded in Storm Lake. Conversely, there eight days during the month where the temperature climbed to at least 50 ABOVE zero somewhere in the state. It was a slightly wetter than normal January with a statewide average precipitation total of 1.03 inches. “A great majority of that precipitation came in the form of rain and most of that came out of one storm system between the 21st and 23rd of the month,” Hillaker said.

The warmest day during the month of January, in Atlantic, was on the 26^th, when we reached 54.

The statewide average for snowfall over the month was 4.4 inches – 3.3 inches less than usual for a January in Iowa. Most of the state’s snow fell in a blizzard that blasted northwest Iowa “Places like Spirit Lake, Sibley and Estherville had roughly 18 inches of snow for the month…about two-thirds of that coming in one storm centered on January 22nd,” Hillaker said. In Atlantic, we received a scattered total of 4-inches of snow, along with periods of mixed precipitation in the form of hail, sleet and freezing drizzle. Melted down, all the precipitation equated to three-quarters of an inch of rain.

Much of the southeast half of the state received just one or two inches of snow in January. “In some areas, there was not much precipitation at all, especially in the far southeast corner where a number of places were under a-half-inch of total amount of moisture for the month,” Hillaker said. “Places like Ottumwa, Fairfield and Mount Pleasant were very dry during the month of January.”

(Radio Iowa)

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A southern Iowa man has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge stemming from the death of his mother. Court records say 45-year-old Jason Carter entered a written plea Wednesday in Marion County District Court. A trial date has not been set.

In December a jury found Carter civilly liable for the June 2015 shooting death of 68-year-old Shirley Carter at her home in Knoxville. Carter and his father, Carter, blamed each other for the woman’s death. Bill Carter filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his son, and the Marion County jury found in the older man’s favor, ordering Jason Carter to pay $10 million to her estate.

Appointed Cass County Attorney Michael Hooper has announced he intends to run for the Republican nomination for the Office of the Cass County Attorney in 2018. In a statement, Hooper, who was appointed by the Cass County Board of Supervisors in January, said “As someone who has spent a great deal of time in the courtroom, I have the highest respect for the office and know firsthand how important it is for justice to prevail. I will aggressively prosecute criminal acts with reason and good judgment while upholding the principles of the Constitution.”

Cass County Atty. Michael Hooper

He said also, “A County Attorney must serve with integrity and be trusted. I am not a politician, and this is my first time running for public office. My choice to run now is due to my sincere belief that at this time I am prepared and qualified to seek this office, both professionally and personally. As part of my personal beliefs, I believe it is important to give back. I’ve worked professionally in the Cass County court system for the last seven years, and Cass County has been good to me, and I would welcome the opportunity to serve as your County Attorney.”

Michael Hooper is 43 years old and has been married to Erin Hooper for 15 years. They have three children.

A proposed amendment to insert legal rights for crime victims in Iowa’s constitution was the subject of two hearings at the capitol Wednesday. Paul Cassell, a law professor at the University of Utah, told Iowa lawmakers 34 other states refer to the rights of crime victims in their constitutions. “This would make a real world difference for those people,” Cassell said. “The experience in other states has been very positive and I hope Iowa will move forward make this a part of its constitution as well.”

Two organizations that advocate for crime victims registered their opposition. Kerri True-Funk of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault says the amendment is “largely symbolic” and will do little to protect victims. “When we’re talking about crime victims being heard in a situation, being valued as a person, we have to change our culture, not our constitution,” True-Funk said.

Lawmakers are still reviewing the proposed amendment and considering alterations before deciding whether it may advance to a committee.The proposal would put in the state constitution a requirement that victims be notified at multiple steps in the legal process and victims would be given the right to refuse to give a “deposition” — the legal term for a meeting before a trial when the defendant’s lawyer asks the victim questions. The proposed amendment would have to be okayed by legislators this year and again in either 2019 or 2020. Only then would it be placed on the ballot so Iowa voters could decide if the language is added to the state constitution.

(Radio Iowa)

The Council Bluffs Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are conducting a joint investigation  of an officer involved shooting that took place at 611 East Broadway, in Council Bluffs.
The incident took place shortly after 3am.  A preliminary investigation indicates that a Council Bluffs police officer, while responding to a call of suspicious vehicle on the business lot, discharged his firearm while attempting to take the driver  of the car into custody.

After being shot, the driver of the car sped off the lot and crashed, resulting in the car flipping onto its roof.  The driver  then fled the wrecked vehicle on foot and was apprehended after a short foot chase.
The injured driver was transported by ambulance to a metro area hospital for treatment.

Names of any officers involved, and of the suspect who was shot and crashed, are not being released at this time.  More  information will be released later this afternoon.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A report says a business conditions index for nine Midwest and Plains states slipped over the past month but still pointed to continuing improvement in regional economic conditions. The report released Thursday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index dropped to 57.3 in January from 59.0 in December. The November figure was 57.2. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says manufacturing and other business sectors in the region are adding jobs at a solid pace.

Iowa’s overall index climbed to 58.0 from 54.3 in December. Components were new orders at 67.4, production or sales at 67.8 delivery lead time at 42.2, employment at 51.3 and inventories at 61.1. Both durable- and non-durable goods manufacturing are experiencing growth well above that of the region and the nation. Goss said he expects this growth advantage to continue for the next three to six months..

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Sac-Crawford-Carroll-Audubon-Guthrie-Dallas Counties…

344 AM CST Thu Feb 1 2018 …Strong Wind Gusts Possible Through 6 AM… A cold front is pushing through the state and will be in Missouri by 6 AM. The front will usher in much colder air and winds behind the front are quite strong. There will be a 2 to 3 hour window with sustained wind speeds of 25 to 30 mph with gusts around 40 mph. The winds are expected to diminish some this morning and really drop off during the mid to late afternoon hours. Through 6 AM if you are driving, be prepared for strong wind gusts which could briefly impact driving…especially of high profile or light weight vehicles.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:38 a.m. CST

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa county has agreed to pay $285,000 to an Arizona man who was arrested, transported across the country and jailed for 68 days for a crime that he didn’t commit. The payment will resolve a federal lawsuit that 23-year-old Joseph McBride filed this month against Linn County and its longtime top prosecutor, County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden. McBride was wrongly accused of participating in a 2017 home invasion in Cedar Rapids, his former hometown.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa has announced plans to remove casino mogul Steve Wynn’s name from the school’s Institute for Vision Research in light of sexual misconduct allegations against Wynn. The university announced the move Wednesday in a news release. The university named the institute for Wynn in 2013 following his $25 million donation to the school to support blindness research.

FLOYD, Iowa (AP) — Officials in northeastern Iowa have released the names of all officers and deputies at the scene of the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis man, but have refused to say which officers fired their guns. Bremer County Attorney Kasey Wadding told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that he was “not ready to disclose” which officers fired their guns or which ones delivered the fatal shot. Officials say 29-year-old Jihad Merrick died after being shot Jan. 17 on Highway 218.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Preliminary data on the first three months of a new state-funded family planning program in Iowa shows it had a nearly 50 percent drop in enrollment since it switched to a system that excludes abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. The information in a 20-page state report shows an initial reduction in health care providers participating in the program and a decline in services being accessed during that time. The AP received the report as part of a records request.

A three-member panel in the state senate is delaying a decision on a bill that would do away with handwritten prescriptions on paper and require that all prescriptions be submitted to pharmacies electronically. Senator Tom Greene, a Republican from Burlington who is a retired pharmacist, says the bill would help curb the abuse of opioids and other controlled substances.  “I’ve so blatantly had people hand me a handwritten prescription the doctor wrote for 10 sleeping pills basically and they changed the one to a four,” Greene says. “Easy change.”

The Board of Pharmacy has suggested all prescriptions be made electronically by July of 2019. Lobbyists for the medical community say 17 months might not be enough time for providers, especially in rural areas, to get the proper software in place. Greene and other senators may try to advance the bill, but put in longer lag time before it takes effect.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Sioux City Construction Office reports bridge demolition work on the Interstate 29 bridge over Floyd Boulevard in Sioux City will require closing Floyd Boulevard beginning 6 p.m. Friday, February 2, until 6 a.m. Monday, February 5, weather permitting.

Work will be performed 24 hours a day to minimize the length of this closure. Floyd Boulevard traffic will be asked to follow a detour route during this project. (See map for more information about the detour routes for this project. Click on image to enlarge) The trail along Floyd Boulevard will also be closed while the bridge work is being performed.

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles and wear seat belts.