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

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The annual report on greenhouse gases in Iowa shows the emissions of those gases has fallen for the second year in a row. D-N-R senior environmental specialist, Marnie (Mar-nee) Stein, says statewide emissions decreased by two percent from 2015 levels. She says emission levels have decreased as Iowa’s power source has changed. “Power plant emissions have decreased 40 percent from their peak in 2010, and the amount of wind generation of electricity in Iowa has increased from four percent in 2005 to up to 37 percent in 2016,” Stein explains, “while the amount of electricity generated in Iowa from coal has decreased from 78 percent to 47 percent.” The power plant emissions decreased by 14 percent in the last year.  “It’s a combination of some units switching from coal to natural gas and then some units not being run because there is enough wind in the state to provide electricity on some days,” Stein says.

The emissions from power plants were the only greenhouse gas source in the state to see a decline in this year’s report, and they offset the increases in other areas, which were about five percent. “The largest source of greenhouse emissions in Iowa are actually in agriculture –they are about 31 percent — and then power plants emit about 20 percent. And then fossil fuels used by homes, businesses and industries is about 25 percent, and then transportation is about 15 percent,” according to Stein. There are a couple of sources of emissions from agriculture. “The majority of emissions from agriculture are from crop production, from fertilizer which goes through the nitrification process which emits N-two-oh (N20)– which is a greenhouse gas,” Stein says. “And the other half of emissions are from animals — from things like cows — and then manure.”

Stein says the agriculture emissions are estimated using formulas based on the amount of acres farmed and the number of animals. Overall the report says the state let loose 128 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2016. “That’s the same amount of greenhouse gases that would come if you sent six million tons of garbage to the landfill instead of recycling it,” Stein says. “And another way to view it is it would take 151 million acres of trees to store the amount of carbon that was emitted last year.”

This is the 11th greenhouse gas inventory report that is mandated by the Iowa Legislature to document emissions trends and track progress in reducing emissions.

(Radio Iowa)

Red Oak Police arrested a man at around 4:30-a.m. today (Monday), on drug charges. Officers arrested 60-year old Charles William Taylor, of Red Oak, at the Cubbies Convenience Store on charges that include Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance/Meth – 3rd or greater offense, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Taylor was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A teenager has killed a mountain lion on a hunting trip in northwestern Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that 17-year-old Jacob Altena of Rock Rapids was hunting deer Saturday about a half-mile west of Akron when he encountered the animal. The mountain lion is believed to be the sixth killed in Iowa in recent history. Five previous kills have been reported to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The DNR says there have been three confirmed mountain lion sightings in Iowa in 2017.

Mountain lions generally come from western South Dakota and Nebraska, which both have natural populations. The animals are uncommon in Iowa. They are not listed as a furbearer and have no protected status in Iowa.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have identified the three Omaha men who died in a head-on crash on Interstate 480. Police say 32-year-old Alvaro Contreras was driving northbound in the southbound lanes of Interstate 480 just before 1 a.m. Sunday when the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze he was driving collided with a 2000 Chevrolet Impala. The Impala was driven by 33-year-old Homero Guerrero, and 37-year-old Alberto Longino-Maldonado was a passenger. All three men were killed.

Police say suspected alcohol use by both drivers and Contreras’ wrong-way driving are considered factors in the crash. The crash occurred near the intersection of Interstates 480 and 80. Police have said both vehicles were traveling between 50 mph and 60 mph.

Sioux City is the first city in the state to install a wheelchair charging station. Angela Drent of Siouxland District Health says the station to power up electric motor wheelchairs in the city’s downtown, at the Martin Luther King Ground Transportation Center.  “This wheelchair charging station is equipped with a standard power outlet and a 24-volt, 5-amp charger,” she says, “that really allows people who use wheelchairs or scooters an opportunity to get a full charge at a location other than their home.”

Alex Watters, a member of the city council in Sioux City, is wheelchair bound. Watters attended Friday’s official opening of the charging station. “For me, it’s really a testament to our city for the desire to be more inclusive and encourage those that use power wheelchairs or scooters to get out and about and not be afraid to lose charge,” Watter says. “I know that it’s happened to me before. I’ve been out and about on the trail system, driving across town and worried about wheelchair dying or not being able to get home.”

Watters says it takes about 30 minutes for a motorized scooter or wheelchair to get fully-charged at the new station. The Centers for Disease Control provided a grant to Sioux City and nine other communities across the country for the project.

(Radio Iowa)

Today: Partly to mostly cloudy. High 45 NW @ 20-35.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy w/flurries. Low 20. NW @ 20-30.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. NW @ 10-20. High 35

Wednesday: Mo. Cldy. High around 42.

Thursday: Mo. Cldy. High 35.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 50. Our 24-hour Low (at 7-a.m.) will be 25 (At 5:40-a.m. it was 34). Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 35 and the low was 7. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 64 in 1965. The Record Low for this date was -14 in 1917.

A report of a suspicious vehicle at the Casey’s General Store parking lot in Corning at around 8-p.m. Sunday, resulted in a man being arrested on a Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charge. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says Richard Alan Perez, of Carter Lake, was taken into custody and brought to the Adams County Jail, after two meth pipes were found in his vehicle.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports the separate arrests of a man and woman, Sunday evening. Deputies were called to Green Hollow outside of Thurman for a report of a disturbance ended up arresting 38-year old Rebecca Finken, of Woodbine.  She was taken into custody under the authority of a Pottawattamie County warrant for Probation Violation. Finken was brought to the Fremont County Jail and held awaiting transport to Pott. County.

And, 25-year old Anthony Allan Miller, of Hamburg, was arrested Sunday on warrants out of Adams County, for OWI and Failure to Appear [in court]. During his arrest, Fremont County Deputies located Meth and Marijuana in Miller’s possession. He was being held at the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center on $2,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Several days of strong winds in late October arrived at the wrong time for many farmers who saw their crops shrink as ears of corn fell to the ground in Nebraska and western Iowa. The damage varied, but in the hardest hit parts of central Nebraska some farmers reported yields dropping from an estimated 250 bushels an acre before the wind to 190 bushels afterward.

SIOUX CITY , Iowa (AP) — Tossing trash on the ground or spitting on the sidewalk will no longer carry the possibility of jail time in Sioux City. The Sioux City Journal reports the City Council recently scaled back the number of violations that specify imprisonment as an optional penalty. Before the move, littering and spitting on a sidewalk carried up to 30 days in jail. Fines for those offenses _ ranging from $65 to more than $600 _ remain in effect.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Texas woman has been found guilty of vehicular homicide for a Jan. 30 Davenport crash that killed 53-year-old Cynthia Elaine Jones. The Quad-City Times reports that in a ruling Friday, a judge rejected 58-year-old Lauria Lee Kelly’s defense that she was insane at the time of the crash. Kelly, of Alvarado, Texas, faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced Jan. 24.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Charles City man has been sentenced to up to 50 years in prison for the June shooting death of another man. The Courier reports that 36-year-old Antoine Williams was sentenced Friday for second-degree murder. Iowa law says he must serve nearly 38 years before he can be released. Williams was found guilty by a Floyd County jury in October of killing 36-year-old Nathaniel Fleming on June 30 in Charles City.