The City Council in Walnut met Thursday evening. City Clerk Terri Abel reports one of the matters they discussed was with regard to the Streetscape and Fascade Projects. The Fascade project is 100-percent complete, all the storefronts are finished, which brings a new look to the downtown area, for a “New, old look.”

She said as far as the Streetscape is concerned, progress was made in the form of concrete being poured to replace the gravel sidewalks. The streetlights have yet to be installed and trees left to planted and other amenities taken care of, but overall, she says “We’re progressing.”

Abell said also the Council acted on certain street closings for the September 16^th and 17^th Walnut Antique Fall Festival. They include: Antique City Drive, from Pearl Street to Summit Street; Highland Street, both east and westbound, from Antique City Drive to the alley. The streets will be closed effective 6-p.m. Friday, Sept. 16^th and reopen Sunday evening the 17^th.

And, the Walnut City Council discussed the issue of Animal Control. Abel said they briefly talked about requiring a certificate of insurance for all dog owners, but they opted not to do so, and therefore there is no change to the ordinance.

SPENCER, Iowa (AP) – Authorities suspect a man fatally shot in Spencer was trying to break into a home. Thirty-year-old Nicolas Bandomo was shot early on Sept. 1, and police said Thursday they think he was trying to reach people in the home whom he’d been barred by protection orders from contacting.

Bandomo fled to a nearby residence after he was shot. Police say he was taken to Spencer Hospital and then died after he was transferred to a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hospital. He lived in Albert City.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is aiding Spencer Police with the case.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – An organization that offers mental health services for children has announced plans for a new $6 million behavioral health campus in western Iowa.
Officials with the Boys and Girls Home and Family Services announced the plans Thursday. The organization says the new site in Sioux City will be completed in three phases over the next four years.

The Sioux City Journal reports the nonprofit has struggled to maintain and upgrade aging infrastructure on its main campus, where some portions were built in 1913. The organization’s CEO, Art Silva, says leaders wanted a new location that would be more cost effective and offer a more “campus-like” setting.

About $3 million has been raised, including a $350,000 grant from Tyson Foods.

A central Iowa girl was killed and two other teens were badly hurt when the car they were riding in collided with a semi-truck on Thursday afternoon. Des Moines police say a car with three teenagers inside rolled through a stop sign and into an intersection where it was broadsided by a semi-truck.

One of the passengers in the car, 14-year-old Savannah Bonds of Des Moines, was killed. The other two teens were reported in critical condition, 17-year-old Dayton Anderson and 18-year-old Mackenzie Tilton. It’s unclear which one was driving. The trucker wasn’t hurt.

(Radio Iowa)

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A new pork processing plant going online in northwest Iowa is relying heavily on robotics and automation is becoming more common in all sorts of Iowa businesses. Ryan Osborn, president of Junior Achievement of Central Iowa, notes how some fast food restaurants now direct patrons to place their orders using touch pads instead of talking to a real person.

“Domino’s is going to be having cars that drive themselves to deliver your pizza,” Osborn says. “I think you’re just going to continue to see a ripple effect as the technology becomes available and consumers are going to have to get comfortable adapting to that.”

A new survey by Junior Achievement finds 77-percent of parents are concerned about their children’s ability to have a successful job or career as adults due to global competition and automation. The same percentage of teens surveyed had similar concerns. Many entry-level jobs we know today won’t be around in the next decade, Osborn says, and many of the jobs of tomorrow haven’t even been conceived of yet.

Osborn says, “When we think of education in preparing our next generation, the good-paying jobs that will be available for them, we’ll really have to think, what skills are they going to need and how can they be a value to the workforce and make sure we’re educating our young people in a way that sets them up for success.”

It’s vital to encourage young people to explore post-secondary education, whether it’s at a university, community college, or a technical or trade school. Osborn says having some level of technical training is critical as a high school diploma or G-E-D just won’t be enough for many jobs.

“Automation can continue to increase, but that’s just going to put more emphasis on the soft skills that only human beings can bring to the table, such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication with each other,” Osborn says. “Those are skills we certainly try to promote and foster here at Junior Achievement.”

The non-profit J-A of Central Iowa reached nearly 30-thousand students last year through a network of more than two-thousand volunteers in 29 central Iowa counties. Osborn says they focus on the core concepts of promoting financial literacy, instilling work readiness skills and inspiring entrepreneurship.

(Radio Iowa) (More at www.jacentraliowa.org)

A traffic stop at around 1:15-a.m. today (Friday) in Creston, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Clarke County on an OWI charge. Creston Police say 55-year old Tammy Annette Moore, of Murray, was pulled over at the corner of Highway 34 and Pine Street in Creston, and arrested for OWI/3rd offense, as well as for Driving While Barred. Moore was being held in the Ringgold County Jail.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A possible drowning is under investigation in north-central Iowa.  The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday afternoon received a 911 call from Little Wall Lake south of Jewell on the discovery of a body in the lake. When emergency personnel arrived on the scene, they confirmed the subject was deceased.

The body was taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny for an autopsy. Hamilton County sheriff Doug Timmons said that no foul play is suspected. The name of the individual has not been released with the incident under investigation.

(Radio Iowa)