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Officer injured when gunfire hits Des Moines police car

News

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say a Des Moines police patrol car was hit by gunfire as it traveled on a street just north of the city’s downtown. The gunfire Wednesday night hit a window, causing the glass to break and slightly injuring one of the two officers inside. The officer was treated by medics. The car was traveling along University Avenue, a major east-west thoroughfare. Investigators were talking with witnesses and trying to determine if the officers were the intended target.

(Podcast) KJAN 8-a.m. News, 12/26/19

News, Podcasts

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

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

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Heartbeat Today 12-26-2019

Heartbeat Today, Podcasts

December 26th, 2019 by Jim Field

Jim Field visits with Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning about the “Soiree with the Swans” on January 4 at the Schildberg Recreation Area.

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Court records: Woman says she threw son at hospital crib

News

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A woman who told investigators she threw her baby son at his hospital crib in Sioux City has pleaded not guilty. Court records say Megan James entered the plea Monday to child endangerment resulting in serious injury. A court document says James acknowledged to detectives that she’d became frustrated while trying to breastfeed her son two days after he was born on Nov. 15. She says he hit his head on the crib when she threw him and then on the hospital room floor. The document says he suffered skull fractures.

(Podcast) KJAN Morning Sports report, 12/26/19

Podcasts, Sports

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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2 arrests, 1 break-in reported Tuesday, in Creston

News

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The Creston Police Department reports two arrests took place and one break-in was reported, Tuesday. Authorities say 32-year old Ashley Wolf, of Kent, was arrested Tuesday afternoon for Driving While Suspended. She was subsequently released on a $300 bond. And, 49-year old Christopher Brown, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday night, for Assault with Injury. He was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

A Creston man reported to police late Tuesday morning, that sometime overnight Monday into early Tuesday morning, someone broke a window to his garage located in the 200 block of N. Jarvis Street. Once inside, the person or persons unknown stole an impact socket and then rummaged through a vehicle before taking the owner’s manual. Damages and the value of the items taken were estimated at $200.

(7:06-a.m. Newscast)

(Podcast) KJAN Morning News & Funeral report, 12/26/19

News, Podcasts

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

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

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New webinar shows Iowa teachers, school nurses signs of vaping

News

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Before the holiday break, state officials distributed new resources to help Iowa schools respond to the “vaping” epidemic. The latest data shows 29 percent of Iowa 11th graders admit they use an electronic cigarette DAILY and experts say adults often do not know what the devices look like.

Melissa Walker of the Iowa Department of Education, works with school nurses throughout the state. She says “Iowa school nurses and teachers are in a unique position because of their ability to reach students, families and their school community.”

Walker’s agency and the Iowa Department of Public Health have developed a webinar for teachers and school nurses. It outlines the illnesses students who vape tend to have and the various devices that are used to vape. Some look like watches, with a time and date display. Others are fashioned to resemble flash drives or high lighters.

“The more we equip our educators, students and families with evidence-based information, the better the chances that students will make responsible, healthy choices,” Walker says. “School nurses and teachers are in a great position to do this work because of the relationships they build with their students.”

Posters are also being distributed to Iowa schools — to show students that one vaping pod can have as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes.

Coralville police: 1 person fatally shot, 2 others wounded

News

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Police say one person was fatally shot and two others wounded during a Christmas night shooting in the Iowa City suburb of Coralville. Officers responding to a report of a shooting around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday found three adults suffering from gunshots. They were taken to hospitals, and one of the people died. The names of those involved haven’t been released. No arrests have been reported.

The Decade: ‘bumpy ride’ for ag and tech sectors of economy

Ag/Outdoor, News

December 26th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Economists taking stock as Iowa enters the 2020s indicate this decade has been a “bumpy ride” for key sectors, like agriculture and technology. Iowa State University ag economist Chad Hart says there were about 93-thousand farms in Iowa in 2007. “In 2017, they updated the Census of Agriculture. We only had 86,000, so we have seen the number of farms shrink,” Hart says. “That means the average size of the farm has grown…It takes more money to farm these days. We’ve seen incomes rise, but we’ve also seen expenses rise.”

The other thing that’s rising is the number of farmers who have off-the-farm jobs, according to Hart. “We have some farm families that are surviving by not necessarily growing the farm, but relying upon the farm as part of the portfolio of their economic activity,” Hart says. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says there’s more volatility in Iowa’s agriculture AND manufacturing sectors now than in previous decades because of global competition.  “This presents challenges but opportunities,” Goss says. “One other factor that Iowa has been pretty successful historically in attracting workers from other nations. That’s legal migration and, of course, that’s slowed down pretty dramatically over the last couple of years.”

Dave Swenson, another economist from Iowa State University, says manufacturing and construction are “reasonably bright spots” in Iowa’s economy. “In contrast to the nation, we have more people working in construction than we did before the ‘Great Recession,'” Swenson says, “and our manufacturing sector has recovered to close to what it was prior to the recession.” But Swenson says while the state’s unemployment rate is historically low — overall job growth in Iowa lags behind most other states. “We have fewer fast-growing sectors in our economy compared to the nation,” Swenson says. “Our information sector contracted sharply, but the subset of that information sector — for example, IT — it also contracted. Whereas nationally IT and IT-related business opportunities are growing and especially in hot spots like Seattle and the San Francisco area and Denver and places like that.”

Goss, the Creighton University economist, regularly surveys purchasing managers and bankers in Iowa and other Midwest states. He’s concerned by the declining number of independent banks. “That becomes a real challenge for lending in the area as farmers, manufacturers, individuals don’t have a source for borrowing or savings in a bank that’s locally tied,” Goss says. “Those banks that are independent, community banks — they understand their customers.”

According to the State Banking Division, about 30 state-chartered banks closed between 2011 and 2018 and more than 50 federally-regulated community banks closed during that period. Those trends are happening in other states as well. Iowa ranks 30th overall in terms of economic output. According to the latest federal data, the state’s gross domestic product rose just over one percent in the second quarter of this year.