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Audubon Back in the Quarterfinal to do Battle with Remsen St. Mary’s

Sports

November 7th, 2024 by Christian Adams

For the first time since 2021, the Audubon Wheelers Football Team is back in the quarterfinals.  The Wheelers are 10-0 after their second consecutive undefeated regular season and two convincing playoff wins. However, their quarterfinal opponent might be their toughest challenge yet. In a rematch of the 2022 first round, Audubon will face a fellow undefeated team in Remsen St. Mary’s. In a clash of two top teams with a trip to the UNI Dome on the line, the stakes are a little higher than last time. Head Coach Sean Birks says he and his team are excited to return to the quarterfinal.

After a convincing 38-7 win over East Mills, the Wheelers followed it up with an arguably more impressive 42-18 second-round win over Woodbine. The offense was hot right from the start, scoring on the first four drives. The ground game was effective, collecting 231 yards and three touchdowns, with quarterback Carson Wessel earning 145 of those yards. The defense was also lights out, as Aaron Olsen and the defense forced four interceptions, while the special teams unit forced two more. It was a game Audubon controlled for much of the contest. Birks credited his team’s start as a main factor in gaining control of the game.

Although happy with the performance against Woodbine, there is always room for improvement. Birks knows they will have to step things up against the Hawks.

Standing in the way of a trip to the UNI Dome is a Remsen St. Mary’s team that is accustomed to winning. Winning a championship just two seasons ago they are back and looking to once again reach the pinnacle of Iowa 8-man football. Their offense, led by Landon Waldschmitt, is a physical one that produces well over 40 points per game. Birks says that limiting their production and forcing them into uncomfortable down and distances will be key.

The Hawks also bring one of the better 8-man defenses to the table as well. Led by Braxton Kneip and his 54 tackles, they have allowed more than 12 points just once. The key to putting up points against this tough defense: eliminating negative plays

You can catch all the action on KJAN starting at 6 pm Thursday.

Posted in Sports |

Forecasters want Iowans to start prepping for the snowy season

News, Weather

November 7th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – We still have about six weeks of fall left, but today (Thursday) is Winter Weather Awareness Day in Iowa. Meteorologist Chad Hahn, at the National Weather Service, says it’s important for Iowans to be aware and prepared for whatever may be around the corner, including ice, snow and bitter cold. “It’s a good time for us to begin to transition out of what we traditionally think as our warm season hazards, thunderstorms, hail, winds, tornadoes, and some of the extreme heat that we have during the warm months, into what we know is going to be coming our way,” Hahn says. “Obviously, the cold season is already here. In certain parts of the state, we’ve already seen some snow.”

Parts of northwest and north-central Iowa got a surprise blanket of flakes on Halloween morning. The weather service announced several weeks ago that it planned to eliminate some terms in the winter ahead that Iowans have gotten used to hearing. “Listeners are probably familiar with wind chill warnings, wind chill watches and wind chill advisories. Those are all going to be sunset,” Hahn says. “They’re going away for this season, and they’re going to be replaced by the new verbiage, which is extreme cold.” The switch makes more sense, he says, as things like wind chill warnings didn’t tell the full story.  “We’ll issue extreme cold warnings, extreme cold watches and cold weather advisories,” Hahn says, “and the main reason that we did that is really to emphasize that cold is cold, whether it is associated with wind or not.”

Radio Iowa file photo

The long-range forecast shows above-normal temperatures in Iowa for the next few weeks, also with above-normal rainfall likely, but no snow indicated. The first day of winter is December 21st.

Posted in News, Weather |

2 arrested in Red Oak, Wednesday: Man arrested for theft; woman arrested on Assault & other charges

News

November 7th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Two people were arrested on separate charges Wednesday, in Red Oak. According to the Red Oak Police Department, 50-year-old Shannon Ray Porter, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 11:15-a.m., for 5th Degree Theft. Porter was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

And, at around 1:10-p.m., Red Oak Police officers arrested 56-year-old Peggy Jean Bradway, of Red Oak, for Assault on persons in certain occupations – bodily injury, 1st Degree Harassment, Interference with Official Acts, Disorderly Conduct, and False reporting to Emergency Communications. Bradway was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Posted in News |

Iowa women beat Northern Illinois

Sports

November 7th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Hawkeye women had six players in double figures in a 91-73 win over Northern Illinois as Jan Jensen earned a win in her debut as Hawkeye coach.

Jensen felt the Hawkeyes lacked consistency.

Lucy Olsen led the Hawkeyes with 19 points and added seven assists. The Hawkeyes return to action Sunday by playing Virginia Tech in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Posted in Sports |

Teen driver zips past Iowa Trooper at 105 mph in central Iowa

News

November 7th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol says a trooper in Polk County recently pulled a driver over going 105 miles per hour on Highway 5. Troopers say the driver was a 16-year-old. In a social media post, the Patrol said “Imagine the disbelief on CMVU (Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit) Trooper Daniels’ face as a 16-year-old driver zipped past him on Hwy 5 (Polk County)! A great reminder…If you’re out late, remember to drive carefully on your way home—your parents will appreciate knowing you made it back safely!”

The speed limit on the highway is 70 miles per hour.

Iowa State Patrol photo

Posted in News |

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area: Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024

Weather

November 7th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Patchy fog this morning. Otherwise cloudy to partly cloudy. High near 55. N/NW winds around 5 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 32.
Tomorrow: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. NE winds around 5 mph.
Tom. Night: Mostly cloudy w/a slight chance of showers after midnight. Low around 40.
Saturday: Showers. High near 51.
Sat. Night: A 40% chance of showers before midnight. Low around 39.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 55.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36.
Veterans Day: Sunny, with a high near 60.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 59. The Low was 33. Last year on this date (Nov. 7), the High in Atlantic was 67 & the Low was 38. The Record High here on this date was 77 in 1915, & the Record Low was -14, in 1991. Sunrise: 6:59; Sunset: 5:08.

Posted in Weather |

MIller-Meeks says she’s ahead by comfortable 799 vote margin

News

November 7th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks says there are very few uncounted ballots in the first congressional district race and she is comfortable with the current margin of votes that put her ahead of Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan. At the end of Election Night, Miller-Meeks led by 413 votes. Her lead grew yesterday (Wednesday) after a county that had had problems with ballot tabulators completed its count.

“Washington County results are fully in,” she said. “Again those results showed what we expected they would show and what had we predicted they would show, which would be that I would win in Washington County and we did with 58% of the vote. That almost doubled our vote total, our margin of victory of 799 votes.”

Bohannan posted a statement on social media yesterday (Wednesday), saying the race was still too close to call and her campaign expects more ballots to come in over the coming days. Iowa candidates may request recounts in races when the winning margin is less than one percent of all votes cast — but county boards of supervisors have to meet, review the tallies of ballots and vote to make the results official first. Candidates then have three days to file for recounts.

Posted in News |

Kum & Go brand to be retired

News

November 7th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – It will be Kum and Go no more. A trade publication called C-Store Dive reports the Utah company that bought the Iowa-based convenience store chain in 2023 will rebrand all Kum and Go locations as Maverik stores in 2025. Sekar — chair of the department of marketing in Iowa State University’s Business School — says a brand name is one of a company’s assets.

“It’s the trust, it’s the promise, it’s the connection between the consumer and the company and it’s extremely valuable,” Raju says. “If you you look at Apple, for example, much of the value that the brand holds is actually equal to or more than all of the other assets that they have.” Kum and Go has sold caps, koozies and other items that bear the Kum and Go logo, but Raju isn’t sure of the long-term value of that memorabilia once the brand is retired.

“There will be some nostalgia related to the brand,” Raju says. “People might be collecting these things.” The Kum and Go brand was launched in the 1970s by Bill Krause and Tony Gentle, who started the chain. They opened their first gas station in 1959 in Hampton. Jim Davies, a Hampton native who’s chairman of the Hampton Historic Preservation Commission, remembers when the company started selling food and merchandise as well as gasoline.

“The stores were really nothing like the convenience stores of today,” Davies says. “They were much smaller.” Davies and his family attended the same church when the Krause family lived in Hampton. “In 1963, Krause Gentle introduced the company’s first convenience stores,” Davies says. “I think Store #1 is located on north Highway 65. There was another store located on west Highway 3 across from their corporate headquarters.”

The company’s corporate headquarters moved to Des Moines in 1988. According to C-Store Dive — a trade publication for the convenience store industry — a Maverik spokesperson said Kum and Go stores will briefly close, be rebranded as Maverik stores and reopen with the same employees.

Posted in News |

State title run ends in the semifinals for Riverside Volleyball

Sports

November 6th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

The Riverside Bulldogs volleyball team had their state tournament run end on Wednesday night with a 3-0 defeat to the top seeded Ankeny Christian Eagles in the 1A State Semifinals. The Eagles won 25-12, 25-21, 25-18 to move on to the state championship on Thursday. The Bulldogs end their season with their best season in program history.

Ankeny Christian set the tone early in the opening set going on a rapid seven point run to start and closed out the first set with 5 straight points. The Bulldogs bounced back in the second set making it 14 all midway through, but fell short with a barrage of kills by Katie Quick and Carley Craighead. Riverside seemed poised in the third, tying it multiple times throughout the match and getting their first lead since 1-0 back in the second. That still wouldn’t be enough to stop the Eagles as they used a five point run to create a big enough gap and eventually grab the match.

Ankeny Christian was led by an impressive night from senior Katie Quick who finished with 13 kills, 25 assists, and 3 service aces. Katelyn Weathers had 13 digs and Macey Nehring had 8 kills for the Eagles. Ankeny Christian improved to 39-5 and will play again in the Championship at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Riverside was led by 7 kills and 4 digs by senior Sophia Taylor. Fellow senior Elly Henderson had 6 kills and 10 digs. Bentley Rone had 14 assists and Madison Kelley had 3 blocks. The Bulldogs end their impressive season with a record of 39-4.

Riverside senior Elly Henderson was proud of the way her team competed throughout the 2024 season and in the state tournament.

Henderson was also grateful to be a part of one of the best teams in Riverside volleyball history,

Bulldogs head coach Brooke Flathers was tearful when describing the joy and pride she had in her senior class.

Looking to next year’s group, Flathers has confidence in their ability and what they will bring to the program.

This was Riverside’s first year making it to the Class 1A state tournament semifinals.

Posted in Sports |

Wastewater discharge in Woodbury County reaches Missouri River

Ag/Outdoor, News

November 6th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, this (Wednesday) evening, said their Field Office in Spencer was notified by the City of Sioux City of an untreated wastewater discharge due to equipment failure at the Floyd lift station.

The discharge began around 10:15 a.m. on November 6th. Officials sayiIt is estimated nearly two million gallons of untreated wastewater discharged into Bacon Creek Channel, with an unknown amount reaching the Missouri River. Officials say Bacon Creek Channel was dry prior to the incident. The discharge has stopped and the lift station is operational. No dead fish have been observed at this time, and Bacon Creek Channel is now dry.

The Iowa DNR has notified downstream surface water systems with the cities of Council Bluffs, Blair, Nebraska, and Omaha, Nebraska. Any downstream recreational users should take caution and stay out of the river at this time. The Iowa DNR will follow up with the city for further assessment.

To report a release after hours, please call the DNR’s emergency spill line at (515) 725-8694. Quick reporting can help DNR staff identify the cause of an incident. The DNR website has more information about spill reporting requirements.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |