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Iowan’s are struggling to make ends meet, according to a report

News

March 13th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) – It’s getting harder to make ends meet in Iowa, according to a report by the nonpartisan group Common Good Iowa. Wages are growing in Iowa, yet more families are struggling. Common Good Iowa’s report finds that 17.5% of Iowa families find it hard to meet even the most basic of needs.

Sean Finn, a policy analyst for Common Good Iowa, says “We’re seeing that the inflation of the past few years has really counteracted the wage growth of those years and families are really in a pinch when it comes to affording their basic needs.”  Finn says half of single parents in Iowa don’t make enough to cover a bare-bones budget. To meet that, a parent would have to make $24.64 per hour. For a family of four, both parents would have to make at least $19.55 per hour. “Clearly, we see that’s far above the minimum wage for the state of $7.25, which needs to be updated,” Finn said.

Fate Of The Son Of Ernst’s SOU Guest Now Known

News

March 13th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says Israeli Defense Forces have confirmed the son of the woman she invited as a guest for the State of the Union Address was killed by Hamas on October 7th. Ernst invited Hagit Chen to the address to highlight the fact Chen and her husband did not know if their son Itay was dead or alive.

Ernst says now that they know what happened, she will not forget Itay’s bravery on October 7th, as he defended other innocent civilians from Hamas’s terrorist attacks.

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst speaks on the death of the death of American citizen Itay Chen.

Pork Producers CEO says Perry plant closing will hurt producers

Ag/Outdoor, News

March 13th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of the Iowa Pork Producers Association says the pending closure of the Tyson pork plant in Perry will not only lead to lost jobs, but will also put a strain on producers. Association C-E-O, Pat McGonegle, says he feels disappointment for the community of Perry and for those who now need to find another market for their animals. “This announcement just kind of adds another little headwind to us. But pork producers are resilient, and they’ll get things figured out,” McGonegle says.

McGonegle says once the Perry plant closes in June, the nearest options to take hogs are Storm Lake and Denison. McGonegle says the past 20 months have been rough, with producers losing 20 to 30 dollars per pig, and tough economic times have also hurt processors. “Anytime we get in these, these kinds of headwinds, nothing really surprises you. But certainly, it’s a shock to the community. And it’s a shock to the industry.”

McGonegle says prices have improved during the past two months, but producers are still seeing a loss.

NE man arrested in Montgomery County on Pott. County warrants

News

March 13th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department says a man from Omaha, NE.,  was arrested Tuesday evening, following a traffic stop in the 1000 block of Highway 34. 24-year-old Osvaldo Fabian Gonzalez was arrested on two active Pottawattamie County warrants for OWI/1st offense, and Possession of Marijuana/1st offense. Gonzalez was transported to the Pott. County Jail and held on a $2,000 cash-only bond.

Former IKM-Manning teacher sentenced on sexual abuse & lascivious acts charges

News

March 13th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

A former western Iowa teacher has been sentenced to 33 years in prison after pleading guilty to a slew of sexual abuse and lascivious acts charges. 24-year-old Cassidy Kraus was a teacher in the IKM-Manning Community School District in Carroll County, when she was arrested last October and accused of sexually abusing three boys between the ages of 13 and 14.

In January, she pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree sexual abuse, two counts of lascivious acts with a child and three counts of dissemination and exhibition of obscene material to minors. Investigators say in addition to engaging in sexual activity with the minors, she also sent obscene material over Snapchat.

On Tuesday, Kraus was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 33 years in prison and a total fine of $5,400 plus 15% criminal surcharge. She will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Wed., March 13, 2024

Weather

March 13th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 69. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight: An 80% chance of showers & thunderstorms. Low around 49. E/NE @ 10-20 mph. New rainfall of 1/4″-to 1/2″ are inch possible.
Tomorrow: A 60% chance of showers & thunderstorms. High near 55. N/NE @ 10-30 mph. New rainfall amounts between  1/10″-1/4″ except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tom. Night: A chance of showers. Otherwise mostly cloudy & breezy. Low around 34.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 55.
Saturday: Mostly sunny & windy, with a high near 57.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 67. The Low was 31. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 29 and the Low was 12. The Record High for March 13th in Atlantic, was 79 in 2012. The Record Low was -11 in 1948 & 1975. Sunrise: 7:36. Sunset: 7:24-p.m.

House votes for new regulations of hemp-infused consumables

News

March 13th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has voted to impose new limits on hemp products, including a cap on how much T-H-C extracted from hemp can be in food or drinks sold in Iowa. The bill would require labels warning the products are intoxicating and set criminal penalties for selling hemp products with T-H-C to anyone under the age of 21. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says when the state made it legal to grow and sell hemp, the legislature had no idea products with high concentrations of T-H-C would be produced.

“It is a little bit of the wild, wild west out there in Iowa right now thanks to the loopholes we did not know we created,” Holt said. The bill passed on a 79 to 16 vote. Opponents like Representative Bob Kressig of Cedar Falls say retailers that are selling hemp-infused products will see sales slide if the bill becomes law. “We have 1100 retailers in Iowa with these products, we have 3000 employees and we have 800,000 Iowans that access these products,” Kressig said.

Bill backers say some of the hemp-infused drinks and other consumables being sold in Iowa have incredibly high levels of T-H-C and it’s time to act. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate, but has not cleared a Senate committee.

NAACP leaders oppose bill to ban citizen boards that review complaints about police

News

March 13th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – N-Double-A-C-P leaders are raising concerns about a bill that would ban citizen review boards in five Iowa cities that review complaints about police. Iowa/Nebraska N-Double-A-C-P president Betty Andrews says her organization helped establish four of those boards. “We believe in transparency in law enforcement and government and citizens review boards are an opportunity for a fair look-in,” Andrews says, “and making sure our law enforcement knows that we, as citizens, are watching.”

The Iowa Fraternal Order of Police says the citizens review boards in Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Coralville and University Heights would standardize the process for reviewing complaints about police. Andrews says Iowa’s citizens review boards were established after specific cases, many of which involved local police accused of racial profiling. “We’ve seen that time and time in Iowa, that call for justice and not being able to have any insight in what’s happening with law enforcement,” Andrews says.

Tuesday was N-Double-A-C-P lobbying day at the Iowa Capitol. Andrews and members of the group met with Governor Kim Reynolds and discussed several priorities. David Walker, co-chair of the Iowa/Nebraska N-Double-A-C-P’s legal redress committee, says Iowans called to jury duty today are randomly selected from Iowa driver’s license and voter registration records. “The jury pool is filled with addresses that are outdated — 11-12% and sometimes 15% they go in the wastebasket. They are never delivered. People have moved,” Wright says.

The N-Double-A-C-P proposes that the Iowa Department of Revenue forward the names and addresses of Iowans who file state income taxes to the state’s courts to improve the accuracy of jury summonses. “We’ve seen in some instances where this has been implemented in six states the number of summons that have to be issued are much fewer, costs are saved and jury panels are more diverse,” Walker said.

Andrews, the president of the Iowa-Nebraska N-Double-A-C-P, says diverse juries boost confidence in the justice system. among people of color. Andrews was recently elected to serve on the N-Double-A-C-P’s national board of directors.

Atlantic Trojans Boys Track Preview

Sports

March 12th, 2024 by admin

The Atlantic Boys track team has been preparing for another great track season. They have been practicing for the past couple of weeks to prepare for their next meet. The Trojans track team have been taking advantage of this nice weather and getting outdoors for most of the practices. Atlantic team is made up of over 40 plus high schoolers and are coached this season by Abby Becker.

Coach Becker gave a recap on how last years track season went.

Coach Becker commented on how well practice has been going.

Coach Becker talked about what her team has been working on in practice.

Coach Becker broke down the roster and said there is even amount of athletes out for this years team, right around the same number as last years team.

Coach Becker said the team has few goals for this season.

The Trojans next track meet will be an indoor meet on Saturday March 16th at Northwest Missouri State University. That meet will get underway at 11:30 a.m.

Hawkeyes Fall to Georgia in Midweek Contest

Sports

March 12th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

ATHENS, Georgia – The University of Iowa baseball team was defeated by Georgia, 10-5, on Tuesday night at Foley Field.
“We just didn’t play or pitch well enough to beat a good team like Georgia,” said head coach Rick Heller. “I thought we played hard and competed but there were just too many mistakes. We had a rough as they hit three home runs and scored five runs in the first two innings.”
The Hawkeyes and Bulldogs traded home runs in the bottom of the first and the top of the second. Georgia then broke the game open scoring four in the bottom of the second. Iowa and Georgia traded two runs apiece to make the score, 7-3.
The Hawkeyes cut the deficit to two runs in the seventh, but Georgia scored three unanswered runs to put the game away.
“Our offense fought back and cut the lead to two, said Heller. “But we couldn’t get a shutdown inning the rest of the way. Giving up five runs in the final four innings makes it tough to win. We will go to work and get better when we get home.”
Davis Cop was 2-for-3 with a home run, Reese Moore had an RBI double for the Hawkeyes and Gable Mitchell added an RBI.
Elliot Cadieux-Lanoue got the start for Iowa and fell to 3-1 on the season. He struck out two and allowed four runs on four hits.
Nine other Hawkeyes saw action out of the Bullpen in what was a staff game for Iowa. They allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits and struck out six.