Cass County Engineer Charles Marker reported to the Board of Supervisors during their meeting Thursday morning, that there are two bridge projects that will utilize Federal Highway Bridge Funds in the current budget year. Bids for the projects will be let in mid-January. They include bids for bridge #347, on the Cass/Audubon County line in the northeast part of Cass County, and bridge #20, located south of Cumberland. Bids for those projects will be let January 20th.

Marker said because of some addition monies received through the Road Use Tax Fund, his department can also work on three more bridges that are currently in the design phase. He says they hope to replace the wood abutments and pilings and replace them so that the bridges can be removed from the embargoed (weight limit) list. Those bridges include #16 in Massena Township, south of Massena. Bridge #102 in the southwest corner of the County, and Bridge 123.

Work on the bridges is set to begin this spring, with completion anticipated by the end of June, 2016.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa state legislator says he’ll try again to pass a bill that would allow fantasy sports players in the state to claim prizes. The Des Moines Register reports those who play fantasy sports in Iowa are currently banned from obtaining cash prizes. The state Senate approved a bill last session to legalize payouts, but it failed to clear the House.

Republican state Rep. Jake Highfill, the House bill’s chief author, says he’s reworking the bill in hopes to reach a consensus among key parties in the upcoming session. He says the legislation would set an age limit and develop a regulatory structure and tax provisions. Democratic state Rep. Dan Kelley says he is strongly opposed to legalizing payouts, saying daily fantasy games are like gambling.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Thursday, approved a Resolution for voluntary annexation by the City of Atlantic, of property located just past the east City Limits. Cass County Attorney David Wiederstein said the property located at 56988 635th Street, is owned by a screen-printing company (A-Plus Designs/Outfitters Plus Retail). A trust for the owners had requested on their behalf, that the land be annexed.

The Supervisors approved the request after Auditor/Board Secretary Dale Sunderman read a Resolution pertaining to the matter. The Board also approved a Resolution of Support for the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Sheriff’s officials in Union County say a man from Ringgold County was arrested Wednesday afternoon on sex abuse charges. 18-year old Quintin Tyler Chumbley, of Mt Ayr, was arrested at the Ringgold Union County line, on a Union County warrant for two counts of sexual abuse in the 3rd degree. Chumbley was being held in the Union County Jail on $10,000 bond.

(9-a.m. news)

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

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Police in Creston say a woman from Kent was arrested Wednesday evening at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. 38-year old Crystal Huddleson was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Violation of Probation, on an original “Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drug” charge. Huddleson was being held without bond, in the Ringgold County Jail.

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

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A bell-ringing ceremony on the state capitol grounds this morning (Thursday) is an annual ritual with decades of history behind it. The Peace Bell that was a gift to Iowa from our sister state in Japan will be rung to bid farewell to the old year and to ring in 2016. Iowa State Capitol tour guide Steve Person says the huge metal bell is a symbol of Iowa’s longstanding relationship with our neighbors in the East.

“After typhoons in 1959 severely damaged crops, homes and farmlands of the Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan, citizens of Iowa generously sent breeding hogs and feed corn to aid that district,” Person says. “This action began a friendship culminating in a sister state relationship, the first of its kind between the United States and Japan.” The donations from Iowa helped that region of Japan to survive the aftermath of the natural disaster and a few years later, they offered thanks.

“As a sign of their appreciation in 1962, the citizens of Yamanashi presented this 2,000 temple bell of peace and friendship as well as the structure that houses it,” Person says. The bell is located just south of the Capitol and west of the Judicial Building in Des Moines. While the ceremony is at 9 A-M Iowa time, that’s midnight in Japan, where bells will also be tolling at the same moment to welcome the new year.

(Radio Iowa)

At least 32 people died in structure fires in Iowa this year. Ron Humphrey, with the State Fire Marshal’s office, says many of those lives may’ve been saved if some the homes would’ve had a working smoke detector. “I would say probably about 30-percent of the fires we had this year had either no smoke detectors present or the smoke detector wasn’t working for some reason,” Humphrey said.

The number of fire fatalities in Iowa dropped from last year’s tally of 42, but was up from the 26 fire-related deaths in 2013. One of the biggest fire tragedies of 2015 occurred early in the year in Fort Dodge. The blaze on February 22 claimed the lives of a 25-year-old woman, her 6-month old son, and a 5-year-old boy. The home did have a working smoke detector, but the victims were trapped in the second floor bedroom of the home. The exact cause of the fire was never determined.

“It was officially listed as undetermined. We had it narrowed down to three or four possibilities, but we just couldn’t lock it down,” Humphrey said. “It was not intentional…it was some kind of accidental cause, but since we couldn’t narrow it down to one, we listed it as undetermined.” Many of the fatal fires this year happened when the victims were sleeping. Humphrey says that’s why it’s important to develop and practice plans to escape a fire in your home.

“Have your evacuation plans and know how to get out of your house,” Humphrey said. “That’s what we see a lot in the fire deaths of people — they either get trapped or they’re sleeping…and if they don’t have smoke detectors, by the time they’re woken by the fire or the smoke, it’s too late and they can’t find their way out of the structure.”

(Radio Iowa)

2015 will rank among the wettest in the 143 years that Iowa weather records have been kept. There are still a few hours left in the year and State Climatologist Harry Hillaker is close to having all the calculations done. “Probably the seventh wettest year, with precipitation averaging about eight inches greater than what’s usual,” Hillaker says. “Normal’s about 35 inches and we’ve had a little over 43.25 inches of precipitation averaged over the state.”

There may be “one or two locations” in northeast Iowa that end up recording ever-so-slightly below-normal precipitation for the year. “On the other extreme, it looks like Bedford in Taylor County, southwest Iowa, looks to have had over 63 inches of precipitation this year, which would easily be a record for that location,” Hillaker says. “It’s not a statewide record, but extremely wet year in that part of southwest Iowa.”

There were several locations in southwest, western and and south central Iowa where precipitation for the year was above 50 inches. March was the seventh DRIEST March on the record in Iowa, but May, June, July, August and September all were above normal. “Then November and December, at the end of the year, way above normal,” Hillaker says. “Just generally speaking, a rather wet year.” The summer was “relatively cool” but 2015 will wind up as slightly warmer than normal year.

“A very warm end to the year,” Hillaker says. “September, October, November, December — all of the last four years — were all none of them quite records although December was kind of on a near-record pace for much of the month, but here in the last week or so December’s been much more seasonal and it’s pulling down that monthly average.”

Tornado season lasted a bit longer than normal. A handful of tornadoes struck Iowa on October 23rd, but didn’t do much damage. Hillaker says there’s still not a final tally for the number of actual tornadoes that struck Iowa on November 11th. “There were probably at least 15 tornadoes on Veterans Day,” Hillaker says, “and some of those were rather strong ones, especially across southern parts of the state.” The number of tornadoes reported during 2015 will be close to the yearly average, according to Hillaker, somewhere between 50 and 55 twisters.

(Radio Iowa)