The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.3MB)
Subscribe: RSS
(Radio Iowa) — While recent “honor flights” have recognized veterans of World War Two, Korea and Vietnam, a new honor flight is being organized for those who served in conflicts in the Middle East. Bill Williams, a co-founder of the non-profit group Patriotic Productions — which puts on the flights, says this initial new flight to Washington D-C for veterans from western Iowa and Nebraska will be limited. “To take all of them, it would be multiple flights and a million dollars,” Williams says. “Our compromise is to take the Purple Heart recipients from the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Bronze Star recipients are also welcome to apply for the flight, scheduled for May 24th. Williams says some other V-I-Ps will also be making the journey. “We’re also going to take the highest-decorated combat veterans from those same three conflicts,” he says, “and our special guests on the plane will be Gold Star children of the fallen from Iraq and Afghanistan.” The chartered jet will fly out of Omaha’s Eppley Airfield for a day-long whirlwind tour of Washington D-C, including stops at several war memorials and Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknowns. There will be a special homecoming in Omaha that night. Williams says, “We’re going to pick them up on the tarmac at Eppley, drive them through the Old Market led by a marching band and horses and classic cars and motorcycles, down to the Durham Museum around the back and they’ll walk through that crowd of flags and signs to the cheers of those welcoming them home.”
The last honor flight, which was for Vietnam veterans, saw a crowd of about seven-thousand gathered at the Omaha airport to welcome the veterans back to town. Veterans of Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan who earned the Purple Heart or Bronze Star can apply for the May flight. Applications are available at the website: www.patrioticproductions.org.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of fatally stabbing his mother and uncle in Des Moines has been ruled incompetent for trial. Court records say a judge last week ordered psychiatric treatment for 30-year-old Joshua Adams, who’s charged with first-degree murder in the slayings of his mother, 49-year-old Tracy Adams, and uncle, 54-year-old Gaylord George Jolly Jr. Police found their bodies Dec. 28 at the home Joshua and Tracy Adams shared. A hearing to discuss the progress of Joshua Adams’ treatment is scheduled for March 18.
(Radio Iowa) — A panel of three state senators has endorsed the idea of giving Iowans access to cannabis products for treatment of any medical condition — if a doctor, physician’s assistant or registered nurse says it would be beneficial. Senator Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale, says “To me, this is what fixes the problem that we have. Not perfect, but it helps out a lot of suffering Iowans.” Zaun says current state law is too restrictive since it limits medical marijuana treatment to a limited list of conditions and requires patients to get the go-ahead from a doctor. Lucas Nelson is the general manager of MedPharm Iowa which operates two of the five dispensaries in the state. He says 13-hundred Iowans have obtained the state-issued cards that let them buy cannabis pills, oils and creams — compared to the 44-thousand people who’re enrolled in Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program. “I think there are more Iowans out there who would benefit and I think this bill would absolutely help them do that,” Nelson says.
Amy Campbell, a lobbyist for addiction treatment programs, raised concerns cannabis products might fall into the wrong hands if this bill becomes law. “We’re concerned about the home delivery and how we would ensure the safety of that home delivery,” Campbell says.
The bill specifically says Iowans could use medical marijuana if they’re a patient in a hospice facility and as treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. The top Republican in the HOUSE has expressed reservations about adjustments to the state’s medical marijuana law, so these expansion plans being discussed in the SENATE face an uncertain future.
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — An Illinois woman has claimed the $2 million she won in the Iowa Lottery Powerball game. The Iowa Lottery says 49-year-old Lisa Hays turned in her winning ticket Monday at lottery headquarters in Clive. Hays, who lives in Monmouth, Illinois, says she bought the ticket while shopping at the Hy-Vee store on Agency Street in Burlington. It matched the first five numbers in the Feb. 9 drawing but missed the Powerball number. The match of five numbers is worth $1 million, but Hays added the Power Play option, multiplying the prize to $2 million. No one matched all six numbers to win that drawing’s $223.6 million jackpot.
Hays told lottery officials that she intends to buy a house and a new car with her winnings and set some aside for retirement. She says that, if she makes the right decisions, “this should set me up for the rest of my life.”
Today: Areas of morning fog; Partly cloudy to cloudy. High 24. SE @ 10 mph.
Tonight: **Winter Storm Warning from 6-p.m. Today thru 9-a.m. Wed.** Moderate to heavy snow. Temps nearly steady in the 20’s. E @ 10-15.
Tomorrow: Snow in the morning (5-8” total); Flurries during the afternoon. High 24. E-N @ 10-15.
Thursday: P/Cldy. High 29.
Friday: Mo. Cldy. High around 30.
Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 25. Our Low this morning -12. Last year on this date our High was 31 and the Low was 22. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 71 in 2017. The Record Low was -22 in 1936.
(Radio Iowa) — Seven Republicans in the Iowa Senate have voted to deny food stamp benefits to parents who aren’t making an attempt to pay child support. The seven Republicans on the Senate Labor Committee also have endorsed quarterly income checks to make sure people on Medicaid and food stamps are eligible for the assistance. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says the plan also calls for checking to ensure people aren’t getting welfare benefits from the State of Iowa if they move out of state. “Iowa taxpayers should be defended. Not simply: ‘Oh, you don’t qualify anymore,’ but no, we’re actually going to go and look for people who are taking your money and using it incorrectly,” Schultz says. “That’s not asking too much.”
The four Democrats on the committee opposed both bills. Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, says it’s “pretty punitive” to require quarterly income checks for low-income elderly and disabled Iowans who’re on Medicaid. “I think this program is really to try to hassle people, to get ’em to fall through the cracks and kick ’em off of a program that might be critical to their almost very existence,” Dotzler said.
Another Democrat said he’s no fan of “dead beat dads” who aren’t paying child support, but he suspects some of those fathers are living in other homes with other kids who’d suffer if the household loses food stamps benefits.
(Radio Iowa) — Fred Hubbell, the Iowa Democratic Party’s nominee for governor last year, is recovering from serious but not life-threatening injuries after he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike. The accident happened in Arizona Friday afternoon. A family spokesman says a motorist ran a red light and struck Hubbell, fracturing Hubbell’s pelvis. Hubbell has undergone a couple of surgeries and the family spokesman says there will “significant” physical therapy ahead for Hubbell. Hubbell’s 2018 opponent, Governor Kim Reynolds, has tweeted her deepest best wishes to Hubbell and his family as he recovers from what she calls a tragic accident.
Red Oak Police, Monday evening, cited a man from Villisca for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. 44-year old Johnathan Dean McCollum received his citation at around 7:45-p.m., following a traffic stop in the 1200 block of Highway 34. McCollum was released from the scene after receiving his citation.
Julian Castro, 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Obama, will visit Exira this Thursday (Feb. 21st). Event organizers says at only 44 years old, Castro’s leadership experience also includes serving as mayor of his hometown of San Antonio. He will be speaking and taking questions at the Exira Event Center (106 Jefferson St, Exira, Iowa 50076) a little after 5-p..m. Thursday.
The Audubon County Democrats are hosting the event, which begins at 5:00-p.m. Anyone interested in meeting Julian Castro and listening to what he has to say, is welcome to attend (you do not need to be a Democrat or from Audubon County).