DES MOINES, Iowa – With the start of garage sale season, a reminder that there may be appealing deals for products like car seats, but buying used seats could also be dangerous. Kristel Wetjen, pediatric trauma nurse coordinator at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, says it’s recommended people do not buy car seats at garage sales because their history is unknown, such as whether they’ve been involved in a crash.

“Once a car seat has been in a crash, there’s been extra stress put on that plastic and the webbing for the harnesses,” she says. “When you buy a car seat at a garage sale you have no idea if that seat has already been exposed to that, therefore making it less safe for your child in your car.”

Wetjen says some car seats being sold at garage sales could also have missing or broken parts, or may have been subject to a recall in the past. While Wetjen says you shouldn’t buy a child safety seat at a yard sale, she says it is vital for parents to have car seats for kids, as they can greatly reduce the risk of injury or death.

“Somebody being restrained in a car seat can reduce the risk of injury by 80 to 90 percent, based upon how they’re restrained,” she says. “The biggest new change from the American Academy of Pediatrics is to keep children rear-facing longer than forward-facing. That reduces the risk of injury by 500 percent.”

Wetjen also stresses the importance of proper installation. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 75 percent of children are riding in car safety seats that aren’t properly installed or don’t fit correctly.

(Iowa News Service)

The 7:07-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Members of the CAM and Adair-Casey School District Boards of Education will hold a joint meeting this (Tuesday) evening in the CAM High School Media Center, in Anita. The 6-p.m. meeting will include discussion between the two boards about possible Whole Grade Sharing opportunities. No action will be taken. The Adair-Casey Board met with the Guthrie Center School Board Monday evening, and is set to meet with Board members from the West Central Valley School District, on Wednesday.

In other business, the CAM School Board will hold a public hearing at 6:30-p.m., on the 2015-16 Budget, followed later in the session by a Resolution approving the budget. Other action items include the 2015-16 School Calendar, Gym Floor bids, approval of graduates from the CAM High School and Iowa Connections High School.

The meeting will conclude following an exempt session for negotiations.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Elliott was arrested Monday night. 29-year old Jennifer Nicole Rains was taken into custody at around 7:30-p.m. on a valid warrant out of Shelby County, for Probation Violation. Rains was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and later released on bond.

Police in Red Oak report three recent arrests. At around 10-p.m. Monday, officers arrested 21-year old Tyler Lynn Gobert, of Shenandoah, on a charge of Theft in the 5th Degree. Gobert was taken into custody in the 100 block of West Coolbaugh Street and booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300.

At around 10:15-p.m. Monday, Red Oak Police arrested 28-year old Benjamin William Hrabik, of Red Oak, on a charge of Criminal Trespass. Hrabik was also being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

And, at around 1-a.m. today (Tuesday), Red Oak Police arrested 35-year old Jason Weston Szymarek, of Red Oak. The man was taken into custody for Neglect or Abandonment of a Dependent Person. Szymarek was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $10,000 bond.

The U-S-D-A weekly crop report shows farmers got some field work done last week, but wet conditions — including snow in northern Iowa — slowed things down. Iowa State University Extension crop specialist, Joel DeJong, covers northwest Iowa, and says farmers are off to a good start as they move toward planting. “And as I think as the conditions warm up and dry up and if we can stay dry this week, I think early next week we can see a lot of planters in the field,” DeJong says.

Soil temperatures dictate when farmers will start putting seeds in the soil. “We’d like to see 50-degree soil temperature at four inches and rising, is kind of what our goal is. We’ve been measuring temperatures all the way into the upper 40’s, it’s dropped back just a shade again, because we cooled back again,” DeJong says. “If you want a real rough rule-of-thumb of what the temperature is at four-inch depth, you average the last three days of temperatures and you are usually pretty close at this stage of the game — unless there is a huge swing — and then sometimes it isn’t quite right.”

DeJong says there are some reports of drought-like conditions, but sub-soil moisture levels in northwest Iowa seem to be sufficient. Dejong says they took several measurements last November down to five feet, which is the rooting depth for corn and bean growth, and the numbers were a little higher. “And that doesn’t go away the winter time, it takes crops or plants growing in it to have it go away. So that tells us that we are at least average at all out sites or maybe a slight bit above average at this stage of the game,” DeJong says.

The U-S-D-A report shows soil moisture levels are adequate for most areas of the state. DeJong says most Iowa farmers will probably plant this year’s corn crop between April 20th and May 10th.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton will begin raising money to pay for her second bid for the White House the same way she plans to start campaigning: small. Clinton is forgoing the celebrity-studded fundraisers that marked her husband’s presidency, as well as the high-dollar private events put on this year by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Instead, Clinton’s initial appeals for money will be for small-dollar donations collected over the Internet.

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) — A Cherokee man has been sentenced in connection to a lengthy standoff with police. Thirty-six-year-old Joshua Allender was sentenced Monday to up to 10 years in prison. He took a plea deal in March to intimidation with a dangerous weapon and assault on a peace officer, dropping attempted murder, assault and weapons charges.

GARNER, Iowa (AP) — Another doctor has testified in the trial of a former Iowa lawmaker accused of sexually abusing his wife, saying the woman’s mental capacity deteriorated rapidly in the months before the alleged incident. Dr. John Brady, medical director of Garner’s Concord Care Center, testified in the third-degree sexual abuse case against 78-year-old Henry Rayhons. Prosecutors allege Rayhons had sex with his wife, Donna Lou Rayhons, in May at the nursing home after being told his wife was no longer mentally capable of consenting. She died in August.

The Iowa Department of Education recently released its figures for graduation and drop-out rates for schools across the State. Atlantic School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said at Monday night’s School Board meeting, Atlantic’s four-year graduation rate was down slightly from last year’s 89.12-percent to 87.40-percent this year. The five-year graduation rate is 89.13-percent, which is down slightly from 2012’s 90-percent.The drop-out rate continues to decline, however. Last year it was 1.54-percent, which Amstein said is below the statewide average.

Atlantic School Board members don new headsets designed to make it easier for persons attending the meetings to hear Board conversations better.

This past year (2014), the dropout rate was 1.05-percent, which is also below the state average. Amstein said the district is doing well in preventing dropouts, but needs to work harder on the graduation rate. He said also, the Iowa Assessment data was received last week, but he didn’t have the numbers crunched to provide the board during their meeting Monday evening, but overall he says, “I think we did pretty well.

Atlantic he says, will start the 2015-16 School Year on August 24th, now that Governor Branstad signed the School Calendar Bill last week. And, the district will not have to make up three days missed due to snow earlier this year, prior to the end of the current school year. That’s because the district, which runs on an hourly calendar instead of a daily calendar, more than exceeded the State recommended 1,080 instructional hours of education. Atlantic has had 1,115.76 hours on the books so far this current year.  The district will continue with the hourly calendar in the coming school year, which will also exceed the state recommended hours. Staff members will continue to meet as required for those three days, however, but Amstein said there are plenty of activities planned for those persons.

And, the price for school lunches during the 2015-16 School Year will increase 10-cents across the board. When the year begins, High School lunch will run $2.60, Middle School and Schuler lunches will be $2.55, and lunch at Washington Elementary will cost $2.30. The increases were recommended by Food Service Director DeeAnnSchriener, as she strives to meet the State goal of $2.70 within the next three-years. The lunch prices for Atlantic have traditionally been lower than those of other schools in the Hawkeye 10 conference, according to Amstein.

In other business, the School Board approved a recommended 3.2-percent settlement with the District’s Certified Staff. The move will cost $306,000, and is based on the assumption the district will receive $252,000 (1.25%) in State Supplemental Aid for 2015-16.

A Corning man was arrested on drug charges after the execution of a search warrant by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.  At 10:55am Sheriff’s Officials searched a residence at 720 Benton Avenue in Corning after they received a report of a man giving meth to a person under the age of 18.   27-year-old Clayton Nathaniel Parsons was arrested and charged with Conspiracy to Deliver Meth and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Officers discovered meth packaged up for resale during the search.  Parsons is being held on $25,300 bond.