With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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AREA COUNTIES: DALLAS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD
515 AM CDT MON OCT 13 2014

…LOCALLY DENSE FOG EARLY THIS MORNING…

WIDESPREAD FOG AND DRIZZLE HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING. VISIBILITIES HAVE FALLEN TO ONE HALF MILE OR LESS OVER MUCH OF THE AREA WITH LOCALIZED AREAS LESS THAN ONE QUARTER MILE. THE FOG MAY LINGER THROUGH MID MORNING BEFORE VISIBILITIES IMPROVE.

Police in Red Oak arrested a local woman Sunday evening. 28-year old Sarah Lea Aherns, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 100 block of west Grimes Street, at around 7:30-p.m., Sunday. Aherns was wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant issued August 25th for a Probation Violation associated with a June 2014 OWI/1st offense charge.

The woman was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $5,000 bond.

A pre-trial conference is set to take place today for an Atlantic woman facing multiple charges associated with a scheme to get money by making her 5-year old daughter appear to have cancer. The conference for 30-year old Leatha Kaye Slauson will be held at the Cass County Courthouse.

A pretrial conference may be conducted for several reasons: (1) expedite disposition of the case, (2) help the court establish managerial control over the case, (3) discourage wasteful pretrial activities, (4) improve the quality of the trial with thorough preparation, and (5) facilitate a settlement of the case.

Slauson had claimed her 5-year-old daughter Riley was dying from colorectal cancer. Thousand dollars were raised for treatments that were never rendered and the family’s trip to Disney World.

The woman has plead Not Guilty to 20 counts, including one count of drug distribution to a person under 18, two counts of child endangerment causing bodily injury, two counts of administering harmful substances, two counts of assault while committing a felony, two counts of domestic abuse and 10 counts of unlawful possession of prescription drugs, and one count of Theft in the 1st degree. The alleged offenses date back to September 2013.

Earlier this month, Slauson’s lawyer indicated he would file a motion for “Diminished Responsibility” on behalf of Slauson, whom he says is competent to stand trial, but unable to tell right from wrong.

Slauson’s trial is set to begin November 12th, in Atlantic. She remains in the Cass County Jail on $35,000 bond.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney — the 2012 Republican nominee for president — campaigned in Iowa Sunday with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst. “She’s going to be an extraordinary breath of fresh air in Washington,” Romney said. “I can’t wait ’til she goes there and makes ’em squeal, can you? It’s going to be wonderful.” Romney, of course, is referring to Ernst’s primary campaign ad in which she talked about her farm roots and castrating pigs.

Romney campaigned with Ernst in eastern Iowa on May30th, right after he endorsed Ernst as she was competing against five other Republicans for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination. On Sunday Romney was in central Iowa, headlining an Ernst campaign rally at the Iowa Farm Bureau headquarters in West Des Moines. Both Ernst and Romney referred to remarks President Obama made last week about this year’s election.

“He said in this race that his policies are on the ballot,” Romney said. “but Iowa voted for President Obama twice, but Iowa is not going to vote for Bill Bailey and vote for him a third time, that’s for sure.” That “Bill Bailey” reference was Romney’s way of highlighting Michelle Obama’s missteps last Friday when she called Braley “Bailey” seven times before the crowd yelled out Braley’s name. Ernst, who spoke three times as long as Romney did, urged the crowd to vote early and volunteer to seek out other voters.

“Iowa is excited about the opportunity to have not just one Republican United States Senator, but two Republican United States Senators,” Ernst said, to cheers. Romney and Ernst plan to rally with supporters this (Monday) morning in Cedar Rapids.

(Radio Iowa)

Developers says more than five-thousand Iowans are using the “Iowa by Trail” application that contains information on 18-hundred miles of trails in the state. The app has details on the location, distance, and type of trails, as well as points of interest close by. Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation spokeswoman, Kerri Sorrell, says as far as she knows Iowa is the first state to have an all-inclusive trail application like this.  “We hear it all the time that people want to get outdoors and discover the natural resources and areas that Iowa has to offer, they just don’t know how to do it or how to get there,” Sorrell says.

She believes it’s has a lot to do with the people in the state. ” I think it says a lot about Iowa’s connection with the land and with its natural surroundings.” The app became available for iPhone users this summer, and Sorrell, says the organization is working to bring the app to android devices.  “We think it’s a really great tool for people who are either experienced with trails or have never been on a trail before to get out and discover new things about their community, find places that they may have never traveled to before,” Sorrell says.

The I-N-H-F was awarded a grant of 40-thousand dollars by the Wellmark Foundation toward the android phone effort. The money must be matched by mid-December. If all goes as planned, Iowa by Trail should be available for all users early next year. Developers says the app has been used 56-thousand times by iPhone owners alone since May.

(Radio Iowa)

Most Iowans heat their homes with natural gas and they’re facing a good news-bad news situation as the colder months approach. A report from the American Gas Association predicts there will be a relatively “normal” winter ahead, but it also notes natural gas prices are creeping up. Chris McGill is a policy analyst for the association. “It doesn’t appear, according to the National Weather Service, that we’re going to have a repeat of the ‘polar vortex’, so a more moderate, more normal winter this year,” McGill says. “However, the price of natural gas, the unit cost of natural gas for consumers, has been going up over the last couple of years.”

That will likely translate to Iowans facing more expensive utility bills in the coming months. McGill says, “With the increase in costs along with a perhaps-normal winter, we actually see the possibility of bills being about 7% higher this year, compared to last year.” Demand for natural gas remains very high but he says there should -not- be any shortages.

“Supplies are very strong,” McGill says. “We’ve been putting record volumes of natural gas back into storage, planning for the coming winter heating season. Natural gas supplies in North America in general are very strong.” A report from the U.S. Census Bureau estimates 67-percent of Iowans use natural gas to heat their homes, 15-percent use electricity, 14-percent use propane, and the rest use wood or fuel oil.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Mitt Romney is visiting Iowa for U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee planned to headline a campaign event Sunday evening in West Des Moines and a stop in Cedar Rapids on Monday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State Fair officials are defending the timing of the annual event against critics who say it may be time to set an earlier fair schedule to avoid conflicting with increasing numbers of school districts moving up the start of their academic year. The Des Moines Register reports the 2015 fair is set for August 13th through 23rd.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A video recording of an Ankeny police officer who tried to get a man to consent to a search of his car after pulling him over for not having headlights on has attracted more than 100,000 views on YouTube. KCCI-TV reports the video of officer Aaron King noticing the driver had disc golf equipment in his car and commenting that all disc golf players smoke marijuana prompted an apology from the police department.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport cemetery has been listed on a national U.S. National Park Service registry of sites connected with the Underground Railroad, an anti-slavery network that had helped many escape to freedom. The Quad-City Times reports a high school social studies class from Arlington Senior High School in eastern Nebraska discovered the graves of 11 former slaves at Oakdale Memorial Gardens in Davenport.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will meet Monday evening in the Media Center at the High School. Kicking-off the 7:30-p.m. session, is a presentation from IASB Financial Services Planning Director Gary Sinclair, who will speak with regard to the budget.

Items on the Board’s Consent Agenda include approval of: Open enrollment requests; Contracts for General and Special Education instructors, along with other contracts and/or Letters of Assignment; Volunteer coaching positions and any resignations.

Other, action items, include approval of: a request for Modified Allowable Growth and Supplemental Aid for a Special Ed deficit; Financial Planning Program Assumptions for budgeting purposes, and, approval of the 2013-14 District Annual Report.

Prior to adjourning for the evening, Schuler Elementary School Principal James Northwick with bring up for discussion, the topic of “District Branding.”

Police in Red Oak have filed additional charges against a man involved in a stand-off early Sunday morning. Officials say 35-year old Tyler Gregory Jennings, of Red Oak, now faces charges of Indecent Exposure and Assault with the Intent to Commit Sexual Assault.

The charges stem from an incident which happened late Saturday night. Jennings was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 cash bond for the most recent charges. He also faces a felony Burglary in the 1st degree charge, and an aggravated misdemeanor charge of Domestic Abuse causing injury.

The latter charges stem from an incident that began at around 2:47-a.m., Sunday, when officers with the Red Oak P-D were called to the 500 block of north 6th Street in Red Oak. Upon their arrival, officers learned Jennings had allegedly assaulted 28-year old Megan Ann Purcell, of Red Oak, and forced his way into her residence. Purcell was checked by Red Oak Fire and Rescue personnel and later examined at the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, where she was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Following their initial contact with Purcell,  officers tried to make contact with Jennings. When they located him at his home in the 600 block of east Reed Street, Jennings told officers he would not leave the house and would defend his property from any unlawful entry by law enforcement. He said also he would not comply with officers until they obtained a search warrant. In addition, he informed officers that he had been the victim of a burglary where two unidentified assailants forced their way into his home and assaulted him.

Officers obtained a warrant issued by a judicial magistrate and began a dialogue that included Jennings and one of his relatives. Jennings left his home and was taken into custody without incident, at around 4:30-a.m.