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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
One of the big draws for people who attend the Iowa State Fair each year is the food and fairgoers will get to sample several new item this year. Fair spokesperson Lori Chappel says five of the new foods will be involved in a contest. “They’re all quite decadent,” Chappel says. The contestants include the Three Buck Bowl, which features two crispy potato skins filled with scrambled eggs, salsa, and shredded cheddar cheese. Another offering is Funnel Cake Sticks, which are made with vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry funnel cake batter, served on-a-stick and topped with icing.
Another sweet treat in the contest is The Brownie Blitz. “It’s cream cheese brownie bites, with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and coconut. It comes in a bowl,” Chappel says. There’s also Smoked Brisket and Bacon Mac N Cheese. “It’s macaroni with smoked brisket chunks and apple wood smoked bacon in a creamy three cheese sauce,” Chappel says. The fifth entry is a healthier offering – Caprese Salad On-a-Stick. It’s a skewer of cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.
All five of the food items in the contest will be sold for $3. Fairgoers who sample the foods can vote for their favorite, with the winner to be announced on August 12. The 2014 Iowa State Fair runs from August 7-17 in Des Moines.
(Radio Iowa)
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Ames say emergency responders have recovered the body of a man reported missing in the Skunk River. The body was recovered yesterday evening, about four hours after reports that a man became separated from an inner tube while floating on the river with a group near Carr Park.
SOLON, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has been arrested on suspicion of placing audio and video recording devices inside a portable restroom. Donald Born of Solon faces two trespassing charges. Authorities say the devices were found June 3rd at a baseball field near a high school in Cascade.
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) — The head of a group proposing to build an athletic complex at the Field of Dreams site is complaining that an opponent of the effort is making false claims about her. Denise Stillman addressed the Dyersville City Council earlier this week to criticize David Blanchard, who has created a Facebook page called Save the Field of Dreams.
WAPELLO, Iowa (AP) — Residents in southeast Iowa will have two years to raise money for a new bicycle trail along the Great River Road. A funding agreement between the Louisa County Board of Supervisors and state transportation department extends a $1.3 million federal grant awarded in 2012. The county will need to provide a 20 percent local match.
Sheriff’s officials in Cass County Wednesday evening confirmed a fatal farming accident occurred Wednesday afternoon, northeast of Massena. Authorities say a 40-year old man from Massena died as the result of an accident involving a baler. The man’s name was not released, pending notification of relatives. Sheriff’s officials say additional information will likely be released after 8-a.m. Thursday.
The incident was reported at around 2:38-p.m. The victim died at the scene, located off of 760th Street, about three-quarters of a mile north of Highway 92.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority’s (IEDA) Downtown Resource Center assists communities around the state in revitalizing their downtowns and commercial districts. This summer, the Iowa Downtown Resource Center will offer several downtown forums to bring together community leaders interested in engaging in a discussion about their downtowns. One of the forums is planned for Tuesday, June 24th, in Atlantic.
Attendees will have the opportunity to network with other downtown leaders, learn about the host location and engage in great conversations about the challenges and opportunities that exist in Iowa’s beautiful downtowns. Jim Engle, the director of the Iowa Downtown Resource Center says “The exciting part about these forums, and being able to host them across the state, is that the community and attendees get to be the speakers. These forums will be a chance to learn from each other about what is working in Iowa’s downtowns.”
Downtown Forums will be held in four communities across the state in June and July and will be facilitated by Jim Engle, the director of the Iowa Downtown Resource Center. You can join the IEDA Downtown Resource Center at the session in Atlantic on June 24th at the historic Rock Island Depot (102 Chestnut Street). The session will follow this schedule:
· 9:30 -10:45 a.m. – Discussion Group: Improving your Downtown Appearance
· 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Listening Session: What are your Downtown Issues/Challenges?
· 12 – 12:30 p.m. – Tour of host downtown
· 12:30 – 2 p.m. – Lunch on your own, experiencing the host downtown
· 2 – 3:30 p.m. – Discussion Group: Creating a Great Downtown Business Environment
Individuals must register for the Downtown Forum by visiting https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IADowntown. Registration is free for this event. The Iowa Downtown Forums are sponsored by the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center that also facilitates the Main Street Iowa Program.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Minneapolis company must pay $450,000 to refund Iowa residents enrolled in membership programs that charged monthly fees. Attorney General Tom Miller says the settlement involves Iowa residents charged fees through Sempris LLC or one of its predecessor companies, Damark International Inc. and Provell Inc.
The membership programs include Budget Savers, Credit Radar, Value Access and others. The attorney general’s office says its consumers had reported the charges as early as 1993. Residents complained of unwanted credit card charges following trial memberships. Iowa law requires specific disclosures when consumers purchase buying club memberships.
Sempris denies liability as part of the agreement.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Several northwestern Iowa cities are dealing with the worst flooding ever while others downstream brace for surges on the Rock, Big Sioux, and Missouri rivers. Rock Rapids, a town of 3,000, lost its water supply. Mayor Jason Chase says it’s back on but he’s awaiting tests results to show water is safe to drink. He says 60 homes have waist-deep water in them, and several families remain in a shelter. The Rock River is receding after cresting at a record 27 feet.
In Rock Valley the river on Tuesday broke through a levy. Volunteers are sandbagging but the river is also receding there. The Big Sioux River will reach a record crest Friday in Sioux City. In Nebraska, Omaha officials are preparing for the Missouri River to surpass flood stage.
Authorities in Cass County were responding Wednesday afternoon to the scene of what was initially described as farming accident, northeast of Massena. According to scanner traffic, Cass County Communications received a call from a third-party, about a person trapped in a baler. The call came in at around 2:38-p.m.
Moments later the first officials on the scene indicated there was a fatality at the location, about a mile north of Highway 92 just off of 760th Street. No other information was available late Wed. afternoon.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An annual summer camp at the University of Iowa is helping children deal more effectively with stuttering. There isn’t a cure for stuttering, but experts say there are strategies to help people become more fluent in their speech. Stuttering can be devastating if left untreated.
Kristi Cooley, of Clinton, tells the Iowa City Press-Citizen the intensive one-on-one treatment her son Drew is receiving has made a huge difference. The work with therapists at the UI’s Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Clinic has helped his speech skills and confidence. About a dozen children from Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri are taking part in the camp.
Students get five hours of group and individual therapy a day for nine days. That’s far more intensive than what they receive at school.
A new poll finds an unusual “gender gap” in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race. Peter Brown is the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll. “Normally, women are more likely to vote for women candidates,” Brown says, “but in the U.S. senate race, actually, Bruce Braley — the Democratic candidate — is beating Joni Ernst — the Republican candidate — among women and Ms. Ernst — who would be Iowa’s first female U.S. Senator if she wins — is leading among men.” Braley leads Ernst by 11 percentage points among likely women voters, while Ernst leads Braley among likely male votes by four points.
“Women tend to lean Democratic,” Brown says. “Men tend to lean Republican, so those biases are part of this, but the fact that Ms. Ernst is winning among men but losing among women voters is somewhat noteworthy.” The university’s poll in March — while Ernst was still engaged in a primary against four competitors — found Braley leading Ernst by 13 points. The Quinnipiac survey conducted in mid-June found Braley’s lead over Ernst had shrunk to four percent.
“Because of the very hard-fought Republican Primary race, Iowa voters were subjected to a lot of campaign ads early in this race and that certainly helped introduce Ms. Ernst to voters in what seems to be a positive manner,” Brown says. The poll finds Republicans lining up behind Ernst’s candidacy after the primary contest, with 79 percent of likely Republican voters backing Ernst. Braley got the backing of a greater share of his fellow Democrats — 89 percent.
“The way you win in Iowa is that a candidate has to carry their own party by a larger margin than their opponent carries their party and win among independents,” Brown says. “Independents obviously in Iowa are a huge deal because independents are the largest block of voters in the state.” The poll found independents in Iowa split down the middle on this contest. There are more than 700-thousand voters in Iowa who are registered as “no-party” or independent voters. There are about 600-thousand Republicans and 600-thousand registered Democrats in Iowa. This latest poll has a margin of error of two-point-seven percent. It was conducted from June 12th through the 16th.
(Radio Iowa)
The Harlan City Council approved the 2014 Harlan Housing study conducted by SWIPCO. In a meeting Tuesday, John McCurdy from SWIPCO gave a final presentation on the housing study. McCurdy says there are three main factors driving the housing market in Harlan, “One is attrition. That is the number of homes, because of age, need to be replaced. Another is demographic change that is through the changing population even if you don’t add another person, the changes in demographic will drive. We have smaller household sizes which drive up the demand for housing units. And the third is that there is an increase in income particularly in middle to upper income. We have a pretty steady number of low to moderate income but there is a group that does have some money to spend on housing units.”
He says based on the factors, Harlan would need to make changes annually to keep up with the housing stock, “So our conclusion from the study is based on attrition, the city would need to rehabilitate or replace 10 low to moderate income, typically rental units a year, to keep the housing stock. Based on demographic change, another 10 housing units and those would be of all varying types, would be needed to maintain the housing stock. And then because of this increased affordability or increased income, the higher ends, there is a demand for at least 5 new construction and we turned that into the $165,000 or above range.”
In other business, the Harlan City Council approved a grant application for “The Jacket Store ,” on Market Street, for a new awning, storm door, window, tuck pointing and painting. The grant money is through the downtown upper story/façade funding. The total cost of the project amounts to just over $9,874, with the grant at a 50 percent share of slightly more than $4,937.
And, City Administrator Terry Cox reported to the board the city will go out for bidding on the Runway 15/33 Pavement Rehabilitation Project at the Harlan Municipal Airport. The council will act on those bids on Tuesday, July 15th. Cox also mentioned the Harlan Aquatic Center saw an increase of $8,475 from 2013 in season tickets for families, singles and daily visitors.
(Joel McCall/KNOD)