With KJAN New Director Ric Hanson…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A collision Friday evening in Montgomery County caused $3,500 damage to a minivan, but no injuries were reported. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says a 2003 Chrysler Town & Country minivan owned and operated by 47-year old Kellene Sorensen, of Stanton, was traveling east on 270th Street at around 6:30-p.m., when the vehicle struck a black bull that was standing on the road.  The animal belonged to Max Hossle, of Red Oak.

The accident happened near the intersection with I Avenue, or about 7-miles southeast of Red Oak.

The City of Council Bluffs was recently recognized as being one of the nation’s 50 most affordable suburbs, by a national real estate blog. The Daily NonPareil, citing a blog by Movoto Real Estate, of San Mateo, Calif., says Council Bluffs came in 31st place, and it was joined by other adjoining cities to Omaha. Each city was ranked by low cost of living, which factored costs for houses, food, utilities and property and state income taxes.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers, Friday, released a report on his department’s recent arrests and incidents. Brothers said that on Friday (Nov. 22nd), 41-year old Donald Troy Rottinhaus, of Clarinda, was arrested on a Simple Misdemeanor Assault in a Domestic Relationship, charge.

Brothers reports also, his office took reports on the following incidents: A theft & burglary from a residence in the 300 block of East Logan Street, on Nov. 16th; Thefts at two separate apartments located at the Parkview Apartments on Nov. 17th & 18th; and, the theft of plumbing items from the McDonald’s Restaurant in Clarinda, on Nov. 20th. The loss to the restaurant was estimated at $1,500.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids man faces an attempted murder charge in connection with a shooting. The Cedar Rapids Police Department says 26-year-old Delamar Williams was arrested yesterday following the morning shooting of 25-year-old Marneze McKnight. Williams was taken to Linn County Jail. McKnight remains hospitalized.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has disbarred a Davenport real estate lawyer who was convicted of helping buyers secure inflated mortgage loans before the 2008 market crash. The court on Friday revoked the law license of Marc Engelmann, who is serving a three-year prison term on fraud charges.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court says a dentist convicted of evading taxes must pay them back with penalties and interest. The court ruled Friday that a judge should have included those costs in a restitution order for former Waverly dentist Marc Hagen. The judge says he did not believe he had the authority to order the payment of civil penalties and interest to the Iowa Department of Revenue in a criminal case. Instead, he only required Hagen to pay back the amount of unpaid taxes, roughly $10,000.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Losing seasons and a chilly forecast have dampened the excitement for Saturday night’s game between Kansas and Iowa State. The Cyclones have won three straight in the series, but they’re also headed into tonight’s game in Ames on a seven-game losing skid.

CLARINDA, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials say they’ve revised meal distribution policies at a state mental health institute after a patient fatally choked on food he shouldn’t have been served. The state Department of Human Services says food service procedures at Clarinda Mental Health Institute were not followed when a patient in the geriatric psychiatry program was given a peanut butter sandwich on Sept. 1 instead of pureed food. He was later found unresponsive and slumped over a dining table.

Officials say they began an internal investigation and at least one employee has been fired. DHS Director Charles M. Palmer says the incident was isolated. The Department of Inspections and Appeals surveyed the facility in early November. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also issued a civil penalty of more than $8,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad is downsizing his recent claims of job creation in the state.  Branstad – who pledged to create 200,000 new jobs in five years during his 2010 campaign – recently claimed he has added more than 160,000 jobs since taking office.  His administration now says the actual figure was 128,000 following new federal jobs data out Friday.

Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht said via email that the change was simply due to calculations with revised data and the governor never sought to mislead Iowans.  The new figure has still drawn criticism because it counts only jobs added in Iowa, not jobs lost. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday shows the state has added 48,200 net jobs since Branstad took office.

A Harlan man won a good chunk of change from the Iowa Lottery Powerball drawing last month.  The Iowa Lottery says Wesley Clay checked his Powerball tickets from drawings held in October and discovered he won $10,000. Clay’s winning Powerball ticket was from the October 31st drawing. He told the lottery he normally throws the tickets in his car and then checks them all randomly.

Clay matched four white balls and the Powerball from the October 31st drawing to win the prize of $10,000. His ticket was purchased at the Taylor Quik-Pik on 23rd Street in Harlan. He claimed his prize Monday at the Iowa Lottery’s regional office in Council Bluffs. Clay and his wife Brianne say their lottery winnings will be put into a college fund for their children.

The estimated jackpot for this Saturday’s Powerball is $50 million.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has released additional details concerning two accidents which occurred during icy driving conditions, Thursday. Officials say at around 12:25-p.m., a two-vehicle road-condition-related accident occurred on Interstate 80 at the 60 mile marker. A 2002 Toyota owned and driven by 34-year old Lillian Phillips, of Lincoln, NE, was eastbound on I-80 when the vehicle went out of control on the icy bridge and slid across the median just past the bridge, striking a westbound 2001 Peterbilt semi driven by 33-year old Donald Nichols,  of Nebraska.Phillips was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac ambulance. Her 20-month-old son was also transferred to CCMH by Medivac and subsequently transferred to Children’s Hospital in Omaha. Nichols was not injured. Damage from the crash amounted to $18,000.

The second accident happened moments later (12:30-p.m.), on the Marne Road (Highway 83).  Officials say a 1999 Ford Ranger owned and driven by 66-year old Dennis Holtz, of Walnut, was westbound on Marne Road when his vehicle slid off the roadway and went into the south ditch. Holtz was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital via Medivac. Damage to his vehicle is estimated at $5000.

Many Iowans have a four-day weekend coming up with plans to pack up the car and take a road trip to visit far-away family for a Thanksgiving feast. Gail Weinholzer, spokeswoman for Triple-A-Iowa, says the single busiest day to be on the road is next Wednesday, as it’ll be one of the most crowded days of the year on our highways and interstates.  “That’s the most heavily traveled day of the Thanksgiving holiday,” Weinholzer says. “We’ll have at least 43.4-million Americans traveling at least 50 miles or more and the majority of those folks, 39-million, will be traveling by personal automobile.”

The predicted number of travelers is down by about 600-thousand from last Thanksgiving, according to the motor club’s survey, and that’s following a year-long trend. “Memorial Day was down 1%, 4th of July was down 1%, Thanksgiving is down 1.5%,” Weinholzer says. “The exception was Labor Day as the only holiday that was actually up and that was up about 4.2%.” While gasoline prices are relatively low in Iowa compared to the rest of the nation, she says the travel forecast is still down, slightly.

“People are just a little concerned about the sluggish economy, it’s not recovering as quickly or as well as they’d hoped,” Weinholzer says. “They’re just backing off a bit of some of their holiday travel plans.” Triple-A says gas prices in Iowa are averaging three-oh-seven a gallon, well below the national average of three-22. Both averages are the cheapest of the year and they’re expected to continue falling for the next several weeks. Davenport has Iowa’s cheapest gas, averaging two-92 a gallon.

(Radio Iowa)