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Girls State Basketball Scoreboard Friday 03/02/2018

Sports

March 2nd, 2018 by admin

Class 2A Semifinals

Grundy Center 42, Treynor 39
Cascade 62, North Union 53 3OT

Class 1A Semifinals

Springville 57, Exira-EHK 41
Newell-Fonda 61, Central Decatur 49

Class 5A Championship

Iowa City West 56, Iowa City High 45

Class 4A Championship

Marion 69, Grinnell 48

IA DCI updated Cresco shooting incident

News

March 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Division of Investigation today (Friday) identified the subjects involved in Thursday’s shooting incident in Cresco.  Officers had responded to a 911 call at around 1:30-a.m. to a reported shooting at 700 South Elm Street #32 in Cresco.  Upon arrival, officers were confronted by 24-year old Brian Fullhart, at the residence who was uncooperative with officers and threatening to shoot officers. Local schools were asked to delay classes for two-hours, as a precaution. Fullhart was taken into cutody at 6:45 am., after a SWAT Team successfully negotiated his surrender.  Officers then entered the residence and located the body of a deceased female.  That female was later identified as Fullhart’s wife, 34-year old Zoanne Fullhart, of Decorah.

Brian Fullhart was arrested and charged with Murder in the First Degree and Going Armed with Intent.  He is currently in custody at the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Department, in Decorah.

Iowa dad gets 10 years for fatal beating of 38-year-old son

News

March 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has been given 10 years in prison for fatally beating his 38-year-old son. The Clinton Herald reports that Glenn Plummer III, of Camanche, was sentenced Thursday. He’d pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter after prosecutors lowered the charge from second-degree murder and dropped a domestic abuse count.

Court records say a police officer found Plummer and his son, 38-year-old Joseph Plummer, the night of May 30 at a Camanche apartment. Joseph Plummer told investigators that his father had beaten him.
Police say Joseph Plummer died June 1 at a hospital. An autopsy was performed, and Joseph Plummer’s death was ruled a homicide.

Volunteer precipitation observers needed for collaborative rain/hail/snow network

Weather

March 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s State Climatology Office and the National Weather Service are recruiting volunteer precipitation observers across Iowa to participate in the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network, known as “CoCoRaHS” (pronounced “KO-ko-rozz”). All that is needed to participate is an interest in the weather, a four inch diameter rain gage, a suitable location to set up the gauge and access to the internet.  All data collected are immediately available for free online and are routinely used for flood forecasting, drought assessment, news media stories, scientific research and general weather interest. Weather observers are needed everywhere but the most critical needs (locally) are in Shelby, Adair, and Adams counties.

Much more information about the network is available on the CoCoRaHS web site at www.cocorahs.org. The website includes information on how to join, where to obtain your rain gauge and how to accurately measure and report rain and snow.  There is no cost involved in joining or participating in the CoCoRaHS network other than the need for the four inch diameter rain gauge. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says “In 2017 Iowa recorded its driest year since the drought of 2012.   Severe drought gripped much of south central and southeast Iowa for the second consecutive year where rainfall has been as much as 25 inches less than normal over the past 24 months. Meanwhile, above normal rain amounts were restricted to relatively small areas of northeast and west central Iowa.  The past few weeks have seen frequent precipitation with snowfall exceeding two feet at Fort Dodge during February. Whatever comes our way in 2018, the weather observations obtained by this network can be of great benefit in obtaining a clearer picture of Iowa’s weather.”

The CoCoRaHS network was established by the Colorado Climate Center in 1998 and has now spread to all fifty states and Canada.  Iowa joined the volunteer network in 2007 and now has over 300 registered CoCoRaHS observers across the state.  However, more observers are needed to better document the amount and variability of rain and snow across Iowa.

Backyard & Beyond 3-2-2018

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

March 2nd, 2018 by Jim Field

LaVon Eblen visits with Janine Knop (Miss NiNi) about the Atlantic Garden Seminar.

Play

Union County Sheriff’s report (3/2)

News

March 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 44-year old Patrick Albert Baker, of Lorimor, was arrested Thursday night at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. Baker was arrested on a Union County warrant for failure to appear. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

Could higher court fees compensate for expected budget cuts?

News

March 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Legislators on the committee that drafts the budget for the state court system are asking if there’s a way to collect more court fees — to make up for expected budget cuts ahead. State Court Administrator Todd Nuccio says most people involved in criminal cases can’t afford the current fees.”You also have an access to justice issue on the civil side” he said. “There’s a tipping point where you are not making the bar too high for the public to gain access to the court.”

Nuccio is the top administrator in the state court system. He’s warning lawmakers of court delays and possible closures if they cut more from the court system’s current budget than the one-point-six million that’s been propoed. “We would not be closing courthouses or closing clerks of courts offices, to be more specific, with the $1.6 (million cut),” Nuccio says. “You go beyond that $1.6 (million), we start to have to look more seriously.”

At one point this year, Senate Republicans voted for a nearly five million dollar cut to the courts. Nuccio says he’s holding 134 jobs open in the court system, in anticipation of the current round of cuts to the current year’s budget.

(Radio Iowa)

Even the Tooth Fairy is feeling the economic bite

News

March 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

A whimsical survey about how much money the Tooth Fairy leaves under pillows actually has a good track record with mirroring the real-world stock market’s S-and-P 500 index. Dr. Jeff Chaffin, a dentist and the dental director of Delta Dental of Iowa, says the latest survey finds the Tooth Fairy has tightened her money bag after an all-time high payout in 2016. “In the Midwest we’re seeing a little over $4, or $4.37 left per tooth by the Tooth Fairy,” Chaffin says. “It’s dropped a little bit and we’re a little lower than other areas. The western section of the U.S. tends to be the highest.”

That four-37 figure is the average payout for the all-important first tooth while remaining teeth drop to an average of three-44 per tooth, or about 20 percent below the national average. Over time, the Tooth Fairy Index shows that the value of a lost tooth is closely related to the nation’s economy.  “Traditionally, the reimbursement, if we call it reimbursement by the Tooth Fairy, has fallen in line with the S&P,” Chaffin says. “During good economic times, it seems like the Tooth Fairy leaves more money. This year it didn’t exactly track with that, but that’s been the trend over time.”

For 12 of the past 14 years, the trend in average Tooth Fairy giving has tracked with the movement of the S&P 500. While the money’s nice when you’re a kid, Chaffin reminds what’s more important is the condition of the teeth. “We hope those teeth are nice, healthy teeth when they fall out and we hope the teeth actually fall out as opposed to having had dental disease and having to be extracted,” Chaffin says. “These teeth naturally falling out are part of the natural process and we like to reward those good, healthy behaviors.”

There’s a clear tie, he says, between oral health and overall health. Chaffin says teaching good daily dental habits early could save the child from many dental and health issues later in life.

(Radio Iowa)

Police confirm name of woman killed in Eagle Grove fire

News

March 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

EAGLE GROVE, Iowa (AP) — A 55-year-old woman has been identified as the person killed in a north-central Iowa house fire. The Messenger reports that Eagle Grove police have confirmed the body found by firefighters Monday night was that of Laurie McPherson. Two other occupants escaped the blaze but required medical help.

Fire Chief Tom Peterson says an electrical fire in the kitchen spread through the rear of the structure.

DONALD DEAN GAMMELL, 60, of Atlantic (3-17-2018)

Obituaries

March 2nd, 2018 by Jim Field

DONALD DEAN GAMMELL, 60, of Atlantic died February 27th at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines.  A Celebration of Life luncheon for DONALD DEAN GAMMELL will be held at Noon on Saturday, March 17, 2018, at the Catholic Parish Center in Atlantic.

Memorials may be left to the family to assist with expenses.

DONALD DEAN GAMMELL is survived by:

His wife of 28 years: Deanna

Family:  Daniel Spangler and Tanner Law of Atlantic

Father: Earl Gammell of Red Oak

Sisters: Sue Ann (Ed) Ridlen of Ames and Teresa (John) Petty of Red Oak

Brother:  David (Deb) Gammell of Elliott

Father-in-law: Roger Barbero

Sisters-in-law: Christine Nelson, Melanie (Darrin) Petty, and Caryn (Kevin) Just, all of Atlantic

God daughter: Brienna Steffens of Atlantic

nieces and nephews, other relatives and countless friends.