Five people were arrested over the weekend in Atlantic. According to the Police Department, 21-year old Nicholas Anderson, of Atlantic, and 51-year old Robert Atkinson, of Chicago, Il, were arrested Friday. Anderson was taken into custody on a Cass County warrant for Contempt of Court/Failure to Comply with Treatment. Atkinson was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear. Both were booked into the Cass County Jail.

On Saturday, Atlantic Police arrested 19-year old Ethan Pollock, of Anita, and 25-year old Eric Gross, of Des Moines. Both men were charged with Operating a motor vehicle While Intoxicated (OWI). They were booked into the Cass County Jail.

And, on Sunday, 38-year old David Graham, of Atlantic, was arrested by the Atlantic P-D on an OWI charge. Graham was also booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting Wednesday morning, in Greenfield. On the agenda for their 9-a.m. session at the courthouse, is action on a resolution approving a Fiscal Year 2013 budget amendment, and an amended service contract with Access Systems.

Other discussion and/or action items include those pertaining to: Pictometry; Sidwell GIS; Labor negotiations; Consent for Local Option Sales Tax/Tax Increment Financing, for the City of Stuart; and, courtyard permits for the Chamber Main Street committee.

A fight in Shenandoah Monday, has resulted in charges being filed against a teenager. A 17-year old male faces a charge of Willful Injury, following an incident at 707 West Summit Street. When officers arrived, they found 26-year old Cody Tunnel bleeding from a puncture wound. Tunnel was taken toShenandoahMedicalCenter for treatment. A report on the extent of his injuries is not available. Officials said the unidentified teen allegedly involved in the fight was booked into the Council Bluffs Juvenile Detention Center.

Two juveniles in Adams County face a felony Criminal Mischief charge, and aggravated misdemeanor charge of burglary in the 3rd degree, following incidents of vandalism over the weekend. The Adams County Sheriff’s Department reports the unnamed juveniles allegedly sliced 11 tires and broke into one vehicle, causing around $3,500 in damage. The juveniles were detained by authorities at around 11-p.m. Saturday. One of the youths was released to their parents, while the other was released to Juvenile Services.

(9-a.m. News)

w/Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Flood warnings or flash flood watches are now posted in 92 of Iowa’s 99 counties. Many roads are washed over and closed, including about a dozen state and U-S highways. National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Vachalek says more rain’s coming. “We’ll have to keep our eye on the possibility of more heavy rainfall, especially tonight and tomorrow and over the next couple of days,” Vachalek says. “The actual system that’s producing all of this rain is not going to move east until about Friday afternoon or evening.”

Some areas of Iowa have gotten eight inches of rain since Friday. The 24-hour rainfall total in Atlantic (ending today at 7-a.m.) was .2″ (two-tenths of an inch). Our 48-hour total at the KJAN studios was 1.15″. 

Massena reports a 24-hour rainfall total of .54″. Other, unofficial 24-hour rainfall amounts include: .”25 near Avoca; .3″ in Oakland; 1.04″ at Malvern; .84 at Hamburg; .35″ in Audubon. Weekend totals in 3/3″ in Clarinda, 2.95″ in Audubon, and 2.85″ in Red Oak.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN)

w/Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa couple have been rescued from their home after it was surrounded by rising floodwater from a nearby creek. Stephanie Luecke told the Sioux City Journal that she and her husband, Ray, had never seen Willow Creek rise so quickly near their home off Iowa Highway 3 on the northeast side of Le Mars. She says the water “surrounded us like an island.”

Water was creeping up the front porch by the time rescue workers arrived at 12:30 p.m. Monday. The Lueckes expect to spend three days at a nearby motel but don’t know what they’ll do next. Stephanie Luecke says she and her husband are wondering what they’d done “to deserve this.”

Officials say Le Mars got nearly 4 1/4 inches of rain over the weekend.

The weather pattern will remain the same for the next several days with chances for additional thunderstorms increasing again later this afternoon and tonight. Some thunderstorms early this morning over Central Iowa may bring some brief heavy rainfall…but the focus will shift to the southern half of the region again tonight as both a threat for heavy rainfall and a slight risk of severe weather returns. A stronger storm will move into the region later Wednesday evening and Thursday keeping thunderstorm chances in the forecast through Friday.

Gardening is being promoted to Iowans through a new statewide initiative that’s designed to reach out to people who’ve never grown anything as well as current gardeners who might be able to grow a little more to give away. Angie Tagtow is project coordinator for Cultivate Iowa. “We are focusing our efforts on low-resource Iowans to encourage them to think about gardening as a way of not only putting fresh foods on their plates but also saving their food budget and hopefully improving health and food security,” Tagtow says. 

The project also targets existing gardeners, encouraging them to grow more produce and donate it to a nearby food pantry or community group. Gardening doesn’t need to take a lot of time or money, in fact, she says it should save you both commodities. Through gardening, Tagtow says you can keep some green in your pocket while also putting green on your table. “You don’t need to have a back yard to grow a little bit of your own food,” Tagtow says. “If you go to the Cultivate Iowa page and click on the garden link, we’ve got some simple steps in which all of us can do to grow some really wonderful vegetables in containers.” 

In fact, using containers as a garden also means fewer weeds to pull. The website, www.cultivateiowa.org, contains a trove of downloadable information on how to start the process of tilling the soil and growing delicious veggies. “Tomatoes and peppers are great container garden as well as backyard garden plants,” Tagtow says. “Easy to grow, they’re some of the best-tasting vegetables that we have and some of the vegetables that we most often eat here inIowa. So, tomatoes and peppers and greens also do really well whether it’s directly sewn into the ground or in containers as well.” 

To get started, she says, all you really need is a container, potting soil and either seeds or plants. For established gardeners who can grow a little extra to donate, CultivateIowaenables them to make pledges, find nearby organizations that accept fresh produce and track their donations.

(Radio Iowa)