w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Five members of the Harlan Fire and Rescue Team left Des Moines early Sunday morning, enroute to Albany, New York, to assist with search and rescue and other duties, in advance of Hurricane Sandy’s arrival.

Members of the Harlan Fire and Rescue Team landed in New York, late Sunday night to assist federal authorities in Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. (Photo from Jason Wickizer’s Facebook page)

Jason Wickizer, Emergency Medical Services Coordinator at the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency, said on his Facebook page, that he, along with Chad Kroger, Jordan Sanders, Andrea Systad and Ryne Nelson will work with federal officials to assist in the recovery efforts. Many of those same team members assisted in fighting wild fires in the western U-S in early August and September, and only recently returned to Iowa.

They won’t be the only southwest Iowans to offer a helping hand to east coast residents, though. Iowa utility crews have also been dispatched to the east coast, as Hurricane Sandy is expected to come ashore late today (Monday), causing widespread power outages in major cities. Tina Pothoff, a spokeswoman for MidAmerican Energy, says a team of MidAmerican lineworkers left Saturday morning. “There are 12 men that are part of that team (plus) one mechanic, one safety member and one supervisor to make up the team of 15,” Potthoff says. “We’re also released 50 contractors and 51 contracted tree crews that we would normally work with.” Authorities ordered tens of millions of people to evacuate the east coast Sunday as the gigantic storm is forecast to deliver strong winds, heavy snowfall and widespread flooding.

Potthoff says the crews from Iowa were told to expect to be gone at least a week, and perhaps two weeks, depending on how severe the storm damage is. “They’ve been dispatched to Poughkeepsie, New York and they’re going to be primarily set aside to do emergency service restoration work,” she says, “so that can include putting poles back up, stringing up wires again, replacing broken equipment.” The Iowa crew members come from all over, according to Pothoff.

“We have some men that are from Shenandoah, Sheldon, Red Oak, the Fort Dodge area, Rock Valley and Avoca,” she says. Forecasts indicate major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and Boston are likely to get blasted by the hurricane. Schools have canceled classes, transit systems have been shut down and residents who live along the shoreline have been ordered to evacuate. The storm is massive and slow-moving, meaning sustained high winds will hit many areas and it will likely produce massive amounts of rain and snow once it moves inland.

(Ric Hanson & Radio Iowa compiled this information)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The public will have a chance to get another update on the status of the troubled Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant at a meeting in Blair, NE., next month.  But the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided to reschedule Tuesday’s meeting with Omaha Public Power District officials in Maryland because of a major storm forecast to hit the east coast.

The public meeting will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 15 at Dana College’s Gardner-Hawks Center in Blair. After officials discuss the efforts to restart the plant, there will be time for questions.

Fort Calhoun sits 20 miles north of Omaha. It was initially shut down for refueling maintenance in April 2011, but flooding along the Missouri River and a series of safety violations forced it to stay closed.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports one-person was injured during a hunting expedition Saturday, in Poweshiek County. Officials say 78-year old Darrell Lamb, of Grinnell, suffered minor injuries after being struck in the face by shotgun pellets while hunting pheasants.

Lamb was hit in the face by two pellet shots, when a pheasant flushed between him and three other members of his hunting party at the end of a food plot. Lamb and the others could not see one another because of the height of the food plot and the topography of the land.

The man was treated and released from Grinnell Regional Hospital. The incident occurred at approximately 11 a.m. Saturday.

Officials with the Griswold Community School District are inviting the public and especially veterans to the 2012 Veterans Day Program. The event will take place 2-p.m. Sun., Nov. 11th, in the auditorium at the Griswold Middle School/High School building. Guest speaker is Alan Cranston, of Marne, who enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1956 at the age of 19, and retired in 1975. Following the program, everyone is invited to the cafeteria, for a dessert bar and fellowship.

In conjunction with the annual Veterans Day Program, cards of thanks are being sent to the men and women from our local area, currently serving in the military. You’re asked to providethe names and addresses of those service persons to: Ivan Lynch, or Denise Mardesen, at 712-778-2154, or Nancy Taylor at 712-778-2152. Or, e-mail ntaylor@griswoldschools.org., by no later than November 8th.

w/ Brett Johnson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a burglary occurred sometime Friday in Red Oak.

At about 5:15 PM, the sheriff’s office received a report from 52-year-old Marlin Peterson of rural Red Oak, who says someone had broken into his residence on Friday between 7 AM and 5 PM and took some of his personal belongings.  The loss was estimated at about $1,000.

Anyone with information should contact Montgomery County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-432-1001.

Daily polls track the progress of the ups and downs in the presidential race in Iowa — but a poll taken a couple of months ago shows optimism for one of the most popular hunting seasons opening today (Saturday). D-N-R wildlife biologist, Todd Bogenschutz  conducts the annual roadside pheasant survey — and after five years of lagging numbers — he says the bird population was up 17 to 20-percent. Things may even be a little better than the poll indicated, as Bogenschutz says they depend on the morning dew to push the birds out where they can be counted.

“You know for good dew, you need good soil moisture and that wasn’t very abundant in Iowa this August, so the counts maybe didn’t capture everything that was out there,” Bogenschutz explained. “They are what they are and we’ve been hearing some things anecdotally, people running the combines have been seeing a few birds out there where they didn’t see any last year, so I think we’ve got a good first step toward bouncing the numbers back.” While the dew provides some margin for error in the pheasant poll, Bogenschutz can usually get a pretty good idea from it of how many ringnecks hunters will bag.

He says they can look at the numbers and make an estimate of the harvest. “This year I’m estimating we’ll probably harvest somewhere between 150 and 200-thousand birds — compared to only a hundred thousand last year — so a little bump up compared to last year, a good start,” Bogenschutz says. Another factor in favor of the hunters is the progress of the harvest, with is over 90-percent complete for corn and soybeans. “For the opener that’s going to be a plus for the hunters that are out there, all those standing crops won’t be available to hide the birds, so that might actually improve (the hunt) success wise,” he explained.

Birds trying to stay alive and away from hunters usually have some standing corn or beans to use for a getaway. “You know in a normal year only 50-percent of the corn usually’s out by the opener and this year it’s essentially all out,” Bogenschutz says, “and that will help hunters in finding birds.” Bird populations have been down the last five years due in part to bad weather.

(Radio Iowa)