OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A traditional Easter dinner with ham as the main dish could stretch budgets as prices remain high heading into the holiday. Ham prices have been higher than usual for the past two years because the cost of pig feed has gone up. On the wholesale level, ham is selling for about 75 cents a pound this spring, which is in line with last year. But that price is well above the average 55 cents per pound price in the previous five years. Recent retail prices in grocery stores were around $2.20 per pound. Omaha shopper Paula Vejvoda (VAY’-veh-da) says she bought her Easter ham when they were on sale around Christmas and froze it to save money.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says a joint investigation between authorities in Montgomery and Cass Counties has resulted in the recovery near Villisca, of motorcycle stolen from the Cumberland area. Officials say the cycle was recovered Saturday morning from a ditch near the intersection of 260^th and Willow Avenue, east of Villisca. The 2007 Yamaha YZF-R6S had been stolen from Dayton Michael Amdor, of Cumberland. 

Damage to the cycle was estimated at $1,500. An investigation into the incident remains on-going.

April is “Window Safety” month in Iowa and a Des Moines couple is leading the effort to spread this safety message. Four-year-old Hannah Geneser died after falling from a third floor window in March of last year. Her father, Jamie Geneser, is urging parents across the state to check window screens and talk with their kids about being careful around windows. 

“For me, personally, it’s a way to kind of channel all the grief and pain that we have, that I have, and channel it in a positive manner,” he says. “It’s really a coping mechanism for myself and I just have this drive to make sure that other parents don’t have to go through what we have gone through.” The Genesers have started a non-profit foundation to spread their child safety message.

“We already have talked to several different people that have already made changes to how their home is set up, how their windows function, different guards, different precautions they’re putting in place,” Jamie Geneser says, “so we’ve had an overwhelming response to this thing that we’ve brought to people’s attention.” The Iowa House this morning (Tuesday) passed a resolution to mark Window Safety Awareness Month and Jamie Genezer was there, along with his wife, Shanda Boone.

“It’s very important for us and I’m overwhelmed,” Shanda Boone says. “I didn’t expect to be this overwhelmed with emotion, but it just means so much to us and it helps us to continue you on.” Every year, about five-thousand U.S. children are taken to emergency rooms after falling out of windows. Last year in the Des Moines area alone, five children fell out of windows in the spring and summer.

Go to www.radioiowa.com to learn more about window safety and the child safety foundation created to honor Hannah, the child who died after falling out of a window. 

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

An elderly Griswold woman suffered minor injuries after being hit by a car Monday morning. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says Joann Dean was knocked to the ground after she was hit by a vehicle which was backing out of a private driveway. The accident happened at around 11:30-a.m., near 507 1^st Street, in Griswold.

 Officials say the driver of a 2002 Dodge, 59-year old William Lee Peebles, of Griswold, was cited for Unsafe Entry Onto a Sidewalk. Following the accident, Dean was transported by Griswold Rescue to Montgomery County Hospital in Red Oak where she was treated for her injuries, and released.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A man who was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant will likely face additional charges, after he held authorities in Council Bluffs at bay for about 9-hours before finally being taken into custody early this (Tuesday) morning. According to media reports, officers went to the home on South 13^th Street in Council Bluffs at around 5:30-p.m. Monday to serve a warrant for 56-year old Donald Shamblen.

Shamblen was said to be near his garage when officers arrived. The stand-off began when he allegedly told officers he had a gun and a knife, and wasn’t going to jail. A Council Bluffs Emergency Response Team (ERT) and negotiators arrived on the scene, and the area was cordoned-off.

At around 2:30-a.m., police knocked down a door and took Shamblen into custody without incident. He was transported to a hospital for evaluation before being taken to the Pottawattamie County Jail.

An Audubon woman turned herself in to authorities Monday morning.

Cynthia Rae Bates (IA Sex Offender Registry photo, Sept. 2011)

 The Audubon County Sheriff’s Department said 54-year old Cynthia Rae Bates faces a felony charge for Failure to Report a Change of Relevant Information, with regard to the Iowa Sex Offender Registry/2nd offense.  Bates was seen by the magistrate and released. Her preliminary hearing was set for April 19th. The incident remains under investigation.

Bates was convicted in Audubon County in April 2004, of having Lascivious Acts with a male child under the age of 13.  The woman was 44-years old at the time.

(Story 1st aired 3 & 5pm Mon., April 2nd)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The National Weather Service says the lack of winter weather and some record high temperatures helped make March the warmest on record in Iowa. The service says there were several date records and entire weeks of record warmth.

Some examples:  The high of 84 in Des Moines on March 16 broke the 1930 record of 77. The high of 82 in Waterloo on March 17 broke the 2003 record of 78; The average temperature of 66.6 degrees in Waterloo from March 16 through March 22 was nearly 30 degrees above normal for that span; For the month in Des Moines, the average temperature of 55.7 broke the 1910 record of 51.5; For the month in Dubuque, the average temperature of 50.2 degrees broke the 1910 record of 47.7 degrees.

In Atlantic, the average High for March 2012 was 67-degrees, or 22-degrees above the normal average High of 45. The average Low last month was 39, which was 14-degrees warmer than normal.  Rainfall for the month was 1.91-inches, which was nearly four-tenths of an inch below normal.

The month of April started out with a near record high in Atlantic. On Sunday, we topped out at 86 degrees, which was just 1 degree shy of tying the record for that date. On Monday, we broke our record high of 85 set in 1981, when we hit 88-degrees.