Both directions of Interstate 80 between exit 64 (Cass County Road N-28) and exit 70 (Iowa 148) in the Anita area are now closed. The closure may last several hours. Multiple crashes in the area, one involving hazardous materials, have caused all traffic to be detoured. Avoid the area if possible.
For anyone who is traveling today, please slow down and allow plenty of space between vehicles if there is winter weather. Check for update on this situation at www.511ia.org.
Persons planning on traveling should avoid interstate 80 eastbound between the 70 and 64 mile markers due to multiple accidents including at least two fatalities. Law enforcement reports the interstate will be closed for at least 2 hours in the crash areas.
Multiple crashes are being reported this morning, as motorists fail to exercise their winter driving skills. A crash that happened at around 8:35-a.m. on Interstate 80 westbound one mile west of the Anita exit, has resulted in a woman passenger in a semi being injured. The trailer of the semi tipped over onto its side, spilling corrosive and flammable materials. The roadway is blocked eastbound. Firefighters from Atlantic are being assembled to handle the chemical spill.
A second, serious accident on I-80 in the same area, involved a semi and a car. Multiple injuries were reported. Several rescue squads and law enforcement were on the scene. Additional information is not available.
Rescue personnel from Shelby responded at around 8:30-a.m. to a multi-vehicle accident on I-80 westbound at mile marker 31, with unknown injuries at the initial report. The roadway is blocked due to the crash.
Other, non-injury accidents have occurred, with vehicles spinning off into the ditch off I-80.
Rescue crews are responding to two separate accidents on Interstate 80. Emergency personnel from Anita and Wiota were called to I-80 westbound at the 65 mile marker at around 8:35-a.m. for a semi tractor trailer that rolled into the north ditch. The trailer was on its side. The rig was carrying flammable and corrosive materials, some of which were spilling onto the ground. A female passenger in the cab suffered from head injuries. The driver was not hurt. (Update 9:17-a.m.: The crash is between Exit 64: County Road N28 and Exit 70: IA 148; County Road F58 (1 mile west of the Anita area). The road is blocked due to a crash.)
And, rescue personnel from Shelby responded at around 8:30-a.m. to a multi-vehicle accident on I-80 westbound at mile marker 31, with unknown injuries at the initial report. The roadway is blocked due to the crash.
More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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The Iowa Department of Agriculture has confirmed that the vote to institute a state beef checkoff passed with 56 percent of producers voting in favor. Iowa Cattlemen’s Association president Phil Reemtsma, says they did a lot of work to explain the referendum to producers. “I’ve always said a successful referendum for the I-C-A is one where we have a lot of participation and then let the people decide the outcome, “Reemtsma says. “Obviously I’m happy with the outcome as well. I believe we did our job in getting it to a vote and trying to get the word out there as best we can.”
Beginning on March 1st of 2017, producers will pay the 50 cent checkoff for every head of cattle sold. “The work is really just beginning. Now it’s the Iowa Beef Industry Council’s responsibility and job to oversee the fund and make sure that those funds are utilized correctly according to what the producers would like to see happen,” Reemtsma says.
There’s been a national effort to promote beef for many years, but Reemtsma says they felt the need to do something in Iowa. He says will be run through the Iowa Treasury and then back to the Iowa Beef Industry Council and will be a separate fund from that national fund and give them more flexibility in using it. “And that’s one of the benefits of a state fund, we have a little more flexibility in how we spend those dollars,” Reemtsma says.
He says it will be state dollars helping promote the industry, and he says it could also have some impact on the choices for those who eat beef. “There may be opportunities for us to develop new products that the consumer wants and the consumer needs within beef,” according to Reemtsma. “And so we are always looking at trying to enhance the marketing to our consumers and having some additional funding to bring new products to the market that they may want is always beneficial.”
Reemtsma says anything the checkoff dollars can do to support the industry is important. “The cattle industry in the last 18 months has been through quite a roller coaster — from record highs in 2014 to record lows in ’15 and part of ’16,” Reemtsma says, “so we have to view this as a long-term investment in our industry. We are hopeful that the funding will help us in Iowa stay in business.”
The checkoff referendum was the last big item on Reemstra’s list of things to do as his term as I-C-A president comes to an end. He runs a cattle operation in Dewitt in eastern Iowa.
(Radio Iowa)
Podcasts, Family Fun in the Kitchen
Lavon and Miss NiNi talk about a recipe that could be a good holiday treat replacement or just a great house warming winter month recipe.
Baked Apple Dumplings—cookscountry.com
Ingredients:
Dough
Method:
Dough: Process flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor until combined. Scatter butter and shortening over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer to bowl. Stir in buttermilk until dough forms. Turn out on to lightly flour surface and knead briefly until dough is cohesive. Press dough into 8-inch x 4-inch rectangle. Cut in half, wrap each half tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Apples: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. In second bowl, combine butter, raisins, and 3 T. cinnamon/sugar mixture. Peel apples and halve horizontally (or through the equator). Using a melon baller, scoop out the core and seeds. Divide the butter mixture among the apple halves, filling the hollows.
Assemble Dumplings: On lightly floured surface, roll each dough half into 12-inch square. Cut each 12-inch square into four 6-inch squares. Working one at a time, lightly brush edges of dough square with egg white and place apple, cut-side up, in center of each square. To gather dough, fold the corners of the dough up to enclose the apple halves, overlapping and crimping to seal. Using a paring knife, cut vent hole in top of each dumpling.
Finish Apples: Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange dumplings on baking sheet. Brush tops with egg white and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon/sugar. Bake until dough is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 20-25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve with Cider Sauce.
Cider Sauce
Ingredients:
Method:
Bring cider, water, sugar, and cinnamon to simmer in saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until thickened and reduced to 1-1/2 c., about 15 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and lemon juice. Drizzle over dumplings to serve. (cook’scountry.com suggests: To make this sauce up to 2 days in advance, reduce the cider mixture until it measures 1-1/2 c., then refrigerate. When ready to serve, return mixture to simmer and whisk in butter and lemon juice off heat.)
Yields: 8 servings
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Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey says he’d be willing to serve as Kim Reynolds’ lieutenant governor once she takes over as governor.
[RIcapBN1] :24 :makes sense.”
(as said) “I certainly am there to support her 100 percent and am willing to help in whatever way there needs to be, so I just am very excited about the opportunity,” Northey says. “I’m excited about the governor being our ambassador to China. I think that’s great for the state and for the country, but I’m also existed about the lieutenant governor becoming our governor and being able to help in whatever way makes sense.”
There’s no firm timeline yet for the transition of power, as there’s no date set for when Governor Terry Branstad will be confirmed for his new post as U.S. Ambassador to China. During an interview Friday afternoon with Radio Iowa, Reynolds says she has a list of individuals she’s considering to invite to be HER lieutenant governor. Northey issued a statement earlier this week, announcing he would NOT run for governor himself in 2018 and calling on Iowa Republicans to rally behind Reynolds.
Northey says the “math certainly changed” with Branstad’s looming exit and — since it is well known in political circles that he’s been considering a run for governor — he wanted to make his intentions clear.
[RIcapBN2] :07 :the Iowa legislature.”
(as said) “I think it’s important to support our next governor, to be able to have a strong two years with the Iowa legislature,” Northey says.
Northey is in the midst of his third term as the state’s ag secretary.
[RIcapBN3] :03 :to serve Iowans.”
(as said) “I certainly am interested in being able to serve Iowans,” Northey says.
And Northey says he’s “open” to leaving his post to become the state’s lieutenant governor, but Northey says there are “a lot of great folks” who could fill that role. Northey made his comments on this weekend’s edition of the Iowa Public Television program, “Iowa Press.”
(Radio Iowa)
Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says she and Governor Branstad have had an “excellent working relationship” and she’s prepared to take over as the state’s chief executive when Branstad leaves to become the U.S. Ambassador to China. Reynolds spoke Friday afternoon with Radio Iowa news director O. Kay Henderson. An outline for the transition of power is being developed, but there’s no date set for Reynolds to take the oath of office and become Iowa’s next governor.
Reynolds says she’s working with Branstad and the entire “team” in his office to put together a package of recommendations for the 2017 legislative session. And it will be Branstad who’ll deliver the annual “Condition of the State” message to legislators in early January and present a state budget outline for the coming year.
As for whether Reynolds might make significant personnel changes in state government, she says this is “just the second day” after confirmation of Branstad’s exit and her elevation to the governorship. Reynolds isn’t ready to say who she’s considering to invite to be HER lieutenant governor once she takes the oath and is Iowa’s 43rd governor, but she has “a lot of individuals” on her list.
Reynolds says she’s looking for “good chemistry” since she will consider her lieutenant to be a governing partner. After 42 previous governors who were men, Iowa’s 43rd will be a woman and Reynolds hints she’ll run as an incumbent in 2018 — to become the first woman ELECTED as the state’s governor.
Reynolds served in local government as the treasurer in Clarke County before a two-year stint as a state senator, then she accepted Branstad’s invitation to be his lieutenant governor running mate in 2010. She’s the fifth woman in a row to serve as lieutenant governor. Until 2014 — when Joni Ernst was elected to the U.S. Senate — only the states of Iowa and Mississippi had never elected a women as governor or to federal office. “I’m really proud to have the opportunity to be a part of history and be part of that,” Reynolds says.
Not only is Ernst the first female senator from Iowa, but Reynolds points to Linda Upmeyer, who last year became the first woman to serve as speaker of the Iowa House. “Probably the majority” of state agency directors are women, too, according to Reynolds. “Although I’m proud of that, what I’m most proud of is I think for all of them it was not really about gender, but it was about a passion to serve and to make a difference and that’s what I think is reflected in every one of the individuals that I just named and that’s what I think is really important,” Reynolds says. “So, kind of as a side bonus, though, young girls in this state have some wonderful role models.”
Reynolds, who is 59, is a native of St. Charles. She and her husband live in Osceola.
(Radio Iowa)
The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Ric Hanson.
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