The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson
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The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A group of Iowa casinos wants to make their annual audits confidential and stop releasing them to the public. The Des Moines Register reports 16 of the 19 state-regulated Iowa casinos have joined a lawsuit challenging the release of those financial records.
Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa Gaming Association, says the audits include trade secrets that shouldn’t be released publicly. But the reports have long been public in Iowa, and they are relied upon to gauge the health of the industry. Last year, Iowa’s casinos paid over $312 million in gambling taxes and contributed nearly $40 million to charities. The groups that rely on charitable contributions from casinos or gambling taxes have a particular interest in the financial reports.
Today: Mostly Cloudy w/flurries possible late this afternoon. High around 20. SE @ 10-20.Wind Chills as low as -10.
Tonight: Cloudy w/light snow or flurries. Low 17. SE @ 10-15. Wind chill near 0.
Tomorrow: Cloudy w/a slight chance of light snow or mixed precipitation. High 30. SE @ 15-30. Wind chill as low as 5.
Friday night: Freezing drizzle likely, possibly mixed with snow, becoming all snow after 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 12. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Saturday: Cloudy, windy & cold w/light snow. High near 18 early, w/temps falling during the day. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. Winds N @ 15-30.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, windy & bitterly cold, w/30% chance of snow before 7pm. Patchy blowing snow through about 9pm. Low around -12.
Sunday: Partly Cloudy. High around 12.
Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 24. The 24-hour Low (ending at 7-a.m. today) was 1. Last year on this date, our High in Atlantic was 43 and the low was 32. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 64 in 2002. The Record Low was -19 in 1901.
Two of the top Republican leaders in the Iowa Legislature gave a few details Wednesday on the agenda they’ll pursue in January. Senator majority leader, Bill Dix a Republican from Shellrock, says he is one of the few legislators who were around the last time the Republicans controlled the House, Senate and governor’s office. “The message that I am taking from voters is that they expect us, for lack of a better term, to kick the door in. We don’t expect government to continue to do business the way that we have.”
Speaking at the West Side Conservative Club meeting in Clive, Dix says the state needs to not overspend and create policies that grow the state. He says education and education funding is key example of why the state needs to grow. “We can add additional dollars to the per pupil funding on an annual basis — and we almost always do — yet some districts because of declining enrollment will have less resources to work with. So the answer to many of our problems, including this one is growth,” Dix says. “There are a lot of lessons that we can learn. All across the country the last couple of decades — the state’s that are growing the fastest are the ones that are exercising fiscal discipline.”
Dix says tax reform is part of the solution to helping the state grow. “High income tax punishes people who want to work, save and make investments in our state. And we need to recognize that. And the states that have grown the fastest the last couple of decades across our country today are the ones that either lowered their rates, broadened their base, kept things simple, or moved to no income tax at all,” according to Dix.
Dix says another issue he expects to Senate to handle is requiring an I-D to vote. “Without question we need to continue to work to ensure higher levels of integrity in our voting system. And one of the best first steps we can do that is in voter identification. A voter I-D is clearly something we can do,” Dix says.
House majority leader Chris Hagenow, a Republican from Windsor Heights was also on the program. He says he is excited to have a Republican Senate to work with. Hagenow says House members have had some initial planning meetings, but haven’t gotten down to specifics just yet. “We have to still talk in terms of themes and top priorities, and then once we come around to January and work on that. But what I can say, is in the Republican majority in the House we did a lot of these things. Over the last six years some of the bills that we passed are going to be the starting point going forward,” Hagenow says.
He says many of those things were blocked when the Democrats controlled the Senate, but now things like water quality will be back on the table. He says tax reform is another important issue for the Iowa House. Hagenow says the changes to collecting bargaining laws, like other issues, were blocked by Democrats in the senate last session. He says there are a variety of other issues they plan to bring up again.
“The election law reforms that we talked about, we’ve done some of those things,” according to Hagenow. “Many of you care about the Second Amendment and making sure we protect Second Amendment rights. Year-after-year we have passed legislation to do that. Now we have a partner who is going to work with us on that.”
Hagenow says it looks like Governor Terry Branstad will be in the state for much of the legislative session and when the governor does leave to become Ambassador to China, he expects little to change in the working relationship Republican legislators while have with new Governor Kim Reynolds.
(Radio Iowa)
Representatives of Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy coalition are traveling around the state this week, making their case for a three-eighths cent increase in Iowa’s sales tax to fund natural resources initiatives. Randy Munson of Ankeny is State Council Chairman for Ducks Unlimited.”We could generate anywhere from $150 million to $180 million that would be constitutionally protected,” Munson says. “That money, once it’s in the (trust fund), cannot go into the state’s general fund.”
In 2010, 63-percent of Iowa voters backed the creation of the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. Six years later, the fund remains empty because it requires the three-eighths of a cent sales tax increase. A large chunk of the fund would support clean water initiatives, something Munson says farmers would welcome as they apply pieces of the state’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy. “Farmers want to participate in that program, but there is an added cost to that. Forty-percent of the funds allocated (to the trust fund) would go into cover crops and bumper strips to work on nutrient reduction,” Munson says.
On Wednesday, the coalition released a study that identifies over $673 million worth of “fully planned projects” that could be completed with money from a three-eighths penny sales tax increase. Munson says many of those projects would improve parks, hiking and biking trails, and other outdoor recreation areas statewide — and provide a boost to rural communities. “You look at the money being spent in restaurants, gas stations, and local stores…it’s an opportunity for small town Iowa to recapture tourism and strengthen economic development within their communities,” Munson said.
The Iowa Land and Water Legacy coalition held meetings on Wednesday in Mondamin and Cherokee. Meetings are scheduled for today (Thursday) in Le Mars (8am), Sioux City (9:30am), and Mason City (3pm) — and tomorrow (Friday) in Cedar Rapids (9:30am) and Davenport (3:30pm).
(Radio Iowa)
JAMISON STECKLER, 14, & GAVIN STECKLER, 11, both of Audubon, died Dec. 10th. Funeral services for JAMISON and GAVIN STECKLER will be held 10:30-a.m. Friday, Dec. 23rd, at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Audubon. Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon has the arrangements.
Friends may call at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Audubon, on Thursday, Dec. 22nd, beginning at 3-p.m., with the family present. A Prayer service will be held at the church beginning at 7-p.m., Thursday.
Burial will be in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Audubon.
JAMISON and GAVIN STECKLER are survived by:
Their parents – Toby and Pam Steckler, of Audubon.
Their brother – Mason Steckler, of Audubon.
Their paternal grandmother – Nicki Meidinger, of Aberdeen, SD.
Their maternal grandmother – Sandra Bauer, of Mound City, SD.
Other relatives, and many friends.
EDWIN “ED” LARSEN, 96, of Elk Horn, died Tue., Dec. 13th. A Memorial service for ED LARSEN will be held 10:30-a.m. Wed., Dec. 21st, at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church. Burmeister-Johannsen Funeral Home has the arrangements.
Friends may call at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church on Tue., Dec. 20th, from 5-until 8-p.m., with the family greeting friends from 6-until 8-p.m.; Online condolences may be left at www.burmeisterjohannsen.com.
Burial of ashes will be in the Elk Horn Lutheran Cemetery.
EDWIN “ED” LARSEN is survived by:
His wife – Bev Larsen, of Elk Horn.
His son – Stephen Peterson, of Elk Horn.
His daughters – Linda (Roger) Jensen, of Atlantic; Marcia (Terry) Nelson, of Kimballton; Christine Jensen, of Boise, ID, and Rachel (Randy) Birks, of Irwin.
8 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, 3 great-great grandchildren, other relatives and friends.
Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report the arrest Wednesday evening, of 28-year old Cody Davis Sparks, of Villisca. Sparks was taken into custody for Driving While Revoked. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 cash bond.
(updated 352 AM CST THU DEC 15 2016)
EARLY THIS MORNING…PARTLY CLOUDY. NORTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.
TODAY…CLOUDY UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON, THEN A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH 15 TO 20. NORTHWEST WIND NEAR 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. NOT AS COLD. LOW AROUND 15. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.
FRIDAY…CLOUDY, WARMER. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF FREEZING DRIZZLE IN THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 20 PERCENT.
FRIDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY. LIGHT SNOW POSSIBLY MIXED WITH FREEZING DRIZZLE THROUGH MIDNIGHT, THEN A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. BREEZY. LOW 10 TO 15. EAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 70 PERCENT.
SATURDAY…CLOUDY. LIGHT SNOW LIKELY IN THE MORNING, THEN A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW THROUGH THE DAY. BREEZY, COLDER. HIGH 10 TO 15. NORTH WIND 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 35 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 70 PERCENT. WIND CHILL READINGS 15 BELOW TO 25 BELOW ZERO.
SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. MUCH COLDER. PATCHY BLOWING SNOW THROUGH MIDNIGHT. LOW AROUND 10 BELOW.
SUNDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH AROUND 10.