Jim Field visits with Marlene Hummel and Rich Perry of Atlantic about a recent mission trip to Haiti. They will be part of a presentation Sunday evening at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church to spread the word and to answer questions for those who might like to join them on future trips.
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The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson
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Today: Partly Cloudy, warm & humid. Isolate shwrs & tstrms late. High 90. SW @ 15-25.
Tonight: Cldy w/scattered shwrs & tstrms. Low 74. S @10.
Tomorrow: Cldy w/scatt shwrs & tstrms. High 80. S-NW @ 10-15.
Thursday: P/Cldy. High 82.
Friday: Scattered shwrs & tstrms. High near 80.
Monday’s High in Atlantic was 89.Our 24-hour Low was 69. Last year on this date, our High in Atlantic was 92 and the low was 71. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 103 in 1939. The Record Low was 36 in 1962.
Atlantic firefighters were called to the parking lot of Mahle Engine Components early this morning, for a car fire. Fire Chief Mark McNees told KJAN News the 2002 Chevy Impala was completely engulfed in flames when they arrived shortly after 5:15-a.m. McNees said a Mahle employee had gone inside to work. Another employee apparently noticed the fire and called 911. The fire began in the engine compartment, near the battery, according to McNees. The car was a total loss. No injuries were reported. Firefighters remained on the scene for about 45-minutes.
PERRY, Iowa (AP) – City officials in the Dallas County city of Perry are considering a growth incentive: No property taxes for 10 years on new homes. The Des Moines Register reports city leaders hope the plan will lure builders and potential residents to Perry, which sits within commuting distance of the Des Moines metropolitan area.
City Administrator Sven Peterson says Perry hasn’t fully recovered from the recession and is losing residents to Adel, Waukee and other cities. City leaders are expected to approve the plan Tuesday. Another Dallas County town, Adel, implemented its tax abatement program in 2011. It has seen 327 new homes built since then, compared with 82 homes in the six years prior to the program.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is offering a progress report three years into its five-year work plan agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the state’s waters. Jess Mazour, with the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, says many confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOses), still don’t have a Clean Water Act permit.
“They have done a ton of inspections, they’ve gone after a bunch of manure spills, but nothing has resulted in a Clean Water Act permit,” Mazour says. “There’s still not a single hog confinement in Iowa with a Clean Water Act permit, so that’s a problem. One of the things they were supposed to do as part of this work plan was to identify factory farms around the state that they didn’t have in their database already.”
She says there are more than 5,000 CAFOs that are still not accounted for in the D-N-R work plan. Mazour also says the E-P-A needs to take over from the Iowa D-N-R in order to enforce the Clean Water Act and bring those CAFOS in line. “We, in Iowa, cannot wait longer, our water can’t wait,” she says. “DNR has proven for now three years that they don’t take this seriously and they’re not willing to do their job to enforce the Clean Water Act. Yeah, it’s absolutely fine if the EPA steps in and cracks down.”
Mazour says all CAFOS should have to have a Clean Water Act permit before they’re allowed to operate. “We want every hog confinement in Iowa to have a Clean Water Act permit because, one, they’re five-year permits, so they have to be renewed which means we can shut down bad actors, and two, it increases the amount of fines we can give for manure spills. Right now, DNR has a max of $10,000 and that’s just not enough. It’s become a cost of doing business.”
She says permitted operations can faces fines of $37,500 per day when they’re in violation. Mazour says Iowa is going through a water crisis with a record number of waterways polluted.
(Radio Iowa)
The City Council in Atlantic will meet during a regular session Wednesday, beginning at 5:30-p.m. in their chambers at City Hall.
On the agenda is an order to appoint Gerald Brink to a vacant, At-Large City Council seat. Public notice was filed earlier with regard to the the City’s intention to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of former Councilman Bob Cord, who has moved from the area. And, the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee has recommended Brink be appointed to the seat. If the Council approves the appointment, Wednesday, the public may file a petition to hold a special election, but that action must be taken within 14-days of the Council’s decision.
The Council, Wednesday, will also hold a Public Hearing on the plans, specifications and Form of Contract for the Bull Creek culvert replacement project, followed by a resolution approving the project, which will serve to replace the collapsed portion of the culvert located just southeast of the 8th & Walnut Street intersection. Cost estimates for the project exceed $200,000, and will be funded from bond monies issued for the Bull Creek project.
“Pumba,” the pot bellied pig.
In other business, the Atlantic City Council will hear a request from resident Darci Coatney, with regard to her being allowed to keep a pot bellied pig at 805 Chesnut Street. During their meeting Aug. 17th, the City’s Community Protection Committee met and heard from Coatney’s neighbor, who complained of the smell and issues with flies at her home, which she said she could not sell, because of the odor coming from the home where the pig is located. Following the Aug. 17th hearing, the CPC determined the current ordinance was sufficient to deal with the issue, and referred the matter back to the Council.
Coatney has written a letter to the City, stating Police came to her home twice since they got the pig named “Pumba,” at around this same time last year. The visits were with regard to complaints about the animal. The first time was in Oct. 2015, the second on Aug. 10th, 2016. She questions why she wasn’t told she wasn’t allowed to have a pot bellied pig at her residence (in accordance with City Code), during the first visit by Police. Her records show the animal has been neutered, and is current on its vaccinations.
And finally, the Council, Wednesday, will act on an order to temporarily close designated City streets this Friday, Sept. 9th, for the purpose of holding a Homecoming Parade. The route is from 10th & Linn west on 10th & Chestnut, north on Chestnut to 2nd Street, east on 2nd to Walnut, and then south on Walnut to 6th Street. The streets will be closed beginning at 2:30-p.m.
Some crop experts are questioning the very high corn yield numbers put out by the USDA in August. The agency estimates Iowa’s average corn yield at 197 bushels per acre, five bushels better than last year’s record yield. Todd Claussen, director of agronomy with Landus Cooperative in Ames, says he’s seeing a lot of variability from field to field. “I get that every day — ‘Boy, the crop looks great’ — and yes, it does look good at 60 miles per hour,” Claussen said. “But when you get out in it, don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, there’s no catastrophe here — but we’re quite variable,” Claussen said.
Reduced stands are an issue in some fields, according to Claussen. “If you dropped 33,000 or 34,000 (seeds), you’ve got a lot of 27,000 to 28,000 (plants today) — so we’re short of ears,” Claussen said.
Jordan Carstens, who farms near Bagley in west-central Iowa, says tip-back on corn ears will shave the high-end off his yield potential. “We got into some heat there in July, when things were really going there, pollinating,” Carstens says. “Some of the tip-back I’m seeing, it’s on ears that probably would have been 45 kernels long and they went back to 34 or 35.”
The term “tip-back” means the kernels don’t fill all the way out to the end of the ear. Still, Carstens expects “a really good” corn crop. “You never really know until you get the combine in the field and start weighing stuff up, but I think we’ll have a decent fall,” Carstens said.
The USDA crop report issued on August 12 estimated the 2016 total U.S. corn production at an all-time record level of 15.15 billion bushels. The projection, if accurate, would best the previous record U.S. corn production of 14.2 billion bushels in 2014.
(Radio Iowa/Brownfield Ag News)
WILMA J. JUHL, 93, of Pella (& formerly of Audubon), died Saturday, Sept. 3rd, at the Comfort House in Pella. Funeral services for WILMA JUHL will be held 11-a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8th, at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Audubon. Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon has the arrangements.
Friends may call at the funeral home, with the family visitation to be held from 10-am until the time of service on Thursday, at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, in Audubon.
Burial will be in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Audubon.
WILMA JUHL is survived by:
Her children – Bonne (Carlos) Chase, of Pella; Marsha Laub, of Hamburg, NY; and Mark Christensen, of Riverside, CA.
Her step-children: Twyla Juhl, and Merlin (Dee) Juhl, all of Omaha.
Her sister – Helen Lauritsen, of Audubon.
Other relatives, and friends.
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