United Group Insurance

Red Oak man hurt in motorcycle crash Sunday evening

News

June 13th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

The driver of a motorcycle was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital before being transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Omaha, following a motorcycle accident Sunday evening, in Red Oak. Red Oak Police say 29-year old Joshua Kenneth Walcott, of Red Oak, lost control of his motorcycle as he was traveling northbound on N. 3rd Street, at a high-rate of speed. The cycle crashed at the intersection of N. 3rd St. and E. Washington Avenue. Officials says the accident took place at around 8:12-p.m. The extent of Walcott’s injuries weren’t immediately known.

Police say it’s unclear if alcohol played a role in the crash. The accident remains under investigation.

Hawkeyes begin summer workouts

Sports

June 13th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says college football has changed since he first joined the Iowa staff prior to the 1981 season and summer is a prime example. Iowa’s veteran players have been back for more than a week and first year players are scheduled to arrive today (Monday).

Ferentz said “The off-season and recruiting are our two biggest areas, but we had a handful of guys…more than a handful, back in the ’80’s. A lot of the guys in the two deep would stay here and train, but it’s just a whole different thing, and now you can mandate it if you choose to, so it’s just a whole different world.”

It means the players got about three weeks off from the end of semester exams. Ferentz says he likes the fact that they can watch their guys go in and train now, and “We’re feeding them now, so the guys are eating good food year ’round. The breaks…Thanksgiving break used to be a really good time for guys to have a chance to go home and recharge. That’s not coming back, that won’t change ever again in the future, so the calendar just gets squeezed. We’re really fortunate, I think, in that we’ve got a nice break after the bowl game, where the guys have a couple of weeks to get back home and do some things on their own.”

Ferentz says these days time off is limited to a few weeks after spring semester, a few weeks after a bowl game and spring break. Therefore he says, it’s important the guys get a chance to get off campus and go home or wherever they choose to go. “Those break,” he says “Are getting more and  more limited by the year, it seems, so it’s just really important for them to have a chance, and this one worked out beautifully. They had three-plus weeks before they had to be back here.”

Iowa opens the season at home on September third against Miami of Ohio.

(Learfield Sports)

Red Oak man arrested for OWI Sunday evening

News

June 13th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Police in Red Oak arrested a local man Sunday evening, on an OWI charge. 63-year old Charles Robert John Tame, of Red Oak, was taken into custody a little after 6-p.m. in the 100 block of W. Hammond Street, in Red Oak. Tame was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

KJAN listening area forecast: Monday, 6/13/16

Weather

June 13th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Early this morning: Partly cloudy. Low in the lower 70s. South wind around 5 mph.

Today: Partly sunny with a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms. High in the upper 80s. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms. Low in the lower 70s. Southeast wind around 5 mph.

Tuesday: Thunderstorms. High in the mid 80s. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph shifting to the south around 15 mph in the afternoon. Chance of thunderstorms 80 percent.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy with thunderstorms likely through midnight…then partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms after midnight. Low in the upper 60s. South wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of thunderstorms 60 percent.

Wednesday: Sunny. High in the upper 80s.

Thursday: Sunny. High in the lower 90s.

Car flees store and strikes 2 motorcycles in Council Bluffs

News

June 13th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

A vehicle that sped away from a Wal-Mart store in Council Bluffs, Sunday evening, struck two motorcycles as the driver of the car attempted to evade police. Authorities say just before 7-p.m., officers responded to a theft in progress at the store located at 1800 North 16th street. Officers were advised the suspects were in a red Kia and were leaving the Walmart parking lot.

Police tried to perform a traffic stop while the car was still in the parking lot, but the Kia, with Nebraska license plates, drove away and the driver refused to stop. Officers pursued the car on Nash Blvd. towards North 25th Street. The car hit two motorcycles at the intersection of North 25th street and Nash Blvd. and left the scene of the accident, heading towards Omaha.

Officers followed the vehicle to the state line on I-480 west bound before terminating the pursuit. Omaha Police advised a short time later, that the vehicle was located, but the driver could not be found. At this time, this case is still under investigation. The drivers and passengers of both motorcycles suffered minor injuries, and all refused medical treatment by Council Bluffs Fire and Rescue.

2 dead, 3 injured in Crawford County crash

News

June 13th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Two people died and three others were injured during a collision that involved three-vehicles in Crawford County, late Sunday morning. The Iowa State Patrol said all of the victims were from Denison. The fatalities includes a female, 22-year old Robbie Reed McMullen and a male, 19-year old Emiliano Fernando Ramos, neither of whom were wearing their seat belts. The injured were identified as 18-year old Luis Enrique Mendez, 43-year old Fred Edward Hall, Jr., and 62-year old Dawn Ranae Jessen, again, all from Denison. They suffered serious injuries, and were transported to the Crawford County Medical Center by Crawford County EMS. They were later transported to a hospital in Omaha. Mendez and Jessen were wearing their seat belts, while Hall was not.

Officials say the accident happened at around 11:40-a.m., on Highway 39 near the intersection of Vernon Voss Road, just north of Denison. The crash began when a 2002 VW Beetle driven by Robbie McMullen, approached a 2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser as they were both traveling north on Highway 39. The VW was traveling at a high rate of speed and attempted to pass the Chrysler on the left.

A southbound Chevy S-10 pickup driven by Fred Hall, Jr., was southbound on Highway 39 and swerved onto the shoulder to avoid the collision, but the VW also swerved onto the shoulder. The pickup swerved back into the southbound lanes, while the VW swerved to the right and went out of control, going sideways. The left front side of the pickup struck the left side door of the VW, which then side swiped the PT Cruiser, sending that vehicle into a spin before it entered the east ditch.

The VW rolled over and came to rest on its top on the east shoulder of Highway 39, facing south. Emiliano Ramos was ejected from the rear seat of the VW, and landed in the northbound lane of the highway. He died at the Crawford County Hospital. Luis Mendez was extricated from the VW by mechanical means by Denison Fire and Rescue. Robbie McMullen, who was also extricated from the VW by mechanical means, died at the scene of the crash. Hall was extricated from the pickup while Jessen was cut free from the PT Cruiser, both by mechanical means.

The accident remains under investigation. Assisting the Iowa Highway Patrol at the scene, was deputies with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, officers with the Denison Police Department, and Crawford County EMS.

LOWELL GERALD SCHAAF, 84, of Griswold (Svcs. 6/17/16)

Obituaries

June 13th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

LOWELL GERALD SCHAAF, 84, of Griswold, died Saturday, June 11th, at the Cass County Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic. Funeral services for LOWELL SCHAAF will be held 10-a.m. Friday, June 17th, at the Elliott United Methodist Church. Duhn Funeral Home in Griswold has the arrangements.

Open visitation will be on Thursday, June 16, 2016 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Duhn Funeral Home in Griswold. Visitation will resume from 2:00-5:00 PM at the Elliott Community Building. Visitation with the family will be from 5:00-7:00 PM at the Elliott Community Building.

Memorials may be given to the Lowell Schaaf Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 15, Griswold, IA 51535.

Interment will be at Hillside Cemetery at Elliott.

LOWELL SCHAAF is survived by:

His wife – Sylvia, of Griswold.

His daughters – Pam Merchanthouse and husband Greg, of Richmond, IN., and Cindy Keiser and husband Terry of Council Bluffs.

His brother – Lynn Schaaf and wife Pat,  of Griswold.

4 grandchildren, and his sister-in-law Barb Schaaf of Elliott, IA. He is also
survived by many other relatives and friends.

Holliday, Grichuk homer as Cardinals sweep Pirates, 8-3

Sports

June 12th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Matt Holliday and Randal Grichuk homered, and the surging St. Louis Cardinals completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with an 8-3 victory Sunday. Holliday and Yadier Molina each had three hits. Mike Leake reverted back to his mastery of Pittsburgh with seven effective innings for the Cardinals, who have won five straight games and seven of eight.

Leake had won seven consecutive decisions against the Pirates before losing his Cardinals debut at PNC Park on April 6. St. Louis entered this weekend series having lost 22 of its past 31 in Pittsburgh but won a series at PNC Park for the first time since 2012 and earned a sweep there for the first time since 2008.

 

Iowa evening News Headline: Sunday, 6/12/16

News

June 12th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 7:40 p.m. CDT

CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — The Clinton City Council is mulling a plan to refurbish one of the city’s most prominent structures: the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre. The Clinton Herald reports that the 1935 river boat, which was converted into a showboat in the 1960s, has received interior renovations and updates in recent years. But the exterior of the boat has begun to show signs of disrepair.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in central Iowa are investigating the death of a baby they say was left inside a sweltering car while his father lingered in a barber shop. Des Moines police say officers were called to a hospital just before 8 p.m. Saturday to investigate a suspicious child death. Responding officers say they learned that the 6-month-old infant had died after reportedly being left in a car. Detectives say they determined that the death had happened outside at a north Des Moines barbershop.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the bell tower that rises over the city of Jefferson, state officials have approved over $80,000 to help community members meet a decades-long goal of hearing the tower bells chime. Local leaders have been fundraising for a $440,000 project to add a four-octave, 47-bell carillon to the tower.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say they pried open a car door to rescue a dog and cat left in a sweltering car in West Des Moines as temperatures soared into the 90s. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that witnesses called police after noticing the animals in the car around 11:30 a.m. Friday. Responding officers say the temperature inside the car was 125 degrees. Police arrested a 49-year-old woman and charged her with two counts of animal neglect.

CCMH Board of Trustees to hold a special meeting Mon. evening

News

June 12th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

The Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting Monday evening in CCMH Conference Room #1.  During their 5-p.m. session, the Board will discuss: A community complaint with regard to water run-off; Selecting an Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and a CEO recruitment strategy.

Last Monday (June 6th), the Board Chairman Ned Brown announced CCHS CEO Todd Hudspeth was fired based on his “Actions and his judgment in several recent situations.” Their action followed word that Hudspeth had entered an Alford plea in connection with his check forgery case, in Buena Vista County. Hudspeth is set to appear in court August 1st for a “Plea taking” hearing.