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KJAN News can be heard at five minutes after every hour right after Fox News 24 hours a day!
Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is the only member of Iowa’s congressional delegation who’s commented on former President Trump’s announcement that he’s been indicted by a Florida grand jury. In a tweet, Senator Grassley said having Trump indicted on the same day House Republicans had to view a redacted document that contains allegations against President Biden fuels the belief that there are two standards of justice.
Some of the G-O-P presidential candidates who’ve been campaigning in Iowa have weighed in, too. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says the country is seeing an uneven application of the law based on political affiliation and DeSantis asks why Hillary Clinton or Hunter Biden haven’t faced charges. G-O-P candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says if he’s elected president, he’d pardon Trump.
Perry Johnson, another Republican running for president, is calling on President Biden to pardon Trump now. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson was the only candidate in the race to call on Trump to end his presidential campaign. Hutchinson says Trump’s actions should not be allowed to define the G-O-P or the country.
Former Vice President Mike Pence made comments in Iowa BEFORE Trump announced he’d been indicted. Pence said such a move would be extraordinarily divisive and would send the wrong message to the world. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott says the 2024 election should be decided by the voters rather than a Justice Department Scott says has been weaponized.
Trump, when he campaigned in Iowa last week, said an indictment would be election interference.
(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials in Pottawattamie County have announced a temporary change to its parking structure at the courthouse, beginning Wednesday, June 14th.
As part of the ongoing construction of a 22,000 square foot addition to the Pottawattamie County Courthouse, work is now moving to the parking lot. The lot on the east side of the courthouse will close Wednesday, June 14th. Parking will move to the property just south of the lot under construction, at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pearl Street. On-street parking will remain available around the courthouse. 
Project coordinators expect demolition and reconstruction of the existing parking lot to be complete by September.
(Radio Iowa) – MidAmerican Energy plans to ask state regulators for an increase in its natural gas delivery rates for the more than 600-thousand customers in Iowa. MidAmerican spokesperson, Tina Hoffman, says this is the portion of your bill that is set and covers the cost of the infrastructure to pipe in the natural gas. “It will be the first time that we’ve requested a gas rate increase since 2002. So we’ve been maintaining and upgrading our system for more than 20 years and keeping those costs the same for customers,” Hoffman says.
Hoffman says there have been changes in delivery area and security issues that are addressed in the increase. “Our customer base has grown, you think about the communities around the state that have grown, that requires new infrastructure, upgrades to infrastructure, and cybersecurity and physical threats to the gas delivery system are different than they were 20 years ago,” she says. The other portion of your gas bill is the cost of the gas that is delivered to your home or business.
“For the last few years, that cost of gas has been pretty high. Fortunately, the prices of gas are coming down pretty significantly for a while,” She says. “So that will really lessen the impact of the delivery rate increase. And even with the small increase to our delivery rates, gas bills, year over year are expected to be lower than they were in 2022 overall.” MidAmerican estimates the average residential customer would see a monthly gas bill increase of less than five dollars, or 60 dollars per year.
Hoffman says there will be an interim increase of five percent until the Iowa Utilities Board rules on the permanent six percent increase. “Around the end of June, that interim rate would go into effect. And then if the Utilities Board makes a different decision, those rates, the you know the difference in that would be refunded to customers,” Hoffman says. The I-U-B will seek comments from customers and interested parties and make a final determination on the proposed rate increase in May of next year.
Public meetings on the topic are scheduled across MidAmerican’s Iowa service area at the dates, times and locations below:
Sioux City – 6 p.m. Monday, July 24, 2023, Sioux City Convention Center, 801 Fourth St.
Waterloo – 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 26, 2023, Majestic Moon, 1955 Locke Ave.
Des Moines – 6 p.m. Thursday, July 27, 2023, Holiday Inn Des Moines-Airport Conference Center, 6111 Fleur Drive.
Davenport – 6 p.m. Monday, July 31, 2023, The River Center, 136 E. Third St.
Cedar Rapids – 6 p.m. Tuesday, August 1, 2023, The Olympic South Side Theater, 1202 Third St. S.E., Suite 200.
Virtual – 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, August 3, 2023.
Details about participating online and at the customer comment meetings are available on the IUB’s website, iub.iowa.gov.
(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa researchers are studying the electronic gadgets car insurance companies are asking customers to install in their vehicles to monitor driving habits. Richard Peter, a U-I professor of finance, says the devices are typically provided by the insurance company to promote safe driving, and they usually bring significant discounts on insurance premiums. That sounds like a win-win, right? Well, Peter says, no.
“They measure people’s driving behavior in real time,” Peter says, “so they look for things like speeding, sharp acceleration and braking, hard cornering, and these types of things.” While the devices were introduced in the late 1990s, few drivers are installing them to take advantage of the cost savings. Peter says only about five-percent of motorists in the U-S are using the tiny monitors, and he’s considering the reasons why they’ve never caught on.
“The most obvious one might be the ‘Big Brother’ argument that people have privacy concerns about how their data might be used,” Peter says, “but at the same time, we think that this explanation doesn’t seem to be particularly convincing, while consumers state privacy concerns at the same time they give up their data voluntarily in all kinds of contexts.” The sensors monitor a driver’s actions and use algorithms to create a score that’s the basis for how large of a discount the driver may receive. Safer drivers will save more money. Still, it’s not a perfect system, as your score may be dinged if you slam on the brakes.
“The context matters, so if you have to brake hard to avoid an accident, isn’t that a good thing,” Peter says, “and can you really be sure that the technology picks up the context of that particular driving situation?” That algorithm may be too complicated for some people to follow, and Peter suggests policyholders fear they’ll be misclassified as a bad driver even when they’re driving safely, which is why many people may pass on the devices.
“The main benefit for the insurance company is, obviously, to have access to data about people’s actual driving behavior,” Peter says. “There is some preliminary evidence that feedback from new technologies can also lead to favorable changes in people’s driving behavior, so it can help people become safer drivers.” Peter says a German insurance company quit using the devices after its customer service lines were flooded by drivers calling to explain their driving behaviors which may have registered on the device as erratic.
The U-I study will be published in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the flagship journal of the American Risk and Insurance Association.
DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has announced 19 Iowa schools qualified for the Carrie Chapman Catt Award this school year. The award goes to schools that register at least 90 percent of their eligible students to vote. More than 2,600 high school students registered this year in conjunction with the Catt Award initiative. In southwest Iowa, the list of schools includes: Essex Junior-Senior High School; Harlan High School; and the West Monona High School. (Find the entire list, below)
Secretary Pate created the award in 2019 to encourage voter registration in Iowa high schools. The award is named after Carrie Chapman Catt, a famous Iowa native who was instrumental in securing passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women access to the ballot box more than 100 years ago. “It’s great to see so many young people stepping up and taking the first step in the voting process by getting registered,” Secretary Pate said. “Thank you to the teachers and administrators at these 17 schools by engaging the students in civics. I tell young people all the time, the best way to make your voice heard is by voting, and to do that, you need to get registered.”
Each of the 19 schools recognized for registering 90% or more of eligible students will be presented the Carrie Chapman Catt Award trophy. Additionally, 9 Iowa schools registered more than 70 percent of eligible students, and 10 registered more than 50 percent. Inspire2Vote collaborated with Secretary Pate’s office to assist schools with their voter registration efforts.
Here is a list of the 19 schools that earned the award. Five schools qualified for the award for the fourth straight year (denoted with four asterisks****). Four schools qualified for the award for the third time (denoted with three asterisks***). Four schools qualified for the award for the second time (denoted with two asterisks**). Six schools qualified for the award for the first time this year. 
Schools that registered at least 70% of eligible students (9) will receive a commemorative banner recognizing their achievement:
Schools that registered at least 50% of eligible students (10) will receive a personalized certificate from the Iowa Secretary of State:
(Ames, Iowa) – June is here, and summer is well underway! Iowa’s future beef farmers are getting their beef projects ready for the county fair, kids are hanging out at the pool, and the smell of beef on the grill wafts through the air. As a parent trying to survive summer vacation, you may be looking for new and exciting things to keep your child entertained. Look no further and break out the crayons and colored pencils because the Iowa Beef Industry Council is having a coloring contest!
Participation is hassle-free. Download the coloring page found on the IBC website and let the creativity flow. After your child has colored the beef grilling sheet to the best of their ability, upload a high-quality photo of their work in the form provided. Participants will be divided into four categories: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, and 8-9 years of age. The winning picture from each category will receive a $25 beef certificate and an age-appropriate summer grilling swag item.
Entries must be submitted by June 29, 2023 at 5 PM CST. 
(Radio Iowa) – Governor Doug Burgum is campaigning in Iowa today after kicking off his long shot campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in his home state of North Dakota. The state produced a million barrels of oil a day in 2022 and Burgum, in the middle of his second term as North Dakota’s governor, says energy policy will be a focus of his campaign. “If we can start selling energy to our friends and allies instead of buying iu from our adversaries, that 180 degree switch is the thing that’s going to help kick start and drive the American economy,” Burgum says.
Burgum argues the U.S. needs to pursue an all-of-the-above energy strategy and he’s criticizing the Biden Administration’s quick shift to promoting electric vehicles. “If you want to get rid of liquid fuels in this country and do everything with a battery, then we’re just going to be trading dependence on OPEC…and then the next 70 years can be dependent on Sinopec and China,” Burgum says. The proposed route Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline that would run through Iowa ends in North Dakota, where the carbon would be permanently stored underground. The federal government is offering an 85 dollar tax credit for every metric ton of carbon that’s captured. Burgum says the subsidy makes sense.
“Internal combustion machine liquid fuels has to be part of this energy transition for decades and decades and the best way to do that if you care about CO2 is to decarbonize the CO2,” Burgum says, “and if you’re going to subsidize wind and solar, then the incentives for CO2 storage make a ton of sense for us to have a strong, truly independent energy in the United States.”
Burgum took office in North Dakota in the midst of protest over the Dakota Access pipeline, which ships crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. He says the pipeline, which began operating six years ago, helped fuel America as the global market was rocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Burgum says the Biden Administration has weaponized the E-P-A, which is conducting an environmental review of that pipeline, and he says that sends the wrong message.
“We need pipelines. It’s the safest and easiest way to transport any fuel and any liquids in this country. We don’t need them moving on trains. We don’t need those liquids moving down the highways. We need them moving through pipelines and America needs to figure out how to build essential infrastructure or we can just cede our leadership in the world and, again, just get all our batteries from China and get all our oil from the Middle East.”
Burgum, who will be visiting a farm implement dealership in Farley today (Thursday), supports the federal ethanol and biodiesel production mandates. “Absolutely, essentially, completely, totally,” Burgum says. “The Midwest is going to be the epicenter of sustainable aviation fuels for the world and we’re so well positioned with the great agricultural producers across the Midwest combined with the CO2 storage that we have in North Dakota and other places around the United States. So it’s absolutely critical.”
Burgum will also visit the Field of Dream in Dyersville today (Thursday).
(Radio Iowa) – There are now just two Iowa counties without an emerald ash borer infestation. The Iowa Department of Agriculture says the wood-boring beetle has been confirmed for the first time in Plymouth County after a tree service found evidence of the bug in an ash tree in Remsen. Plymouth is the 97th Iowa County to have a confirmed infestation, and that leaves just Emmet and Palo Alto County without the invasive beetle. E-A-B was first discovered in Iowa in Allamakee County in 2010. 
The Ag Department says trees typically die within two to four years after becoming infested.
(Radio Iowa) – The Jefferson Highway Association’s annual conference is underway in Mason City. Named after President Thomas Jefferson, the north-south route is one of America’s earliest highways, stretching 23-hundred miles from New Orleans to Winnipeg, though in most of Iowa, it’s known as U-S Highway 65. Visit Mason City executive director Lindsey James says after caravans through Lamoni, Des Moines and Iowa Falls earlier this week, today (Thursday) they’ll take buses north. “They are going to travel a portion of the Jefferson Highway, and they are going to head north up to Minnesota, their final destination being Owatonna,” James says. “They’ll stop at sites along the way and get to see other communities in the region, learn more about the history of each community, as well as the Jefferson Highway in those communities.”
James says association members will spend much of tomorrow (Friday) in seminars at Mason City’s Historic Park Inn Hotel. “They have a great lineup of speakers,” she says, “talking about historic preservation, marketing for communities along the Jefferson Highway, how to celebrate the history and use history to promote tourism, as well as other things in line with that preservation theme.” On Saturday morning, James says the public is welcome to join association members at the Kinney Pioneer Museum for a special Community Day.
“There will be a flag ceremony starting shortly after 10:00 AM and admission is free,” James says. “It’s a great opportunity for local residents to come out and learn more about the Jefferson Highway, about the association, but also see the Kinney Pioneer Museum if you haven’t been there recently, a great opportunity to come out there and join us.” The conference is held in different cities every year and Mason City put in a bid for it initially in 2018 and won the event in 2020, though due to the pandemic, it’s being held there this year instead.
(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner’s Office is celebrating the distinction of being named Iowa Donor Network’s 2023 LEGACI Award Winner for Innovation. LEGACI Awards are given to Iowa Donor Network’s (IDN) partner agencies and/or their dedicated team members for going above and beyond to collaborate with IDN on meeting its mission of “Working Together to Transform Lives through Organ and Tissue Donation”.
There are six categories under the LEGACI Awards: Leadership, Education, Gratitude, Advocacy, Clinical Excellence, and Innovation. The award for Innovation is given to individuals and/or partner agencies who seek new ways to educate and promote donation, develop, and implement breakthrough best practices, and promote the use of technology to establish/ improve the donation process. “Our team is extremely appreciative of this recognition,” said Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Elliott. “We’re advocates of organ and tissue donation and it’s rewarding to be recognized for promoting an initiative we strongly believe in.”
The Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner’s Office was nominated for its support in piloting technology known as iReferral. iReferral uses an electronic portal in lieu of a phone call to share information with Iowa Donor Network. The Office’s assistance in piloting the program helped Iowa Donor Network learn how other Medical Examiner offices, as well as EMS agencies, might utilize the program to increase the number of patients and families in Iowa who may be offered the opportunity of donation. In 2022, the Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner’s Office made 117 referral calls to Iowa Donor Network, resulting in five donors who went on to give the life saving and life enhancing gifts of tissue. One tissue donor can impact between 50 to 300 individuals.
Photo: Front row from left: PCMEO Investigator Felica Luczek, PCMEO Investigator Kalen Knight, PCMEO Investigator Abby Robinson, PCMEO Chief Investigator/Coordinator Cheri Dahlheim, IDN Partner Relations Coordinator Madelyn Clark, PCMEO Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Elliott. Second row from left: Board of Supervisors, Tim Wichman, Scott Belt, Brian Shea, Susan Miller, Jeff Jorgensen. (Courtesy Craig Carlsen, Pott. Co. Public Relations)
“Donation is a collaborative effort, and Iowa Donor Network is grateful to the entire Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner team for all they do to promote donation in their community,” said Iowa Donor Network Partner Relations Coordinator Madelyn Clark.
About Iowa Donor Network: Iowa Donor Network (IDN) is a non-profit organization that operates as the primary contact for organ, tissue and eye donation services for the state of Iowa. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have certified IDN to function as the single organ procurement agency in the state. IDN also serves as the tissue recovery agency for the state. To learn more, visit iowadonornetwork.org.
About Pottawattamie County: The purpose of Pottawattamie County government is to provide the highest quality government possible to the citizens of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and other governmental entities in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. It is also to encourage economic development, enhance our tax base and provide higher quality jobs for our citizens. For more information, visit PottCounty-ia.gov.
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