The 7:08-a.m. broadcast of area News, from Ric Hanson.

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(Melcher-Dallas, Iowa) – Two teens died as the result of a single-vehicle rollover accident Tuesday night, in south central Iowa’s Marion County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 1994 Ford Taurus driven by 16-year-old Grace M. Deheer, was traveling north on 80th Avenue, northeast of Melcher-Dallas, at around 8:54-p.m.  When the vehicle crested a hill, it began to travel toward the west ditch. The car entered the ditch and rolled over. Deheer and her passenger, 16-year-old Angelina L. Clark, were ejected. The car came to rest on its top in the roadway.

Both girls, who were from Melcher, died at the scene.

(Red Oak) One person suffered possible/unknown injuries during a two-vehicle accident in Red Oak, Tuesday afternoon. According to Red Oak Police, the accident happened around 3:33 p.m. at 4th and Oak Streets, as a 1999 Dodge Dakota pickup driven by Jordan Midkiff, of Red Oak, tried to turn left onto Oak Street. Because the sun was glaring in his eyes as he pulled into the intersection, Midkiff didn’t see a 2007 Ford 500 L 4D driven by Jennifer Begay, of Red Oak. Begay was traveling east on Oak Street and turning left onto 4th.

Police say Begay was trapped inside her car, with the passenger airbag deployed. She was extricated by Red Oak firefighters before being transported by Red Oak Rescue to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital to be checked-out.

Midkiff wasn’t injured. Police cited him for a registration violation, failure to obey a stop sign, failure to yield the right of way, and failure to provide proof of financial liability.

Red Oak Fire and Rescue, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Emergency Management, and the Montgomery County Communications Center assisted the Red Oak Police Department.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Workforce Development is hosting a job fair in Newton on Thursday and Friday for the more than 700 employees of T-P-I Composites who will be out of work at the end of this year. Spokesperson, Lacie Westendorf, says the 130 employers looking to hire are coming to Newton from all over the state. “All the way out from Dubuque, over up to Clear Lake, Waterloo, Ankeny, so some of the positions can even be done remotely, can be done anywhere around the state. So some of these businesses have locations anywhere, so they have openings everywhere,” Westendorf says.

So many employers are looking for workers that IowaWORKS is dividing the job fair into three sections. The first session will be Thursday morning from 7:00 until Noon, Thursday afternoon from 1:00 to 6:00, and Friday morning from 7:00 to noon. She says it will all be organized so you know where to go. “When people get to the job fair, we will actually have a booklet for them that will show which employers will be there at the different times,” Westendorf days.”They can also find that information out by going to our iowaworks.gov website.”

Anyone looking for a job may attend this job fair — not just employees of T-P-I Composites. The blade manufacturer announced earlier this year it was shutting down production.

(Elk Horn, Iowa) — Lisa Steen Riggs, Manager of the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, reports the attraction won three awards during last weekend’s “Christkindlmarket” in Des Moines. The Danish Windmill of Elk Horn took home first place honors as “People’s Choice”, “Best Display” and “Most Authentic” at the European-style open air holiday market at Principal Park. Steen-Riggs, said, “There was record attendance and the sales of our Scandinavian products were exceptional. Attendees who shop our collection of traditional decorations, food and gifts get to experience the genuine coziness and hygge of the Danish Christmas time, just as we know it. We enjoy participating in the Christkindlmarket and appreciate the Rasmussen Group’s sponsorship of our booth.” (Photo’s below submitted by Lisa Steen-Riggs)

Lisa Steen Riggs, Julie Jensen Soll and Mike Riggs worked the booth in Des Moines. If you missed seeing them at the Christkindlmarket Des Moines, you can shop at the Danish Windmill’s museum store in Elk Horn or on online at danishwindmill.com.

Here is the complete list of winners during the event:

People’s Choice: First Place Danish Windmill, Second Place DamonLayne Woodworking, Third Place Pinicon Farm Crafts

Best Display: First Place Danish Windmill, Second Place TeaGschwendner US, Third Place Pinicon Farm Crafts

Most Authentic: First Place Danish Windmill, Second Place TeaGschwendner US, Third Place Pinicon Farm Crafts

(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand has posted a video online to announce he intends to seek a second term. “I didn’t run for office because I love politics. I ran for office because I can’t stand it,” Sand said, “too many people putting partisan interests ahead of the public interest, too many people protecting insiders — doing what they want instead of what they’re supposed to do.” Sand, an attorney who had worked as a prosecutor in the Iowa Attorney General’s office, defeated incumbent Republican State Auditor Mary Mosiman in 2018.

“And we’re doing a good job of doing it differently,” Sand says. “Instead of firing people who made contributions to my opponent’s campaign that work in the state auditor’s office, I kept them and I promoted some of them to senior positions. I’ve got a Democrat, a Republican and an independent in senior positions in the office. I think that’s the way it ought to be done.”

Sand, a Democrat, had been considering a run for governor, but did not mention that in the 85 second video. Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann accuses Sand of using the auditor’s office to make a partisan attack on Republican Governor Kim Reynolds’ use of pandemic relief to pay staff in her office last year. No Republican candidate has announced plans to run for state auditor in 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – The Biden Administration has rejected dozens of oil refinery requests to be exempt from ethanol blending requirements, while proposing to dial back ethanol production targets. The moves are getting mixed reaction from the biofuels industry. Ron Lamberty of the American Coalition for Ethanol says it appears oil refiners won’t have to make good on ethanol blending goals.

“The numbers for 2021 seem to be lower than what we’re actually selling now, so we could take a hit there,” he says, “and the 2022 numbers look to be what they are supposed to be by law, so you know kind of hard to give anybody a pat on the back for that.” American Renewable Fuels Association president Geoff Cooper says there’s a lot to digest.

“Obviously we have some significant concerns with some of it,” he says, “but on balance we think this is probably overall a modest step in the right direction toward getting the RFS back on track.” The Renewable Fuels Standard calls on the E-P-A to set yearly ethanol blending requirements for the oil industry, but the Trump Administration did not meet last December’s deadline to set a target for this year.

The Biden Administration has now set the ethanol production goal for 2022. Republican elected officials from Iowa are blasting the decisions to retroactively reduce ethanol rules for 2020 and 2021. Governor Kim Reynolds calls the package a slap in the face to Iowa farmers and renewable fuels producers. Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines, the only Democrat in Iowa’s congressional delegation, says denying oil industry waivers for ethanol blending obligations is the right path for the future, but dialing back previous ethanol requirements rewards oil companies that have failed to follow the Renewable Fuels Standard.

National Corn Growers Association president Chris Edgington — a farmer from St. Ansgar, Iowa — says denying oil refinery exemptions for 2022 is an important step forward, but the move to change previous ethanol blending requirements should be reversed.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors are set to discuss a couple of matters, Wednesday morning, in addition to their regular business. During their 9-a.m. meeting at the courthouse boardroom in Greenfield, the Board will hear from Catherine Olsen, with regard to a City of Greenfield sign along Interstate 80. And, the Adair County Reprecincting Committee will present a Reprecincting Plan for the Board to consider.

Following that presentation, the Supervisors will act on a Resolution accepting the plan, and set the date for a public hearing on Reprecincting Ordinance #28B.  In other business, the Board will discuss and/or act on:

• Claims
• Taxable Mileage
• A SICOG (Southern Iowa Council of Governments) SWOT analysis (A  Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy to determine development Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats).
• Homestead & Military Disallowances, and
• they will hold continued discussion with regard to COVID-19 in the County, and related updates.

County Engineer Nick Kauffman will discuss with the Board a Secondary Roads Department employee Longevity Raise and a Wage Rate Progression of another department employee. He will then present his regular weekly report on department maintenance and activities.

(For those who cannot attend in person, you may call 605-313-6157, and when prompted, use the access code 526272#

(You will be required to identify yourself prior to the start of the meeting, when the Board Chair asks)

(Radio Iowa) – The sons and daughters of Iowans who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor gathered in the cold and wind today (Tuesday) near the State Capitol to mark the 80th anniversary of the attack. Linda Clark Quigley is the leader of the group, and spoke about the impact of the surprise attack.

Quigley talked about the importance of remembering Pearl Harbor, and read from a statement of a survivor who recently died.

Wreath Laying at PH memorial (12-7-2021)

Quigley says there are no Iowans still alive who survived that tragic day.

Her dad Richard Clark was a signalman aboard the battleship U-S-S Pennsylvania, which was in drydock and hit during the attack. That gave her connection to the other survivors.

She says her dad told her it was a terrible experience to see the death and destruction on December 7th. But she says he later dealt with it.

She says her father knew that not all the Japanese people wanted war and they were not all bad. The ceremony ended with wreaths laid at the Pearl Harbor monument.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Reynolds has appointed a district court judge from Cedar Rapids to the Iowa Court of Appeals. Mary Chicchelly has been a district court judge for nearly nine years. She’s a 1992 graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law. After graduation, she worked in private practice in Fort Dodge for two years, then for the next two years she worked in Waterloo.

Chicchelly practiced law in Cedar Rapids from 1997 until 2013. She is a past president of the Iowa Judges Association. She will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Iowa Court of Appeals Judge Michael Mullins of Washington.