(Radio Iowa) – An eastern Iowa woman will always remember her getaway to the family’s cabin along the Mississippi River last weekend. The woman was one-million dollars richer when she returned to her Urbana home.  During her trip to the far corner of northeast Iowa, Karen Kramer stopped at a Harpers Ferry convenience store and bought a Mega Millions ticket for Tuesday night’s drawing. She spent ten dollars for five plays, one of which matched five of the six numbers drawn. Her winning numbers were: 9-22-39-41 and 54. She missed the Mega Ball, which was 19 with a Megaplier of 3.

The 60-year-old Kramer, who works as a para-educator for the Center Point-Urbana School District, claimed her winnings Thursday at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. Kramer’s ticket, along with another sold in West Virginia, were the only two in the country that won a one-million prize Tuesday night. According to lottery officials, one ticket for the BIG prize – an estimated 56-million-dollar jackpot – was sold in Illinois.

Kramer told Iowa Lottery officials that her and husband, Dave, plan invest the bulk of the winnings for retirement and pay some bills. She also wants to get a dog.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne is cosponsoring a bill she says will help people facing challenges in caring for older people. Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says the Americans Giving Care to Elders or AGE Act would provide tax credits of up to 12-hundred dollars to taxpayers earning under 200-thousand dollars a year to offset elder care expenses.  “This will help our caregivers to be able to buy medications, help with medical tasks, daily living assistance — all of that stuff,” said Axne. “So, this will help provide some of the support our families need, take out some of the cost, give those caregivers some reprieve. They can hire a babysitter and use that money to give them a couple of hours to go to the grocery store and have maybe an hour’s peace to take a walk.”

Axne met with caregivers in a roundtable discussion at Des Moines Area Community College earlier this week on issues facing caregivers. In many cases, she says the caregivers are adults who must take care of their parents. “We have people who are in their 50s and 60s who are in the prime of their earning years and they’re also taking care of their own children,” she said. “They’re then needing to step up and take care of their parents. It’s very expensive, and in many cases, it requires somebody to leave the workplace, which puts a huge impact on those families. It also puts a lot of stress on them.”

Axne introduced the bill along with Republican Congressman David McKinley of West Virginia and Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois. In addition to bipartisan support, she says the measure is also backed by a number of organizations. “We’ve got support from the American Heart Association, the Longterm Care Community Coalition, the American Seniors Association — on and on — about how important this is,” said Axne. “So, I know that across the board, people bipartisanly agree that we’ve got to support our caregivers, because sometimes, it’s just too much for people to handle.”

The bill is under consideration in the House Ways and Means Committee.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors visited Akin Building Center on Thursday, June 10th, 2021. The Ambassadors visited with new manager, Rick Mericle, who discussed his new position and some of the struggles they have been through the past year. Despite the struggles, Rick and his team of 15 employees have managed to persevere by working together as a team.

Rick moved to Atlantic six years ago from Washington D.C where he worked in loss prevention. Rick would visit Atlantic quarterly to prep centers for inventory, so he was already familiar with the area. Rick would later move to Atlantic to work his way up at the Akin Building Center before taking the manager position in January. In Rick’s first quarter as manager, the Akin Building Center won Yard of the Quarter for 1st Quarter of 2021. This award is won by having the overall best store for the quarter in various areas such as cleanliness, organization, management, teamwork, store appearance, efficiency, and dedication.

Ambassadors Left to Right: John McDermott, Rick Mericle, Ethan Nachtman, Hector Vela, Pat McCurdy, Dianne McCurdy-Gipple, Jacob Haupert, Kathie Hockenberry, Jennifer McEntaffer, Connie Waies, Dr. Keith Leonard, Anne Quist, Dustin Dreager, Donnie Bergmann, Rich Perry, Ashley Skow, Nedra Perry, Dawn Marnin, Ashley Hamilton, Krysta Hanson, Carol Schuler, Victoria Gibson, Janet Cappel, Shelby Roberts, Marcus Daugherty

Akin Building Center has added many new in store items, and still offers any building supplies that you may need. Despite nationwide price increases in items such as lumber and copper wire, Akin’s prices remain competitive with any competitors. Akin is currently accepting applications for three full-time positions and is looking for more hardworking employees.

For more information about Akin Building Center call (712) 243-4385 or visit their Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/AtlanticAkinBuildingCenter.

WATERLOO– The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 45-year-old Kevin Reddout, who was convicted of Domestic Abuse Assault-3rd or Subsequent Offense and other charges in Black Hawk County, failed to report to work from the Waterloo Residential Correctional Facility as required Thursday night.  Reddout is a white male, height 6′ 0″, and weighs 216 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on May 13, 2021.

Persons with information on Reddout’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Kevin Reddout

The Iowa Department of Public Health in their latest COVID-19 update, Friday (today) reports 107 additional, positive cases of COVID-19 from over the previous 24-hours, for a pandemic total of 402,929. The Coronavirus dashboard also shows 11 additional deaths, for a total of 6,095. Deaths at Iowa’s Long-Term Care facilities since the start of the pandemic, amount to 2,370.

There remain four LTC outbreaks in Iowa, with 30 positive cases among patients and staff, and four persons who have recovered. Iowa’s 14-day and seven-day positivity rates are both down slightly, to 1.8%.

Iowa’s hospitalization data show: 73 people are hospitalized with COVID-19; 18 patients are in an ICU; 12 COVID patients were admitted to a hospital, and six patients are on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (hospitals in western & southwest Iowa), there are two people hospitalized with COVID-19. No one was in an ICU, no one was admitted over the previous 24-hours, and no one was on a ventilator.

In the immediate KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County (since the beginning of the pandemic) and the total number of deaths (Since the beginning of the pandemic) in each county to date:
Cass, 1,477 cases; 54 deaths
Adair, 993; 32
Adams, 355; 4
Audubon, 546; 10
Guthrie, 1,313; 32
Harrison County, 1,935; 73
Madison County, 1,787 19
Mills County, 1,797; 24
Montgomery, 1,115; 38
Pottawattamie County, 12,340;173
Shelby County, 1,375; 37
Union County, 1,381; 35

The 8:08-a.m. Newscast from Ric Hanson.

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Two people were arrested this week in Cass County. The Sheriff’s Department reports 21-year-old Gavin Brett Fell-Nichols, of Atlantic, was arrested Thursday, on a Cass County warrant for reckless driving.  Fell-Nichols was transported to Cass County Jail and is currently being held on bond. And, on Tuesday, Cass County Deputies arrested 40-year-old David Dewayne Thomas, of Atlantic.  Thomas was charged with operating without a valid driver’s license.   He was transported to Cass County Jail and was later released on his own recognizance.

With News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – The new U-S Drought Monitor map shows 90 percent of Iowa is experiencing some type of dryness or drought. The Iowa D-N-R’s Tim Hall says only one section of the state has not water worries. “Southeastern Iowa way down in the corner — they’re not showing any dryness or drought — but virtually the rest of the state is,” Hall says. The area of concern in northwest Iowa has grown a little bit. So, certainly the conditions are not trending in the direction we’d like to see them.

The map shows 32 percent of the state rated as abnormally dry, 47 percent rated as in moderate drought and 10 percent rated as severe drought. Hall says streamflow conditions across approximately half of the state are now classified as “below normal.” He says the dry conditions in the north are now impacting things downstream. “As that lack of runoff works its way down through the system, we are seeing that reflected in the watersheds that run through central Iowa,” according to Hall. “So even though we may not be a dry here as in some parts of the state. The parts that feed those river systems have been exceptionally dry, so we are starting to see very low stream levels in parts of the state.”

Hall says the dry weather is worse this year because there wasn’t much moisture in the reserve. “Last year we entered 2000, we entered the growing season with a significant supply of groundwater and soil moisture leftover from 2018 and ’19, which were really wet years. He says. “This year — 2021 — we came into the year with almost no excess soil moisture and groundwater. So, it’s as if we started with an empty tank.” Hall says the weather data for June, July and August show there is a chance to run things around. “Over that three-month period statewide we average right at about an inch per week of rainfall. And that’s a pretty hefty chunk of moisture,” Hall says. “If we were able to get normal rainfall for the next three months — I think we would be in pretty good shape. The challenge is, every week that goes by without rain puts us another inch behind.”

He says you always have to wait and see with the weather. “We’re not panicking yet. But we’d really like to see some rain here in the month of June to start to replenish some of the soil moisture and start to get us back on track,” Hall says.  Some cities are asking residents to be smart about their water use as the dry conditions continue. Hall says those measures may be ramped up more if the lack of rainfall continues.