(Radio Iowa) – Ankeny-based Casey’s General Stores is acquiring 49 convenience stores in Oklahoma for 39 million dollars. The 49 stores in Oklahoma are branded as Circle K Stores and owned by Couche-Tard, which operates stores in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Casey’s will supply the Oklahoma stores from its new distribution center in Joplin, Missouri, according to a news release. Casey’s executives expect the deal to close by the end of July.

In the spring of 2010, Couche-Tard offered nearly two BILLION dollars to buy Casey’s General Stores, then attempted a hostile take-over when its offer was rejected. Casey’s shareholders voted to retain Casey’s board of directors that fall. Casey’s is the now fourth-largest convenience store chain in the U.S. and it operates more than 22-hundred stores in 16 states. Three of the Oklahoma stores its acquiring are owned by its Canadian competitor and the other 46 are leased properties.

DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ Office reports today (Monday), the state of Iowa awarded 14 broadband providers with $15,542,302 in Empower Rural Iowa broadband grants made possible through Governor Reynolds allocation of federal CARES funding. These grants will impact 21 Iowa counties and more than 2,800 homes, schools, and businesses. Locally, grants were awarded for projects in Fremont, and parts of Mills and Page Counties.

Gov. Reynolds said “The COVID-19 pandemic only underscored the need for fast, reliable, and accessible broadband. This investment goes directly to projects that are in significant broadband deserts. While today’s allocation will help improve broadband in more communities, we can do better. Iowa must have universal broadband access to compete and succeed in the 21st century, which is why I’m working with the legislature for significant funding over the next three years that will ensure access for all Iowans by 2025.”

This latest grant round shows the demand for broadband grants in Iowa. More than 42 providers applied with applications valued at more than $41 million dollars. That is nearly a three to one ratio of funds requested to funds available. This demand speaks to the need to support and fund broadband infrastructure within Iowa to remain competitive in the post-Covid world.

The $15 million dollars is the remainder of the $50 million in CARES funding Governor Reynolds designated for broadband grants from a previous round of funding. The full list of providers awarded grants can be found by going to https://ocio.iowa.gov/empower-rural-iowa-broadband-grant-program-notice-funding-availability-005

The news at 8:05-a.m., with Ric Hanson.

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The 7:07-a.m. Newscast from News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – This is “Poison Prevention Week” and a spokesperson with the Iowa Poison Control Center in Sioux City says it’s a good time to look under our kitchen sinks and storage areas when it comes to cleaners, medicine, and materials that may fall into younger hands. Tammy Noble says the week is a good reminder to break bad habits that could lead to problems. She says sometimes the little things you do, such as reading the label to make sure you are not mixing things that shouldn’t be mixed. Or with medicine, be sure you are taking your own medicine and not someone else’s.

Noble says all chemicals should be handled properly to avoid accidental poisoning. Things like not putting poisons in things like pop bottles. Sometimes people think about gasoline and I’ve got to put it in a container and they might find a pop bottle or something to put it in,” she says. “A child when they look at that — they are going to going to think that is pop.” She says that could lead to the child drinking the gasoline. Noble says the center has been busy during this pandemic period with things you might expect — like calls about hand sanitizer. There has also been an increase in calls about bleach as people use it to sanitize things.

“Sometimes people aren’t always aware of how to do that safely. So we have people who will sometimes be overcome by the fumes of the cleaners or have an eye exposure, or breathe too much of it in — so they call the Poison Center for help,” she says. Noble said the late afternoon and evenings have been the busiest time for calls to the center. “Ninety-percent of poisonings happen at home — and most of them can actually be treated at home also,” according to Noble. “So we will give you advice on what to do and what side effects to watch for. And oftentimes we will even call you back and make sure things are going okay.”

The phone for the Iowa Poison Control Center is 1-800-222-1222 and the website is iowapoison.org. The center’s Facebook and Twitter sites will have special activities throughout the week aimed at young people.

(Radio Iowa) – In the past few weeks, Iowa’s seen a long run of subzero temperatures and snowfall as well as the first Tornado Watch of the year. Today, the first Monday of spring, marks the start of Severe Weather Awareness Week. Meteorologist Chad Hahn, at the National Weather Service in Johnston, says some Iowans could use a refresher course on the dangers that likely lay ahead. Each day will have a different theme. “We talk about the severe thunderstorm criteria, what we use for a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, what we base that on, and that’s either one-inch or larger in diameter hail or 58 mile per hour winds, or greater,” Hahn says.

FILE PHOTO – Hope Gettler submitted this photo to the KJAN Facebook page. She said “We watched the rotation that formed a rope like tornado. It bounced up and down for 10 minutes while it was moving northwest towards Guthrie. This was taken 5 miles north of Adair at 320th St and Elm St.”

Tomorrow’s (Tuesday) focus will be on how Iowans get their weather information and the importance of having multiple sources, like weather radios and apps on your phone, in case severe storms knock out your usual source.  “On Wednesday, we start to talk about tornadoes and the threat that those pose,” Hahn says, “and the plans that folks should have in their place of business or their home of where they’re going to shelter and have that thought through and that muscle memory in place.”

The annual statewide tornado drill is also planned for Wednesday, but with a small change this year. “We will not be issuing an official National Weather Service tornado warning product,” Hahn says. “Despite that, we still want folks to practice their procedures when it comes to where they’ll go in the event of a tornado. We want folks to drill. That is still an incredibly important part of the Wednesday of Severe Weather Awareness Week.”

Learn more about the week at weather.gov/dmx. There were 28 tornadoes in Iowa last year, and 54 twisters in 2019. Severe weather spotter classes are being offered this Wednesday, as well as March 31st, April 6th and April 19th.

Red Oak Police, Sunday night, arrested a woman on a Felony Probation Violation warrant. 30-year old Kirstin Lynn Wilwerding, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 8:53-p.m. and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where her bond was set at $10,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that has cleared initial review in the Iowa House has the goals of expanding custom meat processing in Iowa AND training more people how to properly butcher beef, pork and other meats. Republican Representative Chad Ingels, a farmer from Randalia, says he got the idea last spring when local meat lockers were jammed. “Now we’re extended out into 2022, 2023 as far as getting livestock processing at small lockers out across the state,” Ingels says. “A lot of interest from farmers wanting to get livestock into lockers or consumers or people who wanted to buy local meat kept getting put off.”

Ingels says the problem is two-fold. There aren’t enough local custom meat lockers and there aren’t enough butchers with the chops to break down carcasses to meet consumer demand. “The skills to work in a small locker are different, I think, than working in a meat processing plant on a line where you’re making the same cut on every carcas,” Ingels says. The bill Ingels is working on calls for a task force to study whether it makes sense to expand Iowa State University’s already existing meat science program or set up an “artisanal butchery” program at a community college. Ingels and other legislators are hoping to extend state grants to new or expanding custom meat lockers.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture distributed four MILLION dollars in federal pandemic relief grants to Iowa meat lockers last year. “But through that process they found there was at least an additional at least $3 million in need,” Ingels says, “and so we’re trying to find a way to fill some of that need and I’m sure there’s probably even more out there.” Nebraska lawmakers are considering grants for meat lockers with 25 or fewer employees. Wyoming has a law that lets ranchers butcher their own animals and deliver the meat directly to consumers who’ve purchased shares in their livestock.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa — Four people were injured when a car crashed during a chase Sunday night, in the Drake neighborhood, of Des Moines. An Iowa State Patrol Trooper initiated a short pursuit of a 2015 Dodge Charger in the Drake neighborhood at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.  The car was traveling eastbound in the 2100 block of Drake Park Avenue, when it went out of control and struck a power pole, a fire hydrant and a tree. The driver, 20-year old Yackhub M. Ali, and his passengers, 20-year old Osman A. Ahmed, 19-year old Ayub Mohammed Ali, and 19-year old Yahye Abdi Shakur Muhammed, all of Des Moines, were injured. Osman Ahmed left the scene. Two of the injured were transported to Iowa Methodist Hospital. Yackhub Ali was transported to Mercy One hospital, in Des Moines.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A man is hospitalized after a shooting in downtown Davenport. The Quad City Times reports that the shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the 300 block of Main Street. Officers followed a trail of blood and found the victim in an area near a church. His condition report was not immediately available. The victim’s name was not released. Police impounded a car with a bullet hole through the trunk, and a 9mm handgun.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Health Department on Sunday reported two additional deaths from COVID-19, and 317 additional confirmed cases. WHO-TV reports that the latest deaths bring the total since the onset of the pandemic to 5,674. Of those, 2,225 were residents of long-term care facilities. The state has reported a total of 345,676 positive cases. The state health department says 174 people are hospitalized with the virus, an increase of two from Saturday. Of those, 41 are in intensive care and 16 are on ventilators.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — A man wanted for killing a woman in Ames last month is now in custody after allegedly attacking a woman in Des Moines. Police in Des Moines arrested 33-year-old Richard Fleck early Sunday. The victim is hospitalized with serious facial injuries but is expected to survive. After Fleck’s capture, Des Moines police learned he had been sought for several weeks following the death of Ranea Bell in Ames. Fleck is charged with first-degree murder in that case. Fleck was booked into the Story County jail. Des Moines police say they will seek charges of attempted murder and willful injury causing serious injury for the attack in Des Moines.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court says there was enough evidence for a jury to conclude that a man shot and killed his mother in 2015, rejecting his appeal and leaving in place the jury’s $10 million verdict even though the man was later acquitted of criminal charges.. The court on Friday denied Jason Carter’s appeal of the civil case in which a jury found him responsible for the June 2015 shooting of his mother Shirley Carter at his parents’ farm home near Knoxville. Jason Carter, of Knoxville, and his father Bill Carter have been locked in legal disputes since Shirley Carter’s death. Carter later was charged with first-degree murder but a jury found him not guilty.