Red Oak, IA— The Montgomery County Extension Council and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach have announced the hiring of Meghan Gray as Montgomery County’s Youth Coordinator. Gray began work on May 6th. As the County Youth Coordinator, her primary duties are to strengthen youth development through research-based education and interactive learning opportunities. Gray will coordinate the planning and implementation of 4-H youth outreach and development programs. Examples of said youth outreach are 4-H summer day camps, workshops or clinics, or afterschool groups. As an integral part of the 4-H program, she will focus on positive youth development by establishing various community partnerships, not only supporting the 4-H youth- but the adult volunteers, County Youth Council, and other necessary project committees.

Gray is originally from Mills County, where she was a member of the Loess Hills Trailblazers 4-H Club. She participated in Mills County Council, Region 17 Council, and State Council. She also was a recipient of a State 4-H Leadership Project award. She is a Fall 2018 graduate of Iowa State University where she received her Bachelors of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology and Forestry-with an emphasis in Conservation and Restoration of resources. Gray is enthusiastic about the 4-H program and brings in various experiences which will help her create sustainable programs for the county and youth.

Gray will work closely with Montgomery County’s 4-H program and coworkers, Lori Mitchell, Program Coordinator and office assistant Katie Hart, as well as other Field Specialists serving Montgomery County. Please stop by the Montgomery County Extension Office and welcome Meghan to her new position! Feel free to contact her at mcgray@iastate.edu or 712-623-2592 regarding any questions you may have about Montgomery County’s 4-H program and other resources available through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Montgomery County. Extension resources are always available at www.extension.iastate.edu/montgomery. Be sure to “Like” Montgomery County-IA Extension on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

(DES MOINES) – The Iowa Dept. of Corrections reports 27-year old Dustyn Lowell Thomas, who was convicted of Robbery 1st Degree, left the Des Moines Residential Facility without permission last (Tuesday) night. Thomas is a white male, 6-feet tall. He weighs 171 pounds. Thompson was admitted to the work release facility on April 23, 2019.

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

Escapee Dustyn Thomas

Two people were arrested on separate charges Tuesday, in Pottawattamie County. The Sheriff’s Office reports that at around 2:45-p.m., 26-year old Dakota Lee Koehrsen, of Council Bluffs, was arrested after he turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office on an active warrant. After the warrant was confirmed, Koehrsen was taken into custody for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense – causing bodily injury, and on two-counts Violation of Probation. He was being held on a $1,000 bond associated with the assault charge.

And, 31-year old Mallory Alece McCabe, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 6:20-p.m. Tuesday, following a report of suspicious activity near a rural residence in the 14,500 block of Rosewood Road, near Avoca. McCabe was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $300.

There were also numerous prisoner transfers from jails in eastern Nebraska and elsewhere, to the Pott. County Jail, where those subjects were wanted on a variety of warrants.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) — A safety expert says as Iowa boaters plan to make their first voyage on the water this season, they should check the boat’s life jackets.  Susan Stocker, the boating law administrator and education coordinator in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says “Make sure that there aren’t any rips or tears in it.”  The major concern is to ensure the life jacket fits whomever may be wearing it on the boat. “Every life jacket has a label on it that tells the weight and the size for the intended wearer,” Stocker says.

There are more than 230-thousand registered boats in Iowa. Stocker says all boaters should use the buddy system — and give a “float plan” to someone who is NOT out on the water. “Where you’re going to go, when you’re going to be back and potentially even what ramp you’re going to be putting in at,” Stocker says. “With any high water, we may have some snags or debris that’s in the rivers and streams and being able that if you don’t show up back at home at 6:30 in the evening, that somebody starts looking for you.”

Flood conditions in some areas of the state may make boating impossible. Stocker says boaters must realize in high water, submerged trees and other objects can wreck the boat. “The other thing is when you are in a paddle-craft, whether it’s a canoe or a kayak, you’d better expect to be dumped and put in the water because that’s just the nature of those,” Stocker says, “and unfortunately I can say that we just had our third boating accident and it was a paddler.”

It happened within the last few days in southeast Iowa. Stocker says the paddler tipped over and “almost died from hypothermia.”

A woman from Creston reported to Police, Tuesday, that sometime during the day, someone cut a rear tire on her vehicle, while it was parked outside her residence. The incident, which took place in the 600 block of Grand Avenue, caused about $100 damage.

(7-a.m. News)

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) — The governor’s signing of the bill that makes industrial hemp production legal has put the process in motion to create the rules for producers. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig (Like egg) says the 2018 federal farm bill opened the way, and the state now has to follow through. “We will apply to the U-S-D-A and seek approval from them to have a state program,” Naig explains. “So, there is quite a bit of work yet to do here before we actually have a program to implement here in the state.”

He says that means there won’t be any hemp grown on Iowa farms until 2020. That gives producers time to research hemp as a possible crop. “We’re encouraging folks to take the time. We’ve got a year now to look at everything from the agronomic things that you need to look at — from a seed selection and tillage and land and all those types of things — all the way across to what are the markets for the product. Are you growing industrial hemp for for C-B-D production or for fiber of for grain and oil production.”

He says it is the same process you should use for any new crop. “We really encourage folks to take the time and understand and learn and then be ready to take the field in 2020 is that is viable for them,” Naig says. Naig says there could be some crossover in the equipment used for traditional crops and the planting of industrial hemp. “From a seeding standpoint we understand, and I think some the traditional planting equipment probably works,” according to Naig. “And then really on the harvest side, it so much depends on what the end use is.”

He says you might need different equipment to harvest the hemp for oil than you do for harvesting it for fiber. Those who pushed for legalizing industrial hemp say it has a variety of uses from fabric to oils, paper and rope that could benefit farmers. Naig says you have to research if growing hemp is viable for your operation. “I’ve said many times I am confident that we can grow industrial hemp in the state of Iowa. We used to and we’re good at growing nearly anything,” Naig says. “It’s really a question in my mind of whether or not folks have a viable market for that product. And that’s really what we should be looking at from an economic standpoint.”

Naig says industrial hemp has the potential to be grown anywhere in Iowa. “The legislature did cap the amount of acres that a producer can grow to 40 acres — so we’re not talking about whole sections of farmland here that would be going into farm production,” Naig explains. “Forty-acre tracts or smaller tracts of land — I think we’ve seen that in some other states like Kentucky where they’ve really been ahead here on industrial hemp production. I think it can be applied anywhere — but again — economics will really drive that.”

Farmers cannot legally grow hemp in Iowa until the U-S-D-A approves the proposed regulatory plan Naig’s department is working up. The law l does not legalize the recreational use of marijuana, and requires the hemp plants to have T-H-C levels of point three (0.3) percent or less. Plants with T-H-C levels above that percentage are still considered controlled substances in the state and must be destroyed.

(Radio Iowa) — A former Belmond resident will serve three years on federal probation for possessing stolen mail from his wife’s postal route.  Fifty-year-old Timothy VanZweden of Clarion pleaded guilty to one count of possession of stolen mail. In the plea agreement, he admitted that while living with his wife in Belmond in 2017 he had thrown out a large trash bag that contained mail. Officers used a search warrant and found five letters taken from the wife’s mail route in the garbage, and a counterfeit key used to unlock mail holders.

VanZweden also admitted to burglarizing two homes on his wife’s mail route. He said the homeowners were “beautiful people” for whom everything in life came easily — and one of the women was snotty to him and looked down on him.

(Radio Iowa) — Eight Democrats in the Iowa House and an attorney from Cedar Rapids are filing a lawsuit, seeking to block changes in the commission that nominates candidates for openings on the Iowa Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Representative Brian Meyer, a Democrat from Des Moines who’s joined the lawsuit, says they’re arguing the changes are unconstitutional because the plan was included in a bill with a wide range of other topics. “It’s a provision in the constitution that prohibits log-rolling, which is having multiple subjects in one bill,” Meyer says. “This was a very controversial issue…and it was slammed through at the last minute.”

Governor Kim Reynolds approved the plan last week and has already used her new authority to appoint another member to the Judicial Nominating Commission. Meyer says the group is initially seeking an injunction to prevent the man Reynolds appointed to the commission from joining it. “This was done backroom deal, last minute, as part of a massive bill…but this was such an important subject that it should have had lots of public discussion and lots of input from the public,” Meyer said.

Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, led the House effort to come up with the final plan that won approval from the Republican majority. “it’s not a surprise that they’re making what I consider to be a desperate attempt because they know full well that what we did was constitutional,” Holt says, “so instead of going after it legally on the merits of what we did, they’re going after it based on where we passed the legislation.”

Last week, Governor Reynolds said the changes to the Judicial Nominating Commission “give all Iowans a greater voice in the process.” The lawsuit filed by eight Democrats in the Iowa House also challenges a section of the plan that changes the term for the chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court — arguing that violates the separation of powers between the three branches of state government.