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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) – The Iowa Hunger Coalition is calling on the legislature to take action and accept additional federal food assistance for low-income Iowa kids. The program would provide an extra 120-dollars of food aid over the summer for 240-thousand Iowa kids who qualify for free or reduced price school lunches. Governor Kim Reynolds announced last month that Iowa won’t accept the federal money because of administrative costs to the state and because the program does not address the childhood obesity epidemic.
Mandi Remington of Iowa City says she barely makes enough money to support her three kids on her own, and the pandemic version of this program helped her a lot. “We find ourselves stretching food at the end of the month, and that pandemic EBT made a really big difference in that in allowing us to continue have fresh foods rather than just struggling with what we could throw together out of cans,” she says.
The Iowa Hunger Coalition held a rally at the state capitol Wednesday and has launched a petition drive to encourage Republican leaders to take action.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic held a very short meeting Wednesday evening, during which they passed two resolutions. The first was “Approving the transfer of funds for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2023-24.” In his agenda notes, City Administrator John Lund said the City Clerk (Barb Barrick) makes budgeted transfers and Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) allocations on a quarterly basis. The money is allocated to various funds and recommended by the City auditor’s to be approved by resolution.
A breakdown of the funds is shown below:
The second Resolution approved by the Atlantic City Council was with regard to”Resetting the salary for Police Sergeants effective January 1, 2024 through June 30, 2024.” On January 4th, the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee met to discuss new business. It was decided at that time, to increase the Sergeant pay based on the recent MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) regarding longevity for patrol officers. The resolution proposes compensation for a Sergeant to be $35.90 per hour/$73,989.90 annually.
Speaking of police officers, Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue provided a report on P-D activities. He said officers: responded to 639 Calls for service; Conducted 94 traffic stops; issued 32 citations; issued 15 written warnings; conducted 20 arrests; filed 39 charges; completed 23 incident reports, and covered 10 accidents.
In her written report to the Council that was included in Council members’ packets, Atlantic Public Library Director Michelle Andersen mentioned the Friends of the Library held their annual meeting and approved giving the library $4,600. The funds will be used for summer programming, other programming, the Community Shred Day in April, sponsoring of the Imagination Library, and other purposes.
Michelle said the elevator project should begin before February. Schumacher Elevator estimates it will take about one and a-half weeks to complete the installation, once work gets underway. The Atlantic Public Library received a $20,000 grant from the American Library Association (ALA) to modernize the elevator. The cost of the library second floor updates is covered by grants amounting to $28,500 (combined USDA and Cass County Community Foundation grants), and private donations from the library’s gift account.
Andersen reported the Library had “Major computer issues” in December. The issues essentially boiled down to expired client licenses. Another reason was the age of the servers, which are more than five-years old. Andersen said she is looking into replacing the servers later this year. She said also, in the past couple of months, the library received memorial gifts from Janeille Kenworthy, Judy Overton and Carol Hensley, as well as a $3,834.35 disbursement from the Frederick Hansen Trust. The Atlantic Public Library has also received State funds for the fiscal year amounting to $5,353.39, and County funds of $30,700.
At the conclusion of regular business, the Atlantic City Council entered into a Closed Session pertaining to personnel matter, where that individual requested the closed session.
(Radio Iowa) – The 2024 honorees who will be inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame are being announced.
The hall in northwest Iowa recognizes those who have played a significant role in popular music through the years. Hall of Fame president Ralph Kluseman says the induction ceremony will be held Labor Day weekend at the hall and museum in Arnolds Park.
“We’re going to do a special Okoboji Rocks Concert Series event on Friday, and then the weekend will kick off with the opening ceremony,” Kluseman says. “We’re going to have a meet-and-greet and all of that, but Sunday is the day that we do the ceremony where we bring people into the Hall of Fame, we do the concert, we bring in the winner of the Iowa Rocks Talent Contest who will open the show.”
Kluseman says they’ll be updating the hall’s website to include all sorts of information about the new class of inductees.
“We’re just excited about making sure that over the next weeks and months coming up here, we will delve a little deeper into the stories of all the inductees and be posting those,” Kluseman says, “so people can learn more about who are these people from all over the state of Iowa that have made such an impact on our lives, and brought so much joy.”
This is the 27th year for the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll ceremony and he says it always draws a sizable audience.
“It’s the one thing that I look forward to every year, this induction, because it’s so heartfelt,” Kluseman says. “When people get up and accept their award, you know this means a lot and obviously their fans, the people that care about them, everybody’s in such a place in their mind and their heart, that this is a really huge celebration everybody looks forward to it.”
This year’s list of inductees includes:
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who hosted today’s U.S. Capitol visit from families of Americans being held hostage in Gaza.
“For over 100 days now Americans have been held at the mercy of Iran-backed Hamas — six of them,” Ernst said. “Families don’t know if their loved one is dead or alive and, as you see here, no parent should have to endure this.”
Speaking at a news conference earlier today, Ernst told reporters that pain should be answered. “Bring these hostages home. Bring these Americans home now,” Ernst said. “…Every second counts.”
Earlier this month, Ernst led a delegation of Democrats and Republicans from the U.S. House and Senate to stops in four Middle East countries. “The mission of that delegation was solely focused on the return of our hostages. We called on leaders in the region to pressure Hamas into releasing these hostages,” Ernst said. “…We cannot let up in holding our partners feet to the fire to reunite these families.”
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst speaking at a news conference in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 17, 2024. (Photo provided by Ernst’s U.S. Senate office.)
Israeli officials estimate about 130 hostages remain in Gaza after being captured by Hamas on October 7. Ernst said the country of Qatar could be key to negotiations to free the hostages and she’s called on more members of congress and the Biden Administration to exert more public pressure on Hamas to free the hostages.
Ernst, other top Senate leaders and relatives of the six Americans who’s among the remaining hostages spoke earlier today during a news conference in Washington, D.C.
(Red Oak, Iowa) – A man from Mills County was arrested this (Wednesday) afternoon in Red Oak, on a Class-D Felony charge of Domestic Abuse Assault – Strangulation Causing Bodily Injury. The Red Oak Police Department reports 39-year-old Adam Chandler Orr, of Henderson, was taken into custody at around 12:30-p.m. in the 400 block of 1st Avenue.
Orr was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, pending an appearance before the Magistrate.
Elk Horn, Iowa – The Danish Windmill will be hosting its Windmill Expo & Membership Drive on Tuesday, January 30th starting at 5:30PM in the Elk Horn Town Hall. This is a great opportunity to learn about everything the Danish Windmill accomplished in 2023 and what our future plans are for the organization. It will include a thorough presentation from the Danish Windmill’s executive director, Shaun Sayres.
This event is free to the public with food and drink provided. Membership is not required to participate. Come learn more about Shelby County’s largest tourist attraction. For more information, call the Danish Windmill at (712) 764-7472 or email us at info@danishwindmill.com.
Atlantic, IA — Officials with Cass Health (in Atlantic) have announced that Registered Nurse Ashlynn Bagshaw was selected as one of the 2024 Great Iowa Nurses. Great Iowa Nurses is a non-profit program that recognizes nurses in Iowa and spotlights qualities that demonstrate efforts beyond those expected of a nurse within their normal duties.
After finding out she was selected, Bagshaw commented, “I am honored to have received this award, as there are so many hardworking and compassionate nurses who deserve to be recognized throughout Cass Health and across Iowa. This recognition is a wonderful reminder that the work we do matters!”
One of the primary reasons why Bagshaw was nominated by her team is her passion for building the next generation of nurses. Her nominators wrote, “She models how to manage the ebbs and flow of the department with grace. Her ability to reassess and pivot, while actively explaining her thoughts to new team members ensures patients receive excellent care and staff are supported. As new nurses observe, they learn from her to care for patients by establishing trust with them and their families by considering their biological, psychosocial, and cultural needs.”
Ashlynn Bagshaw, RN
Bagshaw became a nurse in 2018 and has worked at Cass Health for the last five years, currently working in the Inpatient Services department. Her original interest in a nursing career started in 2009 while her grandpa was battling terminal illness. “I remember watching the nurses and noticing how well they treated my grandpa. The kindness and compassion they showed him, my family, and me, left a lasting impression. I never contemplated another career path, as I always knew this is what I wanted to do,” said Bagshaw.
Originally called 100 Great Iowa Nurses, the recognition was established in 2004 and hosted by the University of Iowa until 2020. In 2022, with the support of Mary Greeley Medical Center, the program, now called Great Iowa Nurses, returned to recognize Iowa nurses that routinely go above and beyond every day and take that extra step to ensure safe, compassionate care for their patients. These great nurses share their experience and knowledge to improve the health of their communities. They also take on leadership and mentoring responsibilities, serving as role models for everyone they work with, especially those just entering the profession.
(Radio Iowa) – Work continues to remove the cars and trucks that hit the ditches in eastern Iowa following last week’s winter storms.
Tegeler Wrecker and Crane supervisor Holly Paris says employees are exhausted as they work around the clock to pull cars and trucks out. Paris told KCRG TV Tuesday that the phone has not stopped ringing. “We took 9,900 incoming calls yesterday (Monday). Today, we were upwards of 6,000 right now, since midnight last night.” Paris says. Some cars are trapped under snow or ice and some tow truck operators have to shovel several feet just to get the car back on the road.
Paris says they have strict criteria for choosing who to help first, and those still in the vehicles have been the top priority. “We’ll either go get the driver or go get the truck – those people take top priority because their safety is in danger.” said Paris. Some tows can only be done at night and that requires traffic control from the state Patrol.
DOT traffic camera view on I-80 near Iowa City.
Trooper Bob Conrad tells KCRG TV it is not easy duty. “In two days, we had two of our squad cars hit in this area. It’s very dangerous,” He says. Conrad says that while law enforcement, the Iowa Department of Transportation, and tow truck operators are working to get the cars and trucks out — it will still be some time before everything is cleared. “I would say before it’s all said and done, it will be upwards of a week.” Conrad says.
Conrad says it’s essential for drivers to lower their speeds and to always be on the lookout for tow trucks or patrol cars working on the side of the road.
(Radio Iowa) – A bill to provide new product liability protection to Iowa retailers AND manufacturers has cleared its first hurdle in the House, but Republican lawmakers say it will only apply to retailers if it’s brought up for a vote in a House committee. The bill in its original form bars most lawsuits over faulty products if the product or its components cleared government safety reviews. Brad Hartkopt is a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, which represents 15-hundred companies in the state.
“Federal agencies promulgate extensive rules and requirements for products,” he said. “…Manufacturers expend extraordinary resources and time to ensure that the products they produce meet those standards.” Doug Struyk, a lobbyist for the Iowa Bar Association, says there are all sorts of products that were deemed safe by federal agencies, only to later be declared dangerous or defective. “And the Boeing 737 Max — how many times has the FAA stamped that thing as safe?” Struyk asked lawmakers. “…I guess we were lucky no one was injured when we blew out the door a week or two ago.”
Iowa Capitol Building (RI file photo)
Lisa Davis-Cook is a lobbyist for the Iowa Association for Justice that represents trial lawyers. She was 11 years old, attending a 4-H meeting in Clinton County, when the home’s furnace exploded and she suffered burns over 25 percent of her body. “The company that manufactured the furnace and the company that manufactured the valve were fully cognizant of the fact that that valve was faulty. They knew there was a problem and it was cheaper to keep that product on the market than to recall it and keep people safe,” Davis-Cook says. “…What this bill does is it tells companies: ‘As long as you’ve met safety standards, even though you find out later that it’s faulty, don’t worry about it.'”
One of the Republicans working on the bill says he has no desire to grant immunity to manufacturers, but is interested in some liability protection for Iowa retailers — as long as they don’t do anything negligent.
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