DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – MidAmerican Energy has announced that it will build a wind farm in Boone and neighboring Greene counties and another in Mahaska County.
The company said in a news release Thursday that the two will be the first built as part of its Wind XI project.

The Beaver Creek project in Boone and Greene counties will have 85 turbines that will generate 170 megawatts. The Prairie wind project in Mahaska County will have 84 turbines that will provide 168 megawatts of power. Construction is expected to begin in April and be finished by the end of the year.

In April the company announced its planned $3.6 billion investment in the Wind XI project, which calls for construction of 1,000 turbines that will add 2,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity in Iowa.

The keynote speaker at an autism conference tomorrow (Friday) in Davenport is a globally-known author, activist and innovator — and she’s also autistic.  More than half of all cattle across North America are handled in humane systems designed by Temple Grandin. The animal science professor at Colorado State University says before the conference, she’ll meet with Quad Cities F-A-A members to talk about livestock handling and with high schoolers in general to encourage them to give serious thought to their future professions.

“I’ve been working on how to get some of these kids that might be labeled as autistic, dyslexic, ADHD, whatever, on getting them into good careers,” Grandin says. “Schools have taken out skilled trades. I think it’s the worst thing they’ve done because there’s a ton of jobs available in things like auto mechanics and welding. Hands-on classes saved me as a kid.”

Grandin didn’t speak until she was almost four years old. “My art ability was always encouraged. I was building things when I was in high school and those abilities helped me in my career designing livestock facilities,” Grandin says. “It’s just so important to find something the kid’s good at and then work on developing it.”

Grandin is a hero to thousands with autism and their families and she’s widely celebrated as one of the first people on the autism spectrum to publicly share insights about her personal experience. In 2010, she was named by Time magazine among the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World. Her goal is to pass along what she’s learned to the next generation — and the next.

“I’m seeing too many smart kids not learning basic skills,” Grandin says. “They need to learn working skills. When I was 13 years old, my mother got me a sewing job and when I was 15, I was cleaning horse stalls and taking care of a horse barn. That taught me really important work skills, be on time, be reliable, take responsibility.” Grandin says kids also need to be taught basic social skills and table manners.

In 2010, H-B-O aired a semi-biographical movie called “Temple Grandin” starring Claire Danes as Grandin. The network did a “fantastic” job with the film, she says. “They show exactly how visual thinking works and they also showed hard work is required,” Grandin says. “It was not easy. I had to work really hard. A really nice superintendent at the Swift plant said to me, ‘You always have to keep persevering,’ and a cattle buyer told me, ‘The trouble is opportunity in work clothes.’ It was really hard at the time but I really thank those people for supporting me.”

Her mantra is that people with autism are “different, not less” and, often, “different and, in many ways, more.” The conference runs all day Friday at The RiverCenter in Davenport.

(Radio Iowa)

Grandin: http://www.templegrandin.com/
Conference: http://fhautism.com/attend-a-conference/davenport-ia-january-13/

The Atlantic Police Department says three people were arrested over the past week. On Sunday, 21-year old Morgan Hansen, of Omaha, was arrested for Theft in the 4th Degree (shoplifting) and Theft in the 5th Degree (shoplifting). Hansen was booked into the Cass County Jail. That same day, 19-year old Brandan Troyer, of Atlantic, was arrested for Simple Assault. Troyer was cited into court, and released.

And, on Jan. 4th, 26-year old James Howard, of Atlantic, was arrested on Cass County warrants for a Pre-Trial release violation and Failure to Appear on a Providing False Information, charge. Howard was booked into the Cass County Jail.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says on January 12th, members of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office and Council Bluffs Police Department will be at CHI Health Mercy Hospital at 2-p.m., to deliver money collected from last year’s Law Enforcement Cancer Awareness T-shirt campaign. Danker says it will be the largest donation they have ever presented to CHI Health Mercy Hospital.

A little background: In September of 2011, an idea was brought to Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker to help promote Cancer Awareness by creating and selling a Law Enforcement version of the popular pink shirt. With his approval, a design was created to include local area Law Enforcement. This shirt depicted a patrol car and an SUV surrounded by Law Enforcement patches. Of course, the shirt wouldn’t have been an awareness shirt without the well-known ‘pink ribbon’ and the slogan “LAW ENFORCEMENT – CARE ENOUGH TO WEAR PINK”.

In 2014 it was decided to change from a pink ribbon to a LAVANDER ribbon to bring
cancer awareness to ‘ALL CANCERS’. The lavender ribbon coincided with the Sheriff’s Department’s goal of bringing awareness to all cancers, and was so popular we chose to continue with the LAVANDER color. From its original concept, Danker says the shirts were to promote all Cancer Awareness with money raised being donated to the Oncology Center at CHI Health Mercy Hospital Council Bluffs.

Officials say the success of this program wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Council Bluffs Police Chief Tim Carmody, Sheriff Danker, and the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors. Danker says they more than doubled last year’s donation and are very excited to be delivering a check of over $10,000 to help benefit cancer patients.

The local Law Enforcement Community he says, hopes to continue their fundraising efforts and continue to raise Awareness for Cancer Research. Officials want to THANK the public for making this donation possible.

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

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Iowans bought a lot of new vehicles last year, but sales were down compared to 2015. Bruce Anderson, president of the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association, says there were 138,001 new cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in Iowa in 2016. “Which was a dip of about 4,000 total units, but the sales are at a really high level. It’s the first dip that we’ve experienced since 2009,” Anderson says. The decline in new vehicle sales may be an indicator of an economic slowdown, but Anderson says there are other factors.

“Some of the dip is attributable to supply issues,” Anderson says. “Late in the year, some of the plants close down and getting just exactly the right car or truck ordered and delivered is sometimes difficult.” Anderson’s group keeps track of the top-selling vehicles by manufacturer.

“The number one selling brand in Iowa last year was Chevrolet at 29,605. Ford came in right behind that at 24,638,” Anderson says. The third most popular new vehicle manufacturer in Iowa, behind Chevy and Ford, is Toyota. The Iowa Automobile Dealers Association does not track sales in terms of specific models, but Anderson says Chevy and Ford pickups are clearly the top sellers across the state.

“The Silverado and the F-150 are consistently the top selling units in Iowa. Iowans love their pickup trucks,” Anderson says. Nearly half of the new vehicles being driven in Iowa are trucks, according to Anderson. Nationally, the percentage of trucks on the road is close to 20-percent. The Iowa Automobile Dealers Association includes SUVs as part of truck sales.

(Radio Iowa)

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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What’s billed as “a variety show of veritable feats” that aims to revive Vaudeville-style theater in the state will make stops in six Iowa cities over the next several weeks. Producer Ian Miller, of Des Moines, is one of the creators and participants in the stage performance called “The Nitch,” featuring an all-Iowa cast of characters, poets, musicians, acrobats and more. “‘The Nitch’ is a story, an adventure really, of the individual search for self-definition, using creative means to help define the individual,” Miller says. “We’re hoping that we inspire creativity amidst the viewing audience.”

In the dramatic portion of the show, Miller plays a masked animal character who’s trying to read a book to the audience but he’s constantly interrupted by other pesky animals who aim to steal the book. The antics eventually result in an outbreak of pie-throwing. Miller says, “This is an expansion of what we’ve done in the past where we’re adding in a juggler and an acrobat and musical guests at every stop to really harness the power of that old-school Vaudeville theater.”

The messages embedded in the entertainment include an emphasis on the importance of literacy and individuality. While it’s geared for a young audience, he says “The Nitch” appeals to adults as well. “It’s a family-friendly show,” Miller says. “We do our best to weave a tale that speaks to the child in anyone.”

The book which Miller’s character tries to read aloud during the show is an actual book, a 62-page illustrated prose about “discovering your passion and purpose.” Miller created the book, which became the show, along with author Satyrus Jeering. “When I sat down with Jeering to create this story, I was hugely inspired and the process itself actually helped me find definition in my own creative journey,” Miller says. “I would hope it does the same for the audience. If they’re entertained at the end of the day, if they get a laugh and a smile, that’s really all we need.”

The first of the six scheduled performance is set for January 28th at the Hawkeye Community Theater in Fort Dodge. More shows are upcoming in: Corning, Keokuk, Greenfield, Red Oak and Elkader. Learn more at: http://satyrusjeering.com/

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Hawkeyes have a difficult task as they host 17th ranked Purdue tonight (Thursday) in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes are 2-2 in the league race and need to find a way to slow down Purdue forward Caleb Swanigan. The sophomore is averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds per game.

Purdue hammered the Hawkeyes in the first meeting 89-67 just over two weeks ago. Hawkeyes Coach Fran McCaffery says the Boilermakers are difficult to guard.

Tip-off from Carver Hawkeye Arena is at 8-p.m. Pre-game coverage on KJAN begin at 7-p.m.

(Learfield Sports)