The 7:06-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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When weather forecasts predict the possibility of a tornado in your area, it is imperative you and your family have a plan to respond to the threat. The National Weather Service, as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, offers these tips:

Before a Tornado Watch or Warning is issued…
Pick a tornado safe room in your home or place of business. Basements, storms cellars or an interior room with no windows on the lowest floor of a structure offers the best protection.
Make sure all members of your family know where to go.
Store emergency supplies such as a first-aid kit, and flashlights with extra batteries nearby.
Put together a family communications plan. Know where everyone is or will be in the event they are away from home.

During a Tornado Warning…

Immediately go to your Tornado Safe Room. If you are outside, seek shelter inside a sturdy building.
Mobile homes are NEVER safe during a tornado. If you are in a mobile home or a recreational vehicle, head for the nearest storm shelter.
If you cannot quickly walk to a shelter, you should immediately get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt, and try to drive away from the threat to the nearest sturdy shelter.

After a Tornado…

If you are in an area that was damaged, be careful of debris that may include sharp or dangerous objects, and watch out for downed power lines and broken gas lines.
Use battery powered flashlights when examining buildings. DO NOT USE CANDLES, which can start a fire or cause an explosion.
If you smell gas or hear a blowing or hissing noise, open a window and get everyone out of the building quickly. After everyone is safe, call the gas company or local fire department.
Use your telephone only for emergency calls, so rescue operation lines are not tied-up.
Text your family and friends to let them know you are okay.
If you were outside the area damaged by a tornado, stay off the phone so that emergency calls can get through.
Use text messages and/or social media to let your family and friends know you are okay.
Stay away from areas that are damaged, so you do not hamper rescue operations.
Return to areas that were damaged ONLY when law enforcement gives the all-clear.

A statewide Tornado Drill will take place this morning in Iowa and Nebraska. The drill is part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, and is designed to inform residents on what they should do if a tornado threatens your area.

Here is the schedule for today:

9:50 AM – The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) coordinates with Iowa/Nebraska National Weather Service (NWS) offices about a test tornado watch for Iowa and Nebraska.
10:00 AM – SPC issues Test Tornado Watch for Iowa and Nebraska.  Each Iowa/Nebraska NWS offices will issue test Watch Coordination Notification messages.  Test watch will be toned alerted on NOAA All Hazards Radio.
10:10 AM – NWS Sioux Falls and Omaha issue test tornado warnings for their Iowa counties.
10:15 AM – NWS Des Moines and Quad Cities issue test tornado warnings for their Iowa counties.
10:20 AM – NWS La Crosse issues test tornado warning for their Iowa counties.
10:30-10:35 AM – All Iowa NWS offices issues a Severe Weather Statement to terminate the test warnings.
11:00 AM – Test tornado watch expires.

Iowa farmers have just under a week remaining to decide which federal farm program is best for them. Jeff Davis, the Farm Services Agency director for Plymouth and Sioux counties, says March 31st is the last day farmers can elect between the three farm bill programs. Davis explains the provisions of the ARC-co which is based on county figures. “So, you use your county yields and prices to create a revenue,” Davis says. “If our county doesn’t reach that, you get paid on whatever base you have in that commodity and you can receive the payment no matter whether you plant the commodity or not.”

Davis says farmers may want to inquire about the ARC-ic program which allows farmers to place all farms under one program. “That deals with the revenues for the entire farm, which can mean two or three different farm numbers,” Davis says. “It’s everything that’s in that program. That’s a little more difficult to explain. You’d have to just sit and go through the numbers with that one.”

Farmers have another option, too.  “We have the PLC program which is all based on price,” Davis says. “If price goes for corn below $3.70, then there would be a payment, but that would be an average price for the marketing year. At this point, they are projecting a little bit, possibly, of a payment but we’ll have to wait and see on that.”

Davis says whatever farm program a farmer decides upon, they will remain with that program through 2018. He says farmers can also sign up one farm with one program and another farm with a second program, or they can split the programs with different crops. Davis encourages farmers to visit their county F-S-A office prior to next Tuesday’s deadline in order to have all of the options explained.

(Radio Iowa)

Two Red Oak men were arrested Tuesday night on separate charges. According to Red Oak Police, 34-year old Kale Garrett Hardman was taken into custody a little after 8-p.m., for allegedly violating a protective order. Hardman was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

At around 9:35-p.m. Tuesday, police in Red Oak arrested 26-year old Jason Rolfe Aherns, of Red Oak, on a Montgomery County warrant for Probation Violation. Aherns was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond.

And, at around 5:30-a.m. today (Wednesday), Red Oak Police arrested 36-year old Kale Alan Wenberg, of Red Oak, on a charge of Driving While License Suspended. Wenberg was also cited for Operation a vehicle without registration and failure to provide security against liability (Insurance). He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

The Iowa House has passed a bill that would set “on or after August 23rd” as the time frame for starting the school year. Representative Greg Forristall is a Republican from Macedonia. “Since the first day of the session we have been working on the issue of the school start date,” Forristall said. “We’ve had discussions over the last couple of months with the senate, with members of the various house, with the governor’s office and I believe we have finally reached an acceptable compromise.”

Iowa schools do not know yet when school may be allowed to start this fall. In December, Governor Terry Branstad’s education department announced districts would no longer get waivers to start before the week in which Labor Day falls. Forristall says setting “on or after August 23rd” as the new rule for starting school is something the governor will accept.

“Sometimes you have to take what you can get,” Forristall said. “…This is one of those cases.” The bill passed on a 71 to 29 vote. Representative Scott Ourth, a Democrat from Ackworth, was among those who voted for the bill. “People say that politics is the art of the possible,” Ourth said. “And in the spirit of bipartisanship, which I think the people of Iowa expect of us, I find today to be a rather happy day.” Representative Art Staid, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, opposed the bill, arguing local school officials should be making the start date decision.

‘Whatever happened to the local control principle?” Staid asked. “What ever happened to the limited government principle, where we do not harm?” Earlier this month, the Iowa Senate voted to allow school boards to continue to decide when classes start in the fall. Last fall, 67 Iowa school districts began classes during the second week of August. Bettendorf and Danville started earliest — on August 11th. Only 14 districts started after August 23rd last fall.

(Radio Iowa)

There was another meeting of key leaders late Tuesday afternoon, but still no end to the statehouse stalemate over state aid to public schools. A 10-member conference committee assembled weeks ago to try to break the impasse met, but both parties kept to their respective bargaining positions. House Speaker Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha, the top Republican in the legislature, says Republicans are not going to budge from their proposal to boost general state aid to schools by about 100-million dollars.

“That is a very real commitment,” Paulsen says. “It’s a significant amount of money and we’re very concerned about going any higher.” Democrats, meanwhile, are sticking to their call to spend 100-million more than Republicans have offered. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs, the top Democrat in the legislature, says the state commitment to education has declined in the past three decades.

“K-12, tuition grants, community colleges, Regents institutions, the Department of Ed — all of that taken together used to be 62 percent of the state budget,” Gronstal says. “It’s down to 55 percent and people wonder why some things are starting to lag in terms of student achievement.” By law, the decision on how much money the state’s public school districts will get for the school year that starts this fall was supposed to have been made more than a year ago. If legislators fail to reach an agreement this year, districts will get the same amount of money for the next school year as was received this year.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted of killing his parents with a machete on the Meskwaki Nation Settlement in central Iowa has been sentenced to consecutive life terms in federal prison. Twenty-six-year-old Gordon Lasley Jr. was sentenced on two counts of second-degree murder. A jury found Lasley guilty in December of killing his parents, Gordon Lasley Sr. and Kim Lasley, with a machete on Feb. 5, 2014 at their home on the settlement near Tama.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Senate has confirmed Beth Townsend’s appointment as director of Iowa Workforce Development. Townsend had been serving in the role in an interim capacity since the previous director retired in January. Townsend previously served as executive director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. Former director Teresa Wahlert was accused last year of mismanaging the department and creating a hostile work environment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A proposal to bar minors from using tanning beds at salons has won approval in the Iowa Senate. Under the plan, those under the age of 18 would not be allowed to use a tanning device at a commercial establishment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Microsoft Corp. has sued the state of Iowa, claiming their application for a software contract was not fairly considered. The company alleges Iowa officials unfairly approved a competitor’s proposal. The petition seeks a reversal of Iowa’s $7.5 million contract with Tempus Nova to implement a cloud-based software system for thousands of state employees as part of the deal.

Hydroplaning is being blamed for a single vehicle, non-injury accident Tuesday morning, in Red Oak. Red Oak Police say a 2000 Lincoln Town Car driven by 84-year-old Cleo Charlotte Royer of Essex, was traveling north on West Washington Avenue at around 9:15-a.m., when was crossing a bridge and encountered pooled water that caused the car to hydroplane and exit the roadway to the right.  The vehicle hit a street sign and continued through a yard and into a nearby parking lot before coming to rest. Damage from the crash amounted to $7,550.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of a Red Oak man on Criminal Mischief charges Tuesday.  At approximately 1:25pm officers arrested 31-year-old Zachariah Michael Holland in the 400 Block of North 2nd Street in Red Oak on a valid Red Oak warrant.  Holland is being charged with four counts of criminal mischief in the 2nd degree, which are all class D felonies.  Holland was taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $10,000 cash bond.