With Ric Hanson.

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A traffic stop in Red Oak early this (Friday) morning resulted in two arrests. Red Oak Police say the driver, 28-year old Jeffrey Allen McClarnon, of Clarinda, was arrested at around 5:30-a.m. in the 700 block of North Broadway, for driving while suspended. He was also cited for having no insurance. A passenger in the vehicle, 26-year old Joshua Grady Washburn, of Council Bluffs, was found to be in possession of a controlled substance/marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. He was taken into custody on those charges.

Since his record shows prior convictions for controlled substance violations, Washburn was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense. He was also found to be wanted on a Taylor County warrant for Failure to Appear in court on a Possession of Marijuana charge.

McClarnon was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond, while Washburn was being held on $1,000 cash bond and on the Taylor County warrant.

(8-a.m. News)

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The 7:06-a.m. Newscast with KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says a Clarinda man was arrested Thursday night, on drug  charges. 24-year old Jacob Allen Washburn was taken into custody at around 11:30-p.m., in the 2700 block of Highway 71, just south of Villisca. Washburn was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and OWI Drugged/1st offense.

Washburn was being held this (Friday) morning in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 cash bond. Sheriff’s deputies were assisted in handling the incident, by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office Drug Recognition Expert.

A rural Pottawattamie County man was injured in a single-vehicle accident near Underwood on Wednesday. Sheriff’s official told the Omaha World-Herald, Kenneth Foote was driving west on Magnolia Road near 300th Street about 9:20 a.m. when he lost control of his 2006 Chevy Silverado pickup. The truck went off the road into the south ditch, went through a fence, crossed a field and stopped at a hay bale and a tree. The wreck occurred just east of the small town of Bentley.

Rescue personnel were able to help the man, initially thought to be trapped, out of the truck through the passenger door and transported him to Jennie Edmundson Hospital for treatment of injuries not considered life-threatening. The man was said to be conscious and breathing when taken to the hospital.

The Iowa College Aid is reminding current and future college students to file and important form that could help them pay for college. The spokesperson for the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, Heather Doe, says it’s the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — more commonly called FAFSA. “It’s a federal form that you do have to complete to determine eligibility for any type of federal aid program – that includes PELL Grants, it also includes student loans that you are going to borrow. And it’s used by the state of Iowa and many other states to determine eligibility for state grants and scholarships,” Doe says. She says it is important to get the form done as soon as possible.

Doe says a lot of colleges have a March first priority deadline for financial aid filing. “And we families to get out there and get that completed, even if they don’t have their taxes completed yet,” Doe says. You can use your tax information from last year to file the FAFSA, and then update the information once the information for this year is available. Any student who hopes to get financial aid has to fill out the form.

“One thing to make sure to point out to everyone is you have to complete a FAFSA every year,” according to Doe. “So, even if you already filed one last year and you are going back for your second or third year of college, you have to complete it again.” Doe says it doesn’t take that long to complete the application. “The best way and most convenient way and fastest way is to file it on-line at www.fafsa.gov. And I do want to point out that dot-gov, because there are sites that look very similar to that with like a dot-com (address) and they’ll try to charge a fee,” she explains. “FAFSA is free to file, so if you are ever on a site where they want some credit card information — make sure to just get yourself out, because you are not in the right place.”

Iowa College Aid says Iowa high school graduates left approximately 22 million dollars in federal grant money unclaimed in 2013 simply by not completing the FAFSA.

(Radio Iowa)

There’s fear of potential “panic buying” of gasoline in Iowa over the next few days as pump prices will rise a dime a gallon on Sunday, thanks to legislators and the governor passing an increase in the state fuel tax. Rose White, with Triple-A-Iowa, says there may be a boost in sales at gas stations and convenience stores through Saturday, especially in metro areas along state borders like Sioux City, Omaha/Council Bluffs and the Quad Cities.

“Certainly with the change, there may be some impacted, specifically along the Missouri border as that difference will be almost 15 cents a gallon,” White says. “The other states however, the variances will be minimal.” With the higher tax, Iowa’s gas prices will be about three cents higher than Minnesota, a penny higher than Illinois, six cents higher than Nebraska, and a dime a gallon higher than South Dakota. Wisconsin is the only border state where gas prices will remain higher that Iowa, by about a penny. The increase of ten cents a gallon may not seem like much, but it can add up. Still, White says to resist the urge to dash out and fill your tank.

“We do encourage motorists not to participate in any panic buying just to save ten cents a gallon,” White says. “Instead, we just encourage you to not deviate from your normal fuel purchasing. If a lot of people do go out and buy fuel this weekend, that could actually create some shortages and we certainly do not want that to happen.” Some gas station owners in Iowa border cities may face a financial squeeze due to the new pricing structure.

“Many of them may have to lower their profit margins just to stay competitive, especially along that Missouri route,” White says. The 15-cent difference between Iowa and Missouri is nothing compared to disparities elsewhere. The gas in New Jersey, for example, is 36-cents lower than neighboring Pennsylvania. This is the first hike in Iowa’s gas tax since 1989, a move that’s expected to generate 215-million dollars a year to benefit road and bridge construction and repairs.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Commerce says Iowa companies exported a record $15.1 billion worth of merchandise last year which contributed to the nation’s record export level exceeding $2.3 trillion. In the report released yesterday the government says machinery led Iowa exports totaling about $3.6 billion in value. That was followed by food and related products and agricultural products. Canada was the leading destination for Iowa products followed by Mexico, Japan and China.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state insurance official says nearly 173,000 Iowans may have been affected by the recent data breach at health insurer Anthem Incorporated. Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart said yesterday that 172,727 policyholders in Iowa may have had their personal information compromised.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Three people remain in the hospital following a house fire in Fort Dodge that killed a woman and two young children. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports that Ashley Ulrich, her infant son Matthew Osborne and his father Lucas Osborne were undergoing treatment for burns Wednesday at University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City. Three people died when flames engulfed their home Sunday afternoon, and others in the house escaped uninjured.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A mechanical problem forced a charter plane carrying the Evansville University men’s basketball team to turn around and land in Waterloo. Local television station KWWL reports the team spent Wednesday night at a hotel after an uneventful landing at Waterloo airport.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state insurance official says nearly 173,000 Iowans may have been affected by the recent data breach at health insurer Anthem Inc. Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart said Thursday that 172,727 policyholders in Iowa may have had their personal information compromised. The cyberattack into a database of more than 80 million people was discovered earlier this month.

The health insurance provider says hackers gained access to names, birthdates, email addresses, Social Security numbers and other information of people who are currently covered or previously had coverage.

Gerhart says Anthem will contact each person affected by the breach and inform them of available identity theft services and other protections. He says the Iowa Insurance Division continues to work with Anthem to monitor the situation.

A Cass County farmer who was selected as a winner in a seed company’s contest, has donated his winnings to the Cass County FFA organization. Delbert Westphalen, of Atlantic, who’s been farming for more than 52-years, won a $2,500 prize in the “America’s Farmers Grow Communities” contest, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund. It was his option to decide which non-profit group or organization would receive the funds.

(from left to right) Dennis Kenealy (President, 4 Star Seed); Eric Miller (Atlantic FFA Advisor); Gary Miller (CAM FFA Advisor); Kevin Blair (Griswold FFA Advisor); Delbert Westphalen; Mike Lund (Sales Mgr.,4 Star Seed); Lana Westphalen (Center)

Delbert said “We wanted to do something that was going to benefit a lot of the people in the County, not just one particular area or one particular group.” By choosing the FFA Food Stand at the Cass County Fair, he says “we’re benefiting everybody, but most of all we’re benefiting the county fair so we can maintain that as the only free county fair in the State of Iowa. And we want to keep it that way.” Westphalen told KJAN News the FFA is near and dear to his heart.

He said “I was actually in FFA longer than 4-years because I stayed to get my American Farmer degree, and it’s some of the best times that I had growing up.” He said the FFA taught him responsibility, and “Is one of the reasons I’m a farmer.” Westphalen received his check Thursday afternoon at the Atlantic High School from 4 Star Seed President Dennis Kenealy and 4 Star Sales Manager Mike Lund, who represented the Monsanto Company.

The funds were presented to FFA Advisors Eric Miller (Atlantic High School), Gary Miller (CAM FFA) and Kevin Blair (Griswold FFA). Eric Miller said they hope to raise 40- to 45,000-dollars to construct the FFA Food Stand. Miller said they “Can do it less cheaper, but we want to do it right. We don’t want to just piece-meal it, put it together part-time. If we’re gonna do it, let’s do it right.”

So far, he says, they’ve raised $28,000, with almost no fundraising efforts conducted. $9,000 was raised through word of mouth contributions. The Trevor Frederickson Foundation contributed $5,000 early on in the process, and they’ve received a $2,000 grant from the Iowa West Foundation. Miller says he’s applied for a $10,000 Cass County Endowment Fund grant, and if it is approved, the project is a go for this summer. He says they should know by the end of this month if the grant is approved. Once the project begins, the old FFA Food stand will be razed and the new structure put up in its place.

He says the new FFA Food Stand will have better plumbing, better electrical service, and be more modern, making it more safe than it is now.  “America’s Farmers Grow Communities” was launched by the Monsanto Fund is 2010, and has grown to include 1,324 eligible counties in 40 states. The program is part of the “America’s Farmers” Initiative, which highlights the important contribution farmers make every day. For a list of the “Grow Communities” winners and more program information, go to growcommunities.com, on the web.