w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

JEFFERSON, Iowa (AP) – Casino supporters have turned in petitions calling for a public vote on gambling in west-central Iowa’s Greene County.  A group called Grow Greene County submitted more than 750 signatures on Tuesday. Only about 460 verified signatures are needed to force supervisors to schedule a vote. An Aug. 6th election is expected.
 
Greene County Supervisor Guy Richardson backs the casino and says the county must grow in order to thrive.  The Rev. Julie Poulsen of First United Methodist Church in Jefferson is a leader of No Casino Greene County. She says she opposes gambling because of the harm to individuals and families.
 
A Greene County casino likely would be developed at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 4 in Jefferson.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County say a woman from Oakland was transported to the hospital by helicopter in criticial condition following a collision Tuesday afternoon between a car and a semi, just east of Oakland. Officials say 27-year old Jessica Luke failed to yield to a westbound semi at the intersection of 450th Street and Highway 6. After the two vehicles collided, the car ended-up beneath the trailer of the semi. Oakland and Carson Rescue responded to the scene of the crash, which happened at around 1:45-p.m., Tuesday, about three-miles east of Oakland.

Luke was extricated from her vehicle and flown to the Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha. The driver of the semi, Daniel Mueller, of Griswold, was not hurt.

A former state legislator and candidate for governor says he’s considering a run for the U.S. Senate. Fifty-five-year-old Rod Roberts served 10 years in the Iowa House, representing the Carroll area, before he ran for governor. Roberts got about nine percent of the votes cast in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary that Terry Branstad won. Roberts says he doesn’t want to be “impulsive” about running for the U.S. Senate and will announce his decision by the end of the summer.

“In a field of multiple candidates in a compressed timeline, you really have to think about the potential support that’s out there, the resources to put a viable campaign together,” Roberts says. “So now it’s: Can you do it in kind of a sprint to the finish line?” Roberts says just as he felt “called” to be an ordained minister in the Church of Christ, he feels a “calling” to public service. “When that’s in your background and that’s kind of how you’re wired, this comes very naturally to me to consider an opportunity like this, especially when you place a high regard on what others are saying to you,” Roberts says. “You know as that comes to you, you don’t just ignore it or disregard it. You think about it pretty seriously and I am.”

Governor Branstad appointed Roberts to serve as director of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, a job Roberts would have to leave if he runs for the senate. “I do have a job I enjoy and people I enjoy working with and that weighs in my thinking, too,” Roberts says. Roberts is active on the online social network Twitter and his recent Tweets have addressed federal issues like immigration reform and the need for a “conservative candidate” to run for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat in 2014.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Davenport officials say recent flooding cost the city more than $20,000. That’s far less expensive than flooding costs earlier in the spring. The early June flooding cost more than $20,000, mostly for overtime. Flooding was more severe in April, and the cost totaled nearly $300,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has picked an interim director for the Iowa Department of Education. Duane “D.T.” Magee will run the department until a permanent director is named. Magee will retain his position as executive director of the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Department of Natural Resources biologist says Iowa’s pheasant population likely will decline this year because of the cool, wet spring. Habitat also has been an issue for the pheasant population, but Todd Bogenschutz says the state has made progress in efforts to set aside land.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — State regulators have indefinitely suspended the license of a Coralville social worker accused of being drunk on the job. Brian Nedoba is accused of drinking alcohol and being intoxicated while providing services at a Waterloo business in September 2011.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports a bridge replacement project slated to begin Monday, June 24th, will result in the closure of Hazel Road in the victinity of Mosher Creek, for about eight weeks. The bridge is located just north of 2129 Hazel Road, between 2200th and 2000th Streets, or between Union Townships 20 and 21 in Shelby County.

Residents in the area and Emergency Responders who serve the area, should plan an alternate route of travel. For more information, call the Shelby County Engineer’s Office at 712-755-5954.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest today (Tuesday), of 20-year old Joseph Alan Sullivan, of Council Bluffs. Sullivan was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail at around 7:40-a.m., on a warrant for Theft in the 3rd degree. His bond was set at $2,000.

And, on Monday, 18-year old Dylan Lee Conn. Conn, whose place of residence was not listed, was taken into custody at around 7-p.m. in Glenwood, on a warrant for Violation of his Probation. Bond was set at $1,000.

An argument that escalated into an assault Saturday evening in Atlantic resulted in the arrest of three people. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says authities responded to the 600 block of Elm Street at around 7:40-p.m., and following an investigation, arrested 44-year old Richard Dean Fineran, of Atlantic, on a charge of Disorderly Conduct, while 34-year old Adam Ramirez and 32-year old Ericka Sanchez, both from Texas, were arrested for Interference with Official Acts and Disorderly Conduct. All three suspects pled not guilty to the charges, and were released from custody on Sunday.  

Also arrested in Atlantic on Saturday, was 30-year old Brandon Eugene King, of Grove, OK. King was taken into custody on a warrant out of Oklahoma. He was being held in the Cass County Jail pending extradition. That same day, 33-year old Moises Hernandez, of Clarion, was arrested on a charge of Reckless Driving. Hernandez was taken to the Cass County Jail where pled guilty and was released on Sunday.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors will meet one-hour earlier than usual, Wednesday morning. 

During their 8-a.m. session at the Courthouse in Atlantic, the Board is scheduled to act on: A request from the Cass County Historical Museum for additional funding; A request from the Veterans Affairs Commission to set the V-A Administrator’s wages for Fiscal Year 2014; Approving miscellaneous employment change requests for end of probationary employment and wage adjustments for F.Y. 2014; End of Fiscal Year expense appropriations following a review and amendment; and, if ready, discuss and approve entry into a 28-E agreement for Mental Health Regionalization. 

The Board is also expected to receive a report from the Family Crisis Support Network, and other, departmental reports from the Engineer, County Attorney and General Relief/Mental Health Coordinator.