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!
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!
Iowa Department of Transportation officials said on Tuesday that the formerly-flooded Interstate-29 would reopen “later this week.” It’s now Friday and the agency has not yet released a timetable for the reopening. DOT engineer Bob Younie says they will open I-29 in southwest Iowa “soon,” even if only two lanes are driveable. “We will accept less than the four lanes that are there right now just to get folks moving and we’re willing to do that other work under traffic,” Younie says.
That 34-mile stretch of Interstate is the last remaining segment to reopen after a summer-long shutdown due to the record flooding of the Missouri River. Younie says I-29 may be reopening, but other segments of road linking Iowa and Nebraska will remain closed. “Iowa (Highway) 2, right underneath I-29, was pretty significantly damaged on the north side, the pavement was undermined,” he says. “We also have a section of roadway west of I-29, closer to the river, that had some damage also and it’s going to have to be reconstructed.”
Younie says he’s hoping to see Highway 2 repaired and open before Thanksgiving, linking up Iowa cities in the area like Hamburg and Sidney to Nebraska City, Nebraska.
(Radio Iowa)
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s office has announced his Special Assistant for Education, Linda Fandel, and Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass, will hold two town hall meetings this month on the governor and lieutenant governor’s blueprint for education transformation, “Unshakable Vision.” Additional town hall meetings are planned as well, with the dates and locations to be announced later.
The first meeting takes place in Council Bluufs, in the Woodrow Wilson Middle School Auditorium, beginning 3:30-p.m., on Saturday, October 21st. The second meeting will be in Iowa City, on October 16th. Both events are open to the public. For more information, visit www.governor.iowa.gov.
DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship today said that whole milk with an expiration of October 22, 2011 from Farmers All Natural Creamery in Wellman, Iowa is the subject of a voluntary recall due to concerns that at least some of the milk from that facility may not have been properly pasteurized. The Department conducted laboratory testing on the finished product by State Laboratory Evaluation Officers that have been certified by the FDA. The results tested positive for residual phosphatase indicating that the milk may not have been properly pasteurized and therefore could present a risk if consumed. Farmers All Natural Creamery believes 954 gallons of milk have been sold to four distributers; UNFI (Aurora, CO), UNFI (Lancaster, TX), Calma Optimal (Franklin Park, IL), and Natural brands (Wood Dale, IL).
The milk was manufactured on October 3rd with an October 22, 2011 sell by date. Milk from Farmers All Natural Creamery can be identified by the plant number 19888 printed on all gallon containers. The four distributers have since been notified and milk is being pulled from shelves. If the public has any concerns they should return the milk to the store it was purchased from. These milk products should not be consumed.
A “World Championship” outdoor event will take place in Anita later this month. The Patternmaster’s BDC World Championships are scheduled for October 20th through the 23rd, at Hansen Outfitters, in Anita. The National Bird Dog Circuit event is in its 8th year, and will be televised on the Sportsman Channel and MAV-TV, beginning in January, 2012. The organization estimates more than 25,000 viewers will watch the taped event.
Paul Hansen, with Hansen Outfitters in Anita, said the BDC Qualifying events were held in the community last year, as well as the BDC Players Tournament. Players from all across the country and Canada attended the event. The Patternmaster’s BDC World Championships are expected to bring anywhere from 100- to 125-professional hunters and their dogs to Anita. Hansen says that means a big infusion of money into the surrounding area, and it’s already taking place, in the form of motel reservations. He says motels are already booked in Atlantic, Anita and Adair. Hansen says people will begin showing up in the area one-week in advance, and they’re going to be looking for places to eat, and things to do. The event also offers an opportunity to showcase not only Anita and the surrounding communities, but our local school musical talent and youth groups.
Hansen says the Anita High School Choir will sing the National Anthem, accompanied by the Atlantic Marching High School Band, and the Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts will serve as the Color Guard.
Filming of the performance will begin 7:30-a.m., October 21st. The public is invited to attend, and watch the students perform. Gallery seating will be available to watch the field trials and related filming. In addition, the Anita Volunteer Fire Department will be raising funds for the ambulance drive, and holding a banquet for the BDC players and staff. All the proceeds will benefit the fire department.
Registration for the BDC World Championships begins on Wednesday, October 19th. Competition events start bright and early the next morning, in the Pointing and Flushing Doubles Division. Hansen says the event takes place on an eight-acre field. Three birds are planted to represent foul shot by the hunter. The dog has to locate the bird and bring it back to the hunter, who must then harvest the bird. Each trial is timed. The man/dog team with the best score and times, wins.
On Friday, October 21st, participants in the Pointing and Flushing Top Gun Division run match play are scheduled to compete, with activities continuing through Sunday, and an awards ceremony to follow. Hansen says there are trophies and cash prizes at stake. He says the trophy package is worth $16,000. BDC President Max Wroten said in a press release, that they “Look forward to a great event and good times in Anita.” He added that he hopes it becomes an annual event. For more information, visit www.nbdca.com.
Iowans are being asked to wear orange one day next week as a way to show support for an effort to stop bullying in schools. Julie Hertzog, director of the Minneapolis-based National Bullying Prevention Center, says Wednesday is what’s being called Unity Day and students in dozens of schools across Iowa are signing on. “It’s a day to unite against bullying,” Hertzog says. “It has a simple call to action of, ‘Make It Orange and Make It End.’ Students around the country and around the world are going to be wearing orange in support of the issue. They can also just write the word ‘unity’ on their hand or on their arm or their notebook.”
She says it’s startling how many young people are impacted by this problem. “One-hundred-sixty-thousand students each day stay home from school for fear of being bullied because they don’t want to go to school, they don’t want to face the situation,” Hertzog says. “When they do that, they’re missing out on the opportunity to learn.” Several high-profile cases involving student suicides in recent years displayed how bullying can take an extreme mental toll on the victim.
“We also hear about students who are exhibiting behavior like cutting, self-injury, of students who become anorexic or bulimic,” Hertzog says. “It’s all done as a result to just being in a lot of pain about being bullied.” One survey found that more than one-million children nationwide were cyber-bullied last year on Facebook alone, an example of how online bullying has grown. Hertzog says cyber-bullying is the modern version of writing on the bathroom wall.
“When we were growing up, bullying was limited to the school or maybe your neighborhood,” she says. “Now, with technology, kids have instant access to spread gossip and rumors and slander and send mean texts. On social media, they can reach an audience in an instant of hundreds, even thousands.” Learn more about the anti-bullying effort at: http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/
(Radio Iowa)
A store which will offer goods created in 38 countries without the use of child labor, opens tomorrow (Saturday), in Atlantic. Five churches in the community have teamed-up for the Atlantic Fair Trade Market, which will operate from October 8th through the 22nd, at 408 Chestnut Street. The hours of operation are from 10-a.m. to 5-p.m., Monday through Saturday.
On-hand at the Fair Trade Market will be items created from artisans from more than three-dozen countries, obtained through Ten Thousand Villages, one of the largest fair trade organizations in the world. Products made by the various artisans are in good working condition, and are made without the use of child labor. Prices are set by the artisans themselves, and are used to help those persons in third-world countries make a living.
The event was organized by Myra Kail, of Atlantic. A member of the 1st United Methodist Church, Kail said she was aware of a fair trade movement that’s been around for a while, and was interested in creating a similar market in Atlantic. Over the past six-months, Kail and fellow organizer Michelle Jones planned the event and formed an all-volunteer committee among five churches in the community to handle the details.
Kail said depending on demand, another Fair Trade Market might be held in the Spring of 2012. And, if there’s enough demand, a permanent shop could be established. For more information, call Myra Kail at 712-243-4265.
Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green said this (Friday) morning, that the Atlantic High School was searched today, for any evidence of explosives, and none was found. Green reminds students they will not be allowed to bring book bags, large purses or duffel bags into the building this morning.
The searches, which began Wednesday evening, were in response to a threat written on a bathroom stall at the high school, which warned a bomb would go off today. No arrests have been made in connection with the threat, which was discovered by a student, and reported to the authorities.
The last person accused of participating in the murder of a Council Bluffs woman earlier this year, was sentenced Thursday to 20-years in prison. 47-year old Clarence Woolsoncroft plead guilty to five charges in connection with the January 14th murder of 39-year old Tammy Rocha. Wilsoncroft was charged with willful injury causing serious injury with a dangerous weapon, willful injury causing bodily injury, and three misdemeanors. He had faced charges of 1st degree murder, 1st degree kidnapping, 1st degree robbery and conspiracy. He’ll have to serve at least five-years in jail, before he’s eligible for parole.
Last May, a jury found Woolsoncroft guilty of 2nd degree murder, false imprisonment and willful injury causing serious injury, but that decision was vacated and the judge granted a new trial, in July, after agreeing with the defense attorney’s position that there had been an error in jury instructions, and that prosecutors failed to provide evidence Woolsoncroft knew a knife was used in the crime, or that he knew there was an intent to murder the woman.
Three other people involved in the stabbing of Rocha near a residence in Council Bluffs were sentenced to a total of 82-years in prison. Lisa Reeves plead guilty to 2nd degree murder, and was sentenced to 50-years in jail. Reeves stabbed Rocha seven times with a knife in front of Reeves’ residence in Council Bluffs, after Rocha stole four rings and a cellphone from her the night before.
Reeves’ father, Bryan Reeves, pleaded guilty to three lesser charges and was sentenced to 30-years in prison. And, Eric Long — Reeves’ boyfriend — was sentenced to two-years in prison, after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact.