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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!
(Radio Iowa) – A middle school teacher from Urbandale was crowned the new Miss Iowa over the weekend to conclude the three-day scholarship competition in Davenport. Twenty-four-year-old Bailey Hodson says when they called her name as the winner, she went completely numb and had no idea what to do, even though they’d practiced everything with each contestant during rehearsals.
“Luckily the Teen and Miss Iowa of the previous year, they’re so great. They just shuffled me across the stage and they’re like, ‘Okay, now we’re gonna put the crown on your head and just hold really still.’ It just had so many emotions and thoughts running through my head,” Hodson says. “I was like, ‘This is crazy. I’m going to Miss America. I’m going to be Miss Iowa,’ and it still really hasn’t sunk in completely.” Hodson says she’s stepped into a wonderful whirlwind and knows the next year ahead is going to be exceptionally busy.
Baily Hodson, Miss Iowa 2022 (via Facebook)
“I will resign from Urbandale in my teaching position but my students were really excited and they knew all about the program and what I was doing and they they’ve been rooting for me,” Hodson says, “so I don’t think it’s going to be a sad farewell but more of an exciting adventure to pursue.” Hodson, a Berwick native who graduated from Grand View University in 2020, hopes to return to teaching once her duties as Miss Iowa are finished. Her platform, what’s now called a social impact plan, is focused on an anti-bullying campaign.
“I want within my initiative to really implement these curriculums within schools to combat the imbalance that bullying creates within our classrooms, and educate teachers on what they can do to see warning signs of bullying going on in their classrooms,” Hodson says. “So, I think I would love to tie that more into what I do already as a teacher.” Her vocal performance for the competition was singing “A Million Dreams” from the musical “The Greatest Showman,” though she’s not sure if that’s what she’ll perform during the Miss America Pageant in December.
Never before has a contestant from Iowa won the national event and Hodson says that’s not yet on her radar. “My mind is completely overwhelmed with joy of just having the opportunity to even go,” Hodson says. “I know that so many people would have loved to have this opportunity. I’m just trying to really soak that in and be grateful that I’m even going. Becoming Miss America just hasn’t even really crossed my mind yet to be honest.”
Part of the prize package for Miss Iowa is more than 12-thousand dollars in scholarships, money Hodson plans to apply to her student loans.
(Radio Iowa) The director of international development for a manufacturing company based in Pella is in Washington, D.C. this week, urging members of congress to fully fund the U.S. international affairs budget. Daryl Bouwkamp has worked at Vermeer for 30 years. He says having diplomatic and humanitarian missions around the globe benefits trade.
“Having a U.S. projected, rules-based, stable global environment, which the U.S. really needs to lead, is incredibly important to us as a state.” Bouwkamp is participating in a forum sponsored by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. The group estimates nearly 20 percent of the jobs in Iowa are tied to international trade. China has stepped up its spending to secure trading partnerships with countries around the globe. Bouwkamp says the U-S needs to maintain its spending on international aid to ensure companies like Vermeer can access global markets.
“Being there as the U.S. in times of need for other countries and being at the table, negotiating and helping write the rules, enforce the rules so that we have stability and reduce corruption,” he says. About one percent of the federal budget is spent on international affairs. Bouwkamp’s message to Iowa’s congressional delegation is that American diplomacy must be maintained.
“It is the best money spent,” Bouwkamp says. “If you don’t spend it here, you’re just going to have to purchase more bullets.” This is the seventh Global Impact Forum Bouwkamp has attended — although the last two were held virtually due to the pandemic. He says faith leaders and non-profit groups are represented at the event as well as 500 businesses and hundreds of both current and retired members of the military and U.S. diplomatic corps.
(Radio Iowa) – A southwest Iowa native who sang the theme song for the early 1990’s hit T-V show “Twin Peaks” has died at the age of 65. Julee Cruise also appeared on Twin Peaks as a singer and was featured in both sequels. She recorded four solo albums and toured with the B-52s in 1992, filling in when singer Cindy Wilson took a break from the band. In 2018, Cruise announced on Facebook she was retiring from performing due to systemic lupus.
Julee Cruise (Via Facebook)
Her husband told the New York Times that Cruise had struggled with depression and her health and took her own life. Cruise was born in Creston. After graduating with a music degree from Drake University, she moved to Minneapolis before leaving for New York City in 1983.
ATLANTIC, IOWA – Pizza. Shaved ice. Bubbles. Buses. That sets the scene for SWITA’s planned Transit Fun Day in celebration of Ride Transit Week on June 15th. Community members are invited to join in the fun and celebrate public transit at 1501 SW 7th Street in Atlantic.
Starting at 11 am until 1pm, the Hungry Spartan Pizza truck will be onsite at SWITA selling “Colossal Slices” for $5 to celebrate our outstanding transit professionals. Louie’s Shaved Ice will have a pop-up stand, and SWITA will provide a free shaved ice to all who attend. Children from the community are invited to play yard games, color on a SWITA bus with washable markers, make giant bubbles, and can even take home a coloring book sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation.
The event is both a celebration of the SWITA service and a functioning sign-up for this fall’s student transportation in our member communities. “We’re excited to provide a fun, family-friendly activity for members of the community as a celebration of SWITA’s work across southwest Iowa,” said SWITA Transit Coordinator Kristen Templeton.
Community members can also sign up to win a SWITA Date Night for 2, or a SWITA Family Activity Night for up to 8. The SWITA Date Night package includes two tickets to the Atlantic 1&2 Theater and a $40 gift certificate to Rancho Grande in Atlantic. Transportation will be provided by SWITA to the night out. The SWITA Family Activity Night will include up to 8 tickets to Sunnyside Putt-Em-Up in Atlantic and buffet for up to 8 at Pizza Ranch in Atlantic.
In addition to the Transit Fun Day at the Atlantic office (1501 SW 7th Street, Atlantic IA 50022), all taxi fares in Atlantic, Glenwood, Harlan, Missouri Valley, Red Oak, and Shenandoah will be waived in celebration of Ride Transit Week.
The public is also invited to a Ride Transit Day event for all ages on June 16 from 10am to 1pm at the Charles E. Lakin Human Services Campus in Council Bluffs, located at 16th and G streets. SWITA’s partners for this event include HSAC (Human Services Advisory Council) of Council Bluffs, B Cycle, and Omaha’s Metro Transit, which serves the City of Council Bluffs.
KANSAS CITY, MO – As Midwest temperatures rise, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reminds employers and workers not to ignore the dangers of working in a hot environment – indoors and out – and remember “Water. Rest. Shade.” can be the difference between ending the workday safely or suffering serious illness or death.
From 2011-2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 344 worker-related deaths in the U.S. were due to environmental heat exposure. Workplace safety experts believe the actual number of heat-related fatalities might be underreported or misreported as other causes such as heart attacks.
“Workers must be protected from the dangers of heat illness in hot indoor and outdoor environments,” said OSHA acting Regional Administrator Steven J. Kaplan in Kansas City. “For several years, OSHA’s heat safety campaign has focused on raising awareness of the related dangers. Our recent National Emphasis Program is reaching out to unions, employers in target industries and other organizations to protect workers most often exposed to heat illness and injuries.”
OSHA’s message is simple: Water. Rest. Shade.
The OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool is a free, downloadable app that calculates a work site’s heat index and displays the associated risk levels. Users can receive precautionary recommendations specific to heat-index risk levels to help protect employees from heat-related illness. The tool is available in English and Spanish.
OSHA’s Occupational Heat Exposure page explains the symptoms of heat illness, first aid measures to provide while waiting for help, engineering controls and work practices to reduce workers’ exposure to heat, and training.
Read a fact sheet on OSHA’s National Emphasis Program to protect workers nationwide from the increasing threat of heat-related illness. Learn more about working in outdoor and indoor heat environments.
(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report a 31-year-old man from Centerville was arrested this (Monday) morning, on drug charges. Ayokunle Lijadu was arrested for two-counts possession of a controlled substance 3rd offense, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving under suspension. His total cash or surety bond was set at $7,300.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – As temps get warmer, Sunnyside Pool in Atlantic is open, but at a limited capacity. Today June 13 there are 2 guards on staff and they can allow 40 people into the pool at a time. If you are concerned about being able to get in please call and pool staff will update you with how many are in at that time. Parks Director Bryant Raasmussen says “Thank you for your patience with our understaffed status and please remind anyone 15 or older wanting a summer job that we have open lifeguard positions!”
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Transportation is taking public input on the plan to develop a network of electric vehicle charging stations across the state. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson says the state will get 50 million in federal dollars over five years for what’s called the program called the National Electric Vehicle infrastructure program. “Part of the requirements to use that funding is that each state develop an infrastructure deployment plan. And that plan was intended to look at where the corridors are in the state that are a priority for installing electric vehicle charging infrastructure,” Anderson says. The state can only use the funds in areas that are designated as alternative fuel corridors.
“That would include our major interstates, so it’s all of Interstate 80, all of Interstate 35, Interstate 29, and also Interstate 380, those are designated quarters right now,” Anderson says. “And so the law requires that a charging infrastructure be built out on those corridors to minimum levels of service, which generally means charging infrastructure, at least every 50 miles.” He says once that system is fully built out, then the funds can be used to expand charging infrastructure elsewhere across the state. Anderson says the charging stations will require a relatively significant amount of electricity.
“That means there needs to be lots of coordination with utilities across the state. So, we’ve already begun having meetings with some of the utilities, and that will continue over the next several weeks and month or two, to get their input as well in that end of this process,” he says. Some businesses have already installed electric vehicle charging stations, and Anderson says the charges can be anywhere that meets the guidelines. “Funding can only be used on charging infrastructure that’s within one mile of those interstate corridors. So that’ll be a constraint to locations,” according to Anderson. “In addition, it needs to be what we call D-C fast charging or level three.”
Level three is the fastest method of charging, and level one is the slowest. Anderson encourages anyone with comments on the proposal to let them know. He says the comments will have the most impact if they are given before June 24th. “We’ve established a website for this program,” he says. “And there’s a link to that survey on that website. In addition, people can sign up for a distribution list to get more information in the future. The website is www.iowadot.gov/iowaevplan.”
Anderson says they will continue to accept comments after June 24th, but will start working on the proposal. The plan is due August 1st, and then it has to be reviewed and approved at the federal level. Anderson says they expect federal approval will be done by September 30th — and then they can start the process to identify the locations and a process for procuring them. He says every state has money from the federal government for this type of plan — and that means there is demand for the equipment — so it could take one year or more to get everything installed.
(Radio Iowa) – The three Republicans currently serving in the U.S. House are offering a General Election message focused on President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Congressman Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, addressed delegates at the Iowa Republican Party’s state convention on Saturday. “Hold this administration accountable and take back this country from the liberal progressives,” Feenstra said. Ryan Melton of Nevada is the Democratic Party’s nominee in the fourth congressional district. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, is running for re-election in the new second district. Hinson mentioned Pelosi four times in her convention speech.
“You all know it. I’m going to have another tough race because I am Nancy Pelosi’s worst nightmare,” Hinson says. “Well, let me tell you this. We are going to send not only three Republicans back from Iowa, but four and we are going to be a strong voice for Iowa values in congress.” Hinson faces Democrat Liz Mathis of Hiawatha in the November election. Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says the atmosphere is ripe for a red tsunami for Republicans in November.
“You know Ronald Reagan famously said socialism only works in two places — heaven where they don’t need it and hell where they already have it,” Miller-Meeks said, “and in my lifetime I haven’t seen things go to hell in a handbasket faster with any administration than this one.” Democrat Christina Bohannan of Iowa City is running against Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s new first congressional district. Miller-Meeks, Hinson and Feenstra did not mention the Democrats who’re running against them. Iowa Democrats hold their state convention Saturday.