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Photos of missing Iowa girl to be featured on race car

News, Sports

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowaa) – The face of a missing central Iowa girl will be featured on the side of one of the stock cars competing in tonight’s (Friday) ARCA race at the Iowa Speedway in Newton. The driver of the number-31 Chevy is Rita Goulet, who’s also a full-time police officer near Charlotte, North Carolina. Goulet says the goal of placing the large sticker on both sides of her car is to give visibility to this missing girl and awareness to the plight of missing children nationwide.

“It’s actually going to be on every race sponsored by the National Police Association going forward. So after this race, it’ll be three more races,” Goulet says. “We’re going to pick a missing child from every state that we’re going to be racing in, preferably one closest to the track. Hopefully that’ll have the most impact.” The missing girl is 17-year-old Alejandra Tejeda  of Des Moines, who’s been missing since February 4th. She is five-foot-one, weighing 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Goulet hopes someone will spot her.

Alejandra Tejeda Picture

“There is a phone number on the side of our car, 1-800-THE LOST, that they can call for more information or they can call their local police department,” Goulet says. “That actually probably would be the best option is to call their local police department and let them know where they saw her.” Goulet says her dual role as a law enforcement officer and as a race car driver puts her in the unique position of being able to leverage the reach of motorsports to promote public safety.

“We have the opportunity to use our cars as billboards for so many things, advertising companies, advertising nonprofits, helping to raise money, and it’s like, why don’t we put a missing kid on the side of the car?” Goulet says. “Being cops, our first mission is to protect and to serve, and this is a great way to do that.” Tonight’s race starts at 7 o’clock and will be broadcast live on the cable channel F-S-1.

Iowa county officials seek changes in property tax cap

News

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the Iowa State Association of Counties says county officials are hoping the state legislature makes changes in the 2023 law that capped property tax assessments. Barry Anderson, a Republican from Greenville, is a member of the Clay County Board of Supervisors.

Under the law, county officials must abide by limits on the general property tax levy as well as the levy for rural services.

Officials in about a dozen counties say their county’s share of money from the state’s Road Use Tax Fund is being reduced because of the new property tax calculations. Anderson says he hopes discussions with state lawmakers can be less adversarial, so changes can be made in 2025.

Anderson made his comments during a recent episode of “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S. The 2023 state law says if the total assessed value of property in a county grows by more than three percent, some of the excess revenue must be used to reduce that county’s main property tax levy. In 2024, lawmakers reduced the required property tax cut in counties where growth in property tax assessments was under six percent.

ROBERT “Bob” HARVEY COOPER, 90, of West Des Moines -formerly of Atlantic (Graveside Memorial Svcs. 7/23/24)

Obituaries

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

ROBERT “Bob” HARVEY COOPER, 90, of West Des Moines (& formerly of Atlantic), died June 6th, 2024, at the Arbor Springs care facility, in West Des Moines. Graveside Memorial Services for BOB COOPER, along with interment, will be held at 11-a.m. on July 23rd, 2024, at the Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Cemetery, in Atlantic. Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Atlantic is assisting the family.

A Luncheon and Celebration of Bob’s Life will follow the service at Schafer Barn on the Hill (1459 White Pole Road) in rural Adair.

You are encouraged to celebrate Bob’s life with an ice cream cone, and through a memorial contribution to the Iowa Aviation Museum, in Greenfield. Memorial contributions may be mailed in care of Schmidt Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 523, Atlantic, IA 50022.

ROBERT “Bob” COOPER is survived by:

His daughter – Denise Kay Cooper Kluever (& husband Ned), of Norwalk.

His sons -Douglas (Laurie) Cooper, of Holden, MO., and Michael (Kristi) Cooper, of Swisher.

His grand- and great-grandchildren; his sister-in-law Marilyn Wagers, of Redfield; other relatives and lifelong friends.

Veterans trek across Iowa to raise awareness about mental health

News

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Dozens of military veterans on motorcycles are riding from west to east on Highway 20 in northern Iowa today in an effort to voice concerns about their brothers and sisters in uniform who are struggling with mental health. Veteran and rider Matt DeSario says 22 veterans die by suicide daily in this country and they’re staging these rides to raise awareness. “This specific trip is riding from Casper, Wyoming,” DeSario says, “with a group of veterans from Kansas who rode up from Kansas, spent a day in Casper, Wyoming, and then now is traveling to Milwaukee where the Harley Davidson Museum will be sort of the finish line for this caravan.”

DeSario says the goal is to encourage others to get involved nationwide by showing veteran appreciation by Americans for Americans. He notes the near-900 mile route was chosen very specifically and the motorcyclists are adding to their numbers as they go. “Any bikers who want to join, any members of the general public who want to ride with us, whether they’re on a motorcycle or not, everyone is welcome,” “or if they just want to set up shop along Highway 20, it’s the Medal of Honor Highway, of course.”

Today’s portion of the trek across Iowa is 333 miles. They should reach Milwaukee tomorrow. Learn more about the journey and the motivations HERE.

JOHN PORTER, 75, of Greenfield (Svcs. 6/23/24)

Obituaries

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

JOHN PORTER, 75, of Greenfield, died Thursday, June 13, 2024, at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.  Funeral services for JOHN PORTER will be held June 23rd at 2-p.m., at Sixteen Oaks in Fontanelle. Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield has the arrangements.

Friends may call at funeral home on June 22nd, from 2-until 7-p.m.. with the family greeting friends from 5-until 7-p.m..

Burial is in the Greenfield Cemetery, with full military graveside rites conducted by the Greenfield American Legion Head-Endres Post No. 265 and V.F.W. Post No. 5357.

Social hour will follow the burial at Sixteen Oaks.

Memorials  may be directed to the family to be established at a later date.

Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.

Prestigious traveling art exhibit stops in Le Mars

News

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa art gallery is one of just three national stops for a traveling exhibit of over 40 paintings by international artists. The American Watercolor Society debuted the works in New York City in April before they were shipped to the Le Mars Arts Center. Nancy Thoma, president of the Arts Council in Le Mars, says it’s an amazing array. “There’s something for everyone in this exhibit. You don’t have to be an art lover or even an art appreciator to come in there and know that there was some major talent that produced some of these pieces,” she says. “You just wonder: ‘How did they do that?'”

The artworks will be on display in Le Mars through July 14th before being shipped to a museum in California. The traveling exhibit’s final stop will be early next year in Florida. Draven Haegs is the recently hired director of the Le Mars Arts Center. “To be perfectly honest, it’s a little bit daunting coming in and my first exhibit is this massive, prestigious organization that I studied a bit in college, so it’s an interesting exhibit to be a part of,” he says, “but it’s also one that I’m also so ecstatic to be a part of.”

The American Watercolor Society was founded in 1866. Famed artists Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth were members of the group, which holds an annual exhibition. The traveling exhibit’s opening this week in Le Mars is happening during the community’s annual “Ice Cream Days” celebration.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Investigates Homicide

News

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa) – [UPDATED) Officials with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the circumstances surrounding an incident of homicide that occurred in Runnells, early this (Friday) morning. A little after 1-a.m., the Polk County Communications Center received a 911 call about a shooting at 4532 SE 116th Street, in Runnells. Deputies arrived on the scene and made entrance into the residence, where they located a man who was deceased. Polk County S/O

The man has been identified as 50-year-old Richard David Selby, of Runnells. A suspect was identified during the investigation. 35-year-oldm Jacob Cole Harbold,of Des Moines, was booked into the Polk County Jail Friday morning on a first-degree murder charge.

Report: 1 in 4 Iowa students are chronically absent from school

News

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa) – One in four Iowa students was chronically absent from school during the 2021-22 school year, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, officials hope a tiered approach to the problem will encourage school-wide attendance and remove any barriers to attendance. They also hope additional investments in Iowa schools will counter the growing trend.

Executive Director of Student Services at Dubuque Community School District Shirley Horstman, said her district uses a three-tiered approach to improve attendance school-wide:

  • The first tier is aimed at all students and encourages schools to lay out a clear school schedule, recognize good attendance and establish the benefits of attendance.
  • The second tier is for students absent for 5% to 10% of the school year. Schools will reach out to the parents of those students and look for ways to remove any obstacles to regular class attendance.  If it’s a transportation issue, the school may help the parents set up a local carpool, teach students how to use city buses or recommend having an older sibling walk them to school, according to Horstman.
  • The third tier is for chronically absent students who miss more than 10% of school days. For those students, schools will set up a more formal conversation with parents and create an attendance agreement outlining joint efforts to improve attendance.

Missing that much school puts students at an educational disadvantage, said Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, which helped with the report. “Once you get behind, it’s hard to get caught up,” she said. Discher said chronic absenteeism rates have grown across the nation since the pandemic. Iowa’s rate of chronic absenteeism of 26% is better than the national average of 30%, but both rates are still higher than the pre-pandemic national average of 16%.

Fourth-grade students who never missed a day of school scored proficient or above proficient in reading 40% of the time compared to 14% for students who missed ten or more days, according to the report. It’s not just grades that are impacted by constant absences, Discher said. A 2012 John Hopkins University study tracking Rhode Island students for seven years found that chronically absent students were more than twice as likely to get suspended or repeat a grade.

The increasing absenteeism rates negatively affect those who regularly attend class as well. Students in high-absence classrooms are more likely to have lower test scores, according to the report. Students who experience instabilities at home such as divorce, domestic violence or substance abuse are more likely to be chronically absent, according to the report. Students facing such issues are also more likely to repeat a grade and be indifferent to succeeding academically.

NW Iowa farmer awarded $200,000 from the USDA in support of farm workers

Ag/Outdoor, News

June 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

PALISADE, Colo., June 14, 2024 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today (Friday) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding $50 million to 141 awardees in 40 states and Puerto Rico, through the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program (FLSP Program), reaching 177 unique agricultural operations and over 11,000 workers. The awards will help improve the resiliency of the U.S. food supply chain by addressing agriculture labor challenges and instability, strengthen protections for farmworkers, and expand legal pathways for labor migration. Vilsack says the program delivers on a commitment made as part of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection and furthers the Administration’s commitment to a regional approach to migration in the hemisphere.

In northwest Iowa’s Woodbury County, Greg Smith Farms, LLC, in Lawton, was awarded $200,000 from the FLSP Program, to “lift up employees, and ensure cattle and crops are cared for in the best way possible: Implementing new bonus and loyalty bonuses, creating a paid sick leave policy and establishing an employee working group to ensure ideas are heard from throughout the operation. Additionally, FLSP will help bolster their recruitment strategy to employ an additional 10 farm workers.”

Ag Secretary Vilsack says “These awards will largely support small and mid-sized farms to ensure they can hire and retain the workers they need to be competitive in the market, while also lifting up rural communities across the country.” Vilsack said “Farmworkers make an incredibly important contribution to food and agriculture and ensure we have food on our tables every day. Improving working conditions and quality of life for farmworkers, both U.S. based workers and those that come to our country to work, is one key step in building a stronger, more resilient food supply chain. The Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to supporting employers and farmworkers alike.”

USDA announced the FLSP Program in September 2023, in coordination with other federal agencies, to help address workforce needs in agriculture; promote a safe and healthy work environment, as well as ethical recruitment for farmworkers; and support lawful migration pathways for workers, including expansion of labor pathways for workers from Northern Central America, through the H-2A visa program. FLSP was designed with significant input from immigration, labor, and agricultural stakeholders – informed by the experiences of farmworkers and farmers themselves.

The FLSP Program grants will support a range of required and elective supplemental commitments to expand benefits and protections for all employees.

Heartbeat Today 6-14-2024 (Part 1)

Heartbeat Today, Podcasts

June 14th, 2024 by Jim Field

Jim Field visits with M.J. Brown about Tori’s Angels, a group holding a fund raiser in Panora Sunday to help families with children undergoing life-saving medical treatment.

Play