United Group Insurance

WEEK OF AUGUST 19, 2024

Trading Post

August 19th, 2024 by Jim Field

FOR SALE:  2012 Buick Lacrosse.  26,300 miles. Cloth seats. AM/FM radio. Not available until September 17.  Asking $7,500.  Call 530-782-3049. SOLD!

FOR SALE:  6 or 7 boxes of food jars/Christmas lights all for $10. Located in Wiota, call 515-664-6362.

FOR SALE:  Remington 110,000 BTU Kerosene Heater for $150. Call 712-254-0837.

FREE:  Topper for a 2017 Frontier in excellent shape. Call 712-250-1287 or 712-769-2557.

GARAGE SALE: 804 East Mahogany in Atlantic Thursday and Friday 8-5 and Saturday 8-12. Clothes, books, plants, kitchen items, baby items, crafts and lots of misc.

FOR SALE: Drop leaf table and chairs in good condition. Best offer. Also a FREE smart TV. 3 years old. Located in Brayton. Call 712-549-2272

FOR SALE: 9 metal fence posts for $5. Sharp microwave for $20. Call 712-304-4550

FOR SALE:  Nebraska college logo and designed golf bag for $10.  Iowa college logo and designed golf bag for $10. SOLD!  Like brand new a television entertainment center for $100. 2 ft high x 4 ft in width.  We also have some free left-handed golf clubs to give away.  Call 712-370-0874 in Red Oak.

WANTED: A small pickup to buy or trade for a 2002 Ford Explorer. Also looking for an owner’s manual for a Deluxe Bran scooter. Call Fred at 712-243-4016.

Atlantic Trojan Football is feeling ready for 2024 season

Sports

August 19th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

Highschool football is back this week for the Atlantic Trojan’s who are coming off a (3-6) campaign in 2023. The Trojans lost some offensive firepower from last year’s squad in leading receiver Colton Rasmussen and leading rusher Dante Hedrington both graduating over the summer. Rasmussen had 26 receptions and 6 touchdowns last season. Hedrington averaged five yards per touch and scored 7 times on the ground a year ago. Even with the absence of those two, Atlantic head coach Joe Brummer is excited about the upcoming season from the growth he’s seen from over the summer.

The Trojans do return a lot of strength up front and will look to have more of a rush first emphasis on offense.

Part of that rushing attack for Atlantic will be the strength from junior Gavin McLaren who averaged over six yards per carry last season and 490 yards rushing. Senior Tyson O’Brien will also be looked to in the run game with his 27 carries from last year.

Brummer is not the only one who saw progress with Atlantic over the summer. Senior defensive back Kinnick Juhl noted that his teammates have been building chemistry with each other.

Juhl led the team in interceptions last year with 4 and collected 32.5 tackles. Juhl says the expectations for the Trojans this year is a playoff appearance.

To achieve a postseason matchup, senior tight end Xavier Darrow says Atlantic will have an aggressive mentality against each opponent.

Atlantic’s first game of the year will be on Friday in Atlantic against the Council Bluffs Jefferson Yellow Jackets. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm and KJAN will bring you pregame coverage starting at 6:30 p.m.

Skyscan Forecast for Monday, August 19, 2024

Weather

August 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today:  Patchy fog early. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight:  Mostly clear, with a low around 54.

Tuesday:  Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.

Wednesday:  Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. South southeast wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Thursday:  Partly sunny, with a high near 80.

Friday:  Partly sunny, with a high near 83.

Sunday’s high was 82, today’s low 57.  Last year on this date the high was 91 and the low 59.  The record high is 100 degrees set in 1947.  The record low is 41 set in 1981.  Sunrise today is at 6:32 am and sunset this evening is at 8:14 pm.

Half of Iowa’s Democratic National Convention delegation arrived in Chicago via Amtrak

News

August 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – About half the Iowa delegates at this week’s Democratic National Convention made the trip to Chicago aboard Amtrak. Gregory Christensen, vice chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, is temporarily being called “the conductor” by his colleagues because it was his idea.

Since they bought the tickets together and got a group rate, the cost of one ticket is about what it costs to park a vehicle in Chicago for a single day.

The infrastructure bill Biden signed into law in 2021 is providing millions to upgrade Amtrak, which Biden used to commute between D.C. and Delaware when he was a U-S Senator. Christensen also notes the Iowa Democrats rode the California Zephyr and the line starts at San Francisco Bay.

A couple of Iowa Democrats in western Iowa boarded the California Zephyr in Omaha. Others got aboard at stations in Osceola, Ottumwa and Mount Pleasant. Christensen says they had some strategy sessions and phone time during the trip.

Christensen says he helped one Iowan re-register to vote. The person had been purged from the rolls because they hadn’t voted in recent elections. The Democratic National Convention is being staged at the United Center in Chicago, the same venue used when Bill Clinton and Al Gore were renominated in 1996.

Animal advocates call for chicken egg gender testing

Ag/Outdoor

August 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Report from the Iowa News Service in collaboration with Sentient)Animal rights advocates are asking large scale livestock operations in Iowa to gender test chicken eggs before the birds hatch. It’s part of an effort to reduce the practice of chick culling. Egg-laying facilities around the world cull about 6 million chickens every year – typically, male chickens that are not profitable to raise for meat. Ag operations kill those chicks after they are already born. Humane League President Vicky Bond says some European countries have banned the practice in favor of what’s known as “ovo-sexing.”

Ag operations have cited costs of adopting the technology as one reason for the delay in adopting it. Chick culling has been around since the 1920’s when livestock producers started breeding their chickens for either meat or eggs. Some 100 years later, Bond argues ag operators should be required to end it, rather than killing the male chicks that are too lean – often by grinding them up. She says it’s a fact not lost on consumers in the grocery store.

U-S egg producers had widely agree to end the practice by 2020, but so far, there’s been a lack of oversight and pressure on the industry to follow through.

Runaway boat & trailer strike a pickup truck in Afton

News

August 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Afton, Iowa) – A boat loaded onto a trailer that was parked in a ditch, somehow managed to roll down the ditch and into a pickup truck Saturday night, in Afton. According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the owner of the boat/trailer had chocked the tires of the trailer, which struck the driver’s side of his parked, 2016 Chevy pickup truck located in the man’s driveway.

The boat’s propeller went into the side of the pickup. The mishap resulted in a police-estimated $3,000 damage to the pickup, and $300 damage to the lower portion of the boat, owned by Derrick Ellsworth, of Afton. No one was injured in the accident, that happened at around 11:30-p.m., Saturday.

KRISTOFER “KRIS” BRAMMAN, 45, of Oakland (Celebration Of Life Svc 8/22/2024)

Obituaries

August 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

KRISTOFER “KRIS” BRAMMAN, 45, of Oakland, died at home on Saturday, August 17, 2024.  A Celebration of Life Memorial Service for KRIS BRAMMAN will be held 10:30-a.m Thursday, August 22nd, at the Oakland Community Building, in Oakland. Rieken Vieth Funeral Home in Oakland is assisting the family.

Visitation with the family will be held on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, from 4:30 PM until 7:30 PM, at the Oakland Community Building in Oakland.

Casual dress is requested at both the visitation and celebration of life service.  If you have a “Bramman Strong” shirt, please wear it to the visitation.  Please wear you favorite sports team gear (preferably Michigan) to the celebration of life service.

Interment will be in the Graceland Cemetery in Avoca,  at a later date.

KRISTOFER “KRIS” BRAMMAN is survived by:

His wife – Jamie Bramman.

His children – Davis and Danielle Bramman.

His parents – Peter (Shona) Bramman.

His sister – Brooklyn (Travis) Christian

His grandmother – Marcy (Robert) Jones.

Other relatives, in-laws and friends.

Reynolds stresses nutrition component, bulk purchases in her summer meals for kids idea

News

August 18th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s undeterred by criticism of her proposed alternative to providing food next summer to low income households with children who qualify for a free or reduced price lunch during the school year. The U-S-D-A will provide 120 dollars in electronic benefits for each child in the summer. Reynolds rejected the 29 million dollars in benefits for Iowa families for THIS summer AND next — and is proposing the state provide food boxes to families next summer.

Last week, a U-S-D-A spokesperson said the governor is asserting the State knows better than its own families do about what their needs are. Reynolds says the state’s Summer Food Service Program — which she would expand — has been providing meals and snacks to children in low-income areas of the state. And Reynolds stresses that having the state rather than families buy the food is key.

Iowa was one of 13 states which did not accept the additional food benefits this summer.

Deadly weekend on Iowa roads: 5 die in separate accidents

News

August 18th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Statewide News) – Authorities in Iowa say (as of late Sunday afternoon), five people died in separate crashes over the past three days. Sunday morning, a man from Minnesota died in a single-vehicle rollover accident in northern Iowa’s Winnebago County. The Iowa State Patrol says 63-year-old Mark Claassen, from Albert Lea, MN, died, when his pickup left the road and rolled several times, after he failed to negotiate a curve on 200th Avenue near 485th Street near Lake Mills. Claassen, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected and died at the scene.

(also reported in a separate posting on the kjan.com News page) – A collision on a curve early this (Sunday) morning in Webster County, claimed the life of a woman from Rockwell City. The Iowa State Patrol reports the accident happened at around 3:15-a.m. near Moorland, on D-20, on the curve near Hayes Avenue. A 2010 GMC Acadia SUV driven by 30-year-old Sasha Brown, of Rockwell City, was traveling west on D-20, when the vehicle crossed the center-line of the road and collided with an eastbound semi driven by 47-year-old Wyatt Lundberg, of Fort Dodge. Brown died at the scene. She was not wearing a seat belt. Lundberg was checked-out by medics and released. The Patrol was assisted by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office and Moorland Fire Department.

Saturday night, a collision in northwest Iowa’s Plymouth County resulted in two deaths and two people injured. The State Patrol says a pickup truck driven by 43-year-old Julio Cesar Pena, of LeMars, was traveling east on Plymouth County Road C-12 at around 10:30-p.m., when Pena failed to stop at the intersection with Highway K-22. His vehicle was struck by an ambulance  driven by 21-year-old Courtney Nicole Johnson, of Sioux City (IA). The private ambulance was southbound on K-22 and transporting a patient in a non-emergency status (no lights/siren), when the collision occurred.

Pena and the ambulance patient, 94-year-old Ernest John Petty, of Elk Point, SD, died at the scene. Courtney Johnson suffered minor injuries. A passenger/medic in the ambulance – 54-year-old Lisa Marie Wise, of Sioux City (IA) – suffered serious injuries. The injured were transported to the hospital in Hawarden. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, Ireton, Lemars and Hawarden Ambulance services assisted at the scene.

And, a 23-year-old man from Altoona died he was critically injured in a Friday night motorcycle crash in Des Moines. According to the Des Moines Police Department, 23-year-old Trever Ray Vinzant was riding a 2008 Kawasaki motorcycle eastbound on East Euclid Avenue around 11:40 p.m. Friday. A 2019 Lexus SUV driven by a 44-year-old Des Moines man was heading westbound on East Euclid when it turned left onto Wright Street, directly in the path of Vinzant’s motorcycle. Both vehicles crashed in the intersection.

Medics began lifesaving efforts on Vinzant and transported him to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries on Saturday. According to DMPD, this is the 12th crash fatality of 2024 in the city, the sixth involving a motorcycle. The investigation into the crash remains active.

Iowa’s offensive line eyes progress

Sports

August 18th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Iowa’s veteran offensive line hopes to be a factor in turning a struggling offense around this season. Considered a weakness the past few years that unit expect to show improvement. Senior Mason Richman has 39 career starts at left tackle.

Richman and the offensive line have battled injuries and position changes the past few years.

A healthy season would help with consistency.

Despite the injuries and struggling offense Richman says there has never been any finger pointing.

Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett says many of the current linemen were thrown in early in their career.

Barnett says the experienced starters have allowed them to build depth.

The Hawkeyes open August 31st at home against Illinois State.