w/ Kate Olson
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.9MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says eight new sites have been added to Iowa’s walk in public hunting access program, increasing the land available for hunting by nearly 600 acres. There are a total of 7,590 acres of private property on 48 sites available to hunters. The Iowa Hunting and Access Program (IHAP) is a partnership with Iowa landowners who agree to allow hunters access to the portion of their property enrolled in the program in exchange for habitat improvement on that land.
The newly enrolled land is spread across the state but all of the new sites are located in north central; an area of the state with the least amount of public hunting access sites in the past. Hunting opportunities should be even greater this year as the habitat on the sites have had another year of development. Site maps are available on the DNR’s website showing boundaries, which species would be most likely attracted to the habitat and the location of a comment box where hunters can leave their thoughts on the program. Detailed information for each site can also be found on the hunting atlas http://programs.iowadnr.gov/maps/huntingatlas/.
Walk-in public hunting through IHAP is available between September 1st and May 31st. Areas are posted with signs, are regularly patrolled by Iowa DNR conservation officers and will be treated like public hunting ground, with the noted exception that it is private property. The DNR has a list of tips and guidelines hunters should follow and maps of the properties online at http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/PlacestoHuntShoot/HabitatAccessProgram.aspx
The Freese-Notis forecast for the KJAN listening area, and specific weather information for Atlantic…
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.1MB)
Subscribe: RSS
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials are reminding residents that time is running out to reserve a campsite for the upcoming Labor Day weekend. The state Department of Natural Resources say campers must make their reservation no later than Wednesday if they want that a campsite with electricity at an Iowa state park. Campers can register online.
Campers who don’t register should arrive as early as possible to claim a campsite on a first-come, first served basis. Officials say flexible campers still have a few options available.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa farmers have applied for state funding to help them reduce the amount of fertilizer and manure runoff from fields on more than 120,000 acres. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says farmers submitted applications for $2.8 million in cost share funding made available to help implement practices intended to help improve water quality. Since it’s a cost-share program farmers will provide at least $2.8 million of their money.
Northey says the department received applications from 1,096 different farmers covering 120,680 acres. Practices include use of cover crops, no-till and strip-till farming and use of a chemical that slows the rate at which ammonia applied as fertilizer is converted to nitrogen. The department received $3 million in one-time funding to support statewide water quality practices over the next five years.
Two men have thrown their hats into the ring in an attempt to become the next Mayor of Council Bluffs. The Omaha World-Herald reports current City Councilman Matt Walsh and former Iowa Rep. Brent Siegrist have filed the necessary papers in the City Clerk’s Office to run in the Nov. 5 city election for the city’s top post.
The filing deadline for others interested in running is 5-p.m. Thursday. Completed nomination petitions must be filed in person at the City Clerk’s office on the main floor of City Hall.
Siegrist, a former speaker of the Iowa House. He filed his mayoral nomination papers Tuesday morning. Walsh filed his nomination papers for mayor on Aug. 15th. If another person files nomination papers, a primary will be held on Oct. 8th to reduce the number of candidates for mayor to two. The winner of the Nov. 5th election will become the first person other than Tom Hanafan to sit in the mayor’s chair in over a quarter of a century, following his election in November 1987.
The warm temperatures are making the dials on electric meters across the state spin a little faster as air conditioners try to keep up. Alliant Energy spokesman, Justin Foss, says they have seen electric usage increase the last two days as temperatures soared. He says things are made worse because the temperatures are not dropping very far in the evening. “When it’s also hot at night, these factories and your homes don’t have a chance to really cool down very well, and so it just stays hot. And the longer it goes and the hotter it is, it just compounds upon itself,” Foss says.
Alliant has implemented a program energy saving program for residential customers that kicks in when it gets this hot. “From one until seven, on days when it is hot enough that we need to trigger it, it will turn the compressor unit of your air conditioning off in 15 minute cycles,” Foss explains. “However, it will let your furnace fan continue to run, so it will continue to blow the air throughout the house just like your airconditioning system normally would run, according to Foss.
Iowa’s other major utility company, MidAmerican Energy, has a similar residential program called “summer saver.” MidAmerican spokesperson, Abby Bottenfield says they also have a program for businesses to reduce power usage. “The company works with those customers during these events to reduce their energy use, by either reducing their use of the air conditioning, reducing or shifting the operation of other equipment, or by using auxiliary or onsite electrical generation,” Bottenfield says. The electric companies are trying to avoid hitting their peak electric use. Bottenfield doesn’t know how close they will get to the peak in this latest heat wave.
“We get close to our peak usage when we start using our summer saver and curtailment program, but right now we are not sure if we will hit the peak usage,” Bottenfield says. Alliant’s Foss says some people get the wrong idea that the company will run out of electricity of people don’t conserve during high usage periods. “It’s not about running out of energy. These programs, what they do is they make it more economical for everybody. Because when you’re hitting you peak and when you’re using that much energy, you have to buy it out on the open market,” Foss says. “And when it’s hot like this, the rules of supply of demand really come in, where the more energy that is being used, the more expensive it gets.” Foss says Alliant has used its cycling program two other times this year, both were in July.
(Radio Iowa)
…HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING…
EARLY THIS MORNING…CLEAR. SOUTHWEST WIND AROUND 5 MPH.
TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HOT. HIGH IN THE UPPER 90S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. HIGHEST HEAT INDEX READINGS 100 TO 104 IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE LOWER 70S. SOUTH WIND NEAR 5 MPH.
THURSDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HOT AND HUMID. HIGH IN THE MID 90S. SOUTH WIND NEAR 10 MPH. HIGHEST HEAT INDEX READINGS 100 TO 105 IN THE AFTERNOON.
THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE LOWER 70S. SOUTH WIND NEAR 5 MPH. HIGHEST HEAT INDEX READINGS AROUND 100 THROUGH MIDNIGHT.
FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 90S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. HEAT INDEX READINGS 102 TO 107.
FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW AROUND 70. HIGH IN THE MID 90S.
SATURDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW AROUND 70.
SUNDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE LOWER 90S.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joe Kelly tossed six strong innings and Matt Holliday drove in a run for a seventh straight game, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night. St. Louis has won six of its last seven, including the first two games of this three-game set. The first-place Cardinals have won eight of their last 10 against the third-place Reds and lead them by 4 ½ games in the NL Central.
Shin-Soo Choo homered for Cincinnati, which lost for the fourth time in five games. Kelly, who allowed one run on eight hits, improved to 6-0 in nine starts since rejoining the starting rotation on July 6. Mat Latos gave up four runs and nine hits in six-plus innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop planting genetically modified crops in wildlife refuges in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Missouri. The federal lawsuit was filed today by the Center for Food Safety, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Sierra Club, and Beyond Pesticides. It alleges the Fish and Wildlife Service unlawfully entered into farming contracts without an environmental analysis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government says it has found no food safety violations at a Mexican farm linked to a cyclospora outbreak in Iowa and Nebraska. The Food and Drug Administration is letting Taylor Farms de Mexico resume operations. More than 240 illnesses have been traced to the company’s salad mix served at Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s medical board holds a public hearing today on whether the state should continue allowing abortion pills to be delivered through a video-conferencing system. Activists say Planned Parenthood’s system is dangerous because patients don’t personally see a doctor. Supporters say the system helps women in remote areas.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A new starting quarterback with a sterling prep resume should be reason for optimism at Iowa, which has seen its victories dip three years in a row. But the Hawkeyes and their win-starved fans don’t quite know what to expect from sophomore Jake Rudock. Rudock emerged from a three-man competition this offseason as the leader of an offense seeking major improvements in 2012.