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Apartment building fire displaces 14 residents

News

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) – An apartment building fire has displaced 14 residents in Marshalltown. The fire was reported around 11:20 p.m. Friday at The Villager apartments. It took firefighters 4 1/2 hours to control the blaze in the three-story building, which dates back to the 1870s.

No injuries to residents or firefighters have been reported. The fire cause is being investigated. In April 2013 an accidental fire that started on the third floor caused an estimated $75,000 in damage.

Memorial Ceremony brings many emotions for parents of slain Urbandale officer

News

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

The annual Police Officer Memorial Ceremony held Friday was one of mixed emotions for one the families who saw their son honored. Urbandale officer Justin Martin’s name was added to the memorial with three other officers who were killed in the line of duty. Martin was ambushed and shot to death on November 2nd while on patrol. His mother Jayne Martin says the ceremony honoring her son and the other officers was heartwarming, but she also felt sadness as she continues to deal with his death.

“The second (of May) was the six-month mark and that was kind of hard. I celebrated a birthday without him. I try to go on walks in the walk park where he loved to play and just be alone and thank God for taking care of him,” Martin says.

Justin’s father Randy says the ceremony brings a lot of emotions back up as they work through the grieving process.  “Some of the friends that we have up north who have lost their children have told us that we are not living in a whole different norm,” Martin says. “And you take sometimes one minute at a time — sometimes one hour at a time — it is very difficult. We miss him, but we can’t change the facts though.”

The Martins are from Rockwell City and he says the community support all around has been a big help in dealing with the loss. “It’s unbelievable what Urbandale’s done, even the Des Moines metro, and then when we go back up home to Rockwell City the surrounding communities, schools, everybody is around us — and that really helps,” he says. “Our students, they’re doing an honor challenge on May 10th. It’s a workout from Crossfit that Justin loved to do. All the students in our school k-through12 are going to be doing that. It is a great honor that we have that kind of support as well as the support of Urbandale as well. We couldn’t ask for more.”

The City of Urbandale named a reading room at the public library after Justin. “I looked on Facebook the other day, and there were two chairs in Justin’s room in the library for us, you know they were there for us,” Jayne Martin says. “It was just so heartwarming to feel, the emotions went through, but it was like oh my goodness.”

Mrs. Martin says the memorial ceremony brought some of those same feelings. The ceremony features honor guards of officers from around the state in full dress uniforms, and she says it is something her son would have loved. “Yes, whether it was Boy Scouts or being a policeman or whatever he did, he did it for,” she paused and her husband said “Something bigger than himself,” and she said “Yes.”

Justin Martin was just 24 years old when he died. Des Moines officer Anthony Bemino was shot to death a short time later by the same man accused of killing Martin.

(Radio Iowa)

Skyscan forecast & weather data for Atlantic: 5/8/17

Weather

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Today: Cloudy to P/Cldy w/scattered shwrs & tstrms. High 85. S @ 10-20.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 62. W/SW @ 5-10.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 78. NW @ 10-15.

Wednesday: Cldy w/scatt shwrs & tstrms. High near 70.

Thursday: Mo. Cldy w/morning showers. High 67.

Friday: Mostly sunny. High 71.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 81. Our 24-hour Low (ending at 7-a.m. will be 43. At 5-a.m. it was 64 degrees). We received showers and thunderstorms this morning that also brought pea to nickel size hail. Rainfall as of 5-a.m. had amounted to .3”

Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 70 and the low was 55. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 95 in 1895. The Record Low was 25 in 1980.

Red Oak man arrested for Assault Sunday afternoon

News

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Police in Red Oak, Sunday afternoon, arrested a man on an assault charge. 55-year old David Lawrence Howe, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 3:45-p.m. in the 400 block of Highland Avenue on a charge of Simple Assault. Howe was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond.

Klobuchar tells Iowa Democrats to ‘lean forward’

News

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

More than 250 Democrats from Iowa’s largest county gathered Sunday night, commiserating about recent losses, but urging one another to “lean forward” to 2018 and beyond. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar was the event’s keynote speaker. She told Radio Iowa Democrats “can’t forget the middle of the country.” “We need people who are speaking out nationally from the middle of the country,” Klobuchar said. “That means from the middle of the political spectrum and everything else.”

Klobuchar spoke for about 40 minutes at the Polk County Democrats’ Spring Fundraiser. She criticized President Trump of being too focused on tweeting. She described the U.S. Senate as the “emergency brake” to some of Trump’s agenda. “I had to make a decision at the end of last year and Trump had won and I had an opportunity to run for governor and you know what I decided?” Klobuchar asked the crowd. “I decided I wasn’t going to leave my duty station because the United States Senate is the place to be.”

But Klobuchar spent most of her time laying out a “four corners…competitiveness agenda.” Her speech stoked speculation she may run for president herself in 2020. “Let’s not think of this as a moment in time just to overcome. Right?” Klobuchar told the crowd in closing. “Let’s think of this as an opportunity, a moment to shine, to show the world what America really stands for and to show the world what we’re made of.” Klobuchar stood to speak in front of the huge American flag that was used on Election Night 2012 in Des Moines at President Obama’s final campaign rally.

“We wanted it to be here tonight to show that we’ve had good days in the past. We have a good day today and we’re going to have good days in the future.” That’s Polk County Democratic Party chairman Sean Bagniewski. Senate Democratic Leader Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids told his fellow Democrats to quit moping around and complaining about one another on social media. Hogg urged Democrats to have a “summer of citizenship in 2017” and as his cadence escalated, Hogg seemed to be losing his voice.

“With your help, we’re going to take back the Iowa House…the Iowa Senate…the governorship,” Hogg said. “And with your help we’re going to take back congress and, with your help, in 2020 we’re going to take back the presidency before that man destroys our country, our democracy and our future.” AFSCME Council 61 president Danny Homan blasted Republican lawmakers at the state level for rolling back union bargaining rights and he promised political payback’s ahead.

“The pledge I am making to the Iowa Democratic Party and to every Democrat in the state: I am going to educate my members,” Homan said. “…They are going to know who the hell did this to ’em and it wasn’t Democrats.” Klobuchar, who took the stage a few minutes later, praised other speakers and the crowd for exhibiting “incredible energy.” “As I’ve told many of you before: ‘I can see Iowa from my porch,'” Klobuchar said and last night’s Des Moines crowd laughed. “It is good to be back with friends and I thought I was going to come down here to cheer you guys up, but you’ve cheered me up.”

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa early News Headlines: Monday, May 8th 2017

News

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:10 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some legislators are voicing skepticism about a state agency’s new foster care rules. Lawmakers are saying they’re not sure they can trust the Department of Human Services and question why it’s focusing on seemingly small matters but not addressing bigger issues about child safety. Although the agency’s proposals address many foster care issues, like bedroom requirements, they don’t address factors behind high-profile child abuse cases. That includes the death of a teenage girl last year.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The western Iowa sheriff’s deputy who was fatally wounded in a jail escape last week will be laid to rest on Monday. The funeral for Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Burbridge will be 10 a.m. Monday at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It will be open to the public.

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (AP) — A Mount Vernon native and Cornell College alumnus has given $1 million to the Iowa college for a science facilities expansion. Jerry Ringer, a retired ophthalmologist in Bloomington, Illinois, and his wife, Carole, donated the money for the college’s $35 million science facilities project. The project will more than double the college’s STEM space with the construction, already under way, of the four-story Russell Science Center and renovations of West Science and portions of Law Hall.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Dubuque County has installed a camera to livestream footage of a pair of peregrine falcons that have returned to nest on a sixth-floor ledge of the courthouse. Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife diversity program technician Pat Schlarbaum tells the Telegraph Herald the birds of prey are one of nearly 20 nesting pairs in Iowa. They were once listed as an endangered species. Dubuque County staff are streaming footage of the nest on YouTube, which contains three red, potato-like eggs.

Special Weather Statement Heavy Rain/Hail

Weather

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Sac-Crawford-Carroll-Audubon-Guthrie-Cass-Adair-Adams-Union-
Taylor-Ringgold-Decatur Counties…248 AM CDT Mon May 8 2017

Thunderstorms with Heavy Rain and Small Hail over western Iowa Early this Morning.

A band of showers and thunderstorms extended from Denison through Atlantic to near Corning early this morning and were moving only slowly eastward. Some of these storms were producing up to dime sized hail and locally heavy rains, up to an inch in one hour. These storms may produce low visibilities and ponding water on
roads as they drift toward Carroll and Audubon through 400 am. Motorists are urged to be prepared for rapidly changing weather conditions in rain over short distances.

At 242am…KJAN Radio reported peak to half inch hail covering the ground in Atlantic.

Griswold Facilities Committee to meet May 10th

News

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Another in a series of meetings for the Griswold Community School District’s Facilities Committee will be held on Wednesday of this week. The meeting takes place at 5:00 p.m. May 10th at the Griswold Community School District’s Middle School / High School Library, and is for the purpose of assessing current educational facilities.

Storm w/hail passes through Atlantic

Weather

May 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Heavy rain and pea-to-nickel size hail was observed in Atlantic this morning. The heaviest activity fell between 2:30 and 2:45-a.m., and covered the concrete for a time before melting. We’ll have a rainfall report for you later this morning (By around 5-a.m.)

Ric Hanson/KJAN News

Reminder: Funeral will be held Monday for deputy killed in jail escape

News

May 7th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The western Iowa sheriff’s deputy who was fatally wounded in a jail escape last week will be laid to rest on Monday. The funeral for Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Burbridge will be 10 a.m. Monday at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It will be open to the public.

Afterward, more than 1,000 law enforcement vehicles are expected to escort Burbridge’s body back to the funeral home. Some mourners are expected to line up along the procession route to pay their respects to Burbridge.

Police say Wesley Correa-Carmenaty was being transported to the Council Bluffs jail after sentencing last Monday when he attacked Burbridge and another deputy, grabbed one of their guns and shot them before fleeing in a jail van. He was recaptured in neighboring Omaha, Nebraska.

Procession Route