The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.1MB)
Subscribe: RSS
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting two 18-year-olds in a vehicle in a business parking lot wants his trial moved out of Cedar Rapids. Linn County District Court records say an Oct. 25 hearing is scheduled to hear the request from 26-year-old Andre Richardson. He’s pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the May 18 slayings of Matrell Johnson and Royal Abram. Police say two others also were hit by bullets in the parked vehicle at the Iowa Smoke Shop in Cedar Rapids.
Richardson’s lawyer says extensive media reports of the slayings and subsequent investigation have made it impossible for Richardson to get a fair trial before an impartial jury in Linn County.
Richardson’s trial is scheduled to begin May 4.
(Radio Iowa) — The latest U-S-D-A crop report out Monday showed there were less than two days suitable for fieldwork last week — which didn’t help farmers catch up on the harvest. The report says three percent of corn has been harvested — which is two weeks behind average. Five percent of soybeans have been harvested, and that’s 12 days behind average.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Crops Specialist for northwest Iowa, Joel DeJong, says those farmers that were able to plant early have seen some good things. “Some of the early reports from the soybean harvest actually were fairly decent yields– so I have hope that maybe that will continue moving forward,” DeJong says. “But, we are starting about three weeks later than normal. It would be nice to get rain out of our forecast for a little while and get some sunshine and maybe a little breeze so we can get them dry so we can get that work done.”
He says not everything is negative. “The crop itself is actually hanging in there pretty well. They soybeans are pretty mature, so we are just waiting for them to dry. A lot of the corn that’s planted before the first of June has actually reached maturity or is close to maturity now,” De Jong says. He says getting the crop to maturity is only part of the issue. “The problem we still have is that when the corn crop just hits maturity it is still 32 to 32 plus percent moisture. We need some dry down time and we don’t that get much dry down time once we get past the month of October,” he says. “We would like to see the month of October be above normal if we get any chance for that to occur.”
De Jong says there have been some diseases that have hit too. He says there has been a lot of white mold that has shown up late and that could make the yield zero in parts of fields.. DeJong says there’s been appraisals of 40 to 70 bushels and acre. The corn has also had some issue and he says there have been appraisals of 108 bushels per acre and then there’s been appraisals up into 200. De Jong says the conditions vary widely across the nine counties he covers. He says a late frost would help with a lot of the issues. DeJong says the normal frost date for this region is October 10th. He says much of the area’s corn still needs additional time to mature and a light frost may not hurt the crop, but for late planted corn, an early frost could negatively affect crop yields.
DeJong says it is very likely many farmers will need to resort to using artificial drying methods in order to store their corn, which only adds to the cost of the crop.
(3-2) Diagonal 25-21-30-18-15, Orient-Macksburg 20-25-28-25-13
(3-1) Mount Ayr 25-25-20-25, Murray 23-12-25-7
(3-0) Southwest Valley 25-25-25, Martensdale-St Marys 12-16-14
Today: Mostly sunny. High 75. SW @ 10-20.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 53. S @ 10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy. High 70. S @ 15-25.
Thursday: Cldy w/showers & thunderstorms. High 68.
Friday: Mostly cloudy & windy, w/light rain in the morning. High around 49.
Monday’s High in Atlantic was 74. Our Low was 35. Last year on this date our High was 71 and the Low was 56. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 93 in 1893. The Record Low was 19 in 1908 & 2000.
Officers with the Red Oak Police Department have arrested 50-year old Robert Joe Coddington, of Red Oak, on drug charges. Coddington was taken into custody near N. 3rd and Nuckols Streets at around 3-a.m., for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.
Red Oak Police report two separate arrests Monday. At around 10:20-p.m., 30-year old Sara Ann Billie, of Clarinda, was arrested on a Page County warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order. The woman was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, booked in, and then transported to Page County. Bond was set at $300.
And, at around 6:35-p.m., Monday, 45-year old James Reed Mitroff, II, of Red Oak, was arrested by Red Oak Police, on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 3rd degree. His bond was set at $1,000.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state panel that approves payment for lawsuits and settlements for the state of Iowa has approved payment of $315,000 to the parents of an Iowa State University student who died by suicide in November 2015. A jury in August found the state partially liable for the death of Dane Schussler. The lawsuit alleged the state failed to provide adequate mental health services. Schussler sought counseling at the university for anxiety and depression before he was found dead on railroad tracks in Ames.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The union representing workers at pork processing plants sued the federal government on Monday to challenge a new rule that allows companies to set line speeds and turn over more food safety tasks to company employees. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and local unions in Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas joined with nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen to file the lawsuit in Minneapolis federal court.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by two women once held at a state-run juvenile home for nearly $700,000. The Iowa State Appeal Board has agreed to the settlement which pays Laera Reed and Paige Ray-Cluney more than $170,000 each and their lawyers more than $340,000. The women were held at the Iowa Juvenile Home at Toledo until it closed then sent by Iowa to a Wisconsin juvenile facility where they claim isolation and mistreatment led to suicide attempts.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa House Republicans have chosen state Rep. Pat Grassley to head their leadership team as Speaker-Select. The grandson of U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley was chosen by the GOP House caucus on Monday. The 36-year old farmer from New Hartford was first elected to the House in 2006. He operates a family farm with his father and grandfather, who also served in the Iowa House from 1959 to 1975. He takes over as speaker after a vote of the full House in January.
Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yadier Molina pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to a deciding Game 5 of the NL Division Series, poking a tying single in the eighth inning and lifting a sacrifice fly in the 10th to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4. Molina slung his bat far into the outfield after his winner, and the packed crowd at Busch Stadium roared. Game 5 will be Wednesday back in Atlanta. The Cardinals will have ace Jack Flaherty on the mound, and the Braves will go with Mike Foltynewicz.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals star Yadier Molina made a throat-slashing gesture as he celebrated on the field after hitting the winning sacrifice fly in the 10th inning of a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NL Division Series. Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. made a similar motion across the top of his chest after hauling in Molina’s flyball for the final out of Atlanta’s 3-1 win Sunday. The series is going to deciding Game 5.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs did to themselves Sunday night what rivals have been trying to do for the better part of two years: They slowed themselves down. In what became a 19-13 loss to the Colts, the Chiefs committed 11 penalties for a whopping 125 yards to spoil a nip-and-tuck game that wasn’t decided until the fourth quarter. Next up is red-hot Houston, fresh off a 53-32 romp over the Falcons.
TORONTO (AP) — Alex Pietrangelo scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Oskar Sundqvist and Brayden Schenn also scored for the defending champions, who have earned points in their first three games this season. Jordan Binnington stopped 32 shots.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska began preparing for this week’s game at unbeaten Minnesota as if sophomore Noah Vedral would start at quarterback in place of Adrian Martinez. Martinez limped to the sideline at the end of the third quarter against Northwestern and had ice on his left knee when he came out of the medical tent. Vedral led the Huskers on the drive that set up Lane McCallum’s winning field goal.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yadier Molina pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to a deciding Game 5 of the NL Division Series, hitting a tying single in the eighth inning and a winning sacrifice fly in the 10th to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 Monday. Molina slung his bat far into the outfield after his winner, and the packed crowd at Busch Stadium roared with the longtime heart of the franchise. Game 5 will be Wednesday back in Atlanta. The Cardinals will have ace Jack Flaherty on the mound, and the Braves will go with Mike Foltynewicz.
Kolten Wong led off the St. Louis 10th with a ground-rule double against Julio Teheran. After Paul Goldschmidt was intentionally walked, Wong advanced on Marcell Ozuna’s forceout and easily scampered home on Molina’s fly to the front of the warning track in left field. Wong threw his hands in the air as he ran toward the plate. Molina rounded first base with his bat in hand, then flung it as the celebration erupted. The 37-year-old star catcher discarded his batting helmet as the rest of the Cardinals poured onto the field.
Molina made it 4-all with a two-out single in the eighth that went just off the top of the glove of a leaping Freddie Freeman at first. Ozzie Albies homered and drove in three runs for Atlanta, and Ronald Acuña Jr. had four hits. But the NL East champions went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position, a continuing problem in the postseason over the past two years.
The Braves left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh. Acuña was stranded on third when Josh Donaldson flied out in the ninth. Ozuna homered twice for St. Louis, and Goldschmidt also connected. But the NL Central champions were four outs from a second straight difficult loss before Molina delivered down the stretch. Albies gave Atlanta a 4-3 lead with a two-run homer off Dakota Hudson in the fifth, capping a three-run rally.
The Braves carried the lead all the way into the eighth, but Goldschmidt doubled and Molina came up with the tying hit off Shane Greene. Carlos Martínez gave St. Louis a lift after Acuña led off the ninth with a double, retiring three in a row. The closer took the loss Sunday when he gave up three runs in the ninth in Atlanta’s 3-1 victory. Game 1 starter Miles Mikolas worked the 10th for the win.