United Group Insurance

DARRELL JOHN BECKEL, 80, of Clarinda (Svcs. 5/8/19)

Obituaries

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DARRELL JOHN BECKEL, 80, of Clarinda, died Friday, May 3rd, at Mercy Hospital, in Des Moines. Celebration of Life Services for DARRELL BECKEL will be held 10:00 AM Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at Ritchie Funeral Home in Clarinda.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at Ritchie Funeral Home from 5 to 7 PM with the family greeting friends.; Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.ritchiefuneralhome.com.

Interment will be held at the High Prairie Cemetery in Elmo, Missouri.

Memorials may be directed to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Heavy rain possible mid-week, colder temps by Friday

Weather

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Click on the map to enlarge)

It will be cool and wet for the next several days. The National Weather Service in Des Moines reports scattered showers are forecast from today into Tuesday, then widespread moderate to heavy rainfall is expected between Tuesday night and Wednesday night. Anywhere from two- to three-inches is possible from the Ames-Marshalltown area southwest, through Atlantic and into the southwest corner of the State.

Severe weather is unlikely, with just a low chance for a few severe storms in far southeast Iowa on Wednesday afternoon and evening. However the heavy rainfall totals may lead to renewed river flooding concerns in some areas and will make for a very soggy period around midweek. The rain will finally clear out on Thursday, followed by several days of generally quiet but unseasonably cool weather. Thursday in particular will be cold and raw, with high temperatures only in the 50s and northwest winds around 15-20 mph along with a few lingering sprinkles. By Friday morning temperatures will fall into the mid to upper 30s in parts of northern and western Iowa.

MONDAY, MAY 6th

Trading Post

May 6th, 2019 by Jim Field

FOR SALE: A Westinghouse electric cook stove w/4 burners (not a flat-top stove). Off-white color. $40. Call 712-404-0656.

WANTED:  Kitchen cupboards, call 515-314-9922.

WANTED:  2 – 55 gallon steel drums, call 712-420-3016.

FOR SALE:  Ford Ranger topper, white, 6 foot, tinted glass, new screens and new locks.  $300 cash. 712-249-9041.

FOR SALE:  Two tickets to “Miss Saigon” at the Orpheum Theatre, Saturday night, June 1st, orchestra section, Row C on the aisle, Seats 101 and 102, $82.00 each.  Please call and leave a message at 712-249-1994.

FOR SALE: Aluminum folding ramp for ATV.  Asking $50.00 Phone 712-249-2905 in Exira.  SOLD!

FOR SALE:  20″ DynaMark push mower, runs fine, $40.  Also, a 21″ Lawn Boy self-propelled mower, runs well, $75.  And, a Delta table saw, older model, works fine. Asking $100. Call 712-304-4998 in Hamlin.

Iowa drops series finale to No. 18 UC-Irvine

Sports

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — UC-Irvine scored nine runs in the fifth inning to put the game away as the 18th ranked Anteaters beat Iowa 15-4, Sunday, to salvage the final game of their three game series. It was Iowa’s sixth straight series win.

(That’s Iowa coach Rick Heller) It was the third straight series for the Hawkeyes in which they were unable to close out a three game sweep.

At 29-17 the Hawkeyes are considered an NCAA bubble team. They return to action Friday by opening a Big Ten series at home against Michigan State.

Sanders outlines ag agenda in speech in Osage, Iowa

Ag/Outdoor, News

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says there’s a “major crisis” in rural America and the federal government must break up monopolies in the ag sector that treat farmers like “modern-day indentured servants.” “Farmers know this,” Sanders said. “I want the people in urban America to understand this as well.” Sanders, in his second bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, used a Sunday speech in Osage to outline his prescriptions for economic revival in rural areas. “What the American people, what you want and what I want are more family farms in America, not more factory farms,” Sanders said, to applause and cheers.

Sanders says it’s time for federal oversight of the environmental impact of large-scale poultry and livestock confinements, just as other industries are regulated. “More and more of the state’s agriculture is being dominated by just a handful of large corporations who is seems to me from a distance own the Iowa state legislature,” Sanders said. In addition, Sanders would get rid of federal subsidies for crop insurance and, again, link federal payments to targeted prices for commodities.

Sanders says American farmers should be guaranteed federal support to cover production costs, “plus living expenses.” “Farmers deserve a fair price for the very, very hard work that they do,” Sanders said.  Sanders would cap federal farm payments, too, to limit payments to large farm operations. Sanders made stops in Spencer and Sioux City on Sunday as well.

Warren touts campaign student-debt-reduction calculator

News

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Massachusetts Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren used a visit to Iowa State University to unveil a new tool on her campaign website. It calculates how much an individual’s student loan debt would be reduced under her plan. “We’re just trying to roll this out as a way to make real to people what it means to talk about student loan debt cancellation,” Warren said. “…It’s now the case that we are crushing an entire generation with student loan debt.”

Warren’s plan to erase up to 50-thousand dollars in student loan repayments would apply to households with an annual income of less than 100-thousand dollars. “We need to make a choice as a country,” Warren said. “…Do we want to invest in the people who’ve already made it big and make sure that they get to keep every last cent of these giant fortunes or do we want to invest in young people who were not fortune enough to be born into families wealthy enough to write a check?”

Warren has unveiled a series of policy proposals including a new “wealth tax” that would be charged to Americans with assets of more than 50-million dollars. She says that additional tax revenue would pay for child care, universal preschool, free tuition to public colleges and universities as well as her plan to erase student loan debt. “I’m just tired of free-loading billionaires,” Warren said. “Let’s get ’em to pay a fair share and let’s create an opportunity for everybody else in this country.”

Warren addressed about 400 people in Ames on Friday. During a question-and-answer session, Warren was asked to contrast her ideas with those of her Democratic competitors — and Warren was cheered when she declined. “We have a special opportunity in a primary,” Warren said. “…It’s not just to chase that guy down the crazy rabbit hole with his crazy tweets and everything else he does, but it’s to talk about our vision.”

Warren also campaigned in Iowa Falls, Osage and Mason City this weekend.

Klobuchar unveils plan to address addiction, mental health treatment

News

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Minnesota Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar has released a 100-billion dollar plan to expand mental health care services as well as treatment options for drug and alcohol addiction. “There are so many people that have come up to me across America, including in Iowa, that say ‘I just don’t know where to go for help,'” Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar’s plan would be financed with new a new tax on opioids and a national legal settlement with opioid manufacturers. Klobuchar unveiled her plan this weekend in Iowa and hosted roundtable discussions in Iowa City and Des Moines. She openly discusses her father’s battle with alcoholism and the intervention that happened after his third drunk driving arrest. “At that point, I told him everything that had happened our whole lives growing up and how it had affected my sister and me and he had his minister there and his friends and he finally went to treatment and, in his words, he was ‘pursued by grace,'” Klobuchar says. “It changed his whole life.”

Klobuchar, as president, would send federal money to states to improve training for teachers and doctors, so addictions or mental health problems can be identified and treated earlier. “Whether people are addicted to opioids or meth and whether they have mental health issues, they should have a chance at recovery and a second chance,” Klobuchar says.  Klobuchar’s plan calls for additional federal spending on suicide prevention programs. She has also proposed a federal law that would force doctors to enter all opioid prescriptions in an electronic database, so pharmacies can prevent so-called “doctor shopping” by addicts.

NWS forecast for Atlantic & the area: 5/6/2019

Weather

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Today: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63. Northeast wind 10 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 45. Northeast wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. East northeast wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tuesday Night: Showers before 10pm, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm between 10pm and 4am, then showers after 4am. Low around 47. East wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Wednesday: Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 7am. High near 55. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 78. Our Low this morning was 48. We received a Trace of rain overnight. Last year on this date our High was 82 and the Low was 42. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 97 in 1934. The Record Low was 23 in 1891.

Midwest Sports Headlines: 5/6/19

Sports

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Kris Bryant hit his fourth career grand slam in Chicago’s six-run eighth inning and the Cubs pounded the St. Louis Cardinals 13-5 for their season-high seventh consecutive victory. Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo and David Bote each drove in two runs, helping the Cubs leapfrog the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central. Ben Zobrist had two hits and made two nice plays in left field as Chicago completed its first three-game sweep of St. Louis since September 2017.

DETROIT (AP) — Brandon Dixon hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning to lift the Detroit Tigers over the Kansas City Royals 5-2. Nicholas Castellanos started the 10th with an infield single off Ian Kennedy, and after Miguel Cabrera popped out, Niko Goodrum reached on another infield hit. Ronny Rodriguez struck out, and then Dixon hit a 1-2 curveball over the fence in right-center field for his first career walkoff homer.

VENICE, Ill. (AP) — A teen sports standout featured in a Sports Illustrated article about young athletes who would rule the future of sports has been fatally shot. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch quoted police as saying that Jaylon McKenzie, an East St. Louis eighth grader, was shot Saturday night at a party in Venice, Illinois.

Iowa early News Headlines: Monday, May 6, 2019

News

May 6th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

(Iowa City)– A small car making an illegal U-turn was struck by a semi Sunday afternoon on Interstate 80 near Oxford, in eastern Iowa, resulting in the deaths of three people including two children and an adult. Two others were injured. injuries to two other vehicle occupants. All of the victims were in the same vehicle. The injured were transported to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. No names were released as of early Monday morning. The children were said to be 11 and 13-years of age.

OSAGE, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is proposing a sweeping agriculture and rural investment plan to break up big agriculture monopolies and shift farm subsidies toward small family farmers. Sanders told voters in Osage, Iowa, that a farmer producing the food people eat may be almost as important as “some crook on Wall Street who destroys the economy.” His plan includes several antitrust proposals, including a moratorium on mergers by big agriculture companies.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa egg farm which lost more than 4 million chickens in the 2015 bird flu outbreak centered in the Midwest is suing companies hired by the U.S. government to disinfect barns to kill the bird flu virus. Sunrise Farms says the chlorine dioxide gas and heat treatments used to kill the virus destroyed barn equipment, electrical wiring, production equipment and water lines.

KENSETT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in north-central Iowa say a man has died after being hit by a car. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that the incident happened Friday evening in rural Worth County when a car hit 58-year-old Rick Johnson, of Kensett, while he was walking on a county road. The Iowa State Patrol says the car was driven by a 42-year-old Mason City man.