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NE man arrested in Red Oak Monday morning

News

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

A call about a family dispute in Red Oak early this (Monday) morning, resulted in the arrest of a Nebraska man on a Harrison County (IA) warrant. Police responded to the 400 block of Jennifer Circle, and while they were on the scene made contact with 37-year old David Allen Baker, of Omaha. Baker was found to have had a warrant out for his arrest for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order. He was taken into custody at around 5:24-a.m. and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where Baker was being held without bond.

MONDAY, AUGUST 6th

Trading Post

August 6th, 2018 by Jim Field

FOR SALE:  Leaf catcher $35.  Call Dave 712-249-9534.

FOR SALE:  Brush Hog, Works great.  Asking $150.  Call Dave 712-249-9534.

FOR SALE:  Kitchen table, 4 chairs, 2 bar height chairs for $200.  Call Dave 712-249-9534.

FOR SALE:  King Craft 3250 Watt 196 cc Portable Electric Generator $135.  Call 712 249 7296.

FOR SALE:  2 lawn mowers:  a 22″ Lawn Boy, self-propelled, silver series with 6.5 HP 2 cycle engine, commercial grade, runs great, asking $125.  Also, a DynaMark 20″ push mower with 4 HP Briggs & Stratton engine, asking $60.  Call 712-304-4998 in Hamlin.

WANTED:  American Girl doll clothing.  Call 712-254-3300.

FOR SALE: Pickup load of dried oak wood. $100 or $150 for it split. John at 641-530-2420.

FOR SALE:  Gibson refrigerator with small freezer, it is white and 17 1/2 cubic feet. Asking $75.00  Good condition.   Also, Maytag electric dryer (1991 model). It is white and asking $75.00. Good condition.  And a Frigidaire stove. It is white with 4 electric burners. Asking $75.00 in good condition.  For any of these items, please call 712-784-3693 leave a message and will get back to you. Walnut.

Grassley to Hold Town Meetings in Audubon and Adams Counties

News

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

WASHINGTON – Iowa Senator Charles Grassley will hold two area town meetings this week as part of his annual 99 county meetings. Grassley will be in Audubon County on August 7th and Adams County on August 9th. The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, August 7: Audubon County Town Meeting; 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Audubon County Economic Development Corporation (800 Market Street), in Audubon.

Thursday, August 9: Adams County Town Meeting; 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. at the Corning Opera House (800 Davis Avenue), in Corning.

Grassley says “Representative government is a two-way street. I’m one half of the process and the people of Iowa are the other half. You can’t have representative government without dialogue between elected officials and the people we represent. I appreciate the opportunity to hold town meetings, answer questions and take comments from Iowans.”

Grassley is in his 38th year of holding meetings in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. Grassley has held at least one meeting in every county, every year since he was first elected to serve in the U.S. Senate. He takes and answers questions on any subject raised.

Hubbell-Hart to launch statewide Mental Health Tour

News

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Beginning Monday, August 6th, Fred Hubbell, Democratic nominee for governor and Rita Hart, State Senator and Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, will launch a statewide tour to meet with mental health providers and Iowans affected by the ongoing mental health crisis. Organizers say the tour will highlight the Hubbell-Hart commitment to investing in mental health care across urban and rural Iowa.

As part of the tour, Senator Hart will take part in a Shelby County Rural Mental Health Discussion on Tuesday, beginning at 2-p.m., at Rosa Blanda Farms (1027 1400th St, Harlan). That same day, Fred Hubbell will participate in a Pottawattamie County Mental Health Roundtable at the Council Bluffs Public Library (2nd Floor, Meeting Room D, 400 Willow Ave.), beginning at 2:30-p.m.

According to the Treatment Advocacy Center in 2016, Iowa ranks “dead last in the number of psychiatric treatment beds available per capita,” and “47th in the number of psychiatrists licensed to provide care.” The Hubbell Campaign says “Unlike Governor Reynolds who has not only failed to address the mental health crisis but cut mental health funding, Fred and his wife Charlotte have personally helped fund increasing mental health beds and adding two new psychiatrists at Broadlawns Medical Center.

“Following a statewide mental health tour with patients and providers last December, the Hubbell campaign released a substantive mental health plan to invest in community based treatment, including adding 50-75 long-term care beds, establishing a youth mental health system, and investing in diversion and substance abuse programs.”

State fair butter sculptor discusses this year’s biggest challenges with tractor

Ag/Outdoor, News

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — A central Iowa artist is busy creating special sculptures in butter for -two- major state fairs. Sarah Pratt, of West Des Moines, says the Iowa State Fair asked her to create the famed “Waterloo Boy” tractor in butter to honor the 100th anniversary of Quad Cities-based Deere and Company.

The Waterloo Boy tractor

Pratt says the tractor posed some construction difficulties. “The wheels are so open and exposed with the spokes and the gears and I really want that to shine through and not get bulky and clunky with a lot of structure,” Pratt says. “That’s been a challenge, to design something that will hold up, hold the butter weight, without getting in the way of the butter.”

As a 14-year-old 4-H member, Pratt learned how to sculpt from Norma “Duffy” Lyon, Iowa’s “butter cow lady” and Pratt took over in 2006 when Lyon retired. Also this year, the Illinois State Fair asked Pratt to create something unique for that state’s bicentennial, but she can’t reveal what it is before the unveiling at the fairgrounds in Springfield.  “After a tradition has been, like the state of Illinois, for 200 years and the tradition of having butter sculptures in Illinois for over 90 years now, a lot of ideas have been done,” Pratt says. “It’s a mix between what’s fresh and what’s traditional.”

Butter sculpting is a family affair in the Pratt household. Her dad, brother and husband help out by welding the frame together. Environmentalists and sanitarians will be happy to know the butter is recycled. “Each fair has their own stock of butter that’s been donated by a local dairy producer,” Pratt says. “The cooler gets warmed up just a little bit, softens it, and then it gets scraped down, packed into the buckets really firm to leave out any air and moisture and then it gets frozen — until the next fair and then it starts all over again.”

The Iowa State Fair worked with Deere which sent Pratt photographs of the 1918 Waterloo Boy. She also visited the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum in Waterloo to study the iconic tractor. At the Iowa State Fair, which opens Thursday, Pratt will answer questions and put the finishing touches on her butter sculptures — the tractor and a cow. She’ll have to complete her works of art for the Illinois State Fair before opening day, which is also Thursday.

Sharing Stories of Profit, Loss Helps Motivate Newer Iowa Farmers

Ag/Outdoor

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Iowa News Service) LOGAN, Iowa – Iowa vegetable farmer Danelle Myer admits she was both a bit headstrong and starry-eyed when she started farming in Harrison County, and that’s why she’s eager to share lessons learned from her seven-year undertaking. Myer is participating in the Whole Farm Financial Project through Practical Farmers of Iowa that evaluates profitability and helps with sustainability of the local food movement. Myer grew up on a farm, but didn’t take up vegetable farming until 2011 when she was 40. “And since the beginning, I’ve had kind of this stubborn, idealistic goal of making a living off of a farm, and so I thought this study would help me look at my numbers,” she relates.

Iowa farmer Danelle Myer started her One Farm on a half-acre in 2011 to grow tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, beets and other vegetables. (Danelle Myer)

Myer says by sharing her financial data with other farmers who participate in the project, there’s a chance to compare and contrast, learning what’s profitable and what isn’t. The project analyzed data from 2013 to 2016, and can be reviewed online at practicalfarmers.org. Myer says like many new farmers, she originally stretched herself too thin. Looking at her financials over several years, she has simplified operations, eliminating online orders and pop-up farm stands. “So, what I’m trying to do now is get better at what we do, get more efficient at what we do,” she states. “And instead of it being about more, more, more, it’s like, let’s just do a better job of growing less food and sell every single thing that we grow.”

One agriculture expert says a good, stable vegetable farm takes about 3 to 5 years to become profitable, and 8 to 10 years to become stable and self-functioning. Myer says being part of the Practical Farmers study has improved her perspective on her accomplishments. “It did give me a little bit of a positive boost, where I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m okay!'” she explains. “Even if I’m not making a living off of this within in the first five years of my farm, I am in the same boat with everybody else.”

Data from the three-year report shows that of the eight fruit and vegetable farms participating, four had a “favorable” four-year average net-income ratio. On average, 7 of the 8 farms earned from 79 to 100 percent of their total farm income from their crops.

Child’s body pulled from Mississippi River in Iowa

News

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the body of a small child was recovered from the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa. It was pulled from the water Sunday night near Brown’s Island at Riverside Park in Muscatine. Authorities would not comment on whether the body was that of 2-year-old Hawk Newberry, who fell into the water July 24 from a dock at Schwiebert Riverfront Park in Rock Island, Illinois. He’d been fishing with his family.

Burlington building destroyed by fire, one rescued

News

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Two firefighters were treated and released, and one person was rescued from a fire that destroyed the Tama building Saturday night in Burlington.
The initial call was made at 10:55 P-M Saturday. Burlington Firefighters arrived within four minutes of that call and began rescue efforts to save a woman who was trapped on the third floor of the building. She was uninjured and able to climb down a ladder under her own power. Witnesses say she was pulled from the building wearing only undergarments, it’s unclear why she was in the unoccupied building or if she was working with the crew on renovations. Her identity has not been released at this time.

The fire department says the building is a total loss, and unstable due to the partial collapse. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Skyscan Forecast & weather data for Atlantic: 8/6/18

Weather

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Today: Variably cloudy with scattered showers & thunderstorms ending this morning but redeveloping this afternoon. High 83. E/NE @ 10 mph.

Tonight: Any showers ending this evening; Partly Cloudy. Low 63. N @ 5-10.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 83. N @ 10. Mo.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 85.

Thursday: P/Cldy. High 85.

Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 91. Our Low this morning: 67. Last year on this date our High was 77 and the Low was 56. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 105 in 1930. The Record Low was 46 in 1974 & 1997.

Stuart Police issue statement about a suspicious van & occupants

News

August 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Officials with the Stuart Police Department, late Sunday night, posted on their social media page that at around 9-p.m. Sunday, a local juvenile reported being followed at 7:30-p.m. by a white van, for a few blocks near the post office. The juvenile who was with a friend also reported that as the van passed the two juveniles, a female passenger in the van took photos of them. The van never stopped, nor did the occupants attempt to make contact with the juveniles, and it left in an unknown direction of travel.

Out of an abundance of caution, officials say they are passing that information along to the community. Authorities say “There is no indication that the occupants were attempting to commit a crime, however their behavior was suspicious. Again, the occupants of the van never stopped or tried to communicate with the juveniles and no other reports of similar incidents have been reported.” Officials said also, “We do not wish to create any unnecessary panic in the community.”

The van was reported as an unknown make, newer, white work van without windows on the side. It had no markings or damage, and was reported to be occupied by an adult white male driver and an adult white female passenger. A similar van with similar occupants was reported in Dexter at around 9-p.m. Sunday.

Authorities say “This is a good reminder to talk to your kids about being aware of their surroundings and reporting suspicious behavior. Its also a perfect reminder to adults that if you see or hear something suspicious it is always a good idea to immediately report it to law enforcement.”