More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.6MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson
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Despite storms that rumbled through the area causing power outages and some tree damage, the Atlantic Golf & Country Club is in good shape this morning and the 58th Annual Tournament of Champions will begin as scheduled. Tournament chairman Matt Mullenix said this morning that there was no damage to the course and players will tee off as scheduled. The first group will begin their round at 8:30 am.
Police in Creston say a resident in the 500 block of S. Cherry Street reported Thursday, that sometime over the past week, someone stole a gas tank from the residents’ pontoon boat. The loss was estimated at $75.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Federal Reserve says farmers are borrowing more to cover their operating expenses because farm income continued to decline in during the second quarter in Midwestern and Western states. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, said Thursday that 75 percent of the bankers surveyed reported shrinking farm income.
The value of irrigated farmland in the region fell 5 percent while non-irrigated land and pastures both declined 3 percent.
Roughly half of the bankers said loan repayment rates were lower in the second quarter. And the number of loans with severe repayment problems grew to 7 percent. That’s up from roughly 3 percent in 2011 to 2013.
The 10th Federal Reserve District covers Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, northern New Mexico and western Missouri.
Officials with The Wellmark Foundation say they are currently accepting Community Kickstarter grant applications for up to $10,000 for projects in Iowa and South Dakota focused on making community members more active or improving access to healthy foods. Stephanie Perry, The Wellmark Foundation manager, says “The Community Kickstarter grant is designed to provide funding to communities that may not have the resources to complete a project on their own. Examples of projects include community and school gardens, bike-sharing programs, community walk and bike audits, just to name a few.”
The application process is easy. A few of the questions include:
· What is the problem or issue that affects active living or access to consumption or healthy foods?
· How is this a priority in your community?
· Who will be affected and how will they benefit?
· How will the project have a sustainable impact on the community?
In order to be eligible to apply for the grants, applicants must be classified as a 501(c)(3) organization or governmental entity in Iowa or South Dakota. Qualified organizations can submit applications at Wellmark.com/Foundation through Sept.18th. Perry said “We want the public to be part of the process as well. All eligible submissions will be uploaded to Facebook, allowing the public to show their support by telling us which one is their favorite.”
From Sept. 26 through Oct. 7, the public can show their support for their favorite projects by visiting Facebook.com/WellmarkBCBS. Grant recipients will be announced in November.
To apply and view past Community Kickstarter grants visit Wellmark.com/Foundation.
Severe storms that raced through eastern Nebraska into western Iowa Thursday evening, brought flooding to parts of Omaha, nickel-size hail in Crawford County, and damaging winds to parts of western and central Iowa. The National Weather Service says cars were stuck in water in Omaha late Thursday evening, due to flooding. Nickel size hail was reported near Arion, in Crawford County, at around 6:50-p.m.
Just before 8-p.m., a 69-mile per hour wind gust was recorded in Audubon. In Shelby County, winds gusted to over 65 mph, knocking out power to over 50 customers in Kirkman. MidAmerican Energy restored power within a couple of hours, but worked most of the night in Kirkman repairing small outages.
Damage in Shelby County (photo from KNOD, our sister station)
Harlan received 1.25 inches of rain with many tree limbs down. Kirkman received 2 inches of rain with a number of 4 to 8 inch branches down and a power outage for about 2 hours, southeast of Irwin received 1.62 inches of rain with minor tree damage
Winds gusting to near 60-mph blew through Atlantic, knocking down numerous trees and power lines, resulting in a loss of power to some 400 customers of Atlantic Municipal Utilities. The power was restored late Thursday night. Other outages were reported elsewhere in Cass County. Along Interstate 80, an electronic DOT message sign was blown over, onto a portion of the traveled portion of I-80 westbound, near mile marker 62, in Cass County. The sign was pushed-off to the shoulder of the road by around 9-p.m. Rainfall in Atlantic, at KJAN, was 1.45 inches. One-mile southeast of Corning, 5.3-inches of rain fell Thursday night.
In Stuart and Menlo, Emergency Management officials report multiple trees and tree limbs fell during Thursday night’s storm. The largest tree was 12-inches in diameter. And, in Guthrie County, Emergency Management reports a flag pole was blown over in Yale at around 8:20-p.m., Thursday.
Power outages were reported throughout Dallas County, and a tree limb fell on a house in Adel. Winds gusted up to 61-mph in Creston at around 9:15-p.m. Heavy rain was reported in the Pocahontas County community of Rolfe Thursday evening, where as much as 2.6″ of rain fell.
Elsewhere, reports from across the state indicated winds averaged 60-mph, with thunderstorm damage being reported in Cumming, West Des Moines, Grimes and Urbandale.
Native seed mixes planted on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres are suspected in two new Palmer amaranth infestations in Iowa this summer. Iowa State University Extension weed specialist Bob Hartzler says while previous Palmer infestations have been tied to animal feed and commercial grain transportation, the use of seed mixes represents a new method of introduction.
Palmer amaranth grows quickly and creates seeds rapidly, making it difficult to control. Weed scientists say it could be the most aggressive weed Indiana farmers have had to face. (Superior Ag Resources photo/Tom Sinnot)
“Both sightings were found in new CRP plantings that were planted to a diverse mix of various native species. One was for pollinator habitat and one was for quail habitat,” Hartzler says. “It’s another way that Palmer is finding its way into the state, so that is a concern.” Palmer amaranth is a threat crop production, but Hartzler says farmers should not be overly concerned with this latest finding — at least for now.
“Our concern is that in the year or two that the Palmer is likely to survive in this habitat, some of that seed could move into crop fields,” Hartzler explained. Many CRP seed mixes have species produced in other states, according to Hartzler, and it’s possible the seed came from a state with more widespread Palmer amaranth issues. The new infestations occurred in Muscatine County in southeast Iowa and Madison County in south-central Iowa.
(Radio Iowa)
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