United Group Insurance

BOB FERGUSON, 82, of Orient (Svcs. 1/14/16)

Obituaries

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

BOB FERGUSON, 82, of Orient, died Saturday, January 9th, 2016, at his home in Orient. Funeral services for BOB FERGUSON will be held 10:30-a.m. Thu., Jan. 14th, at the Orient United Methodist Church. A luncheon will be held at the church following the services. Steen Funeral Home in Greenfield has the arrangements.

Friends may call at the funeral home on Wednesday, January 13th from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with the family greeting friends on Wednesday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Online condolences may be left to the family at www.steenfunerals.com.

Burial will be in the Greenfield Cemetery.

Memorials may be directed to the Bob Ferguson memorial fund to be established by the family at a later date.

BOB FERGUSON is survived by:

His son – Curt Ferguson and wife Jeneen, of Dexter.

His daughter – Debra Ferguson (Frank Murphy), of Selkirk, New York.

His sisters – Marlene Mitchell and husband Jack, of Greenfield and Kathie Welsch and husband John, of Fontanelle.

2 grandchildren; his sisters-in-law; his dear friend and loyal companion, Carolyn Inlow, of Orient; his mother-in-law, other relatives and friends.

Ohio’s Kasich to bring presidential campaign to Iowa, Nevada

News

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio Gov. John Kasich is taking his Republican presidential campaign to Iowa, as the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses are less than a month away. The second-term governor is slated to hold a town-hall meeting in Council Bluffs today (Sunday). Iowa holds its caucuses on Feb. 1st. Kasich has spent a lot of his time recently campaigning in New Hampshire. He says he believes a top-tier victory in that state’s Feb. 9 primary will help him to break away from the crowded GOP pack.

Kasich plans to travel to northern Nevada on Tuesday, where he will meet with voters in Reno at the Washoe County Republican headquarters. His visit there comes six weeks before Nevada’s Republican caucuses Feb. 23rd.

Iowa Legislature expected to tackle education, water quality

News

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature is expected to tackle K-12 education and water quality initiatives in the session that convenes Monday. The Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-led House have long been at odds over how much money to spend on K-12 education, and the 2016 session will likely continue that pattern. Legislative leaders differ on how much new state revenue is available, and that will impact how much they’re willing to increase base funding to school districts.

Gov. Terry Branstad will also seek support for his proposal to fund water quality initiatives with the help of an existing 1-cent sales tax for school infrastructure improvements. Lawmakers may question whether to touch the money. Lawmakers are also expected to review Medicaid privatization, an expanded sales tax exemption for manufacturers and Planned Parenthood funding.

 

Chiefs hammer mistake-prone Texans

Sports

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

(AP) – The AFC wild-card playoff games have gone to the wild-card teams. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs earned road victories after entering the postseason as the two non-division winners in the conference playoffs.

The Kansas City Chiefs have advanced to the AFC divisional playoffs for the first time in 21 years. The Chiefs did it with great defense and special teams in a 30-0 rout of the Texans in Houston. Knile Davis put Kansas City ahead just 11 seconds into the game by returning the opening kickoff 106 yards. It was the second-longest kickoff return TD in postseason history. The Chiefs made life miserable for Brian Hoyer, who fumbled once and threw three of his career-high four interceptions before halftime.

But the Chiefs led just 13-0 until Alex Smith hit Chris Conley for a nine-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. Smith was 17 of 22 for 190 yards and one interception. Spencer Ware had 67 yards on 16 carries, including a five-yard score in the fourth quarter. The Texans managed just 226 total yards in the first home playoff loss in team history. Kansas City now prepares for their game against the Patriots at New England next Saturday.

The Steelers’ win was bizarre as they blew a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead before Chris Boswell hit a 35-yard field goal with 14 seconds left to give Pittsburgh an 18-16 triumph over the Bengals in Cincinnati. Boswell’s game-winning kick was set up by a fumble, the return of Ben Roethlisberger and a pair of undisciplined penalties by the Bengals.  Cincinnati seemed to be in position for its first postseason win in 25 years until Jeremy Hill’s fumble gave Pittsburgh one last shot with 83 seconds left.

Roethlisberger followed with five completions that put Pittsburgh at the Cincinnati 47 before Vontaze Burfict was called for unnecessary roughness and Adam Jones was flagged for unnecessary roughness following the same play. The two penalties moved the ball 30 yards to the Cincinnati 17 before Boswell hit his fourth field goal of the night. The flags ruined what was a remarkable comeback by the Bengals after Roethlisberger had to leave the game with a right shoulder injury. Hill got Cincinnati on the board with a one-yard scoring run, Mike Nugent hit a 36-yard field goal and AJ McCarron threw a 25-yard TD pass to A.J. Green. The Bengals appeared to ice the victory when Burfict intercepted Steelers backup QB Landry Jones with 1:36 left, but Hill gave the ball back to Pittsburgh on the next play. Next up for the Steelers are the Broncos in Denver next Sunday.

3 arrested on drug charges in Red Oak, Sun. morning

News

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop in Red Oak at around 1:05-a.m. today (Sunday), resulted in the arrest of three people on drug-related charges. Red Oak Police say 44-year old Kimberly Ann Bond, of Omaha, 32-year old Ryan Christopher Allensworth, and 21-year old Kaylie Louise Hudson, both of Red Oak, were arrested at the intersection of S. 2nd and Ohio Streets.

Kimberly Bond and Ryan Allensworth were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond each, for Unlawful Possession of Prescription Pills, while Hudson was being held in the jail on $1,000 bond for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office’ K9 Unit assisted in conducting the arrests.

NWS forecast for Atlantic & the area, 1/10/16

Weather

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny, with a high near 11. Wind chill values as low as -25. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to around 13 by 1am. Wind chill values as low as -5. Southwest wind 6 to 8 mph.
Monday: Cloudy, with a high near 24. Wind chill values as low as 5. West wind 6 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 9. Blustery, with a west wind 9 to 18 mph becoming north northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 11. Blustery.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 4.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 29.

Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 10. Our 24-hour Low ending at 7-a.m. today was -7.

Area high school basketball scores from Sat., 1/9/16

Sports

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

BOYS BASKETBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Glenwood 74, Carlisle 61
Harlan 73, ADM, Adel 47
Red Oak 49, Creston 38
Kuemper Catholic, Carroll 84, East Sac County 55

Western Iowa Conference

IKM-Manning 73, OA-BCIG 41
Missouri Valley 69, West Monona, Onawa 55
Riverside, Oakland 46, East Mills 34

Pride of Iowa Conference

Nodaway Valley 76, Clarke, Osceola 57

Other Scores

Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 84, Blair, Neb. 46
GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Creston 45, Red Oak 37
East Sac County 31, Kuemper Catholic, Carroll 26
Harlan 75, ADM, Adel 54

Western Iowa Conference

IKM-Manning 56, OA-BCIG 31
West Monona, Onawa 41, Missouri Valley 36, OT

Rolling Valley Conference

Paton-Churdan 77, West Harrison, Mondamin 41

Pride of Iowa Confernce

Moulton-Udell 58, Orient-Macksburg 32
Nodaway Valley 63, Clarke, Osceola 46

Other Scores

Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 37, Blair, Neb. 36

Bohannon with 21 points, Northern Iowa routs Drake 77-44

Sports

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Matt Bohannon made five 3-pointers, matched a season-high with 21 points, and Northern Iowa rolled to a 77-44 victory over Drake Saturday night. Bohannon shot 7 of 11 from the floor. Bennett Koch added 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting for Northern Iowa (10-7, 2-2 Missouri Valley Conference), which bounced back from a one-point loss to Missouri State on Jan. 6, and broke a two-game losing skid.

Reed Timmer scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Drake (5-11, 0-4). The Bulldogs scored a season-low 44 points and have lost four-straight games and eight of their last nine. The Panthers had a double-digit lead midway through the first half, built a 41-20 halftime lead and never trailed.

Northern Iowa has won 14-straight conference home games dating to back to last season.

 

Powerball jackpot expected to grow to over $1.3 billion

News

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lottery officials say no ticket has matched all six Powerball numbers. That means the record $949.8 million jackpot is expected to soar to $1.3 billion for Wednesday’s drawing. The odds to win were one in 292.2 million, and the numbers drawn were 32-16-19-57-34 and Powerball number 13.

Officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the Powerball game, said they expected about 75 percent of the possible number combinations would have been bought for Saturday night’s drawing. Since November 4th, the Powerball jackpot has grown from its $40 million starting point as no one has won the jackpot.

Powerball is played in 44 states as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

 

Wind Chill Advisory remains in effect until 10-a.m. Sunday

Weather

January 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CST THIS MORNING FOR THE STATE OF IOWA AND PARTS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA.

* EXPECT WIND CHILLS TO RANGE FROM 18 BELOW TO 28 BELOW ZERO INTO THE MID MORNING HOURS.

* THE COLD WIND CHILLS WILL CAUSE FROSTBITE IN AS LITTLE AS 30 MINUTES TO EXPOSED SKIN.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT COLD AIR AND THE WIND WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. FROST BITE AND HYPOTHERMIA CAN OCCUR IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.