(Red Oak, Iowa) – A man from Red Oak was arrested late Wednesday evening on a charge of Public Intoxication. Red Oak Police report 60-year-old Michael Robert Aguirre was arrested at around around 7-p.m. in the 200 block of N. 2nd Street. Aguirre was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.
(Des Moines, Iowa/Radio Iowa) – A 53-year-old health care worker from Webster City claimed a one-million dollar Powerball prize on Wednesday at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. Lynne Kannuan says she bought the ticket at a local grocery store for the drawing back on August 5th and stuffed it in her purse. While she usually waits weeks before checking for any winners, that wasn’t the case this time. Kannuan says, “The following day, my best friend from Arkansas had messaged me on Facebook, and she said, ‘Somebody from Fareway in Webster City won the Powerball ticket. Did you buy a ticket from there? Check your ticket, if you did,’ and I’m like, ‘Umm, okay, what time and what Fareway?'” Kannuan dug out the ticket, got online and verified she’d indeed matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball.
She says, “I had to check the numbers twice to make sure, and then I got up slowly, walked straight to my boss’s office, and I said, ‘Umm,’ and she goes, ‘What? What’s going on, Lynne?’ and I’m like, ‘I think I won a million dollars.'” Kannuan told her husband about the win right away, but then they stayed quiet for about six weeks as they consulted with a lawyer and financial planner, before coming in to claim the prize. How will the winnings be spent?
Lynne Kannuan (IA Lottery photo)
“My plan is to pay off some bills, invest some, and then maybe give a little to my siblings,” Kannuan says, “then upgrade my car.” Kannuan and her husband both immigrated to the United States from Laos as children.
Three other Iowans, including Danny Buckelew, of Treynor, have claimed Powerball prizes worth at least $1 million this year. Prizes of $1 million must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.
Today: A 50% chance of showers & thunderstorms this morning; Gradually becoming sunny. High near 86. S winds 10-20 mph.
Tonight: A slight chance of showers & thunderstorms this evening, otherwise partly cloudy. Low around 57.
Tomorrow: Sunny. High near 87. SE winds 5 mph.
Tom. Night: Mostly cloudy w/a 40% chance of showers & thunderstorms late. Low 62.
Saturday: A 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 80.
Sat. Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Low around 58.
Sunday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 69.
Sunday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 54.
Monday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, otherwise partly sunny with a high near 70.
Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 88. The Low was 70. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 85, and the Low was 60. The All-time Record High in Atlantic for Sept. 19th, was 95 in 1948. The Record Low was 33 in 1986 & 1938. Sunrise today: 7:04-a.m.; Sunset: 7:23-p.m.
(Lewis, Iowa) – Cass County Conservation is hosting their 8th Biennial Lighted Halloween Campground on Saturday October 19th, at Cold Springs Park in Lewis. The event takes place from 7-until 9-p.m. It’s intended to be a non-scary, Family Friendly, FREE drive into the night.
Prizes will be for the top 3 voted sites, and for some special categories. Sign up to decorate a site in the Lighted Halloween Campground. Deadline for decorating a site sign up is October 11th and the groups will have Saturday(19th) from Noon on to decorate. Please help make the event a success! Decorating participants receive Saturday night camping for FREE. (if you choose to camp- not required). 
You DO NOT have to have a camper. Message, call, or email the Cass County Conservation Department. Include your name, email and phone number. Call the Cass County Conservation Office to get involved, at 712-769-2372.
The event will be cancelled if there is inclement weather. https://www.facebook.com/share/UNFJZZm1EBqbUsBj/
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s deputy secretary of agriculture says there are frustrating and confusing inequities in federal programs meant to support farmers trying to recover from natural disasters. Grant Menke testified yesterday (Wednesday) before the U-S Senate Small Business Committee.
“In addition to the overall complexity of these programs, one of the most significant issues Iowans have faced is the disparity in accessibility and eligibility between USDA and SBA disaster programs,” Menke says. Farming operations are not eligible for Small Business Administration loans and Menke says the historic flooding and a record number of tornadoes have created significant challenges for Iowa farmers.
“In many cases, these folks lost nearly everything,” Menke said, “not just farm buildings and equipment, but also their homes.” Menke says S-B-A disaster loans offer lower interest rates and a longer repayment period than the disaster loans farmers have access to through the U-S-D-A. “SBA disaster loans also offer deferral of the first payment and no interest accrual for the first 12 months – features that are not available with USDA disaster loans. These discrepancies place an undue burden on farmers and farm businesses who already operate on thin margins, especially during the softening ag economy.”
Menke says another frustration is the U-S-D-A’s disaster loans have an upper limit that’s less than the maximum loan amount available through the S-B-A.
(Iowa News Service) – Researchers at Iowa State University are taking aim at the huge amount of energy used by data centers, now and in the future. They have developed a material as thin as an atom to reduce power consumption.
A national study showed by 2030, 9% of the country’s energy will be consumed by data centers, keeping the internet, AI applications and other technology humming.
Matthew Panthani, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at Iowa State University, and his team are focused on using light rather than heat to generate power for the data centers sprouting up close to home. “Iowa seems to be a popular place to build data centers,” Panthani observed. “Meta and other companies have built data centers, even in the Des Moines area. They’re taking advantage of the relatively low electricity prices afforded by wind energy.”
Panthani’s lab is focused on developing atom-thin sheets of a silicon-germanium alloy which are stacked in layers and used to create highly energy efficient semiconductors, which can be used in power-hungry data centers. Using light to transmit data is not new. Companies have used fiber optic technology to transmit light across oceans, for example. But Panthani pointed out doing it on a much smaller scale, such as between components on the computer chips in data centers, is something quite different. 
“That’s really because there isn’t a material that can enable scalable, on-chip light sources,” Panthani explained. “The materials that we’re developing are intended to have properties, both the manufacturability and properties, that could enable that.”
According to the Electric Power Research Institute, the internet’s 5.3 billion users can demand as much power as 800,000 households. It will sharply increase this decade, sending the demand even higher and making new technology like this even more important.
The Riverside Bulldogs volleyball team is dominating the schedule with hopes at making a run at states. Through 18 games the Bulldogs are ranked number two in class 1A 17-1 with their only loss coming from a tough ACGC team. Riverside is also dominating in the statistics. Riverside players are ranked in the top five in eleven statistical categories. Head coach Brooke Flathers says their dedication and teamwork make this group special.
Defensively, Riverside ranks fifth in the Western Iowa Conference in digs and leads the conference with 101 total blocks. Individually Madison Kelley is tied for first in the conference with 24 while Lilli Reed and Bently Rone are right behind, ranking third and fourth. Flathers says that being a solid blocking squad is a whole team effort.
As far as the offense is concerned, Riverside knows how to put points on the board. The WIC kill leaderboard features three Bulldogs led by Elly Henderson, who ranks second in Kills and first in kill efficiency. In the service department, it is no different. Ayla Richardson, Rone, and Sophia Fenner all rank in the top eight in aces, with Richarson leading the conference with 32. They have also been extremely efficient, with Fenner, Henderson, and Ashley Kelley ranked in the top 3 in service efficiency. Flathers credits not only her team’s depth but their volleyball IQ for their offensive success.
The Bulldogs have put themselves in a phenomenal spot with just over a month to go in the regular season. Flathers knows that in order to get where they want to be, they will need to continue to have that next game-up mentality.
The Bulldogs will travel to Audubon to take on the 5-7 Wheelers on Thursday with the match set for 7:30 pm.
(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa banker says there’s too much red tape in federal disaster recovery programs. Gus Barker is president and C-E-O of First Community Bank in Newell. “Disaster victims are in no position to complete that excessive paperwork,” Barker says. Barker testified this (Wednesday) afternoon at a hearing of the U-S Senate Small Business Committee. He told senators about helping a customer, who was a victim of the historic floods of 1993, complete a Small Business Administration loan application.
“We could not have completed that application without the support of the local SBA office,” Barker said. “Regretably since that time, SBA scaled back its presence in Iowa and applications are now approved in San Francisco, a distance which makes coordination much more challenging.” Barker says direct lending from the Small Business Administration and other federal programs have played a key role in the survival of disaster stricken businesses and he’s urging the agency to make changes.
Gus Barker, president and CEO of First Community Bank in Newell, testifies at Washington, D.C. hearing.
“SBA is known to file liens far in excess of the loan amount to secure their mortgages. These liens tie up their collateral and prevent a community bank from helping the borrower in any way in the future,” Barker says. “SBA should be willing to subordinate their loans in the way that USDA has, for example.” Barker says disaster victims should also be able to package federal benefits offered by different agencies — like a S-B-A loan and a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Neither of which is adequate in itself in the rebuilding,” Barker says. “Today, a victim must choose one or the other. It’s too much to ask for disaster victims to learn the details of those programs and make an informed judgment of what to do.”
Barker, who has worked in his family-owned bank for 47 years, is on the Independent Community Bankers of America board of directors.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – The state of Iowa has suspended $47,500 in fines against a southwest Iowa nursing home cited for inadequate staffing and the physical and verbal abuse of residents. The Iowa Capital Dispatch says according to state inspectors, although the Garden View Care Center in Shenandoah has insufficient staff on hand, the home’s director of nursing recently informed them she was being pressured by management to make further cuts in staffing due to budget constraints — adding that she felt doing so was “unrealistic and unsafe.”
Garden View is owned by an out-of-state real estate investment trust that is designed to provide investors with returns tied to the profits generated by dozens of nursing homes in Iowa and other states. State inspectors recently investigated four separate complaints pertaining to Garden View and substantiated each of them. The home was cited for 10 violations of federal regulations and four violations of state regulations. Just three weeks before that investigation was completed, state inspectors cited the home for nine federal violations and one state violation as part of a routine inspection at Garden View.
As a result of the two inspections, the Iowa Department of Inspections Appeals and Licensing has proposed, but held in suspension, a total of $47,500 in state fines. As it has in the past, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may yet impose fines for the violations of federal regulations cited by the state inspectors.
The Garden View Care Center in Shenandoah, Iowa. (Photo via Google Earth)
According to the inspectors’ reports, employees of Garden View reported that a colleague of theirs had cursed at, threatened, and physically abused at least two residents of the home. Although the report identifies the job titles of most of the workers who allegedly witnessed or investigated the incidents, the job titles of the accused worker and a colleague who fielded internal reports of the alleged abuse – both of whom were reportedly fired — are not disclosed.
In the past three years, CMS has imposed $145,906 in federal fines against Garden View. The home has the lowest possible ratings from CMS — one star on a five-star scale — on all three criteria used by the federal agency: staffing levels, inspection results and overall quality.
(Radio Iowa) – A proposal from Iowa State University to create bachelors degree in Game Design received approval from a Board of Regents committee today (Wednesday) I-S-U Associate Provost Ann Marie VanDerZanden says demand for the program has been growing. “Interest for the degree on campus is strong. Currently, Iowa State courses focus on games and game design frequently reach their enrollment capacities, and the university’s game development club engages over 650 students,” she says.
VanDerZanden says there are a couple of businesses where graduates could work in Iowa, and the degree could bring more. “Becasue we know many businesses prefer to locate where there is available talent, having this degree could actually bring some of these companies to our state. The proposed degree in game design would be the first among the regents institutions,” VanDerZanden says. VanDerZanden says there is an opportunity to attract transfer students from some community colleges. 
“For example, western Iowa Technical Community College and Iowa Lakes Community College offer associate’s degree in game design. Marshalltown Community College offers an E- Sports Program Management degree,” she says. “And we feel that both of these would be opportunities if students choose to pursue a four-year degree, that our degree would be attractive to them.” The projections show the major would grow rapidly.
“We expect an initial enrollment of 30 students majoring in game design, growing quickly to 240 students in four years,” VanDerZanden says. VanDerZanden says there would be no additional cost I-S-U as the instructors in the current courses would handle the courses in the major.
The full Board of Regents is expected to approve the major Thursday in the second day of their meeting.
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