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Armed man experiencing a mental health crisis surrenders to Council Bluffs Police at a church

News

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department reports a man experiencing what was described as a “mental health crisis,” walked into a church, armed with a long gun and a handgun this (Monday) afternoon. Officers responded to the scene at 300 S. 9th Street, a little after 12 Noon.   At the time of the incident there were no services going on and the few occupants who were in the church exited leaving the man in the building alone.

Arriving officers made contact with the subject and a negotiator established a line of communication with him.  A perimeter was established around the immediate area of the incident.  The roadways were shut down to all traffic and neighbors were advised to shelter in place.  After about one-hour of negotiation with the man, he surrendered to police.  The individual was detained and transported to the hospital for a mental evaluation.

There were no injuries.  At this time the name of the subject was being withheld by authorities due to this being a mental health issue.  He will be cited for discharge of a firearm in the city limits and disorderly conduct.

NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS BEING RELEASED AT THIS TIME

RUTH WISE, 94, of Atlantic (Celebration of Life 9/5/24)

Obituaries

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

RUTH WISE, 94, of Atlantic, died Sunday, September 1, 2024, at Atlantic Specialty Care. A Celebration of Life Memorial Service for RUTH WISE will be held 2-p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, at Zion Lutheran Church in Atlantic.  Roland Funeral Service in Atlantic has the arrangements.

Ruth decided years ago to donate her body for research at the University of Iowa.

A time of fellowship and refreshments will be held immediately following the service in the church fellowship hall.

RUTH WISE is survived by:

Her daughter – Jane Perdue, of Omaha, NE.

5 grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com

Atlantic City Council to act on engineering agreement for 2025 Street improvements

News

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic will meet 5:30-p.m. Wed., Sept. 4th, in their chambers at City Hall. On their agenda, is:

  • An Order to approve an Engineering Agreement with Snyder and Associates, for the 2025 Street Improvements Project. City Administrator John Lund says the non-west 22nd St. projects for next Spring, Summer and Fall, are projected to cost more than $2.1-million. They include 66 street improvement projects, including overlays for the downtown area. 2025, Lund says, is the first year of the new cycle of street improvement projects in the City’s 10-year CIP (Capital Improvement Plan), and should be financed by the LOST (Local Option Sales Tax) Street revenues, which will not impact the Debt Service Levy, and not require property taxes service for the debt.
  • The Council will act on passing the Second Reading of an ordinance “Vacating the 66′ wide Street Right-Of-Way (ROW), a parcel .7 of an acre. The First Reading was passed following a public hearing, on August 21st.
  • The Atlantic City Council will act on approving a second pay application (for nearly $56,000) to Hydro-Klean, LLC, for the 2024 Sanitary Sewer Rehab project – Ultra Violet Cured In Place Pipe (CIIP) lining project. The total cost of the project was $91,500. The first payment of $30,975 was approved by the Council on August 21st.

The Council’s next meeting will take place on Monday, Sept 16th, instead of the regular Wednesday meeting on the 18th, due to the Annual Iowa League of Cities Conference.

No. 2 Northwestern College prepares for opener at Hastings

Sports

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

The Northwestern College football team has high hopes heading into Saturday’s season opener at Hastings of Nebraska. The Red Raiders are second ranked in the NAIA poll and have played in the national championship game three times in the last four years. Coach Matt McCarty likes what he has seen in camp.

A pair of freshmen are competing at quarterback after All-American Jalyn Gramstad transferred to Nebraska.

Whoever wins the job will lead an experienced offense.

McCarty says an experienced defense could be the best in program history.

County recorders to seek fee increase for printed documents

News

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa County Recorder’s Association plans to ask legislators to raise the fees they may charge for the documents they provide. Dickinson County Recorder Ann Ditsworth is the group’s vice president. “Since 1985, our fees have been the same,” Ditsworth says, “and so we have been studying the ways we could best advance that level.” Under current law, county recorders may charge seven dollars for the first page and five dollars for each additional page of a document. The association plans to ask legislators to raise the fee to 10 dollars per page.

“One of the things that we are most focused on for a fee increase is to be able to sustain the Iowa Land Record Repository, which we created in the early 2006 range and since then have continued to develop and maintain and add documents to,” she says. “…Every mortgage, every deed is going to this website that is one spot for all of the state of Iowa.” Ditsworth says the fees would be used to support the website and help county recorders update software.

“Since the time of computerization, naturally software has changed and so that is a part of how we preserve documents,” Ditsworth says. “Historic preservation is a large part of what we do because our documents are part of the American dream.”

County recorders also maintain copies of birth, death and marriage records and assists the state by registering boats and snowmobiles as well as all-terrain vehicles and off-road vehicles.

Radio Iowa High School Football Poll 9/2/24

Sports

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Class 5A
1. WDM Valley (1-0), LW #2 vs #2 Dowling
2. Dowling Catholic (1-0), LW #4 vs #1 Valley
3. Waukee (1-0), LW #6 vs Waukee Northwest
4. Ankeny Centennial (1-0), LW #7 vs Ames
5. Southeast Polk (0-1), LW #3 vs #6 Ankeny
6. Ankeny (0-1), LW #1 @ #5 S.E. Polk
7. Cedar Falls (1-0), LW (X) @ #9 Johnston
8. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (0-1), LW #5 vs Pleasant Valley
9. Johnston (1-0), LW #10 vs #7 Cedar Falls
10.Bettendorf (1-0), LW (X) vs Davenport West

Class 4A
1. Lewis Central (1-0), LW #1 @ Creston
2. North Scott (1-0), LW #2 @ Waverly-Shell Rock
3. Cedar Rapids Xavier (1-0), LW #3 @ 3A #1 Williamsburg
4. Western Dubuque (1-0), LW #4 @ Dubuque Wahlert
5. Gilbert (1-0), LW #5 @ Carroll
6. North Polk (1-0), LW #7 @ Carlisle
7. Indianola (1-0), LW #8 vs Norwalk
8. Decorah (1-0), LW #9 @ 3A #6 West Delaware
9. Bondurant-Farrar (0-1), LW #6 vs Grinnell
10.Pella (1-0), LW (X) vs Keokuk

Class 3A
1. Williamsburg (1-0), LW #1 vs 4A #3 Xavier
2. Clear Lake (1-0), LW #2 @ New Hampton
3. Algona (1-0), LW #3 @ Forest City
4. Solon (1-0), LW #4 @ Clear Creek-Amana
5. Independence (1-0), LW #6 @ Crestwood
6. West Delaware (0-1), LW #5 vs 4A #8 Decorah
7. Humboldt (1-0), LW #7 vs Ballard
8. Nevada (1-0), LW #8 @ 2A #8 Roland-Story
9. Mount Vernon (1-0), LW #9 vs Union
10.Sioux City Heelan (1-0), LW (X) vs CB Abraham Lincoln

Class 2A
1. Van Meter (1-0), LW #2 @ #9 DSM Christian
2. Spirit Lake (0-1). LW #1 @ Sioux Center
3. West Lyon (1-0), LW #3 @ Lawton-Bronson
4. PCM (Monroe) (1-0), LW #7 vs Pella Christian
5. Western Christian (1-0), LW #5 vs @ Hinton
6. Clarinda (1-0), LW #8 vs Red Oak
7. Carroll Kuemper (0-1), LW #4 @ 1A #5 Underwood
8. Roland-Story (1-0), LW #10 vs 3A #8 Nevada
9. DSM Christian (1-0), LW (X) vs #1 Van Meter
10.Northeast (Goose Lake) (1-0), LW (X) vs Central DeWitt

Class 1A
1. OABCIG (1-0), LW #2 vs East Sac County
2. Grundy Center (1-0), LW #3 @ Aplington-Parkersburg
3. Wilton (1-0), LW #6 @ West Liberty
4. Treynor (1-0), LW #5 vs Tri-Center
5. Underwood (0-1), LW #4 vs 2A #7 Kuemper
6. Dike-New Hartford (0-1), LW #1 vs West Branch
7. Emmetsburg (1-0), LW (X) vs Estherville Lincoln Central
8. Iowa City Regina (1-0), LW #8 @ Mid-Prairie
9. AHSTW (Avoca) (1-0), LW #9 vs Riverside
10.MFL MarMac (1-0), LW #7 vs Waukon

Class A
1. Woodbury Central (1-0), LW #1 @ Westwood
2. AC/GC (1-0), LW #2 vs Earlham
3. West Hancock (1-0), LW #4 vs Belmond-Klemme
4. Lisbon (1-0), LW #5 @ Louisa-Muscatine
5. Saint Ansgar (1-0), LW #7 vs North Union
6. Madrid (0-1), LW #2 @ Martensdale-St. Mary’s
7. Nashua-Plainfield (1-0), LW #8 @ North Tama
8. Starmont (1-0), LW #10 @ Clayton Ridge
9. Logan-Magnolia (1-0), LW #9 vs Kingsley-Pierson
10.IKM-Manning (1-0), LW (X) vs Panorama

8-Player
1. Algona Garrigan (1-0), LW #1 vs West Bend-Mallard
2. Bedford (1-0), LW #2 vs Murray
3. Lenox (1-0), LW #3 @ Fremont-Mills
4. Remsen St. Mary’s (1-0), LW #4 vs Siouxland Christian
5. Don Bosco (1-0), LW #6 vs Central Elkader
6. WACO (2-0), LW #7 @ #8 Iowa Valley
7. Audubon (1-0), LW #8 vs #10 Colo-Nesco
8. Iowa Valley (2-0), LW #9 vs #6 WACO
9. CAM (Anita) (0-1), LW #5 @ Griswold
10.Colo-Nesco (2-0), LW (X) @ #7 Audubon

Largest ever group of barns to be featured in statewide tour

Ag/Outdoor, News

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Ninety-two restored barns will be featured on this month’s statewide tour organized by the Iowa Barn Foundation. The group raises money to preserve the state’s dwindling number of barns. Wayne Frost, a spokesman for the foundation, says all 92 barns on the tour have received Iowa Barn Foundation grants.  “A sprinkling of the barns we have helped across the state,” Frost says. Twenty of the barns have never been featured before on one of the group’s tours.

“I would tell anybody who’s gone out on a barn tour before, come back again because we’ve got a lot of new barns,” Frost says, “and every barn has its own story to tell.” The tour is unique because people can go inside the barns rather than just drive by. Frost says some are working barns. “There’s hay in the hayloft (and) straw; there’s cattle, hogs, sheep, horses — so it’s a mix,” Frost says. “Some of them have spiffied them up.”

This is the Iowa Barn Foundation’s 24th fall tour, scheduled for the weekend of September 14th and 15th.  “The value of the tour is raising the awareness of the impact our barns have,” Frost says. “One of our board members, Dwight Hughes, likes to use the phrase that, ‘Our barns are really the castles on the prairie,’ and if you think of the landscape as you drive across the state of Iowa, all the barns that you see — it’s just amazing, but they’re disappearing.”

About 200-thousand barns were built in Iowa. Experts estimate only 60-thousand are still standing. Frost restored a barn near Waterloo that was built in the 1870s and it was included in the Barn Foundation’s spring tour.

Rural Iowans can get free mental health counseling via video chat

News

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa clinic is offering free, short-term mental health counseling to rural Iowans who have limited or zero access to it, in addition to substance use prevention and treatment. U-I psychology professor Martin Kivlighan is co-director of the Telepsychology Training Clinic. He says they’re also providing a learning platform to teach the next generation of mental health professionals, who are in very short supply.

“It serves two purposes,” Kivlighan says. “It helps to train the future workforce within the state, while also providing really high quality services to folks who are in need of those.” Nearly 90-percent of Iowa counties are considered mental health care professional shortage areas by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which ranks Iowa 46th in the nation in the number of psychologists per capita.

Prof. Martin Kivlighan (UI photo)

“There’s a lot of different factors that are contributing to the workforce shortage,” Kivlighan says. “What we’re focusing on is training. That’s where we feel like we can make the biggest impact. So we’re just trying to increase access to training, increase the quality of training, and hopefully keep folks here in Iowa, where they’re coming from, to go back and serve their communities.” In a recent success story, Kivlighan says one of the clinic’s third-year doctoral students has announced she plans to return to her hometown in rural Kossuth County to open a counseling practice after graduating.

“She is just a wonderful advocate of rural mental health. As soon as she’s a licensed psychologist, she plans to go back there and take over the family farm as well as open up a practice to offer services to that community,” Kivlighan says. “So, it’s really rewarding, and it’s great to see this pipeline serving the purpose that we’re hoping that it continues to serve.” They’re encountering no one who’s averse to the technology, as he says the pandemic taught many of us how to use and be comfortable with video chats on our computers or phones.

“I think we all know we’re living in a really technological era right now, and 99% of folks own a smartphone, so it really is something that’s just become part of our everyday life,” Kivlighan says. “Where we do run into some issues is areas that might not have broadband internet.”

Rural Iowans who’d like to use the free service can find a contact phone number and email address at the website:
https://education.uiowa.edu/research/research-centers-and-research-initiatives/rural-psychology-collaborative

Creston Police report 9 arrests from Aug. 31st through Sept. 1st

News

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston had a busy start to the Labor Day weekend, with nine arrests being reported. Sunday night, 37-year-old Jeffrey Michael Donald Drake, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Suspended, and OWI/1st offense. Drake was released from custody after posting a $1,300 bond. Sunday afternoon 28-year-old Carlos Ivan Cortez, of Creston, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension. He was released on his Own Recognizance.

Three people were arrested early Sunday morning: 31-year-old Geronimo Romeo Gonzalez-Hernandez, of Osceola, and 41-year-old Ryan Lee Woosley, of Creston, were arrested at the Casey’s Store on W. Taylor Street, in Creston. Hernandez was taken into custody at around 2:30-a.m. and charged with OWI/1st offense. Woosley was arrested at around 1:54-a.m., and charged with Driving While Barred. Both men later posted bonds of $2,000 and $1,000 respectively, before being released. At around 12:25-a.m. Sunday, Creston Police arrested 34-year-old Thomas Legrand Wiggins, of Greenfield, for Driving While Barred. He was later released on a $2,000 bond.

A little after 3-a.m. Saturday, Creston Police arrested 18-year-old Liliana Aguilar Preciado, of Mount Ayr, for Driving While Suspended. She was cited and released at the scene on a promise to appear in court. At around 1:30-a.m., Saturday, 46-year-old Brian Wayne Zimmerman, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. He later posted a $1,000 bond, and was released.

Late Saturday night, 18-year-old Tanner Dale Horacek, of Blair, NE, was arrested for Minor in Possession of Alcohol. He was cited and released on a Promise to Appear. And, Saturday afternoon, 32-year-old William Alwynn Bell, of Creston, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was late released on his Own Recognizance.

 

Anita & Wire Fire respond to porch fire Monday morning

News

September 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Wiota, Iowa) – Crews from Anita Fire & Rescue and Wiota Fire responded this (Monday) morning, to a reported fire on a porch attached to the residence at 115 Allen Street, in Wiota. The call was dispatched at around 8:42-a.m.

‘Everyone evacuated the home safely, and the residents had managed to extinguish the flames prior to Anita Fire arriving on the scene.

Anita Fire continued to the scene to make sure the situation was under control. Wiota Fire crews were then advised to disregard while they were en-route.

No injuries were reported. Additional details, including the cause of the fire were not immediately available.