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Don Bosco Catholic School System teacher dies in a lawnmower accident

News

July 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

GILBERTVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) – A man who died after being pinned under a lawnmower, Thursday, was identified as a teacher with Bosco Catholic School System. The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office said 43-year-old Jake Knepper, of Jesup, was trying to load a commercial grade lawnmower onto a trailer in the 100 block of 160th Street when the mower tipped off the side of the trailer and rolled upside down, pinning him underneath it.

First responders were able to remove the mower and tried to administer life-saving measures, but Knepper died at the scene. In a Facebook post on Thursday, leaders with Bosco Catholic School System said there is now a hole in the community. School staff held a Mass, followed by a prayer vigil, on Friday morning.

Saturday golf tournament will benefit slain Algona officer’s family

News

July 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The family of slain Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram will be the beneficiaries of an annual charity golf tournament in Webster City this weekend. More than 140 golfers have signed up for the Saturday tourney at Briggs Woods Golf Course. Officer Cram was shot and killed last fall while serving a warrant, and the man who shot him was convicted of first-degree murder last week.

Rod Hicok, of the Hamilton County Peace Officers Association, is coordinating the golf event which aims to help out the officer’s widow and young sons. “Laura Cram and her three boys, and the boys’ names are Archer, Westin and Ira. Their ages are 13, 7 and 4,” Hicok says. “In fact, that day will be Ira’s birthday on Saturday, so we’re going to have a little surprise birthday party for him out there, too.”

Last year’s golf outing raised more than 27-thousand dollars for Jennifer Richardson and her family from Fremont County. Richardson’s husband, Austin, was a Fremont County sheriff’s deputy who was killed in a crash in June of 2022. Learn more about the golf tournament at Hamilton County Peace Officers Association Facebook page.

JO ANN HARMSEN, 95, of NM & formerly of Atlantic (Mem. Graveside Svcs. 8/5/24)

Obituaries

July 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

JO ANN HARMSEN, 95, of Rio Rancho, NM (& formerly of Atlantic), died March 22, 2024.  Memorial graveside services for JO ANN HARMSEN will be held August 5th at 11-a.m., in the Atlantic Cemetery. Roland Funeral Service in Atlantic has the arrangements.

JO ANN HARMSEN is survived by:

Her son – Matthew L. Harmsen, of Rio Rancho, NM.

5 grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren.

 Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com

MARK W. HARMSEN, 65 (Walnut Class of ’71) – Memorial graveside svcs. 8/6/24

Obituaries

July 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

MARK W. HARMSEN, 65 (Walnut Class of ’71), died November 9, 2018. Memorial Graveside Services for MARK HARMSEN will be held 11-a.m. August 6, 2024, at the  Layton Township Cemetery in Walnut. Roland Funeral Service in Atlantic has the arrangements.

MARK HARMSEN is survived by:

His wife – Irina.

His sons – Scott (Cynthia) Harmsen; Joe (Rochelle) Olson; Gregory (Tara) Harmsen, and Charles Harmsen.

His daughter – Sara Olson.

His brother – Matthew Harmsen, of Rio Rancho, NM

Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com

MICHAEL SCOTT “Mike” BELL, 63 of rural Atlantic (Visitation 7/23/24)

Obituaries

July 19th, 2024 by Lori Murphy

MICHAEL SCOTT “Mike” BELL, 63 , of rural Atlantic, died on the family farm on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. Visitation for MIKE BELL, with family present, will take place on Tuesday, July 23 from 6-until 8-p.m., at Roland Funeral Home in Atlantic.

A private family graveside service will be held in the Wiota Cemetery.The service will be recorded and available for viewing on Roland’s website by the end of the day Thursday, July 25th.

Memorials may be made to the family for later designation to the Wiota Cemetery.

Michael “Mike” Bell is survived by:

His sisters – Tami (Bill) Nooning, of Westminster, CO; Joni (Don) Johnson, of Aurora, CO;  Lisa (Glen) Weaver, of Lafayette, CO; and Tressa Stohs, of Blair, NE.

His brother – Jim (Trisha) Bell, of Atlantic.

. Condolences can be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com

Two more fined for massive chicken confinement fires

Ag/Outdoor, News

July 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has ordered three people to pay $10,000 apiece for burning 10 chicken confinement buildings near Villisca last year, without proper approval. Shawn Gohlinghorst of Red Oak and Darrel Schipansky of Villisca were recently fined for the June 29, 2023, fires. The DNR had previously fined Tyson Means of Villisca.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch previously reported the men had sought to raze the dilapidated buildings and grow crops on the land. Schipansky owned the property at the time of the fires, and Gohlinghorst and Means later bought it on contract.

Although state law typically forbids people from burning buildings to dispose of them — because of the potential to diminish air quality — there are exceptions for agricultural buildings. However, the men failed to inspect the buildings for asbestos, and they did not get approval from the local fire chief, which was required because the buildings were within city limits.

Each of the wood-framed buildings was 50 feet wide and 728 feet long, the DNR orders said. They were ignited about 3 p.m., after recent rainfall. Emergency responders were not aware of the fires before nearby residents began calling about them. “Various governmental entities in Montgomery, Page and Adams counties received dozens of telephone calls regarding the fire and black smoke,” the DNR orders said.

Fires burned 10 former chicken confinement buildings near Villisca in June 2023. (Photo by Brian Hamman/courtesy of Iowa DNR)

Brian Hamman, emergency management coordinator for Montgomery County, said the fires burned into the night, and that their smoke and glow were visible for miles. They were so large that it would have taken nearly 10 area fire departments to extinguish them if they began to spread, the orders said, but they remained confined to the building sites.

Sampling of the building debris did not reveal any asbestos, but it was not possible to determine whether asbestos existed in the building before the fires, the orders said. Gohlinghorst and Means disposed of the remaining debris at a landfill in September and October 2023.

All three men agreed to pay the $10,000 fines, which is the highest amount the DNR can assess administratively.

Fatal accident in Sac County

News

July 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Sac City, Iowa) – The Sac County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Carroll County has died in a rollover accident. The Sheriff’s Office was notified about a vehicle overturned in the North Raccoon River at Hagge Park, at around 10:18-a.m. today (Friday).  When a 2003 Jeep Cherokee was pulled from the driver by a tow truck, the body of deceased female was found inside. The woman was identified as 30-year-old Samantha Faylee Trimpe, of Breda (IA).

An investigation determined there was no evidence of sudden braking, or change in direction before the vehicle entered the river. Trimpe’s body will be sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy. Authorities say there is no indication of foul play.

Assisting the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, was the Sac City Police and Fire Departments, Sac County EMS, and the Sac County Medical Examiner.

Seven additional counties approved for FEMA Public Assistance under the April Presidential Major Disaster Declaration

News

July 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES— Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced the approval of Clarke, Crawford, Harrison, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, and Union Counties for FEMA Public Assistance under the previously approved Major Disaster Declaration, FEMA DR-4779-IA, for Iowa counties where significant damage was sustained from severe storms and tornadoes that occurred April 26-27, 2024, and continuing.
Clarke, Harrison, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, and Union County residents are now eligible for the Disaster Recovery Temporary Housing Program.
This program is available to survivors whose homes were majorly damaged, destroyed, or deemed not habitable in counties currently under a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for both FEMA Individual and Public Assistance.
For more information on disaster-related programs and resources available to Iowans, visit DisasterRecovery.iowa.gov.

State’s critical IT systems restored, fully operational after global CrowdStrike outage

News

July 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Updated 2:25-p.m) – DES MOINES—This afternoon, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that Iowa’s critical IT systems have been restored and services to Iowans have resumed as normal following a global outage caused by an automatic software update from CrowdStrike, which the state uses for malware and virus protection.

“I want to thank the Department of Management’s Division of Information Technology and its security operations center for their near immediate response when the outage occurred in the middle of the night,” Governor Reynolds stated. “Iowa is fortunate to have robust cybersecurity capabilities. Today is a great example of the importance of investing in services that protect state infrastructure and improve service to Iowans.”
At this time, IT staff are continuing to restore devices used by state employees. This work is anticipated to be completed during the weekend.
The Iowa Department of Management’s Division of Information Technology operates a 24/7 security operations center. At approximately 12:30 a.m. today, the security center identified the CrowdStrike error, and a temporary fix was applied at 1:04 a.m. At approximately 1:30 a.m., a formal fix from CrowdStrike was issued. The quick action by the security team limited the initial impact of the outage to approximately 1,400 servers and 3,300 workstations, or less than 20 percent of all devices across executive branch departments.

Sunday RAGBRAI stop in Henderson to feature ‘Hillbilly Waterpark’

News

July 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Thousands of bicyclists on RAGBRAI — the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa — will leave Glenwood Sunday and peddle through the small southwest Iowa towns of Silver City, Henderson, and Emerson arriving in Red Oak. Shawnna Silvius, Red Oak’s mayor, says they’ve been told to expect 20-thousand people — along with 10-thousand support vehicles. “I don’t think some of us can quite imagine how many people are going to be there,” she says.

City crews are busy grooming outdoor spaces. “To the best that they can be with the quickness that the grass grows and just all the final touches on areas that need touched up with paint and we’re getting ready to put up the flags and it’s going to be absolutely beautiful weather this weekend,” she says, “a slight chance of rain, maybe, but we’re going to pray that doesn’t happen.”

She says they’ve paid a lot of attention to road conditions in and around Red Oak — and the street sweeping machines are out now because even a little sand can create a slick spot that’s a hazard for bicyclists. Sunday’s RAGBRAI route will cover about 42 miles and the tiny town of Henderson and its 144 residents are prepping for thousands to pass through. Rachel Knight, chair of Henderson’s RAGBRAI Committee, says they’re hoping to lure some to stop for a while. Knight says “On our playground equipment, they’re going to run some hoses and stuff and it’s going to be a ‘Hillbilly Water Park” so that they can kind of help cool off.”

She says “There’s going to be some photo ops around town, like things that you would do in a small town so, for example, we planted some corn and it says, ‘Watch the Corn Grow.’ There’s another one where we just have an old window propped up on a stand and it says, ‘Watching My Neighbor.'”

The Henderson fire department will be selling loose meat sandwiches and sweet corn to raise money for a new fire truck. Another group of Henderson residents will be selling 500 bracelets to bicyclists, hoping to raise enough money to cover the cost of installing playground equipment that’s already been purchased.