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NW Iowa man found guilty in stolen trees case

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Pocahontas, Iowa) – A jury in northwest Iowa deliberated for about two-hours before handing down a verdict in the case of a 41-year-old man charged with timber theft. They found Jason Levant Ferguson, of rural Rolfe, guilty of felony theft and 50 timber violations, for taking dozens of trees from public property. Ferguson’s criminal tree-theft case went to trial last week in Pocahontas County. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports court records indicated Ferguson had been accused of taking about 150 trees from a wildlife management area northeast of Rolfe last year, purportedly to build himself a house. Timber thefts are an uncommon but growing crime in Iowa, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources. Ferguson’s thefts stood out for the number of trees taken and for one of the trees he was accused of felling: a bur oak that was about six feet in diameter at its base.

Ferguson’s prosecution hit a snag last month when a district court judge decided that search warrants for his rural acreage were improperly approved and the evidence obtained by the subsequent searches couldn’t be used to prosecute him. Those searches allegedly found evidence that someone had been growing marijuana and manufacturing methamphetamine on Ferguson’s property, and he faced numerous felony drug  and weapons charges. Those charges were dismissed, but the tree theft case continued with the evidence DNR officers had obtained before the searches. That evidence included an admission by Ferguson that he had taken the trees from the Stoddard Wildlife Management Area and photographic evidence of tree trunks on his property, court records show. The trial last week spanned four days and ended with a 12-person jury finding him guilty of every criminal charge he faced, according to court records.

Ferguson’s sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 26. He faces up to five years in prison for the felony theft charge and one year imprisonment each for the 50 counts of timber buyer violations, which were for cutting down trees he had not purchased and, according to court documents, “had no legal right to do so.”

8 horses seized from a Dallas County farm are returned to the owner

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

DALLAS COUNTY, Iowa (KCCI) — Eight of the 46 horses seized from a rural Dallas County farm were brought back to the property over the weekend, according to neighbors. Their owner, Linda Kilbourne, was charged with livestock neglect in early November. Last Friday, the Dallas County Attorney reached a deal with Kilbourne, allowing eight of the horses to be given to a third party. The other 37 would stay in the custody of the ARL. One of those horses has died.

Neighbors said they believe the third party is a friend of Kilbourne’s and is the one who hauled them back to her farm.

Thanksgiving holiday forecast calls for dry roads, no snow or rain in Iowa

News, Weather

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A few days ago, forecasters were warning of the possibility of snow on or around Thanksgiving, but now that we’re closer to the holiday, the foul weather is being removed from the list of likely options. Meteorologist Allan Curtis, at the National Weather Service, says if you’ll be on the road to visit family and friends for Thursday’s big meal, the roads should be dry. “At least for Iowa itself, we’ll say the driving weather is going to be pretty good for the holidays, Wednesday through Friday timeframe,” Curtis says. “There is some still some snow within the region but primarily to our west and maybe even off to our southwest, so think of it as Nebraska, Kansas areas.”

It’s predicted Thanksgiving Day should be mostly sunny in Iowa with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s. Curtis says it’s expected to cool off this week, but that’s par for the season. “No more 60s or even upper 50s, at least for the coming few days, but all that being said, for entering mid to late November, it really isn’t too bad. It’s about average,” Curtis says. “We’re looking at highs in the mid to upper 40s for most of those travel days, Wednesday might be on the warm side in the 50s, and then after Thanksgiving, we drop down into the 30s for highs.” Many parts of Iowa got rain overnight Monday into Tuesday morning. It’s the first precipitation we’ve had since before Halloween.

“From [Monday] morning through the beginning of the month, we’ve really had zero rain across a lot of the state, so even if it’s light, it’s still the first rain we’ve seen this month,” Curtis says. “I don’t think there’s going to be too many people complaining, although I think many wish we could get a little bit more.” Keep up with the forecast on the kjan.com Weather page, or via the National Weather Service, at weather.gov.

Reidel is out as president of NICC

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – One of Iowa’s community colleges is seeing a shakeup at the top. The Northeast Iowa Community College board of trustees has voted to terminate the contract of college President Herbert Reidel. The board took the action at its meeting Monday.

Reidel was placed on administrative leave October ninth. He began at NICC in July of 2022. The college named vice president for finance and administration David Dahms as acting president last month.

UIHC lands grant to expand mental health care program in schools

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is getting a grant of two-and-a-quarter million dollars to help address child mental health issues. The grant will allow the Iowa Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program to expand its services into schools. Dr. Tom Scholz, a U-I pediatric cardiologist, says they’re working with the U-I’s College of Education to reach kids for mental health support. “It allows them to perform better in school, interact better with their family and neighbors, and just allow them to have more success in the short term,” Scholz says, “which will certainly translate to more success in the long term.” The three-year grant is through federal and state Health and Human Services agencies.

Scholz says the money allows the program to broaden and reach more school districts in Iowa, especially in rural areas.  He says, “What this grant allows us is to connect into those communities, into those school systems, where the mental health services are quite limited.” Scholz says the program has been running for five years and, so far, has focused on workforce development and providing mental telehealth services to kids across the state.

Creighton economist not optimistic about holiday sales

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University Economist Ernie Goss says the two surveys he conducts don’t show a lot of promise for merchants this holiday season.  “Holiday and Christmas buying probably up about three to four percent — and most of that’s inflation,” Goss says. “So when you look at it, when you subtract out inflation, you’re at zero to one percent increase from last year at this time.” Goss says high interest rates will impact holiday spending. “One of the problems with it is credit card balances are maxed out, we’ve got the highest balances there on record. And of course that individuals are paying 20 to 30 percent on balances that are carried forward,” he says. “So that’s a real issue. And we got a nation of creditor of high a lot of debt out there right now.” He says the high interest rates are also taking away more income with increased mortgage rates.

“Individuals now are spending as much as 40 percent of their income on housing. Now, that shouldn’t be 28 to 30 percent, well it’s now that 40 percent,” Goss says. “Of course, that just that just reduces your ability to go out there and spend for the Christmas and holiday buying.” Goss says he’s seeing people opting to get out of town instead of spending on gifts. “A lot of buying is going into things like air travel and travel, even automobile travel to locations for leisure and hospitality,” he says.

Goss says October retail sales were not that good and were also down for September. He says some of that September buying was for seasonal purchases, so it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Black Friday and the rest of the holiday season.

Red Oak man arrested Monday on a Shelby County warrant

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Monday evening, arrested a man wanted on a warrant out of Shelby County. Authorities report 31-year-old Drew Ashton Gagnon, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 5:30-p.m., in the 300 block of Nuckols Street, on the warrant for Probation Violation. The offense was connected to an original charge of OWI/1st offense. Gagnon was being held in the Montgomery County Jail, while awaiting extradition to Shelby County.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Tue., Nov. 21, 2023

Weather

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today: A slight chance of rain before 7am, then a chance of sprinkles. Cloudy & windy, with gradual clearing, with a high near 43. N/NW @ 15-30 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 22. N/NW @ 5-15 w/gusts to near 20 mph.

Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 51. S/SW @ 5-15 w/gusts to around 25 mph.

Tom. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 27. S/SW winds @ 10-20 shifting to the North after midnight.

Thanksgiving Day🦃: Mostly sunny, with a high near 43.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy & blustery, with a low around 21.

Friday: Mostly cloudy & breezy, with a high near 33.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 46. Our Low was 40. We received .1″ of rain from 7-a.m. Monday thru 7-a.m. today (24-hrs). This day last year the high was 52 and the low 14. The record high for Nov. 21st in Atlantic was 71 in 1990. The record low was -14 in 1937. Sunrise is at 7:15 am and sunset is at 4:56 pm.

Chiefs fall to the Eagles Monday night, 21-17

Sports

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. [ESPN.com] — Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles got their Super Bowl LVII revenge on “Monday Night Football” with a 21-17 win over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. It marked coach Andy Reid’s first loss to his former team and center Jason Kelce’s first win over his brother, Travis Kelce. The win allows the Eagles to maintain the best record in football (9-1).

The Chiefs led 17-7 at halftime but, like in Week 8 against the Denver Broncos and Week 9 against the Dolphins, failed to score in the final two quarters and with the loss, fell out of the lead for the AFC’s top playoff seed.

Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes but it was otherwise another sluggish game for him and the passing game. Mahomes threw his only interception in the end zone when the Chiefs were in field goal range. He finished 24-of-43 for 177 yards with a 71.6 rating.

Next up for the Chiefs is a match-up against the Raiders at Raiders (325 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26).

Governor says Iowa schools’ test scores not where they need to be

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says it’s time to bolster literacy programs in the early grades in Iowa schools. Reynolds has indicated raising teacher salaries would likely be a priority as well.

“We’re going to continue to invest in education. It’s really important. We’re going to continue to invest in our teachers. We’re going to continue to invest in kids with special needs,” Reynolds says. We’re not where we need to be.” The annual Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress last spring shows students from low income households had English proficiency scores that were about 15 points below the overall average, while students learning to speak and read English scored even lower.

“They deserve better and so we’re going to make sure that teachers have the tools that they need, that we’re really focused on early literacy, ESL, and again students with special needs,” Reynolds says. “We can do better. We will do better and we just need to make sure that we’re providing consistency and the rigor that’s important that will help us get the results that we need.”

Last spring’s test scores showed gains in the subject areas of math and science, but students with disabilities, English language learners and students from low income households scored significantly lower than the statewide average.