The Freese-Notis forecast for the KJAN listening area and weather information for Atlantic.
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The Freese-Notis forecast for the KJAN listening area and weather information for Atlantic.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.4MB)
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A study led by researchers at Iowa State University finds pro-social video games have a positive influence on the kids who play them across a host of cultures, in the U-S and in seven other countries. Doug Gentile, an I-S-U psychology professor, says with more exposure to pro-social media, including video games that portray caring and cooperative behaviors resulted in higher levels of pro-social behavior.
“It is important that parents are paying attention to the games their kids play,” Gentile says. “The games have an impact well beyond just the time they’re playing. In fact, we’re seeing kids across time across years, if they’re playing pro-social games, they end up being more helpful and cooperative in the real world two years later.” In one segment of the international study, more than three-thousand young people in Singapore were studied in third, fourth, seventh and eighth grades. Over two years, students who played violent games became less likely to show empathy and behave in helpful ways, while those who played pro-social games became more empathetic and helpful.
“Parents are in a much more powerful position than they realize,” Gentile says. “They do need to pay attention to the ratings on the games and choose that have themes that they want their kids to be practicing.” One of his favorite pro-social video games is called “Animal Crossing.” Gentile says the character you play in the game has just moved to a new town and has to buy a house and get a job to pay the mortgage.
“The way you play the game is, you go around the town and you meet your neighbors and they ask you to do little favors for them, you know, carry this to another person,” Gentile says. “As you do all these favors, you’re helping to build a community and you’re doing these things that are helpful and cooperative in your community.” The most popular games tend to be violent, and I-S-U researchers say violent games can produce harmful effects on players. They note, nonviolent games with lots of pro-social content produce positive effects on children. For the study, researchers surveyed young people in Australia, China, Croatia, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Romania and the United States.
(Radio Iowa)
Bobcat sightings in Iowa raise a lot of concern in the past year as the small cats were sometimes mistaken for mountain lions. The first bobcat season was held in Iowa in 2007. D-N-R furbearer biologist, Vince Evelsizer, says the return of the bobcats to Iowa is a good wildlife story. “The bobcat population is stable to increasing in some areas, and so overall it has been generally a very successful wildlife story for Iowa that all Iowans can be excited about,” Evelsizer says. The bobcat population is mainly in the southern part of the state.
The first season began with a quota for hunters that ended the season once 150 animals had been taken. That quota gradually increased to 450 last season. But Evelsizer says they felt the population was strong enough to not limit the amount of animals taken. “This year the quota was lifted, but the bag possession limit was still one per fur harvester. What it did is it gave both trappers and predator hunters a chance to harvest their animal later into the season,” Evelsizer says. It appears the bobcat season has gone well with the change.
“So far feedback has been positive in that they appreciate that opportunity,” Evelsizer says. “Success has been variable around the southern part of the state — with some folks doing well and other not as well as they hoped to. I think some of that is the cold weather that set in earlier this year.” The bobcat population came back without special help form the state. Otters on the other hand got some help being reintroduced into Iowa waters. Evelsizer says the otter limit was reduced from three to two this year to prevent too many from being taken.
“That population is doing fairly well statewide. They’re doing the best in the eastern half of the state — especially in the Cedar and Iowa River watersheds,” according to Evelsizer. To find out more about the bobcat and otter seasons, go to the Iowa D-N-R’s website at: www.iowadnr.gov.
(Radio Iowa)
345 AM CST THU JAN 2 2014
…A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TODAY FOR: SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR AND RINGGOLD COUNTIES, AND UNTIL 11-A.M. FOR MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MONTGOMERY-AND PAGE COUNTIES.
* WIND CHILL VALUES…WIND CHILL VALUES WILL CONTINUE TO DROP OVERNIGHT AND BOTTOM OUT BETWEEN 15 AND 25 BELOW ON THURSDAY MORNING. ONLY SLOW IMPROVEMENT IS EXPECTED BY LATE MORNING.
* WINDS…NORTH WINDS AT 10 TO 15 MPH ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS…MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.
346 AM CST THU JAN 2 2014
…WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TODAY…
TODAY…SUNNY. VERY COLD. HIGH 5 TO 10 ABOVE. NORTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. WIND CHILL READINGS AROUND 15 BELOW.
TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. VERY COLD. LOW ZERO TO 5 BELOW. NORTHEAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. VERY COLD. BREEZY. PATCHY BLOWING SNOW EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE MID 20S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.
FRIDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY THROUGH MIDNIGHT THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY. BREEZY. NOT AS COLD. LOW AROUND 20. SOUTHWEST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.
SATURDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MORNING. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE MID 20S. NORTHWEST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW 5 TO 10 ABOVE. HIGH 15 TO 20.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe has been cleared to play in Saturday’s wild-card playoff game against Indianapolis after sustaining a concussion against the Colts two weeks ago. Bowe was among several starters held out of last week’s overtime loss at San Diego. Kansas City could be without right tackle Eric Fisher, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft. He strained his groin near the end of Tuesday’s practice and was not working Wednesday.
Outside linebacker Tamba Hali’s status also remains up in the air. He’s been dealing with some inflammation in his knee that has kept him out of practice the last couple of weeks, though he planned to try working out during Wednesday’s practice.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — On at least three occasions this season, an opposing coach was asked what it takes to stop Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. Each time, they came back with the exact same response. “If you’ve got the answer,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said, “I’m all ears.”
That was before Kansas City played Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago at Arrowhead Stadium, and the Colts didn’t need to do much to stop Charles in a 23-7 victory. The Chiefs only gave him six touches in the second half, something coach Andy Reid lamented following the game.
It stands to reason that Kansas City will at least make the Colts do the job themselves when the teams meet in a wild-card playoff game Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Pagano calls Charles a “game wrecker” and a “home-run hitter.”
Two years after a devastating knee injury threatened his career, and one year after he was the lone bright spot in a blighted season, Charles has put together one of the finest campaigns in the history of a franchise that has had plenty of notable offensive stars.
He’s already run for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns, solid if unspectacular numbers unless you consider that he’s done it while averaging 5 yards per carry. He also has a career-best 70 catches for 693 yards and seven more touchdowns, giving him nearly 2,000 yards from scrimmage.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Seth Tuttle scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Northern Iowa to an 80-46 victory over Bradley on Wednesday night. Matt Bohannon had 16 points and three assists for the Panthers (7-6). Wes Washpun added 15 with eight assists and a pair of steals and Jeremy Morgan came off the bench to score 10.
Northern Iowa surged to a 14-0 advantage early in the first period and went on to lead 43-26 at the break. A pair of 3-pointers by Bohannon and two buckets from inside the paint by Tuttle to start the second half extended the Panther lead to 26. Northern Iowa would finish the game hitting 48 percent from the field and sinking 84.2 percent from the line.
Bradley averaged just 37 percent from the field overall and suffered 13 turnovers in the contest. Walt Lemon, Jr. led the Braves (5-9) with 17 points.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jordan Daniels scored 28 points with three assists as Drake defeated Evansville 94-66 on Wednesday night. Richard Carter put up 19 points and grabbed four rebounds for the Bulldogs (10-3). Chris Caird had 10 points and Aaron Hawley came off the bench to score 12. Drake hit 61 percent from the field overall, 65.5 percent from the line and sank 65.5 percent from 3-point range. A Daniels 3-pointer at 16:25 in the first capped a 12-2 Bulldog run to start the game.
Evansville’s D.J. Balentine scored nine points in the final minute of the first period, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, to cut the Aces’ deficit to four points at the break. The Bulldogs completely dominated the second period, leading by as many as 30 points with a minute left to play.
Balentine led the Aces (7-7) with 20 points.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s 21 publicly traded companies had a great year in the market. Share prices for all 21 went up in 2013 and all but four of them beat the Dow Jones industrial average, which had its best year since 1995.
POCAHONTAS, Iowa (AP) — An Army Reserve unit in north-central Iowa has been called up for duty in Afghanistan. A deployment ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 18 for the 415th Military Police Detachment (Law and Order). The unit was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.
ASHTON, Iowa (AP) — Officials are blaming the cold weather for a train derailment in northwest Iowa. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office says more than a dozen cars came off the tracks Tuesday morning along Iowa Highway 60 south of Ashton. National Weather Service records show subzero temperatures have chilled the area in recent days.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State will hold a public visitation to honor former basketball coach Johnny Orr, who died Tuesday at age 86. The doors to Hilton Coliseum in Ames will open at 1 p.m. Thursday for the visitation. Orr led the Cyclones from 1980 until 1994.
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