712 Digital Group - top

2 killed, 2 injured in separate accidents Friday, in northern & southern Iowa

News

November 16th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(State News) – Two people died and two others were injured in separate collions on opposite sides of the State, Friday. The Iowa State Patrol reports a pedestrian died when she was struck by a pickup truck a little after 6-p.m. Fort Madison, which is in southern Iowa’s Lee County.

According to the report, a 2009 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck driven by 70-year-old Jeffrey Stephen Jordan, of Argyle, was traveling westbound on Highway 2 in Fort Madison, when the pedestrian – 70-year-old Nancy Lynne Kuhljuergen, of Ft. Madison – attempted to cross the roadway from the Fort Colonies Restaurant, and was struck by the pickup. Kuhljuergen died from her injuries.

The other accident happened on Highway 69 between 180th and 190th Streets in northern Iowa’s Hamilton County, at around 6:30-a.m., Friday. The State Patrol says the driver of an SUV died during a multi-vehicle collision north of Blairsburg, and the drivers of a pickup truck and a semi were hurt.

Officials say a 2021 Jeep Renegade driven by 27-year-old Cole Lantz, of Williams (IA) was traveling north on Highway 69 and was attempting to pass another vehicle traveling northbound. A 2011 Dodge RAM 2500 pickup driven by 51-year-old Carlos Vielman Castillo, of Postville, was southbound on Highway 69  and collided head-on with the Jeep in the southbound lanes. Both vehicles came to rest on the roadway.

32-year-old Justin Norton, of Belmond (IA), was traveling south on Highway 69 in 2024 Freightliner semi. He swerved to the center-line of the road to avoid striking the pickup truck but collided with the vehicle on the way through the debris. a fourth vehicle that was involved lightly struck the Jeep. Officials say weather appeared to play a factor. A dense fog advisory was in effect at the time.

The Patrol says Cole Lantz died at the scene. Carlos Castillo and has passenger, 28-year-old Jilmer Vielman Monroy, of Belmond, were injured, and transported to a hospital in Webster City. All of the crash victims were wearing their seat belts. The road was closed for several hours as a result of the wreck.

Posted in News |

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area: Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024

Weather

November 16th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today
Isolated showers after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 60. Windy, with a south southeast wind 15 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 38. South wind 5 to 13 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 53. West wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon.
Sunday Night
A 20 percent chance of rain after midnight. Increasing clouds, with a low around 36. Calm wind becoming east southeast around 6 mph after midnight.
Monday
Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 57. Windy, with an east wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Monday Night
Rain before 9pm, then rain and possibly a thunderstorm between 9pm and midnight. Low around 41. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. Breezy.
Friday’s High in Atlantic was 65. The 24-hour Low ending at 7-a.m. today was 27. Last year on this date, the High was 67 and the Low was 23. The Record High in Atlantic on Nov. 16th was 73 in 2001. The Record Low was 1 in 1955. Sunrise: 7:11. Sunset: 4:59.

Posted in Weather |

Southwest Valley Girls Basketball Poised for a Rebound Season

Sports

November 15th, 2024 by Christian Adams

The Southwest Valley Girls Basketball team is looking to rebound after a disappointing season a year ago. Despite finishing with a 2-17 regular season record, the Timberwolves were competitive last season. Out of their 18 losses, five of them were by five points or less. They were also able to win their regional quarterfinal game against Central Decatur before falling in the semi-final to Nodaway Valley. Couple this with a young roster that had only had seniors, it’s a team that has room to grow. Head Coach Mike Cormack is hopeful about the coming season and proud of the work his players have put in during the offseason.

The Timberwolves do return both of the top scorers from a year ago. Hailey Randall put up 12 points per game and 2.8 steals while Mackenzie Fast averaged 8 points a game with 8.3 rebounds per contest. In addition to Fast and Randall, Cormack is also looking forward to watching the continued development of some of his depth players that he knows will need to contribute.

Cormack thinks the biggest improvement his team can make this year is closing out games in the fourth quarter.

Southwest Valley is a team with a lot of room to grow. Returning two top scorers plus adding another year of experience and continuity to a young team can do nothing but help. Cormack is very excited to start the season and to watch his team grow and compete.

Their first scrimmage of the season will be on Saturday.

Posted in Sports |

Porcher Qualifies for NCAA Championships, ISU Women Fourth at Regionals

Sports

November 15th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

PEORIA, Ill. – Iowa State junior Maelle Porcher qualified for the 2024 NCAA Championships and the Iowa State women picked up two Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series points at the 2024 NCAA Midwest Regional cross country meet.

“I was very pleased to see our women have their best race of the year at the Midwest Regional!” said director of track & field/cross country Jeremy Sudbury. “This group had a lot of heart and grit and although the season has not gone the way they would have wanted it to, their resilience and effort was on full display today.”

The Cyclones finished fourth as a team, led by Porcher’s podium finish, to best their in-state foe as the Hawkeyes finished 17th. Porcher started the race strong, running with the front pack early and was tied for sixth through the first 2K mark. She improved to fifth at the 3K mark and jumped again to fourth at the 4K and 5K marks. The junior made her final push into third ahead of the finish and earned the second individual automatic qualifying spot with her time of 19:52.8.

Porcher will run at her third straight NCAA Championships, after qualifying as an individual for CBU in 2022 before running as part of Iowa State’s qualifying team last season. It will mark the 16th consecutive season and the Cyclone women will have a representative running at the national championship meet.

Coach Sudbury was elated that Porcher will have the chance to compete next weekend after a great race Friday morning, saying “Maelle was brilliant in her individual race and I couldn’t be more excited for her to get to race next week at NCAAs!”

Redshirt-juniors Riley Beach and Bella Heikes also finished in the top 25 to help the Iowa State effort and earned All-Midwest Region honors along with Porcher. Beach was 18th in 20:20.75 while Heikes finished 21st less than a few seconds later in 20:22.50. The young Cyclones gained great experience at the regional meet as well, as freshmen Ruby Hughes (42nd, 20:47.53) and sophomore Sheridan Wheeler (55th, 20:57.67) rounded out ISU’s top five.

“Coach Wallace is going to build off this finish and have his team ready to get back to NCAAs next year,” said Sudbury.

Up Next
Porcher will prepare for the 2024 NCAA Championships next Saturday, November 23. Start time for the women’s 6K in Madison is set for 9:20 a.m. CT at the Zimmer Championships Cross Country Course.

Team Results
1. No. 19 Oklahoma State, 61; 2. No. 23 Minnesota, 76; 3. Northwestern, 103; 4. Iowa State, 139; 5. Nebraska, 181; 6. Bradley, 203; 7. Oklahoma, 222; 8. Illinois, 261; 9. Loyola (Ill.), 261; 10. Tulsa, 303; 11. Missouri, 316; 12. South Dakota State, 392; 13. Kansas, 404; 14. Kansas State, 427; 15. UNI, 435; 16. Drake, 439; 17. Iowa, 478; 18. North Dakota State, 485; 19. Illinois State, 532; 20. DePaul, 567; 21. North Dakota, 576; 22. South Dakota, 595; 23. Saint Louis, 619; 24. Wichita State, 654; 25. Eastern Illinois, 681; 26. Missouri State, 701; 27. Oral Roberts, 767; 28. SE Missouri, 769; 29. Illinois-Chicago, 779; 30. Omaha, 820; 31. Creighton, 825; 32. Southern Illinois, 993; 33. SIU Edwardsville, 1025

Individual Results
1. Leah Jeruto, Oklahoma, 19:42.87; 3. Maelle Porcher, Iowa State, 19:52.8; 18. Riley Beach, Iowa State, 20:20.8; 21. Bella Heikes, Iowa State, 20:22.5; 42. Ruby Hughes, Iowa State, 20:47.5; 55. Sheridan Wheeler, Iowa State 20:57.7; 58. Taylor Briggs, Iowa State, 20:58.8; 67. Kiki Connell, Iowa State, 21:11.20

Posted in Sports |

Forester urges Iowans rethink planting any more maple trees

Ag/Outdoor, News

November 15th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – It’s a bit late in the year to be planting trees, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is urging homeowners and city leaders to plan ahead and consider any of about 85 different species of trees to plant in the spring. However, if they’re thinking about maples, think again. Chip Murrow, an urban forestry program specialist at the D-N-R, says maples are beautiful, sturdy trees, but they’ve become too poplar, or rather popular, in Iowa.

There are all sorts of maples, including black, sugar, Norway, Japanese, silverleaf and paperbark, but he says diversity is a good thing when it comes to trees. Murrow fears what our state’s tree canopy would look like if an infestation of insects or some sort of tree disease sweeps in, as has happened many times before.

The D-N-R is now offering an online publication which makes a case for cultivating a different sort of diversified canopy in the state.

The online document lists dozens of other trees that do well in Iowa under a long list of categories, including: vibrant fall color, fast growing, spring flowers, good for shade and storm resistant. Murrow says if Iowans help by planting a wide variety of species that are well suited for their sites, they’ll be helping ensure a community’s tree canopy is a valuable resource for the future.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Congresswoman Hinson says election may lead to more negotiation

News

November 15th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says she is excited to win another term and return to Washington knowing the Republicans retain control of the House.

Hinson who is from Marion won her third term in Congress. She says Republicans should be able to get things done after winning the Senate as well and the landslide win of Donald Trump.

She expects fixing the Biden border crisis is going to be one of the first issues.

Hinson says she has always tried to work in a bipartisan manner, and that may be more possible now in the lame duck session.

Hinson defeated Democrat Sarah Corkery of Cedar Falls in the recent election to win her third term in the Second Congressional District.

Posted in News |

North Dakota approves Summit pipeline permit

Ag/Outdoor, News

November 15th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – State regulators in North Dakota approved a pipeline route permit today (Friday) for the Summit Carbon Solutions proposed carbon capture pipeline. The route approved by the North Dakota Public Service Commission is part of a 25-hundred mile proposed project covering five states, including Iowa.
Summit C-E-O Lee Blank says it’s an important step.

The approval is important for Iowa, as construction in Iowa cannot begin until the project is fully approved in North and South Dakota. The Sierra Club of Iowa’s Jessica Mazour says pipeline opponents are disappointed in the permit decision but that the fight is far from over.

Summit plans to reapply for a route permit in South Dakota on Tuesday (Nov. 19).

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Hawkeyes Close Postseason at NCAA Midwest Regional

Sports

November 15th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

PEORIA, Ill. — The University of Iowa men’s and women’s cross country teams wrapped up postseason competition on Friday at the NCAA Midwest Regional. The men placed 13th with a score of 389 points, while the women finished in 17th place with 478 points.

In the men’s 10,000-meter race, junior Will Ryan (30:42.6), sophomore Miles Wilson (30:45.7), and junior Brayden Burnett (31:11.8) all recorded new personal bests. Senior Miriam Sandeen set a personal best with a time of 20:55.5 in the women’s 6,000-meter race.

The woman began the morning, led by Sandeen, who placed 51st. She was followed by freshman Elena Torres in 71st (21:12.6), senior Amber Aesoph in 108th (21:35.1), freshman Hillary Trainor in 117th (21:45.7) and junior Jalyssa Blazek in 134th (22:02.1).

Ryan led the men, finishing 58th, while Wilson landed in 61st. They were followed by freshmen Kyle Montgomery (31:07.3) and Ethan Eichhorn (31:09.6), who placed 88th and 93rd, respectively. Burnett rounded out the top five runners in 97th place.

HEAR FROM COACH HASENBANK
“Will Ryan and Miriam Sandeen competed the best they have all season. Miriam got started in a much better position and competed well the entire race. Will was the right kind of patient today, leading to a very good result. Miles Wilson put the wraps on an excellent sophomore campaign very consistent in every race.

The freshmen were fantastic. For Kyle (Montgomery) and Ethan (Eichhorn) to make their 10K debuts on a stage like this is really impressive. Those two were in lockstep the entire race and ultra-competitive on the course today. Elena (Torres) and Hillary (Trainor) were equally impressive. What they brought to the team this fall was consistency at a high level and a lot of confidence for a couple of very talented young women. Very proud of these four freshmen.”

HAWKEYE RESULTS
Men’s 10,000 meters
58. Will Ryan-30:42.6, PR
61. Miles Wilson- 30:45.7, PR
88. Kyle Montgomery- 31:07.3
93. Ethan Eichhorn- 31:09.6
97. Brayden Burnett- 31:11.8, PR
134. Hayden Kuhn- 31:56.8
160. Carson Houg- 32:31.9

Women’s 6,000 meters
51. Miriam Sandeen- 20:55.5, PR
71. Elena Torres- 21:12.6
108. Amber Aesoph- 21:35.1
117. Hillary Trainor- 21:45.7
134. Jalyssa Blazek- 22:02.1
135. Abby Ryon- 22:07.0, PR
182. Aleah Tenpas- 22:50.8

Posted in Sports |

EVELYN JENSEN, 81, of Massena (A private family Mass will be held)

Obituaries

November 15th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

EVELYN JENSEN, 81, of Massena, died Friday, November 15, 2024, at Cass Health in Atlantic.  Per her wishes, a private family Mass will be held for EVELYN JENSEN. Lamb Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Visitation:  On Saturday, November 30, 2024, anyone that would like to stop by the house (105 East Cedar Street, Massena, IA 50853) from 1pm – 4pm to say hello and pay their respects are welcome.

Memorials may be directed to the Evelyn Jensen memorial fund to be established by the family at a later date.

EVELYN JENSEN is survived by:

Her son – John Jensen, of Massena.

Her daughter – Barbette (James) Hatcher, of Liberty, MO.

Her sisters – Carolyn Wojick, of LaVista, NE., and Janice (Loren) Pogreba, of Austin, TX.

1 grandson, other relatives and friends.

Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.

Posted in Obituaries |

Atlantic man gets his ‘Woo-Hoo Moment’ with a $30,000 Lottery win

News

November 15th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

CLIVE, Iowa — A Cass County man said he was thrilled after scratching off a $30,000 lottery prize. 74-year-old George Evans., of Atlantic, said “Yesterday was one of my highlights of my life.” Evans claimed his prize Thursday at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. “I go, ‘Woo hoo!’ That’s a woo-hoo moment!”

Evans won the fourth top prize in the Iowa Lottery’s “High Striker” scratch game. He bought a pair of tickets at Casey’s, 701 Poplar St. in Atlantic. The first ticket he scratched won $50, and Evans said he was excited. After he scratched the second, he was elated. Evans said “I thought, you know, everybody’s got the same chance. Someday, I’m going to win a big” prize, he said. “Well, yesterday was that day.”

George Evans, of Atlantic

Evans said after his big win, he tried to tell his family, but they refused to believe him until he showed them the lucky ticket. He also told his grandson, who was quick to offer a suggestion for how to use some of the winnings. “He went right into the other room, got a book that had electric motor scooters in it, and he says, ‘Can you get this one?'” Evans said with a laugh. Evans said he plans to put his winnings toward paying bills and an upcoming family cruise.

George Evans served the City of Atlantic for 39-years, including as Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent until his retirement in 2012.

High Striker is a $3 scratch game that features eight top prizes of $30,000 and overall odds of 1 in 3.88. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit ialottery.com.

Posted in News |