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Dense fog continues across west-central/central IA this morning

Weather

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

639 AM CDT THU SEP 18 2014

…AREAS OF FOG DENSE IN PLACES…

CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS HAVE ALLOWED THE TEMPERATURE TO DROP RAPIDLY OVERNIGHT. AREAS OF FOG HAVE FORMED…ESPECIALLY IN LOW LYING AREAS AND IN RIVER VALLEYS…WITH VISIBILITY REDUCED TO UNDER ONE QUARTER MILE IN A FEW LOCATIONS. PATCHY DENSE FOG IS MOST WIDESPREAD SOUTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 20. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE
AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUDDEN VISIBILITY CHANGES AND ALLOW FOR EXTRA TRAVEL TIME TO REACH THEIR DESTINATION.

THE FOG WILL BEGIN LIFTING SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE AND DISSIPATE BY MID MORNING.

Posted in Weather |

MERWYN BROWN, 81, (formerly of Harlan) – Svcs. 9/20/14

Obituaries

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

MERWYN BROWN, 81, of Beaumont, TX (& formerly of Harlan), died Sept. 2nd, in Beaumont. An outdoor Celebration of Life gathering for MERWYN BROWN will be held at the home of Gary and Karol Robertson, of Elk Horn this Saturday (Sept. 20th), from Noon until 4-p.m. .

MERWYN BROWN is survived by:
His children – Gaige, of Harlan; & Todd, Debra and Dennis, of Castle Rock, CO.
His sister – Karol (Gary) Robertson, of Elk Horn.
His brother – Cleo (Katie) Brown, of Urbandale.
8 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

Commodities prices predicted to drop further for farmers

Ag/Outdoor, News

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Iowa farmers are preparing to roll out their combines for harvest season but they may be hitting the fields in a few weeks with mixed emotions. A new report from the U-S Department of Agriculture projects a four-point-three bushel-per-acre increase in the corn yield nationwide. The U-S-D-A’s chief economist Joe Glauber says that much corn means only one thing. “No question, looking at lower prices as a result,” Glauber says.

Corn prices have been falling all summer and the latest projection shows another 21-percent decrease in prices in the next marketing year for corn. Soybean prices are also expected to drop 23-percent. Iowa is the nation’s top producer of both corn and soybeans so those statistics will hit especially hard here. “The question is, where does all this look once you’ve netted out the cost of production,” Glauber says. “I think the real factor there looming has been the high cash rents. We know cash rents have gone up over the last few years. In some areas, they’ve begun to come down a little bit and we’d expect with lower returns, certainly, that those will come down.”

However, what was paid for cash rent this year is what will go into the production formulas. A U-S-D-A report out last week found the average price to rent Iowa farmland has gone up slightly this year, averaging 260-dollars per acre for corn and soybean ground. That’s about five-dollars an acre higher than last year. Glauber says it may be a challenge to find places to put all of the bumper crop.
“Pressure on storage capacity is going to put pressure on transportation,” he says. “There are already problems in the transportation service, particularly in the Northern Plains, where we’ve seen bases widening, long delays.”

Glauber says the good news is — there is a market for all that corn about to be harvested as ethanol production and exports remain very strong. Iowa is the nation’s top ethanol producer.

(Radio Iowa)

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

LOUISE A. SMITH, 66, of Atlantic (Svcs. 9/20/14)

Obituaries

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

LOUISE A. SMITH, 66, of Atlantic, died Wed., Sept. 17th, at her home. Funeral services for LOUISE SMITH will be held 10-a.m. Sat., Sept. 20th, at the 1st United Presbyterian Church in Atlantic. Roland Funeral Home in Atlantic has the arrangements.

Visitation at the funeral home is from 5-to 8-pm Friday, with the family present. Online condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.

Burial will be in the Atlantic Cemetery.

Memorials may be directed to the family for later designation.

LOUISE SMITH is survived by:

Her husband – Wayne Smith.

Her daughters – Lisa (Jeff) Metheny, & Amy (Jason) Berg, all of Griswold.

Her son – Nathan (Lisa) Smith, of Granger.

and 9 grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

Beware of dense fog this morning (9/18/14)

Weather

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

AREA COUNTIES: SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD

…PATCHY DENSE FOG IN LOW LYING AREAS…

CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS HAVE ALLOWED THE TEMPERATURE TO DROP RAPIDLY OVERNIGHT. PATCHY FOG HAS FORMED…ESPECIALLY IN LOW LYING AREAS AND IN RIVER VALLEYS…WITH VISIBILITY REDUCED TO UNDER ONE QUARTER MILE IN A FEW LOCATIONS. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUDDEN VISIBILITY CHANGES AND ALLOW FOR EXTRA TRAVEL TIME TO REACH THEIR DESTINATION.

Posted in Weather |

NWS/KJAN listening area weather forecast – 9/18/14

Weather

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

345 AM CDT THU SEP 18 2014

EARLY THIS MORNING…PARTLY CLOUDY. PATCHY FOG. EAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.

TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. PATCHY FOG THROUGH MID MORNING. HIGH IN THE MID 70S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY UNTIL EARLY MORNING…THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EARLY IN THE MORNING. LOW IN THE UPPER 50S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING…THEN MOSTLY SUNNY IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE UPPER 60S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

SATURDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

SUNDAY…MOSTLY CLEAR. HIGH IN THE MID 70S.

Posted in Weather |

Wainwright shutout, 19th win as Cards beat Brewers

Sports

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright posted his 19th win, pitching a shutout Wednesday night as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 to hold their 2½-game edge in the NL Central. Wainwright worked around seven hits and tied for the major league lead in wins and shutouts.

St. Louis has won four of five and kept its advantage over second-place Pittsburgh. Milwaukee dropped 2 1/2 games behind the Pirates for the second NL wild-card spot. Mike Fiers held the Cardinals hitless until Wainwright singled up the middle with two outs in the sixth. It was Fiers’ first start since beaning Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton last week, ending his season.

Posted in Sports |

Chiefs QB Smith takes responsibility for offense

Sports

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The past two weeks, when the Kansas City Chiefs have struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone, Andy Reid has insisted that he needs to put his players in better position to succeed. What happens when he puts the Chiefs in a bad position, though? Well, the Chiefs are paying quarterback Alex Smith a bunch of cash to get them out of it.

Smith said Wednesday that while his coach often takes responsibility for the shortcomings of the offense, the burden lies on the players to execute on the field. For Smith, who just signed a new contract extension, that means making wise decisions with the ball — and checking out of bad plays that Reid may have called.

Posted in Sports |

Hospitals expect number of births to increase

News

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Hospitals around the state are projecting a slight increase in birth rates. Nurse Deborah Tell at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines says the economy is finally stable enough for people to have children.  “You know I do think it has increased, especially here at our hospital. You know I look at the national statistics that have said the last few years the birth rates went down, but now they are coming back up again,” Tell says. Tell says the weather in the winter months at the start of the year can sometimes have an impact on the birthrate.

“We can look back and see when there was maybe a major storm and schools were closed and businesses were closed — or if it’s extra cold and people don’t go out as much,” Tell says. The eighth and ninth months of the year, August and September, are known for having some of the highest birth rates of the year.

(Radio Iowa)

Posted in News |

Iowa early News Headlines: Thu., Sept. 18th 2014

News

September 18th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrat Bruce Braley is focusing on policy in his bid to win Iowa’s U.S. Senate contest and his recent television ads have featured others talking about the four-term congressman’s record. Braley’s Republican opponent Joni Ernst has built her campaign around telling voters her story as a down-home farm girl and military veteran. A poll of likely Iowa voters released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University showed Ernst leading Braley 50 percent to 44 percent. The poll — which had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points — was the first recent survey to show Ernst with such a lead.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad issued a disaster emergency proclamation yesterday regarding four Iowa counties in response to recent severe weather. The proclamation covers Adair, Guthrie, Ringgold, and Warren counties following severe weather and heavy rains on September 9th.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport alderman has defended his right to carry a concealed weapon into City Hall. Alderman Bill Edmond told the Quad-City Times on Tuesday that he carries his weapon for personal protection.

OELWEIN, Iowa (AP) — The former mayor of a northeast Iowa city pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges alleging he sexually abused two girls. Court records show 36-year-old Jason Manus entered the plea to five counts of second-degree sexual abuse. The former mayor of Oelwein was scheduled to go on trial October 8th.

Posted in News |