United Group Insurance

Google and MidAmerican Energy Company Announce Energy Agreement

News

April 22nd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Officials with Google and MidAmerican Energy have announced an agreement for MidAmerican Energy to supply Google’s Council Bluffs data center with up to 407 megawatts of wind-sourced energy. The wind power will come from several wind projects that are part of MidAmerican Energy’s Wind VIII program, an initiative under which MidAmerican Energy will bring 1,050 megawatts of new Iowa wind power online by the end of 2015. Officials say the agreement fully supplies the first phase of Google’s facilities in Council Bluffs with 100% renewable wind energy, bundled with and tracked by renewable energy certificates, and will allow additional phases to be supplied with wind-sourced energy as the company grows in Iowa.

Google has been working with MidAmerican Energy to procure additional renewable resources since the construction of Google’s data center in Iowa in 2007, and when MidAmerican Energy filed for approval for Wind VIII it had companies like Google in mind as customers.  The agreement represents Google’s sixth and largest renewable energy purchase to date, bringing the total amount of renewable energy Google has contracted for to over one gigawatt (1,000 megawatts).

8AM Newscast 04-22-2014

News, Podcasts

April 22nd, 2014 by admin

w/ Ric Hanson

Play

Heartbeat Today 04-22-2014

Heartbeat Today, Podcasts

April 22nd, 2014 by admin

Jim Field talks about some tips for those spring DIY projects around the house.

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Baked Stuffed Eggs (4-22-14)

Mom's Tips

April 22nd, 2014 by Jim Field

(Here’s a great recipe to utilize all those leftover hard-cooked eggs from Easter.  Serve with fresh asparagus for a real springtime meal.)

Stuffed Eggs:

  • 6 hard-cooked eggs
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
  • 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
  • 1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Slice eggs in half lengthwise; remove yolks and set whites aside.  In a bowl, mash yolks with a fork.  Add sour cream, mustard and salt; mix well.  Evenly fill the egg whites; set aside.  In a saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender.  Add soup and sour cream; mix well.  Pour half into an ungreased 11 x 7 inch baking pan.  Arrange stuffed eggs over the sauce.  Spoon remaining sauce on top.  Sprinkle with cheese and paprika.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through.  Serve immediately.  YIELD:  6 servings.

(Lorraine Bylsma, Eustis, Florida)

 

 

7AM Newscast 04-22-2014

News, Podcasts

April 22nd, 2014 by admin

w/ Ric Hanson

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Monday Track Results

Sports

April 22nd, 2014 by Jim Field

Treynor Cardinal Boys Relays

  1. West Harrison 106
  2. Treynor 105
  3. Audubon 77
  4. Griswold 74
  5. Riverside 73
  6. Underwood 56
  7. A-H-S-T-Walnut 46
  8. Clarinda Academy 18

CLICK HERE for complete results!

Ace Nelson Relays @ Denison

Girls:

  1. Dension 166
  2. Maple Valley 132
  3. IKM-Manning 117
  4. Charter Oak-Ute 72
  5. Boyer Valley 64
  6. Denison JV 11
  7. Ar-We-Va 10
  8. IKM-Manning JV 5

Ace Nelson Girls scoring 4.21.14

Boys:

  1. Denison 150
  2. IKM-Manning 146
  3. Boyer Valley 113
  4. Maple Valley 98
  5. Ar-We-Va 26
  6. IKM-Manning JV 7
  7. Denison JV 6
  8. Maple Valley JV 5

Ace Nelson Boys scoring 4.21.14 (2)

(Podcast) Skyscan Forecast: Tue., April 22nd 2014

Podcasts, Weather

April 22nd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

The (Podcast) Freese-Notis weather forecast for the KJAN listening area, and weather information for Atlantic.

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Monday Golf/Soccer/Tennis Results

Sports

April 22nd, 2014 by Jim Field

GIRLS GOLF:

Valley West Des Moines Girls Classic played at Willow Creek in Des Moines.

  1. Valley 318
  2. Waukee 319
  3. Atlantic 333
  4. Johnston 339
  5. Newton 355
  6. Marshalltown 360
  7. Valley Orange 364
  8. Mason City 368
  9. Hoover/Roosevelt 368
  10. SE Polk 372
  11. Ames 380
  12. Ankeny 381
  13. Urbandale 407
  14. Indianola 437

Brooke Fletcher, Atlantic finished 3rd (40-36-76); champion Jasmine Wyzgowski, Waukee, 73

Other Atlantic scores:

  • Brooke Newell 41-40-81
  • Erin Olsen 46-40-86
  • Bailey Walter 46-44-90
  • McKenna DenBeste 53-48-101
  • Sarah Fixmer 59-52-111

ALSO:

  • Tri-Center 242, Logan-Magnolia no team score (Medalist: Hayley Fischer, Tri-Center 58)
  • Clarinda 199, Creston 212 (Medalist: Maddy Davidson, Clarinda 45)
  • Red Oak 240, Glenwood 305 (Medalist: Ellen Fellers, Red Oak 56)
  • A-H-S-T-Walnut 225, Riverside & Nishnabotna no team scores (Medalist: Ellen Johnson, Riverside 48)
  • Southwest Valley 192, CAM no team score (Medalist: Gentry Johannes, Southwest Valley 46)
  • Underwood 228, Griswold 244 (Medalist: Natalie Casson, Underwood 51 & Hattie Dalke, Griswold 51)

BOYS GOLF:

  • IKM-Manning 183, Missouri Valley 235 (Medalist: Jacob Tank, IKM-Manning 44)
  • Tri-Center 191, Logan-Magnolia 199 (Medalist: Wes Zimmerman, Tri-Center 43)
  • Griswold 168, Underwood 190 (Medalist: James Reynolds, Griswold 35)
  • Southwest Valley 176, CAM 199 (Medalist: Evan Baldwin, Southwest Valley 33)
  • Riverside 183, A-H-S-T-Walnut 192 (Medalist: Tyler Krueger, Riverside 42)
  • Glenwood 152, Red Oak 185 (Medalist: Kobe Rhodes, Glenwood 35)
  • Creston 155, Clarinda 163 (Medalist: Carlton Rahn, Clarinda 35)

GIRLS SOCCER:

  • Underwood 5, Atlantic 0
  • Nodaway Valley/West Central Valley/Adair-Casey 5, Riverside 1
  • Harlan 4, Missouri Valley 0
  • Thomas Jefferson 4, Tri-Center 1

BOYS SOCCER:

  • Underwood 2, Lewis Central 0
  • Creston 10, Nodaway Valley 0

GIRLS TENNIS:

  • Red Oak 9, Glenwood 0
  • Lewis Central 9, St. Albert 0
  • Kuemper Catholic 8, Harlan 1

BOYS TENNIS:

  • Glenwood 8, Red Oak 1
  • Kuemper Catholic 8, Harlan 1

Farming technology raises questions about information privacy

Ag/Outdoor

April 22nd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Farmers are use technology such as G-P-S and weather reports these days to save time and money and increase crop yields, and many are being asked to share their data collected from that technology. The sharing issue has raised many worries about security and privacy. The American Farm Bureau Federation recently met with officials from six, large “agricultural technology” companies to discuss those concerns. Mary Kay Thatcher, Senior Director of Congressional Relations for the federation, says the new question is whether to share all the different data for agronomists to sift through and to help improve efficiency.

“If you’re a farmer you don’t want to have to go in and read a data privacy policy from John Deere, because that’s the kind of equipment you have, and a different one from Monsanto because that’s the kind of seed that you put in, and a different one from Precision Planting because that’s the actual technology that you use — and try to figure out what’s going on there. We’d like to try and get some of these definitions and terms standardized,” Thatcher says. Farmers want to know exactly how their data will be used and who will have access to it. Thatcher says the vast majority of the 60 companies that offer “ag tech” services say they will make the details anonymous.

“Usually it means I’ll remove the name if I have the Social Security number, if I have an address, a phone number etcetera. But lots of time they are not removing the G-P-S locations — because it’s the G-P-S locations that say ‘put more fertilizer on this part of the field’,” she explains. The problem is, those G-P-S coordinates are a big key to other information.  “If you’ve got the G-P-S coordinates, you pretty much know who I am and what farm I’m farming on,” Thatcher says.

There are questions about who gets to see all the aggregated information. For example, could the U-S E-P-A identify farmers who idle their equipment for what it considers too long to be good for air quality? Or could a seed dealer learn how planting is going for local farmers and use that information to compete in their own fields? Or could investment banks and traders use it to make a lot of money on commodities markets?

(Radio Iowa)

Hazardous Weather outlook: 4/22-24

Weather

April 22nd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

AREA COUNTIES: SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON- CASS-ADAMS
503 AM CDT TUE APR 22 2014

TODAY AND TONIGHT:  AN ISOLATED NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE POSSIBLE   LATE TONIGHT.

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY: THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY NIGHT…WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THE MAIN SEVERE THREATS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MIGHT BE NEEDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

MONONA-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-FREMONT COUNTIES

TODAY AND TONIGHT: FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BE IN THE VERY HIGH CATEGORY THIS AFTERNOON. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AFTER MIDNIGHT.

WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY: A STRONG UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA BY LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW STRONG OR SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED…AND LATER OUTLOOKS WILL PROVIDE    BETTER DETAILS ON TIMING AND MAIN THREATS. THERE REMAINS A SMALL CHANCE THAT STRONG STORMS COULD LINGER OR REDEVELOP OVER EASTERN PARTS OF THE AREA INTO THURSDAY.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

HARRISON-SHELBY-MONTGOMERY-PAGE COUNTIES

TODAY AND TONIGHT: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT AFTER MIDNIGHT. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.