The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.0MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Adair County Secondary Roads Department reports an upcoming construction project will start on Monday, April 20th, and last for 5-7 weeks, weather permitting. The slightly more than 7-mile long asphalt paving and resurfacing project on County Road (CR) G-27 (160th St.) starts at the Adair-Cass county line and continues east to Fontanelle Road. The portion from the Adair-Cass County line to Delta Ave. will be closed to through traffic. A detour for the closed portion will be as shown on the map below. The remaining portion will be open to traffic using flaggers and pilot cars.
**All Winter Weather Advisories and Watches have been cancelled***
Today: Mostly cloudy this morning w/light snow ending. Some areas of fog; Gradually becoming Partly cloudy. High 43. NW @ 5-10.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low around 29. South southwest wind 5-10 mph.
Saturday: Mostly Sunny & breezy. High near 60. SW @ 15-25 w/gusts to near 30.
Sunday: Becoming cloudy. High near 57. N/NE @ 10-20.
Monday: Mostly cloudy. High near 55.
Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 38. Our Low this morning was 29. We received 3.8″ of snow here at the KJAN studios Thursday afternoon into early this morning. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 74 and the Low was 40. The Record High on April 17th was 85 in 2004. The Record Low was 11, in 1907.
A Red Oak woman was arrested at around 7:35-p.m. Thursday, for Public Intoxication. 37-year old Risa Mae Lutton was taken into custody in the 2300 block of N. 4th Street in Red Oak, and transported to the Montgomery County Jail. Her bond was set at $300.
Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have brought back the majority of their free agents that helped deliver them their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. That means they have few holes to fill heading into the three-day NFL draft, giving them the luxury of doing just about anything they want. They could trade away the No. 32 overall selection and accumulate more picks, or they could use it on a position such as defensive back or running back where they are comparatively thin. Regardless, the Chiefs need to find cost-controlled depth from their rookie class with a big contract coming soon for quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former Ohio State basketball player D.J. Carton is transferring to Marquette. The 6-foot-2 guard from Bettendorf, Iowa, has three seasons of eligibility remaining. Marquette’s statement announcing Carton’s addition didn’t indicate whether he was planning to seek a waiver enabling him to play for his new team immediately. Carton averaged 10.4 points and played 20 games for Ohio State this season but announced last month he was leaving the team because of mental health issues. Carton was rated as the nation’s No. 34 prospect in his high school class, according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Denzel Mahoney has joined Creighton teammate Ty-Shon Alexander in declaring for the NBA draft. Mahoney played 21 games for the Bluejays after transferring from Southeast Missouri and averaged 12 points and three rebounds as a reserve wing. Mahoney has the option to return to school after going through the evaluation process by league executives as long as he doesn’t sign with an agent and withdrawals from the draft by June 3. Alexander was a first-team All-Big East selection. He declared for the draft last Friday.
(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s congressional delegation and the leaders of ag and commodity groups are warning the coronavirus pandemic significantly damaging the rural economy. Some dairy farmers have dumped milk due to the dramatic drop in demand. Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor who served eight years as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, is now president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. He’s joining the call for federal purchases of dairy products for food banks.
“It’s time for the USDA to minimize the barriers to getting food supplies out to people in need,” Vilsack says, “and it’s time for them to maximize creativity in terms of the assistance and help that it can provide.” Former Iowa Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge is co-founder of a group called Focus on Rural America. She says the mom-and-pop shops that small towns depend upon will die without more federal support.
“We are facing tough, tough times,” she says. “…We cannot structure aid packages so that only the big survive.” She says bailouts to airlines, oil companies and cruise lines won’t help the rural economy. National Farmers Union President Rob Larew says aid must go to those who need it the most. “It needs to be swift. It needs to be targeted and it needs to be done with an eye toward the long-term viability of these rural communities and for family farmers.”
Senator Chuck Grassley tweeted yesterday (Thursday) that he’s asked President Trump to give special attention to the closure of pork and beef processing plants. Grassley, along with Senator Joni Ernst, Congressman Dave Loebsack and Congresswomen Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer have all co-signed a letter to the U-S-D-A. They’re asking the agency to compensate farmers who cannot sell their cattle and pigs because the plants in Columbus Junction and Tama are closed.
Earlier this week, Congressman Steve King accused the meatpacking industry of manipulating prices and he called for a federal investigation.
(Radio Iowa) — The federal program providing emergency loans to small businesses has run out of money. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst supports providing the program an additional 250-BILLION in federal funds. “As of Tuesday, there were more than 22,000 loans that had been approved with small businesses receiving $3.5 billion so far,” Ernst says, “and that’s just the state of Iowa.”
Senate Democrats say they support putting another quarter of a trillion dollars in the small business loan program — but they’re asking for more money for hospitals as well as states and local governments hit with pandemic-related expenses. Republicans like Ernst say a discussion about that assistance can wait and the senate needs to quickly pass a simple bill that just provides more money for small businesses.
“No political gimmicks, just a simple ask to put more money in this program,” Ernst says. “Unfortunately, politics got in the way.” Congress originally approved 350 BILLION dollars for what’s called the “Paycheck Protection Program” since the small business loans will be forgiven if the 75 percent of the loan is used to pay workers. The 350-BILLION dollars ran out yesterday (Thursday).
Also yesterday, Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann blasted a pro-Democratic group for running an ad that criticizes Ernst. The ad features a doctor who’s the spouse of a former Iowa Democratic Party leader.
(Radio Iowa) — An Iowa native who first gained fame from his role on “That ’70s Show” has a COVID-19 message for his home state.
Ashton Kutcher’s 30-second public service message about staying at home was debuted by Governor Kim Reynolds yesterday (Thursday) at her daily news conference. Kutcher is not visible in the message, but his voice narrates as video of Iowa families, at home, leads to video of health care workers on the front lines of fighting the disease. It ends with the hash tag #Iowans Unite and the new state website with coronavirus on the screen.
Kutcher is a Cedar Rapids native. Cedar Rapids is in the 14-county region of the state where the governor has just forbid most public gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. No additional business closures have been ordered in the area.
(Radio Iowa) — Officials at a pork processing plant in Sioux City say an employee has a confirmed case of COVID-19. The Seaboard Triumph plant employs 24-hundred. The company announced in a news release that the employee who has COVID-19 has not reported to work since being tested and there are no other confirmed cases of the coronavirus connected to the plant.
Two other meat packing plants in Iowa, in Tama and Columbus Junction, are closed due to outbreaks of the virus among employees. Yesterday (Thursday), Iowa’s governor said there is a suspected outbreak at the pork plant in Waterloo that is still operating.
One of the nation’s largest pork processing facilities — in Sioux Falls, South Dakota — is closed. More than 600 employees there have tested positive for COVID-19 and one worker has died.
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