Jim Field visits with Duane & Shirley Acker of Atlantic about their experiences with President George H. W. Bush during their time at Kansas State University and while serving in the Reagan and Bush administrations.
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The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.
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DONIS SCHRUM CHRISTENSEN, 53, of Ankeny (formerly of Atlantic) died Thursday, November 29 in Des Moines. A memorial visitation for DONIS SCHRUM CHRISTENSEN will be held on Thursday, December 6th from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Hamilton Funeral Home near Highland Memory Gardens, 121 NW 60th Avenue in Des Moines.
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Memorial contributions may be directed to the family in loving memory of Donis.
Condolences may be expressed online at: www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.
DONIS SCHRUM CHRISTENSEN is survived by:
Children: Monica Brewer, Matthew Brewer, and Mark Clason.
Brothers: Darwin Schrum, Darrell Schrum, Duane Schrum, Doug Schrum, and David Schrum; Terry (Jayne) Brewer.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Concerns about student-to-student bullying have led the Ames school district to suspend its middle school principal. District spokesman Eric Smidt says the decision to move out principal Dan Fox wasn’t based off just one incident but rather was an effort to improve Ames Middle School. The district said in an email to parents and staffers last week that district administrators “will be working on various measures to ensure there is a safe and orderly environment for teaching and learning.”
Concerns were raised by parents and students, and an online petition appeared that sought improved safety for LGBTQ students at the school. Officials say Fox still works for district and is being paid while on suspension.
The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson
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(Radio Iowa) — New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg spent Tuesday in Iowa, touting a film about climate change that he financed and promising he’ll make a decision “early next year” about whether he’ll run for president and — maybe — sell his business. Bloomberg stopped at a Cedar Rapids solar panel company, talked with students in learning to maintain wind turbines, met with activists seeking gun restrictions. Last night, Bloomberg spoke at the showing of the film highlighting people, including a few Iowans, who are embracing renewable energy alternatives. A past skeptic of ethanol subsidies, Bloomberg embraced the corn-based fuel. “I think that ethanol and biofuels are part of the mix. There’s a place for it. I think eventually you’d like to get to a world where we don’t burn anything. That’s the way that you really clean the air the most, but we’re a long ways from that…E10 or E15 is part of the mix and it’s going to be part of the mix for a long time.”
Bloomberg spoke with Radio Iowa for nearly 20 minutes, sketching out the purpose of his possible presidential bid. “You work hard. If it works, it works and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Bloomberg said, “but my main objective would be to try to focus everybody on the main issues facing this country.” Bloomberg, who is 76, served a dozen years as New York City’s mayor. He founded the Bloomberg media company focused on news and market information. Bloomberg says Tuesday’s downturn in the stock market was caused by uncertainty about President Trump’s negotiations with China. “I think that Trump is right in saying that the relationship we have with China is not fair. We haven’t fought that battle in a long, long time…We should stand up to China,” Bloomberg says. “…Having said that, the ways you do it is as important as the fact that you’re doing it.”
Bloomberg suggests Trump has mistakenly approached negotiations like a “real estate promoter.” “In his view, there’s a winner and a loser in every transaction and I think that’s a very simplistic approach to the world. You always want to have the other person to think they didn’t get everything they wanted, but they got something and they want to think you didn’t because you’re going to have to go back and do another deal at another time,” Bloomberg said. “…You don’t want to win each time. You want to move up.”
Bloomberg told Radio Iowa if he does run for president, he will either place his company in a blind trust or sell it. “But I think at my age, if selling it is possible, I would do that,” Bloomberg said. “At some point, you’re going to die anyway, so you want to do it before then.”
(Radio Iowa) — The official start of winter is still a couple of weeks off but Iowans are already slipping and sliding on ice and snow-covered sidewalks, steps and roadways. Julie Richter, with the Wright County Department of Public Health, suggests Iowans stock-up on ice melting products and — chicken grit. “Some of the local coops have what’s called chicken grit that you can put down, too, that gives you a little bit more prepared surface so it’s not so slick,” Richter says. “A lot of elderly folks can’t get out and spread it themselves, so if they’ve got a local neighbor or friend that can come over and spread it.”
Chicken grit is sharp, crushed stone, typically used by birds to help grind up seeds. To help keep your footing, ice and snow grips that go over boots and shoes are available at stores statewide, as well. Richter says we all need to remember to take our time when headed out into the slick elements on foot. “Slow down and don’t hurry and don’t try to carry a whole bunch of things with you,” she says. “Maybe make a couple of trips because the faster you go, the easier it is to slip and fall.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 42-thousand-480 workplace injuries involving ice, sleet or snow occurred in 2014.
(Radio Iowa) — Florida voters chose last month to close all of that state’s dog tracks in 2020 — but the head of Iowa’s only greyhound racing track says he expects to be in business for at least a few more years. Iowa saw the number of dog tracks cut in half after the Iowa Legislature passed a bill in 2014 that shut down the Council Bluffs Greyhound track and turned over management of the Iowa Greyhound Park in Dubuque to the Iowa Greyhound Association. Track general manager, Brian Carpenter, says the closing of Florida’s 11 tracks by the end of 2020 could mean fewer dogs being bred to run at other tracks, including Iowa’s. “You know, I’ve heard over the years for many years how we were coming to an end, and we’re still hanging in there 34 years later. Hopefully we’ll have many more, but we’ll see what happens,” Carpenter says.
Iowa’s greyhound season runs from May through October, and many of the dogs at the Dubuque track have run in Florida during the winter. Jason Hess owns Xtrem Hess Racing kennel in Dubuque, one of nine that breed dogs that race at the Iowa facility. He says he’ll breed fewer greyhounds right away. “Because with less tracks coming — it takes about 18 months when puppies start racing, so almost two years after breeding them — and that’s when Florida is going to be ending. But we do have some tracks left, so we’re still going to be operational,” Hess says.
He says says it could become difficult to get enough dogs to race a full season. The Dubuque track will be one of just six greyhound tracks left in the U-S once Florida shuts down its track.
(Radio Iowa) — Another retailer is downsizing in Iowa. Officials with Shopko Stores Operating Company LLC in Green Bay, Wisconsin have announced that three Shopko Hometown stores in Iowa will be closing their doors in February. The stores are located in Cherokee, Eldora and Webster City. Company officials said the closing is based on long-term profitability, sales trends and potential growth not coming in. Shopko operates approximately 360 stores in 25 states. The liquidation sale at the three stores will begin later this week.
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