OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Anyone who handles anhydrous ammonia fertilizer is encouraged to attend safety training because it can be dangerous if it is mishandled. One of the next training opportunities will be on Nov. 29 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Dan Neenan with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety says it’s important to understand the hazards of anhydrous ammonia and to use proper safety gear, especially a full-face respirator.

Neenan says anhydrous ammonia will freeze human tissue on contact and cause chemical burns.
The training costs $10. More information is available by calling 800-551-9029.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowans who drive cars with advanced technology are finding they’re much more expensive to repair. A study shows cars equipped with “advanced driver assistance systems” may cost twice as much to fix after crashes or even fender-benders. Beth Mosher, at Triple-A-Iowa, says “high tech” features are important in preventing crashes, but they’re not cheap to replace after a wreck. “Front radar sensors used with automatic braking, that can cost anywhere from $900 to $1,300,” Mosher says. “The rear radar sensors, used with blind spot monitoring and the rear traffic alert systems, those cost anywhere from $850 to just over $2,000.”

Sensors, cameras and other devices are being embedded in bumpers, side mirrors and windshields. Mosher says even minor damage might need to be fixed right away. “Something that people think, ‘Oh, I’ve got a small chip there, I’ll get to it when I can,’ but that could really distort the camera sensor that’s behind that windshield,” Mosher says. “It could become a necessary repair instead of just something that we’ll get to when we’re able to.”

Car owners should make sure their mechanics are qualified to calibrate advanced driving systems. The study shows one in three Americans can’t afford an unexpected car repair bill, even as low as 500-dollars.

Mosher says Triple-A has several recommendations for car owners:
– Learn about repair costs when shopping for a car
– Discuss them with your insurance agent
– Start saving money for emergency repairs

(Radio Iowa) — The new president of the Iowa Association of Realtors says the housing market in the state has evened out. John Goede is a Realtor in Spencer and says the most recent numbers available showed September sales dropped by nearly 13 percent compared to last year, but the overall yearly sales are down only one-point-six percent. Goede says the median sale price was up four-point-two percent even though the inventory of homes is rising. He says agents are using social media more to generate interest in houses — and there’s also a new trend being used. “A coming soon type thing where you actually market the property before it is ready to show to the public. And that’s created some buzz to and sometimes the first time you have it on the market you may have multiple showings — and then within the next day or so you could have multiple offers,” Goede says. “That’s brought up some prices.”

Interest rates have gone up some this year, but he says they are not a point where they will have a big impact. “It’s still so low that they if they pay an extra couple thousand dollars, the monthly payment is affected maybe less than five dollars per thousand that they borrow,” according to Goede. He says many homeowners who took it on the chin when the house bubble burst, are now seeing some turnaround. He says the crash of 2008 was real and people lost as much as 10 percent of their equity. Goede says we are having “a steady, not alarming” raise in prices.

Goede says things are evening out so both sides tend to be happy when a house is sold. “It’s been a good market for both. You usually says is this a sellers market or buyers market,” he says, “There’s indications that buyers are still in a pretty good position to buy and sellers are getting a fair price and can expect to be able to live in a house for two or three or four or five years and be able to sell it for a slight gain.”

Goede says the season trend for the rest of the year is for sales to fall off as the weather gets colder. The median sales price for a home was 160-thousand dollars in September compared to 153-thousand-500 in September 2017.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report the arrest at around 8:07-a.m. Saturday, of 26-year old Justin Lewis Marsden, of Red Oak. Marsden was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond, for charges that include Eluding, Reckless Driving, and Interference with Official Acts.  Deputies were assisted during the incident, by Red Oak Police.