(Radio Iowa) – Authorities are investigating the cause of an apparent home explosion in north-central Iowa around nine o’clock last (Sunday) night. Fire departments from Duncombe, Vincent, Woolstock and Webster City responded to the scene two miles northeast of Duncombe. The home was unoccupied with no injuries reported.
The one and a half story house was completely leveled, with debris landing 50 to 100 yards away.
The Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office reports Larry Dale Trower, of Mount Ayr, was arrested a little after 7-p.m., Friday, for Assault while Displaying a Dangerous Weapon. Trower was transported to the Ringgold County Hospital, and upon discharge he was arrested on the ADW charge and transported and booked into the Ringgold County Jail. His cash bond was set at $2,000.
Larry Dale Trower (Ringgold County S/O booking photo)
The broadcast News at 8:05-a.m., from Ric Hanson.
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Jim Field visits with Kaelee Otto, State Assistant for COVID Recovery Iowa, about the services they can provide.
Contact them at:
www.COVIDrecoveryiowa.org
Iowa Concern 800-447-1985
Iowa WARM Line 844-775-WARM
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The Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed a fatal shooting occurred Sunday night, in Kellerton. According to a news release, the sheriff’s office received a call indicating a man by the name of Chance Newton had displayed a gun in a threatening manner, then left the area in a vehicle at around 10:12 p.m. Deputies and members of other local law enforcement agencies pursued the vehicle driven by Newton, who had returned to Kellerton.
“During the pursuit, Chance Newton fired shots at a pursuing deputy, striking the deputy’s vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said through a news release. “The pursuit ended when Chance Newton was shot by a self-inflicted gunshot wound while driving through the town.” Newton’s vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
No law enforcement officers fired their weapons, and none were injured, the sheriff’s office reports. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident.
The latest area News at 7:07-a.m. from Ric Hanson.
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(Radio Iowa) – A federal report on the so-called “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico finds it’s much larger than initially forecast earlier this year. The report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration blames runoff from Midwestern farm fields for the massive area where there’s too little oxygen to support marine life. Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman (LAY-mun) says the state’s been working to address the growing problem. “It certainly is alarming,” Lehman says, “and I would argue that many of the strategies in Iowa’s nutrient reduction plan simply are not incentivized enough to get enough practices put in place on the farm.”
The NOAA report is concerning, Lehman says, and could lead to more regulations on agriculture. He’s hopeful that won’t happen and that government will work -with- farmers on their environmental practices. “We know that there’s some real difficult decisions that will be ahead,” Lehman says. “I’d much rather us make that investment with farmers, many, many of whom are doing exactly the right things, rather than jump towards a regulatory-only system that many others will recommend.”
Because there will likely be more regulatory pressures put on agriculture following this report, Lehman says it’s even more important the incentive fixes are made to the nutrient reduction strategy. “I think we’re going to see more and more calls for a peer regulatory approach rather than a mixed approach that’s built on investments for farmers,” he says, “which is all the more reason to start now, making those investments with farmers, because largely, we’ve done a good job on the farm.”
The NOAA report says the dead zone is ten times the size of New Orleans’ Lake Ponchartrain. The area off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas now covers more than 63-hundred square miles, about a thousand square miles larger than it’s been the past five years.
(Radio Iowa)- Trucking companies continue to be behind when it comes to finding enough drivers to get behind the wheel. Iowa Motor Truck Association president, Brenda Neville, says they’d been behind before the pandemic, and it didn’t get any better. “We had people that retired early during the pandemic, and then we have so many different jobs out there now that are fighting for the same people that we are trying to get into trucks,” Neville says. “Some of our members are reporting an even greater shortage of drivers than they have seen in several years. So, I certainly think that that is a problem we are seeing across all segments of the trucking industry.” Neville says
57 percent of all truckers today are over the age of 45 and 23 percent are over the age of 55. That trend would see nearly one-quarter of the current trucking workforce hit retirement age in the next 10 years, not including the nearly eight percent of truck drivers currently working above the retirement age. She says the industry has done a lot of things to try and lure people in. “We’re seeing an increase in wages, we’re seeing enhanced benefits packages. Some companies are looking at the amount of time that drivers are out on the road,” according to Neville. “I think they are really trying to be very creative, they are trying to be very aggressive, and we are seeing a number of different things. I think some companies are seeing some success with that.”
Neville says there are openings from the big rigs to smaller trucks. She says one positive is you can get into the industry relatively quickly. She says the training can be six months to one year depending on the program. “And you can be making some very good money very quickly without the debt of a two-year or four-year school,” Neville says. She says you can determine how long you want to be on the road. “There’s a variety of different routes that you can take on that will meet your specific needs. Trucking companies have been very good and very creative at making those jobs much more attractive to a wide variety of people,” she says.
Neville says the industry needs an estimated 60-thousand-800 truck drivers immediately to fill open spots.
(Radio Iowa) – Severe thunderstorms with damaging winds rolled over Iowa last (Sunday) night, according to meteorologist Andrew Ansorge at the National Weather Service in Johnston says “We do have a report of a tornado about half way between Fort Dodge and Harcourt around 11:30 last evening,” Ansorge says. “That’s the only tornado report we’ve had. We’ve heard lots of reports of funnel clouds but no real damage that we’ve heard of at this time.”
There’s since been a second tornado confirmed in northwest Iowa’s Osceola County, just before five o’clock last night that ripped the roof off a chicken barn in Ocheyedan, though no injuries are reported. Ansorge say there’s another chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday.
Today: Areas of fog this morning; Partly-to- Mostly Sunny. High 94. HEAT ADVISORY in effect at NOON. Heat index values as high as 103. SW @ 10-15 mph.
Tonight: P/Cldy. Low around 72. S @ 5-10.
Tomorrow (Tuesday): P/Cldy w/isolated early and late day showers possible. High near 90. Heat index values as high as 102. W/SW @ 10-15.
Wednesday: P/Cldy w/isolated early & late showers. High around 90.
Thursday: P/Cldy. High 89.
Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 82. Our Low this morning, 66. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 91 and the Low was 72. The Record High on this date was 111 in 1934. The Record Low was 44 in 1927.
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