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(Podcast) KJAN Morning News & Funeral report, 1/29/2020

News, Podcasts

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Police arrest suspect in robbery of Cedar Rapids student

News

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Police have arrested a suspect in the armed robbery of a student at a Cedar Rapids high school. Cedar Rapids police said Tuesday the 18-year-old male remained in custody but would not yet release his name or the charges against him. The robbery was reported a little after 3:30 p.m. Monday in a parking lot at Kennedy High School. The 18-year-old student was nearing her vehicle when confronted by the robber. Police say he displayed a handgun and took only her cellphone. She was not injured.

Cass County Extension Report 1-29-2020

Ag/Outdoor, Podcasts

January 29th, 2020 by Jim Field

w/Kate Olson.

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Most roads in western IA are partially-to-completely covered w/snow this morning

Weather

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Dept. of Transportation’s 511ia.org website indicates most roads in the KJAN listening area (as of 6:15-a.m.) were either partially or completely covered with snow, but there were no traffic disruptions reported due to the road conditions. Slow down, and drive with caution, as the snow packed roads are making for tricky travel in some spots. For the latest road report throughout the day, call 5-1-1 (in Iowa) or go to 511ia.org, on the web.

Blue=Road partially covered w/snow; Pink=Road completely covered with snow.

Nurse who took painkillers from patients gets 4 years

News

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A nurse has been given four years in prison for fraudulently obtaining painkillers from her patients in eastern Iowa. Katie Boll, from Manchester, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. She’d pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product resulting in injury and acquiring the painkiller oxycodone by deception. Federal prosecutors dropped 12 other counts in exchange. She also was ordered to forfeit her nursing license. Authorities said Boll was a nurse for the Good Neighbor Society in Manchester when she schemed to acquire hydrocodone, morphine and other painkillers from at least 14 patients in her care.

Feds approve Nebraska plan for growing hemp

Ag/Outdoor

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved Nebraska’s hemp plan, so the state will begin taking license applications on Monday. The Nebraska plan lays out the regulations and calls for the state to collect license fees to administer the program for 270 cultivator licenses, 30 processor-handler licenses and 15 broker licenses. It allows for 400 cultivation sites. The Nebraska Agriculture Department would sample or require USDA-approved contractors to test plants within 15 days of the anticipated harvest date to ensure the THC level isn’t too high. THC is the cannabis compound that gives marijuana its high.

Court ruling will likely not have big impact on ethanol use

Ag/Outdoor

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — A federal court decision last week may reduce the number of small refinery waivers the Environmental Protection Agency issues for blending ethanol. The 10th circuit court of appeals found the agency over-stepped its reach in the case of three refineries. American Coalition for Ethanol C-E-O Brian Jennings calls the ruling a victory. “So this should limit E-P-A’s activity or abuse of this part of the Renewable Fuel Standard in the future,” Jennings says.

He says it is a small step that will help. “We have struggled financially as an industry for some time. This case isn’t going to turn things around overnight, but it is a bit of good news that we need,” Jennings says.  Iowa State University economist Dave Swenson says the ethanol industry has contributed to its own woes. “Ten percent of the industry’s problems have to do with E-P-A indifference to, perhaps, EPA regulations as they were originally written,” Swenson says.

The other 90 percent, Swenson says, is over-production with not enough domestic demand to absorb the ample supply.

(Thanks to Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio)

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the area: Wed., 1/29/20

Weather

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Today: Light snow ending this morning; Mostly cloudy. High 28. E/SE @ 5-10 mph.

Tonight: Mo. Cldy. Low 32. Winds light & variable.

Tomorrow: Mo. Cldy. High 34. S/SE @ 5-10.

Friday: P/Cldy. High 42.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic (the 24-hour High ending 7-a.m. today), was 25. The Low was 27. We had received .8″ of snow overnight, which melted into .07″ liquid precipitation. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 6 and the Low was -19. The Record High in Atlantic on Jan. 29th, was 59 in 1931. The Record Low was -31, in 1904.

If you’re expecting a refund, now’s a good time to send in your tax return

News

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — The Internal Revenue Service is now accepting our 2019 federal income tax returns and the Iowa Department of Revenue is taking our state returns, as of Monday. John Fuller, public information officer for the state tax agency, says they aren’t usually swamped with returns at this stage, unless someone is expecting a big refund. “We probably don’t get a lot early in the process,” Fuller says. “It’s probably beneficial for people to file sooner rather than later. With me, I’m always searching for one document or making sure I haven’t misplaced my W-2, but there’s a lot of early filers in Iowa, too.”

Iowans were very vocal in their complaints in recent years as refund checks were taking longer than usual to process due to increased security measures. “Our goal this year is to process returns in 30 days,” Fuller says, “and if we hit the 45-day mark, we’ll kick in some overtime on that.” The state revenue department has redesigned its website to better serve taxpayers. It’s at tax-dot-iowa-dot-gov (tax.iowa.gov).

Fuller says the site is a good starting point to find tax guidance, new tax forms, and answers to all kinds of tax questions. There’s information on how to file, tips to avoid common mistakes, and details on how to check the status of a refund. In addition, there’s a toll-free hotline: 800-367-3388. “We’ve enhanced our technology on our phone system which has been a frustrating experience when people have to wait too long,” Fuller says. “There’s a little more automation. We’ve also extended the time period when they can call. There’ll be people here answering the phones until 6 o’clock Monday through Thursday.”

Friday hours are from 8 A-M to 4:30 P-M. Fuller says they’ve also extended the front desk hours to help walk-in customers. Iowa taxpayers are required to provide their federal return with their Iowa return and Iowa returns are due April 30th.

Requiring periodic checks for welfare eligibility

News

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — A Republican senator from western Iowa is crafting a plan to have the state hire a company that would monitor financial data and flag Iowans who may not be eligible for government food assistance or Medicaid health coverage. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says  “To apply technology to what’s currently a manual system, to remove from the process those whose situations haven’t changed and only check those where something popped up.”

Schultz says his plan is a work in process, but his initial draft has cleared its first hurdle in the senate. Meanwhile key Republicans in the Iowa House are temporarily tabling a plan to require Iowans who get government food assistance or insurance through Medicaid to prove they’re eligible for it every four months. Officials in the state agency that oversees welfare programs say they’d have to hire 280 more full-time workers and spend millions if THAT bill becomes law.

Mark Randol is Iowa Medicaid director: “As far as all the changes required from this bill, it would be significant system configuration changes,” Randol said, “and that equals cost.” Matt Blake, a lobbyist for LeadingAge Iowa, says requiring nursing home residents to prove they’re eligible for Medicaid every quarter would be excessive and disruptive. “We in the provider side with this type of population tend to assist with eligibility of income,” he says.

“At the same time, with guardians and those type of individuals, we would have to work to track them down, make sure we have people constantly trying to keep that verification solid.” Victoria Sinclair, a lobbyist for Iowans for Tax Relief, says other states are requiring more frequent income reporting to determine whether people are eligible for government benefits. “We do need to protect taxpayer dollars and make sure they’re being spent effectively, appropriately and reasonably and making sure the people who are on the system do qualify,” Sinclair says.

MaryNell Trefz of the Iowa Child and Family Policy Center is among the advocates urging legislators to table the bill: “Our state already has a very robust eligibility verification system,” she says. Trefz says state officials do monthly cross-checks to ensure Iowa welfare recipients are not getting benefits from another state.

Republican legislators have scheduled a meeting in February with staff from two state agencies to assess how high Iowa’s welfare fraud rate may be. After that meeting, GOP lawmakers in the House say it’s likely they’ll reconsider ways to crack down on welfare fraud.