United Group Insurance

TUESDAY, APRIL 23rd

Trading Post

April 23rd, 2013 by admin

FOR SALE: Brand new Gorilla guard, should fit any full size pick up. No brackets with it. I can send a picture if you’re interested. $45. Also, an older electric range stove, looks good and works well, $55. 712-304-4262 in Audubon.

WANTED: Looking for a small awning to put on a camper. Please call 712-304-4262 in Audubon.

FOR SALE: Weight machine, several weights, make an offer. 712-304-4576 in Audubon.

Iowa woman’s trial for toddler’s death to begin

News

April 23rd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – A murder trial is set to begin for a western Iowa woman accused of drowning her 15-month-old son.  Ashley Cameron, of Onawa, is scheduled to have her trial start today (Tuesday) in Monona County District Court. She is charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment in the 2012 death of Markis Dahms.

The Sioux City Journal reports the 25-year-old Cameron waived her right to have a jury hear her case. The trial is expected to be completed this week.  Police say Cameron held Markis under a running faucet in a bathtub until he drowned. The results of an autopsy led to Cameron’s arrest. She pleaded not guilty last year.

(12-p.m News)

Facebook receives an official Iowa “Welcome”

News

April 23rd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today joined Altoona’s Mayor Skip Conkling in officially welcoming Facebook to Iowa.  The social networking company, which helps more than 1 billion people around the world connect and share with each other, announced that it will build a new, state-of-the-art data center in Altoona. Facebook will invest a minimum of $299.5 million in the project, which is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs and dozens of full-time operations jobs. The company evaluated several other sites before choosing the Iowa location.

The first phase of the project will result in a 476,000-square foot data center that will be among the most advanced and energy efficient of its kind. The data center will feature an innovative outdoor-air cooling system and the latest in Open Compute Project server designs, and it will be built to LEED Gold standards.

Earlier today the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) board approved $18 million in tax benefits through the High Quality Jobs program to Facebook to create at least 31 new jobs at a qualifying wage of $23.12 per hour. The project will have a minimum capital investment of $299.5 million. Local incentives from the city of Altoona were also approved today.

The 194-acre site selected in Altoona could accommodate up to two additional data center buildings that may be constructed in future phases of the project.

MARIAN J. KOPF, 89, of Exira (4-26-13)

Obituaries

April 23rd, 2013 by Jim Field

MARIAN J. KOPF, 89, of Exira died Monday, April 22nd at the Exira Care Center.  Funeral services for MARIAN J. KOPF will be held on Friday, April 26th at 11:00 am in the Katherine Graham Memorial Chapel in the Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery in Waterloo.  Kessler Funeral Home in Exira has the arrangements.

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Family visitation will be held on Friday from 10:00 am until the time of the service at the Katherine Graham Memorial Chapel in Waterloo.

Burial in the Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery in Waterloo.

MARIAN J. KOPF is survived by:

Children:  Tom (Ann) Kopf of Hutchinson, MN & Deb (Steve) Nelson of Exira.

Sisters:  Marge Bussey of Laurens & Ruth Ransom of Waterloo.

Sister-in-Law:  Charlotte Schuler of Waterloo.

Brother-in-Law:  Marvin Ferguson of Laurens.

5 Grandchildren

Three projects win grants to explore energy efficiency in farming

Ag/Outdoor, News

April 23rd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

Three farm demonstration projects have won grants to work on ways to make farm activities more energy efficient. Carol Yates of the University of Northern Iowa is working with the farmers through what’s called the Iowa Farm Energy Working Group. “The Farm Energy Working Group is a statewide organization of people interested in helping farmers on small to mid-sized operations find new ways to reduce their energy use and try to change from fossil fuel use to other ways of making energy on the farm,” Yates says. “And if those ways can come from resources on the farm, that’s even better.”

Yates works at the U-N-I Center for Energy and Environmental Education and says the alternative energy can come from all types of sources, including solar panels and windmills. One of the projects involves a farmer near Coralville adapting an electric sickle mower to be used with his electric tractor. “Some other farmers who are in western Iowa are going to install some L-E-D lights in their new energy-efficient dairy processing building. And those are the new very efficient lights that use about 75 to 80-percent less energy,” Yates explains. Tom and Janna Feldman will install those lights at “Doe’s and Diva’s Dairy” in Honey Creek. The third demonstration project also involves dairy farming.

“A dairy foundation near Calmar is going to install two robotic milking systems for some of the cows that it has there,” Yates says. “And this will be used as a demonstration to educate farmers on the best practices in dairy operations. And they are going to collect data usage to show — we hope — that these robotic milkers reduce the use of energy and water.” The end goal is to come up with ways to reduce energy use on the farm that can be shared. “These are farm-scale kinds of ideas, and we are very interested in sharing the results with other farmers,” Yates says. She says they share the information in a variety of ways from reports on the data, to presentations by the farmers, to field trips, with the idea that the demonstrations will show ways other farmers can incorporate what they’ve learned in their operations.

The projects are funded through the Leopold Center at Iowa State University. The Iowa Farm Energy Working Group includes farmers and representatives from agriculture, policy, higher education, utilities and farm organizations. For more information on the group, visit: www.uni.edu/ceee/farm-energy-working-group.

(Radio Iowa)

Facebook plans $300M data center, Google expands

News

April 23rd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa economic development officials are approving tax credits for Facebook to build a $300 million data center in Altoona and increasing incentives for Google that allows it to expand in Council Bluffs.  Both projects are before an Iowa Economic Development Authority board meeting Tuesday.

The board’s due diligence committee has approved $18 million in tax credits for the Facebook project to be built near Interstate 80 in Altoona, a Des Moines suburb. The full board is considering the project, which will create 31 jobs.   Kearney, Neb., also sought the project.

Google has a $600 million data center in Council Bluffs and is building another. It’s increased the cost to $700 million from the original $300 million. The state is increasing tax credits offered to $16.8 million from under $10 million.

Adair County Supervisors to receive MMP update

News

April 23rd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will meet 9-a.m. Wednesday, at the courthouse in Greenfield. During their session, the Board will receive a Manure Management Plan (MMP) update, along with a FY 2012 Landfill Financial report, and responses pertaining to an Iowa Municipal Workers’ Compensation Association site inspection.

The Board in Adair County will also receive a report from the Veterans Affairs Director, with regard to laptop, phone and V-A Office lease matters, and discuss with County Conservation Director Kevin Blazek, a “Safe Room.”

Cass Co. Supervisors to receive report on courthouse space study

News

April 23rd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Cass County Board of Supervisors are expected to receive a report during their meeting Wednesday morning, in Atlantic, with regard to a “Courthouse space” needs study and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Cooling) analysis. The study, which was approved by the Board in December, was conducted by Carlson, West, and Povandra Architects, cost a total of $4,300.

Finding more space in the courthouse or on the grounds of the facility is a process that began in the Fall of 2011, after it became clear the Cass County 9-1-1/Communications Center has outgrown its current location, and because new technology will take up more space and require the use of additional personnel to operate it. The board concluded the HVAC study should be done to determine whether it would be more cost effective and feasible to install a Geo-thermal system, or reconfigure the current system, depending on the location of the 9-1-1 Center.

In other business, the  Supervisors will recess to conduct the second of three public hearings and a vote on amendments to the County General Assistance Program. The first hearing and vote on the matter took place last week. he amendments generally serve to clean-up the language in the current General Assistance Program policy, and eliminates any typographical errors.

The Board will also receive a quarterly report from Cass County Veterans Affairs Director Mitch Holmes, and on Public Safety Communications from Shaun Shouse. They’re also expected to act on approving a VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) request for proposal (RFP).  The Board of Supervisors meeting begins at 9-a.m., Wednesday.

Backyard and Beyond 04-23-2013

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

April 23rd, 2013 by admin

Lavon Eblen speaks with Cass County Conservation Naturalist Lora Kanning about an upcoming Wildflower Walk.

Play

Malvern man arrested on assault warrant in Mills County

News

April 23rd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest last week of a Malvern man. 34-year old Joseph Lee Mosier was arrested on a Pottawattamie County warrant charging him with assault. Mosier was taken into custody at around 1-a.m. Friday during a traffic stop near 315th and Highway 34. His bond was set at $2,000.