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Trials underway on blood test that could help ID risk of Alzheimer’s early

News

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – It’s hoped a new blood test may help to identify people who are at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease well before symptoms emerge. Researcher Godfrey Coker, with the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute, says the blood test searches for a brain amyloid, a protein that’s a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s, which afflicts 66-thousand Iowans.  “This new research shows blood tests can identify specific brain amyloid proteins and help identify people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s symptoms,” Coker says. “This could greatly speed enrollment in clinical trials like the AHEAD Study and lead to important treatments.”

The AHEAD Study and is seeking volunteers from Iowa and across the U-S and Canada. Coker says it’s the first time such a test will be used in a clinical trial aiming to prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.  “The study is enrolling people between the ages of 55 and 80 to test whether removing amyloid plaques in the brain can delay or prevent Alzheimer’s symptoms,” Coker says. “We anticipate that the simplicity of a blood test will increase participation in clinical trials, especially among communities of color, which are historically underrepresented in Alzheimer’s trials.”

Iowans who want to participate in the study would need to be willing to travel. There are no test sites in the state, but there are locations in several neighboring states, including: Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Madison and Rochester. Learn more: aheadstudy.org or call 1-800-AHEAD-70.

ISU Extension plans seminars to help cow-calf operations with drought-ravaged pastures

Ag/Outdoor

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Cow-calf producers hit by this year’s drought in northwest Iowa are dealing with a host of challenges. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has scheduled a series of drought recovery meetings next month to offer advice on pasture repair and what financial assistance is available. Iowa State Extension beef specialist Beth Doran says the big question is how quickly pastures will recover after cows grazing on the land ate grasses nearly down to the roots. “We know that in some cases maybe those pastures, there’s been some grasses and legumes like clovers and alfalfa that may die out this winter,” she says, “so they might have to go back in and do some reseeding come this spring.”

Dustin Puhrmann says his 20 cows grazed his O’Brien County pastures down further than he would’ve liked to see this past summer. The grass didn’t get enough moisture to grow back. Puhrmann says many farmers he worked with had to give their cows and calves supplemental proteins and feed to get through the summer months. Now, farmers buying hay in the winter are paying more. “To feed those cows is going to cost me a lot more money this winter to get them back to where they’re grazing again next summer,” he says. According to Iowa State University extension, there are about six-thousand cattle feedlots in Iowa where STEERS are fed and sold, but thousands of other Iowa farmers raise cows and calves on pasture ground, selling the calves when they’re around a year old.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katie Peikes)

Frost causes Union County rollover accident Thursday morning

News

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Kent, Iowa) – One person was transported by private vehicle to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, following a rollover accident at around 7:20-a.m. Thursday (today). The accident happened on Highway 34 eastbound, north of Kent (near mile marker 82). The Sheriff’s Office says 19-year-old Destiny Ashby, of Murray, was driving a 2008 GMC Envoy on Highway 34 when the SUV went out of control due to frost on the roadway. The vehicle went into the east ditch and rolled once before coming to rest on its wheels.

DANIEL E. LOVE, 72, of Greenfield (Private family svcs. at a later date)

Obituaries

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

DANIEL E. LOVE, 72, of Greenfield, died Thursday, December 23, 2021, at the Adair County Memorial Hospital in Greenfield. Private family services for DANIEL LOVE will be held at a later date. Lamb Funeral Home (formerly the Steen Funeral Home) in Greenfield has the arrangements.

The family will greet friends on Sunday, December 26, 2021, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the funeral home.

Online condolences may be left to the family at www.steenfunerals.com.

Memorials may be directed to the Daniel E. Love Memorial Fund to be established by the family at a later date, in care of Lamb Funeral Home, PO Box 390, Greenfield, Iowa 50849.

DANIEL LOVE is survived by:

His wife – Cindy Love, of Greenfield.

His daughters – Kelley (John) Satre, of Des Moines; Karley (Matt) Cole, of Urbandale, and Christine (Jeremy) Sale, of Johnston.

His son – Earl (Shellee) Wright, of Northwood, Iowa.

His brother – David Love, of Earlham.

His sister – Linda Peebles, of Virgina.

11 grandchildren; one great grandchild; other relatives and friends.

Rollover accident reported north of Atlantic

News

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Rescue personnel from the Atlantic Fire Department and Cass EMS were dispatched to a rollover accident at around 8:55-a.m. today. The accident happened just north of 54051 N. Olive Street (The Pymosa School/Head Start). One person was said to be unresponsive in the vehicle.

Photo courtesy of Lori Glissman

(UPDATE 9:22-a.m.) The road was very icy, w/a coating of frost. Rescue crews are still on the scene. Both lanes of traffic were blocked by emergency equipment and personnel. Avoid the area for now.

(Podcast) KJAN News at 8:05-a.m., 12/23/21

News, Podcasts

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

More area and some State news, from Ric Hanson.

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Deere pairs with start-up to swap diesel for ethanol in engines

Ag/Outdoor

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is partnering with a Chicago-area company to reduce harmful emissions from its equipment by replacing diesel fuel with ethanol. Quad Cities-based John Deere is working with ClearFlame Engine Technologies of Geneva, Illinois, where C-E-O B-J Johnson says their initial work was on a Cummins X-15 engine from an on-road semi.  “The partnership with Deere and the investment from Deere is going to allow us to move that over to one of their engine platforms, to use across a range of applications like agriculture and construction, do an engine demo with them,” Johnson says, “and then towards the end of next year ideally translate that into an actual field demo of the technology on a piece of equipment.”

The goal will be to migrate the technology into tractors, combines, excavators and other heavy equipment. Johnson says the next step is for Deere to supply an engine that’s used in a range of its equipment, which ClearFlame will modify in its lab.  “It changes only about 10 or 15% of the parts of the engine. The largest change is just making the fuel injection system compatible with a different fuel, like ethanol, and the rest of it is optimizing the engine to run at a higher temperature,” Johnson says. “Basically, if you get a diesel engine to run a little bit hotter, then you’re freed to use a whole wider range of fuels.”

Johnson says using corn-based ethanol instead of diesel can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 45 to 50 percent, with even bigger reductions possible in the future. The word “burning” doesn’t always have to be bad, Johnson says, as it depends on what you’re burning.  “If you’re burning a fossil fuel, yes, that is absolutely bad, but we’ve got liquid fuels today that are 50% cleaner than that because they come from renewable sources,” Johnson says, “and the Renewable Fuels Association has a goal to get to carbon-neutral ethanol by 2035.”

Johnson says this research could help boost the rural economy, especially in Iowa, the nation’s number-one ethanol producer. Today, the U-S is producing about 17 billion gallons of ethanol a year, and every one-percent of trucks converted to burning ethanol can result in the need to produce another billion gallons of the fuel.

Creston woman arrested on an assault charge

News

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a woman was arrested early this (Thursday) morning on an assault charge. Authorities say 55-year-old Patricia Jean Young, of Creston, was arrested at her residence at around 3-a.m., for Domestic Abuse Assault causing bodily injury/1st offense. She was transported to the Union County Jail, and later transferred to the jail in Clarke County. Young was being held without bond until seen by a magistrate.

(Podcast) KJAN News at 7:07-a.m., 12/23/21

News, Podcasts

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Area News from Ric Hanson.

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Teacher numbers were up last year

News

December 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Department of Education’s recent report on the state of education showed the number of full-time teachers in public schools in 2020-21 was up by 455 from the previous year to 37-thousand-567. Department analyst, Jay Pennington, says special programs are part of the reason for the increase. “With the teacher leader and compensation system that provides an additional over 250 million dollars annually — along with the teacher leader supplement — which also provides an additional 250 million. Both of those initiatives have pumped money into the profession,” Pennington says.

He says the programs have helped experienced teachers mentor the new teachers coming. “And it also really helped the bottom line in terms of raising the average teacher salary in Iowa to be more competitive, to he in the upper half when we look at rankings,” he says. The average regular teacher salary was up 661 dollars to 58-thousand-771 in 2019-20. School districts this year appear to be having some of the same issues in hiring teachers as other businesses. “We have heard anecdotally from districts that there are lots of vacancies — hard to fill positions — more so in the 2021-2022 school year than in other years,” he says.

Pennington says they don’t know yet if the number verify the anecdotal reports. “We look at the data for the 2021-2022 school year. Given the increases of the overall number of educators that we have seen — consistently seen over the last decade — it will be interesting to see if we see a subsequent decline at some point,” according to Pennington. The report showed there was a 13-point-one percent increase in the number of full-time public school teachers from the 2000-01 school year to the 2020-21 school year.