The latest area news from News Director Ric Hanson.
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The latest area news from News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.9MB)
Subscribe: RSS
(Griswold) The Griswold Community School District’s annual Veterans Day Appreciation Program will take place 7-p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11th, in the Griswold Middle School/High School Auditorium. Guest speaker for the event is United States Navy Commander Senior Chief Yeoman, Philip Demson.
Chief Demson is a native of Omaha currently serving as the Flag Writer for the U.S. Strategic Command. He recently assumed the duties as the Navy Element’s Collateral Duty Command senior chief. The Chief has over 20-years of military experience and several awards, including the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and various unit and campaign awards.
In this Naval Oceanography Facebook post from Feb., 2012, Master Chief Aerographer’s Mate Keith Edwards, command master chief, Commander Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, pins the Enlisted Information Dominance Warfare pin on Yeoman Philip Demson, flag writer, Commander Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Feb. 3rd, Stennis Space Center, Miss. U.S. Navy photo by Kelly LeGuillon
The Griswold School District is preparing to send cards to persons currently serving in the military. You may submit the names of servicemen and women to Hannah Biebaum at 712-778-2152 or hbierbaum@griswoldschools.org.
(Des Moines, IA) — A two-time former director of the Iowa Department of Human Services has died. Charles Palmer’s death was announced Sunday. Former Governor Terry Branstad named Palmer the director of DHS twice. The first was in 1989 when he served as director of DHS until 1999, and again in 2011. Before serving as director, Palmer was the Department’s administrator of the Division of Mental Health. He retired from the Department in 2017.
Current D-H-S Director Kelly Garcia remembered him as “a great public servant, leader, and friend.” Garcia said also, “I’m grateful and thankful for his kind words of encouragement and partnership over the past two years, I was fortunate to have known him. He had a tremendous passion for those we serve and for supporting the team at DHS. His work and passion continued up to his passing. He will be deeply missed.”
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State outscored Texas 21-0 in the third quarter and rolled to a 30-7 win over the Longhorns in Ames. The Cyclones had trailed 7-3 at halftime.
That’s ISU coach Matt Campbell. The Cyclones grabbed momentum early in the third quarter.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has a decision to make at quarterback as the Hawkeyes get set to host Minnesota. Sophomore Alex Padilla replaced Spencer Petras on the fourth drive of a 17-12 win at Northwestern and led the Hawkeyes to a pair of first half touchdown drives. Ferentz says Petras was nursing an injury suffered at Wisconsin.
Ferentz was not ready to name a starter after Saturday’s game.
The Hawkeyes are 7-2 and remained 19th in the latest AP Poll.
(Radio Iowa) – A series of classes are underway in northeast Iowa that focus on Chronic Wasting Disease in deer. Iowa State University wildlife specialist, Adam Janke is leading the program called C-W-D Ambassadors “What we hope with C-W-D Ambassadors is that we will train up some people who are connected in their communities as hunters or landowners or community leaders to sort of understand the complex science of chronic wasting disease,” he says. Janke says the ambassadors can share their knowledge once they finish the program. He says they can help wildlife biologists with the D-N-R and I-S-U Extension to spread the word of how they are managing the disease and some of the key behaviors to keep it from spreading.
C-W-D is always fatal to deer and has been found in ten of Iowa’s 99 counties. Janke says they hope to keep the spread limited. “By doing things like avoiding conditions that concentrate deer. Like mineral supplements or artificial feeding that concentrate deer in certain places, and that creates conditions favorable for spreading chronic wasting disease,” Janke explained. He says they will also learn the importance of identifying deer who might be infected. “Many deer with chronic wasting disease could be asymptomatic. And so it isn’t necessarily that we are looking for sick deer,” Janke says. “And if we do see sick deer on the landscape — we want to report those to conservation officers, or wildlife biologists.”
Several border states around Iowa have seen more C-W-D cases in more of their counties. “I don’t know that it necessarily has spread faster in some of those border states. But what we see there is it has actually been in that landscape longer,” he says. Janke the outbreaks in other states have helped Iowa do a better job of managing the disease. “Because we get to learn frankly from some of the mistakes that were made in some of those other states. And we know a lot more about this disease now — and we think we can be a little more proactive and precise in our management practices,” Janke says.
The C-W-D Ambassador training is starting in northeast Iowa because those are the counties where the state has seen the positive C-W-D cases. The classes are taking place in Waukon throughout this month.
(Radio Iowa) – It was one year ago today (Monday) that longtime “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died from pancreatic cancer and Iowans who’ve lost loved ones to the disease are working to raise awareness in his honor. Mike Schreurs, a volunteer with the Iowa chapter of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network — or PanCAN, says better awareness is the first step toward solving the problem. “Being aware of what pancreatic cancer is all about is certainly going to help us get closer to a solution,” Schreurs says, “which is a better survival rate on the part of those patients and caregivers and families who, in one way or another, might be touched by pancreatic cancer.”
Pancreatic cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. With the holidays approaching, many Iowans will be around family in the coming weeks and it may offer an ideal time to have a conversation about the risks. The experts suggest if there’s a family history of this deadliest of cancers, testing is likely warranted. “Certainly, if there has been pancreatic cancer in your direct family, then it is something you should be thinking about and talking about, and perhaps learning more about what those tests might be,” he says.
The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only ten percent, so just one in ten people who are diagnosed come through the ordeal alive. That ten percent rate, while meager, has actually improved in recent years. “When my wife was initially diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2013, it was four or five percent,” Schreurs says. “So there is some progress but the progress has to double and then it has to double again until we get to the point where the great percentage of people who experience this have an opportunity to survive it.”
By comparison, the five-year breast cancer survival rate is 95 percent. It’s estimated 600 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Iowa this year and more than 500 of them will die. The fast-moving disease is difficult to diagnose because the symptoms can be vague and are often ignored until it’s too late. They include abdominal pain and back pain, changes in stool, yellowing skin, weight loss, appetite loss, and a feeling of being full after only eating a little food. Learn more at www.pancan.org.
DONALD EVENS BLAIR, II, 66, of Atlantic, died Friday, Nov. 5th, at home. Cremation has taken place and no services will be held for DONALD BLAIR, II. Roland Funeral Service is caring for the family and his arrangements.
Online condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.
Today: Areas of fog this morning; P/Cldy. HIgh 63. N @ 10-15.
Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 39. NE @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to cloudy w/isolated showers. High 54. NE @ 5-10.
Wednesday: P/Cldy to Cldy w/afternoon showers & thunderstorms. High 58.
Thursday: Showers ending in the morning. Mo. Cldy, windy & cooler. High 49.
Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 69. Our Low this morning, 35. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 73 and the Low was 56. The Record High was 80 in 1999 & 2006. The Record Low was -12 in 1991.
(Radio Iowa) – Hundreds gathered in Fairfield this weekend for a vigil honoring high school Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, who investigators believe was killed by two Fairfield High School students. Maria Jimenez says Graber was as an inspiring educator and much-loved member of Fairfield’s Latino community. “Nohema meant so much to us. She was considered part of my family,” she said. “I would be selfish if I say just my family because everyone in the Hispanic community considered her as part of their family.”
Jimenez, who went to school with Graber’s daughter, described Graber as a devout Catholic who attended daily mass. “There’s so many meories and unforgettable moments we spent together,” she said, “dancing to any Spanish music, sharing a meal or riding to Ottumwa for a Spanish service, were a part of those unforgettable moments that will never be the same without her.” Fred Hucke, one of Graber’s fellow teachers, wrote a song for the vigil.
Graber is survived by three adult children. School and faith leaders in Fairfield are urging residents to support each other and to reach out when they need help.
(Reporting by Iowa Pubic Radio’s Kate Payne)
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