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DNR conducting spotlight animal surveys

Ag/Outdoor, News

April 8th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – D-N-R staff are now going out after dark and driving back roads to conduct surveys of wildlife. State deer biologist, Jace Elliott, says it’s something they do every spring. “Every county has two different 25 mile transects that run from east to west across each county. And these routes are surveyed at night with a spotlight,” he says. Elliott says they are looking primarily for deer and raccoons, but also other furbearers, like skunks. to track their population.

“And and of course, that’s important because we need to understand the dynamics at play with the different species that we’re monitoring,” Elliott says. “So, for instance, the deer counts that the survey provides, then go into informing our management decisions for antlerless harvest quotas.” He says the numbers will help him learn about some of the impacts on the deer herd. “I’m personally going to be taking a close look at some of our southern Iowa counties in terms of their deer numbers, after the recent E-H-D outbreak may have impacted some county populations in the southern half of the state,” Elliott says. He says the same applies for those keeping an eye on other animals. “All of the furbearers species get examined for statewide and regional trends, but there hasn’t been any large swings in populations from a statewide scale for those species,” he says.

Elliott says the spotlight surveys will run through this month and the results will be released in early summer.

Fire damages Hamilton County grain facility

News

April 8th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Firefighters from 12 north central Iowa departments battled the wind and rain early Sunday morning to fight the flames at a grain facility in rural Hamilton County. Blairsburg Fire Chief, Rod Harris says the call came in from the United Cooperative elevator in Stonega shortly before 1:30 a-m.

He says it looks like the annex caught on fire and then spread into another bin. Harris said there are plans to contact the State Fire Marshal to investigate the cause of the Sunday fire at Stonega. There were no injuries in the fire.

$1 million Powerball ticket purchased in Newton

News

April 8th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa) – While the jackpot for Saturday night’s $1.326 billion Powerball® drawing was won in Oregon, an Iowa ticket was just one number away from having a share of the grand prize. That Iowa ticket, purchased in Newton, won a $1 million prize.

The Powerball jackpot had climbed for more than 3 months and tied the game’s record for the longest string of consecutive drawings without a winner before it was won, Saturday. The jackpot had been won on New Year’s Day, then rolled for 41 drawings in a row without a winner. That had only occurred twice before, in 2021 and 2022.

Saturday night’s jackpot was the 4th-largest Powerball prize and the 8th-largest U.S. lottery prize. The jackpot now returns to $20 million annuity, $9.4 million lump-sum option, for Powerball’s next drawing tonight (April 8, 2024).

Iowa Sales and Total Prizes Won

Iowa Lottery players won a total of 45,721 Powerball prizes during Saturday night’s drawing,  ranging from $4 up to $1 million. A total of about $2.4 million in Powerball tickets were purchased in Iowa. One Iowa ticket was just 1 number away from having a share of last night’s jackpot, matching the first 5 numbers but missing the Powerball to win a $1 million prize. That winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee, 1501 First Ave. E. in Newton.

It was one of 7 tickets across the country to win a $1 million prize in the drawing. Saturday night’s winning Powerball numbers were: 22-27-44-52-69 and Powerball 9. The Power Play number was 3.

The $1 million prize must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. If the winner or winners have questions before claiming the prize, they’re welcome to call us at the Iowa Lottery at 515-725-7900 or email us at Wmaster@ialottery.com.

No serious injuries reported following a crash and fire Sunday near Red Oak

News

April 8th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A vehicle crashed into a field Sunday evening near Red Oak, and caught fire, but no serious injuries were reported. According to Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce, the accident happened at around 8:30-p.m., at 190th Street and L Avenue, east of Red Oak.

An initial investigation determined the vehicle had left the road and rolled into a field before catching fire. Persons who were in the vehicle got themselves out following the crash, and were evaluated by medics, but refused treatment at the scene. No names were immediately released.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was handling the investigation. Agencies assisting in handling the incident included Red Oak Police, Montgomery County Emergency Management, and the Montgomery County Communications Center.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Monday, April 8, 2024

Weather

April 8th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 64. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. West wind 6 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 66. West northwest wind 6 to 11 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. Windy.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 65. Our Low this morning, 44. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 39, and the Low was 33. The All-Time Record High on April 8th in Atlantic, was 89, in 1931. The Record Low was 14, in 2016. Sunrise: 6:52. Sunset: 7:52.

IA joins nationwide network of EV charging stations

News

April 8th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Iowa News Service) – Iowa is accepting bids from people who want an EV charging station on their land. It’s part of a nationwide network of infrastructure designed to meet the needs of electric vehicle owners. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, or NEVI, will provide funding to build charging stations every 50 miles along U.S. interstate highways – from coast to coast.  In Iowa, that includes I-80, 380, 29 and 35.

The Iowa Environmental Council’s Energy Policy Counsel Steve Geyer said businesses, electric utilities, nonprofits, towns – and even private landowners, such as farmers – can apply, as long as their land is within a mile of the freeway and meets other criteria. “Suppose you are that farmer and you are at one of those locations,” said Geyer. “Sure. If you have the availability to raise the capital, that’s one of the criteria. You have to be able to demonstrate that you either have ownership of the land or you have the rights to the land.”

charging station for electric cars on a deserted highway.

The deadline to apply for the grants is April 19. Each location will have four rapid-charging ports, but Geyer said they won’t just be bare-bones places to power up the EV. “Every location has to have some form of not only restroom facilities,” said Geyer, “but also – be it a convenience store or vending machines, et cetera – recognizing that it will take some time to charge your car so you need, presumably, something to do during that time.”

Applications go through the Iowa Department of Transportation.

KAROLYN ORTGIES, 83, of Massena (Celebration of Life 4/10/24)

Obituaries

April 8th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

KAROLYN ORTGIES, 83, of Massena died Sunday, April 7, 2024, at the Exira Care Center in Exira. Celebration of Life Services for KAROLYN ORTGIES will be held 11-a.m. Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Fontanelle. Lamb Funeral Home in Massena has the arrangements.

A luncheon will immediately following the service.

Private family burial will be in the Iowa Veterans Cemetery near Adel.

The family will greet friends on Wednesday, April 10 2024, at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Fontanelle from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to the family or be directed in Karolyn’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association.

KAROLYN ORTGIES is survived by:

Her husband – Duane Ortgies, of Massena.

Her son – Tony (Sally) Ortgies, of West Des Moines.

1 granddaughter, her in-laws other relatives and friends.

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

HELEN PALMA, 91, of Bridgewater (Svcs. 4/12/24)

Obituaries

April 8th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

HELEN PALMA, 91, of Bridgewater, died Sunday, April 7, 2024, at the Greenfield Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.  Funeral services for HELEN PALMA will be held 2-p.m. Friday, April 12th, at Lamb Funeral Home in Fontanelle.

Visitation at the funeral home is on Thursday, April 11th, from 2-until 7-p.m., with the family greeting friends from 5-until 7-p.m.

Burial is in the Greenfield Cemetery. A luncheon will be held at the Lamb Funeral Home in Fontanelle following the burial.

Memorials:  To the Helen Palma Memorial Fund to be established by the family at a later date.

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

Hawkeyes Drop Doubleheader and Series to Michigan

Sports

April 7th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team dropped both halves of a doubleheader with Michigan on Saturday at Duane Banks Field. The Hawkeyes lost game one, 4-3, and game two, 10-6.

“It was a tough day for us,” said Rick Heller. “Game one was a tight one run loss. After we went to the bullpen, the guys did a good job. Jack Young and Anthony Watts and Ganon Archer pitched really well. They gave us a chance to win, and we had so many opportunities to score and just didn’t execute at all offensively. That was something that we hadn’t seen from our ball club all season long, and unfortunately, it bit us in that one. There were just tons of things that we didn’t do well. We didn’t execute to be able to get the runs in, and then we had some bad luck as well.”

Marcus Morgan started the first game for Iowa. He threw 2 2/3 innings allowing three runs on three hits and six walks while striking out five. Ganon Archer allowed one run in two innings of work and struck out five and Anthony Watts struck out six in three innings of work. Jack Young threw the final 1 1/3 innings of the game.

The Hawkeye pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts and 10 walks in game one.

Gable Mitchell was 3-for-3 with three extra base hits (two doubles and a triple) and Raider 2-for-3.

“Then in game two, we got a good start out of Brody Brecht,” said Heller. “But we couldn’t get off the field in the sixth. The guys fought back, and we take a one-run lead in the seventh. They take a one run lead and we’re going to get out of the inning in a one-run game when we lose a ball in the sky. After that we couldn’t stop it. They end up putting five up and go up four runs in the seventh or in the eighth. And we didn’t rally, Denner settled in, and did a good job to finish us off.”

Brody Brecht started game two and went 5 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on six hits. He struck out 11 and walked one. Six other pitchers combined to close out the game in relief allowing five runs on seven hits.

Kyle Huckstorf was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI and Blake Guerin had two RBIs.

“It was a disappointing day,” said Heller. “One of those days that you felt like if you’d have played better, you could have won a couple today, but we certainly didn’t.”

Michigan stranded 25 runners on the day to Iowa’s 15, and 11 of Michigan’s 12 RBIs on the day came with two outs.

Iowa returns to action on Wednesday hosting St. Thomas at 4:05 p.m. (CT).

Hawkeyes react to loss to South Carolina

Sports

April 7th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

Iowa Associate Head Coach Jan Jensen says the team knew it would be a tough task to beat a talented South Carolina team.

Jensen says she and Coach Bluder realize how much this team has meant to the state of Iowa over the past several months.

Jensen says Clark deserves to be recognized as the greatest of all time.

Senior Gabbie Marshall played almost all 40 minutes, scoring six points and had a team-high three steals. She says Iowa being out rebounded 51-29 and giving up 30 second-chance points hurt the Hawkeyes.

Marshall says South Carolina showed how strong they are as they outscored Iowa 37-0 in points off the bench.

Marshall credits Kate Martin’s leadership for helping the Hawkeyes reach the championship game for a second straight year.

Hannah Stuelke finished with 11 points and says it was tough to battle South Carolina’s talent.

Stuelke says there’s no doubt in her mind – Caitlin Clark is the greatest of all time.

Stuelke says losing the rebounding battle hurt the Hawkeyes.

Sydney Affolter had 12 points and says it was a tough way to end a two-year run that culminated in national runner-up finishes.

Affolter says this team believed they had a chance to make a successful run at the start of the season.

Affolter says South Carolina responded well after Iowa’s 20-9 start to the game.