Johnson County Sheriff’s Office: Iowa DCI assisting in inmate death investigation

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is looking into the death of an inmate in the Johnson County Jail after an apparent medical emergency last week. According to a release from Johnson County Sheriff Brad Kunkel, 36-year-old Nathaniel Davis Jr. was booked into the jail on March 10 to serve a seven-day sentence. On March 14 at approximately 6:10 p.m., Davis had an apparent medical emergency, and a deputy watching a camera monitor saw Davis fall over in his cell. When jail staff responded to Davis’ cell and determined he was having a medical emergency, they began CPR and applied an automatic external defibrillator. An ambulance was also called at this time.

Davis was transported to University of Iowa Hospital, where he died on March 19. According to Kunkel’s release, his office has requested the DCI investigate the incident. An autopsy will be conducted by the Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office and the State Jail Inspector has been notified.

Posted in News |

Some of the world’s best women billiard players compete in Iowa tourney

News, Sports

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – While many Iowans are excited about this week’s start of the college basketball tournaments, another tournament in a different sport will be held in Iowa starting today (Thursday). Daryn Hamilton of Fairfield is vice president of the W-P-B-A board of directors, that’s the Women’s Professional Billiard Association. Hamilton says the Fairfield Invitational is bringing 48 of the world’s most talented professional women billiard players to the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.”They’re literally coming from around the globe,” Hamilton says. “Of the 48 players, maybe 30 of them are from here in the United States and different locations, but we have people coming from China. We have people coming from Europe, Bulgaria. We’ve got a gal coming from Germany.”

Spectators are expected from all over, too, as these women are among the best of the best and they’ll be competing simultaneously on six tables. “We have a couple of younger players,” Hamilton says. “One is a gal by the name of Savannah Easton. She’s 14 years old, she’s from Las Vegas, Nevada, and she’s ranked number 10 right now in the WPBA.” The youngest player in the tournament is a 12-year-old whose nickname is “Sure Shot” and Hamilton says the name fits as she doesn’t miss. This event is all about billiards and there will -not- be T-Vs set up so people can watch the basketball tournament. Still, there’s free wi-fi in the convention center, so Hamilton suspects there will be people watching hoops on their phones.

Kelly Fisher, from the UK, won the Fairfield tourney in 2021. (WPBA photo)

“I knew that I would be competing against them,” Hamilton says. “The very first time I put this on, I did it in August which was the same time that another really big event was going on here in the state of Iowa — the State Fair.” Think you’re pretty good at shooting pool? You can try and prove it at this event, as Hamilton says there will be a pro-am meet and greet. “You’ll be put on a team with three other people and one pro,” Hamilton says, “and you’ll be able to play in a scotch-format nine ball with that pro against another team with three amateurs and a pro.”

The tournament runs through Sunday and will feature some of the best women in the sport, including Kelly Fisher from England. Fisher, known as the “Duchess of Doom,” won the tournament the last time it was held in Fairfield in 2021.

Posted in News, Sports |

Most bloomed flowers won’t be hurt by return to cold

Ag/Outdoor, News

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa)- I-S-U Extension horticulture specialist Aaron Steil says plants that started popping out or blooming early in the recent above-normal temperatures should be okay as the cold returns.

“Most plants that come out relatively early in the spring, especially things like our spring bulbs like daffodils and tulips, they tolerate below freezing temperatures, especially in the upper 20s, fairly well and often come through with very little if any damage,” Steil says. He says temperatures well below normal would impact how the plants bloom. “Down into the lower 20s or teens then yeah, those flowers probably would be damaged and it would cut the bloom time short,” he says, “but many of those plants that bloom early in the spring are used to kind of fluctuating spring temperatures and can tolerate light freezes with very little damage.”

Steil says there are a few things you can do to protect smaller plants. “With perennials or spring bulbs, we might put an extra layer of mulch around them to protect them from some cold or even put a frost blanket over, and that’s not really practical or possible with larger plants like trees and shrubs,” he says. “And so, the good news is that they fare just fine long term. It’s just they get some damage, they see shorter flowering, they may have to send out a second flush of leaves because the first flush was damaged.” Steil says it is not fun to have the time you can enjoy spring flowers cut short.

“That’s always hard to see and disappointing, especially if flower shows are cut short,” he says. Steil says the good news is those flowers will be back next year.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Pott. County man arrested in Red Oak, Wednesday night

News

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 9:15-p.m. Wednesday, in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a man from Pottawattamie County. Red Oak Police report 24-year-old Austin Keith Shannon, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the intersection of N. 8th St. and Highway 34, for Driving While License is Denied, Suspended, Canceled or Revoked. Shannon was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on bond amounting to $491.25.

Posted in News |

JOHN MARTIN POTTER, 65, of Des Moines (Memorial Svcs. 4/6/24)

Obituaries

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

JOHN MARTIN POTTER, 65, of Des Moines, died Dec. 11, 2023, at home. A Memorial service for JOHN POTTER will be held 2-p.m. April 6th, at the Methodist Church in Irwin. Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan has the arrangements.

Visitation at the church is on April 6th, from 1-until 2-p.m.

Burial is in the Jacksonville Cemetery at Jacksonville (IA).

JOHN POTTER is survived by:

His sisters – Noreen (Rod) Shannon, of Manilla; Judy (Robert) Tillwick, and Paula (Barry) Ray, all of Omaha, NE.

Other relatives and friends.

Posted in Obituaries |

PELIA JOY SMITH, 6 days old (Memorial Svcs. 3/24/24)

Obituaries

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

PELIA JOY SMITH, 6 days old, died Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Methodist Women’s Hospital. A Memorial service for PELIA JOY SMITH will be held 2-p.m. Sunday, March 24th, at the Grace Baptist Church in Harlan. Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan has the arrangements.

Visitation at Grace Baptist Church is on Sunday, from 1-until 2-p.m.

PELIA JOY SMITH is survived by:

Her parents – Sonjia & Bernus Smith, of Harlan

Her grandparents – Scott & Billie Phipps of Harlan, and Octavia Smith of Georgetown, SC

Her aunts and uncles.

Posted in Obituaries |

VINITA GRAVETT-STRICKLAND, 83, of Anita [formerly of Council Bluffs] – (Svcs. 3/28/24)

Obituaries

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

VINITA GRAVETT-STRICKLAND, 83, of Anita [& formerly of Council Bluffs], died Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at Atlantic Specialty Care in Atlantic. Funeral services for VINITA GRAVETT-STRICKLAND will be held 10:30-a.m. Thursday, March 28th, 2024, at Roland Funeral Home in Atlantic.

A visitation with family present is on Thursday, from 9:30 a.m. until the time of service.; A luncheon will follow the funeral service.

Burial is at the Garner Cemetery south of Bridgewater.

Memorials may be made to the family for later designation to College of the Ozarks Music Department.

VINITA GRAVETT-STRICKLAND is survived by her husband, David Strickland, of Anita.

Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.

Posted in Obituaries |

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Vallley: Thursday, March 21st, 2024

Weather

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Mostly cloudy. Highs in the lower 50s. East winds 10 to 15 mph, becoming southeast this afternoon.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the mid 30s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Friday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning, then partly sunny in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 40s. North winds 10 to 15 mph, increasing to around 20 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50 percent
Saturday: Mostly sunny in the morning, then mostly cloudy with a chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 40s. Northeast winds around 10 mph, becoming southeast in the afternoon. Chance of rain 30 percent.
Saturday Night: Cloudy. A chance of rain and snow after midnight. Breezy with lows in the lower 30s. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
Sunday: Rain, windy with highs in the upper 40s. Chance of rain 90 percent.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 44. The Low was 24. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 51 and the Low was 38. The Record High for March 21st in Atlantic, was 88 in 1907. The Record Low was -7 in 1960. Sunrise: 7:22. Sunset: 7:33-p.m.

Posted in Weather |

Proposed constitutional amendment for a flat income tax

News

March 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans on a Senate committee are advancing a proposed amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would make a single-rate “flat tax” the only legal kind of state income tax. The proposal cleared the Senate Ways and Means Committee with yes votes from the 11 Republicans on the panel, but none of them publicly discussed the proposal. Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames is one of the six Democrats on the panel who voted against it.

“By flattening the income tax, which you’re principally going, what you’re doing is reducing taxaction on high income earners,” Quirmbach said. Iowa has had a graduated income tax for decades, with higher rates for Iowans earning higher incomes. Quirmbach says in a few years the state will have to raise other taxes, like the sales tax, if the state income tax is permanently flattened to one single rate.

“What cuts in services are you proposing? What increases in other taxes are you proposing?” Quirmbach asked. Senator Cindy Winckler, a Democrat from Davenport, says Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania are the only states that have a flat income tax requirement in their state constitutions. “They all have quite different make up of industries and revenue streams,” Winckler said. “We can’t identify that one size certainly fits all.”

Under current law, Iowa’s individual income tax is scheduled to shrink to a flat rate of three-point-nine percent by January of 2026. Governor Reynolds has proposed a lower rate, to take effect retroactively to January 1st of this year. The governor has also said her ultimate goal is to eliminate the state income tax by January 1st of 2027.

Posted in News |