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(Podcast) KJAN Morning News & funeral report, 10/10/2016

News, Podcasts

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Skyscan forecast & weather data for Atlantic: 10/10/16

Weather

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Today (Columbus Day): Increasingly cloudy scattered showers. High 70. S @ 15-30.
Tonight: Showers ending; becoming P/Cldy. Low 57. S @ 10-15.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 77. S @ 10-20
Wednesday: Mostly Cloudy & cooler, w/showers likely. High 55.

Thursday: P/Cldy. High around 60.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 73. Our 24-hour Low (ending at 7-a.m. today) was 39.  Last year on this date, our High in Atlantic was 73 and the low was 39. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 96 in 1893. The Record Low was 17 in 1906.

Aurora man shot at officers during standoff, authorities say

News

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

AURORA, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 55-year-old Aurora man shot at officers after a domestic disturbance turned into a standoff with officers. Buchanan County sheriff’s deputies were sent around 11 p.m. Saturday to check a report that a man with a gun was threatening a woman at a home in Aurora. Deputies say the man fired at them during the standoff but they didn’t fire back.

The Sheriff’s Office says a negotiator took about two hours to talk the man into surrendering. No injuries have been reported. Online court records don’t show the man has been charged.

Food prices buck trend and drop, along with commodities prices

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Iowa farmers are still struggling with low commodities prices, but Iowa consumers may’ve noticed some grocery prices are actually coming down. U-S-D-A economist Annemarie Kuhns says the agency’s prediction last year that food prices would rise two-to-three percent this year was wrong, as prices have stayed steady or fallen slightly — which is very unusual.

Kuhns says, “Even after the recession of 2007 and 2009, we still saw food prices increase slightly albeit low rates, but we really haven’t seen deflation since the 1960s.” The U-S-D-A report says consumers are paying lower prices for beef, pork, poultry, eggs, milk and other dairy products, while the prices Iowa farmers are getting for their products are predicted to drop. Corn is down 11-percent, for example.

“A lot of the costs that make up what we pay at the grocery store include things like food processing, transportation, retail overhead,” Kuhns says. “There’s just so many factors of production that go into the price that we’re actually paying, sometimes these changes at the farm level have a muted effect.” If prices go up overall this year, she predicts they’ll only top one-half of one-percent. The early forecast for 2017 shows grocery prices will rise one to two-percent.

(Radio Iowa)

Nerve-wracking weekend for both political parties

News

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Iowa’s toss-up status in this year’s presidential election is nerve-wracking for top officials in both major parties — and for the rank-and-file voters. Kimberly Penning of Ankeny voted for Mitt Romney four years ago. She’s undecided about the presidential race this year and plans to make a final voting decision the day before the Election — just in case there’s some last-minute revelation. “I’m looking for somebody that’s going to basically do something good for the country and isn’t going to send us down a rabbit hole,” she says. She describes the campaign as a “roller coaster.”

Irene Wesley of Ames is a Democrat who has already voted, for Hillary Clinton. She says this election is “mind boggling.” “I have never seen a bigger circus in my life,” Wesley says. “It rivals elections in Latin America. It rivals elections in Italy.” Iowa Republicans held their annual fall fundraiser Saturday night. The party’s top leaders condemned what Donald Trump said on a vulgar recording that was replayed over and over this weekend, but remain committed to voting for Trump rather than Hillary Clinton.

Governor Terry Branstad told reporters Iowa Republicans “are not going to abandon” Trump. “We need to look to the future and we need to look at what kind of a leader we’re going to have for this country and I think that the vision that Trump and Pence has is much better for the future of America than what Hillary Clinton offers.” A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll conducted last week — before the video was released — found Trump ahead in Iowa by four points.

That prompted former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to ask a crowd of Democrats on Sunday in Ames why Iowa is the only battleground state in the country where Clinton’s trailing Trump. “We always knew this was going to be a very tough race and a tight race in Iowa, but I think it is important for Iowans to understand what’s at stake here,” Vilsack told reporters. “…There’s a stark difference between these candidates on the issues that matter to Iowans.”

Vilsack decided to fill out his absentee ballot last night, with his young grandchildren in the room to mark the occasion. One Republican member of the Iowa House went on Facebook this weekend to announce he would NOT vote for the G-O-P nominee. Representative Ken Rizer, of Cedar Rapids, says Trump’s recently revealed remarks about women illustrate an “arrogant lack of character.” Rizer, who backed Jeb Bush in the Caucuses, says as a husband and the father of two college-aged daughters, he cannot hold his nose and vote for Trump.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

IWD wins grant to upgrade systems

News

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Iowa Workforce Development has won a grant from the U-S Department of Labor to do some system upgrading. I-W-D spokesperson, Courtney Greene, says the grant is for one-point-one million dollars. “That will go to upgrade our integrated case management system. And basically what that will do is help us do a better job of providing services to dislocated workers,” Greene says. “Those workers who maybe the plant closes or the company decides to relocate and leaves those workers out of a job — this will help manage those cases.”

She says the change involves the systems used by state employees. “It’s really a more internal system. It allows our Iowa work staff to track clients to make sure that people are receiving the services they need, when they need them,” according to Greene. Greene says the upgrade will help them get more real-time data. She says it will make the system more efficient and should save money and reduce duplication. Greene says they will be working on the system during the next year.

(Radio Iowa)

NWS forecast for Cass & surrounding Counties in IA (10/10/16)

Weather

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

EARLY THIS MORNING…PARTLY CLOUDY. SOUTH WIND NEAR 10 MPH.

TODAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 60S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 30 PERCENT.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED LIGHT SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EVENING…THEN PARTLY CLOUDY OVERNIGHT. LOW IN THE LOWER 50S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 30 PERCENT.

TUESDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 70S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

TUESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF LIGHT SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE UPPER 40S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTH 5 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 30 PERCENT.

WEDNESDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SHOWERS IN THE MORNING…THEN MOSTLY SUNNY IN THE AFTERNOON. MUCH COOLER. HIGH IN THE MID 50S. NORTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

Iowa early News Headlines: Monday, Oct. 10th 2016

News

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court has opened the door for construction to resume on a small stretch of the four-state Dakota Access pipeline while it considers an appeal by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The ruling came Sunday. The tribe had asked the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to continue work stoppage on the pipeline within 20 miles of Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The court earlier ordered work to stop while it decided the motion.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has highlighted extra benefits under Iowa’s new Medicaid program to show the privatized system functions better than the former state-run setup, but the agency overseeing Medicaid acknowledges it does little tracking of the benefits. Known as value-added services, they range from waived gym membership fees to free cellphones. The Iowa Department of Human Services says it’s not required to track the services.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The remains of a Navy chaplain have been buried in his home state of Iowa nearly 75 years after he died during the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A funeral was held for Chaplain Aloysius Schmitt on Saturday. He was aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma when the Dec. 7, 1941, attack happened. The Telegraph Herald reports Schmitt helped other sailors escape the sinking ship before he died. The Navy announced in September that Schmitt’s remains had been identified.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Mason City police say bicycle thefts are on the rise this year as more thieves seek cash for drugs. There have already been 175 bikes reported stolen this year, which is more than all of last year. Police say the stolen bikes are often found in pieces in bicycle chop shops around town.

ROBYN LYNN HOYE, 53, of Griswold (Svcs. 10/14/16)

Obituaries

October 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

ROBYN LYNN HOYE, 53, of Griswold, died Sunday, Oct. 9th, at the Cass county Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic.  A Celebration of Life service for ROBYN HOYE will be held 10:30-a.m. Friday, Oct. 14th, at the Griswold United Methodist Church. Duhn Funeral Home in Griswold has the arrangements.

Visitation with the family will be on Thursday evening from 5:30 PM until 7:30 PM at the Duhn Funeral Home in Griswold.

A private family interment will be held at a later time.

ROBYN HOYE is survived by:

Her son – Anthony Hoye and wife Desiree of Griswold.

Her mother – Kay Hoye, of Griswold.

Her sisters – LeAnn Hoye and husband Rob Abeyta of Denver, CO, and Sheryl Hoye and husband Sunil Dutta of Walnut Creek, CA

Her brother – David Hoye and wife Lisa of Centennial, CO;

2 grandchildren, her special friend Steve Pavelka of Glenwood, many other relatives and friends.

Police say bicycle thefts on the rise in Mason City

News

October 9th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Mason City police say bicycle thefts are on the rise this year as more thieves seek cash for drugs. The Globe Gazette reports there have already been 175 bikes reported stolen this year. In all of 2015, only 132 bikes were stolen. Mason City Police Lt. Rich Jensen says stolen bikes are often found in pieces in “little clandestine bicycle chop shops.” Jensen says the thefts are often linked to people seeking money for drugs.

When police searched an apartment last month, they found drug paraphernalia, two complete bikes, a pile of bicycle frames and dozens of bike parts. Adam Ochoa says he couldn’t believe it when his bike was recently stolen for the second time in five years.