712 Digital Group - top

Rail car shortage may mean problems for harvest

Ag/Outdoor, News

September 30th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Most Iowa farmers haven’t started the harvest yet but already it’s clear there will be problems with moving the grain. U-S Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says rail cars will be in short supply and he doesn’t foresee any solution coming down the tracks. “Our surface transportation board, along with our rail companies, and along with us in Washington, we’re going to have to figure out a way to create more capacity so that commodities can move,” Foxx says. Farmers need rail cars to move their crops, but many rail cars are being diverted to haul oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and Montana.

“It’s an issue we have to deal with,” Foxx says. “The Surface Transportation Board has primary responsibility for it but clearly with the proliferation of the movement of crude oil by rail, it increases competition for precious rail space.” Foxx says there’s no easy fix to the looming rail car shortage. “Even if Congress funded us tomorrow, it would still take some time to get track on the ground and things going,” Foxx says. “It’s not going to be a short-term solution but again, the Surface Transportation Board has primary responsibility for trying to work out the issues that have to do with commodities moving.”

Many blame the rail car shortage on the delay on building the Keystone X-L oil pipeline across Nebraska. That pipeline could carry the Bakken oil, freeing up thousands of rail cars to move crops.

(Radio Iowa)

Western IA Volleyball Scores from Mon., 9/29/14

Sports

September 30th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

(3-0) East Sac County 25-25-25, St. Mary, Storm Lake 19-19-17
(3-0) East Sac County 25-25-31, Alta/Aurelia 20-17-29
(2-1) Maple Valley-Anthon Oto 25-22-15, Siouxland Community Christian 18-25-9
(3-0) Treynor 25-25-25, Missouri Valley 21-13-21

Officials: 2 teens killed in Storm Lake car wreck

News

September 30th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say two teenagers have been killed and several people hospitalized following a car wreck in Storm Lake. The Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Department says a pickup truck collided head-on with another car Monday morning on a gravel road.

The Sioux City Journal reports a 17-year-old male and a 16-year-old female were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. A 15-year-old female was flown by helicopter to a Sioux City hospital. A 19-year-old woman was sent by ambulance to another hospital.  The pickup driver, 43-year-old Kent Erickson, suffered minor injuries in the collision. His passenger, 49-year-old Trent Jackson, was hospitalized.

Additional names and information has not been released.

NWS forecast for the KJAN listening area: Tue., 9/30/2014

Weather

September 30th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Today – Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. Breezy, with an east southeast wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight – Periods of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 61. South southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Wednesday – Periods of showers and thunderstorms. High near 74. South southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Wednesday Night – Periods of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 56. East southeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Thursday – A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. North wind 6 to 11 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday Night – Partly cloudy, with a low around 47.

Friday – Sunny, with a high near 62. Breezy.

Chiefs beat New England Patriots

Sports

September 30th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jamaal Charles returned from an ankle injury to score three touchdowns, Alex Smith threw for 248 yards and three scores, and the Chiefs routed the Patriots 41-14 on Monday night, getting the sports week off to a smashing start in Kansas City with the Royals preparing to open the baseball playoffs on Tuesday.

They held the Patriots’ Tom Brady to 159 yards passing and a touchdown, picking him off twice and returning one for a touchdown. Brady was also strip-sacked by Tamba Hali to set up a Chiefs field goal, capping off a miserable night for the two-time NFL MVP. The Chiefs forced the Patriots to air it out by stuffing Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley. And when Brady dropped back, their front seven ran roughshod over New England’s suspect offensive line.

It hardly helped the Patriots offense that it was trying to operate on the same night Chiefs fans were trying to reclaim the record for loudest outdoor sports venue. The record was set in the first half, when Guinness World Records noted a noise level of 142.2 decibels — breaking the mark of 137.6 that Seattle Seahawks fans set last season.

Chiefs break Seahawks’ Guinness noise record

Sports

September 30th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Arrowhead Stadium is once again the loudest outdoor venue in sports. After claiming the record last season, and then losing it to the Seattle Seahawks, the fans of the Kansas City Chiefs reclaimed the mark with a reading of 142.2 decibels in the first half of their game against the New England Patriots on Monday night. Guinness World Records was on hand to record the noise level. The record had been 137.6.

To put that in perspective, a jet engine at 100 feet is about 140 decibels, which means the sustained noise in the stadium was enough to jeopardize the hearing of the fans. Among them were several members of the Kansas City Royals, who will play the Oakland A’s in an AL wild-card game across the parking lot at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night.

Autopsy shows Chiefs LB Belcher had brain damage

Sports

September 30th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An autopsy performed a year after Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his baby’s mother and himself found the 25-year-old sustained the same kind of brain damage that has turned up in other NFL players. Belcher fatally shot 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins on Dec. 1, 2012, in the couple’s Kansas City home before driving to Arrowhead Stadium and killing himself in front of the team’s general manager and head coach.

Belcher’s mother, Cheryl Shepherd, sued the team, claiming the Chiefs failed to care for her son after he was subjected to repetitive head trauma. The autopsy found signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease found in athletes and others with a history of repetitive brain injuries. Attorneys for Shepherd and other plaintiffs suing the team released the findings.

Iowa early News Headlines: Tue., Sept. 30th 2014

News

September 30th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A body found in a car trunk has been identified as that of an Iowa State University student from China who has been missing for more than three weeks. The Iowa City Police Department says the death of 20-year-old Ton Shao is suspicious. The cause of death is being withheld pending results of an autopsy completed over the weekend. Shao, a junior chemical engineering student, was last seen in Ames more than three weeks ago.

WEST UNION, Iowa (AP) — A pretrial conference has been delayed for a former Iowa mayor accused of sexual abuse. The date for Jason Manus’ pretrial conference was pushed back to Oct. 13 because his defense attorney died earlier this month. His trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 22. The 36-year-old Manus is charged with five counts of second-degree sexual abuse. He is accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl in 2010. He has pleaded not guilty. Manus was mayor of Oelwein until his resignation in August.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport man has been charged with vehicular homicide following a car wreck that killed two Illinois men. Twenty-four-year-old Kai Miller is charged with homicide by vehicle, operating while intoxicated and two counts of serious injury by vehicle in connection to the crash early Sunday in Davenport. Court records do not list an attorney. Authorities say Miller’s car collided with a vehicle carrying 21-year-old Andrew Scott Adams and 22-year-old Danny DeBacker,

ROCKWELL CITY, Iowa (AP) — Lab results show hundreds of capsules found at a northern Iowa prison tested negative for any controlled substances. The 300 to 400 capsules were found earlier this month at the North Central Correctional Facility in Rockwell City. The pills contained an unknown substance, prompting a state drug investigation. State officials have not said how the capsules got inside the prison.

Change costs stores more to accept SNAP benefits

Ag/Outdoor, News

September 29th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

It now costs Iowa grocery stores and other businesses more to accept payments through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Merchants now have to pay for their own equipment and processing services whenever SNAP cards are used. Kevin Concannon, the U-S-D-A’s Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services and a former Iowan, says the change was designed to prevent the illegal use of the program.

Concannon says, “We found that in some locations where a manual machine was used to record the expenditure on the SNAP benefit, there was a higher rate of fraud or trafficking.” About 421-thousand Iowans now receive SNAP benefits, or about 13-percent of the population. Concannon says the goal is to make the use of those benefits more secure.

“There are now 257,000 locations across the United States where one can use or spend your SNAP benefits,” Concannon says. “The requirement will be now that all of those outlets will be required to use electronic benefit capacity.” Iowans who make part of their living at the 230 farmers markets across the state will be glad to hear that there are a few exceptions to the rule.

“Those exceptions are basically farmers markets because it recognizes the nature of a farmers market is often on a vacant lot or in a rural area,” Concannon says. “It’s part of our effort to really reach out and support local agriculture and to encourage people to purchase healthier foods.” Other exceptions include military commissaries, direct marketing farmers and non-profit food cooperatives. Concannon is the former director of the Iowa Department of Human Services.

(Radio Iowa)

Central and Western Iowa vets prepare for honor flight

News

September 29th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A group of Iowa veterans are preparing to fly to the nation’s capital Tuesday from central Iowa on an Honor Flight. The chairman of the Central and Western Iowa Honor Flight organization, Jeff Ballenger, says they will leave early. “Wheels up around 6:30 a-m. And we’ll be taking 395 World War Two and Korean veterans for an opportunity to see their memorial,” Ballenger says. The veterans were checking-in Monday in Des Moines, and then will board buses for a trip through Des Moines to Prairie Meadows in Altoona for a dinner.

“The pre-flight dinner will start at 6 p-m and will last about an hour-and-a-half. And we anticipate having around 950 people at the pre-flight dinner as the veterans are each able to bring somebody with them, and of course, we have our guardians who take care of the veterans,” Ballenger says. Many World War Two veterans have already taken an Honor Flight from the area, and Ballenger says this flight catches up on those who couldn’t make past flights.

“The folks who are going on this trip from World War Two, what they’re telling us is they were scheduled to go on an earlier flight and for health reasons just weren’t able to make that particular date,” Ballenger explains. “One interesting tidbit, we do have a World War Two veteran who is 101-years-old who is going on the flight with us.” Ballenger asks everyone to show their support for the veterans and to pray for a safe trip.

“These flights, while they are a lot of fun and there’s a great interest in them, they are not easy to do,” Ballenger says. “You’ve got men and women in their 80’s, some cases 90’s, and we just want to pray for their safety. We’ve got doctors on board, we’ve got E-M-Ts, and we’ve got firemen.” He says their goal for each flight is simple.

“We really want to make sure each flight gets out there and back as safely as possible. And that the veterans have an enjoyable day in D-C,” Ballenger says. He says with this flight they will have taken nearly three-thousand World War Two and Korean veterans to Washington, and raised just under three million dollars. Ballenger says the sponsorships of Hy-Vee, Caseys, Polk County, Knapp Properties and the Rassmussen group made this trip possible.

(Radio Iowa)