United Group Insurance

RALPH L. JORGENSEN, 79, of Kimballton (3-26-14)

Obituaries

March 21st, 2014 by Jim Field

RALPH L. JORGENSEN, 79, of Kimballton died Thursday, March 20 at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.  Funeral services for RALPH L. JORGENSEN will be held on Wednesday, March 26 at 10:30 am in the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Kimballton.  Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon has the arrangements.

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Friends may call at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon.

Family visitation will be held on Tuesday at 6:00 pm at the funeral home.

Burial in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Kimballton.

RALPH L. JORGENSEN is survived by:

Wife:  Barbara of Kimballton

Daughters:  Coleen (Danny) Jones of Ames; Cindy Jorgensen of Kimballton, Cheryl Bissen (and special friend Steve Humphrey) of Elk Horn; Charlene (Danny) Schneider of Audubon; Cammy (Troy) Hansen of Kimballton.

Brothers:  Harvey Jorgensen of Springfield, MO; Roy (Lila) Jorgensen of Audubon.

Sister:  Correne (Gary) Schmidt of Sheldon

Sister-in-law:  Janelle (Redgie) Hansen of Scottsdale, AZ.

15 Grandchildren

5 Great Grandchildren

Posted in Obituaries |

Red Flag Warning for SW IA today and tonight (3/21/14)

Ag/Outdoor, News, Weather

March 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

COUNTIES: MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT-PAGE–
1232 PM CDT FRI MAR 21 2014

…RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR
    WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND
    SOUTHWEST IOWA…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A RED
FLAG WARNING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY…WHICH IS IN
EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING.

* WINDS…NORTHWEST 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AS LOW AS 15 TO 25 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS…VEGETATION IS VERY DRY ACROSS THE AREA. WITH LOW
RELATIVE HUMIDITY…GUSTY WINDS…AND DRY FUELS…FIRES CAN
IGNITE AND SPREAD QUICKLY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW…OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS…LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AND WARM TEMPERATURES CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News, Weather |

FRIDAY, MARCH 21st

Trading Post

March 21st, 2014 by Jim Field

FOR SALE:  32″ color TV (not a flat screen), asking $25.  Call 243-3396.

FOR SALE: Dolphin figures, lots of misc. items, pictures, mirror. 712-249-3001.

FOR SALE: Used aluminum storm windows with screen, various sizes, will be available in a couple of months. 243-4308

Posted in Trading Post |

Iowa prep coach sticks with decision to quit

Sports

March 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) – The head girls basketball coach at the high school in Independence has carried through with his intention to quit. Rod Conrad and assistant coach Rob Ratchford had complained of threats and criticism from parents and others. The school board accepted Ratchford’s resignation on Monday.

Conrad had said in a statement released March 12 that he’d had second thoughts, citing community support that had surfaced.  Athletics director Rob Arnold said Thursday that Conrad finally concluded that after everything that had happened, Conrad didn’t think he could be as effective in the post.

Posted in Sports |

Cuban SS Aledmys Diaz to make Cards’ spring debut

Sports

March 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz was set to make his exhibition debut for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Washington Nationals. Diaz was in the starting lineup to hit eighth. Washington started Gio Gonzalez.  Diaz last played in Cuba in 2012, then defected. His probably will start the season at Double-A Springfield.

He worked out with the Cardinals last week and played in minor league exhibition games before going to Mexico for his U.S. work visa, which is needed before he can play in big league spring training games.

Posted in Sports |

Bluffs man arrested on Cass County warrant

News

March 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s officials in Cass County report the arrest this (Friday) morning of a Council Bluffs man. 21-year old Brandon Adam Fredericksen, was taken into custody on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear for Child Support Hearing. Fredericksen was taken to the Cass County Jail and held on $2000 bond.

Posted in News |

No Burn Ban for Cass County but precautions are needed

Ag/Outdoor, News, Weather

March 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

While other counties in southwest Iowa have elected to issue a ban on open burning, Cass County will not being doing so at this time. The was the consensus of the fire chiefs who attended the Cass County Fireman’s Association meeting Thursday night, in Marne. Cass County Emergency Management Director Mike Kennon says a ban on open outdoor burning won’t be necessary if people use common sense. He says for the most parts area residents have acted responsibly, and if they continue to act responsibly, the County will refrain from issuing a burn ban.Cass County EMA logo

Acting responsibly means planning ahead before you conduct any outdoor burning. Kennon says residents should check the weather forecast to make sure the winds won’t be strong, call your local fire chief to confirm the time and place of the intended burn. You also need to call the Cass County Communications Center at 243-2204 well ahead of time, so they know not to send out fire crews and equipment when they receive calls from the public fearing a fire is out of control.

Even though there is no burn ban currently in effect in Cass County, Kennon and the area Fire Chiefs are urging residents not to burn for the next couple of days because conditions are expected to be dry and windy. Once a fire is lit, according to Kennon, it needs to be attended to and monitored even when you think it has been extinguished.

He said some of the larger brush piles can burn for days, so to can’t just walk away. They need to be monitored closely.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News, Weather |

Backyard and Beyond 03-21-2014

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

March 21st, 2014 by admin

Lavon Eblen asks “Who wants to grow Asparagus?”

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts |

NW IA grassfire is sparked by passing train

News

March 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A wildfire spread quickly across an open field in northwest Iowa on Thursday afternoon, charring about 50 acres of farmland along the border of Plymouth and Sioux counties. Six fire departments responded. Le Mars Fire Chief Dave Schipper says a spark from a passing freight train is thought to have started the fire.

(Radio Iowa - photo)

(Radio Iowa – photo)

Chief Schipper says, “I don’t know if it was a bearing or a brake that they threw and it sparked or the wheels on the rail itself, but it appears right there at 100th Avenue and the train tracks is where this started from the train, and with the winds, spread west and south and north as fast as it wanted to until we put a stop to it.” Train traffic had to be halted temporarily as crews doused the fires. Schipper says the gusting winds and the thawing ground made for challenging conditions.

We were out there a couple of hours, six fire departments, 40-plus firefighters,” he says. “These types of days with the wind and the dryness of conditions, a couple of the other towns had trucks get stuck. It’s dry on top, but the frost is coming up and it’s just mud. It makes it very difficult to fight these types of fires.” At least five Iowa counties, all in the southwest, enacted bans on open burning this week due to dry conditions.

(Radio Iowa)

Posted in News |

Fire in northwest Iowa destroys hog barn & 350 hogs

Ag/Outdoor, News

March 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A large hog barn was destroyed by fire early this (Friday) morning in northwest Iowa’s Plymouth County, wiping out a herd of 350 pigs.

Photo courtesy Radio Iowa

Photo courtesy Radio Iowa

The blaze hit Jordan Dirksen’s two-story barn near Oyens) about 2 A-M. Oyens Fire Chief Brian Juhl says as soon as fire crews got to the scene, they knew they had their hands full. “When we arrived, we had fire visibly showing and coming out of the second floor which was full of straw,” Chief Juhl says. “Also, when we opened it up, we had fire on the main floor.” The Le Mars fire department also responded.

Firefighters tried to save the 70-year-old barn, but Juhl says they soon learned their efforts were futile.  “When we first got on scene, we were trying to see if we could knock it down quick but it didn’t take long for us to realize we’re not going to be able to knock it down with it being full of straw up in the loft,” he says. “We went on the defensive, trying to control how it burns.” The fire was kept from a propane tank and after about two hours, the barn collapsed. No human injuries are reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

(Radio Iowa)

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |