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7AM Newscast 01-24-2014

News, Podcasts

January 24th, 2014 by admin

w/ Ric Hanson

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IHSAA Board of Control Tweaks Football Issues

Sports

January 24th, 2014 by Jim Field

In its monthly meeting, Wednesday, January 22, the Board of Control acted on football recommendations coming from the Iowa Football Coaches Association and the IHSAA Football Playoff Committee. The recommendations had been tabled by the Board of Control from their December meeting.

At the center of discussions and action was a proposed 8-game regular season which would allow the playoffs to fold into a weekly format.  Since December, Board members had contacted constituent groups and in a unanimous vote agreed to stay with the 9-game regular season format.

Other football items that were approved included: (1) discontinuing “sister districts” for the regular season and post season classes in 8-player through 3A and to have a 125-mile limitation for first round games; and (2) no preset pairings will be made for the playoffs and pairings will be determined after each round of the playoffs. Reasonable attempts will be made to find non-district playoff opponents for the first and second round games, but district match-ups could reoccur if an opponent cannot be found within a reasonable distance.

The Board of Control also approved allowing one practice session of no more than four hours during the heat acclimatization period with nor more than three hours of physical activity allowed. The Board also granted an allowance of up to four teams to be at a scrimmage site, with each team only being allowed to scrimmage one other team. All current scrimmage rules would remain in effect.

A change in the forfeiture of season policy was also approved to read “The continuation of the season for a team forfeiting a regular season game shall be determined by the IHSASA administrative staff and the school administration.”

(Bud Legg, IHSAA)

2013-14 Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union SEVENTH Basketball Rankings

Sports

January 24th, 2014 by Jim Field

Class 1-A

School
Record
LW
1
Newell-Fonda
13-1
1
2
Burlington-Notre Dame
13-0
2
3
Stanton
15-0
4
4
Janesville
12-1
6
5
Colo-Nesco
13-1
7
6
Lynnville-Sully
13-2
8
7
Dunkerton
13-2
5
8
Ar-We-Va
13-1
9
9
Northwood-Kensett
9-3
14
10
Adair-Casey
13-3
15
11
English Valleys
10-4
11
12
Winfield-Mount Union
12-2
10
13
LeMars Gehlen Catholic
10-3
12
14
Murray
12-2
3
15
Midland
9-4
NR
Dropped out: Rockford (13)  
 
Class 2-A
School
Record
LW
1
Western Christian
13-1
1
2
Cascade
13-0
2
3
Hinton
14-0
3
4
North-Linn
14-0
4
5
Fort Dodge St. Edmond
13-1
5
6
Dike-New Hartford
10-1
6
7
Hudson
12-1
7
8
North Butler
10-1
8
9
Manson-NW Webster
10-2
9
10
Iowa City Regina
12-2
11
11
South Central Calhoun
13-2
10
12
Treynor
12-2
12
13
Iowa Valley
11-1
13
14
Panorama
12-2
14
15
Maquoketa Valley
12-1
NR
Dropped out: Pocahontas Area (15)
 
Class 3-A
School
Record
LW
1
MOC-Floyd Valley
14-1
1
2
Clear Lake
12-1
3
3
Crestwood
10-2
4
4
Mediapolis
12-1
2
5
Nevada
11-3
5
6
Unity Christian
11-3
6
7
North Polk
12-3
10
8
Williamsburg
12-2
11
9
Bondurant-Farrar
10-3
12
10
Spirit Lake
11-3
13
11
Hampton-Dumont
11-3
8
12
Camanche
10-3
9
13
Sioux Center
10-4
14
14
Center Point-Urbana
9-5
7
15
Shenandoah
13-2
NR
Dropped Out: Red Oak (15)
 
Class 4-A
School
Record
LW
1
Harlan
13-0
1
2
Perry
13-1
3
3
Sioux City Bishop Heelan
11-2
2
4
Ballard
13-2
4
5
Davenport Assumption
9-5
5
6
Western Dubuque
13-1
6
7
North Scott
10-4
7
8
Lewis Central
10-4
8
9
Dallas Center-Grimes
12-2
10
10
Waverly-Shell Rock
10-3
11
11
Cedar Rapids Xavier
7-7
9
12
West Delaware
13-2
13
13
Grinnell
11-2
14
14
Indianola
9-5
12
15
Mount Pleasant
8-4
15
Dropped Out: None
 
Class 5-A
Name
Record
LW
1
Iowa City High
15-0
1
2
West Des Moines Valley
14-0
2
3
Dowling Catholic
12-1
3
4
Waukee
10-0
4
5
Des Moines East
13-2
5
6
Waterloo West
12-2
6
7
Cedar Rapids Kennedy
11-2
7
8
Muscatine
13-2
8
9
Ankeny Centennial
10-4
10
10
Cedar Rapids Washington
10-3
NR
Dropped Out: Mason City (9) 

(Podcast) Skyscan Weather Forecast: Fri., Jan. 24th 2014

Podcasts, Weather

January 24th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

The Freese-Notis weather forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area, along with weather information for Atlantic from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Arrest in Red Oak, Thursday

News

January 24th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A Red Oak man was arrested late Thursday night. According to Red Oak Police, 23-year old Devin Alexander Davis was taken into custody at the intersection of west Valley and north Broadway Streets at around 11:35-p.m.  Davis was wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure to Appear on a Driving While Revoked charge. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 cash bond.

IRS has early tax filing for some

News

January 24th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

The Internal Revenue Service has opened up tax filing early for some individuals. I-R-S spokesman Christopher Miller says those who qualify for free filing can get a jump on the process. “If you make 58-thousand dollars or less, you can sit at your computer and use brand name tax software and get your taxes done early with free file,” Miller explains. Miller says all you have to do is go online at I-R-S-dot-gov (www.irs.gov) to begin the process. “It’s a great program for first-time filers, students, families wanting to save money — even seniors — because it is so fast easy and free,” Miller says. He says they believe not everyone who is eligible is taking advantage of the free filing option.

“Last year in Iowa, around 26-thousand people used free file out of some one-point-four million filers,” according to Miller. “So, a a lot of people used free file in Iowa last year — but a lot more could.” Other filers have to wait until January 31st to send in their returns, but qualified free filers can now do it anytime. “As long as you have your W-2 in hand from your job, you can be in your pajamas and get your taxes done right now. All you need is an internet connection at a computer,” Miller says. Miller says the returns from the free filers will be entered into the system now and will be the first ones processed once that step begins after January 31st.

(Radio Iowa)

Boosting state funding for voluntary preschool an issue in legislature

News

January 24th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Senate Democrats intend to push for more state spending on preschool programs, but Republicans are expressing concerns about the idea. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs says far too many Iowa four-year-olds are not enrolled in preschool. “Some district describe this as they have a waiting list,” Gronstal says. “It’s not a waiting list, it’s an exclusion list because the next year you’re five.” And you start kindergarten. Senate President Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says there are “thousands” of four-year-olds who aren’t in preschool today, but would be if there was an opening in the state-funded programs run by Iowa school districts.

“It has proven itself to be an incredibly successful program in closing that achievement gap, especially among children who are right now living in families that are having a very difficult time just meeting their basic needs,” Jochum said. The legislature’s top Republicans says he “does not anticipate” agreeing to spend more taxpayer dollars on preschool. In 2007, during Democratic Governor Chet Culver’s term in office, the state began sending Iowa public schools the money to finance voluntary preschool programs.

When Republican Governor Terry Branstad took over in 2011, he tried to turn it into a voucher program just for low-income preschool parents, but Democrats objected. Democrats would ultimately like to have mandatory preschool for all four-year-olds. House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, a Republican from Hiawatha, says it’s not an issue Republicans are considering. “To the best of my knowledge, they’re the only ones talking about it,” Paulsen says. “…Nobody’s approached me on it.”

Under current law, state-funded preschool programs are to offer a minimum of 10-hours of instruction per week. Officials estimate about two-thirds of the four-year-olds in Iowa are enrolled in state-funded preschool programs.

(Radio Iowa)

Partisan fight, again, over state funding for schools

News

January 24th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

It appears there’s another statehouse stand-off ahead over state funding for public schools. Iowa law requires the legislature to set the level of general state aid for each school year about 18 months before classes start. But House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, a Republican from Hiawatha, says Republicans won’t take that vote in 2014. “The expectation would be in 2015 we’ll address it for the ’15/’16 school year and the ’16/’17 school year,” Paulsen says. Republicans passed a two-year state budget plan last year and Paulsen says that’s their intention in 2015.

Senate Democrat Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs says within two weeks Democrats in the Senate will pass a bill outlining their state spending pledge to schools for the 2015/2016 school year.”We believe it’s important to obey state law,” Gronstal says. Republicans want to repeal the law that requires the state funding decision for schools to be made a year and a half in advance. And Paulsen — the top Republican in the legislature — says there’s another reason Republicans will reject the Democrats’ proposal on school aid.

“Because their proposal actually increases property tax,” Paulsen says. Since the 1970s, the traditional way of calculating general state aid for schools has allowed school districts to collect more local property taxes if state aid increased. Republicans want to make a different calculation, one that would forbid an increase in local property taxes if state support goes up.

(Radio Iowa)

District football assignments for 2014-2015

Sports

January 24th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa High School Athletic Association, Thursday, released its district football assignments in all six classes, which are effective for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The Daily Nonpareil reports three schools are moving up at least one class: Lewis Central (Class 3-A to 4-A), A-H-S-T (Class A to 1-A) and Underwood (A to 1-A).

Four southwest Iowa schools are moving down at least one class: St. Albert (1-A to A), Tri-Center (1-A to A), Clarinda Academy (2-A to A) and East Mills (A to Eight-Man). Also from the region, Charter Oak-Ute will play a JV-only schedule for the next two years.

The next step is for schools to submit priority lists for non-district opponents. The IHSAA then takes that information to formulate the non-district portion of the schedule. The complete schedules are expected to be released by late February.
Here are the new districts involving schools in southwest Iowa:
Class 4-A
District 1: Ames, Ankeny, Des Moines East, Sioux City North, Southeast Polk, Thomas Jefferson.
District 2: Des Moines North, Des Moines Roosevelt, Johnston, Lewis Central, Sioux City East, West Des Moines Dowling.
District 3: Abraham Lincoln, Ankeny Centennial, Des Moines Hoover, Des Moines Lincoln, Sioux City West, West Des Moines Valley
Class 3-A
District 1: Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley, Denison-Schleswig, Le Mars, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Sioux City Heelan, Spencer, Storm Lake.
District 8: ADM, Atlantic, Creston, Dallas Center-Grimes, Glenwood, Harlan, Winterset.
Class 2-A
District 8: Carroll Kuemper, Clarinda, East Sac County, Prairie Valley, Red Oak, Shenandoah, West Central Valley.
Class 1-A
District 1: A-H-S-T, IKM-Manning, Missouri Valley, OA-BCIG, Treynor, Underwood, West Monona.
Class A
District 1: Audubon, Griswold, Logan-Magnolia, Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto, Riverside, St. Albert, Tri-Center, Westwood.
District 8: Bedford, Clarinda Academy, Earlham, Martensdale-St. Marys, Mount Ayr, Nodaway Valley, Pleasantville, Southeast Warren.
Eight-Man
District 1: Ar-We-Va, Boyer Valley, Exira-EHK, Kingsley-Pierson, Newell-Fonda, River Valley, West Harrison, Woodbine.
District 8: CAM, East Mills, Essex, Fremont-Mills, Lenox, Nishnabotna, Sidney, Stanton

Nat’l. Weather Service forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area: 1/24/14

Weather

January 24th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

(3:46-am NWS/Des Moines)

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 46. Wind chill values as low as -10 early. Windy, with a southwest wind 16 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tonight: Rain likely, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. Blustery, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph becoming north northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Saturday: Increasing clouds, with a steady temperature around 27. Blustery, with a north northwest wind 7 to 17 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.

Sunday: A 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Windy.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around -2. Windy.

Monday: Sunny and cold, with a high near 6. Windy.