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Shelby County Fire Danger remains “Moderate”

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 14th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency has updated the fire danger warning signs in the county. Emergency Coordinator Bob Seivert says the signs will stay in the moderate category to start the week. He says showers forecasted this morning did not materialize and the winds are once again strong out of the southeast.

The winds will elevate the danger of a wild fire spreading quickly while also gaining fuel by creating drying conditions. The Shelby County EMA will update the situation again on Thursday.

U of IA to pay $300,000 in rowing case

Sports

October 14th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa will pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former women’s rowing participant who claimed that intense training workouts left her with debilitating leg injuries.  The settlement avoids trial in the case of Margaret Krusing, who argued that former coach Mandi Kowal imposed excessive training requirements. It was approved Friday and released to The Associated Press under the public records law.

Krusing joined the team in 2007 and was unprepared for the running and biking regimen Kowal required. She soon started complaining of burning in her legs and numbness in her feet. She developed exertional compartment syndrome, a condition that made it hard for her to walk and required numerous surgeries.

Both sides say they’re pleased to settle the lawsuit, which was filed in 2010.

Pacific Junction pair charged with child endangerment

News

October 14th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a Pacific Junction man faces 2 counts of Child Endangerment. 33-year old Timothy Eugene Truhlicka was arrested Friday morning at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. No other details were provided. Truhlicka was being held in the Mills County Jail on $2,000 bond.

That same day, 26-year old Amber Rose Pearson, of Pacific Junction, was arrested on a warrant charging her with 2 counts of child endangerment. She was also arrested for being a fugitive from justice. Pearson’s bond was set at $14,000.

On Saturday, Mills County deputies arrested 50-year old Ernest Leroy Runyon, of Hastings. Runyon was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail. And early Sunday morning, 27-year old Kristen Ann Svendsen, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested on Applewood Road.  Svendsen was charged with OWI/1st offense. Her bond was set at $1,000.

Accident and arrest in Atlantic

News

October 14th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

Officials with the Atlantic Police Department report the arrest on Saturday, of 48-year old Floyd Johnson. The Wiota man was charged with OWI/2nd offense, and brought to the Cass County Jail.

The A-PD reports also, an Atlantic woman was cited for Failure to obey a traffic control device following an accident Friday evening near the intersection of 7th Street and Hospital Drive. Officials say a vehicle driven by Sue Bierbaum, of Atlantic, was traveling south from the HyVee parking lot, when she entered the intersection on a red light and hit an eastbound vehicle driven by Daniel Pross, of Atlantic. No injuries were reported. Damage from the accident amounted to $20,000.

Atlantic man arrested on alcohol & FTMC charges in Audubon Co.

News

October 14th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Department reports the arrest last Friday night of a Cass County man. 49-year old Douglas Allen Bissell, of Atlantic, was arrested at around 11:30-p.m Friday, following an investigation into an accident that occurred on north Kilworth Street in Exira, Friday evening. Bissell faces  OWI/1st offense, and Failure to Maintain Control charges. He was brought to the Audubon County Jail and released after appearing before the magistrate.

Officials say Bissell was traveling east on Washington Street in Exira, when he made a left turn onto north Kilworth. As it continued north on Kilworth, Bissell’s 2011 Ford struck a legally parked 2002 Dodge owned by Alan Seehusen, of Exira. No injuries were reported. Damage from the crash amounted to $14,000.

Western IA chase leads to crash and injuries

News

October 14th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

One person was injured following a chase and crash in Pottawattamie County, Sunday night. Omaha television station KETV reports the chase began in Mills County and ended south of Council Bluffs, near the Lake Manawa exit.

The Iowa State Patrol said Mills County deputies began chasing an SUV near Glenwood. The driver lost control and crashed at around 11:40-p.m.  They were pulled from the vehicle and taken to a hospital for treatment of possible, critical injuries.

No other details have been released.

ISU’s Jarvis West Earns National, Big 12 Honors

Sports

October 14th, 2013 by Jim Field

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State junior Jarvis West was lauded by the Big 12 and the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) for his performance vs. Texas Tech on Saturday. A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., West earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors and national kickoff returner of the week accolades by the CFPA.

West returned Iowa State’s first non-onside kickoff return for a touchdown since 1994 (Troy Davis) at Texas Tech, going 95 yards for the score on ISU’s first touchdown of the afternoon. The 95-yard kickoff return ties for the third-longest in school history.

West also had four punt returns for 46 yards, including a career-long 38-yarder in the third quarter.

West is one of the most prolific kickoff returners in school history. His career 26.10 average on kickoff returns ranks second all-time in school history behind Luther Blue (26.47; 1973-76).

State will use $250,000 federal grant for “blender” pumps

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 14th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The State of Iowa will use a 250-thousand dollar federal grant to bolster a program that pays gas stations to install “blender” pumps that incorporate a higher percentage of corn-based ethanol in motor fuels. Most Iowa stations offer a 10 percent ethanol blend. Governor Terry Branstad says the goal is to boost usage of a 30 percent blend. “It’s my understanding that 30 percent is kind of the ‘sweet spot’ in terms of the best fuel efficiency with an ethanol blend,” Branstad says.

Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey says the expanded sale of E-30 will help Iowa maintain its leadership position in the ethanol industry. “Not only on the production side, but on the consumption side,” Northey says. E-30 is not approved for use in all vehicles, just the 10 percent of U.S. vehicles that are “flexible fuel” models. Some of the federal grant money will be used for blender pumps the dispense “bio-diesel” which features a soybean-based fuel additive.

Gas station operators and farm co-ops that sell fuel will be able to apply for the grants for blender pumps this spring. Representatives of Iowa’s petroleum and renewable fuels industries attended Governor Branstad’s news conference this morning (Monday) for the “fueling our future” program announcement. “Unlike Washington, D.C. where they’re always fighting and you have this big clash going on between ‘Big Oil’ and renewable energy, we actually have petroleum marketers and the renewable energy association cooperating here in Iowa, working together,” Branstad says. “And obviously that’s very beneficial to our economy, to our farmers and also to our environment.”

There are 41 ethanol plants in Iowa and 25 percent of the ethanol produced in the U.S. comes from Iowa. About 17 percent of the country’s biodiesel comes from the dozen biodiesel plants here.

(Radio Iowa)

Backyard and Beyond 10-14-2013

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

October 14th, 2013 by admin

Lavon Eblen speaks with Dianna Williams, Director of the Ann Wickman Child Development Center, about an open house today and tomorrow for businesses.

Play

More potent meth showing up in Iowa

News

October 14th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The head of the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement says larger quantities of purer methamphetamine produced by Mexican drug cartels and trafficking organizations have been showing up in Iowa. Director Steve Dejoode recently briefed the Governor’s Drug Policy Advisory Council about trends in the meth trade in Iowa. He says the product offered by Mexican meth cooks now is different than what we saw from 1998 through 2006.

“The average purity level I think we were seeing then on methamphetamine was anywhere from 14 to 40-percent,” Dejoode says. “The purity levels that I’m seeing are from 98 to 100-percent.” Dejoode says the purer meth can potentially bring a higher price on the streets for dealers, and it raises concerns for those trying to combat the problem.

“It may have an impact on addiction and success of treatment potentially, and then the potential for overdose complications or death,” DeJoode explains. He says while Iowa meth labs haven’t gone away — as much as 90-percent of the drug sold in Iowa comes from across the border.

(Radio Iowa)