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House bill addresses lagging pay for county attorneys

News

January 29th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A bill ready for debate in the Iowa House would get rid of the legal limits on the salaries of county attorneys. Republican Representative Brian Lohse of Bondurant says there’s currently no limit on pay for the county attorneys in Polk and Linn Counties, but the other 97 can’t be paid more that a judge. “Under current law, salaries of county attorneys are limited and tied to that of a district court judge,” Lohse says. “Salary must be between 45% and 100% of the judge’s pay.” Lohse says getting rid of those caps will help counties recruit and retain lawyers in the county attorneys offices, especially in rural areas.

“Also allowing them to potentially earn more than the judge in front of whom they’re practing,” Lohse says. “That just highlights the problem with judicial pay that we need to remedy.” House Judiciary Committee chairman Steven Holt of Denison agrees. “We definitely need to deal with judicial pay, the sooner the better,” Holt said. “Our judicial pay is under everybody around us and that needs to change, without a doubt.”

Iowa judges are paid less than judge in every state that borders Iowa. Iowa judges make 16-thousand dollars less per year than South Dakota judges. The salaries for judges in Nebraska are 38-thousand dollars higher.

House Democratic Leader says it appears DCI went ‘rogue’ in sports gambling probe of UI, ISU athletes

News

January 29th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of Democrats in the Iowa House says there’s troubling testimony in recently revealed court documents about the state investigation of sports gambling among Iowa and Iowa State athletes. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst) says the way the Division of Criminal Investigation appears to have initiated the probe raises questions.

“Obviously it’s frustrating to see there’s this kind of dysfunction, this kind of lack of accountability in an agency as important as this agency,” Konfrst says. According to court documents, a long-time D-C-I agent who asked to be taken off the case alleged the agency had conducted an illegal search of the athletes’ online bets because it had not obtained a warrant. Konfrst says that’s scary.

“They did that without permission in a way that can be really scary when you think about our liberties,” Konfrst says. “…Data privacy is something that Iowans are really concerned about and we need to look into.” Konfrst, who was asked about the sports gambling investigation on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S, says the D-C-I must account for its conduct.

“If this is the kind of place where people can go rogue and start doing things like, you know, illegally listening to other people, doing illegal searches, things like that — what are the consequences?” Konfrst asked. “…I heard the governor said it’s not up to her to address this issue, but she’s the leader, her job is to hold people accountable and I think Iowans are noticing.”

Reynolds told Radio Iowa state law requires the D-C-I to monitor sports gambling in the state and agents don’t check with her when they’re doing their jobs. Reynolds declined to comment further on the cases since many have yet to be resolved in court. The governor did say the state’s public safety commissioner is getting ready to provide some information about the D-C-I’s investigation.

Wheel/tire fly off an SUV and strike a pickup truck in Union County – No injuries

News

January 29th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Creston, Iowa) – A wheel/tire from an SUV sheered off at the lugs Sunday evening in Union County, and struck a pickup truck. The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a 2006 Jeep Liberty driven by 24-year-old Brock Bucy, of Osceola, was traveling eastbound on Highway 34 when the incident occurred at around 7:20-p.m.

The wheel and tire hit a 2014 F-150 pickup that was traveling westbound, and being driven by 61-year-old David Gaffney, of Essex. Gaffney wasn’t hurt, but his pickup was declared a total loss (estimated damage $5,000). The Jeep sustained $1,500 damage.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Monday, Jan. 29, 2024

Weather

January 29th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny, with a high near 43. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 38. Northwest wind 9 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 46. The Low was 21. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 8 and the Low was -1. The Record High for Jan. 29th in Atlantic, was 59 in 1931. The Record Low was -31, in 1904. Sunrise today: 7:35. Sunset: 5:31.

TIMOTHY LYN NIELSEN, 56, of Omaha [formerly of rural Audubon] (Svcs. 2/1/24)

Obituaries

January 29th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

TIMOTHY LYN NIELSEN, 56, of Omaha (formerly of rural Audubon), died Tue., Jan 23, 2024, at Lakeside Hospital in Omaha. Funeral services for TIMOTHY NIELSEN will be held 2-p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1,. 2024, at the First United Methodist Church in Audubon. Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon has the arrangements.

Friends may call at the funeral home, where the family visitation is on Wed., Jan. 31st, from 4-until 7-p.m.

Burial is in the Merrill’s Grove Cemetery at a later date.

TIMOTHY NIELSEN is survived by:

His mother – Laurel Nielsen, of Audubon.

His brothers – Steve (Julie) Nielsen, of Missouri Valley; Jim (Jody) Nielsen, of Ocala, FL, and Mark (Helene) Nielsen, of Gothenburg, Sweden.

other relatives, and many friends.

Hawkeyes Blank Wildcats

Sports

January 28th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

EVANSTON, Illinois – The third-ranked University of Iowa men’s wrestling team won all 10 matches to blank the Northwestern Wildcats, 46-0, on Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

In a dual that lasted an hour and 23 minutes the Hawkeyes won eight bouts via bonus points, including ending six matches early via technical fall or pin.

Iowa recorded 33 takedowns to Northwestern’s one.

“We are going to Michigan next week,” said head coach Tom Brands. “We have a lot of work to do. We got a lot of bonus points again. We had two falls in this dual meet, we won an overtime match, and we have to keep it rolling.”

At 125 No. 5 ranked Drake Ayala got the Hawkeyes started using 3:22 to win a 19-4 tech. fall over Massey Odiotti.

It was the first of three straight tech. falls for Iowa as Cullan Schriever used 5:09 to win, 24-9, over Patrick Adams at 133 and at 141 Brody Teske won, 17-1, over Kolby McClain in 4:50.

11th ranked Caleb Rathjen ended the streak of tech. falls with a pin over Aiden Vandenbush at 149, winning in 3:46.

Second ranked Jared Franek finished out the first half of the dual with a ranked win defeating No. 19 Trevor Chumbley, 4-1, in sudden victory.

No. 6 Michael Caliendo won the only other ranked matchup of the dual after the 10-minute intermission. He needed 4:59 to win 21-5 over No. 15 Maxx Mayfield. The Geneva, Illinois, native has seven tech. falls on the season.

No. 9 Patrick Kennedy tallied an 11-3 major decision over David Ferante before Aiden Riggins recorded an upset decision at 184 over 24th ranked Troy Fisher, 4-2.

14th ranked Zach Glazier extended his winning streak to 18 and remained undefeated with an 11-2 major decision over Evan Bates.

Ben Kueter ended the dual with a bang needing only 45 seconds to pin Jack Jessen.

“That is what Kueter does best,” said Brands. “He is very calm, very comfortable, in positions that maybe aren’t conventional. Pretty good transition, not just bailing himself out and getting a stalemate when the guy is deep but putting a guy in trouble, and then you have to put the clamps on a guy and end it. He did that, and sometimes that is hard to do. You get the whole enchilada with him.”

“I am pretty good in that position,” said Kueter. “I have strong hips, I guess you could say, so I was comfortable where I was at. I knew that was what I wanted to do. Just like my coaches were saying, take my first scoring opportunity, and that is what I did, finished the match.”

The victory moves Iowa’s dual record to 10-0 and 5-0 in Big Ten Conference action. The Hawkeyes travel to Michigan on Friday at 2 p.m.

ISU Drops Top-Five Road Battle at Oklahoma State

Sports

January 28th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 4 Iowa State dropped its first Big 12 dual of the season to No. 5 Oklahoma State, 21-12, Saturday night inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Cowboys won six bouts compared to ISU’s four, including three matches by bonus points. Iowa State finished the evening 1-2 in one-score matches. Oklahoma State won the takedown battle, 15-8, marking the first time this season the Cyclones were outperformed on their feet in a dual.

Oklahoma State started the evening with three consecutive victories at 125, 133 and 141 pounds to take a commanding 10-0 lead in the dual. At 141 pounds, Anthony Echemendia was much the aggressor and had an opportunity to get the Cyclones on the board, but fell to No. 9 Tagen Jamison, 4-1, in sudden victory.

Casey Swiderski got Iowa State on the board at 149 pounds. The Cyclone tallied two takedowns and controlled the center of the mat in an 8-2 victory over No. 17 Sammy Alvarez.

The Cowboys got a decision at 157 pounds before the dual’s featured bout between No. 3 David Carr and No. 4 Izzak Olejnik. Carr was in control the entire match and amassed 2:07 of riding time in an 8-1 decision.

MJ Gaitan made it back-to-back victories for the Cyclones with a win in sudden victory against No. 25 Brayden Thompson. Gaitan secured a body lock on the edge of the mat and tallied the winning takedown to win, 6-3.

Oklahoma State sealed the contest with two consecutive bonus point wins at 184 and 197 pounds. 

Yonger Bastida ended the night on a positive note for Iowa State. He improved to 17-0 on the year with a 7-2 decision over No. 9 Konner Doucet, his sixth victory of the season against a top-15 opponent.

Up Next
Iowa State returns home for the entire month of February. Next up, the Cyclones take on West Virginia Friday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.

Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger addresses spying allegations

Sports

January 28th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger is angry over reports that Kansas State accused the Cyclones of spying on their huddles in last week’s game in Hilton Coliseum. He addressed the reports following Saturday’s 79-75 win over seventh ranked Kansas.

Otzelberger called the allegations ludicrous.

Otzelberger says there was no spying.

New native talks about B1G Women’s Basketball Tournament

Sports

January 28th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

An Iowa native says the Big Ten is expecting more records set at this season’s Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament in Minneapolis. Megan Kahn is from Newton and is the Big Ten Vice President of Women’s Basketball. It is the second straight year the Twin Cities serves as host.

Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeye women are setting attendance records wherever they play and Kahn expects the Big Ten Tournament to be no different.

Kahn says the “Caitlin Clark Effect” is real.

The tournament runs March sixth through the 10th.

Injury accident near the Cass/Pott. County line

News

January 28th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Lewis, Iowa) – Numerous rescue crews responded to the scene of a collision involving two-vehicles this (Sunday) evening, near the Cass-Pottawattamie County line. Lewis First Responders, Griswold Rescue and Cass EMS were dispatched to the scene at 490th Street and Highway 6, at around 5:10-p.m.

Four people were reportedly injured, with a female unconscious. One of the victims was being transported by ambulance to a hospital in Council Bluffs. Two patients, an adult and a juvenile were transported by ambulance to Cass Health, in Atlantic. One of the victims was flown by helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha.

Additional information is currently not available.