United Group Insurance

FSA allocates emergency funding

Ag/Outdoor

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

USDA/FSA Executive Director for Iowa, John R. Whitaker, has announced that $10.8 million of Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) funding has been received for Iowa’s farmers to repair land that was damaged by 2011 natural disasters. Counties receiving ECP funds for Missouri River Flooding are:  Woodbury, Monona, Harrison, West Pottawattamie, Mills, and Fremont.  Woodbury County will also receive funding under the EFRP program.  Dubuque, Benton, and Tama Counties will receive ECP funding for damages related to 2011 summer storms.  

ECP provides cost share assistance to rehabilitate farmland and conservation structures. Producers/landowners who have suffered terrace washouts, flood debris in the fields and deposits, fences washed out and other damage to eligible conservation structures should contact the local FSA office for more information. EFRP participants may implement emergency forest restoration practices, including emergency measures necessary to repair damage caused by natural disaster to natural resources on nonindustrial private forestland and restore forest health and forest related resources on land.  

FSA County Committee’s determine eligibility based on on-site inspections of the damaged land and consider the type and extent of the damage. If you would like to learn more about ECP, EFRP, or other programs administered by FSA, please contact your local office or go online to www.fsa.usda.gov

ANGELA R. NEWMAN, 93, of Griswold (Svcs 1-28-12)

Obituaries

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ANGELA R. NEWMAN, 93, of Griswold, died Tue., Jan. 24th, at the Griswold Care Center. A Memorial service for ANGELA NEWMAN will be held 11-a.m. Sat., Jan. 28th, at the Noble Center United Methodist Church, south of Lyman.  Duhn Funeral Home in Griswold has the arrangements.

Cremation has taken place, and there is no visitation or viewing at the funeral home.

ANGELA NEWMAN is survived by:

Her son – Dennis (Barbara) Newman, of Lyman.

Her daughter – Janice (Don) Gray, of Hampton, IA.

4 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

Western IA man pleads guilty to child porn charge

News

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Onawa man has pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges. The U.S. attorney’s office says 54-year-old Terry Tyson pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography during a hearing last week in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. Prosecutors say Tyson admitted during a hearing Friday that he possessed child pornography on his home computer. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A  sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

Iowa gets C-minus on education report card

News

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

A new report ranks Iowa’s K-through-12 education system 31st in the nation. The report comes from the American Legislative Exchange Council. It gave Iowa an overall grade of C-minus. Iowa had very low marks in college programs that prepare teachers and in keeping effective teachers in the classroom. Iowa got a D-plus for failing to do enough to get rid of ineffective teachers. Republican Governor Branstad suggests the report should be a “wake-up call” for state policymakers who’re reviewing his education reform plan. Democrats suggest the report from the Republican-leaning group is skewed. They point to other reports indicating, for example, that Iowa high schoolers who took the A-C-T had an average score that ranked second in the nation.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Giving Iowans protection in cases of “justifiable force”

News

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

A three-member panel has given initial approval to a proposal that would broaden the definition of “justifiable force” for Iowans who believe they face a threat from an attacker and shoot a gun in defense. Representative Matt Windschitl, a Republican from Missouri Valley, says it’s about protecting law-abiding Iowans from frivolous lawsuits.  “What we’re trying to address is Iowans’ individual right to protect themselves and their neighbors from any kind of threat or harm without having to face any kind of civil liability,” he says.

The three-member House subcommittee that considered the bill held a sort of public hearing yesterday that drew critics of the plan. Polk County Attorney John Sarcone suggested the proposed change would give defense attorneys another tool to try to justify the criminal conduct of gang members or those accused of domestic abuse.  “We’d allow people to get off because someone made a comment or looked at somebody the wrong way,” Sarcone said. This same “justifiable force” proposal was introduced in the Iowa legislature last year, too, but never cleared a committee in the House or Senate.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Iowa’s congressmen, US senators divided on key Obama tax proposal

News

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Iowa’s congressional delegation is split along party lines over a key proposal President Obama highlighted in his “State of the Union” speech. Obama has proposed raising the tax rate to at least 30 percent for Americans who make more than a million dollars, an idea Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett advocates. Obama invited Buffett’s secretary to last night’s speech in D.C., as Buffett often says he pays a much lower tax rate than his secretary does. That does not sway Steve King, a Republican Congressman from western Iowa. “Warren Buffett has shielded a lot of income,” King says. “We can’t look at Warren Buffett’s tax rate and his secretary’s tax rate and draw any calculation…so it looks to me like it’s a political ploy more than anything else.”

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says “under-taxing” millionaires and billionaires isn’t the problem. “But the most important thing is the intellectual dishonesty of saying that Buffett’s paying 15 percent and that’s less than what his secretary pays. He pays 15 percent on capital gains, but you’ve got to remember that same money was taxed at 35 percent at the corporate level,” Grassley says. “You could figure that dollars taxed at 50 percent, not 15 percent.” Republican Congressman Tom Latham of Clive doesn’t directly accuse President Obama of engaging in “class warfare,” but Latham’s no fan of raising the tax rate on the wealthy. “I think it’s important that we try to unite the country and not divide the citizens economically or wherever,” Latham says, “because we’ve got a lot of problems in this country.” Iowa’s three Democratic Congressmen all support the higher tax rate for people who make more than a million dollars

Congressman Leonard Boswell, a Democrat from Des Moines, says he’s been a “long-time” supporter of raising the tax rate on top wage earners. “Maybe amnesia set in how we got to where we are, but there’s no point in lamenting on it. We’re there,” Boswell says. “How do we get out of it? And if everybody participates and I mean everybody — all — we can do this.” Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, says the Republican Party’s “trickle down” economics doesn’t work and Harkin argues Obama’s tax proposals “promote a better, more fair tax structure.”

President Obama is due in Iowa over the noon-hour today (Wednesday). He’ll give a speech at a manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids, a stop through five “battleground states” in the November election and a backdrop to highlight the president’s proposals to boost the manufacturing industry.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Forecast for Cass & nearby Counties on Wed., Jan. 25th 2012

Weather

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

327 AM CST WED JAN 25 2012 National Weather Service/Des Moines

EARLY THIS MORNING…MOSTLY CLOUDY. NOT AS COLD. EAST WIND AROUND 5 MPH.

TODAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON THEN BECOMING MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH AROUND 40. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY AFTER MIDNIGHT THEN BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE MID 20S. WEST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.

THURSDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 30S. NORTHWEST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR THROUGH MIDNIGHT THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE MID 30S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH SHIFTING TO THE WEST 15 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 30 PERCENT.

FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW 15 TO 20.

SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 30S. LOW AROUND 15.

Texas Ends Losing Skid by Beating Iowa State 62-55

Sports

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Off to its worst Big 12 start in 14 years, Texas was desperate for a win. The Longhorns finally got one, even if they let what could have been a rout turn into a nervous finish in the final minute. Myck Kabongo scored 13 points, Julien Lewis had 12 and Texas ended a three-game losing streak with a 62-55 victory over Iowa State on Tuesday night. Texas (13-7, 3-4 Big 12) got the victory despite a bad night by leading scorer J’Covan Brown, who scored 12 on 3-of-16 shooting and compounded that with five turnovers. Brown and Kabongo made key late baskets that held off an Iowa State rally. The Cyclones trimmed an 18-point second-half deficit to 58-55 after 3-pointers by Chris Allen and Chris Babb in the final minute. Brown made two free throws with 21 seconds left, and Kabongo’s steal from Allen and fast-break layup 9 seconds later ended it. Iowa State beat Texas in the conference opener, but the Big 12’s top 3-point-shooting team struggled badly from long range in the rematch. The Cyclones average nine 3-pointers but were just 5 of 21 on Tuesday night. Royce White led Iowa State (14-6, 4-3) with 15 points, 15 rebounds and five assists but scored just four in the second half and was just 1 of 7 shooting free throws.

Tuesday Boys High School Basketball Results

Sports

January 25th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Hawkeye 10:

  • Atlantic 55, Glenwood 40
  • Clarinda 43, Savannah, Mo. 35
  • Lewis Central 47, Denison-Schleswig 45
  • Harlan 45, Ralston, Neb. 42 (2OT)
  • Sidney 87, Shenandoah 53

Western Iowa:

  • A-H-S-T 52, Griswold 48
  • Tri-Center 64, Underwood 61
  • Riverside 63, Audubon 46
  • Treynor 80, Missouri Valley 50

Rolling Hills:

  • CAM 60, Walnut 41
  • Ankeny Christian Academy 47, Adair-Casey 45
  • Exira-EHK 49, Orient-Macksburg 39
  • Glidden-Ralston 48, Iowa Christian Academy 45
  • East Greene 81, Paton-Churdan 62

    Others:

    • A-D-M 76, Carroll 62
    • Coon Rapids-Bayard 45, Guthrie Center 43
    • East Mills 69, Nishnabotna 42
    • Nodaway Valley 78, Corning 47
    • Lenox 73, East Union 60
    • Mount Ayr 51, Bedford 35
    • Sioux City North 81, Abraham Lincoln 44
    • Sioux City West 71, Thomas Jefferson 60
    • Stanton 44, South Page 39
    • Fremont-Mills 62, Essex 30
    • Villisca 52, Clarinda Academy 51
    • Woodward-Granger 56, Panorama 54
    • St. Albert 69, Concordia, Neb. 51

     

    Some Pamida stores slated for closing

    News

    January 24th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

    Officials say some Pamida stores will close as part of the merger with Shopko, but it’s still unclear how many, if any, will be shuttered in Iowa. Shopko, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, announced earlier this month it will take over Pamida, headquartered in Omaha. There are six Shopko stores and 30 Pamidas in Iowa. Shopko spokeswoman Tara Powers says the two companies have been linked in the past, but only behind the scenes.  “Shopko and Pamida were one company back in the early 2000s, but at that time, they were really run as two separate organizations and they shared some back office functions but they were largely independent of one another,” Powers says. “The difference today is they are truly merging together under the Shopko banner as one company, one corporate office.” While some company mergers are just done on a balance sheet, she says customers will see big changes at Pamida locations. The Pamida name will be eliminated and most product lines changed.

    “Shopko Hometown carries a much larger assortment of certain categories, like apparel and home merchandise and they have a big emphasis on national brands,” Powers says. “The product mix that consumers will see when they come into the store is going to be very, very different from what they’re used to at Pamida.” No changes are planned at any of the Shopko stores, but some 80-million dollars will be invested over the next year to convert most of the 193 Pamida stores into Shopko Hometown stores this year. Combined, the new chain will have almost 350 stores in 22 states. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The merger is expected to close in mid-February.

    “The two companies looked at the retail landscape together and see that there is a lot of opportunity to serve smaller communities,” Powers says. “(Customers) currently have to drive anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to go into a larger town to go to Walmart or Target to get everything they need. The idea with a Shopko Hometown store is they can get everything they need in a smaller footprint store right in their own community.” There are currently Pamida stores in 30 Iowa cities: Albia, Audubon, Bloomfield, Chariton, Clarion, Corydon, Dyersville, Eldora, Estherville, Forest City, Glenwood, Greenfield, Harlan, Humboldt, Hampton, Ida Grove, Jefferson, Missouri Valley, Mount Ayr, New Hampton, Oelwein, Onawa, Osceola, Perry, Red Oak, Sheldon, Sigourney, Toledo, Waukon and Winterset. There are now six Shopko stores in the state: Burlington, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Fort Madison, Mason City and Sioux City.

    (Radio Iowa)