With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson…
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Firefighters in Atlantic were called to the scene of a possible house fire early this (Monday) morning. The Cass County Communications Center dispatched the fire department to 602 Mulberry Street at 4:51-a.m., following a report of the smell of smoke in a bedroom.
Law enforcement arriving on the scene also detected a burning, electrical smell, but could not locate a fire. Fire crews determined an electrical outlet on a bedroom wall was hot. The problem was confined to the single outlet.There was no fire however, and no one was injured.
Power to the home was restored and fire crews returned to their station by around 5:25-a.m.
Today (Memorial Day) – Scattered showers and thunderstorms & patchy fog this morning, otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. South winds @ 5-10 mph
Tonight – Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. S/SW wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday – Partly Sunday w/a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 83. SW wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tue. Night – Mo. Cldy w/a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 63. W/NW wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday – Mo. Sunny w/a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 85. E/NE wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wed. Night – Partly cloudy, with a low around 63.
Thursday – Mo. Sunny w/a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 83.
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Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 79. Our low this morning (as of 5-a.m. was 63). Rainfall yesterday and this morning was .67″ (as of 5-a.m.).
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Fishing in Iowa has improved significantly over the past three decades thanks to efforts the state and other groups have made. The Des Moines Register reports the improvement is especially noticeable when it comes to the prized game fish of walleye and trout.
Today, 42 streams in Iowa are sustaining trout populations. Thirty years ago only five streams in the state had self-sustaining trout populations. Officials say a variety of efforts by the state Department of Natural Resources, environmental groups and property owners have helped.
For instance, reducing the amount of soil that gets washed into streams and rivers has helped improve the habitat for fish. The improved fishing conditions will likely be popular in Iowa because 46 percent of the state’s residents say they fish.
Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report the arrest Sunday evening of a Red Oak man. 43-year old Richard Bryan Jenkins was taken into custody at around 7:45-p.m., for Driving While Barred. Jenkins was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.
346 AM CDT MON MAY 26 2014
EARLY THIS MORNING…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. PATCHY FOG. SOUTHWEST WIND NEAR 5 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 50 PERCENT.
TODAY…PATCHY FOG THROUGH MID MORNING. MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 50 PERCENT.
TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT… THEN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE MID 60S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 40 PERCENT.
TUESDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MID MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTHWEST WIND NEAR 10 MPH. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 50 PERCENT.
TUESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE LOWER 60S. WEST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.
WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. NORTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE MID 60S.
THURSDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Several people who were helping distribute flags for Memorial Day are recovering from scrapes and bruises after the trailer they were riding on careened across a cemetery. The Quad-City Times reports 10 adults and children were on the flatbed trailer when it broke free from the truck pulling it and rolled several hundred feet downhill before hitting a tree. Davenport police Sergeant Eric Court says no one was seriously hurt.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A second Iowa facility for delinquent youths is being investigated for failing to meet educational standards. The Des Moines Register reports the state is being urged to examine the practices of the State Training School for Boys in Eldora after two separate investigations. Questions about the Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo prompted the governor to close it in January.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials say a 23-year-old inmate on work release in Cedar Rapids has escaped. The state Department of Corrections says Bernard James Butler the Second failed to return to the Larry Nelson Work Release Center in Cedar Rapids after work on Friday.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A 22-year-old Houston Astros prospect’s first home run of the season was caught by a familiar fan: his father. The Quad City Times reports River Bandits first baseman Conrad Gregor launched a go-ahead, three-run shot in the sixth inning of the Class-A team’s 5-2 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport Saturday night. Gregory’s father Marty in the right-center field stands caught the ball.
Today is set aside to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for the country. Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs executive director, Robert King, was in Washington, D-C recently and says it hit him as the plane took off and he saw the various memorials down below the impact of veterans on the country.
“You think about the veterans that you’ve known that served in those, the ones who didn’t come home. I’ve got good friends that served whose names are on the wall,” King says. He says there aren’t many people who don’t know someonw who died and their name is on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. King says you begin to understand Iowa’s contribution to the effort when you walk through the flag-lined roads of the cemeteries in the state. King visits the cemetery in Adel, where he sees the markers of those from his hometown. “Those guys who ran the gas station, ran the insurance company, ran the grocery story, my high school principal. In those days you knew nothing about them but what they did at in the town then,” King says. “But you go to the cemetery and you see World War Two and Korea, some of them World War One — it puts a whole new perspective on it,” King says. King is retired from the Iowa National Guard, and says Iowans have always answered the call to serve.
“Iowa is really a great patriotic state and if you go back through history, Iowans have lined up and signed up and marched off to war. And of course a lot of them didn’t come back home, ” King says. “Memorial Day is a day to honor those who served — regardless of the service and when they served — but it is certainly a day to commemorate those who have lost their lives and particularly those who lost their lives in combat.” King sums up things this way.
“Veterans made the country, veterans served us very well and Memorial Day is another opportunity to thank them for what they have done,” King says. King says there’s always been an awareness of veterans, and the awareness has been heightened more by the efforts of the Department of Defense to mark the anniversaries related to World War Two, the Korean War and Vietnam War.
(Radio Iowa)
Governor Terry Branstad is scheduled to sign a bill into law this morning (Monday) that’s designed to make Iowa more attractive to soldiers leaving the military. “I”m pleased the legislature approved it,” Branstad says. “Home Base Iowa was our top priority this session and I will sign it.” The bill eliminates state income taxes on military pensions for soldiers and their surviving spouses. It also makes it easier for soldiers to earn academic credit for their military training and experience, if they decide to seek a degree at an Iowa college or university. In addition, state boards will now be required to take into account a soldier’s military skills when the soldier applies for a professional license. The Congressional Research Office says the average age of a soldier who retires from the military is between 40 and 45, which means they start a second career.
“There’s a major reduction going on in our military and there’s a lot of talented leaders with technical skills that we want to attract to Iowa,” Branstad says. Branstad will sign a second bill that extends a homestead tax credit for disabled veterans. “I think it’s going to be a big step forward for our state,” Branstad says. “…I want to make sure that Iowa’s one of the leaders in providing services and opportunities for veterans.” Last week a social networking site that focused on personal finance ranked Iowa as the 13th best state for military veterans to retire.
“Once this legislation is passed I think we’re going to be able to make significant progress. You know many states don’t tax military veterans’ benefits and now we’re going to join their ranks,” Branstad says. “We also are going to be offering in-state tuition to veterans, their spouses and dependents. We also already have this $5000 tax credit for veterans that purchase homes in our state.” Branstad served as a military policeman during the Vietnam Era and he plans to wear his Army uniform for today’s (Monday’s) bill signing ceremony. It’s scheduled to begin shortly after 8:30 this morning in the Iowa Gold Star Museum at Camp Dodge in Johnston.
(Radio Iowa)