United Group Insurance

Lolo Jones back in the Olympics, savoring moment

Sports

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

SOCHI, Russia (AP) – Des Moines native Lolo Jones is getting a new start, and it’s not without some tears. The U.S. track and field star who failed to win a medal in London is back at her third Olympics – but this time in a bobsled. After a year and a half of training, Jones has won acceptance from teammates who have welcomed her as one of their own.

At a news conference Monday in Sochi, the hurdler told the story about how she became a bobsledder, with words that became hard to decipher as her eyes welled with tears. Jones wrapped up the tale by shouting: “They had my back.”  She said her bobsledding teammates in Lake Placid, New York, “accepted me, they embraced me, they lifted me up and I think it was what I needed.”

64 jobs lost with closure of Sioux City bakery

News

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – More than five dozen people will be losing their jobs with the closure of a Sioux City bakery.  Bimbo Bakeries USA says it will close its Sioux City operation March 28. A company spokesman says 64 people and their union representatives have met with company personnel officials to discuss severance and other benefits. Production will move to other Bimbo bakeries.

A regional vice president, Didier Moleres, says the company concluded that the aging Sioux City facility “could not compete in the marketplace.”

January economic survey suggests growth in Midwest

News

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A new survey of business leaders suggests the economy will continue growing in nine Midwestern and Plains states in the months ahead.  The monthly Mid-America Business Conditions Index rose to 57.7 last month, compared with 53.2 in December.  Looking six months ahead, the business confidence index dropped to a still strong 62.2 from 66.5 in December.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth, while a score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

BBQ food record tops off Nebraska eater’s weekend

News

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) – A 120-pound Nebraska woman has set another record during the Adam Emmenecker Challenge at Jethro’s BBQ n’ Pork Chop Grill in Johnston.  The Des Moines Register says Molly Schuyler, of Bellevue, Neb., on Sunday downed the 5-pound championship meal in four minutes and 50 seconds, paring more than 2 minutes off her old record. The competition is named for a former Drake University basketball player.  Schuyler says she wasn’t feeling so well after so much competition over the past few days.

On Friday she won $22,000 at Philadelphia’s Wing Bowl by consuming 363 wings in 30 minutes. On Saturday she won the Pancake Bowl at the International House of Pancakes in Urbandale. Later in the day she won again at the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival.

Red Oak Police arrest 2 this past weekend

News

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Two people were arrested over the weekend on separate charges, in Red Oak. Authorities say 43-year-old Shelby Joann Olivares Carmack, of Red Oak was arrested on a Trespassing charge.  And, 43-year-old Clinton Joe Hans England was arrested Sunday night on a Public Intoxication charge. Both persons were being held in the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond each.

(Podcast) Skyscan Forecast: Mon., Feb 3rd 2014

Podcasts, Weather

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

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

Play

New York woman injured in a collision with a horse, Sunday

News

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A 24-year old woman from New York was injured during a collision Sunday evening in Fremont County, after the vehicle she was driving hit a horse that escaped from a fenced-in field. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2003 Nissan Murano driven by Jessica Strope, of Addison, NY, was traveling south on Interstate 29 at around 6:40-p.m. just north of Exit 20, when two horses in a field west of the Interstate got loose and ran onto the traveled portion of the road. Strope was unable to avoid hitting one of the animals. After the collision, her vehicle drove off the road to left and came to rest in the median.

Strope, who was wearing her seat belt, was transported by Tabor Rescue to the UNMC in Omaha.

Iowa early News Headlines: Mon., Feb. 3rd 2014

News

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press….

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As the 2014 election cycle takes shape, no clear leader has broken out in the Republican race to take on Democrat Bruce Braley in the fall. At least six candidates are competing to run against Braley, a congressman from Waterloo and the only Democrat in the field to replace retiring Democratic Senator Tom Harkin.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Muscatine County officials are refusing to release the medical records of a woman who was shocked with a stun gun four times last fall as officers tried to get her to change clothing. The Des Moines Register reports the woman, Marie Franks, has asked officials to release the records to the newspaper but so far officials have refused. Franks suffers from bipolar disorder and was off her medication at the time of the altercation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa couples decided to tie the knot at this weekend’s bacon festival at the state fairgrounds. The Des Moines Register reports Tricia Snider and Tom Watson were the first to wed Saturday at the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. Craig and April Rouch got married a short while later.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — One man was hospitalized and another suffered less serious injuries in a house fire in Waterloo. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports firefighters were called to the fire late Friday and found flames in a basement. The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.

Winter Storm Watch (updated 2/3/14)

Weather

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A WINTER STORM LIFTING INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL DUMP ANYWHERE FROM 5 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW OVER SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. HIGHEST AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE CLOSE TO THE KANSAS BORDER. IN ADDITION…NORTH WINDS GUSTING AROUND 30 MPH WILL CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT AND PAGE COUNTIES: WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT… ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 8 INCHES ARE LIKELY WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS APPROACHING THE KANSAS BORDER

GUTHRIE-DALLAS COUNTIES: WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. 5 TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE.

CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR AND RINGGOLD COUNTIES: WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT.  STORM TOTAL SNOW…5 TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS TOWARD THE MISSOURI BORDER.

* TIMING…SNOW WILL BEGIN TO FALL ON TUESDAY MORNING ACROSS WESTERN IOWA…THEN SPREAD AND ACCUMULATE MORE HEAVILY TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING…FINALLY TAPERING OFF BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.

*WINDS/VISIBILITY…NORTHEAST WINDS OF 10 TO 15 MPH TUESDAY MORNING…BECOMING NORTH 15 TO 20 WITH HIGHER GUSTS BY TUESDAY NIGHT. VISIBILITIES OF ONE HALF MILE OR LESS AT TIMES IN SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW.

* IMPACTS…BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IS EXPECTED BY TUESDAY NIGHT AS THE WIND INCREASES. ROADS WILL BECOME SNOW COVERED MAKING TRAVEL HAZARDOUS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW…SLEET…OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

 

NWS forecast for Cass & area Counties: 2/3/2014

Weather

February 3rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

330 AM CST MON FEB 3 2014

WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT

EARLY THIS MORNING…CLEAR. SOUTH WIND AROUND 5 MPH.

TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW BEFORE MIDNIGHT AND EARLY MORNING. LIGHT SNOW EARLY IN THE MORNING. NOT AS COLD. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 1 INCH. LOW 15 TO 20. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 80 PERCENT.

TUESDAY…SNOW. PATCHY BLOWING SNOW LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. BREEZY. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 5 INCHES. HIGH IN THE LOWER 20S. NORTHEAST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT.

TUESDAY NIGHT…SNOW THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN LIGHT SNOW LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW THROUGH THE NIGHT. BREEZY…COLDER. LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE. LOW ZERO TO 5 ABOVE. NORTH WIND 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT.

WEDNESDAY…CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW IN THE MORNING. BREEZY…COLDER. HIGH 5 TO 10 ABOVE. NORTH WIND 15 TO 20 MPH. WIND CHILL READINGS AROUND 15 BELOW.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW AROUND 10 BELOW. HIGH 5 TO 10 ABOVE.