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Atlantic man arrested on warrants

News

May 31st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic Police Department reports 32-year old Zachary Watkins, of Atlantic, was arrested this (Thursday) morning on Cass County warrants, charging him with two-counts of Burglary in the 2nd degree, Simple Assault, and Trespassing. Watkins was brought to the Cass County Jail and held, pending a court appearance.

Sheriff McLaren receives recognition award

News

May 31st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren received an award today (Thursday) honoring him for his committment to a member of the military who served overseas, who also is one of his deputies. Jerry Hansen Veteran’s Service Officer for Montgomery County made the award to McLaren on behalf of the Iowa and National Committees for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), which is under the office of the Secretary of Defense.

(at left) Jerry Hansen, (Center) Sheriff Darby McLaren, (right) Deputy Ryan Johnson

McLaren was nominated for the Secretary of Defense Employer’s Support Freedom Award by Deputy Ryan Johnson, who was required to take time off of his job to serve in the military, overseas. The award is the U-S Government’s highest recognition given to employers for exceptional support of their employees serving in the Guard and Reserve. Only members of the Guard and Reserve and their family members are eligible to nominate their employers for the award.

Hansen said the award “Recognizes employers who support goodwill, are critically important to retaining highly skilled and qualified members of the Guard and Reserve.” He says Johnson felt strongly enough about McLaren’s support to nominate him and the Cass County Sheriff’s Department for the recognition. In his letter nominating McLaren, Johnson said he was ordered to deploy to Afghanistan. After notifying McLaren of his deployment and the duties he needed to atteded to prior to deploying overseas, he says McLaren understood the committment, and explained the situation in detail to the remaining deputies and staff.

While on active duty, Johnson says McLaren saw to it his wife was taken care of, including providing them with security after an attempted break-in at their home, and even removing a snake from his basement. Johnson said his wife was “treated like a queen”by the other deputies and staff. He says when he returned from his deployment, McLaren told him to take as much time as necessary to re-adjust to life and worked on scheduling, so Johnson could spend time with his wife, whom he was away from for 15-months. He ended his statement my saying “My boss is great.”

McLaren, humble in his acceptance of the award, said it was as much for the deputies in his office as it was for himself, because of their committment to working the extra hours necessary to cover for their fellow employee. He especially thanked former deputies Brian Rink and Don Lappe, for stepping-in to volunteer their time. McLaren said he feels “Unwarranted for accepting the award from the military, based on what Ryan (and his fellow soldiers) were giving up,” to serve our Country. He says the deputies “Were home with their wives and families every night, while they (the soldiers) were overseas, risking their lives.”

Iowa DOT captures story of historic 2011 Missouri River flood

News, Weather

May 31st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Department of Transportation today (Thursday) announced the release of a Storify project, chronicling the 2011 Missouri River flooding and its impacts on Iowa’s transportation system. Photos, video and news articles are featured, along with a narrative detailing the events that unfolded as the flood waters inundated western Iowa.

Just one of the images from the historic Mo. River flood of 2011

Go to http://www.iowadot.gov/ to view the story, and take the six-month journey to recount the flood fight, extensive damage and how quickly Iowa was able to rebuild.  

The flooding in Iowa covered a distance of 150 miles from Sioux City to Hamburg. In its path roadways were turned to rubble or covered with a thick layer of sludge. Vegetation was stripped from the landscape. Closure of miles of Interstate 29, coupled with the closing of the Missouri River bridges near Decatur, Nebraska City and Omaha, Neb., left motorists searching for detours that took them miles out of their way.

If you would like to recount your personal experience with the 2011 flood, visit the Iowa DOT’s Facebook site and post a comment or upload your photos or video: www.facebook.com/iowadot.

Shelby County DevelopSource announces business competition

News

May 31st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Officials with Shelby County DevelopSource say their 2012 Business Plan Competition is underway. “Shelby County New Enterprises,”  is a business plan competition open to all start-up and expansion businesses located in or willing to locate to Shelby County. The competition winner can receive up to $30,000 in start up grants. Costs eligible for the funds include feasibility studies, market research, and equipment; purchase/improve property, marketing and more.

In addition, the winner or winners could receive other free items such as basic website design, office space for three months, newspaper and radio advertising, mentoring and assistance in completing finance package. Entrepreneurs with business ideas to implement in Shelby County are encouraged to apply. The deadline to submit an application to the Shelby County New Enterprises is Friday, July 20th. A panel of judges will select the finalists and all finalists have the opportunity to present their business plan on Thursday, August 16th. More information and an application form can be found at www.developsource.com .

Iowa State Great Chris Taylor to National Wrestling Hall of Fame

Sports

May 31st, 2012 by Jim Field

AMES, Iowa – Former Cyclone wrestler and two-time NCAA heavyweight champion Chris Taylor will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame this weekend in Stillwater, Okla.

“Chris is a legend of our sport,” said Iowa State head wrestling coach Kevin Jackson. “He is the most recognized heavyweight in U.S. history and his induction is well-deserved. To see another Cyclone entering the national hall of fame should make the Cyclone nation proud of its’ rich wrestling tradition.”

Taylor had enormous impact on the sport of wrestling-literally and figuratively. He will go down as the heaviest wrestling competitor in Olympic Games history, but his influence on the sport remains larger than life.

Competing during an era with no weight limitations for the heavyweight division, Taylor was a force in collegiate and international wrestling. Taylor stood 6 feet 5 inches and weighed over 400 pounds throughout much of his wrestling career.

Hailing from Dowagiac, Michigan, Taylor began wrestling as a junior in high school. He dropped only one match on his way to the 1967 state championship title at heavyweight. Taylor lost only one match his senior year, in the 1968 state finals.

Taylor continued wrestling at Muskegon Community College in Michigan, placing first at the junior college national tournament as a freshman and third as a sophomore. But it was his career at Iowa State that would turn Taylor into a national and international superstar. Noticed by Hall of Fame coach Harold Nichols, college wrestling’s super heavyweight would take the wrestling world by storm.

His two year career as a Cyclone was nothing short of spectacular. Taylor won NCAA individual titles in 1972 and 1973, leading Iowa State to NCAA tournament crowns both seasons. The “Gentle Giant” pinned his way through the NCAA tournament in 1973, becoming only the second wrestler to pin his way through a 32-man bracket. Taylor’s overall career record at Iowa State was 87-0-1 with 70 pins.

After he won his first NCAA title in 1972, Taylor pulled off a rare double for the United States by wrestling in the freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions at the Olympic Games. Although he did not place in Greco-Roman, Taylor earned a bronze medal during the freestyle competition-dropping a controversial 3-2 decision to eventual champion Alexender Medved of the Soviet Union.

Taylor died in 1979 at the age of 29.

For an enduring wrestling legacy that touched the lives of many, Chris Taylor is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

(ISU Press Release)

Cass Co. Supervisors sign letter of support naming 2 bridges in honor of fallen troopers

News

May 31st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Thursday) approved a Resolution authorizing Board Chair Duane McFadden to sign of a letter of support naming two bridges in the County in honor of two State Troopers who were killed in the line of duty 23-years ago.

Lt. Michael J. Miller, with the State Patrol, said the Iowa Legislature granted permission

ISP Lt. Michael J. Miller (left) speaks to the Cass Co. Supervisors

to rename bridges in the State of Iowa, as Memorial Bridges for fallen Troopers. Miller said since the State Patrol was formed in 1935, 10 Troopers have lost their lives in the line of duty, with two having died in Cass County. Trooper Pilot Lance Dietsch and Trooper Stanley Gerling were killed in an airplane accident on June 30th, 1989, southwest of Atlantic. The pair had been searching for an elderly man who had wandered off, and were about to call off the search when they troopers located him in a soybean field. They began to circle the area when the plane made a sudden turn and crashed vertically into the ground. Troopers Dietsch and Gerling were the first aircraft fatalities since the addition of the Patrol Airwing in 1956.

Miller said his job was to try and locate a couple of bridges close to where the accident occurred, and suggest they be named in honor of Dietch and Gerling. The two bridges he chose are west and northeast of Lewis,  and were not already named in honor of a notable individual. They included the #432 bridge west of Lewis, which crosses Indian Creek, and the #464 bridge northeast of Lewis, over Turkey Creek. The Indian Creek bridge will be named in honor of Dietsch, while the Turkey Creek bridge will be named in honor of Gerling. Printed samples of what the signs will look like (Courtesy Lt. Miller)

Miller said the 6-foot by three-foot signs were created by the Iowa Dept. of Transportation and are ready to be installed by the State.

Backyard and Beyond 05-31-2012

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

May 31st, 2012 by admin

Lavon Eblen speaks about the iconic image of Rosie the Riveter.

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NE man hurt in Shelby Co. tractor-trailer rollover

News

May 31st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Officials in Shelby County say a Nebraska man was injured when the semi he was driving rolled into a ditch Wednesday evening. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says 69-year old Roger Cooley, of Valley, NE was traveling in a 2005 Freightliner eastbound on Highway 44 near Ironwood Road at around 6:15-p.m., when he lost control of the rig, which traveled into the south ditch and came to rest on its side. The semi was hauling a load of coal, which spilled into a waterway along with diesel fuel, which spilled from one of the crushed tanks on the semi’s tractor.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources was called to the scene and ordered a cleanup of the water way and soil. Highway 44 was closed while the clean-up efforts were underway, and traffic was re-routed. Cooley was transported to Myrtue Memorial Hospital for treatment, and later released. Both the tractor and trailer were estimated to be a total loss. The Harlan Fire Department assisted the Shelby County Sheriff’s at the accident scene.

Missing Stanton Man Found Alive

News

May 31st, 2012 by admin

A Stanton man, missing since late Saturday night and possiby suffering from a health condition, was found alive Wednesday afternoon near a ditch under a tree, after a landowner discovered the mans’ burned out pickup truck on his property southwest of Brooks. 71-year-old Dennis Goodrich was conscious and breathing when he was discovered by Prescott Fire Chief Chuck Truman. Goodrich was taken to the hospital in Corning for evaluation, but no other details have been released concerning his condition.

The man was located nearly nine-hours after property owner Dave Sproles notified authorities in Adams County about a suspicious looking, burned pickup truck he found on his land west of Filbert Avenue, near 255th Road. The pickup was later determined to be a Ford F-150, and a check of the VIN revealed it was the vehicle Goodrich drove, and had been reported missing.  Following an investigation into the fire, which officials believe was accidental, authorities thought Goodrich could still be in the area so a search was conducted.  He was located at around 4:14-p.m. Wednesday.

Several agencies and individuals participated in a search for the man, including: The Adam’s County Sheriff’s Office; a pilot with Iowa State Patrol;  the Department of Criminal Investigation; State Fire Marshal’s Office; Adams County Emergency Management; the Adams County-Prescott-and Lenox Volunteer Fire Departments; Adams County Rescue, and a Ringgold County k-9 unit.

8AM Sportscast 05-31-2012

Podcasts, Sports

May 31st, 2012 by admin

w/ Jim Field

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