United Group Insurance

Lavonne Klinkefus, 93, of Exira (Svcs. 1/4/13)

News

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

LAVONNE KLINKEFUS, 93, of Exira, died Sun., Dec. 30th, at the Exira Care Center. Funeral services for LAVONNE KLINKEFUS, will be held 11-a.m. Fri., Jan. 4th, at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon.

Visitation at the funeral home will be held one-hour prior to the service (10-a.m.), Friday.

LAVONNE KLINKEFUS is survived by:

Her daughter – Judy Nelson, of Atlantic.

‘Tis not the season for bicycling, but it is if you have a bike simulator

News, Sports

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

You may’ve heard there’s a high-tech automobile simulator at the University of Iowa, but the campus is also home to a bicycle simulator. Dr. Jodie Plumert is co-director of the sophisticated virtual environment which is used to study how children make decisions in heavy traffic without being at risk. Plumert says the simulator immerses bicycle riders in a city-scape. “There’s a bicycle that sits in the middle of these three very large screens that are placed at right angles to each other so it completely wraps around the person who’s riding the bike,” Plumert says. “As you pedal the bike, you actually appear to be moving through the environment. As you turn, you appear to be turning and so on.”

She says one focus of the bicycling simulator is to compare how kids and adults cross intersections filled with virtual on-coming cars and trucks. “They bicycle up to an intersection and they see traffic that’s coming on the cross street,” Plumert says. “They just watch the traffic and then they cross when they think they can cross without getting hit by a car. They go on and do that again at the next intersection and they do that for 12 or 14 intersections.”

From the recent research, Plumert says they’re seeing a pattern in the children bicyclists, ages 10, 12 and 14. She says they choose the same gaps in traffic as the adults to cross, but they tend to hesitate before pulling out. “What happens is that they end up with less time to spare than the adults have,” Plumert says. “One thing we’ve been able to pinpoint is that kids, even at these older ages, when you put them in a fairly challenging traffic situation, are not coordinating their movements with the traffic as well as the adults are.”

There are some 600-thousand bicycle-related injuries treated in emergency rooms nationwide each year. Children ages five to 15 years old represent a particularly vulnerable segment of the cycling population. Motor vehicles are involved in about one-third of all bicycle-related brain injuries and in 90-percent of all fatalities resulting from bicycle crashes.

(Radio Iowa)

Red Oak resident arrested on Trespassing & O/C charge

News

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

Police in Red Oak report the arrest this (Wednesday) morning of 50-year old Janis Kyle Hunt. Hunt, who’s from Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 15-hundred block of North 4th Street, on charges of Trespassing and Open Container.  Hunt was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond.

Cass County Extension Report 01-02-2013

Ag/Outdoor, Podcasts

January 2nd, 2013 by admin

w/ Kate Olson

Play

Adair County Board of Supervisors hold 1st meeting of the year today

News

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Board of Supervisors in Adair County will hold the first meeting of the month and year this morning, in Greenfield. Like their counterparts in Cass County, the bulk of their duties today are administrative, including: the election of a chair and vice-chairperson; approval an organizational resolution; approval resolutions pertaining to travel policy and the  Master Matrix, and designation of the official newspapers for 2013.

In other business, the Adair County Supervisors will hold a public hearing beginning at 9:30-a.m., with regard to a Fiscal Year 2013 budget amendment, followed by action on a resolution to approve the amendment, an appropriations and transfer resolution, and the assignment of fund balances.

The Supervisors’ meeting begins at 9-a.m. in their boardroom at the courthouse in Greenfield.

December 2012 Weather Data for Atlantic, IA

Weather

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

Average High: 38 degrees; Average Low: 16; Warmest daytime high: 63 on Dec. 3rd; Lowest daytime high: 13 on Dec. 25th; Coldest Low: -2 on the 29th & 31st.

Precipitation for the month (including rain and melted snowfall): 1.55″

Snowfall for the month: 9.1″

(Data from KJAN, the official National Weather Service reporting station for Atlantic).

Midwest economic index again rises slightly

News

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A monthly economic index for nine Midwest and Plains states rose again last month but still suggests an economic slump will continue over the next three to six months. The Mid-America Business Conditions index hit 49.5 in December, up from November’s 48.0 and October’s 46.5.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says he’s expecting only small regional increases in the job market. The survey of business leaders and supply managers uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

(Podcast) Skyscan Forecast: Wed., Jan, 2nd 2013

Podcasts, Weather

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The (podcast) KJAN listening area forecast from Freese-Notis Meteorologist Harvey Freese, and weather data for Atlantic from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson….

Play

NWS Forecast for the KJAN listening area: Jan. 2nd, 2013

Weather

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

INCLUDING THE CITY OF…ATLANTIC; 343 AM CST WED JAN 2 2013

TODAY…PARTLY SUNNY UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON…THEN CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE UPPER 20S. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 20 PERCENT.

TONIGHT…CLOUDY. SCATTERED FLURRIES. LOW AROUND 15. NORTHWEST WIND AROUND 10 MPH.

THURSDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH AROUND 20. NORTHWEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW 5 TO 10 ABOVE. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW AROUND 15.

SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 20S. LOW 10 TO 15.

Cass Co. Supervisors hold 1st meeting of the New Year today

News

January 2nd, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their first meeting of the month and for the New Year this (Monday) morning, in Atlantic. The Board will primarily handle administrative matters, including: Reorganization; Appointment of employees and/or deputies by the Sheriff and Auditor; First year wage adjustments; The appointment of Board members to serve on various committees; Approval of appointments to numerous committees, commissions, and/or councils, and Township Clerks and Trustees.

The Supervisors will also act on setting the 2013 Holiday Schedule and New Year’s Day 2014 schedule, the setting of mileage reimbursement, and the naming of official County newspapers. Later on during their session, they’ll hear regularly scheduled reports from the Cass County Attorney, Engineer, and Mental Health Coordinator. As time allows, the Board will begin work on the Fiscal Year 2014 County Budget.

The meeting begins in the Supervisor’s Board Room in the Cass County Courthouse, at 9-a.m.