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2 arrested in Mills County, Thursday

News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two men were arrested on separate charges, Thursday afternoon. 67-year-old Robert Charles Carlson, of Omaha, was arrested at the Lancaster County, NE. Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Carlson was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

And, 24-year-old Devin Michael Ramirez, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. Bond was set at $1,000.

Lewis man arrested in Cass County on a Pott. County warrant

News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office report 36-year-old David Allen Coenen, of Lewis, was arrested Wednesday, on a Pottawattamie County warrant. The warrant was issued for Failure to Appear (in court). Coenen was transported to Cass County Jail and held, pending transport to Pottawattamie County.

And, on October 14th, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to an accident on White Pole Road and 560th St., near Lewis.  Authorities says James Benjamin Overman, of Griswold, was driving a 1998 Chevy pickup was traveling west bound on White Pole, when an unknown vehicle, traveling eastbound, crossed the center line and struck the left side of Overman’s vehicle. The unknown vehicle left the scene and was not located.  No injuries were reported.

Axne bill calls for more staff to answer Social Security phones

News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne says after fielding complaints from constituents waiting for answers from the Social Security Administration, she’s introduced a bill requiring more staff be assigned to answer phone calls. In-person appointments at local Social Security offices have been canceled during the pandemic and Axne says many Iowans cannot connect online for a virtual appointment. “What’s happened is our older Iowans have had to turn to the 1-800 number, the hotline that’s been set up, to talk to a live person,” Axne says, “but here’s where the rub is: folks in Iowa aren’t reaching these live people.”

Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says she’s heard from constituents who’ve waited on hold for hours, but never reached a real person and instead waded through recorded messages to try to find answers. “What that means to me is that it’s really not a hotline then and so this needs to be fixed,” Axne says. The Social Security’s toll-free automated hotline is meant to connect callers with a real person who works in a nearby Social Security office, but Axne says that’s not happening.

Cindy Axne. (photo from conference call.)

Axne’s bill directs the Social Security Administration to assign more staff to answer phones Monday through Friday during regular business hours — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “My bill doesn’t ask taxpayers to spend an extra dime,” Axne says. “What it does is ask the Social Security Administration to be more effective and efficient.”

The Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging has endorsed Axne’s bill. Joe Sample, the association’s executive director, says many older adults, especially those in rural Iowa, may not have access to the internet. “Use of technology can, at times, be the very roadblock or barrier that prevents an older adult from getting what they need,” Sample says. “In 20 years, it might be that older adults will have access to affordable technology and navigating websites will be more comfortable, but that day is not today.”

Two other Democrats in the House are joining Axne’s call for more Social Security staff to answer the telephones. Congressman Tim Ryan is running for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2022 and Congresswoman Val Demings is running to challenge Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio in 2022.

DNR on lookout for fatal disease impacting rabbits

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A disease that quickly kills domestic and wild rabbits is confirmed in two states that border Iowa and state DNR officials are asking Iowans to be vigilant for signs it’s arrived here. State wildlife veterinarian Dr. Rachel Ruden says rabbit hemorrhagic disease is killing the animals in several states, including Minnesota and South Dakota. “What we’re asking for is unusual reports of dead rabbits,” Ruden says, “so, rabbits that might seemingly look in good condition but are dead and in someone’s yard or at someone’s farm.” If you spot one or several dead rabbits, don’t touch them — but instead reach out to Ruden’s office through email or the phone number below.

“Domestic rabbits are also very susceptible to this disease, so contact us and we’ll take care of getting that carcus, limiting exposure beyond that area and taking the precautions necessary,” Ruden says, “and then we’ll screen those animals and figure out if there’s something that elevates the concern of testing for rabbit hemorrhagic disease.” Hunters are out in Iowa’s forests and fields now, looking for rabbits, as the cottontail season runs September through February.

(Photo by Karl Schilling)

This disease shouldn’t be a worry for hunters as it proves fatal to rabbits swiftly. “Following infection, there’s a rapid deterioration and we’d expect death within maybe 24 or 36 hours,” Ruden says. “It’s unlikely that a hunter would encounter an animal that was in the process of dying and happen to harvest that animal, but even if they did, this is not a disease of concern that people could actually get, it’s just the rabbits.”

The initial outbreak was in New Mexico in March of 2020 and the virus has since moved across the Southwest, Mountain and Great Plains states. Ruden says it can be spread from rabbit to rabbit, by predators, insects, and even by vehicle traffic. She says keeping the virus on Iowans’ radar is key to minimizing its impact should it show up here.

Contact Ruden at rachel.ruden@dnr.iowa.gov or 515-294-8205.

Iowa Greyhound racing to end in 2022

News, Sports

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Greyhound racing is heading into its final lap in Iowa after 35 years of racing. Racing and Gaming Administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says the operator of the Iowa Greyhound Park in Dubuque set things in motion at Thursday’s Racing and Gaming Commission meeting.  “The Iowa Greyhound Association as part of their request for license renewal — request to reduce their race meet to 18 days — and also to end Greyhound racing after 2022,” Ohorilko says. He says operators don’t feel it is viable to keep the track open.

He says a number of things made it difficult for the industry to go much further — including the lack of greyhounds available. Ohorilko says many other states have ended greyhound racing — leaving fewer dogs to race. The track in Dubuque is the last Iowa greyhound track, and had survived using payments from two other tracks that wanted to close. “As part of the original greyhound cessation legislation that was passed approximately seven years ago — the two racetracks that offered greyhound racing, Q-Casino, and Horshoe Casino — could opt out of greyhound racing and pay a fee over seven years,” according to Ohorilko. “Those payments have been coming in every year and the last payment would be made in 2022.”

Ohorilko says the city of Dubuque has to approve the request to cut the greyhound season to 18 days. The Racing and Gaming Commission website shows the first dog races began at the Dubuque Greyhound Park, which opened in June of 1985. The was followed by the Bluffs Run facility in Council Bluffs in February of 1986 and the Waterloo Greyhound Park, which began racing on October 15, 1986.

Shutdown of wind turbine blade maker may not hurt Newton as bad as Maytag

News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The closure of a wind turbine blade factory in Newton will be a blow to the area, but an Iowa State University economist says it won’t have the same impact as when Maytag left the community. T-P-I Composites started making blades in Newton about a year after Maytag quit making washing machines in 2007. T-P-I plans to stop production and lay off more than 700 workers by the end of this year. I-S-U economist Liesl Eathington says that’s a lot of jobs for a city of 15-thousand, but the impact is more isolated because T-P-I has fewer ties to local suppliers. Eathington says, “Because that firm was not as deeply rooted into the local economy as Maytag had been, I don’t think the consequences are going to be felt as much.”

(Public domain photo) TPI wind blade manufacturing in Newton, IA.

Eathington says the economies of Newton and Jasper County are also more connected to the Des Moines area since Maytag closed, which adds stability to the local economy. T-P-I made blades for General Electric, but G-E purchased a rival blade manufacturer and has ended its relationship with T-P-I. It’s a setback for Newton but -not- a sign the wind industry is on the decline. The wind industry is on a growth trajectory, according to Pavel Molchanov, a stock analyst who covers T-P-I for the investment firm Raymond James. He says with G-E out, a new customer could come in.  Molchanov says, “In fact, very likely there will be a replacement customer to buy blades from this factory, but it’s not going to happen instantaneously.”

He says it won’t come soon enough to keep 710 workers from being laid off. I-S-U’s Eathington says because of the overall labor shortage in Iowa, other employers in the area are likely to recruit T-P-I workers to fill open positions.

(reporting by Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)

(Podcast) KJAN News, 8:07 a.m., 10/22/21

News, Podcasts

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

More area and state news from Ric Hanson.

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Greenfield man arrested in Creston Friday morning

News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Creston, Iowa) –  A call about a disturbance at a bar early this (Friday) morning, in Creston, resulted in the arrest of an Adair County man. Creston Police say 63-year-old Timmie Lee Schultz, of Greenfield, was arrested at the Montgomery Street Pub at around 12:10-a.m.  Schultz was charged with Disorderly Conduct and Interference with Official Acts. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $600 bond.

(Podcast) KJAN News, 10/22/21 – 7:06 a.m.

News, Podcasts

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The broadcast News from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Superheroes, princesses & cheerleaders among Iowans’ top Halloween costume picks

News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Halloween is next weekend and many Iowans are celebrating early this weekend at costume parties. Juanita Cameron, with the Theatrical Shop in West Des Moines, says these next eight days will be their busiest of the year as shoppers seek out an alter ego. Cameron says, “Since COVID kind of stifled some of the newer movies that were coming out, everybody’s falling back on their old-time favorite characters, especially superheroes.” The caped crime-fighters who were first made famous in comic books remain top costume sellers.  “A lot of people are asking for Superman and Batman,” she says. “There’s been a few Aquaman or some of those others, but basically Batman and Superman.”

Girls and women are also returning to more mainstream costumes.  “They have the princesses. They’re really coming in for those,” Cameron says. “Some people are even going down to be, since it’s sports season, ‘I want to be a cheerleader!” Theme parties are evidently gaining in popularity this season — whether it’s centered on the 1980s, the Munsters or even “come as your favorite space alien.”  “I had a call where a person is going to a ’20s theme party. He wanted a gangster suit because his date was going as a flapper,” she says. “There are a lot of families getting together because some of them are conscious of being around a lot of other people.”

Superhero costumes (Via Pinterest)

Cameron says business at the store is refreshingly busy, compared with last year when sales slumped due to COVID.