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(Podcast) KJAN News at 8:07-a.m., 10/23/21

News, Podcasts

October 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The broadcast News from Ric Hanson.

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(podcast) KJAN News at 7:06-a.m., 10/23/21

News, Podcasts

October 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

With News Director Ric Hanson.

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Hinson says administration not doing enough to end supply chain issues

News

October 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says the Biden Administration needs to focus on the supply chain issues that have ships backed up waiting to unload and businesses not getting what they need. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says she saw issues first hand during a tour of Oak Street Manufacturing in Monticello Monday. “They told me they had to raise their prices more this year than in the last 25 years combined — that’s because the cost of the materials they use has skyrocketed,” Hinson says. “And then on top of that, the supply chain bottleneck has seriously impacted their operations. You talk about a cost differential here — they told me they typically spend about four thousand dollars on a shipping container — last month they spent 29-thousand-500 dollars.”

The company makes furniture primarily for restaurants. Hinson says the extra federal unemployment payments are one of the issues. “We paid people to stay home for far too long and that obviously has had ripple effects. And so when you see proposals coming out of Democrats in Congress like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to continue those unemployment benefits — I can tell you that’s the fastest way to continue to have these supply problems long-term,” according to Hinson. She says forcing workers to get vaccinated is also an issue. “Vaccine mandates are torpedoing the workforce as well. All of these things I think are problematic in terms of policy coming out of the administration. I think getting those barriers out of the way is step one,” she says.

Hinson says the administration is spending too much time trying to pass the multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation package. “The Biden Administration is not focused on fixing that supply chain, they seem more focused on spending money right now. So, we need to work together on this and work all the way up and down the chain, state, federal, and local to make sure we are fixing this problem,” Hinson says.

Hinson made her comments during her weekly conference call with reporters.

Iowa’s winter prep includes buying 240,000 *tons* of salt for the roads

News, Weather

October 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Friday morning’s cold snap into the low 30s was a reminder for Iowans that wintery weather may not be too far away. The Iowa Department of Transportation is already gearing up for the season ahead, even though the start of winter isn’t officially until December 21st. D-O-T Winter Operations Administrator Craig Bargfrede (BARG-freed) says preparations are well underway to fight snow. “We’ve been doing a lot of maintenance on the trucks, on the equipment, making sure everything is functioning properly, making sure trucks are outfitted properly, getting blades replaced, calibrating trucks,” Bargfrede says. “We’ve been doing a number of training events.”

The agency typically brings on more than 600 temporary workers during the winter time-frame, with many of them becoming snowplow drivers. So far, only about three-dozen of those 630-plus jobs have been filled. “But that’s really kind of a function of the weather and the kind of year as well,” Bargfrede says. “A lot of the folks that apply and that we hire as seasonal employees, a lot of them are farmers, a lot of them work in construction and other areas that are still real busy this time of year.” The D-O-T has 101 maintenance garages statewide that employ more than one-thousand full-time equipment operators, mechanics and supervisors. Those garages house the agency’s 902 trucks, 42 motor graders and 32 tow plows. As far as the agency is concerned, we’re -already- in winter and it started October 15th.

DOT Snowplow cam

“That’s the date we’ve had in our policy for many years as the first date that we have to be prepared to do some kind of treatment, somewhere in the state, on the roadways,” Bargfrede says. “You may remember last year, around the 18th or 19th, we had that snow squall that came through that brought a real dose of reality to everyone.” D-O-T officials have already been meeting with officials from the National Weather Service and other agencies to get a solid feel for what icy perils may lie ahead. “What we’ve heard is that it sounds like we’re going to have a winter than could be above -normal temperatures but also above normal-precipitation,” Bargfrede says, chuckling. “Talk to us in April and see if that prediction comes to fruition.”

Salt is a valuable snow-fighting tool, both in chunks and mixed with water to form a brine solution. While salt has been in short supply in previous years, Bargfrede says Iowa has an excellent stockpile of some 240-thousand tons of salt.

Interested in a snow-fighting job with the DOT? Visit https://iowadot.gov/careers and click on the “Seasonal/Temp” tab.

Iowa COVID-19 update: increase in positive tests, but a decline in hospitalizations

News

October 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Des Moines, Iowa —New data released by the Iowa Department of Public Health on Friday shows an increase in positive COVID-19 tests, but a continued decline in hospitalizations. IDPH data shows 6,675 positive virus tests in the last seven days, up from 6,485 at the last report on Wednesday. That brings the total number of positive tests to 517,544 since the start of the pandemic. Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate dropped slightly from 8.3% to 8.2%.

There are 526 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa, down from 557 on Wednesday. The number of patients listed in intensive care dropped from 142 to 138. Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, IDPH reports 72.1% are not vaccinated, while 82.6% of those listed in intensive care with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. The number of Iowa long-term care facilities reporting a virus outbreak increased from 25 to 29.

There have been 3,613,995 vaccine doses administered in Iowa, with 67.3% of those 18 and older fully vaccinated. Of those 12 and older, 69.6% of Iowans have had at least one vaccine dose. IDPH releases new COVID-19 data each Monday, Wednesday and Friday on this website.

Hy-Vee warns of onions potentially contaminated with Salmonella

News

October 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(West Des Moines, Iowa) — Officials with Des Moines-based Hy-Vee, Friday, warned its customers that some onions sold at Hy-Vee stores between Aug. 13 and Sept. 1, 2021 are part of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall. The only affected products sold at Hy-Vee stores were three-pound bags of yellow onions, the company said in a news release.

In a statement, Hy-Vee said “The affected onions are no longer available at any Hy-Vee stores; however, consumers may have product remaining in storage or freezers, or in canned or frozen goods produced with the affected onions. Out of an abundance of caution, Hy-Vee advises consumers to discard any affected product or return the product to their local Hy-Vee store for a full refund.”

Hy-Vee said it was notified by its supplier Capitol City Fruit that in August the grocer had received a shipment of onions that are part of the recall. Anyone with questions may contact Hy-Vee Customer Care representatives 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-772-4098.

Iowa City man died after being struck by a pickup on I-35

News

October 23rd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(New Virginia, Iowa) – A passenger in a car was struck and killed by a pickup Friday night in Interstate 35, in central Iowa. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 69-year-old Steven Kohli, of Iowa City, got out to check out the damage to the 2017 Lincoln MKC he was riding in, after the car struck a deer on I-35 southbound, at mile marker 45.

The man was struck by a 2018 Dodge RAM 2500, driven by 69-year-old Terrence Sack, of Pequot Lake, MN. The Patrol says Sack attempted to drive around the car on the right side, due to vehicles on the left. Steven Kohli died at the scene. The accident happened at around 7:25-p.m.

House gutted by fire in Red Oak – no injuries reported

News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) — A fire Thursday morning in Red Oak gutted a house, but there were no injuries reported. Fire officials say faulty wiring sparked a house fire in Red Oak Thursday morning. Firefighters responded at around 9:20-a.m. to a structure fire at 300 Market Street. The first crews to arrive on the scene encountered heavy flames in the rear of the residence. They were also notified children and an adult male may be inside the home.

As firefighters made entry into the structure to find any potentially trapped or injured victims, word was received that neither the children or the adult were inside. Firefighters suppressed the fire and conducted salvage and overhaul operations, bringing the fire under control at 10:20 a.m. Firefighter’s terminated ground operations at 11:25 a.m.

Photo courtesy the Red Oak Fire Department

An investigation determined that faulty wiring igniting combustibles on the back porch. The house sustained significant structural damage and was expected to be declared a total loss. Assisting Red Oak Fire at the scene, was: The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency; The Stanton, Essex and Emerson Fire Departments; Red Oak Police; The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office; MidAmerican Energy; City of Red Oak water and street departments crews; The Montgomery County Communications Center, and the State Fire Marshall’s Office.

Landus Acquires Grain Elevator in Atlantic, Iowa

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

AMES, IOWA (October 22, 2021) – Landus, Iowa’s largest farmer-owned grain cooperative, announced today the acquisition of a 3.4-million-bushel grain elevator in Atlantic, Iowa. The facility was most recently operated by Pipeline Foods through a joint venture with ADM. Landus purchased the facility through a public bidding process following Pipeline Foods’ recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

“This well-maintained asset is a win for Landus farmer-owners. The facility will round out our grain and agronomy offerings in this southwestern region of our territory and open the door to improved services to local Atlantic-area farmers,” said Matt Carstens, President and CEO of Landus.Landis Logo

The grain elevator is strategically positioned at the crossroads of major truck and rail routes in the heart of corn and soybean country. This site enables grain shipment out of the state via the Iowa Interstate Railroad. Landus currently operates a separate agronomy facility in Atlantic.

Landus will move quickly to assume full ownership and operation of the facility in early November.

Unemployment rate drops

News

October 22nd, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The state unemployment rate dropped slightly in September. The rate in September fell to four percent, down from four-point-one percent in August. Iowa Workforce Development says the unemployment claims in September dropped more than 68 percent compared to one year ago. And it was the second-lowest monthly unemployment claims Iowa has seen over the past 20 years.

The U-S unemployment rate fell to four-point-eight percent in September.