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(Podcast) KJAN News, 10/8/21

News, Podcasts

October 8th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The broadcast News at 8:07-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

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(Podcast) KJAN News, 10/8/2021

News, Podcasts

October 8th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The broadcast News at 7:06-a.m., from News Director Ric Hanson.

Play

Smoke, but no fire in Atlantic incident

News

October 8th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Just after 6-a.m. today (Friday), Atlantic Fire was dispatched to the Walnut Hill Terrace Apartments at 1304 E. 10th Street, for a report of smoke in the 2nd floor and hallway. Upon further investigation, it was discovered an oven had been left on in an apartment. The was no fire. All other responding personnel were told to disregard responding to the scene. No injuries were reported.

Court document reveals cause of death in Emmet County murder case

News

October 8th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – New information has been released surrounding the events that led to the murder of an Estherville man before his body was found along an Emmet County road on Saturday morning.

A criminal complaint says 20-year-old David McDowell was reportedly lured to an apartment last Friday by 19-year-old Connor Uhde and 18-year-old CeJay Van Der Wilt before he was shot to death early the next morning along a roadway about five miles outside of Estherville. His body was discovered several hours later by a passing motorist.

Connor Uhde, CeJay Van Der Wilt. (KICD photo.)

Uhde and Van Der Wilt were both arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday after simultaneous search warrants were executed at their homes in Estherville and Rockwell City. No motive behind the killing has been released. Both suspects remain in custody without bond and are due back in court late next week.

Trump to rally with supporters in Des Moines tomorrow

News

October 8th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally on the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines Saturday night, his first appearance in the state since leaving office in January. Eric Branstad worked on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 Iowa campaigns and he’s a senior advisor to Trump’s political action committee. “The crowd sizes in Alabama here recently and Georgia, there’s not a place that will fit us besides right here, outside,” he says. On Thursday afternoon, the stage was being set up where the Midway operates during the Iowa State Fair.

Branstad says “jumbo trons” will be in place — so the crowd can watch the Iowa-Penn State football game. Trump will not speak until the game is over. At his September 25th rally on the Georgia National Fairgrounds, Trump criticized Georgia’s Republican governor for the certification of Joe Biden’s win in Georgia nearly a year ago. Trump carried Iowa by eight points in 2020 and most of Iowa’s top Republicans have been invited to speak at the Des Moines rally. That includes Iowa’s Republican governor, Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley and two Republican congresswomen from Iowa — all of whom are seeking reelection.

“What we’re focused right now is making sure we win congress in 2022 and making sure that we win up and down the ballot next year,” Branstad says. Trump has made it clear he may run for president again in 2024. A recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll found 53 percent of Iowans have a favorable view of Trump, which is higher than it was during his presidency. “I’ve seen this from my very first rally that I was staff at in 2016, the movement has only gotten bigger,” Branstad says. Trump also appears to be the most popular Republican in Iowa, with 91 percent of Republicans surveyed for the Iowa Poll saying they have a favorable view of the former president.

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn says that’s worrisome. Iowa Republicans have tied themselves to a man who attacked the very foundation of our democracy throughout his time in office,” Wilburn says. Wilburn says Trump has shown a complete disregard for the rule of law as he continues to protest the 2020 election outcome. “He’s toxic for our democracy and it’s been well established that he did nothing to stop his supporters from violently attacking our Capitol,” Wilburn says, “even while his own vice president was inside.”

Wilburn made his comments during the Iowa Democratic Party’s weekly online news conference.

Non-profit co-founded by Iowan is part of SnapChat push to get youth to run for office

News

October 8th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The non-profit an Iowa legislator co-founded to mentor Generation Z conservatives who’re entering politics is now one of Snapchat’s partners in a push to encourage young people to consider running for local office.  “You could potentially be the next governor of your state, right? Or the next congressman in the next five, to 10 to 15 years, but it starts here at the local and state level.” That’s State Representative Joe Mitchell of Mount Pleasant. His Run GenZ group had 200 contacts in the past 10 months, but that jumped to 15-hundred in the first 24 hours after Snapchat’s launch.

“Just encouraging people if they’re frustrated with what’s happening in their school board or if they’re frustrated with what’s happening in their state legislature, it’s time to stop complaining, right? It’s time to start running,” Mitchell says. Mitchell was 20 years old when he first ran for and won a seat in the Iowa House in 2018. “What I realized was my age actually a lot of time helped me when I talked to people at the doors,” Mitchell says, “…but the other thing was, too, I had the time and the energy to be able to go out there and knock on a bunch of doors.”

Mitchell, who’s now in his second term in the Iowa House, launched Run GenZ last year. It offers advice and support to people from his generation who are thinking about running for state and local office. “There’s not a ton of people on either side of the aisle really, but specifically conservatives in the local and state offices that are proportionally representing our generation,” Mitchell says, “or just people under 40.”

Four other Republicans in their 20s are co-founders of Run Gen Z. Two are women serving in Florida’s legislature. One is a New Hampshire lawmaker who Mitchell says is one of only four openly gay Republicans in elected office in the U.S. and one is a black man who won a seat in West Virginia’s legislature at the age of 18.  “People of color and women and peole that are gay and straight, whatever else,” Mitchell says. Mitchell says having a diverse group is important because it fits the ethos of young Americans who were born around the turn of the century.

In addition to Mitchell’s group supporting conservative candidates, Snapchat has partnered with nine other organizations across the political spectrum to encourage young adults to run for office. For example, one is called Emerge America and its candidate recruitment is focused on Democratic women. According to SnapChat, 90 percent of Americans between the ages of 13 and 24 use the social media platform. Those express an interest in running for political office through a new tool within the app are matched up and referred to the outside groups for advice.

Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who was elected to the Iowa House at the age of 25, is on the national advisory board for Run GenZ. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Colorado Governor Bill Owens, former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are on the board, too.

Iowa Business Council survey positive, but supply and labor issues remain

News

October 7th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Business Council’s third-quarter Economic Outlook Survey shows a continued positive outlook among its business members for the next six months. I-B-C executive director, Joe Murphy, says while it is the fifth straight positive survey, a couple of issues continue to persist. “We are still facing extreme pressures from a workforce shortage perspective, and increasing bottlenecks in the supply chain for Iowa companies,” Murphy says. The labor shortage is directly linked to the supply chain problem.

“We don’t have enough truck drivers to move the supplies, we don’t have enough people out on the west coast in the Port of Los Angeles to offload those cargo containers. There’s not enough people out there to move the empty containers so more trucks can get in,” he says. Sales expectations fell just lightly as did the employment index fell. The survey found 55 percent of businesses expect their workforce to grow, and 40 percent do not anticipate any change in employment. One hundred percent of the businesses in the survey say hiring is somewhat difficult to very difficult.

“Once those goods are here in Iowa, there’s a bottleneck with individuals not being employed at our companies,” Murphy says. “And so, those supply chain issues are really at the root cause stemming from that workforce issue — and that’s really concerning for us moving forward.” The third-quarter survey’s overall economic outlook index is nearly 66 — with 50 or above being positive.

“We’re optimistic about the future — but the whole point of these surveys is to forecast what some of these issues are currently or on the horizon,” Murphy says. “If these issues don’t become less of a burden for companies, you’ll start to see that optimism number start to trickle backward. We’ve seen that before in our surveys if you look at some of our historical data.” Murphy says Iowa needs to continue working on solutions to the problems or face the possibility of businesses looking to other states.

“That means less money coming into Iowa, less property tax base, etcetera. And so that’s really the danger here long term. And that is something you’ll continue to see the Iowa Business Council work against,” Murphy says. The Iowa Business Council is made up of of 22 chief executives from Iowa’s largest organizations. The I-B-C says one in six jobs in Iowa are tied to an Iowa Business Council company.

Man from Sioux City metro accused of trading guns for drugs sentenced to prison

News

October 7th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sioux City has announced a man from South Dakota side of the Sioux City metro has been sentenced to four years in prison for trading guns for drugs. Forty-year-old Brandon Christiansen is from McCook, Lake, South Dakota. He claimed to be a gun collector when authorities searched his home last year, but there were no guns in the house.

Federal prosecutors say Christiansen illegally acquired as many as 56 guns over a seven and a half year period and traded the guns for drugs. According to a news release for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, some of the guns were semiautomatic and capable of firing off large capacity magazines.

Purchase records presented in court showed Christiansen bought at least 23 guns from five different gun stores in Sioux City and Sioux Falls. Authorities say five of those guns were found during drug investigations that did not involve Christiansen.

Bireline Named Outstanding Nurse Executive

News

October 7th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Atlantic, Iowa- Officials with Cass Health said Thursday, that the Iowa Organization for Nursing Leadership (IONL) has named Cass Health Chief Nursing Officer Amanda Bireline as the 2021 Outstanding Nurse Executive. Bireline said “I am grateful for and humbled by this recognition. Never could I claim success alone, though. This award belongs as much to our Cass Health team as it belongs to me. I am forever grateful to the people who have put a little faith in me along the way and allowed me to join them in their journey to make a difference in the lives of others.”

As Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at Cass Health, Bireline serves as the primary executive overseeing hospital nursing and clinical services. She gained clinical and leadership experience in a variety of healthcare settings, including a for-profit residential substance abuse treatment center, a non-profit hospice home, rural health clinics, and critical access hospitals. Bireline received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Administration with a certificate in Organizational Leadership from the University of South Dakota.

Cass Health CNO Amanda Bireline (Photo submitted)

In 2019, she participated in the first American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) Nurse Executive Fellowship. The AONL Nurse Executive Fellowship is a highly interactive nine-month program designed for nurses in a senior executive role. Throughout the program fellows develop critical executive competencies to lead in complex systems and to influence and inspire the nursing workforce and others.

In 2020 and 2021, Bireline used the skills learned as an AONL fellow to co-teach two sessions in the IONL Nurse Manager Leadership Workshop. Her programs entitled “Personal and Professional Accountability for Nurse Leaders,” and “Strategic Management for Nurse Leaders,” armed new nurse leaders with skills for advancing the nursing profession. She has been asked back to teach in the 2021 – 2022 workshops due to the popularity and success of her previous sessions.

“Amanda is a vital member of our leadership team at Cass Health and is a well-respected health care leader throughout the state. Amanda is smart, humble and has an amazing work ethic,” said Cass Health CEO Brett Altman. Both Altman and Bireline noted that the clinical teams throughout the hospital deserve much of the credit for three national awards including Performance Leadership Awards, Top 100 Critical Access Hospital awards, and most recently, the Top 20 Critical Access Hospital overall award winner. Additionally, Cass Health has been selected as a Des Moines Register Top Workplace in Iowa for seven consecutive years due to high employee satisfaction.

“Amanda is truly exceptional with her skills, knowledge, and leadership. I have found Amanda to be enthusiastic, polite, honest, intelligent, compassionate, loyal, and hard working. Simply stated, she is the best CNO I have ever had the privilege of working with,” said Altman.

Bireline was recognized on October 7th as a part of the Iowa Hospital Association’s Virtual Annual Meeting.

Adams County Sheriff’s report, 10/7/21

News

October 7th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams Sheriff’s Office today (Thursday), released information about two arrests and one accident that took place in September. Authorities say on Sept. 26th, Deputies responded to a motor vehicle accident in the 1400 block of 260th Street, in Nodaway. Upon further investigation, a 17-year-old male received a juvenile referral for being a Minor in Possession of Alcohol. The teen was cleared by EMS personnel and released to the custody of his parents.

On Sept. 24th, Adams County Deputies arrested 43-year-old Benjamen Leroy Kirsch, of Villisca. He was taken into custody at the Montgomery/Adams County line, on three active warrants for Failure to Appear. Kirsch was additionally charged at the Adams County Jail, with Interference with Official Acts. He was held without bond until appearing before the magistrate.

And, on Sept. 17th, Deputies conducted a traffic stop on Highway 34 at Quince Avenue at around 9:53-p.m.  As a result, 38-year-old Angel Valdovinos Rodriguez, of Creston, was arrested on two active warrants for Failure to Appear. He was transported to the Adams/Union County line, and transferred to the custody of Union County Deputies.