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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
KJAN News can be heard at five minutes after every hour right after Fox News 24 hours a day!
Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
(Radio Iowa) – Democrat Deidre DeJear, who ran for secretary of state in 2018, is taking the first steps toward launching a run for governor in 2022. DeJear is a small business owner from Des Moines. She’s has formed an exploratory committee to raise money. DeJear is starting a listening tour of the state with an event tonight (Monday) in Des Moines with small business owners and stops in six eastern and south central Iowa cities this week as well.
In 2018, DeJear was the first Black Iowan to be nominated for statewide office by a major party. She lost to Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate. In 2019, DeJear served as Iowa campaign chair for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Small Business Development Center is launching what it’s calling an Inclusivity Challenge to make sure minority business owners and entrepreneurs have the resources to succeed as the pandemic continues. Lisa Shimkat, the center’s state director, says it’s important to be proactive to make sure underrepresented businesses get the support they need. “There’s no rules to how to successfully come out of a pandemic, there’s no rules as to how we need to do the next steps in our business,” Shimkat says, “so why don’t we get out in front of this and define it? That’s what we wanted to do.”
Shimkat says one of their primary goals is to lend help those businesses that are most in danger of closing. “We could form a committee, we could sit around and talk about it, but instead, let’s just get out in front of this, make decisions and make it happen,” she says. A kickoff event is scheduled for Wednesday where the center, along with representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration, will address some of the state’s gaps in access to resources.
(by Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)
NORWALK — The City of Norwalk is searching for a new fire chief. The city administrator has confirmed with KCCI, that Chief Ryan Coburn resigned and is no longer in command. In May, Coburn was arrested on suspicion of operating while intoxicated. According to online records, Coburn pleaded guilty in June. The city has posted a job listing looking for his replacement.
ANKENY — A man accused of threatening to “shoot up” Waukee High School last March is now exploring a run for school board in Ankeny, making some parents uneasy, and gaining attention outside of Iowa. Issac Holtz, who was 19 at the time, admitted to sending the threatening email as he was being led out of the Dallas County Courthouse following a court appearance. Holtz received a deferred judgement on one count of threat of terrorism. Now, in July of 2021, Holtz has created a website announcing a run for the Ankeny school board.
The 8:05-a.m. broadcast news, with Ric Hanson.
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COUNCIL BLUFFS, July 12, 2021 – Registration is open for the 2021 Council Bluffs Walk to End Alzheimer’s®. The Alzheimer’s Association is inviting Council Bluffs area residents to join the fight to end Alzheimer’s by starting a team and walking on September 25 at River’s Edge Pavilion. Harlan area residents can join the fight to end Alzheimer’s by starting a team and walking on September 18th at Pioneer Park.
On Walk day, participants honor those affected by Alzheimer’s with the poignant Promise Garden ceremony — a mission-focused experience that signifies our solidarity in the fight against the disease. The colors of the Promise Garden flowers represent people’s connection to Alzheimer’s — their personal reasons to end the disease.
While plans are moving forward to host the Walk in person, the health and safety of participants, staff and volunteers remain the top priorities as decisions are made about event details. Options will be offered to participate online and in local neighborhoods. Marsha Williams, Development Manager for the Iowa Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, says “We are excited to see and walk with everyone in person again this year. More than ever, we need to come together to support all those affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementias. With the dollars raised, the Alzheimer’s Association provides care and support to families in Iowa while also advancing critical research toward methods of treatment and prevention.”
More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease – a leading cause of death in the United States. Additionally, more than 11 million family members and friends provide care to people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. In Iowa alone, there are more than 66,000 people living with the disease and 73,000 caregivers.
To register and receive the latest updates on this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, visit: alz.org/walk.
The broadcast News at 7:07-a.m., with KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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(Radio Iowa) – Thousands of Iowa students in grades K-through-12 are getting a taste of what it’s like to rocket into orbit as well as more down-to-earth pursuits in a mobile classroom venture from Iowa State University. I-S-U industrial design professor Pete Evans coordinates the Forward Learning Experience, or FLEx, which combines creative thinking, STEM programs and emerging technologies in a commercial cargo van. “We’ll roll up to a school and we can either do these programs in the parking lot or we can go into classrooms,” Evans says. “We’ll have virtual reality headsets to provide the students — teachers, too — with these experiences.”
FLEx is partnering with I-S-U’s Women in Science and Engineering program, or WiSE, and recently landed a grant from the Iowa Space Grant Consortium. With that money, Evans’ team merged virtual reality with a motion base to offer students thrill rides in a flight simulator. “The students can fly the newest training plane that Boeing and Saab have put together. It’s a brand new contract called the Redhawk,” Evans says. “This is what all of the future astronauts will learn to fly on.”
Launched in 2014, Evans says FLEx has reached 80-thousand students in all corners of the state with plans to further broaden its scope in the year ahead. The flight simulator is versatile and can also offer realistic rides on everything from rollercoasters — to farm tractors. “There’s a farming simulator application that’s pretty red-hot,” Evans says. “We’ve already got that hooked up. Students can hop into a Case or a Deere and start to be in virtual reality and test out some of these more local ideas — and futures — that are also very relevant.”
New programs in the coming months will include a celebration of NASA’s new Artemis program, offering glimpses of upcoming ventures to the Moon and to Mars.
The Montgomery County Fair gets underway in earnest today (Monday). Here’s today’s schedule in Red Oak:
The Montgomery County Fair runs through July 18th. The Adams County Fair began last Thursday, with the last full day of activity, tomorrow. Here’s a look at today’s schedule in Corning.
One person was taken into custody Sunday morning in Shenandoah, following a report to police about a disturbance in the 500 block of Harrison Street. Authorities say 29-year-old Jocelyn Coleman was arrested for disorderly conduct and interference with official acts.Coleman was being held in the Page County Jail on $600 bond.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Business Council’s second-quarter Economic Outlook Survey shows great optimism among some of the state’s largest businesses. I-B-C executive director, Joe Murphy, says the survey continues a trend. He says it is the fourth straight survey where they have a positive trend. The report measures member expectations for sales, capital spending, and employment for the next six months. The answers are scored on a 100-point scale and the latest overall outlook index is 67. “When you look at all of our indications, all of our sub-reports, everything is looking very, very strong,” according to Murphy. “Iowans continue to get vaccinated, people are coming back to work, businesses across the entire state are booming –whether that’s the large businesses we represent at the Iowa business council represent — or even small and mid-sized businesses as well. Things are going really well.”
Murphy says one key is that Iowa didn’t take the drastic measures during the pandemic that some other states took. “I think the fact that our state did not issue a mandatory shutdown was extremely positive. We’re seeing the results of that good decision-making being played out right now in the economy,” Murphy says. “The fact again that we projecting such a high-level of optimism in Iowa’s economic output represents that good timing. And I think other states, whether it be our neighbors, or other states across the country — those that did issue those shutdown orders are certainly not bouncing back as quickly as Iowa has.”
The optimism comes with continued concern about finding enough employees. “The workforce situation in Iowa has never been more acute. I think the fact that businesses are opening up and have been open for some time is good news. The fact that people in their personal lives are more engaging in the economy right now is exasperating this situation,” Murphy says. He says they will continue pushing to get more workers. “We need every single body that we possibly can to be employed. Iowa has had a consistent issue with that,” Murphy says. “We have a very low unemployment rate and a very high labor participation rate — which are very good things — but the fact is, we just need more people in this state. And so we need to encourage folks to come into the workplace, and then encourage people to come to Iowa to live and make a career.”
To see more of the Economic Outlook Survey — go to www.iowabusinesscouncil.org.
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