In an update to our earlier report, Sheriff’s officials in Union County say a pickup truck reported stolen Monday from outside a residence in Creston, was found damaged following an accident that took place a few hours after the truck was discovered missing. An investigation determined the 2000 Ford F-150 driven by an unknown person, was northbound on Umbrella Avenue when it went out of control prior to entering a curve. The vehicle entered the west ditch and rolled onto its side, sustaining $3,000 damage. The incident remains under investigation.

Area residents interested in food preservation are invited to Food Preservation 101, a two-hour overview of general food preservation principles. The class includes current recommendations for canning, freezing and drying, display of equipment and utensils and sources for safe and tested food preservation information.  The course will be held Tuesday, June 28th, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Cass County Extension office in Atlantic. Fee for the course is $5 per person, and includes all materials, recipes, etc. Pre-registration is requested by Monday, June 27 by calling 712-243-1132 or emailing xcass@iastate.edu.

Preserve the Taste of Summer is a longer, more in-depth course that combines educational classes and hands-on food preservation workshops, and is a great opportunity for those who want to go beyond the basics. The educational classes can be done online anytime by registering at www.extension.iastate.edu/registration/events/conferences/preservation/ or they can be viewed in a group setting by making arrangements in advance (call 712-243-1132). The classes are required to be completed before participating in the hands-on workshops. Two workshops will be hosted later this summer, at the Cass County Fair Food Stand. A workshop on salsa making (hot-water bath canning) and freezing food will be held on Saturday, July 30 from 9 am to 1 pm, and a workshop on pressure canning will be held on Saturday, August 1, from 9 am to 1 pm. Fees for this program start at $25, depending on the number of courses and workshops you plan to attend. All participants in hands-on workshops will leave with several jars of freshly canned goods to take home and enjoy!

Updates for Home Food Preservers

Look to Iowa State University Extension and Outreach for up-to-date, accurate and safe information on home food preservation.  Publications and programs are under regular review and revision and some important changes have been made for this year’s gardening and preserving season, according to Barb Fuller, local human sciences specialist in nutrition and wellness.

“If you have older versions of these publications, throw them away and replace them with the revised versions to be sure you are using current recommendations,” says Fuller. “Home canned food is a great way to have fresh summer produce available all year, but safety is key to enjoying that food year round.”

Cass County Extension also offers pressure canner dial gauge testing by appointment.  Dial gauge pressure canners should be tested annually for accuracy. Dial gauges will also be tested at the end of the Food Preservation 101 program on June 28 for any participants interested.

If you get stuck or have a question about a recipe, you can get answers to food preservation questions by calling ISU Extension and Outreach’s toll-free AnswerLine. Experts answer questions Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and from 1– 4 p.m. In Iowa, call 1-800-262-3804; Relay Iowa phone linkage for deaf/hard-of-hearing individuals, 1-800-735-2942. Questions can also be emailed to answer@iastate.edu.  Frequently asked questions and other resources are available at the AnswerLine website, www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/answerline.

Nine & Wine, a fundraiser for the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce that is open to the entire community, will be held this Friday, June 17th, 2016 at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. The tournament includes nine holes of golf, appetizers, provided by Downtowner Café, wine samples at every hole sponsored by Hy-Vee and beer samples provided by Southwest Iowa Distributing and Doll Distributing.

New this year, the Chamber will be hosting a Patio Party beginning at 6:30 PM. For $30 you can enjoy wine tasting, appetizers and dinner on the Atlantic Golf and Country Club patio. Also new this year as an additional fundraiser, the Chamber will be hosting a Wine Pull. Attendees will be able to purchase wine pull tickets for $20 each or three for $50. Each ticket is a winner with one grand prize winner taking home a YETI Cooler, donated by Connect-A- Dock.

An unlimited amount of Mulligans are available for $10, for teams and two betting holes. After the tournament, golfers and guests will enjoy dinner provided by the Atlantic Golf & Country Club and sponsored by Cornerstone Landscaping. There will be a men and women’s door prize given out to golfers and guests of the patio party.
To check on the availability of reservations for the Patio Party and teams available,  sign up, or to learn more, please visit www.atlanticiowa.com.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey has announced that Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons are now available for eligible WIC recipients and low-income older Iowans. The WIC Farmers Market Nutrition and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Programs provide eligible Iowans with checks that can be redeemed for fresh, locally grown produce at authorized farmers markets and farm stands from June 1 through October 31, 2016.

Northey said “Iowa-grown fresh fruits and vegetables can be found at farmers markets throughout the state.  The Famers Market Nutrition Programs are designed to give WIC participants and low-income seniors better access to these fresh and nutritious foods.”

The Farmers Market Nutrition Programs are administered through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Public Health and Iowa Department on Aging.  For more information contact Stephanie Groom, Program Administrator, at 515-725-1179 or at Stephanie.Groom@iowaagriculture.gov.

WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program

The WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program provides eligible WIC recipients with nine checks valued at $3 each. WIC FMNP checks will be distributed statewide on a first-come, first-served basis.  Eligible individuals may pick up checks at arranged appointments or at regularly scheduled clinic appointments.

A combination of state and federal funds will be used to make benefits available to more than 24,000 eligible WIC recipients this year.  Eligible individuals include children ages 1 through 4, pregnant women, and breastfeeding women that participate in Iowa’s WIC Program.

The state’s twenty local WIC agencies have begun to distribute checks and nutritional education information.  WIC recipients interested in obtaining the benefits are encouraged to contact their local WIC clinic or visit https://idph.iowa.gov/wic/families  for more information.

Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program

The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program provides eligible seniors with ten checks for $3 each.  In addition to produce, locally produced honey can also be purchased with Senior FMNP checks.  Applicants throughout the state are offered the checks on a first-come first-served basis and the checks are available through Area Agency on Aging offices. A combination of state and federal funds will be used to make benefits available to more than 19,000 eligible seniors this year.

Eligible seniors must be sixty years of age or older with a household income less than $21,978 if single or $29,637 for a married couple.  Iowa seniors will be asked to complete a one page application verifying their eligibility, by providing their birth dates and the last four digits of their social security numbers.

The Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) have begun to distribute checks and nutritional education information.   To find an Area Agency on Aging near you, contact the Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging (i4a) toll free at 866-468-7887 or at www.i4a.org.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Creston Police Department reports the arrest Monday afternoon, of 22-year old Patrick Liams, of Creston. Liams was taken into custody on two Union County warrants for Assault on a Peace Officer, and Disorderly Conduct. He was later released from custody on $2,300 bond.

Also arrested Monday afternoon, was 55-year old Robert Fleharty, of Creston. He was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a warrant for Failure to Serve a sentence on an original charge of OWI/1st offense. Fleharty was being held in the Union County Jail while serving the balance of his sentence.

And, late Monday morning, 50-year old Melissa Rodden, of Murray, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center for Simple Assault. Rodden was subsequently released on a Promise to Appear later, in court.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A traffic stop this (Tuesday) morning in Council Bluffs resulted in the arrest of three people and a child being taken into protective custody. Bluffs Police say officers conducted a traffic stop on an SUV at around 12:40-a.m.  When an officer approached the vehicle, he could smell the odor of marijuana. Officers also noticed a semi-automatic handgun in the driver’s side door.

Once the occupants of the vehicle were secured, a firearm was located in the seat where a passenger, 23-year old Rafael Hernandez-Martinez, of Council Bluffs, was sitting. Hernandez-Martinez was charged with being a Felon in Possession, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Another passenger, 19-year old Jorge Alberto Morales-Diaz, of Omaha, was arrested for providing false information, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and on a warrant for Possession of Controlled Substance. In fact, officers located marijuana on three of the four occupants in the SUV.

Police also identified a valid runaway from Omaha, who had outstanding juvenile warrants. A one-year old child in the vehicle was taken into protective custody. The driver, 23-year old Diana Morales, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Child Endangerment and other charges.

A new type of synthetic drug contributed to a recent overdose in Iowa and has state health and drug control officials warning of its threat. Dale Woolery from the Governor’s Office of Drug Control explains: “It’s involving synthetic opioids which are kind of a hybrid between synthetic drugs as we’ve talked about before relating to the K-2’s and the bath salts — and the opioids we’ve talked about relating to medications or heroin, the pain killers and heroin,” Woolery says.

He says the new drug is known as U-47700 and is the synthetic copy of the powerful painkiller fentanyl. “These are not medications, these are not heroin, but instead it’s a synthetic form of opioid — much more potent than heroin — that can be mixed with heroin. And that makes it very dangerous and potentially deadly,” according to Woolery. He says the synthetic opioids are brought in from outside the U-S. “They’re being manufactured primarily in Asia, but I’ve also heard about Canada being the source for one,” Woolery says.

“Typically they are not manufactured in the U-S, we don’t believe, but if you know chemistry and you have a recipe — and some of these are old research projects pulled off the shelf — they can be made since they are synthetic just about anywhere. But we do believe that most of them are being manufactured overseas and shipped into the U-S.” Woolery says the drug has turned up more often in other states so far than it has in Iowa.

He says there has been one case of a person in eastern Iowa overdosing last week who survived after being treated. Woolery says there have been overdoses and deaths from the drug in other states. Woolery doesn’t know if this new synthetic is driven by people looking for a stronger drug, or by dealers trying to make more money. “I’m not sure if somebody is looking for something different or more, or if it is a case of manufacturers and dealers I guess looking to get more mileage out of their product by cutting heroin with something that might be less expensive,” Woolery says.

He says the drug can cause fatal respiratory arrest, and can reportedly cause problems just by handling it. Parents are encouraged to talk with children about the dangers of all drugs, including new or mysterious substances.  “The important message I think is don’t take anything if you don’t know what it is,” Woolery says. “If it’s mysterious, has a funny name, different name, if it is not from a trusted adult, you don’t want to put it inside of you.”

If you have questions about synthetic opioids, you can contact the Iowa Poison Control Center at 800-222-1222 or go online to: www.iowapoison.org.

(Radio Iowa)

The summer solstice, officially June 20 this year, will be celebrated on Saturday, June 25 by the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, Iowa at its annual Sankt Hans Aften (St. Johns Eve) festival. The official date of the Danish midsummer celebration, Sankt Hans Aften, is always June 23rd, but the museum picks a Saturday near that date each year to hold its Sankt Hans Aften celebration.

Free activities are scheduled all throughout the day and into the night for revelers. The events will be held rain or shine, though some may be moved indoors.

Since at least the times of the Vikings, and before Christianity came to Denmark, Scandinavian peoples celebrated the longest day as a supernatural struggle between light and dark, heat and cold. Because the feast day of Saint John the Baptist occurred on June 23, near the date of the annual summer solstice, the Christian Church emphasized this celebration in Scandinavia. “Hans” is the diminutive of “Johannes” or “John”. Today it’s a very good excuse to stay up late, have fun, and light bonfires. Songs, music, and speeches are also a strong part of this tradition.

The Museum of Danish America’s festival culminates with the traditional bonfire at sunset – about 9 p.m. – but prior to this traditional piece of the celebration, several complimentary (free) and complementary (corresponding) activities will take place:

• The Museum of Danish America and the University of Iowa’s free Mobile Museum, located in MoDA’s parking lot for the day, will open at 10 a.m. Between the two, there will be six exhibits to view, ranging from Germans in Iowa (yes, Germans!) and Iowa’s healthcare professionals to Danish tug-of-war teams and abstract art.

• At 5 p.m. local musicians will kick off the entertainment for the evening on the museum’s east patio, and kids and adults of all ages will be able to participate in traditional Danish games like ringridning (bicycle jousting) and kubb (the Viking lawn game). At 6 p.m. a Danish hot dog picnic will be available for a free will donation. You may bring your own beverages to enjoy with the picnic.

• The evening’s headliners are Greenblatt & Seay, two traditional musicians  from Avoca, NE, where they teach music lessons out of a 10,000-square-foot former schoolhouse. Together they have performed at thousands of concerts, festivals, state fairs, weddings, and the like. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets to enjoy this upbeat and lively performance beginning at 7:30 p.m.

• All experience levels of musicians are invited to join in an informal jam session around the council ring fire pit beginning at 9 p.m. and coinciding with the lighting of the bonfire. There, participants may remain engaged in the songs and stories for as long as they like.

The Museum of Danish America is located on the west edge of Elk Horn, Iowa, which is six miles north of I-80 exit 54. More information is available at danishmuseum.org or 712.764.7001.

(Press Release)