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Vigil held on the 2-month anniversary of missing Iowa 11-year old

News

July 26th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

A vigil was held Sunday in Montezuma, for 11-year-old Xavior Harrelson, who has been missing for two-months. KCCI reports dozens of people filled the bleachers of the Montezuma High School football stadium to pray for the boy. They also sang and released of butterflies as organizers implored them not to forget Harrelson and to maintain hope that he will be found.

Diane Hoffman, who organized the event, said she also wanted to show the Harrelson family that the community has their backs.Volunteers handed out more flyers with Xavior’s name and face on them; Hoffman said in putting on the event, she wants to ensure that people don’t forget him as time passes by. Family members of Harrelson, including his mother, Sarah, and aunt, Michelle, attended the vigil.

Family members and organizers also called for changes to the AMBER Alert criteria, believing that such an alert would have potentially helped find Xavior. Xavior did not meet the criteria, which, according to the State of Iowa, requires law enforcement to confirm a child has been abducted, believe “the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death,” and have “enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, or suspect’s vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.”

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office at 641-623-2107. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also set up a special web page for tips related to the case.

ISU economist says Iowa’s tax structure is ‘relatively uncompetitive overall’

News

July 26th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University economist says if G-O-P lawmakers intend to cut taxes again in 2022, there’s one tax that’s out of whack when it comes to attracting new businesses here. ) “If you compare Iowa to its neighbors, it’s our property tax rates that are the most destructive when looking at, say, which side of a border new firms enter.” I-S-U’s Peter Orazem has done research on the factors business owners consider as they examine where to locate. He says it’s probably counter productive to cut income taxes, as it’s likely to be done in tandem with a sales tax increase. “If you’re starting up a business, you may not have an income and you may not have any sales, but you have to have property and you’re going to have to pay that tax right up front,” Orazem says.

Orazem also served eight years on the Ames City Council and he says it would make sense for state policymakers to take the pressure off property taxes and remove some of the constraints that prevent cities and counties from collecting other kinds of taxes. “You look at Lincoln, Nebraska that paid for all this public entertainment space with an entertainment tax and we’re not allowed to have an entertainment tax in Iowa,” Orazem says. “I think that we have sort of made way too many restrictions on how local governments fund themselves and then put too much burden then on state support for those local efforts and that’s one of the reasons we have a relatively uncompetitive tax structure overall.”

Orazem made his comments earlier this month during an appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.

Severe thunderstorms will soon trigger emergency alert on Iowans’ cell phones

News, Weather

July 26th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – With last year’s derecho, Iowans learned the hard way that highly destructive weather events can be something other that tornadoes or floods. Technically, the derecho was a severe thunderstorm, the most destructive thunderstorm in U-S history. National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Krull says they’re soon adding severe thunderstorms — and, thus, any future derecho — to an important alert system.Krull says, “Any severe thunderstorms that we believe will produce damaging wind gusts in excess of 80 miles per hour or produce hail sizes baseball or larger will now activate the wireless emergency alerts on your cell phones.”

Starting August 2nd, the National Weather Service will be able to better convey the severity and potential impacts from major thunderstorms to the public — in seconds. “Now, they will activate the wireless emergency alerts on your mobile phones,” Krull says. “This will occur for all tornado warnings, as has been in the past few years, for flash flood warnings that are either deemed to be considerable or catastrophic, and now for severe thunderstorm warnings as well.”

On average, only about ten-percent of all severe thunderstorms reach the “destructive” category, things like a derecho or a “supercell” storm. When the rare ones hit, people need to know — and right away — so the alert system is being expanded. “For most cell phones, it should automatically happen,” Krull says. “Some folks do have the alerts turned off on their cell phones, depending on whether you’re using an iPhone or some kind of Android device, you may want to check the settings for what your wireless emergency alerts are set to.”

The powerful derecho that struck August 10th of 2020 packed winds up to 140 miles an hour — the equivalent of a category four hurricane — and it caused more than 13-billion dollars damage, most of it in Iowa. The storm started causing havoc in western Iowa and moved quickly eastward, doing its worst destruction in the Cedar Rapids area, eventually dissipating in Illinois. In many respects, it was like having a 150-mile long tornado that was 50 miles wide.

Iowa sees big increase in house fires from January through June

News

July 26th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The first half of 2021 saw a significant rise in the number of house fires in Iowa, according to the Nebraska-Iowa Region of the American Red Cross. Chapter spokesman Josh Murray says the agency’s volunteer responders were sent to nearly 300 disasters statewide during the first six months of the year and nearly all of them were house fires. “In January and February, we saw a large increase in those numbers,” Murray says. “Usually we see probably closer to 250ish in the first half of the year.”

Between January 1st and June 30th, the Red Cross responded to 297 incidents in Iowa, with 95-percent of them being home fires, assisting a total of 1,281 individuals. While every house fire is different, Murray says one factor they all have in common is that they happened during the pandemic.”More people are home, more people are eating at home, they weren’t going out so they’re cooking at home, people are working at home so maybe they were using space heaters more to heat their house,” Murray says. “We’re still seeing some now, at this time of year. You get to the summer, we don’t usually see as many home fires, but in June we saw close to 50 in the state of Iowa.”

Murray says he’s concerned about the increase in house fires overall and the boost in fires during the summer months. “We’ve seen this trend of increased fires across the entire state,” Murray says. “It wasn’t just the one area, like just rural areas or urban areas. We’ve seen it from west to east and north to south, all across. It’s definitely one reason we’ve put out the word to make sure people are being cautious with home fire safety.” When a Red Cross volunteer responds to a house fire in Iowa, they do a lot more than just wrap a blanket around the person who may have just lost everything they owned. “Most of the time, it’s finding them a place to stay, finding them a hotel for a couple of nights, maybe get them some meals if we need to,” Murray says. “Helping line up any other services they might require, maybe they lost medicine in the fire and they need help getting a prescription refilled. Or they need storage space to store some stuff they were able to salvage from their home.”

In many cases, the aid the Red Cross provides is not just over a few days, he says, rather weeks and even months. The agency provides a range of assistance in times of disaster through the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.

Fatal motorcycle accident in Marshall County

News

July 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

An SUV collided with a motorcycle Saturday night in Marshall County, resulting in the death of the motorcycle rider. The Iowa State Patrol reports 48-year-old Shelly Anne Tuttle, of Marshalltown, was riding a 2007 Honda VT600CD eastbound on Main Street in Marshalltown, just west of Wallace Avenue, when she was struck from behind by an eastbound 2013 Ford Escape, driven by 17-year-old Jadyn Lynn Palmer, of Marshalltown. The accident happened at around 9:22-p.m.

Tuttle was ejected from the motorcycle and died from her injuries at the scene. The collision remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Deputies with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Marshall County EMS, and Marshalltown Police.

Adair County Fair Schedule for Sunday, 7/25/21

Ag/Outdoor, News

July 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

SUNDAY, July 25th

6:30 – 7:30 am Release all swine.
7:30 – 8:30 am All swine exhibitors clean swine barn
7:30 am Cattle Dog Trials (U.S. Border Collie National Qualifying for Finals) – Horse Arena
8:00 am Biscuits/Gravy Breakfast (Greenfield Methodist Church) – Courtyard
9:00 am 4-H Archery Speed Shooting Fun Match – northwest corner of fairgrounds
10:00 am Open Archery Tournament (registration 9 am) – northwest corner of fairgrounds
10:30 am Release all Cow/Calf Pens/Jr. Feeders not selling or participating in carcass
(All Cow/Calf Pens must leave; pens must be empty and clean by 1:30 pm)
11:00 am Future 4-H’ers Livestock/Pet Show (Registration 10:30 am) – Mid American Arena
12:00 pm Pigtail Contest – Courtyard
Bags Tournament – old ball field area
Ice Cream Social (Adair County Republicans) – Courtyard
Pizza Party for Winning Herdsmanship Barn Exhibitors – Gazebo
Farm Bureau Cookout Contest Judging (Registration 8 am)– Courtyard
12 – 3 pm Antique Tractor, Lawn Tractor, Pedal Tractor and Car Show – NE of Fair entrance
(Registration 11:00 am)
12:30 pm Check Out 4-H/FFA Livestock Exhibits Not Being Auctioned
12:00 – 12:30 pm Enter Beef Performance
1:00 pm Silent Auction (end time: items must be picked up by 3:00pm) – 4-H/FFA Center
2:00 pm Livestock Sale – Mid American Arena (Swine, Champion Market Broilers,
Champion Single Fryer, Rabbit, Market Beef, Junior Feeder Pens, Sheep/Meat Goats)
3:30 – 4 pm Open Class Check-out
Commercial Exhibits Dismissed
4:00 pm All poultry and rabbit pens must be empty and cleaned
4 – 4:30 pm 4-H/FFA Center Exhibits Check Out
7:00 pm Wright Rodeo Company (slack begins at 2:00 pm)

IDPH says more than 38,000 COVID-19 vaccines will expire this month

News

July 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa —With fewer Iowans getting vaccinated, many of the state’s supply of vaccines are set to expire before they are used. The Iowa Department of Public Health said more than 38,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine expire this month. In addition, nearly 700 doses of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine.nson & Johnson and 4,000 doses of Moderna.

Work Release escape in eastern Iowa

News

July 24th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Cedar Rapids – Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Corrections, Saturday, said 34-year-old Leo Alan Ray, convicted of Conspiracy/Commit Felony, Willful Injury-Causing Serious Injury, and Robbery 2nd Degree in Linn County, failed to report to the Lary A. Nelson Residential Center as required, Friday.

Ray is a white male, height 5’7″, and weighs 186 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on 5/13/2021.  Persons with information on Ray’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Leo Ray

Adair County Fair Sheep Show Results

Ag/Outdoor, News

July 24th, 2021 by Jim Field

Here are the results from the Sheep Show at the Adair County Fair in Greenfield on Friday, July 23, 2021.

Champion Market Lamb Feeder Pen:  Colt Douglas. Reserve:  Montana Douglas

Champion Rate of Gain Market Lamb Feeder Pen:  Colt Douglas. Reserve:  Derek Raasch

Champion Bottle Lamb:  Colt Douglas. Reserve: Montana Douglas

Champion White Face Influence Market Lamb:  Nora Newbury. Reserve:  Montana Douglas

Champion Purchased Market Lamb:  Clay Hohertz. Reserve:  Clay Hohertz

Champion Home Raised Market Lamb:  Cash Suhr. Reserve:  Cash Suhr

Grand Champion Individual Market Lamb:  Clay Hohertz. Reserve:  Cash Suhr

Grand Champion Rate of Gain Individual Market Lamb:  Brandon Raasch. Reserve:  Ellie Brewer

Champion Pen of 3 Purchased Market Lambs:  Josie Sackett. Reserve:  Bella Rubio

Champion Pen of 3 Home Raised Market Lambs:  Brandon Raasch. Reserve:  Terrin Gettler

Grand Champion Pen of 3 Market Lambs:  Josie Sackett. Reserve:  Brandon Raasch

Champion Grade Ewe:  Cash Suhr. Reserve:  Krista James

Champion Supreme Breeding Ewe:  Cash Suhr. Reserve:  Krista James

Champion Advanced Sheep Showman:  Carter Goetz.

Champion Senior Sheep Showman:  Brandon Raasch. Reserve:  Bella Rubio

Champion Intermediate Sheep Showman:  Cash Suhr. Reserve:  Krista James

Champion Junior Sheep Showman:  Melanie Kilborn. Reserve:  Creighton Suhr

Adair County Fair Meat Goat Results

Ag/Outdoor, News

July 24th, 2021 by Jim Field

Here are the results from the Meat Goat Show at the Adair County Fair in Greenfield on Friday, July 23, 2021.

Champion Market Doe:  Mazee Funke. Reserve:  Cameron Christensen

Champion Market Wether:  Mazee Funke. Reserve:  Mazee Funke

Grand Champion Market Meat Goat:  Mazee Funke. Reserve:  Mazee Funke

Grand Champion Rate of Gain Meat Goat:  Ty Rardin. Reserve:  Colt Douglas

Champion Kid Meat Goat:  Lukas James. Reserve:  Madison Christensen

Champion Junior Doe Meat Goat:  Mazee Funke. Reserve:  Mazee Funke

Champion Aged Doe Meat Goat:  Mazee Funke. Reserve:  Mazee Funke

Grand Champion Breeding Doe Meat Goat:  Lukas James. Reserve:  Madison Christensen

Champion Advanced Meat Goat Showman:  Mazee Funke. Reserve:  Madison Christensen

Champion Senior Meat Goat Showman:  Kamryn Nourse. Reserve:  Jennifer Holliday

Champion Intermediate Meat Goat Showman:  Lukas James. Reserve:  Chloe Rardin

Champion Junior Meat Goat Showman:  Hadley Christensen. Reserve:  Thomas Mikkelson