Jim Field speaks with Rod Montang about his time in the service as part of our Freedom Fridays series.
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Jim Field speaks with Rod Montang about his time in the service as part of our Freedom Fridays series.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.3MB)
Subscribe: RSS
JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is in Iowa to announce a new agreement with DuPont that the USDA says will promote renewable energy and conservation. Vilsack will tour a DuPont crop sciences laboratory Friday before announcing an agreement with the company that the Agriculture Department says will “strengthen conservation practices, while promoting the sustainable production of renewable feedstocks for biobased energy.”
DuPont is building a $200 million ethanol plant in Nevada. It’s designed to break down cornstalks and other crop residue to produce ethanol. The cellulosic ethanol plant is scheduled to begin production in 2014 and will be the nation’s largest plant of its kind, making 30 million gallons annually. DuPont is working with 500 farmers to collect more than 375,000 tons of corn waste annually to feed the plant.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Late Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller is being honored by Major League Baseball with an annual award named for him. The Bob Feller Act of Valor Award will be given each year to a major leaguer and Hall of Famer who displays good character, assists those less fortunate, supports U.S. servicemen and women and conducts himself with dignity on and off the field. Feller served in the Navy during World War II, interrupting his baseball career to enlist immediately after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Despite missing four seasons of play, the Van Meter native recorded 266 career victories and led the American League in wins six times and strikeouts seven times.
The Montgomery/Page County Emergency Management Agency-sponsored spotter class that had to be rescheduled due to the winter storm last month has been rescheduled for Monday, April 15th, 2013 at 7PM. Emergency Manager Brian Hamman says the class is open to the public, and no registration is required. It will be held at the Montgomery County Historical Society at 2700 N 4th Street in Red Oak.
The Cass County Extension Service report the Cass County Master Gardeners organization is offering a total of $3,000 in grant money to be used in the 2013 growing season, to encourage gardening to grow food and/or beautify local communities. The money may also be used for gardening education purposes.
The David Williams Master Gardener Grants are offered to honor the many years of service Master Gardener David Williams has provided, and continues to provide. Williams is a long-time volunteer, both within the Master Gardener program and with other community organizations, including a term as Cass County Master Gardener president in 2012.
Any Cass County not-for-profit group or individual may apply. Schools, churches, libraries, 4-H clubs, Scouts, and individuals working to improving their communities can use the money to begin or improve gardens or landscaping, or to provide education for their members or the public. Each grant has a maximum value of $500. The application must also include plans for teamwork and sustainability. Consideration for the environment is also an important selection factor.
Applications must be received by Friday, April 19th for consideration. They may be submitted by mail or email. Grant recipients will be informed of their selection by the end of April. More information, as a well as application forms, is available on the Cass County Extension website, www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or by calling the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132, or stopping by the Extension Office at 805 W. 10th St in Atlantic.You may also contact committee members Judy Kennedy, LaVon Eblen, Dottie Krogh or Carolyn Hartmann for more information.
The Master Gardener program trains volunteers to develop their knowledge and skills in horticulture. These volunteers then give back to their communities through gardening service and education. The program is available in all 50 states and Canada through land grant university Extension programs such as Iowa State University.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A June consolidation vote has been scheduled for a school district in western Iowa that hasn’t operated in the black since 2006-07. The Des Moines Register reports that the Exira district has received nearly $600,000 in extra state aid since the 2007-08 school year. The district in Audubon County has about 220 students.
The neighboring Elk Horn-Kimballton district also will vote in June on consolidating more operations with Exira. The districts share grade instruction. Exira sends students in first through third grades and ninth through 12th grades to Elk Horn-Kimballton schools. Elk Horn-Kimballton buses students in fourth through eighth grades to Exira.
Exira’s district accreditation is in jeopardy. A state review last year cited 40 instances of noncompliance with state standards.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A survey report says Iowa farmland prices continued their boom in the past year and have more than doubled since 2008. The Des Moines Register reports that the survey by the Realtors Land Institute says prices have risen nearly 18 percent since March 2012, to nearly $8,700 an acre. The institute figure was a little more than $4,200 in 2008.
The March figure of nearly $8,700 compares with the Iowa State University farmland price survey through November that showed an average of nearly $8,300 an acre. Kyle Hansen, of Hertz Farm Management, says the growth is being fed by high corn and soybean prices and the strong worldwide demand for grains.
An Iowan is gaining national attention for his effort to create the “best tasting pig in the world.” Carl Blake launched the experiment in 2007 and now operates a 15-acre homestead, called Rustik Rooster Farm, in rural Frederika – northeast of Waterloo. Earlier this week, Blake joined Stephen Colbert as a guest on the Colbert Report on Comedy Central.
Carl Blake on Colbert (Courtesy Rustik Rooster Farm)
Blake discussed what he calls the Iowa Swabian Hall, a breed of pig that has been winning culinary contests across the country. The formula for Blake’s succulent swine was derived from crossbreeding first conducted by King Wilhelm in Germany in the 1820s. He created the Swabian Hall by breeding Meishan Swine from China with Russian Wild Board.
Blake said he bought purebred Meishan pigs from Iowa State University and was also able to obtain Russian Wild Boar, as well. The combination is a “nearly perfect balance of not too fat and not too lean,” according to Blake. He took two piglets to New York for the appearance on the Colbert Report. The animals squealed and the crowd laughed as Blake told Colbert the piglets’ names – Hamlet and Little Smokey.
This wasn’t Blake’s television debut. He also recently appeared on Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods program on the Food Channel. And the New York Times featured an article about Blake just over a month ago.
(Radio Iowa)
The City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Board of Directors, Thursday, approved a bid from a local contractor for the construction of the department’s new office and maintenance building at Sunnyside Park. Tim Teig, from Snyder and Associates Engineers in Atlantic, said two of the three base bids they received and reviewed earlier that afternoon, were within $4,000 of each other, while the third was about $40,000 higher than the lowest bid. All of the bids were higher than the engineer’s estimated base bid of $221,500, and all included alternate additions that could be tacked-on to the base bid. Both Teig, and Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring recommended the Board approve the base bid of $244,762. Herring said Iron Specialties, of Atlantic, was the low bidder. Following the bid letting, Herring and Teig sat down with City Administrator Doug Harris, and determined it was within the budget to accept the base bid and alternate additions 1 and 2.”
The additions, which add nearly $46,000 to the base bid, include the finishing of the exterior and an entrance canopy, which are the two highest priorities. Herring said the idea to have the exterior finished instead of just having a plain metal shell, was so that the building would fit in with the park environment, and not be an eyesore from the road.
The Parks and Rec Board agreed, and requested Teig and Herring look into adding one garage door opener to supplement the otherwise manually operated doors for the building. That matter will be discussed with the contractor when the contract is awarded. The City Council has the final say on whether the recommended bid will be awarded, during their regularly scheduled meeting on April 3rd. The other two bids for the project came from Henningsen Construction, of Atlantic, and Jensen Builders, in Ft. Dodge.
In other business, Herring said the Sunnyside tennis court reconstruction project will likely be finished ahead of schedule. He said it was originally thought the project wouldn’t be finished until August 31st. Now it appears that, weather permitting, it should be done by the end of July. That means, according to Herring, that a Youth Tennis Tournament may be possible at the end of Summer, as well as a Fall Adult Co-ed Tennis League, along with a grand opening and US Tennis Association presentation.
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