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Assessment of flooded western Iowa homes to begin Wednesday

News

July 5th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Mo. River flooding, Monona-Harrison Co. line

Federal, state and local officials this week will begin damage assessments of homes impacted by flooding along the Missouri River. Joyce Flinn, with the Iowa Emergency Management Division, says the inspection teams will include representatives from her office as well as FEMA and the Small Business Administration.

“This will actually be an aerial assessment at this time because many of those homes are inundated with water,” Flinn said. The assessments will begin Wednesday (July 6) in Monona, Harrison, Pottawattamie, Mills and Fremont Counties. Flinn says an assessment of homes in Woodbury County will be conducted later. The work will help state officials who are seeking federal funding to assist

“There are different degrees of damage, but if a home sits in a lot of water for several months – regardless if it’s eight feet of water or three feet of water – it’s probably going to be destroyed,” Flinn said. State officials currently estimate more than 500 homes, mostly in rural Iowa, have major damage or have been destroyed in the Missouri River flooding.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

Iowa DOT delays U.S. 30 flood mitigation work

News

July 4th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

AMES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Transportation says it will delay the installation of a flood wall along parts of U.S. Highway 30. The work closure had been scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, west of Missouri Valley. Because of the delay, the road will remain open to travel on Tuesday.

The department says flood water is still filling the basin that extends north and south of the highway, but appears to be leveling. Water has stabilized south of the highway, and is only rising slightly to the north. Department officials say they will notify the public of any future flood work along the highway after the department further assesses the site conditions.

“Who’s Gonna Win?” Results

Trojan Preview/Who’s Gonna Win?

July 4th, 2011 by Jim Field

Here is a list of winners for the KJAN “Who’s Gonna Win?” program over the last several years.

  • 1999:  Dan Duskin 63-17
  • 2000:  Mark McNees 61-21
  • 2001:  Rod Christensen & Mark McNees 61-21
  • 2002:  Jim Field 63-17
  • 2003:  Ron Novotny 64-17
  • 2004:  Doug Leonard 65-17
  • 2005:  Ron Novotny 61-19
  • 2006:  Ron Novotny 67-13
  • 2007:  Ron Novotny 66-14
  • 2008:  Matt Mullenix 60-20
  • 2009:  Jim Field 57-23
  • 2010:  Doug Leonard & Chris Parks 59-21

Fremont County arrests and accidents

News

July 4th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office has released a cumulative report on arrests and accidents which occurred over the past week. Officials say on June 25th, 25-year old Justin Michael Evans, of Sidney, was arrested on charges of burglary in the 3rd degree, operating without owners consent and theft in the 5th degree, after an incident was reported by Evelyn Thompson, of Sidney, the previous day. And, 38-year old David Duane Thompson, of Poteau, OR, was arrested June 23rd, for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm, operating a non-registered vehicle, and for having an improper tail lamp on the vehicle.

Officials said also, on June 28th, no injuries were reported following an accident just south of Farragut. The Sheriff’s Department says Roger Stooker, of Farragut, was in a 1996 Ford Ranger pickup, which was parked on the side of 240th Street. As Stooker pulled away, his vehicle was hit on the driver’s side by a 1999 Saturn letter carrier’s vehicle, driven by James McQueen, of Farragut.

Earlier in the month, on June 19th, an accident was reported to have occurred in the 36-hundred block of 150th Street in Fremont County. Officials say Nathan Whitehead, of Sidney, was driving a 2008 GMC truck, when the vehicle left the road and began to rollover, before hitting a light pole. No injuries were reported.

July 4th Sports

Podcasts, Sports

July 4th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

podcast by News Director Ric Hanson

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July 4th News

News, Podcasts

July 4th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

podcast from News Director Ric Hanson

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3 injured in July 4th crash (updated 7-5-11)

News

July 4th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Authorities in Montgomery County report three-people were injured during a single-vehicle accident early this (Monday) morning, six-miles southwest of Red Oak.  Officials say 40-year Martha Anngeline Oltmanns, of Villisca was traveling north on Forest Avenue at around 3:55-a.m., when she failed to negotiate a turn at Fernwood Avenue.

The 2003 Ford Taurus she was driving went straight off the road and into a ditch before hitting a driveway ditch at 2796 Fernwood. The car flew over the driveway before coming to rest in a flower garden belonging to Raymond Cooper the 2nd, of rural red Oak. The accident caused the vehicles’ airbags to deploy.

Oltmanns, and two passengers in the car, 40-year old Jennifer Fitzwater, of Princeton, MO, and 41-year old Scott Gibbons, of Villisca, complained of injuries. The trio was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital by Red Oak Rescue. A third passenger in the vehicle, 34-year old Jay Lininger, of Villisca, was not hurt.

Damage to the car, which is registered to Bruce Fitzwater, of Villisca, was estimated at $6,500, while Cooper’s property sustained approximately $1,000 damage. Martha Oltmann was cited for Driving While Suspended, Failure to Maintain Control, and for failure to have insurance. An additional charge of Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) is pending completion of the accident investigation.

(Updated 7-5-11 5-a.m. with corrected name of Gibbons, per Sheriff’s officials)

Saturday’s (7-2-11) Baseball & Softball Scores

Sports

July 4th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Baseball Scores

  • Kuemper Catholic 8-6, Glenwood 5-0
  • Clarinda Academy 17, East Mills 16
  • Abraham Lincoln 8, St. Albert 2

Softball Scores

  • Atlantic 4, Woodward-Granger 2
  • Denison-Schleswig 3, Atlantic 0
  • Exira-EHK 2, Logan-Magnolia 0
  • Exira-EHK 10, Tri-Center 6 (E-EHK: 23-4)
  • Kuemper Catholic 3, Atlantic 0
  • Martensdale-St. Marys 6, Clarinda 1 (MSM: 33-0)

Storm Lake Tornado Classic

  • IKM-Manning 7, Sioux Central 2
  • Harlan 3, Newell-Fonda 1
  • Sioux City East 5, Estherville-Lincoln Central 3
  • Missouri Valley 9, West Lyon 5
  • Estherville-Lincoln Central 11, IKM-Manning 6
  • Missouri Valley 6, Sioux Central 2
  • Harlan 5, Woodbury Central 1
  • Missouri Valley 12, Storm Lake 0
  • Sergeant Bluff-Luton 7, Harlan 6

Atlantic at Tiger-Knight Tourney Details
GAME ONE: Woodward-Granger 2, Atlantic 4
GAME TWO: Kuemper Catholic 3, Atlantic 0
GAME THREE: Atlantic 0, Denison 3

GAME ONE:
1  2  3  4  5  6  7  R  H  E
WG  0  0  1  0  0  0  1  2  7  2
ATL 0  0  3  0  1  0  x  4  6  1

WP- Katie Groves  LP- E. Fuson

Katie’s line: 7 hits, 1 walk, 7 strike outs, 1 earned run.

Atlantic Highlights…
3ed- Leah Tjepkes singled and moved to second on a bunt by Ali Krogman.
ReAnn Cappel singled and Liz Metheny reached on a bunt to load the bases.
Tiara Edelman singled scoring Tjepekes.  Alisha Hinzmann reached on an
error when the shortstop overthrew first scoring both Cappel and Edelman.

5th- ReAnn Cappel led off the inning with a single and scored all the way
from first when the first baseman miss played a Liz Metheny bunt.

At the plate: ReAnn Cappel was 2-3

Comments by Coach Hinzmann…
“This was a very good win for us.  Woodward-Granger is a very good team in
all aspects of the game and we hit the ball well and Katie did a very good
job pitching against a team that really hits the ball”

GAME TWO:
1  2  3  4  5  6  7  R  H  E
KC   3  0  0  0  0  0  0  3  5  1
ATL  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1 13  0

WP- Hoffman  LP-Katie Groves

Katie’s line: 5 hits, 2 walk, 1 hit batter, 1 strike outs, 3 earned run.

Atlantic Highlight…
7th- Paige Kennon singled to lead off the seventh, moved to second on a FC
then third on passed ball and scored on a FC hit by Alisha Hinzmann.

At the plate: ReAnn Cappel was 3-4, Paige Kennon 2-4, Bre VonWehye 2-4

Comments by Coach Hinzmann…
“We played about as well a game as possible without actually winning it.
We hit the ball well, Katie did another good job pitching, and we had no
errors but just couldn’t get a runner to cross home plate until the
seventh.  We left 16 runners on base.  Kuemper always plays well in their
own tournament and took advantage of two bloop hits and a walk in the
first to score three.  After that point Katie and the defense shut Kuemper
down.  Sometimes things just work out that way…you play poor and some
how come away with a victory and sometimes you do everything right and
just can’t score.  At this point in the season however I would rather play
well.”

GAME THREE;
1  2  3  4  5  6  7  R  H  E
ATL 0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  4  2
DEN 0  1  0  0  3  0  x  3  7  1
WP- S. Pieper  LP-Liz Metheny

Liz’s Line: 7 hits, 0 walk, 0 strike outs, 1 earned run.

Comments by Coach Hinzmann…
“We again played a pretty good game and had a good effort by Liz our
pitcher but just couldn’t score.  Over all I was pretty pleased with our
effort in all three games, sometimes it becomes easy to loose mental focus
on hot, three game day, but I did not feel the team did at any point.
Overall I thought we hit, fielded, and pitched pretty well going into the
last week of the regular season.”

Safety expert: Kids on ATVs can be a deadly combination

News

July 4th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

All-terrain vehicles used to be just for farmers, but more recreational A-T-V users are appearing in Iowa and more kids are taking the handlebars and getting hurt or killed. Pam Hoogerwerf, injury prevention coordinator at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, says too many parents are turning their untrained children loose on these powerful, dangerous three- and four-wheelers.

“They need to be riding the correct-sized machine,” Hoogerwerf says. “We’ve got way too small and young age of kids driving huge machines that they have no business trying to operate just because they’re heavier and they’re harder to manipulate.” Many of recent A-T-V crashes that resulted in serious or fatal injuries involved kids that weren’t wearing helmets. Hoogerwerf says helmets are a must, as are hard-soled shoes or boots.

“Even though summertime isn’t the most comfortable time to wear long sleeves and long pants, they really should be doing that because we see a lot of lacerations either from brush or barbed wire fences,” she says. Many accidents occur when two kids are on one machine and it hits a bump or rounds a sharp corner and the passenger falls off.

“The seats look like they can accommodate more than one child on them but that’s absolutely not the case,” Hoogerwerf says. “ATVs are made for one person and for one person only because the machine is so rider-active and that’s where we’re seeing a lot of problems with kids putting more than one on there.” She notes, A-T-Vs are not toys. Kids need to ride on age-appropriate machines and anyone under 16 should be closely supervised. For more tips, visit: atvsafety.org

(Radio Iowa)

Bachmann to Tea Party: time to draw a line in the sand

News

July 4th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is wrapping up a three-day campaign swing through Iowa on this Independence Day. Bachmann’s bus pulled up at the statehouse late Saturday afternoon, as Bachmann was the closer for the three-week-long “Tea Party Bus Tour” that had attracted a handful of the G-O-P presidential candidates. When Bachmann took the stage, nearly all of the folks in the Tea Party crowd got to their feet and never sat back down during her 25-minute speech.

“The Tea Party gets it. It’s not a political party. It’s an idea and it’s an idea that has captured the hearts and minds of the American people and it’s lit a flame all across the United States, so much so that I know without a shadow of a doubt that Barack Obama will be a one-term president,” Bachmann said, the crowd joining in to repeat that last phrase about Obama, which has become a signature line in Bachmann’s campaign speeches. Bachmann, in the midst of her third term in congress, told the crowd she had never voted to raise the debt ceiling and did not intend to do so even if Republican leaders in congress strike a deal with President Obama.

“We’ve got a message not only for Iowa, but for the United States of America. We’ve got a message for all the politicians in Washington, D.C. We’ve got a message for the president of the United States,” Bachmann said of herself and the Tea Party. “Enough is enough. Stop spending more than you take in.” Bachmann, who started the “Tea Party Caucus” on congress, told the Iowa crowd she has been the Tea Party “voice” in Washington, D.C. “And the politicians started waking up in the halls of congress. They know you’re here,” Bachmann said. “They’re listening to you. They’re paying attention to you.” Bachmann said it was time for the Tea Party to help “draw a line in the sand” on a variety of financial issues, from future federal bail-outs of failing industries to greater public scrutiny of the Federal Reserve.
Bachmann is one of two Republican presidential candidates who plan to walk in the Clear Lake 4th of July parade today. Newt Gingrich is the other. And third G-O-P candidate plans to be in three other parades. Rick Santorum will walk in parades in Urbandale, Pella and Iowa Falls today (Monday). During the last Iowa Caucus campaign, Hillary and Bill Clinton walked the 2007 Clear Lake 4th of July parade route together. Republican candidate Mitt Romney was in the same parade.

(O.Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)