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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!
(Harlan, Iowa) – Officials with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office today (Thursday), said a man from Pottawattamie County was arrested last weekend on Shelby County warrants issued following an extensive investigation into tires being dumped in Shelby County road ditches over the past several months.
Wesley Fischer (Shelby County S/O booking photo)
Authorities say 48-year-old Wesley Fischer, of Hancock, was arrested August 30th on charges that include Ongoing Criminal Conduct (A class-B Felony), and Criminal Mischief in the 1st Degree (A class-C Felony). Fischer remains in the Shelby County Jail where he was being held without bond.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in its investigation by the Pottawattamie and Cass County Sheriff’s Offices, Atlantic Police Department, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and other agencies. The Sheriff’s Office thanks members of the public for their awareness and assistance in solving the case.
“All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”
(Des Moines, Iowa) – Forty leaders from across the state have been selected to participate in the 2025-26 program of Leadership Iowa, Iowa’s premier issues-awareness program offered by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) Foundation. Among those selected to participate, from southwest Iowa, are: Christina Bateman of Atlantic, with Vision Atlantic, Inc., and Mindy Stalker of Creston, with the Union County Development Association.
Christina Bateman (Photo submitted)
Since its founding in 1982, more than 1,500 Iowans have participated in the program, representing every corner of the state as well as a wide range of industries, companies, and backgrounds. Leadership Iowa’s mission is to educate, inspire, and connect a network of informed leaders while fostering their continued engagement at the local and statewide levels.
“The 2025-26 Leadership Iowa class reflects leaders who are committed to the future of our state and who are eager to learn and collaborate,” said Nicole Crain, ABI President, “When forty top business, education and community leaders from all corners of the state come together, this experience will undoubtedly make a lasting impact on their communities and beyond.”
The 2025-26 class will travel to communities throughout Iowa for a series of two-day monthly sessions beginning in October and concluding in June. Each session allows participants to explore important topics related to our state through discussions with subject-matter experts, interactive experiences, industry tours and more.
Session topics and hosts change annually. The following communities and topics will be represented this year:
The class will graduate at ABI’s annual conference next June in Iowa City/Coralville.
The Presenting Sponsors of the 2025-26 Leadership Iowa program include EMC Insurance and John Deere.
(Radio Iowa) – Critics of changes in a state permit for a coal-fired power plant near Ottumwa have raised their concerns at a public hearing hosted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. D-N-R staffers say the plant added a new discharge site last year and amendments to the permit update wastewater flow data. Several environmental groups oppose the changes, claiming they don’t address contaminants that leach out of coal ash and other waste stored in a landfill the utility uses.
Josh Mandelbaum — an attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center — says the amended permit would shift the risks. “It shifts the risk to the city and to its residents,” Mandelbaum says. “This is Alliant’s pollution, and this permit is the opportunity to provide accountability and compliance with the rule.” Most public comments opposing the permit changes focus on a liquid called “leachate” that moves through a landfill and picks up contaminants.
The D-N-R’s Wendy Hieb says the plant’s current permit does not allow for leachate discharge into streams and rivers — and the changes wouldn’t allow it either. “It was mistakenly included in a supporting document that was posted on the web with the permit amendment,” she said. The power plant uses trucks to transport that liquid “leachate” to the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Ottumwa, which has a permit to accept it.
State officials expect to make a final decision on the updated permit for the Ottumwa Generating Station by October. The plant is operated by Interstate Power and Life, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy. Alliant AND MidAmerican Energy are the plant’s owners.
(Red Oak, Iowa) – A collision Wednesday afternoon in Montgomery County caused a police-estimated total of $10,500 damage, but no one was injured. According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, vehicles driven by 48-year-old’s Joshua Weston, of Red Oak, and Robert McMann, of Henderson, collided at around 1:20-p.m. at K Avenue and 160th Street.
Authorities say the accident happened when McMann failed to yield the right-of-way from the stop sign, as his pickup truck was traveling east on 160th. His vehicle struck Weston’s pickup on the driver’s side.
Sheriff’s officials noted the intersection is at the crest of a hill, and tall weeds caused obscured vision. In addition, there was also a lack of road dust due to recent precipitation. Dust would have indicated to either driver that another vehicle was approaching, according to the report. There were no citations issued.
(Radio Iowa) – A former northeast Iowa man was convicted Wednesday in the murder of a teenage girl who was last seen alive more than eight years ago. A jury in Winneshiek County District Court found 66-year-old James Bachmurski guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 15-year-old Jade Colvin. Bachmurski, who’s been living in Georgia, was arrested in August of 2024 in connection with Colvin’s death.
Investigators allege she was brought to Bachmurski’s home near Decorah in March of 2017, and hasn’t been seen since. Bachmurski is scheduled to be sentenced October 21st when he’ll face a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports one person filed nomination papers Wednesday, in advance of the November 4th City/School Elections. Officials say Deanna Andrews filed papers Wednesday to run for one of three seats on the Anita City Council. As a reminder, the following candidates for City Office are in the running for the elections:
The last day to file is Thursday, September 18, 2025, at 5:00 PM. City candidates shall file nomination papers with the county auditor. School board candidates shall file nomination papers with the respective school board secretary.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Administrator in Atlantic, Wednesday evening, reported to the City Council that Vision Atlantic’s building grant for single-family homes was approved. John Lund said the project has $14-million dollars worth of valuation, which will improve the City’s financials.
In the Council Committee reports, Wednesday, Councilman James Behrens asked parents of children in the community, to remind kids that they need to be watchful for and careful of, traffic, when kids are riding their bicycles and scooters.
The building that houses the Atlantic City Hall, City offices and Police Dept.
The matter was brought-up earlier in the afternoon Wednesday, during the City of Atlantic’s Community Protection Committee, which discussed and reviewed a proposed Electric Scooter Ordinance. Councilman Dana Halder is a Council liaison on that committee. He said they will issue a recommendation on an ordinance to the full council. Halder said the Committee also discussed for the Council’s approval, proposed “Children at Play & Slow Down” signs to be Placed on Bryn Mawr at the 14th Street Entrance, in addition to signs at Ridge Road and Chestnut Streets.
And Councilperson Elaine Otte reminded the Council and the public that tonight is Local Government night at Produce in the Park in downtown Atlantic. If you want to learn more about what your local government representatives do—or ask them questions about things happening in our community, it’s your chance to do so.
Expect to find representatives from:
There will also be Local Government scavenger hunt BINGO! Everyone who completes their scavenger hunt BINGO card will be entered in a $50 Farmers Market gift card drawing. For more information, see the Produce in the Park Facebook page. While there may be a quorum of Council members on-hand for the event, no action will be taken on any issues. Their presence is meant to be informative only.
(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston say a man was arrested, then released with a citation, late Wednesday morning for Driving While Barred. 24-year-old Jaxon Andrew Welcher, of Creston, was arrested at around 11:30-a.m. in the area of S. Chestnut St. and Highway 34. Welcher was released from the scene on a promise to appear (in court.)
(Radio Iowa) – A suspect is now jailed after a deadly shooting in Fort Dodge on Tuesday. Thirty-eight-year-old Rolman Recinos Gonzales, of Fort Dodge, was wanted on charges of murder in the first degree, trafficking in stolen weapons and person ineligible to carry dangerous weapons. The case involves the discovery of a deceased adult male outside an apartment building on North 28th Street.
The name of the deceased male is not being released all family members are notified. Recinos Gonzales is being held in the Webster County Jail in Fort Dodge awaiting his first court appearance on the charges.
(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist Justin Glisan says August didn’t follow the record July numbers when it came to rainfall. “About three-point-four (3.4) inches for the statewide average, and that’s about three-quarters of an inch below average, with the driest part of the state that southwestern corner, only about 53 percent of normal,” Glisan says. He says there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for the August temperature. “The normal temperature for August to 71 degrees. I take the daytime high of the overhead low and add them together, divide by two. We came right at 71 degrees, so near normal for the temperature,” he says.
The summer as a whole ended up wetter than normal as July was the second wettest in 153 years of record keeping. “Preliminarily, we’re at about 18-and-a-half inches for that statewide average. That’s almost five inches above what we would expect,” Glisan says. “So we’re looking at around the tenth wettest, June, July and August on record. And much of that rainfall was at the end of June, and the very wet July that we had.” July averaged nine-point-two inches of rain, while June was right at its average. Glisan says summer wasn’t far from what we expect for temperature. “Slightly warmer than average, depending on where you are in the state, anywhere from a degree to a degree and a half above average,” Glisan says. “We did have some warmth in the third week of July with the heat Dome that’s set up, but overall we escaped the summer without any widespread and long term heat waves.”
What’s know as the meteorological fall starts September 1st, while the autumnal equinox is on September 22nd.
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