(Radio Iowa) – The Wright County community of Eagle Grove is remembering a tragedy that made worldwide headlines 50 years ago tonight (Thursday). An explosion rocked the downtown business district, leveling the Chatterbox Cafe, a Coast-to-Coast store and a jewelry story. Fourteen people were killed, including a firefighter and the son of former governor Robert Blue. In a 2010 interview, then-Eagle Grove Fire Chief Gary Lalor reflected on the catastrophe. “There was one person in the Coast-to-Coast store living in an upstairs apartment and I do believe there were 12 people in the cafe,” Lalor says. “If memory serves me, we had one firefighter died of a heart attack enroute to the call actually within a few feet of scene, so quite a tragedy.”

Firefighters from several area communities battled the flames through the night. The Iowa National Guard and the Iowa State Patrol assisted in the search and rescue effort for victims in the rubble. Cranes were used in the effort from nearby Fort Dodge. Lalor says it’s still unclear what caused the blast. “I don’t believe they ever came to an absolute set-in-stone reason for this,” he says. “The utility company reconstructed I think every piece of pipe out of all the buildings and I don’t believe they ever came to an absolute conclusion.”

Chief Lalor died in 2016. A plaque honoring the memory of the victims was placed on the outside wall of the Ben Franklin store in Eagle Grove in 1993. No formal ceremony is planned to remember the victims on this anniversary.

(Radio Iowa) – A central Iowa elder care facility is being fined after a resident endured something reminiscent of a horror story from Edgar Allan Poe. Multiple media outlets are reporting that the Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in Urbandale is being fined $10,000 by the state after a resident was mistaken for dead. Reports say the unidentified woman had been in ill health and was found by a staffer early on January 3rd with open eyes and no detectable pulse or breathing.

The woman was placed in a body bag and taken to a funeral home, where she was found, about an hour later, still alive and gasping for air. She was rushed to the hospital and was eventually returned to the care center, where she died two days later.

ATLANTIC, IOWA – In January, the American Heart Association launched HeartCorps, a new initiative in conjunction with AmeriCorps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cass Health was selected as a host site for HeartCorps and is pleased to welcome Killy Buliche to this new role.

Buliche is employed by the American Heart Association as a HeartCorps Service Member and works alongside Cass County Public Health to support our local Pacific Islander community in preventing and managing chronic diseases through education and interventions. Over the next year, she will work to strengthen and supplement efforts to drive health equity, including controlling blood pressure, improving nutrition security, reducing tobacco use, and promoting health and wellbeing in our local Pacific Islander community.

Photo cutline: The Atlantic Public Library invited Cass County Public Health to display information for American Heart Month. HeartCorps Service Member Killy Buliche shows off the heart health information that is presented in English, Spanish, and Chuukese.

“I really like to help other people in our community and to make them healthy. I like to help – that’s how I am,” said Buliche. She is originally from the Micronesian island of Lekinoch and has lived in Atlantic for almost 20 years.

According to the American Heart Association, nearly half of all Americans have high blood pressure. People living in rural areas and under-resourced communities face the highest death rates due to hypertension. Heart disease is the number one killer worldwide, with strokes ranking second. The goal of HeartCorps is to help meet public health needs of local communities by providing support to communities who are underserved, as well as providing pathways to good quality public health-related careers.

Update #2: On 02-02-23 at 10:00am the Council Bluffs Police Department received information from the Shreveport Louisiana Police Department that they have Devin Akins in custody. At this time all suspects involved in the case have been arrested.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – An official with the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division today (Thursday), reported three people wanted in connection with a murder investigation, have been taken into custody. At around 6:30-p.m., Wednesday, 20-year-old Angelina Michaelson, of Council Bluffs, turned herself-in to authorities, and was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail. At around 6:30-a.m. today (Thursday), 19-year-old Trebor Carman, and 20-year-old Dontre Hudson, were arrested by the Southwest Iowa Fugitive Task Force, at a location in Omaha. Both were transported to Douglas County, NE. Corrections, and are awaiting extradition to Council Bluffs. One other suspect, 30-year-old Devin Adkins, remains at Large. (No photo available)

Three other suspects, who are 20-years of age, were also arrested, as we previously announced. They include: Keshawn Houtz-Mayfield; Traavon Thomas and Treianna Hudson. All of the suspects are from Council Bluffs. Each of the suspects face Felony charges of 1st Degree Murder and Robbery in the 1st Degree. The charges are the result of the January 8, 2023 shooting of 19-year old Tucker Dobberstein, who was found inside of an apartment, shot in the chest.

If you have any information regarding the location of the remaining suspect, Devin Atkins, please contact your local law enforcement agency.

Previous story: https://www.kjan.com/index.php/2023/02/3-out-of-seven-suspects-allegedly-involved-in-death-of-a-ne-man-are-arrested-4-others-sought-on-felony-warrants/?fbclid=IwAR1CpEAkkhPaziRb-yqe7Hu32wdlJNg5yexk7iNpP1l-kVSGqmP-3BoGmrU

• 1 package (18.25 oz.) lemon or yellow cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

FILLING:

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 4 teaspoons butter
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

MERINGUE:

• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup sugar

In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, water and oil.  Beat on low until moistened.  Beat on high for 2 minutes or until blended.  pour into two greased and floured 9″ round baking pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for ten minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.

For filling, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan.  Stir in water and juice until smooth.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat.  Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to pan, stirring constantly.  Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir for two minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in butter and lemon peel.  Cool completely.

For meringue, in a mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy.  Gradually beat in sugar on high until stiff peaks form.

To assemble, split each cake into two layers.  Place bottom layer on an ovenproof serving plate; spread with a third of the filling.  Repeat layer twice.  Top with fourth cake layer.  Spread meringue over top and sides.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until meringue is lightly browned.  Store in the refrigerator.

YIELD:  12-14 servings

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The seven member Cass County Compensation Board will meet 7-p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, in the basement meeting room at the Cass County Courthouse, in Atlantic. The Board will elect officers for their Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary.

Afterward, they will discuss compensation of elected officials, followed by consideration and action on compensation recommendations to the Board of Supervisors.

(Radio Iowa) – As egg prices bound, backyard chicken flocks are gaining in popularity, but the practice of chicken keeping demands plenty of planning and patience before it pays off. Christa Hartsook, the small farms program coordinator for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, says the amount of money you have to invest to get started depends on how large an operation you want to launch. “Your basic costs are going to be in a little bit of equipment,” Hartsook says. “You’re going to need specific waterers and feeders for baby chicks. You’re going to need a specific area to keep them in that you can keep them nice and enclosed, and definitely very warm while they are in that early stage of life. Your biggest costs are going to be in the chick itself and in the feed.”

Most chicks range from three to six dollars each, but before you start counting your chickens, Hartsook says you’ll need to make sure you can legally keep the birds in the backyard.  “I always recommend that folks check with their community first and foremost, so that they can determine what particular regulations are guiding their community,” Hartsook says. “It may be in terms of the overall number, a community may not allow roosters, you may have property setback limits, so definitely check and read your community ordinances.” There are all sorts of breeds from which to choose, and you’ll also need to decide if you want chickens for eggs or for meat. Plus, if you’re going to be raising them in Iowa, certain heavier breeds are better able to withstand the state’s frigid winters.

Hartsook says she’s getting a lot of calls lately about backyard chickens, as spring will arrive March 20th. “People are just very concerned about the rising costs and we use eggs a lot in our daily diets,” Hartsook says. “Another great thing about chickens is it’s a relatively easy enterprise to get started with. It doesn’t cost a whole lot, then it’s a great way for folks to make that connection back to their own food source, and then maybe even provide some responsibility for kids.” For the same reasons egg prices are inflated, supply chain issues are pushing up the cost of chicken feed — and the cost of chicks, too.

“Chicks are a little higher because we are seeing a lot of interest in getting started with backyard chickens, so you’re definitely not going to get chicks tomorrow and then see eggs the next week,” Hartsook says. “You’re not going to see any kind of return really on chicks until fall. It’s five to five-and-a-half months before a chick is mature enough to have egg production.” If you’re considering starting a backyard flock, there’s a free online course through the I-S-U Extension: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/15129

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – January is usually the coldest and driest month of the year, but State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the numbers went against the averages this year. “Little over 24 degrees is the average temperature for the state and that’s about five degrees above average so top 30 warmest Januarys on record,” he says.

KJAN weather records for the month of January in Atlantic, show that we were on average, 4-degrees warmer than normal, 8-degrees warmer on the Low side of the thermometer, and thanks to rainfall and four days of snowfall, we ended-up slightly more than six-tenths of an inch wetter than normal. The Average High for Jan. 2023 in Atlantic was 33.6 degrees (the norm is 29.4). The Low averaged out to 15.5degrees (9.3 is the norm), and we received 1.47-inches of precipitation (rain/melted frozen precip.). We would normally be much drier, at .84-inches. Snowfall amounted to 1.9 inches. The warmest day was January 10th (49-degrees). The coldest day (24-hour Low) was Jan. 30th, at -5 degrees. The snowiest day was January 27th (.8″).

Justin Glisan says January in Iowa saw more rain and snow than normal. “We’re about an inch above average — we came in at just under two inches of precipitation snowfall in any rainfall that fell — and preliminarily in the top 10 wettest Januarys on record.”He says half the state saw more snowfall than normal. “As January is the driest month it doesn’t take a lot to be above average, but definitely above average snowpack across the northern half of the state anywhere from five to 10 inches above average. You look at southern Iowa in a snow drought so below average snowfall for that portion of the state,” Glisan says.

The severe weather in January was not limited to snow and blizzards, as two tornadoes touched down in eastern Iowa. “Very weak tornadoes, E-F-zero, E-F-one, on the ground for 10 minutes five mile track. Some damage along that path, but nothing catastrophic,” he says. The tornadoes were rare and record-breaking. “The earliest calendar day tornado for the state of Iowa. So we broke a record there. And it was these were the first tornadoes that we’ve seen across the state since January 24 1967, when we saw 13 tornadoes in eastern Iowa, which was a part of a larger tornado outbreak across Missouri, Illinois and Iowa,” Glisan says.

Glisan says the early short-term outlook for February is slightly warmer and wetter.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has unanimously voted to increase the annual budget for grants from the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund by more than a third. The grants are to help low income veterans cover unexpected expenses like car repairs. The 500-thousand dollar allotment for the current budgeting year ran out last fall. Representative Martin Graber of Fort Madison says there would be 800-thousand dollars in grants available each year if the bill becomes law.

“Anytime there’s an issue that deals with veterans I’m for it as long as it’s fiscally responsible and does the right thing,” Graber says. “I believe this bill does those things.”

Earlier this week Governor Reynolds used her authority to transfer 440-thousand dollars in federal pandemic relief funds to finance Veterans Fund grants that had been approved, but not awarded.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill introduced in the Iowa House would require that school library catalogs be posted online and teachers would have to list all the instructional materials they plan to use. The concept was considered in the House and Senate last year, but did not become law. Melissa Peterson of the Iowa State Education Association says parents should have access to school curriculum, but the bill would prevent teachers from adding new material that would benefit students.

“The number of things that can occur on a daily basis, if not an hourly basis, that could have relevance in the classroom,” she says, “that really would help connect whatever is happening from an instructional material standpoint to what is happening in the world around us.” Supporters of the legislation say parents have a right to know what materials will be used in their child’s classroom and opt out of anything they object to. Another House bill calls for a fine of up to five-thousand dollars against a school district that violates the ban on teaching certain ideas about racism and sexism.

Under a 2021 state law, schools are not allowed to teach that Iowa or the United States are fundamentally racist. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison says setting up fines would send the message that the law must be followed. “It would appear to us that this hasn’t been complied with in some school districts, that it has been blatantly ignored in some school districts or that they are just simply trying to play word games and keep doing the same thing.”

If the bill becomes law, the Iowa Department of Education would field any complaints that a school is teaching those concepts and determine if the district should be fined.