Police in Council Bluffs late Thursday night, said a shots-fired incident took place outside of a gas station/convenience store at around 9:46-p.m.  As the results of an investigation, authorities say an adult female patron went into the gas station at 1305 N 25th Street for coffee. Upon returning to her vehicle, she noticed a white male party walking rapidly towards her. The male began to fire shots at the female, so she drove away fleeing the area.

The victim’s vehicle was struck by two rounds, but she was not physically injured. The motive for the incident was unclear at the time of the report. The suspect fled the area and has not been located. The suspect was a white male, no further description. He was with two white females and they were in a newer model black Mitsubishi SUV.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department at 712‐328‐ STOP. The victim was aware of what was going on around her. She took immediate decisive action, preventing any further harm to herself. Bluffs Police remind citizens, that “As the holidays approach, criminals tend to look for easy marks. Be vigilant and have a plan of action to keep yourself out of harm’s way.”

(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says this year’s increase in farm income is leading to an increase in farmland prices. “Farmers are out there and they’re feeling better about the economy, but unfortunately we’re not seeing it in the businesses on what we call ‘Rural Mainstreet,'” Goss says. Every month, Goss surveys rural bankers for a Rural Mainstreet Index. His latest survey indicates the economy in Iowa and nine other states in the Great Plains and Mountain West will dip in the current 4th quarter.

“It looks like we’re hitting a hiccup in the global economy and a hiccup in the US economy and, for that matter, in the regional economy,” Goss says. “Growth is just slowing down and potentially moving what was a V shaped recovery into a W shaped recovery — in other words, back down into the recession.” But Goss says farmland and commodity prices have beem climbing fairly dramatically this fall, leading to optimism in the ag sector. About a third of U.S. farm income this year will have come, though, from the Trump Administration’s payments to make up for trade losses and Goss says those are likely to end with the Trump presidency.

“On the flip side, we’re likely to see the Biden Administration be a little more positive on trade,” Goss says. “…You’ve got some positives and some negatives. I expect 2021 – at least as we sit here now — to be pretty good for the agricultural sector given the expansion on trade.” And Goss says rising global oil prices are generally good news for the state’s ethanol industry as well.

(Radio Iowa) – Most of us won’t likely remember 2020 fondly but as we enter the year’s home stretch, Iowans are urged to find something beautiful and capture an image of it. Kevin Techau, executive director of Keep Iowa Beautiful, says the organization’s 20th annual photography contest is now accepting entries. “We have five categories: Iowa Landscape, Iowa Water, Iowa Cities, Iowans in Action and Iowa Wildlife,” Techau says. “Contestants can enter as many times as they’d like in any of these categories to capture the beauty of Iowa and we do have prizes to award the best photography.”

Keep Iowa Beautiful was co-founded by former Governor Robert Ray in 2000 as a way to help communities make the state a better place to live, work and raise a family. Photography was one of Ray’s favorite hobbies, so the photo contest has been an annual staple ever since. A panel is being assembled to narrow down the best entries. “We’re going to have a round of judges that will pick winners from each of the five and those will go into the Robert D. Ray Best of Show Award,” Techau says. “In fact, Governor Ray’s eldest daughter, Randi Ray, will be one of the judges who helps make that decision.”

The contest was expanded this year in honor of the 20th anniversary. “The first prize winner in each of the categories, the prizes are $100, $75 for second and $50 for third place, and then in the Best of Show, first place will be $500, second place $250 and third place $100, and then we’ll have a public award where the public can vote for their favorites and we’ll have $100 prize for the winners in that category.”

There’s a $5 fee for each photo entered with a deadline of December 18th. The rules and entry forms can be found at the website: www.keepiowabeautiful.com.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa president Bruce Harreld — preparing to retire next year — predicts the competition among the state’s higher education community for scarce state support will escalate in coming years.  “Resources have been constrained for many a year,” Harreld says, “and they’re apt to stay that way.” The state’s community colleges, private colleges and universities as well as the three state-supported universities in Ames, Cedar Falls and Iowa City also will be competing for a smaller pool of potential students. That’s because the birth rate dropped during the so-called “Great Recession” of 2007 and 2008.

The number of high school graduates is projected to decline by 15 percent by 2026. “There is going to be a lot of hand-wringing here as some of these headwinds play themselves out,” Harreld says. “I’m worried that there could well be a struggle for a number of us.” Harreld says the University of Iowa should position itself as a “destination university” and compete for students internationally as well as in-state and around the U.S.

“The better we are, I think the better we’ll be able to weather the headwinds that are coming at us,” Harreld says. Harreld is a former business executive who was hired to lead the University of Iowa five years ago. A search for his successor has begun and Harreld has said he’ll stay in the job until his replacement is named.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – An Algona High School student and her teacher are asking for the public’s help in finding information about a graduate of the school who died nearly 59 years ago. Marine Corps Private William George Turner died in 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Algona history teacher Brian Connick says he and his student, Isabelle Gibbs, haven’t been able to find any family still living in the area. “Basically, we know he graduated from Algona High School in 1936, so boy, if there was somebody out there that knew of someone that was from that graduating class or someone that might have known the Turner family or Mr. Turner himself, we would love to be able to sit down and talk to them and try to get a little richer understanding of who he was as an individual here in Algona.”

Connick and his student were scheduled to go to Hawaii this past June for an event sponsored by the National History Day organization, but the trip has been postponed until next June, due to the pandemic. Connick’s student is scheduled to give a eulogy for Private Turner at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, where he is buried. “That eulogy is going to include information from his background living here in Algona, his military life,” Connick says, “his training and his service in World War II which is unfortunately very short because of his injuries that took place at Pearl Harbor and his subsequent death of December 12th of 1941.”

Connick and Gibbs are one of 16 student-teacher teams that will travel to Hawaii next summer to take part in the “World War II in the Pacific Student-Teacher Institute.” “Boy, we’d love to hear from anyone that knew Private Turner,” Connick says. Turner was born in February of 1919 and was 22 when he died at Pearl Harbor. The Mason City Globe-Gazette reported at the time that Turner was the first Algona citizen to die in the war. The newspaper account listed his mother, brothers named Robert and Lee and a sister named Ruth as his survivors.

(Radio Iowa) – While Thanksgiving is usually a time of gathering for feasts with friends and families, this year’s pandemic has demolished many of those hopes and happy times. Mary Limas  is a therapist with the Senior Life Solutions program at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City. Limas says we all need to be watchful of warning signs in those around us, especially our older loved ones.  “When you know someone might be depressed, you want to be there for that person and it may mean more than being there to listen,” Limas says. “If they need treatment, it’s important to be supportive. Help them stick to the treatment plan. Make sure they stay in touch with the professionals, the therapists.”

Time is one of the most valuable commodities we can share, she says, and if you can even make a brief call to someone who’s isolated, it could help them a great deal.  “Whether it’s during the holidays or once a week, if you’re able to take the time to visit with them, it’s important,” Limas says. “Take any threats or casual mentions of death or suicide seriously. Know important emergency phone numbers, such as the hotlines, the hospital, 911.”

Due to COVID-19, many of us have lost friends or relatives to the disease and we’re missing out on our usual activities — and special events, like a big Thanksgiving dinner. Limas says loss can be a significant stressor.  “For many, it’s a loss of loved ones but also a loss of tradition and routines,” Limas says. “Many people can feel more isolated and alone and they may feel bombarded by messages about the way of life and how families should be this time of year.”

She says to try and focus on positive memories as well as the here-and-now and zero in on the blessings of today.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – More than 21-hundred students will be graduating from Iowa State University this weekend and each of them will be given what’s being called a Graduation CY-lebration Box. Since the commencement ceremonies and convocations will all be virtual due to the pandemic, university registrar Jennifer Suchan says the boxes are a tradition that started with I-S-U’s spring graduation and will be repeated now in the fall. “Some of the items we are going to have in the box include the souvenir cardinal-and-gold tassel, their diploma cover or diploma tube as well as the commencement program,” Suchan says. “They’re getting a six-month free membership to the alumni association, as well as an Iowa State lapel pin.”

The boxes will also include an “I-State” window sticker, a musical greeting card from I-S-U President Wendy Wintersteen that plays “Pomp and Circumstance,” and other thoughtful treats.  “We want to be able to bring a bit of the ceremony to the students,” she says, “and really give them those mementos that they typically would walk away with that are just such an iconic part of a commencement experience for these students.”

Students are being asked to stop by the registrar’s office prior to graduation weekend to pick up their CY-lebration box — or if the student can’t be in Ames in person, the boxes will be mailed to them. For those who come in person, Suchan says students really appreciate the extra effort on behalf of the institution to make a personal connection. “They’re just absolutely thrilled when they’re able to pick up their honor cords and their box,” Suchan says. “They open the commencement program and quick flip it open and start looking for their name. It’s just a nice opportunity for the team just to be able to congratulate them on this momentous event in their life.”

I-S-U will be honoring the 2,171 graduates in two commencement videos that will be available for viewing at 10 a.m. Saturday on the virtual graduation website: https://virtual.graduation.iastate.edu/fall2020

(Radio Iowa) – Many of us will enjoy a Thanksgiving meal today (Thursday) prepared at home — while some have purchased a prepared meal and will have it delivered. The Iowa Farm Bureau’s director of agriculture analytics and research, Sam Funk, says it is important as we move past the holiday to continue supporting local restaurants and other businesses. “I think there is a lot of that food service sector right now who are depending on people being able to use carry out and bringing those cash flows into your local community,” he says. Funk says it helps those businesses — and it also helps those ag producers who supply food to them. “We depend on all segments of our food service industry in order to make for a strong and thriving community. And frankly, to strengthen the opportunities that we have to be able to market products all throughout that supply chain,” according to Funk.

Funk says the U-S has one of the lowest costs of food in the world — but there are still people struggling — and that is important to remember. “I’m hopeful that we will all remember those that might not be as fortunate as even we are. And at the same time, if we have a warm place to be able to lay our heads at night and a roof over our families, hopefully, we will be able to think about those who are having a tougher time right now,” Funk says. He says the pandemic has forced us to become isolated from others and limited the opportunities to go out and volunteer. But he says that doesn’t mean we still can’t help out by donating to food banks and to organizations that help others. “There’s still opportunities that we have to be able to give. And if there is an opportunity that we have to be able to volunteer again — I think that’s an important aspect to carry forward,” Funk says.

Funk says he is confident Iowans will continue meeting the challenges we are facing and will continue helping others as well.