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Man drowns while trying to retrieve boat in Missouri River

News

December 9th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Authorities say a man has drowned in northwest Missouri while attempting to retrieve a boat that was adrift on the Missouri River. The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified the victim as 30-year-old Benjamin Hirner, of Mokane, MO. The patrol says he went into the water Friday just north of where the Nishnabotna River flows into the Missouri River in Atchison County. A Nebraska Air National Guard helicopter flew him to a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, where he was pronounced dead. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources also assisted at the scene.

Officer shoots armed suspect after chase in Des Moines area

News

December 9th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

A central Iowa police officer shot an armed man who allegedly led authorities on a high-speed chase on Interstate 235 in the Des Moines area. The Des Moines Register reports that an unidentified Clive police officer shot the suspect early Saturday morning. Authorities say police tried to pull over a gray Dodge Charger shortly after 2:30 a.m., but the driver refused to stop and drove into Des Moines.

The vehicle later crashed and two men exited the vehicle and ran off into a neighborhood. The officer shot one suspect after he allegedly brandished a weapon.

(Podcast) KJAN Morning News & Funeral report, 12/9/2019

News, Podcasts

December 9th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

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

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Retiring CAM School Board/New Board meeting tonight

News

December 9th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Members of the CAM School District’s retiring School Board will hold their last meeting tonight before turning over the reigns to the newly elected Board. During their 6:30-p.m. meeting in the CAM High School Superintendent’s Office, the retiring Board will act on accepting the Abstract of Election and the Treasurer’s Annual report for Fiscal Year 2019. Afterward, the Board will adjourn, and the Annual Organizational meeting of the New Board will be called to Order.

New Board members will be administered  the Oath of Office, followed by the election/ Oath of Office to the Board President, Vice-President and Secretary/Treasurer. The board will then act on administrative matters, including: The setting of their meeting dates, time and location; naming of depositories…official publications…designation of legal counsel, and other matters.

The Board is also expected to discuss: Facility projects; Open Enrollment applications, and Resignations. They’ll also act on approving the disposal of a bus through sealed bids.

ISU specialist says Dairy Producers continue to be under stress

Ag/Outdoor, News

December 9th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — An Iowa State University Extension dairy specialist says stress continues to be an issue for milk producers trying to deal with low prices. Larry Tranel is also a psychologist. “We’ve seen a lot of cycles in dairy over time — but we really haven’t seen one that had this big a tail on it where it lasted two, three, four years with the low prices,” Tranel says. “We actually take a look at the stress… even though the dairy prices have come back somewhat — we still find that the stress itself is going to have a pretty long tail on it as families try to recover from it.”

Doctor Tranel says the extended issues with low prices have taken a toll. “I’m seeing a level of stress that I probably haven’t seen in my 30-year career,” according to Tranel. “When we take a look at the magnitude of the stress — I would say it’s at a very a high level for the most part. Some have weathered the storm quite well — but there’s a lot of people that just really have a hard time.” He says dairy farmers are caught between a rock and hard place. “They can’t afford to get out for the assert values, he says, “but they really can’t afford to stay in either because of some cash flow issues that have lingered on for quite some time,” Tranel says.

He says the long-term nature of the dairy industry issues can take a toll. “When people have things we call acute stress — like you have a barn fire or a tragic accident or something just happens real quickly — you don’t have time to prepare for it,” according to Tranel. “But when you have this chronic stress — just day-in day-out for four or five years in a row dealing with that — that’s the kind of stress that eats at peoples nerve endings and gets them more irritable.”

Tranel says one of the techniques he recommends for people dealing with these situations is to write things down. He says it allows them to address the issues and move ahead. “As we do farm couple getaways where we bring in these farm couples to try to deal with communication issues, set goals on the farm, trying to transition themselves out of so much stress — the biggest thing they come back with is the fact that you made us write this down is what got us going to the next step. And if you wouldn’t have made us write this down — we’d be talking about this for the next 20 years,” Tranel says.

Tranel made his comments at the recent Iowa Farm Bureau annual meeting.

(Ken Anderson of the Brownfield Network contributed to this story.)

Iowa early News Headlines: Monday, Dec. 9, 2019

News

December 9th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Former Iowa congressman and businessman Berkley Bedell has died at age 98. Tom Bedell says his father died Saturday after suffering a stroke earlier in the week. Berkley Bedell represented northwest Iowa’s 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1987. He also founded Pure Fishing, a fishing tackle business, based in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price and Fourth District Chair Penny Rosfjord said in a statement that Bedell fought hard to protect farm families in times of crisis and to help the middle class.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Pete Buttigieg is facing intense scrutiny for the first time as his outsider Democratic presidential campaign continues to roll in early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire. He is responding in his characteristic unflappable style, saying, “The more heat there is, I welcome that.” He is being pressed, especially by rival Elizabeth Warren, to disclose corporate clients he served at a top consulting firm and open his fundraising events to the media. Buttigieg is asking McKinsey & Co. to release him from a non-disclosure agreement and is weighing whether to disclose more about his key donors.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Cory Booker says the Democratic party’s process for determining who gets on the debate stage puts “elites” and “money” in control. His Sunday remarks come as he fights to hit the polling thresholds to be on the Dec. 19 debate stage in California. The qualifying deadline is Thursday. Booker says the requirements that are for now keeping him off the stage don’t reflect the enthusiasm he’s seen from Iowa voters over a four-day tour across 12 counties. A Democratic party spokeswoman says the qualifying thresholds have remained low and saysthe party’s process has been inclusive.

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — A northeastern Iowa woman has been charged with non-support of a dependent adult in the May death of a 77-year-old woman who had suffered severe burns. The Bremer County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that 56-year-old Debra Kleppe, of Tripoli, was charged Thursday in the death of Sylvia Schwerin, of Sumner. The sheriff’s office says it was notified of Schwerin’s death on May 30, a day after she was taken to a community hospital. Investigators say she had been scalded over 20 percent of her body. Officials believe the burns happened by accident, but that Kleppe failed to seek medical treatment for them.

Former Congressman Bedell dies in Florida

News

December 8th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Former Iowa Democratic congressman Berkley Bedell has died. Bedell, who branched out into many other avenues after his career in the U.S. House ended, died Saturday, according to a Facebook post by his son, Tom Bedell. According to the post, Bedell suffered a stroke that “attacked his very alive and productive brain” on Wednesday, a few days before his death. He was 98 years old.

The former congressman was in Naples, Florida, at the time of his death, according to Jim Frost, a close friend of Bedell’s. Bedell’s public service was an anomaly. Since he left office in early 1987, no Democrat has been elected to the Northwest Iowa territory Bedell had represented.

Bedell was born in March 5, 1921, in Spirit Lake. He graduated from Spirit Lake High School and attended Iowa State University from 1940 to 1942, when began service in the Air Force through 1945, completing his duty as a lieutenant. He married the former Elinor Healy in 1943, and the couple had three children. Elinor Bedell died in 2017 at age 93

Iowa early News Headlines: Sunday, Dec. 9, 2019

News

December 8th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:10 a.m. CST
WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — A northeastern Iowa woman has been charged with non-support of a dependent adult in the May death of a 77-year-old woman who had suffered severe burns. The Bremer County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that 56-year-old Debra Kleppe, of Tripoli, was charged Thursday in the death of Sylvia Schwerin, of Sumner. The sheriff’s office says it was notified of Schwerin’s death on May 30, a day after she was taken to a community hospital. Investigators say she had been scalded over 20 percent of her body. Officials believe the burns happened by accident, but that Kleppe failed to seek medical treatment for them.
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in central Iowa say a fleeing suspect has been shot by a Clive officer after the suspect pointed a handgun at the officer. The Clive Police Department says in a news release that the shooting happened in West Des Moines early Saturday morning following a brief high-speed chase on Interstate 235 and, later, on foot. Police say an officer chasing one suspect between houses shot the suspect after the fleeing man pointed a handgun at the officer. The suspect was rushed to a local hospital. Neither his identity nor his medical condition had been released by mid-morning Saturday.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials at a Des Moines zoo say a 3-month-old seal pup born there has died. Blank Park Zoo officials say the pup, born Aug. 20 and named “Lucy,” died on Nove. 24. A news release issued by the zoo said a necropsy showed Lucy died after suffering from “failure to thrive.” Zoo spokesman Ryan Bickel says that means the pup wasn’t processing enough calories to survive. Officials say Lucy was not eating on her own in the last weeks of her life and required fluids and supplements from keepers. The zoo now has three harbor seals: Lucy’s parents, Meru and Ross, and her older brother, Monty.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former Des Moines sports radio host accused of swindling at least eight people out of $1.5 million has pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. The Des Moines Register reports that 60-year-old Marty Tirrell entered the plea Friday in federal court. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he’s sentenced on April 7. Prosecutors say Tirrell told investors he could buy sports tickets with their money, resell them, and split the profit with them. But prosecutors say Tirrell soon began lying to the victims and sending them bad checks while spending their money on personal items or to pay back other investors.

Iowa woman charged after another woman suffers burns, dies

News

December 8th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — A northeastern Iowa woman has been charged with non-support of a dependent adult in the May death of a 77-year-old woman who had suffered severe burns. The Bremer County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that 56-year-old Debra Kleppe, of Tripoli, was charged Thursday in the death of Sylvia Schwerin, of Sumner.

The sheriff’s office says it was notified of Schwerin’s death on May 30, a day after she was taken to a community hospital. Investigators say she had been scalded over 20 percent of her body. Officials believe the burns happened by accident, but that Kleppe failed to seek medical treatment for them.

DNR investigating a manure discharge in Cherokee County

Ag/Outdoor, News

December 7th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

CLEGHORN—The DNR is investigating a manure discharge from a cattle operation in northern Cherokee County after receiving multiple complaints Friday.

DNR staff confirmed that manure runoff from the Tentinger Feedlot is reaching a tributary of Bear Creek about 4 miles northeast of Cleghorn. DNR staff will work with the owner to stop the discharge.

The investigation is ongoing, but DNR staff think runoff from recently land-applied manure is responsible. They did not see any fish in the stream—either dead or alive.

The DNR will consider appropriate enforcement action.