The Creston Police Department reports the arrest at around 8:50-p.m., Tuesday, of 40-year-old Aaron Riepe. The Creston man was arrested at his residence on a Union County Warrant for the charge of Violation of Probation. Riepe was being held in the Union County Jail awaiting bond hearing.
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) – An ethanol plant in northwest Iowa designed to make the fuel from corn cobs and stalks rather than kernels has closed. The Des Moines Register was first to report the “Project Liberty” plant in Emmetsburg had closed. Iowa State University agronomist Emily Heaton says corn stover can easily be converted into cellulosic ethanol, the hard part is competing with the price of petroleum. “It’s the same story of the plant in Nevada that DuPont closed and now unfortunately POET’s Project Liberty is closing and that is a real loss for Iowa,” she says. “Those were two, ground-breaking, first-in-the-nation cellulosic ethanol plants that simply couldn’t compete with the low price of oil that we’ve had for the last few years.”
DuPont closed its cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada in 2017. POET shut down production at the Emmetsburg plant about a year ago and took steps to lay off its remaining employees this summer. The ethanol plants still operating in Iowa use corn kernels to make the fuel. Heaton’s research at Iowa State focuses on using perennial crops. “The idea was that we would get started to using corn stover to make cellulosic ethanol,” she says, “but then switch to using these high-yielding perennial crops, like switchgrass, to make ethanol.”
Heaton says switchgrass and other perennials that can used to produce ethanol have the side benefit of holding valuable Iowa soil in place and improving water quality. “Really the opportunities that cellulosic ethanol presents for Iowa are huge,” Heaton says, “which is why the loss of these first generation corn stover plants is so real for the state.”
More than two-thousand people — including the King of the Netherlands — attended the grand opening of the ethanol plant in Emmetsburg in 2014. The plant was a joint venture of a Dutch company and POET, an ethanol company based in South Dakota. The State of Iowa provided 20 million dollars for job training and construction costs. The U.S. Department of Energy provided 100 million dollars worth of grants to build the plant.
(Radio Iowa) A season like none Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has experienced is set to open . A nine game Big Ten sprint begins Saturday with a visit to Purdue.
It marks the first time since 1980 the Hawkeyes have opened the season with a Big Ten foe.
Ferentz says the off again, on again Big Ten plan has made it difficult to get the team ready.
Ferentz says the team and staff will be tested on Friday before they leave for the game and then will be tested the morning of the game.
Sophomore defensive back Julius Brents says they are excited to finally reach game week.
The challenge for the Iowa defense will be slowing down a Purdue offense that features standout receivers Rondale Moore and David Bell.
Brents says the concern with Moore is his ability to make big plays.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State coach Matt Campbell does not want to put too much emphasis on Saturday’s outcome at Oklahoma State but it is difficult to ignore. The 17th ranked Cyclones visit the sixth ranked Cowboys and the winner takes a big step toward to the Big-12 Championship game.
Campbell says it is too early in the season to talk about what is at stake.
Campbell says experience is a major factor in Oklahoma State’s success on defense. The Cowboys are yielding only nine points per game in a 3-0 start.
Two years ago in Stillwater Brock Purdy made his first start in the Cyclones’ 48-42 victory over the 25th ranked Cowboys.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa sophomore receiver Tyrone Tracy says he will kneel during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner prior to the Hawkeyes’ season opener at Purdue. It has been a topic since charges of racial disparities in the program came to light during the summer.
Tracy says he believes the program is moving in the right direction when it comes to the issue of race.
Tracy says there could be other players who join him in taking a knee.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says players have the option to stand or kneel during the anthem.
Adams-Union-Taylor-Ringgold-Mills-Montgomery-Fremont and Page Counties…
…DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CDT THIS MORNING…
* WHAT…Visibility less than one quarter mile in dense fog.
* IMPACTS…Hazardous driving conditions due to low visibility.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of
distance ahead of you.
Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers from the Iowa Coronavirus dashboard (as of 10-a.m. today, Wednesday): There are 1,276 more Positive test results back from the labs since 10-a.m. Tuesday, for a total of 109,573. And, 31 more Iowans have died from the virus, for a total of 1,576. Pre-existing conditions accounted for 1,053 of the deaths.There was one more COVID-related death in Guthrie County, for a total of 15.
The data show 911,681 tests have been completed to-date, with 5,367 results coming back since Tuesday’s report. Negative test results received since yesterday amount to 4,670 (for a total of 800,452), with 647 positive test results. The IDPH says 84,641 Iowans have recovered from the effects of COVID-19. The state says 12% of individuals have tested positive, and the 14 day rolling average positivity rate is 9.7%. There are currently 14 Iowa counties reporting a positivity rate greater than 15% over the last 14 days, down from 15 the previous day. Taylor County has the highest rate at 21.4%. Cass and Harrison counties are tied with a 21.1% rolling positivity rate. Public schools in these area counties….Taylor, Cass,Harrison, Carroll and Crawford, are among several across the State eligible to apply for a waiver to provide 100% virtual learning.
In the KJAN listening area, there are : 23 more Positive cases in Cass County. for a total of 340; 41 more in Pottawattamie County; eight more cases in Adair and Harrison Counties; seven each in Shelby and Union Counties; six more in Mills County; five new cases in Audubon County; four in Guthrie County, and three each in Adams and Montgomery Counties.
Hospitalizations continue to rise, from 501 yesterday to 534 today. That’s the second highest daily rate on record for the pandemic. Intensive Care Unit numbers are up from 122 to 134. Officials say 90 people with COVID symptoms were admitted to an Iowa hospital, since Tuesday, compared to 71 yesterday. And, there are 49 patients on a ventilator, compared to 45 yesterday. Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa report 48 people with the virus are in a hospital facility, compared to 41 yesterday. There are 15 people in an ICU, compared to 14 Tuesday, nine persons were admitted, compared to eight the previous day, and one person remains on a ventilator.
There are 68 Long Term Care facility outbreaks in Iowa, three more than on Tuesday. The IDPH reports: 1, 709 patients/staff at those facilities have tested positive for COVID; 692 patients/staff have recovered, and LTC deaths are up 10, to 786.
In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,
Region 1
(3-1) Spencer 25-25-22-25, LeMars 16-19-25-20
(3-0) Denison-Schleswig 25-25-25, Storm Lake 11-10-13
Region 2
(3-0) Winterset 25-25-25, Creston 17-19-13
(3-0) Lewis Central 25-25-25, ADM 15-16-15
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