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!
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!
(Red Oak, Iowa) – Two people suffered what were described as minor injuries, during a three-vehicle crash Saturday, in Red Oak. According to the Red Oak Police Department, a 2009 Hyundai Sonata passenger car driven by Collin Nathaniel Evans, of Malvern, was traveling north on Broadway Street in Red Oak, and was attempting to turn left onto Oak Street. The car turned into the path of a 2012 GMC Acadia (SUV), driven by Hallie Straw, of Villisca.
The SUV struck the Hyundai broadside on the passenger’s side of the vehicle. The force of the impact caused the car to hit a 2021 Chevy Silverado pickup, driven by Brett Elliot Hosch, of Johnston (IA), as Hosch was waiting at the stop light to turn south onto Broadway. Police say two people in the SUV were transported by Red Oak Rescue to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital. Damage vehicles was estimated $16,000 altogether ($10,000 to the Sonata [declared a total loss]; $5,000 to the SUV [disabling damage]; and $1,000 (Minor damage) to the pickup truck).
Collin Evans was cited for Failure to Yield upon making a left turn, and for having no valid driver’s license. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by Red Oak Rescue, the Red Oak Fire Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Dispatch, and the Montgomery County EMA.
(Dubuque, Iowa) – Dubuque County Sheriff Joseph Kennedy declined to join the federal 287(g) ICE Task Force program. Kennedy told KCRG-TV, that cracking down on immigration is one thing, but ICE should hire the personnel needed and do their job, not order other agencies to do the work for them. The 287(g) ICE Task Force program authorizes local and state law enforcement to carry out immigration enforcement duties.
Sheriff Kennedy says his office has and will enforce those laws and cooperate with federal immigration requests, including ICE, if they need assistance in picking-up a wanted party, but that it’s not in the best interest of the sheriff’s department to give up their personnel to do ICE’ job full-time.
Kennedy told KCRG the Trump administration’s directive is “heavy-handed,” and demands the Sheriff’s Office pull deputies off the street to become trained ICE enforcement agents. It comes as the office uses overtime to meet minimum staffing levels. In 2024, the county spent around $120,000 on about 2,200 hours worth of overtime pay. In a letter addressed to the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors, Kennedy says the program asks law enforcement agencies to “sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that essentially force(s) local agencies to have trained ‘ICE’ representatives on their staff to do the government’s immigration work.”
In the letter, Kennedy warned that Dubuque will likely be placed on a list by the federal government, flagging Dubuque as a “sanctuary jurisdiction” due to the fact that Kennedy is not joining the program. Kennedy argues it inaccurately describes the county. According to Kennedy, the list was created for the “sole purpose of ‘shaming’ the City. However, an executive order by President Trump suggests otherwise, authorizing the Attorney General to “pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States.”
Kennedy plans to discuss his decision to reject the federal 287(g) ICE Task Force program invitation with the Dubuque County Supervisors during their May 19th meeting.
Pella, IA & Seattle, WA — An Iowa industrial equipment manufacturer took a giant leap in the effort to harvest natural resources from space. Pella-based Vermeer Corp. and Interlune, a Seattle, Washington-based natural resources company, unveiled a full-scale prototype of a lunar excavator earlier this month. According to a news release, Vermeer built the excavator, which is “designed to ingest 100 metric tons of Moon dirt, or regolith, per hour and return it to the surface in a continuous motion.”
A rendering of the Interlune Harvester, which will incorporate excavation hardware developed in partnership with Vermeer.
Interlune co-founder and CEO Rob Meyerson said iN a press release, “When you’re operating equipment on the moon, reliability and performance standards are at a new level. Vermeer has a legacy of innovation and excellence that started more than 75 years ago, which makes them the ideal partner for Interlune.”
A full-scale prototype of the Interlune excavator, which was developed in partnership with Vermeer.Testing as shown was done with auxiliary components. Final Interlune excavator hardware will be integrated with the Interlune Harvester.
Interlune officials said their immediate focus is harvesting helium-3, which they say is scarce on Earth but abundant on the moon. Space.com calls helium-3 a “lightweight, elusive isotope” that is “highly prized for its potential uses in nuclear fusion, clean energy research, cryogenics, quantum computing and even medical imaging and neutron detection.”
Interlune and Vermeer built the full-size prototype after successfully developing and testing a subscale version in the summer of 2024. Company officials say the lunar excavator is capable of ingesting 100 metric tons of moon dirt per hour, and its design reduces tractive force, power consumption and dust compared to traditional trench-digging techniques.
Iowa Drought Monitor graphic (5/15/25)
(Shenandoah, Iowa) – Funeral services for a southwest Iowa woman who went missing in southern Oregon in early April, and whose remains were found nearly a month later, will be held later this month. According to the Nishna Valley Funeral Home in Shenandoah, services for 29-year-old Kaylee Danae Birt, of Shenandoah, will be held May 27th.
Birt was declared missing on April 4th. She was last seen with her vehicle, leaving The Fields Station in Oregon. Her car was discovered two-days later, in a remote part of Southern Harney County, OR. Kaylee was not with the vehicle. An extensive search for her by land and air, using horses, off-road vehicles and many volunteers trained in traversing the rugged terrain, was eventually suspended. Kaylee’s body was found by volunteer searchers, on May 3rd.
Kaylee Birt (Photo from her obituary on the Nishna Valley Funeral Home website)
Additional information, including the location of where her remains were found, or the cause of death, was never released.
(Griswold, Iowa) – A regular monthly meeting of the Griswold Community School District’s Board of Education will take place Monday, May 19th. Their session in the High School Conference Room takes place at 5:30-p.m.
On the agenda, is the consideration and possible approval of, a Girls Wrestling Program. The options are to continue the current sharing agreement with Red Oak, or, to start the District’s own Wrestling Program. The Board will also consider and possibly act on awarding a bid for the Concession Stand remodeling project. They’ll discuss Liability Insurance for groups who use the District facilities. The Griswold School Board is also expected to establish Activity Pass Fees for the 2025-26 School Year, and consider and act on, the (renewal) of a City Agreement.
Other action items include: approving a Middle School Coach Amendment, and, approving a Volunteer High School Baseball Coach.
LE MARS, Iowa (KTIV) – Over 17,000 tubs of ice cream were recalled by a northwest Iowa ice cream company. The recall was voluntarily initiated by Wells Enterprises, Inc. The recall affects 22 different flavors of ice cream and frozen yogurt, which were distributed to 103 distribution centers across the United States. The Le Mars-based company pulled the flavors due to concerns of plastic being introduced into the product during its preparation.
The following flavors of ice cream were recalled (All items are in 3-gallon tubs. Each product contains an expiration date ranging between March and October 2026):
You can see the full recall notice here.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG-TV) – On Friday, a federal court gave its approval of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit against the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) director. According to a release from Iowa HHS, the 2023 lawsuit was filed on behalf of Medicaid-eligible children.
The lawsuit argues Iowa HHS denied children struggling with mental illness “timely access to intensive community services, resulting in unnecessary institutionalization and harm,” as stated in the release. The settlement agreement ensures Iowa children are able to receive the proper care and treatment they need. As part of the settlement agreement, Iowa HHS is providing new services through the Responsive Excellent Care for Healthy youth initiative (Iowa REACH).
Iowa REACH is a program “aimed at ensuring youth remain in their communities, and will include care coordination, in-home mental health services, mobile crisis services, as well as a new screening and assessment process, ensuring children with mental health disabilities are screened for appropriate services.”
The settlement agreement also lays out timelines and strategies for the new services.
(Floyd County, Iowa) – A collision between a box truck and an SUV in northeast Iowa, Friday night, left one person dead, and another injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports the utility van/box truck driven by 38-year-old Britney Huffman, of Cedar Falls, was traveling west on county road B60 (CR-B60) at around 8:10-p.m., when it failed to stop at the posted stop sign with Highway 14, east of Marble Rock.
The truck collided with a southbound 2019 Jeep SUV, driven by 35-year-old Autumn Taylor, of Greene (IA). Both vehicles entered the southeast ditch. Huffman, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the box truck. She died at the scene. Taylor suffered minor injuries in the crash.
The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office and Marble Rock Fire & Rescue and AMR Ambulance.
(Avoca, Iowa) – Five-years of near drought conditions have taken its toll on the amount of water one western Iowa utility is able to distribute to its customers. This past Wednesday (May 14th), the Regional Water Rural Water Association based in the Pottawattamie County town of Avoca, instituted “Level Red” mandatory water restrictions for the customers they serve through the Avoca Treatment Plant System, which includes members in parts of Shelby, Audubon, Cass, Harrison, and Northern Pottawattamie Counties. That includes the communities of Avoca, Persia, Panama, Portsmouth, Westphalia, Kirkman, Tennant, Earling, Exira, and Brayton.
Regional Water General Manager Tom Kallman told KJAN their wells are very low due to the drought, and excessive draws to meet demand.
Kallman says they started pumping from their wells 24-hours per day, beginning March 29th, to meet demand, and they’re still pumping 24/7, which is causing issues with maintenance of the utilities’ facility.
An Alert “Level Red” water restriction means usage should be limited to essential needs only.
That means no filling of pools, washing vehicles and driveways, and having restaurants serve water to their customers, only if its requested. Kallman says they’ve been in a “Conservation mode” for nearly the past three-years.
He says there are two other aquifers Regional Water can tap into, but they are very deep, and test holes so far have come-up empty, especially with regard to the Dakota Aquifer. The Jordan Aquifer is about 3,000-feet deep, and Kallman says it would take one-million dollars to drill that far…money they don’t have. He says in an ideal world, a one-inch soaking of rain per day for about 40-days would help to replenish the aquifers Regional Water uses. Anything more would run-off into the Missouri River and into the Gulf. The current drought situation, according to Kallman, has left left their water supply about four-feet below average for the last four-years. The bottom-line he said, is that rain is desperately needed, and conservation is required.
He urged residents to remind their neighbors that water rationing is in effect, especially since some people are unaware of the current situation. This past Thursday and Friday, the Avoca Fire Station served as an Emergency Water Distribution site specifically for Regional Water customers in Avoca and rural Pottawattamie County, who are experiencing the disruption of water pressure issues that has resulted in no or little water available for use. The distribution was not intended for customers who are under a Boil Advisory.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS