Today: Partly cloudy w/isolated showers possible. High 74. SW @ 10-15.
Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 46. NW @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High near 70. Variable winds at 5-10mph.
Friday: Mo. Cldy w/showers. High 61.
Saturday: Mo. Cldy w/a chance of morning showers; Becoming P/Cldy. High 64.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 70. Our Low was 30. Last year on this date, the High was 68 and the Low was 45. The Record High for April 22 in Atlantic, was 90 in 1980. The Record Low was 20 in 1936.
Police in Red Oak report a man wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Escape from Custody, was arrested at around 10:45-p.m. Tuesday, following a routine traffic stop in Red Oak. Authorities say 32-year old Jessie Bruce Fitzwater, of Council Bluffs, was also arrested on a State of Iowa Felony warrant for Possession, with the Intent to Deliver. Fitzwater was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted Red Oak Police in conducting the arrest.
Fire crews from Harlan and several other nearby departments responded to a large structure fire Tuesday night, at 1916 900th Street, just off County Road M-47, north of Prairie Rose State Park. The blaze occurred at around 10:15-p.m. Water was reportedly pumped from Prairie Rose Lake to help replenish the supply of available firefighting water.
Photo courtesy our sister station KNOD (photo by Michele McConnell Andersen)
Other departments assisting at the scene included Avoca, Elk Horn, Irwin, Kimballton, Kirkman and Walnut. Additional details are currently not available.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Restaurant closures due to the coronavirus have contributed to an estimated $5 billion in losses this year for the U.S. pork industry, and almost overnight millions of hogs stacking up on farms now have little value. Some farmers have resorted to killing piglets because plunging sales mean there is no room to hold additional animals in increasingly cramped conditions. After extended trade disputes and worker shortages, this was supposed to finally be the year hog farmers hit it big with prices expected to climb amid soaring domestic and foreign demand. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is promising to send cash and buy stored pork but industry leaders say it might not be enough to stem devastating losses.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has launched a $26 million program to dramatically increase the state’s lagging capacity to test for the coronavirus. Under the TestIowa plan announced by Gov. Kim Reynolds Tuesday, the state’s 3.2 million residents will be asked to complete an online health assessment. Those who have symptoms or who have been exposed to the coronavirus will be eligible for free tests at drive-thru sites. The state will alert the contacts of those who test positive. Reynolds says Iowa has signed a contract to purchase 540,000 tests over the next six months, increasing the state’s testing capability by 3,000 tests per day.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — One Iowa pork plant at the center of a major coronavirus outbreak is reopening as another began testing all employees to learn the scope of their infections. Tyson Foods resumed limited operations at its pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, where more than 200 workers have become infected and at least two have died. The plant, which has about 1,400 employees, had been shut down for two weeks after reporting the outbreak. In northern Iowa, Wright County officials reported that 16 employees at a pork processing facility run by Prestage Foods of Iowa have tested positive. Mass testing at the plant began Monday.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police allege a man intentionally ran over and killed a Des Moines college instructor. Police also allege in newly released court documents that 49-year-old Jason Sassman was using meth on April 5 when he hit 38-year-old Lauren Rice as she walked her dog, which also died. Rice was an instructor at Des Moines Area Community. The Des Moines Register reports that police say Sassman believed Rice was a criminal about to kill someone. Sassman is charged with first-degree murder and animal neglect. He is being held at Polk County Jail on a $1 million bond.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police allege a man intentionally ran over and killed a Des Moines college instructor. Police also allege in newly released court documents that 49-year-old Jason Sassman was using meth on April 5 when he hit 38-year-old Lauren Rice as she walked her dog, which also died. Rice was an instructor at Des Moines Area Community.
The Des Moines Register reports that police say Sassman believed Rice was a criminal about to kill someone. Sassman is charged with first-degree murder and animal neglect. He is being held at Polk County Jail on a $1 million bond.
(Radio Iowa) — Redwood Farms Meat Processors of Estherville is suspending operations until further notice after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. In a news release, Redwood Farms said it’s making the move to ensure the safety of company employees and the community in which we work. The company says it’s only aware of the one case and the individual does not live in Emmet County.
Due to the recent increase of COVID-19 cases within the meat processing industry, Redwood Farms had implemented additional cleaning practices and was screening employees upon arrival to the company’s facility. The company has been communicating with Emmet County Public Health to gain resources and advice on how to educate employees and promote a safe working environment.
Redwood Farms is owned by Farmers Union Industries. The minutes from an Estherville City Council meeting in December indicate the Estherville facility has the capacity to process between 14-hundred and 24-hundred hogs a day.
(Radio Iowa) — An Estherville teenager was arrested this weekend and is facing several charges after police say she tried to set grass and her jacket on fire with a cigarette lighter. An officer attempted taking the lighter and then the suspect brandished a knife and cut the officer on the arm.
Eighteen-year-old Grace Hrbek was then taken into custody and was transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation before being transported to the Emmet County Jail. She’s charged with willful injury, assault on a peace officer and going armed with intent. The officer was treated and released.
(Radio Iowa) — The U-S-D-A crop report released Monday shows snow and rain have slowed the start of the planting season — but two percent of the projected corn crop has been planted. Iowa State University Extension crops specialist Joel DeJong, says farmers in his northwest Iowa region are still mostly preparing fields for planting.
“There was some work done before that Easter snow came through — a handful of planters were in the fields doing a little bit, making sure the planter was set, doing a few acres. Not very many did that,” DeJong says. “However, the manure and fertilizer got a good start. We are now as we dry out — we are seeing that again. WE’re seeing a lot of the prep work continuing.” DeJong says the soil temperature has not yet consistently been at or above the 50 degrees needed for planting.
“We’re getting really close and if the forecast I see is right even with the rain and a little cooler temperatures in the weekend — the average daily temperature should still be around 50,” he says. “If the soil is set, I think we are going to see more and more people putting some seed into the ground as we move into the week.”
Wet weather kept farmers from planting for much longer than they would have liked last year. DeJong says things are drying out nicely now and that shouldn’t be an issue in most areas. “Even though there is a lot of water in the subsoil, the surface actually is drying out pretty well. And yeah, there’s still problem spots in fields, but I think it is looking a little better now than most times we had a chance to be out there last spring,” according to DeJong.
The corn planting progress at two percent is one week behind the five-year average.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — One Iowa pork plant at the center of a major coronavirus outbreak is reopening as another began testing all employees to learn the scope of their infections. Tyson Foods resumed limited operations at its pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, where more than 200 workers have become infected and at least two have died. The plant, which has about 1,400 employees, had been shut down for two weeks after reporting the outbreak.
In northern Iowa, Wright County officials reported that 16 employees at a pork processing facility run by Prestage Foods of Iowa have tested positive. Mass testing at the plant began Monday.
COLLINS, Iowa (AP) — Sheriff’s investigators in central Iowa say three people have been found dead in a Collins travel trailer and likely died from accidental carbon monoxide asphyxiation. The Story County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that deputies were called to the residence just before 8 a.m. Tuesday to check on the welfare of people there.
Arriving deputies discovered the bodies of three adults inside, including a 62-year-old woman, a 41-year-old woman, and a 20-year-old man. Officials say all three lived there. Three dogs were also found dead inside the trailer. Investigators say there were no signs of foul play.
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