(Radio Iowa) — The top air show attraction in the world, the U-S Navy Blue Angels, will be performing its precision demonstrations over eastern Iowa this coming weekend. Ken Hopper is chairman and founder of the Quad City Air Show, which ran for 30 straight years at the Davenport Municipal Airport, then took several years off, and is now returning for a 31st run.

“You can’t get the Blue Angels every year, you apply for them two years out,” Hopper says. “They get 800 or 900 requests every year and they do 35 shows. The point was, I wanted to wait a couple of years until I got the Blues back and then said, okay, let’s do it again.”

Hopper estimates they’ll attract 80-thousand people during the two-day event. The Blue Angels were founded in 1946, the year after World War Two ended, as a way to maintain the recruiting of talented pilots.

“They were the first-ever military jet team in the world and the Navy’s thought of as pretty unique flying when you can land on a runway that moves and shifts and goes up and down,” Hopper says. “There’s just something about them. They fly closer than any other team. They fly an average of 18 inches apart.”

Gates open at the airport both Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8 for the static displays of dozens of military and civilian aircraft, while the flying portion of the airshow begins at noon each day. The aerial entertainment will conclude each day with the Blue Angels, but there will be plenty to see before then.

“We got probably the best civilian team in the world, the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team,” Hopper says. “We got probably the best individual performer in the world, Kirby Chambliss and his entire Red Bull Team. We got a family that’s been around aviation forever, the Shetterlys, it’s a father and two sons and they have really come on strong in the past few years.”

A host of vintage warbirds will be flying, including a P-51 Mustang, a Corsair, a B-25, and the P-38 Lightning, of which there are only seven still flying in the world.
www.quadcityairshow.com

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa State Fair is a little more than one month away and administrators are now looking for people to fill paid and volunteer positions. Spokesperson Mindy Williamson says there are lots of opportunities in both areas. “We have about 16-hundred employees who come help us during the fair — and even more volunteers. So, we are looking to fill some of those employment opportunities and also our volunteers,” Williamson says.

Volunteers do a variety of things, from working at the “Little Hands on the Farm” exhibit, selling souvenirs for the Blue Ribbon Foundation, and getting everyone on the right track at the information booths. “So, if you love the fair or you know a lot about the fair, this is a perfect spot for you to come,” Williamson says. “And our volunteer program this year celebrates 25 years. So, we have some people some people in those information booths on our grounds who have been doing it for 25 years.”

You can go online to find out how to sign up. “There are individual contacts that they can reach out to — but the one place that you can go to to find all that information is on our website at Iowa-State-Fair-dot-org. You can go there and look up volunteer opportunities,” Williamson explains. You can also stop by the administration building and fill out an application. She says the benefits include free fair admission, work experience and meeting a lot of new people. “You’ll get to meet a ton of Iowans and people outside of Iowa,” according to Williamson, “and we couldn’t do it without our volunteers and were are so very thankful to the folks who do volunteer. And if you are looking to volunteer we want to welcome you to have the opportunity to come out here and have some fun and meet some great people.”

This year’s Iowa State Fair is August 8th through the 18th.

BELLEVUE, Iowa (AP) — Officials say low-flying planes will release a substance Wednesday in an effort to stop the spread of invasive gypsy moths in eastern Iowa’s Jackson County. The planes will release what agricultural officials say is a “mating disruptor” that’s made of food-grade materials and is not harmful to people, animals, birds, plants or other insects. The spraying is scheduled for more than 10,000 acres on Wednesday, west and northwest of Bellevue.

The gypsy moth has spread slowly west from Massachusetts since the 1870s. It’s an invasive species that can cause extensive deforestation as its larvae eat leaves, particularly oak leaves.
More information is available online or from the Iowa Gypsy Moth Hotline at 855-497-7966.

The Creston Police Department reports the arrest late Monday morning, of 58-year old Crystal Van Brunt, of Orient.  The woman was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Forgery charge. She was later released from the Union County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) — A singer and songwriter who recorded nearly four dozen top-40 hits is helping aspiring musicians in a northwest Iowa school district. Barry Manilow announced the winners of his Manilow Music Project on stage in Las Vegas.  “In second place is Sioux City School District from Sioux City, Iowa,” Manilow said. “They get $20,000 worth of musical instruments.”

The Manilow Music Project has distributed 10 MILLION dollars over the past several years to enhance music education in U.S. schools. Sioux City was among the schools that submitted videos for the latest round of awards, hoping to win the top prize of 100-thousand dollars.

“My team and I looked at all of the videos and every school was filled with talent,” Manilow said on stage in Vegas. “The teachers were just amazing. They were so committed, so sincere and so in love with their students, and the students were so in love with the music classes.”

Manilow says the high school he attended in Brooklyn was classified as the “most dangerous” school in the country and he found refuge in orchestra class and wants to ensure the students of today have access to quality musical programs at school. Manilow has performed twice in Sioux City during his more than 50-year career.

(Radio Iowa) — The Des Moines Register reports Casey’s General Stores executives are exploring how automation may help deal with the difficulty in finding part-time employees. Earlier this month, out-going Casey’s C-E-O Terry Handley touted the company’s “e-commerce” initiative. “As we witness the continued evolution of the retail landscape and ever-changing consumer habits, we must continue to adapt,” Handley said.

The ordering platform on the company’s website has been streamlined. Hadley says customers can pay online before they get to the store. “In addition, the system automatically engages cross-sale opportunities to the consumer during every order,” Handley said.

The new Casey’s General Stores smart phone “app” to order pizza and other prepared foods will be available this summer. Casey’s executives also announced on a June 11th conference call with investors that they are spending more on technology and have plans to install ordering kiosks inside stores as well.

“The integration of the new suite of digital platforms for customers will create a seamless customer experience both online and instore that enhances our digital capabilities and facilitates personalized marketing and rewards,” Handley said.

Casey’s operates two-thousand-one-hundred-46 (2146) stores in the Midwest. Forty-one new stores are under construction.

(Radio Iowa) — A farmer from west-central Iowa’s Greene County is taking the helm of the Iowa Soybean Association this fall but it comes with trepidation. Incoming president Tim Bardole (BAR-dole) of Rippey says these are very challenging times for soybean farmers. “It’s going to be a tough year,” Bardole says. “The association is funded from the Soybean Checkoff, a lot of it, and with the low prices, a tough planting season, there’s a lot of unknowns and a lot of budget issues.”

Many commodities have seen poor prices for several straight years and they’re slow to recover, while Bardole says recent tariffs and trade troubles have made matters worse. “We need worldwide free trade,” Bardole says. “The U.S. farmer, even in tough times, we’re very good at producing soybeans and all of the other agricultural products. The U.S. definitely feeds the world.” Bardole took a trip to China earlier this year and saw up-close how that country’s enormous numbers depend heavily on American growers. “I’ve been to Malaysia and the Philippines,” Bardole says. “The world very much depends on U.S. agriculture for the good of their population.”

While foreign travel helps Bardole learn to appreciate what challenges other nations face, he also sees how much they appreciate us. “We have a lot of responsibility to do what we do and to do it very well,” Bardole says. “When you go to these other countries and once they find that you’re a farmer from Iowa, the respect that you get is somewhat overwhelming.”

Bardole will take office in September. He comes from a farming family and his father was the president of the I-S-A in the late 1980s. The Ankeny-based Iowa Soybean Association has 11,000 members.

(Radio Iowa) — The latest crop report shows the corn is planted across the state and beans are not far behind. Just two percent of the corn planting remained going into last week and farmers are now looking for some good warm growing days. Ninety-six percent of the crop has emerged. That’s two weeks behind where we were last year at this time and 15 days behind the five-year average.

The report shows still about five percent of the soybeans still remain to be planted. Eighty-one percent of the beans that have been planted have emerged. That’s also two weeks behind last year. The corn condition improved slightly this week — with 62 percent rated good to excellent. Sixty-three percent of the beans rate in good to excellent condition — up from 61 percent last week.

One person died, another was injured during a collision Monday evening, southeast of Ames. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2006 Toyota Corolla driven by 63-year old Gayle Lawton, of Collins, was traveling south on 580th Street at around 5:05-p.m., and had stopped at the intersection with Highway 30, before proceeding across the road.

Lawton failed to yield, and was struck by a westbound Cadillac Escalade, driven by 44-year old Amanda Christine Wierson, of  Collins. Gayle Lawton was transported to Methodist Hospital by Life Flight, and later died. Wierson was transported by private vehicle to Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames. The Patrol says Wierson was wearing her seat belt.

The accident remains under investigation.