A 4-mile run/walk fundraiser for women impacted by breast cancer is coming up soon, and registration is now open. Trailing for Tatas is scheduled for 11 am on October 14, 2017 at Lake Anita State Park. Deanna Spry organized Trailing for Tatas in 2012 after her personal battle with breast cancer. The Cass County Health System Foundation is proud to partner with Deanna Spry and her family in our efforts to support women in southwest Iowa fighting this battle.

All funds raised are kept locally and will be administered through the CCHS Foundation. The funds will help with items not covered by insurance or available through the American Cancer Society.  The registration fees are $25 for adults, $10 for youth ages 6-12, and teams of 10 or more can register for $20 per person.

Participants can register by contacting Deanna Spry at 712-249-5760, or Dawn Marnin, CCHS Foundation Director at 712-243-7409. Online registration is available at casshealth.org/ccmh-foundation. Registrations are due by September 28^th in order to ensure t-shirts for the event.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A new report says low commodity prices and weak farm incomes are continuing to hamper the rural economy in parts of 10 Plains and Midwestern states. The Rural Mainstreet Index for the region fell to from 42.2 in August to 39.6 in September, its lowest level in 2017. The index released Thursday ranges between 0 and 100, with any number under 50 indicating a shrinking economy.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey of bankers, says more than half of the bankers reported that they have restructured farm loans. Nearly 20 percent have increased their collateral requirements. Bankers reported a 2.1 percent increase in farm loan defaults over the past year.

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

In a region of the state that’s been plagued by extremely dry weather much of the summer, some roads were closed this (Thursday) morning due to flash flooding, the result of multiple downpours overnight. Meteorologist Craig Cogil, at the National Weather Service, says parts of southeast Iowa were drenched, prompting flash flood warnings in Jefferson, Keokuk, Wapello and Washington counties. “We saw persistent thunderstorms in and around the Ottumwa area during the overnight time frame and saw several inches of rainfall,” Cogil says. “We had a few reports of people with personal rain gauges with around seven inches and even a little bit more, just to the south of Ottumwa.”

Some areas of southeast and south-central Iowa had storm after storm roll through during the night, dumping more rain in a few hours than some communities have seen in more than a month. Cogil says, “We did have a report or two of some deeper standing water, but overall, impacts have been somewhat limited just due to how dry it’s been prior to the heavy rainfall.” Several counties across the region were rated in recent days as being under moderate-to-extreme drought conditions, which ended up being a benefit in this storm system. “It’s been so dry, in fact, Ottumwa had one of the largest deficits in the state before this event as far as rainfall is concerned this summer,” Cogil says. “A lot of the soil had the capacity to soak in a lot of the rain that fell overnight and the impacts aren’t as bad as what they normally would have been for such a rainfall.”

The forecast says a wide section of Iowa may see more scattered thunderstorms throughout the day, the last full day of summer. The autumnal equinox is tomorrow at 3:02 PM.

(Radio Iowa)

A woman from Nebraska was arrested Tuesday night on drug charges, after she made abrupt driving maneuvers. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says a Deputy on routine patrol saw an SUV traveling south on Old Lincoln Highway near Badger, at around 9:20-p.m., when the driver of the vehicle suddenly made a U-turn after they saw the Deputy’s vehicle, and proceeded to travel north.  The vehicle then made another U-Turn before turning into 1006 Old Lincoln Highway.

The SUV was there for only 5-minutes. When it pulled out, the Deputy saw it didn’t have a license plate lamp, and during the ensuing traffic stop, arrested 25-year old Heather Ann Misek, of Omaha, for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. In the vehicle, authorities found baggies containing a total of 1 gram of crystal substance believed to be Meth. They also found a glass pipe with white residue, along with a drug scale.

And, a Council Bluffs man was arrested Wednesday afternoon for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. 36-year old Scott Alen Schiller was taken into custody at a residence in the 500 block of North Ridge Road, on a warrant for the Sex Offender Registry violation.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa nursing home plans to challenge a $5,000 fine and the potential loss of federal funding after the state issued a negative report about the quality of its dietary program. The Sioux City Journal reports that Touchstone Healthcare Community in Sioux City was cited for multiple violations with its food program and two unrelated infractions.

Touchstone is a 125-bed care facility that has operated in Sioux City since 1978 but has been run under a variety of names and owners. It is currently owned by Welco Healthcare of Minnesota. Facility administrator Katilin Thomas says the home is working with the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals to make improvements, but plans to dispute the citation.

State officials observed the facility and interviewed dietitians, staffers, residents and family members.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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OTTWUMA, Iowa (AP) – Torrential rain has brought flash flooding to parts of eastern Iowa. The National Weather Service in Des Moines says it issued flash flood warnings Thursday morning for Wapello and Jefferson counties. Meteorologist Brad Small says his office received two reports Thursday of more than 5 inches of rain in Wapello County, which includes Ottumwa.

Ottumwa police reported as much as 1 foot of standing water at one intersection and have shut down several roads because of flooding.

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

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have arrested an Iowa woman accused of abducting her three daughters. Police say 25-year-old Danica Noel Arzaga was arrested in Sioux City Wednesday afternoon. Authorities had been searching for Arzaga since she allegedly abducted her three children from Royal, Iowa, on Tuesday morning. An Amber Alert was issued and then canceled after the three young girls were found abandoned in Sanborn, in northwest Iowa, late Tuesday.

Arzaga faces three counts of third-degree kidnapping. The children were taken to an undisclosed location by the Iowa Department of Human Services. They had previously been removed from Arzaga’s custody and placed in another relative’s care.

Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson reports anyone interested in bow hunting within the Atlantic City limits for the 2017-18 hunting year, may receive a permit application from the Atlantic Police Department during their regular business hours (8-a.m. to 4-p.m., M-F). The permit will allow you to harvest antlerless deer, and once you have reported the harvest to the Atlantic Police Dept., you will be allowed to harvest a buck.

Bow hunters who qualified last year with the P-D do not need to do so this year, but you still need to pick up the permit application, fill it out and return it to the Police Department. New Hunters will have to contact the A-PD and set up a time with Chief Erickson, in order to qualify. Land owners who wish to allow bow hunters to hunt on their land, should contact the Police Department at 712-243-3512 during regular business hours, in order to sign-up.

Erickson said the number of deer causing damage to plants and vegetation inside the Atlantic City limits have been down in recent years, due to the success of the Urban Deer Control program.