Three Veterans of the U-S Army from Atlantic, were taking part in a “Ruck March” today (Monday), as part of an awareness effort with regard to veteran suicides. Casey Swanson was one the trio marching, carrying a ruck sack of personal belongings, and carrying the American Flag and one other, special item. KJAN News caught up with him, Ryan Beach and Brad Fager about 4-miles east of Wiota on White Pole Road.

(He said they picked-up to game ball for the Iowa-Nebraska football game, in Menlo. It was being carried to Lincoln, NE. over the next couple of days to raise awareness of the number of veterans lost each day to suicide.)

Ruck March east of Wiota (11/25/19 – Ric Hanson photo)

All three Atlantic man served from about 2009-to 2013. University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Iowa Student Veterans are part of the “Ruck March” from Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City to Memorial Stadium for the Nov. 29^th Hawkeyes-Cornhusker game, in Lincoln. The 322-mile march began Nov. 20^th.

The leg of the trek he was on ended at the Atlantic public Library. The ball was set to be handed-off to others who will continue the journey westward.

The walkers are being divided into shifts of roughly 20-miles each. Each team member was asked to carry 20-pounds of personal belongings to signify the 20 veterans who is lost to suicide each day. Swanson described his personal items being brought with him on the trek.

(Two Purple Hearts on the back of his bag for injuries he suffered overseas, some water, and a couple of combat books.)

He said most motorists passing them have been positive, honking and waving. Others were speeding by. Fortunately, two vehicles, one ahead and one behind the trio, were serving as an escort. More information is available at www.ruckfilm.com, or on the Facebook page The Things They Carry Ruck March.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports 26-year old Mariah Swanson, of Corning, was arrested this (Monday) morning, on an Adams County warrant stemming from an incident that took place Oct. 31st. Swanson was charged with Theft in the 5th Degree. She posted a $300 cash bond, and was released.

Friday afternoon, 23-year old Paul Exman, of Des Moines, was arrested in Adams County on a Guthrie County warrant.

NEW YORK (AP) — Go ahead and rinse your cranberries, potatoes and green beans. But food experts say don’t — repeat don’t — wash the turkey before popping it in the oven on Thanksgiving Day. They say that could spread the germs lurking on your turkey in the kitchen sink or nearby food. But it’s been a challenge trying to convince cooks to stop rinsing off raw poultry. “If your mother did it and your grandmother did it, and suddenly the (government) says not to wash your turkey, you may take some time to adjust,” said Drusilla Banks, who teaches food sanitation for the University of Illinois Extension.

Germs that can make people sick are common in the guts of healthy poultry and are legally allowed to be on raw turkey and chicken. The assumption is that nobody eats their poultry rare, and that thorough cooking will kill the bacteria. So it’s possible that two common causes of food poisoning — salmonella and campylobacter — are on the turkey, said Mindy Brashears, a food safety official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The do-not-wash raw poultry advice from the USDA is relatively new and perhaps hasn’t caught on because it goes against the ingrained belief that washing makes things clean, said Banks.
Participants in a food safety study offered their own rationale: “If it’s still slimy — I’m not sure what that is. It just feels good to wash it,” said one. Another said: “My grandmother taught me that. She just said to wash all your food because there’s no telling where it’s been before it got in the pack.”

Benjamin Chapman, a study author and food safety expert at North Carolina State University, said the instinct to wash raw poultry goes back at least decades when people relied more on visual cues to spot problems with poultry. TV chef Julia Child was among those who said washing chicken was “just the safer thing to do” before experts began advising against it.
But food prep is a juggling act, and germs from poultry can be spread even if it’s not washed, especially when birds are removed from packaging. It’s why washing and sanitizing hands, utensils and surfaces are even more important. The USDA-funded study underscores that point.

Researchers sprayed raw chicken with a harmless strain of E. coli and watched volunteer cooks at test kitchens. Among those who washed their raw chicken, about a quarter ended up spreading the bacteria to their lettuce. But even some of those who did not rinse the chicken got germs on the lettuce. There are other opportunities for germs to survive and thrive on turkeys: thawing and cooking. For thawing, experts say frozen birds shouldn’t be left out on counters since germs can start multiplying on the outer parts that defrost first. They instead recommend thawing in fridges, cold water or in microwaves. You can also cook a frozen turkey, but it will take a lot longer.

And to ensure a bird is thoroughly cooked, they say to use a thermometer to check that the deepest and thickest parts of it have reached 165 degrees. Even after the meal is cooked, you aren’t out of the danger zone. To keep turkey and other leftovers safe, experts say they should be refrigerated after two hours.

(Radio Iowa) — The funeral for former Iowa Lieutenant Governor Jo Ann Zimmerman is set for late tomorrow (Tuesday) morning in Des Moines. Zimmerman was the last independently elected lieutenant governor and the first woman to hold the office. She ran for governor in 1990, but ended her campaign and became Democratic gubernatorial nominee Don Avenson’s running mate. That was the first election nominees for governor and lieutenant governor ran together as a team, as the president and vice president do. Zimmerman, the first nurse elected to the Iowa legislature, was also the co-founder of a group called DAWN to help Democratic women get elected to public office.

Zimmerman’s funeral will be held at the First Christian Church in Des Moines. A visitation with her family will start at the church tonight (Monday) at 4 p.m.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A national lottery group rocked by an insider’s conspiracy to rig jackpots has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a winner who contends his $9 million prize should have been larger. The Multi-State Lottery Association and Larry Dawson reached the settlement this month, cancelling a trial that had been set for Dec. 2 in Des Moines, Iowa. Dawson’s lawyer, Nicholas Mauro, says terms of the deal are confidential but his client is relieved to have the long-running litigation over.

Dawson, a financial adviser from Webster City, Iowa, won a $9 million Hot Lotto jackpot in 2011. His lawsuit claimed the game’s previous $16.5 million jackpot, which was rigged by association employee Eddie Tipton, should have carried over. Tipton is serving prison time in Iowa.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Iowa Student Veterans are conducting a “Ruck March” from Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, this week, to raise awareness of Veteran and Military member suicide. The 322-mile march began Nov. 20th, and a hand-off of the game ball to Team Nebraska took place in Menlo, enroute to the Nov. 29th Cornhusker vs. Hawkeye game.

Rucking is being divided into shifts of roughly 20-miles each. Each team member was asked to carry 20-pounds of personal belongings to signify the 20 veterans who is lost to suicide each day. The group was making their way into Atlantic this morning, on White Pole Road. More information is available at www.ruckfilm.com, or on the Facebook page The Things They Carry Ruck March.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office has issued a report on recent arrests and other activity. Officials say 44-year old Kelly Jeane Blue was arrested Sunday night in Council Bluffs, following a traffic stop. Blue was taken into custody for Driving While Barred/Habitual Offender, and OWI/2nd offense. Early Sunday morning, 22-year old Frank Anthony Carpio was arrested after his pickup was found in a ditch off Interstate 80 eastbound. Carpio was charged with OWI/1st offense. A few hours prior to his arrest, Pott. County deputies arrested 31-year old Anna Elizabeth Schutte, for OWI/1st offense, following a traffic stop on Highway 92 at Virginia Road. Schutte was also cited for speeding.

Saturday night, 23-year old Dakota Lee Michael Horn was arrested in Neola, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense – marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was taken into custody after a deputy saw a car running without its lights on in a park parking lot. Early Saturday morning, 23-year old Brennan Joseph Carter was arrested in Oakland, on a charge of OWI/2nd offense. That same morning, 32-year old Christopher L. Reiss was arrested in Carter Lake, for OWI/1st offense following a property damage accident involving a Carter Lake Police Department cruiser.

And, Friday morning, a man being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail, was served with a warrant out of Texas. A deputy read the warrant for Fugitive From Justice to 32-year old Frank Isaiah Stephensen, of Dallas, TX.  He was being held in the Jail on Forgery and Theft in the 1st Degree charges, with bond set at $15,000. He remains in the jail on those charges, and on a Hold out of Texas.

(Radio Iowa) — Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is campaigning in western Iowa today (Monday) as he releases a plan to address retirement security. “My parent’s generation is aging. My generation is dangerously behind the curve on retirement savings,” Buttigieg told Radio Iowa. “It does feel like there’s a lot at stake personally in making sure that we get this right both for those who are aging now and for those who are just entering the workforce.”

Buttigieg is proposing a new 90-dollar-a-day benefit to help cover long-term care. Buttigieg’s father died nearly a year ago and Buttigieg says as he and his mother discussed how to pay for long-term care, a social worker suggested his mother spend all of her assets, so the couple would qualify for Medicaid. “It’s one thing to hear about these issues in theory. It’s another to find yourself confronting them as a family,” Buttigieg says. “…I was just thinking: ‘Is that how this works in America?’ This is no way to organize the way our country deals with long-term care, but so many families are in that situation.”

Buttigieg also supports requiring the top two percent of income earners to pay Social Security taxes on ALL their income. Today, Social Security taxes are only assessed on an individual’s first 133-thousand dollars of income. “If we make that simple move and a couple of other tweaks without cutting benefits, we can have Social Security solvent well into the time I’m drawing Social Security,” Buttigieg says, “and I’m the youngest person running for president.”

Buttigieg is 37. He’ll reach retirement age in 30 years. In addition to preserving Social Security, Buttigieg is calling for creation of a public option four-oh-one-K (401K) for younger workers to save for retirement. “We would create a strong incentive to be part of it by requiring that large employers match employee contributions two-to-one,” Buttigieg says. “It’s one more way to make sure that we have not only the baseline floor that Social Security provides, but enough to make sure that everyone can do well and a typical worker, using this public option 401k, would be set to retire with about $500,000.”

Many of the other Democratic presidential candidates have offered proposals on retirement-related issues, as well. Buttigieg’s first event is at 10 a.m. in Red Oak, followed by stops in Creston, Atlantic (at 3:30), and finally, in Council Bluffs. He’ll campaign in Denison, Storm Lake and Sioux City on Tuesday.