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Red Oak man dies in NE crash

News

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

GRETNA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man from southwest Iowa died after his car collided with another in eastern Nebraska’s Sarpy County. The collision occurred a little before 5:30 p.m. Friday on U.S. Highway 6 on the south side of Gretna. The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office says an eastbound car driven by 46-year-old Brian Bullington, of Red Oak, crossed the center line and struck an oncoming car being driven by 28-year-old Elizabeth Beckenhauer, of Ashland.

Beckenhauer was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The sheriff’s office says Bullington was flown to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he later died.

Bullock proposes time limits on campaign fundraising

News

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Montana Governor Steve Bullock says it’s time to end the perpetual campaign. Bullock, one of the Democrats who’s running for president, is proposing new limits on when candidates for federal office may raise money for their campaigns. “President Trump essentially right after taking the oath of office reopened his campaign. U.S. Senators, everybody makes it almost that you’re campaigning full-time for these jobs,” Bullock says. “While it might sell cable television ads, I don’t think that’s what most folks want.”

Bullock was not among the 10 Democratic presidential candidates who debated last Thursday night, in Houston. He’s been in Iowa the past two days, arguing the race won’t be decided by the debates. “I think it’ll actually be decided by Iowans,” Bullock said. “The early states has always been what takes a big field and narrows it down.” Bullock points to the experience of 2004 Iowa Caucus winner John Kerry, who went on to win the Democratic nominee that year. “I think it was 30-some days out from the Iowa Caucuses  John Kerry was 4 points. Al Sharpton was beating him,” Bullock says. “Once folks really start paying attention along the way — and I think that usually comes fairly late along the way, that’s how we take a big field and make it much smaller.”

Bullock, who supported Joe Biden’s 1988 bid for the White House, says voters in 2020 “want to look forward, not backwards.” Bullock made his comments during taping Friday, of the “Iowa Press” program that aired over the weekend, on Iowa Public Television.

Heartbeat Today 9-16-2019

Heartbeat Today, Podcasts

September 16th, 2019 by Jim Field

Jim Field visits withactress/playwright Diana Star Helmer of Boone about her one-woman presentation, “I Like Mamie: Ike’s First Lady,” which will be performed on Sunday, September 22 at 2:00 pm at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield.

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CANDIDATE PROFILE: Colorado Senator Michael Bennet

News

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Colorado Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bennet spent the weekend campaigning in Iowa, illustrating that Bennet is among the candidates banking on a break-out finish in February’s Iowa Caucuses. No other candidate has spent as much time in the state in September. “We’re going to continue to stay until we begin to make progress,” Bennet said. “…It seems to me that post-Labor Day is when people start to really pay attention here.”

The Fifty-four-year-old Michael Bennet participated in the first two rounds of televised debates, but did not meet the fundraising and polling criteria to be among the 10 candidates who debated last Thursday night. “I don’t have limitless resources and the decision I had to make was whether I was going to pay Facebook so that I could generate $1 contributions that I had to buy in $60 or $70 increments,” Bennet says, “or whether I was going to use the money to communicate directly with the voters in Iowa.”

Bennet argues the televised debates have done little to alter the race. “People ask sometimes: ‘Well, what’s your break-out moment going to be?’ Historically, I think candidates that have put one foot in front of the other and met with people in their living rooms and in their storefronts have done well in these early states,” Bennet says, “and that’s what I’m going to continue to try to do.” Bennet was in a private home Sunday morning, talking about foreign policy. On Saturday, Bennet touted his focus on universal preschool as well as a proposed 50 percent increase in the child tax credit parents may claim on their income taxes. “We can actually make a difference,” Bennet said. “…Washington doesn’t have to just be about a partisan fight that never leads anywhere. We can pull some levers that really change America.”

Bennet is a Yale educated attorney, but he emphasizes a different part of his resume on the campaign trail. “I’m the only school superintendent that’s ever run for president as far as I can tell,” Bennet says. Bennet served as superintendent of Denver Public Schools for four and a half years before being appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2009. He has won two statewide elections in Colorado since then, in 2010 and 2016. He has been arguing against the “Medicare for All” plan some of his competitors have embraced as well as proposals to erase student loan debt and make public colleges tuition-free. “We’ve got to set some priorities here,” Bennet says. “We can’t give free stuff to everybody.”

Bennet touts his work across the partisan divide in the U.S. Senate, including a bipartisan immigration reform plan that won Senate approval, but was not considered in the House. “We’re at a moment in our political history when we need to treat each as Americans, not as enemies,” Bennet says. “We need to treat each other as friends.” Bennet says the Democratic Party’s nominee must be more than just anti-Trump, but must offer an agenda that unites the country.

(Podcast) KJAN Morning Sports report, 9/16/19

Podcasts, Sports

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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Council to consider removal of WWII airport chapel

News

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The City Council in Sioux City is expected to consider a proposal Monday for removal of a World War II chapel and airmen’s housing project on Sioux City airport land. The Sioux City Journal reports that the chapel anchors the entrance to Sioux Gateway Airport and is one of the last standing remnants of the wartime air base built for B-17 bomber training.

City documents say the two parcels containing the chapel and housing were developed with uses not compatible with operations of the airport. The chapel would be moved off airport property, and a nonprofit group would take ownership and maintain it at a new location as a memorial and make it available for event rentals. However, the nonprofit group has not been fully formed and would need to raise funds to take over ownership of the chapel.

The group interested in the chapel is not financially able to accept the housing project, which could face demolition.

(Podcast) KJAN Morning News & Funeral report, 9/16/2019

News, Podcasts

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Giving kids rides on the tractor not a good idea

Ag/Outdoor, News

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — This is National Farm Safety Week and an Iowa State University expert says tractor rides for kids are one cause of accidents that can be avoided. Professor Charles Schwab says tractors are a draw for kids — but they create dangerous situations. “When you have that extra individual on the tractor that really is not there serving a purpose, that creates a problem — you know it’s a distraction to the operator and puts that extra person at risk of being run over — because that’s usually what happens,” Schwab says.

The National Children’s Center estimates one child dies about every three days in an agriculture-related incident. He says it’s not any safer to give kids rides on lawn tractors and it is actually often more dangerous because of an increased danger of rolling over.  “That extra weight of that child impacts the overall balance of that tractor. Whereas a larger field tractor, the difference of that individual isn’t as much. The overturn possibilities or falling off it on a garden tractor are huge,” Schwab explains.

Schwab says adults need to be strong and avoid the desire of the kids to get into these dangerous situations. “Realize that as much as you’d like to share that time, that’s not the best way of doing it. And to keep a tradition of a strong and healthy family — don’t give that ride,” Schwab says. “Part of it is looking at other ways of engaging the individuals or young people in a connection.” He says you can still share the farm experience with the kids without putting them in danger. “It’s not just about the ride on the tractor — it’s about connecting with the people and the values of the individuals that are operating it. Find other ways of making that connection,” he says.

Schwab there are a variety of other farm accidents this time of year. “This past month we’ve already seen auger injuries, falls, tractor overturns and collisions. They start to peak this time around harvest,” Schwab says. He says everyone has the responsibility of helping farmers prevent accidents. “Realize that there’s going to be a lot more agricultural equipment out on the roadways and so we need to be aware. And as motor vehicle operators understand that they’ll be there and are slower than other vehicles,” Schwab says.

He says farmers must understand the dangers while they are out on the road too. “As agricultural equipment operators make sure that you keep engaged with what you are doing and signal your intent. And make sure all your reflective stickers and emblems and lights are all functioning,” Schwab says. This year’s national theme is “Shift Farm Safety Into High Gear.”

Reynolds hints Trump ethanol announcement this week — may be made in Iowa

Ag/Outdoor, News

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds is predicting President Trump will announce new ethanol production guidelines this week. “I can’t say too much because we’re waiting to see the final wording,” Reynolds says. Reynolds flew to Washington, D.C. last Thursday for a meeting at the White House to discuss how to increase the federal ethanol production mandate. President Trump in August gave the green light to waivers so 31 oil refineries do not have to blend ethanol into gasoline. Trump has said he had to save those refineries “from certain closing” — but he’s promised a “giant package” will be unveiled to boost corn-based ethanol. Reynolds says she “feels really good” about last week’s White House meeting with Trump and farm-state senators. “If what we agreed on is what we see in writing, we’ll be supporting it and inviting him here to announce it,” Reynolds said.

The governor says the ethanol waivers granted to the oil industry erased any gains from President Trump’s June announcement that gasoline with a higher 15-percent blend of ethanol could be sold year-round. She says that message has been delivered. “It’s going to have a direct impact on our farmers and our communities and our economy in rural Iowa and, you know, we helped put him there and he said when he ran for office that he supported renewable fuels,” Reynolds said. “And it was a really good meeting.”

Reynolds made her comments at the Clay County Fair in Spencer during an interview with K-I-C-D Radio. The Des Moines Register is reporting the Siouxland Energy Cooperative in Sioux Center has quit producing ethanol — the second ethanol plant in Iowa to close down this fall.

Trial scheduled to begin in eastern Iowa corn rake slaying

News

September 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

EARLVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A trial is scheduled to begin today (Monday), for a man accused of using a corn rake to kill his wife in eastern Iowa. Court records say 43-year-old Todd Mullis has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. Authorities say he fatally attacked 39-year-old Amy Mullis in November at her farm northwest of Earlville. Authorities initially believed she’d been fatally injured in a fall. An autopsy showed she died after receiving injuries that included multiple stab wounds to her back with a corn rake.

The trial has been moved to Dubuque County from Delaware County. Mullis’ lawyer sought a new location, saying Mullis couldn’t get a fair trial in Delaware County, where his wife worked closely with law enforcement as a nurse.