DONALD STAVER, 87, of Panora (Mem. Svcs. 2/9/19)

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DONALD STAVER, 87, of Panora, died Friday, Feb. 1st, at home. Memorial services for DONALD STAVER will be held 11-a.m. Saturday, Feb. 9th, at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Panora. Twigg Funeral Home in Panora has the arrangements.

Visitation will take place at St. Cecilia Catholic Church from 10-until 11-a.m., Saturday.

Burial of cremains will be held in the Iowa Veterans Cemetery near Van Meter, at a later date.

DONALD STAVER is survived by:

His wife -Joan Staver, of Panora.

His daughters – Kathy (Don) Berryman, of Reno, NV; Lynn (Dave) Breitbach, and Donna (Steve) Brody, all of Panora, and Laura (James) Knight, of Sante Fe, NM.

His son – Donald (Jenny) Staver, Jr., of Bettendorf.

12 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

ROBERT LEE ANDERSEN, 93, of Des Moines (& formerly of Exira) – Svcs. 2/8/19

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

ROBERT LEE ANDERSEN, 93, of Des Moines (& formerly of Exira), died Thursday, Jan. 31st, at the VA Health Care Center in Des Moines. Funeral services for ROBERT LEE ANDERSEN will be held 10-a.m. Friday, Feb. 8th, at the Staves Methodist Church (2747 E. Madison Ave.), in Des Moines. Ankeny Funeral Home (1510 W. First St., Ankeny, IA) has the arrangements.

Friends may call at the funeral home on Thursday, from 5-until 7-p.m.

Burial will be 2-p.m. Friday at St. John’s Cemetery, west of Exira.

ROBERT LEE ANDERSEN is survived by:

His wife – Betty Andersen, of Ankeny.

His daughter – Judith Andersen (& husband Romualdus Mickevicius), of MN.

His daughter-in-law: Jane Andersen, of Ankeny.

His brother – Harvey Andersen, of Exira.

His sister – Bertha (Darrell) Schroeter, of Exira.

His Step-sons: Kurt, Kirby, Kevin and Kyle Putzier.

His step-daughter: Debra Hibbard.

4 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, other relatives and friends.

Posted in Obituaries |

Iowa may pay $4M to victims of sex harassment by ex-director

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa has tentatively agreed to pay $4.15 million to two executive branch employees who were sexually harassed for years by an agency director who had been a longtime friend of Gov. Kim Reynolds. Settlement agreements released by the state Monday show the money would go to former Iowa Finance Authority business development director Beth Mahaffey and its current communications director Ashley Jared. The state appeal board will consider approving the deals this (Monday) afternoon.

Both women came forward last year to the governor’s office to detail the sexual harassment and hostile work environment they endured under Iowa Finance Authority executive director Dave Jamison. The deals call for the state to pay $2.35 million in cash and monthly annuities to Mahaffey, 53, who left state employment and moved last year after complaining about Jamison’s behavior. Another $1.8 million would go to Iowa Finance Authority communications director Ashley Jared, 35.

Posted in News |

AP Men’s Basketball Top 25 02/04/2019, ISU at 17 and Iowa back in at 20

February 4th, 2019 by admin

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 3, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

	Record	Pts	Prv
1. Tennessee (48)	20-1	1579	1
2. Duke (12)	19-2	1532	2
3. Virginia (4)	20-1	1478	3
4. Gonzaga	21-2	1423	4
5. Kentucky	18-3	1310	7
6. Nevada	21-1	1228	8
7. Michigan	20-2	1217	5
8. North Carolina	17-4	1167	9
9. Michigan St.	18-4	1051	6
10. Marquette	19-3	1029	10
11. Virginia Tech	18-3	948	12
12. Houston	21-1	838	13
13. Kansas	17-5	809	11
14. Villanova	18-4	801	14
15. Purdue	16-6	697	17
16. Louisville	16-6	561	15
17. Iowa St.	17-5	545	20
18. Texas Tech	17-5	482	16
19. Wisconsin	16-6	462	24
20. Iowa	17-5	242	—
21. LSU	17-4	205	19
22. Florida St.	16-5	180	25
23. Buffalo	19-3	153	18
24. Maryland	17-6	144	21
25. Cincinnati	19-3	142	—

Others receiving votes: Washington 135, Mississippi St. 133, Auburn 128, Kansas St 114, Baylor 44, Wofford 15, Lipscomb 5, Syracuse 3.

Posted in Sports |

Check for broken pipes or water meters in Audubon

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The City of Audubon is asking residents to please check their basements, to make sure you do not have any broken pipes or meters due to the extreme temperatures we’ve experienced over the past few days. If you find any issues, call the Audubon City Hall.

Posted in News |

Winnebago moving some Oregon motorhome production to Iowa

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) — Winnebago Industries says it’s shifting to its Forest City, Iowa, campus the production of Class A diesel motorhomes from the company plant in Junction City, Oregon. Winnebago announced Monday that the change will consolidate product development, supply chain and assembly for the company’s diesel motorhome business. Winnebago Vice President Brian Hazelton says the strategic decision to move diesel product manufacturing to the former Country Coach facilities in Junction City years ago did not achieve “our targeted operating efficiency and profitability goals.”

The company expects to begin the transition immediately. Winnebago says the 250 positions in Junction City will be reduced to about 30 and that there will be an increase of about 175 positions at the Forest City campus by the end of fiscal year 2020.

Posted in News |

Atlantic man arrested on drug charges in Pott. County

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a man from Cass County was arrested on drug charges, Sunday morning. Authorities say 36-year old Jason Mitchell Fulk,, of Atlantic, was driving a 2003 Chevy Trailblazer on Interstate 80 at the 30-mile marker, and had stopped his vehicle at around 12:40-a.m., in the traveled portion of the roadway. Fulk was passed out while his vehicle was running, with its light off. A Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy who made contact with Fulk conducted an OWI investigation. Officials say Fulk was found to be in possession of 6.4-grams of marijuana and a marijuana smoking pipe. He was arrested at around 1:35-a.m. for Possession of a controlled substance, and Possession of Paraphernalia, with an OWI/1st offense charge pending drug test results.

A call about a possible stolen vehicle late Saturday night, resulted in the arrest of 34-year old Ian Robert Caldwell, of Dunlap. Authorities say deputies were called to a residence in the 1000 block of Old Lincoln Highway to locate a vehicle reportedly stolen out of Missouri Valley. The stolen 2010 Ford Focus was found outside the residence in the driveway, along with the registered owners’ cell phone, which was also reported stolen. Caldwell, who was the owners’ boyfriend, was taken into custody on the stolen vehicle charge out of Harrison County, and transported to a location where he could be picked-up by Missouri Valley Police.

An accident Saturday night in the 21,000 block of Mudhollow Road in Pott. County, resulted in the arrest of 61-year old Franklin Lugene Stricklett, of Crescent. He was taken into custody on a warrant for Contempt of Court, and cited for Failure to Maintain Control of his vehicle. And, Pott. County authorities say 25-year old Jricka J. Rothermund, of Council Bluffs, turned herself-in to the Sheriff’s Office, Friday afternoon. She was wanted on a warrant and transported to the Pott. County Jail to be booked-in.

Posted in News |

Scam call in Atlantic & the area, re: City Clerk collecting for a bad check

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic Police Department reports a telephone scam is going around the area, from someone who claims to be from the “Clerk’s Office,” and is trying to collect for a bad check. Chief Dave Erickson says the clerk’s office does not make calls to collect bad debt. One local woman told police she received the call for her daughter, and that they had to try and serve her last night, but were unable to. The caller said the matter needed to be taken care of quickly. Erickson said the caller knew personal information, including the last four-digits of her Social Security Number (SSN).

As the woman spoke with the caller, she was even transferred to a so-called lawyer by the name of “Don Harris.” The daughter then called them back and gave them her card number to handle the matter. It wasn’t until they put the number into a computer, that they learned the call was a scam. Erickson warns, if you have elderly family members, be sure and tell them not to give out any bank, credit card or personal information.

Erickson said there were numerous instances where people across the country have received similar calls, with the “lawyer” threatening arrest about a stolen check passed at an office supply store. The phone numbers potential victims of the scam received, varied from call to call.

Posted in News |

Expert says taxes on sports betting will not be ‘cash cow’ for State of Iowa

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — A Drake University professor says the research shows Iowa won’t reap hundreds of millions — or even tens of millions more in gambling taxes if the state legalizes and taxes sports betting within the state’s borders. Keith Miller is an expert on gambling law. “It’s not going to be a ‘cash cow,'” Miller says. “…It’s not going to be a budgetary game-changer.” Miller says sports books are “low margin” operations. “One industry group estimated that the first year of Iowa sports books — if it were legal — would take in around $80 million and people look at that and say: ‘That’s a lot of money to tax,’ but the fact is sports books historically retain only five percent of that The rest of it goes back to the successful bettors, so if we take five percent — if that $80 million figure is accurate — we’re taxing $4 million.”

In 2017, the state-licensed casinos paid nearly three-hundred-million in TAXES to the state, on about one-and-a-half BILLION dollars in revenue. Miller, who made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Public Television, published a book titled “The Law of Gambling” in 2016 and his research on the topic has been published in four academic journals in the past five years. There will be public hearings at the statehouse this Wednesday and Thursday on proposals to legalize sports wagering within the state’s borders.

Posted in Sports |

ISU professor trying to catalog Lakeside Lab collection

Ag/Outdoor, News

February 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — An Iowa State University science professor has launched a citizen science project — looking for people to help her catalog thousands of species in a collection at northwest Iowa’s lakeside lab. Lori Biederman is looking for people to help transcribe thousands of labels that belong to plant and animal specimens that will then be put in a database accessible to people around the world. Biederman says Iowa has lost a lot of biodiversity over the years. Many of the specimens are from the late 1800s or early 1900s and clue us into the past. “This is a way to get a measure of what was here before humans really started cultivating wide scale, or building cities, taking over the lake,” according to Biederman.

She says the database will help people learn more about diverse species whose populations have declined over time. “You may not see an indigo bunting anymore in your daily life but you could see this was an indigo bunting and it was caught in Iowa. It’s an Iowa thing,” according to Biederman. The citizen science initiative has already attracted nearly 300 volunteers. Biederman found close to seven thousand preserved specimens of birds, mammals and plants at the lab in the Iowa Great Lakes area. She learned many of the records cataloging the specimens had been lost or never existed in the first place.

(Thanks to Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Community Hub

712 Digital - side2

KJAN Social