The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports that have received a report of a scam call. Someone claiming to be from Alliant Energy is making calls to Alliant customers demanding payment immediately, or their services will be stopped within minutes. Alliant Energy has verified this is definitely a scam! If you receive a call like this, hang up and ignore it!
KEOSAUQUA, Iowa (AP) — A southeast Iowa woman has been given 10 years in prison for letting her 2-month-old son starve to death. Van Buren County District Court records say 25-year-old Angel Poole, of Birmingham, was sentenced Friday. She’d pleaded guilty to child endangerment resulting in serious injury. Prosecutors had lowered the charge in exchange.
Authorities say medics were sent to Poole’s Birmingham apartment on July 7, 2016, after she called 911 to report her son, Judah Wessels, was having trouble breathing. The baby was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour later.
Authorities say he weighed a little over 5 pounds at death. An autopsy showed he died of starvation and dehydration.
The National Weather Service says the second push of Arctic air is well under way with northwest winds once again pushing 20 to 25 mph along with gusts to 35 mph or more. As a result, temperatures had generally already reached their daytime highs across the state and will slowly fall the rest of the day. As of late this morning, temperatures ranged from the balmy upper single digits above zero across southern Iowa to chilly around -10 degrees across far northern and northwest Iowa.
Once most of the rest of the state dips below zero this evening, widespread temperatures above zero will not be seen until mid to late Thursday morning. In the meantime, numerous daily record lows and minimum max temperatures look to be set tomorrow and Thursday morning. Lows will range from around 30 below zero across the north and northeast to the teens below zero across the south and west. Throw in some winds, and wind chills will range from around 40 below to 60 below zero at its worst overnight and Wednesday morning.
The most dangerous conditions will be across northern and northeast sections of Iowa, though no place will be immune from the dangerous conditions Wednesday. Morning lows will range from around 30 below in the north and northeast to the teens below zero down and over to the Missouri and Nebraska borders. Highs will not be too much better with nearly all of the state topping out below zero, ranging from around 20 below zero in the northeast to near zero in the southwest. Dangerous temperatures will continue into Thursday with lows once again ranging from around 30 below in the northeast to the single digits below zero in the southwest.
Ideally, one should stay inside and out of the cold. Though for anyone that must go outside, multiple warm layers and covering ones face will be a necessity. This kind of cold is life-threatening if the right precautions are not taken.
LIME SPRINGS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 28-year-old man died after a snowmobiling accident in northeast Iowa. The Howard County Sheriff’s Office says the accident occurred about 1:40 a.m. Friday on a trail that runs on a side of a road about 2 miles (3 kilometers) northwest of Lime Springs. The office says in a news release that Ross Wilson was riding alone when his machine rolled over him. He was found later by other snowmobile riders.
Deputies say he was pronounced dead at the scene. He lived in Cresco. The accident is being investigated.
AHSTW’s Brayton Tuma announced late Monday that he will continue his academic and football career at Northwestern College in Orange City. Tuma was a strong contributor to a Vikings squad that finished as Class A Runners-Up this season.
Tuma finished his senior season at wide receiver with 30 catches for 589 yards and 6 touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball Tuma had 46.5 tackles and four interceptions as a defensive back.
Tuma chose Northwestern over a number of other recent offers from area schools such as Grand View, Upper Iowa, and Peru State.
(Radio Iowa) — Many federal workers and others are highly concerned we’ll face another government shutdown when the current extension expires on February 15th. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, says he’s hopeful “we’ve learned a lesson” and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, can reach a compromise with President Trump to solve the standoff. “I would hope Pelosi would now negotiate and not just say ‘no’ as she has in the past,” Grassley says. “I think the president has shown more flexibility than I thought he would show.”
A possible fix has emerged, what’s being called an automatic continuing resolution, which Grassley says could “end government shutdowns forever.” “Pretty simple,” Grassley says. “You get up to September 30th, all the appropriation bills aren’t passed, you don’t shut down the government, you just continue to spend money at the level you did the last fiscal year until the appropriation bills get passed.” The amendment is being offered by Senator Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio, and Grassley remains optimistic it will gain bipartisan traction and pass. “Government is supposed to be a service for the American people and you can’t serve the American people when you aren’t operating,” Grassley says. “So, all this common sense now tells me we should never have a government shutdown again.”
Governing is often about the art of compromise, Grassley says, and that’s the only way to get out of this situation. “There ought to be a bipartisan agreement where you can get border security at some level of expenditure by cutting the difference between the two points of view, usually between two-billion and six-billion,” Grassley says. “Split it at three or three-and-a-half.” Most of the 800-thousand federal workers who were furloughed or forced to work without pay were able to return to work yesterday (Monday). The 35-day partial federal government shutdown began on December 22nd and was the longest in U-S history.
Ingredients:
Slow cooker directions:
Note: Choose pearl barley rather than quick-cooking barley because it will stand up to the longer cooking time.
Officials with Atlantic Municipal Utilities have provided some tips on how to keep your home warm with the -20 to -40 degree wind chill temps that are impacting the area over the next few days. AMU says “Our homes’ heating systems are NOT designed for -20 to -30-degree temperatures with wind chills into -40 and up to -50+. Newer homes will struggle to maintain temperature and older homes will NOT maintain temperature and the temperature WILL drop while the heating system is working at full capacity. Their tips include:
1. Please raise the temperature in your home on Monday, 2 to 4 degrees above your normal setting.
2. Take all programmable thermostats out of setback mode and set on a permanent HOLD.
3. If you have a furnace; replace the filter.
4. Keep garage doors closed.
5. Limit opening exterior doors.
6. Make sure air vents and radiators are not blocked or obstructed.
7. If you have a 90%+ furnace and boiler: You must keep the intake and exhaust clear of ice and snow. During these cold temperatures, ice can build up. A 90%+ furnace and boiler have 2 white PVC pipes; an exhaust pipe and an intake pipe that are generally on the side or back of your home. In some instances, they are on your roof, do NOT go on your roof to clear the pipe.
If the temperature in your home is dropping and your radiators are HOT with boiler systems or you have HOT air coming out of your vents with furnaces DO NOT PANIC. Please make sure that your heating system continues to operate. If the temperatures drop in your home, it will not be able to recover until temperatures rise and the windchill diminishes. Our heating systems cannot overcome temperatures -20 to -30 with wind chill up to -50+. They are sized to operate at 0 degrees outdoor. Put your thermostat on hold 70 degrees or higher.
To help minimize temperature loss you can boil water, make soup, or stews; they help introduce humidity and warmer temperatures into your home. DO NOT USE YOUR OVEN or a GRILL TO HEAT YOUR HOME.
Please check on neighbors and elderly residents during these extreme temperatures. Stay warm and safe this week.
DES MOINES –Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig today (Tuesday), announced the extension of three water quality demonstration projects focused on innovative ways to encourage adoption of water quality-focused conservation practices. The projects were initially funded in 2015 and are being extended for three years to scale-up their efforts and accelerate practice implementation in support of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. Naig says “By extending these projects, we can build on their strong foundations and early successes. These projects are great examples of innovative approaches to engage farmers and encourage the adoption of water quality-focused practices. We look forward to adding new partners to these projects and continuing to work with local farmers and agribusinesses to make measurable progress toward our water quality goals.”
Among the three projects receiving extensions, is the Taylor County Water Quality Initiative – The project works with farmers in Taylor County by promoting alternative land management practices on farmed areas identified to be marginal or potentially unprofitable. The project works with farmers to evaluate the specific production levels and goals within their farming operation. It utilizes several tools to evaluate current farm-scale profitability combined with conservation practice and land use alternatives. Rather than focus on the entire field, this project demonstrates which areas of a field should be considered for alternative forms of production, thus making them more profitable and more sustainable.
The project has already engaged 85 participants in the first two years, and 60 of those farmers have already implemented conservation management changes on their fields. More than 30 additional farmers are on a waiting list to participate in the project. The other projects are the Iowa Seed Corn Cover Crops Initiative, and the Central Iowa Watershed Management Authority WQI Project. The three projects will receive over $2 million in additional funding through the Iowa Water Quality Initiative over the next three years. In addition to the state funds, these projects will generate an estimated $5 million in matching funds and other in-kind contributions to support water quality improvement efforts.
Additional details about these and all other demonstration projects that are part of the Iowa Water Quality Initiative is available at https://www.cleanwateriowa.org/farm-1/.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man has pleaded not guilty to killing an Iowa high school student in 1979. Records say 65-year-old Jerry Burns filed a written plea Friday in Linn County District Court. The charge: first-degree murder. His trial starting date has not been set. He remains in custody, pending $5 million bail.
Police arrested the Manchester business owner on Dec. 19 , 39 years to the day after 18-year-old Michelle Martinko was killed. Her body was found the next day inside her family’s car at a Cedar Rapids mall. She had been stabbed in the face and chest.
Police say investigators matched a blood sample from the crime scene with a sample taken from Burns.
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