712 Digital Group - top

KJAN News

KJAN News can be heard at five minutes after every hour right after Fox News 24 hours a day!
Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa,  Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!

Jury finds man guilty in Iowa officer’s slaying

News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

CLARION, Iowa (AP) — A jury has found a man guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a Rockwell City police officer last year. The Des Moines Register reports the jury returned the verdict Friday in the case of 33-year-old Corey Trott. Jurors reached a consensus after less than two hours of deliberations in the trial.

Authorities say Trott shot 37-year-old Jamie Buenting during a standoff at Trott’s house in September 2013. Officers were trying to arrest Trott after an alleged assault. Buenting was near a house window when he was shot.

Trott did not testify during the trial, but jurors heard a taped interview where he expressed no regret in shooting a law enforcement officer.

Southwest IA residents arrested on Threat of Terrorism charges

News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Two southwest Iowa residents were arrested Thursday evening on three counts each, of Threat of Terrorism. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year old Mike Andrew Lawson, Jr.,  and 24-year old Justine Sheree Powers, both of College Springs, were taken into custody at around 7:10-p.m.  The pair were originally arrested by deputies in Page County on the same date. Lawson, Jr. & Powers were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $10,000 cash only bond, each.

Details of the investigation are currently limited, because the incident or incidents leading to the arrests are still under investigation.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office extends its thanks to the Red Oak Police Department, Page County Sheriff’s Office and Nodaway County, MO., Sheriff’s Office, for their assistance.

Court declines elimination of bar exam proposal

News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says law students in Iowa should continue to take the bar exam before being admitted to practice law in the state. Chief Justice Mark Cady issued an order Friday saying the court will take no further action on the recommendation from the Iowa State Bar Association, which had suggested changes in admission procedures for lawyers.

The association, whose membership includes about 90 percent of the state’s lawyers, suggested Iowa do away with the bar exam for graduates of the University of Iowa and Drake University law schools who wish to practice in Iowa.

Currently Wisconsin is the only other state that offers the so-called diploma privilege.

New stamps celebrate farmer’s markets

Ag/Outdoor, News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

There are more than 230 farmer’s markets across Iowa and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is hoping four new postage stamps will help keep those farmer’s markets on people’s minds. “A lot of folks have talked about the benefits of farmers markets and that’s certainly true. This postage stamp will give us the opportunity to focus on those benefits,” Vilsack said at a recent ceremony at a farmer’s market near the White House to celebrate the release of the new stamps. The former Iowa governor said the stamps are coming out at a great time, as farmers markets are very popular these days.

(Image courtesy US Postal Service)

(Image courtesy US Postal Service)

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in farmers markets across the United States, a 76-percent increase,” Vilsack said. “Today, we have over 8,268 markets throughout the United States.” The artist who created the stamps is Robin Moline of Lakeland, Minnesota. The stamps feature images of fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, baked goods, and cut flowers. “They show some of what you can get there and the freshness and the spirit of the market,” Moline said. “They’re a community gathering spot. They’re a wonderful place to get good, fresh food, and you get to meet your farmers.”

A recent survey found Iowa had about $38 million worth of direct sales at farmers markets, creating an impact of $71 million on the state’s economy.

directory of Iowa farmer’s markets:
https://www.idalsdata.org/fmnp/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.formFarmersMarketDirectory

(Radio Iowa)

Rollover accident in Union County results in injuries

News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s officials in Union County say the driver of a pickup truck was injured when the vehicle went out of control Thursday night and rolled into a ditch. 49-year old Paul Burdett Pals, of Orient, was transported to the Greater Regional Hospital in Creston following the accident, which occurred at around 9:15-p.m. on Highway 25.
Authorities say Pals’ 2006 northbound Chevy Silverado pickup went off the road onto the shoulder and the veered across the southbound lane of Highway 25 before entering the west ditch, hitting a fence and ending up in a soybean field.

Officials address public fears about treating Ebola patient in Omaha

News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Officials with the State of Nebraska and the University of Nebraska say treating a doctor who contracted Ebola in Africa at an Omaha hospital poses no health risk to the public. Dr. Joseph Acierno  is director of the Nebraska Department of Health.  “Considering the way the facility has been designed, considering the expertise we have with that facility, considering our partners, we believe any risk is minimal and we think there shouldn’t be fear, but we understand there will be fear,” Acierno says. “We stand ready to answer those questions.”

Dr. Rick Sacra, the patient, went on a mission trip to Liberia in August to work in a hospital there. He got a fever last Friday and was diagnosed with Ebola early this week. Sacra was driven by ambulance to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha after landing a little after 6 a.m. today (Friday) at Offutt Air Force Base, just south of Omaha.

Dr. Phil Smith is director of the “biocontainment” unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center where Sacra is being treated. “It’s likely that we’re going to continue to see people like this,” Smith  says. “They want to test the capacity of different places and have more than one facility on call.” Jeffery Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, says staff at the hospital have been preparing for this type of situation for “a very long time.”   “Not only will this patient receive world-class care,” Gold says, ” but all of our patients, students, faculty and staff will be completely protected during this entire episode of care.”

During this Ebola outbreak in west Africa, 36-hundred people have fallen ill and more than half of them have died. Sacra is a family practice doctor who was volunteering in the obstetrics unit of a hospital in Liberia. Two other American medical missionaries were flown back to the U.S. and treated at an Atlanta hospital’s isolation unit. They have both been released. The unit at Emory University in Atlanta, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana operate containment units that are similar to the one in Omaha.

(Radio Iowa)

Lenox man arrested on a warrant, Thursday

News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Police in Lenox arrested a man Thursday night who was wanted on a warrant for Failure to Appear in Court. Officers took 21-year old German Phillip Rodriguez, of Lenox, into custody at around 11-p.m. at his place of employment.

German P. Rodriguez.

German P. Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was wanted for failure to appear on an original charge of assault causing injury. He was transported to the Taylor County Jail where he was being held without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Creston man arrested Thu. evening on drug charges

News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A Creston man was arrested Thursday evening on drug charges, following a traffic stop. According to Creston Police, 21-year old Ely Will was taken into custody at around 5:30-p.m. in the 900 block of N. Lincoln Street.

Will faces charges that include Driving While Revoked, Possession of Paraphernalia, and Possession of Methamphetamine. He was released from the Union County Jail after posting $1,000 bond.

(8-a.m. News)

(Podcast) 8-a.m. News, 9/5/2014

News, Podcasts

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Play

Special school elections to be held Sept. 9th

News

September 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Voters in Pottawattamie, Harrison and Mills Counties will head to the polls Tuesday to participate in special school elections. The Daily NonPareil reports the Lewis Central Community School District is asking voters to renew an existing instructional support levy, while the Missouri Valley and East Mills school districts will hold votes on voter-approved physical plant and equipment levies.

Lewis Central voters will choose whether to reauthorize a levy that is a mix of property taxes and an income tax surcharge that is used for textbooks, curriculum materials, Chromebooks, musical instruments and software licenses. Last year, the levy generated about $1.27 million, with $710,000 from income surtaxes and $560,000 from property taxes. The property tax portion of the levy was the equivalent of 54 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation.

The income tax surcharge portion is 6 percent, which is levied against a taxpayer’s state tax liability, not income. For example, someone who owes $1,000 in state taxes would be charged $60 – that is, 6 percent of $1,000. Lewis Central voters can go to the polls Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Lewis Central Middle School.

Missouri Valley voters are being asked to double its existing physical plant and equipment levy, which pays for infrastructure needs, to a combined $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable valuation. The expanded levy would be offset by expiring bond payments. Even if voters approve the proposal, they would still see a decrease of 86 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation in property taxes next year.

With voter approval, the levy would generate $2.9 million to help pay for a $7.5 million investment in the district’s campus, connecting all the schools together and making safety and wellness improvements. The remaining $4.6 in funding would come through state sales tax revenue. Missouri Valley voters can head to the polls Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Rand Center.

East Mills voters are being asked for a similar levy of $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable valuation for infrastructure projects. The district has faced a financial crisis, which resulted in the closing of Chantry Elementary School in Malvern this year to control costs. A school bond is on the horizon for next year following the levy vote next week. With voter approval, the levy would generate nearly $4 million over the next decade. How the money would be spent would depend on the fate of the school bond, based on several scenarios developed by Iowa Schoolhouse Construction & Planning Services.

If the bond issue would fall significantly short of passing, the consultant recommended the district consolidate its schools to Nishna Valley, which could be renovated using the levy funds. If the bond vote is close but unsuccessful, the district could try again. A successful bond vote could see all grades consolidated into the existing high school in Malvern.

East Mills voters living in the former Nishna Valley district can vote at Indian Creek Museum, 59256 380th St. in Hastings, from noon to 8 p.m.  Those voters living in the former Malvern district vote at Malvern Public Library, 502 Main St. in Malvern, from noon to 8 p.m.