DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The value of crops fell last year as corn and soybeans prices declined from record highs the year before. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in an annual report the value of 2013 field crops fell 9.8 percent to nearly $167 billion from $185 billion in 2012. The 2012 drought reduced the corn and soybean harvest and drove prices to record highs which resulted in increased crop value.

Friday’s report says the average price of corn for 2012 was $6.89 per bushel and the value of the crop that year was $74.3 billion. Last year’s average price was $4.50 and the overall value fell to $62.7 billion.  Top crop producers last year were Illinois with crops valued at $16 billion, Iowa at $15.9 billion, and Nebraska at nearly $12 billion.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad wants to help more Iowa residents participate in national service programs. Branstad on Monday said he had signed an executive order to create the Governor’s Council on National Service in Iowa. That group will make recommendations on how to expand opportunities to participate in national service programs, like AmeriCorps. It will also look for ways to increase volunteer opportunities in the state.

Among the goals set out for the Council is trying to develop new public-private partnerships to support service in Iowa. The group will provide preliminary recommendations to the governor this summer and a final report by Feb. 1, 2015. Branstad says the state benefits when citizens “take the initiative and engage in their communities.”

A farm auction held over the weekend in Shelby County over 700 spectators. The land auction of Edwin “Bud” Skalla was held at the St. Mary’s Parish Center in Portsmouth on Saturday morning. The 858 acres of farmland, which was separated into 5 tracts, was purchased for a total of $7.8 million. The tracts were separated between Shelby and Harrison County. Other personal items were also auctioned for a total of $17,000. The money from the auctions will be donated to 13 southwest Iowa catholic churches.

The 92 year old Skalla had bequeathed the land to the churches along with another tract of 292 that was given to St. Mary Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Portsmouth. The portion of land given to Portsmouth was not part of the auction on Saturday. Those churches benefiting in Shelby County are St. Michael’s in Harlan, St. Peter’s in Defiance, St. Joseph’s in Earling, and St. Boniface in Westphalia, St. Mary’s in Portsmouth and St. Mary’s in Panama.

In Harrison County, St. Patrick’s Church in Missouri Valley, St. Anne’s Church in Logan, St. Patrick’s in Dunlap and Sacred Heart in Woodbine. In addition, St. Patrick’s in Neola, St. Rose of Lima in Denison and St. Patrick’s in Council Bluffs are also beneficiaries.

(KNOD/Harlan)

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday) released a report on arrests made over the past week. On Saturday, 36-year old Melvin Benny Jurey, of Sidney, was arrested for Felony Assault and Domestic Abuse Assault. And, 26-year old Charles Franklin Liles, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Public Intoxication.

Last Wednesday (Feb. 12th), 24-year old Leanna Mae Jackson and 23-year old Sherika Shana Shelly, both of Omaha, and 23-year old Kamisha Kay Childs, of Raytown, MO., were arrested in Fremont County for Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

On Tuesday (Feb. 11th), 36-year old Roger Eugene Straw,of Red Oak, was arrested for Violation of a Protection Order, and on Feb. 4th, 32-year old Christopher Charles Bowers, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Reckless use of Fire and Trespassing.

A thin glaze of ice covered by heavy, wet snow caught some motorists off-guard this morning in western Iowa. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports one person was transported to the hospital following a rollover accident at around 7:30-a.m. on Interstate 29 northbound at the I-80 split. And, an injury accident was reported in Council Bluffs, but no further details are currently available on either accident.  Other, minor accident occurred in some area counties.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Atlantic Police Dept. reports two people were arrested, Friday. 34-year old Heather Christensen, of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant out of Storm Lake for Possession of a Controlled Substance, and, 19-year old Brooklyn Terry, of Atlantic, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Terry and Christensen were booked into the Cass County Jail.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The experts are keeping a close eye on Missouri River conditions as they try to predict whether water levels will be high or low in the coming months. Jody Farhat is chief of the Missouri River Water Management Office of the U-S Army Corps of Engineers. Farhat, who’s based in Omaha, says low river levels and above-normal runoff may balance each other out.
“The drought situation in the basin is much improved from a year ago, however, the main stem reservoirs remain drawn down five to 11 feet as result of the 2012 drought,” Farhat says. “Soil moistures going into the winter were quite wet across much of the upper basin, which creates the potential for above-normal runoff this spring, even if precipitation is normal.”

From one point of view, it’s fortunate that river levels are still quite low since the drought, or else significant flooding might be in the forecast. Bill Doan, an engineer in the Corps’ water management office, says they expect higher-than-normal runoff along the upper end of the Missouri River basin. “The 2014 calendar year runoff forecast is 26.7-million acre feet above Sioux City. This is 106% of normal,” Doan says. “Above Gavins Point Dam, we’re forecasting 24.3-million acre feet. This is, again, 106% of normal.” The figures represent an increase since the January forecast due to several factors: a greater than expected January runoff, a higher precipitation forecast for February and slight increases in the runoff forecast for May through July.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 54-year-old registered Iowa sex offender has been given nearly 30 years in prison for child pornography and enticing a child into sexual activity.  Timothy Koenck, of Fenton, was given 355 months earlier this month after pleading guilty to several charges in September. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Sioux City.

Koenck also was convicted in 2002 of enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography. Koenck must serve 10 years of supervised release after leaving custody.