Two of Iowa’s largest retail food chains are partnering for a new program to save customers money on gasoline. Des Moines-based Hy-Vee grocery stores and the Ankeny-based Casey’s General Store convenience stores are launching the promotion. Hy-Vee spokeswoman Ruth Comer says customers can sign up for free. “When they purchase items that are featured in the weekly Fuel Saver ad, savings discounts are added to their fuel saver card,” Comer says. “They can then swipe that card at the gas pump at any Hy-Vee or Casey’s store and save money. The more of the items they purchase, the more they’ll save on each gallon of gasoline.”

She says the discounts on the items range from two cents to 25-cents, but they’ll add up. “A typical savings each week, if a customer buys one of everything that’s featured in the ad, would be $2 a gallon,” Comer says. “If they buy multiple items, they can save even more, up to getting their gas for free.”

It replaces a gas saving program at Hy-Vee where customers used to have to keep track of receipts and bring them into the gas station/store for the discount to apply. Hy-Vee has 234 stores in eight Midwestern states, including 106 gas stations. Casey’s has 17-hundred stores in 12 Midwestern states.

(Radio Iowa)

Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert reports the Fire Danger Index in Shelby County will remain in the “Low” category through Monday. Seivert noted the current rain and the moist field conditions as reasons the danger of grassland and field fires is low. He cited also, the fact the there are currently no bans on open burning anywhere in southwest Iowa.

The Council Bluffs Convention and Visitors Bureau has been awarded $1000 from the Western Iowa Tourism Region (WITR) to help provide funding for magazine advertising to attract Group Travel and to promote Culinary Tour itineraries. “Rise to the Occasion” is a new group travel itinerary created by Diane Hestness, Group Travel Director for the Council Bluffs CVB.  The itinerary is all about having a hand-on experience with foods.  Hestness says “Culinary tours are very popular right now. To secure new motor coach business, we created this tour that’s centered around culinary experiences in Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County.”

In order to get a little help in publicizing this new itinerary, the CVB sought and was awarded a Western Iowa Tourism Grant.  WITR Regional Director, Michelle Walker, reports that western Iowa continues to see an increase in private and public investment in tourism related projects and services. And, WITR and the Travel Federation of Iowa continue to communicate about the economic significance of tourism by sharing the revenues received by local and state taxes and the number of travel related jobs.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs officials say the Missouri River flooding last year will cost the city about $4.5 million. Finance director Art Hill  says the city’s total estimated cost for dealing with the 2011 flooding is expected to be $19.4 million. The city’s portion includes its required 15 percent share of costs eligible for federal assistance, as well as $1.9 million in costs that were not eligible for assistance. The state and federal governments are paying the rest of the bills.

The costs include infrastructure repairs, debris removal and the purchase and demolition of structures damaged by high water. Hill says Council Bluffs won’t have to raise taxes to pay flood bills, because the money will come from what he says is the city’s healthy general fund.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Authorities in Red Oak report one person was arrested Wednesday night on drug charges. According to Red Oak Police 21-year-old Devon James Lamb, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 300 block of East Market Street. Lamb faces charges that include Possession with Intent to Deliver/methamphetamine, Possession of a Controlled Substance/marijuana, and interference with official acts. Lamb was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $100,000 bond.

For a Pottawattamie County woman, Christmas came early this year. Officials with the Iowa Lottery say 35-year old Kristina Barber, of Council Bluffs, won $30,000 on the Holiday Crossword scratch game after stopping for groceries at the No Frills Supermarket on Valley View Drive in Council Bluffs. Barber said by the time she got about five numbers, she started shaking and didn’t stop until she had finished the ticket.

Once she had finished the ticket, she went to her local gas station to verify what she believed was her $30,000 top prize ticket. She told the Iowa Lottery, “I started dancing around the gas station, and then I went home and called my husband.” Barber is a nurse at an Omaha doctor’s office and hasn’t made any plans for the money. She claimed her prize last Wednesday at the Iowa Lottery regional office in Council Bluffs. The Iowa Lottery says there are 31 top prizes of $30,000 still up for grabs in the “Holiday Crossword” game.

Showers and thunderstorms rumbled through western Iowa early this morning, ahead of a cold front making its way through the state. In  Atlantic, our 24-hour rainfall total at 7-a.m. amounted to seven-tenths (.7″) of an inch at the KJAN studios. The temps began to fall as well as the rain, with a 5-degree decline between 5-and 7-a.m. The 24-hour high was 78-degrees, while the 24-hour low at 7-a.m., was 46.

Other area rainfall amounts reported as of 7-a.m., include: .33″ in Massena; .2″ in Lyman; .9″ just east of Oakland; .94″ southwest of Avoca; A spotter near Malvern reported .75″ of rain; Villisca had .19″; Shenandoah .2″; Red Oak .25″; N. of Marne 1.3″

If you have a rain amount you’d like to report, give us a call at 1-800-283-5526.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Directors of the Cass County Library Association presented their annual (Fiscal Year 2012) report to the County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday morning. The Directors also requested funding for fiscal year 2014 in the amount of $60,600, which is unchanged from the past two fiscal years. The funds, if approved during the budgeting process, would be divided among the County’s six libraries.  Griswold Library Director Cindy Miller told the Board that while the overall circulation numbers are down, that’s in-part because of changes in the way libraries are being used, and the increased use of technology.

The numbers show the libraries are keeping busy in many ways, with people using other services within the facilities, other than to check-out books and materials. Much of the focus has been on using technology to search for employment, update their resumes, conducting research for education and other, similar purposes. The level of service she says is nearly equal among the six libraries in the County, only the atmosphere and offerings differs. Miller said the challenge they face is keeping up with technology. So far, she says, they’ve able to do so. She said going digital has been a huge transformation for the since there is a demand for both printed and digital materials, so the libraries are doing their best to broaden technology to keep up with that demand.

Among the changes visitors to the area libraries will notice, is: In Atlantic, a digitization of the Genealogical records and related collections. In Addition, Library Director Carol Stanger is retiring, and will be succeeded by Meredith Scherb; In Cumberland, there’s a new addition to the library, with a new children’s and activity room; There’s a brand new library in Lewis. An open house will be held for the facility on November 3^rd, beginning at 1-p.,m.; In Massena, where there is also a nearly new building, they’ve been working on landscaping and the entryway. In Griswold, work has started on a new addition. It should be finished by the 1^st of next year. They’ve also installed new technology, with the aid of grants, and from donations.