Officials of the City of Adair have announced that the Boil Advisory has been lifted for the City of Adair, as of 12 noon today, April 3rd.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The former chief administrative law judge for unemployment appeals is alleging that Iowa Workforce Development Director Teresa Wahlert repeatedly tried to interfere with judges’ work to favor employers over workers.  Joseph Walsh filed a lawsuit Thursday in Polk County alleging that Wahlert stripped him of his job protections and ultimately laid off him and his wife after he opposed her efforts to exert authority over administrative law judges to pursue an “anti-employee agenda.”

Walsh had been the deputy IWD director under Democratic Gov. Chet Culver. Then he was named to oversee a dozen judges that handle unemployment benefits decisions. The lawsuit claims Wahlert’s decision to lay off Walsh was retaliation for Walsh’s complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor about Wahlert’s actions.

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green reports an Atlantic man was arrested today (Thursday), on multiple drug charges. 33-year old Steven Pedersen, of Atlantic, was charged with: Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Distribute; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana; Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drug or Device; Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd offense – Psilocybin mushrooms, and, Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp.

Pedersen has since posted a $10,000 bond and was released pending an upcoming court appearance.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Residents in northwest Iowa are preparing for another blast of winter-like weather – two weeks into spring.  The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning starting Thursday afternoon into Friday morning for the northwestern corner of Iowa. The agency says rain and snow, possibly mixed with sleet, is expected Thursday afternoon.

Blowing snow is expected Thursday night into Friday, with up to 3 inches of snow and sleet expected. Wind gusts of up to 45 mph are expected Friday with high temperatures in the mid-30s. Winds are expected to diminish by midnight, and skies will clear by Saturday, bringing temperatures in the mid- to upper 50s.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Senate has passed a Democratic-sponsored amendment to a state spending bill that would require the state auditor to look into confidential settlement agreements with fired state workers during Gov. Terry Branstad’s current term. The amendment authorizes $10,000 for the auditor to conduct the reviews.

Senate Republicans proposed to amend the measure to cover the administrations of Chet Culver and Tom Vilsack, both Democrats, claiming confidential settlements are nothing new. The proposal failed. Democratic Senate Leader Mike Gronstal accused Republicans of politicizing the issue. He says the question of whether Branstad’s administration fired state employees for political reasons needs to be answered.  Republican Sen. Jack Whitver says the issue has been going on for years.

The amendment was tacked onto the Administration and Regulation Budget bill, approved Wednesday 26-21.

Recent and forecast rain has prompted Emergency Management officials in Shelby County to lower the outdoor Fire Danger risk from “High”, to “Moderate.” The “moderate” rating will be in effect through Monday morning, following another assessment of conditions in the County.

Emergency Manager Bob Seivert says if you need help planning your controlled burn, please feel free to contact the Emergency Mgt Agency, 712-755-2124 or your local Fire Chief for assistance.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials in Madison County have banned firearms from the courthouse following a gun scare in the building.  The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of the ban. Madison County was the last of 16 counties in its judicial district to enact such a ban.

Guy Cook, president of the Iowa State Bar Association, applauded the vote and urged more county officials to examine security at their courthouses. The Des Moines Register reports some gun rights advocates say the ban violates Iowa law that allows residents with proper permits to carry concealed firearms.

Twenty-nine-year-old Cory Lee Daugherty is accused of pulling out a weapon and brandishing it around the Madison County courtroom last month. He faces multiple charges in the case.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An investigator says it’s unclear what caused the fire that destroyed the car in which a prominent Iowa developer was found dead Sunday.  Ron Humphrey of the Iowa Fire Marshal’s Office says investigators found no definitive evidence in the burned-out Honda Accord where Bob Knapp’s body was found in rural Guthrie County.

Investigators are looking into what caused Knapp’s death and the vehicle’s fire. Humphrey says preliminary testing indicates Knapp didn’t die of carbon monoxide poisoning. He also didn’t have gunshot wounds.

Knapp left prison last week after serving about 2  1/2 years for conspiring to mishandle the removal of asbestos from a Des Moines building he was renovating. The next day, he borrowed a friend’s car so that he could check in with his parole officer. He never returned.

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

We’re two weeks into spring but parts of northern Iowa will be looking a lot more like winter later today (Thursday) as several inches of snow are in the forecast. State climatologist Harry Hillaker is finished compiling the weather data for March and says the just-ended month was much chillier than normal for Iowa.  “Temperatures were running about six-and-a-half degrees colder than usual for March,” Hillaker says. “It ranks as the 22nd coldest March in 142 years of records, although just last year, March of 2013 was colder than this one.”

In Atlantic, the average low for the month of March was 17.5-degrees. We set two record low temps in March, on the second and third days of the month. The average high was 42.1. Hillaker says we’ve had six months in a row now of colder-than-normal months in Iowa and the trend is continuing into April. Precipitation was also off during March as it was exceptionally dry. “Statewide, we had an average of only about 83-hundreds of an inch of precipitation which is about one-third the usual amount for the month,” he says. “That ranks as the 11th driest March on record among 142 years of records.”

In Atlantic, we received one-third of an inch of precipitation (.33”), from rain and melted snowfall. Snowfall in Atlantic for the month amounted to just 1.9-inches. April is already starting off colder-than-normal though the long dry spell may be coming to an end.

“It does look like, at least in the short term, next week or so, we may have precipitation amounts somewhat above normal, which is something we haven’t had for some time,” Hillaker says. “Some of that could still be coming in the form of snow, especially over in northern parts of the state.”

A few areas of the state, like Sidney and Glenwood in far southwest Iowa, are reporting last month was their driest-ever March.

(Radio Iowa)