Powell Broadcasting Launches “Spirit 712” Radio
(Sioux City) — Powell Broadcasting, the owner of KLEM radio, has announced the launch of Spirit 712, an online contemporary Christian music radio station.
Rather than tuning in on your traditional radios, listeners can hear this musical ministry through their computer, mobile apps, and Alexa.
Dennis Bullock, General Manager of Powell Broadcasting says “The smart phone is the new transistor radio, and our listeners are now using a variety of platforms to hear all our stations.”
And why 712? Even though the programming is available anywhere around the world, the station is focusing on the 712 area code in Iowa for local information, weather, and announcements. “This is an original concept of ours that could grow into other areas of the country and with additional
online formats,” says Dave Grosenheider, Director of Sales at Powell Broadcasting and the coordinator of Spirit 712. The station, broadcasting 24 hours a day/seven days a week from Le Mars is concentrating primarily on the area from Sioux City to Sheldon.
Playing “Today’s Christian Hits and Yesterday’s Favorites,” Spirit 712 will also sprinkle in local recording artists like the Browns and Jill Miller.
The contemporary Christian station will feature popular names like Casting Crowns, MercyMe, Chris Tomlin, Lauren Daigle, Danny Glokey, Newsboys, and many others along with favorites like Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant.
Grosenheider says “This has been a real passion project for me and a five year dream come true,”. “Every time this endeavor ran into a roadblock or was put on the back burner, God winked at me and showed me a sign and a path to bring it to reality. I’m fortunate to work for a great company like Powell Broadcasting that allowed me to pursue this concept.”
Grosenheider credits singing in his church’s Praise Band, People of Praise at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Le Mars, as the spark that prompted Spirit 712. “It’s our hope that the station and its musical ministry will be a blessing to many people, offering hope, encouragement, and inspiration.”
Listeners can go the station web site www.Spirit712.com and listen online.
The site also explains how to download the Android and Apple iOS mobile apps and it gives instructions on how to enable the Alexa Skill. The station’s Instagram and Facebook page are additional ways to connect with Spirit 712.
Plymouth County’s Bunker Hill, Inc. Honored As Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award
(Des Moines) — A Plymouth County farm family received an Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award. Bunker Hill, Inc.; corporation ran by Steve and Judy Bunkers of Remsen, were nominated by Kristi Silverthorn, Deep Creek watershed coordinator, on behalf of the Plymouth Soil and Water Conservation District.
They run an 800-acre corn and soybean operation and own 400 of those acres.
Likewise, they have 5,000 head of finishing hogs. The farm has received Century Farm recognition and has been in operation for 126 years.
Steve and Judy have proven to be conservation stewards by practicing cover crops, mulch tillage, contour farming all sloping fields, narrow and broad-based terraces, windbreaks, CRP acres, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plans and all fertilizer/hog manure is injected. Bunker Hill Inc. is enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) with the Natural
Resource Conservation Service, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with the Farm Service Agency, and actively involved in the Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative Project. Over the past 10 years, they have installed 56,650 feet of terraces, have 350 acres of cover crops and have installed 4 water and sediment control basins. Between 1977 and 1993, 31,200 feet of
terraces were installed. They have 6.8 acres set aside to maintain/enhance upland wildlife food and cover.
Their main reason for incorporating these practices is to maintain and improve the soil for the next generation and to carry on the legacy of Steve’s father, Vernon Bunkers, started years ago, that resulted in an Iowa Soil Conservation Award in 1966 sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Tribune and the Iowa Farm and Home Register.
The Bunkers’ family is one of 53 to receive the Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award in 2019.
It was presented by Gov. Kim Reynolds, LT. Gov. Adam Gregg, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director, Kayla Lyon, at the Iowa State Fair, August 14th.
The award is a joint effort to recognize the efforts of Iowa’s farmers as environmental leaders committed to healthy soils and improved water quality. It seeks to recognize the explementary voluntary actions of farmers who improve or protect the environment and natural resources of Iowa, while encouraging other farmers to follow in their footsteps.
This is the seventh year of the award and to date more than 500 families have received recognition.
Killer Of Female Golfer Sentenced To Life In Prison Without Parole
AMES, Iowa (AP) – The man who killed a former Iowa State University golfer has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
A Story County judge pronounced the mandatory sentence Friday on 22-year-old Collin Richards. He’d pleaded guilty on June 14 to first-degree murder for the Sept. 17 slaying of 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena.
Police say Richards stabbed her while she was playing on a course near the campus in Ames, leaving her body in a pond.
Richards had been staying at a homeless encampment in nearby woods.
Barquin Arozamena was a top golfer in Spain as a teenager and came to Iowa State to pursue her career.
A lawyer for her family told The Des Moines Register that relatives hope Richards’ sentencing will let them attain some closure.
Prison Guard Has Suspension Reduced
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials have reduced the disciplinary action taken against a prison guard who did not get approval to be featured in a positive story in his small hometown newspaper.
A settlement signed this month reduces the discipline against John Cox from a three-day to a one-day suspension. If Cox has no further discipline for the next year, the infraction will not be used against him in the future.
The Bloomfield Democrat, a weekly paper in southern Iowa, featured Cox in a front-page story last December about how he approaches his job as an officer at the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility. The article was about how Cox’s life challenges led to his job at the prison and how he finds
great satisfaction in helping inmates.
Prison officials say Cox violated policy by not getting prior approval before speaking with the journalist, who had been one of his school teachers.
Cox and his union had appealed the suspension, calling it a violation of his free speech rights.
Vaping Contributing To Respiratory Diseases
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Health officials say four cases of respiratory illness have been confirmed in four young Iowans with a history of vaping.
The Iowa Department of Public Health said in a news release Thursday that several other states have recently reported cases of severe respiratory illness among teenagers and young adults who’d been vaping. Their symptoms include cough, fatigue, dizziness, headache, vomiting and diarrhea, chest pain and worsening difficulty breathing. The cases are still being
investigated.
The department director, Dr. Caitlin Pedati, is asking health care
providers to watch for cases of severe respiratory illness among teenagers and young adults and to inquire about their recent vaping and e-cigarette use. The providers also are asked to report any cases to the Iowa Public Health Department.
