AKRON NATIVE AT GAZA
An Akron, Iowa native currently working for the United Nations in Gaza will appear this Sunday on the CBS news program Sixty Minutes. Scott Anderson, the son of Rick and Marlys Anderson of Akron, is helping provide emergency response and humanitarian services during the Israel-Hamas war and Gaza conflict.
During an interview with Charlie Stone of sister station KSCJ, Anderson, speaking from Gaza, said that growing up he never dreamed he would appear on a program like Sixty Minutes…
Anderson credits growing up in this area for preparing him for his current role…
The Akron Iowa native gave an overview of the long standing conflict in that area…
He explained that not everyone in Palestine and Gaza is part of Hamas…
Anderson said the mood from the October 7th masacre was similar to the mood after 9-11 in New York….
Scott Anderson graduated from Akron-Westfield High School in 1985. He served 21 years in the Army followed by 10 years with the United Nations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. He is currently on leave from his position with the USDA in Sioux Falls.
The connection with Scott Anderson in Gaza was recorded using WhatsApp.
STREET CLOSING SATURDAY
There is a street closure today, at Well’s South Ice Cream Plant. Welkls will shut down part 18th St. S.W. between 6th Ave. S.W. and 12th Ave. S.W. today between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. They will be installing another new crane rail in the freezer which requires them to pull it out of the freezer and across 18th St. S.W. . There will be detour signs set up during the hours listed .
FLOYD VALLEY HEALTHCARE EARNS TOP 100 CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITAL
Floyd Valley Healthcare been recognized as a 2024 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. Chartis’ annual Top 100 award program recognizes outstanding performance among the nation’s rural hospitals.
CEO Dustin Wright says performance was measured in categories of quality, patient experience, financial performance and market share. Michael Topchik with the Chartis Center says this is the 14th year of the Chartis rankings. He says this year, there are 40 first-time recipients among the 100 hospitals honored.
Wright says Floyd Valley Healthcare has over 400 team members.
SPEECH ALL STATERS
For the first time in 23 years, the Le Mars Community High School speech team has won a critic’s choice banner. On Saturday, February 17th, at the IHSSA All State Festival, the group improvisation duo of Ryder Mullally and Jenna Morris were selected as the favorite performers in their category. LCHS had two categories entered, Television Newscasting and Group Improv.
Senior performer Jenna Morris Says that winning the award was a great end to her Large Group Speech career.
Jennas partner, Ryder Mullally, says he’s thankful for winning the award.
Group Improv critic Andrew Lopez selected LCHS’s entry as his favorite performance of the day and awarded Le Mars with the critics choice award. The festival, which was held at Iowa State University in Ames, is held to honor the distinguished speech performers in the State of Iowa.
DRY FEBRUARY HASN’T IMPROVED THE DROUGHT SITUATION
Hopes raised in January for a turnaround in the state drought situation went away as February turned dry. Iowa D-N-R Hydrologist, Tim Hall says the latest Drought Monitor Report shows that.
Hall says the dry soil sucked up most of the snow melt and there was not a lot left to refill empty streams and rivers.
The snow came in January which was one inch above normal for precipitation. But Hall says all that surplus has gone away in what may end up being the driest February on record.
He says we typically get a lot more rain in the spring months, and we’ll need that to work toward getting rid of the drought.
Hall says the January snow was good, but when it melted in February, it illustrated how dry things are.
IOWA GAS PRICES UP AFTER PROBLEM AT INDIANA REFINERY
Gas prices have followed the temperatures and gone up in this week. Triple-A Iowa spokesman Brian Ortner says oil prices have gone up a bit, but there’s another factor impacting gas prices.
The price of regular unleaded gasoline was averaging more than three dollars a gallon across Iowa.
He says getting that refinery back up to speed will help.
The national average for a gallon of gas was up one cent to three-dollars, 27 cents.
