Thursday March 6, 2014
Go to www.crestonnews.com for Breaking News as it happens
SWCC names new volleyball coach
Join us the “FIRST FRIDAY” of every month!
SPORTS, page 8A
A N “Fabulous First Friday Fare” N ...featuring Tropical DD Pavlovas & Cannoli
5:30 7:30 p.m.
Barker Implement joins A&M Green Power to form AgriVision
from CHS
LEON — A head-on collision in Decatur County Wednesday afternoon claimed the lives of three people, including a 3-year-old girl. The fatal collision happened about 5 p.m. Wednesday on Iowa route J-20, east of U.S. Highway 69. According to an Iowa State Patrol crash report, Sherissa Goodman, 35, of Leon — driving a 2001 Chevy east on J-20 — lost control of her vehicle because of icy road conditions. Her vehicle crossed the center line and collided in a head-on manner with a Chevy truck being driven west by 21-year-old Jeremiah Boswell of Lamoni. Goodman, and her two passengers — Charles Downard, 31, of Van Wert and Shayla Matte, 3, of Leon — were pronounced dead at the scene. Boswell was injured and taken by ambulance to Decatur County Hospital in Lamoni. His condition at this time is unknown.
jwaddingham@crestonnews.com
T
Reminder: Daylight saving time begins this weekend
CNA photo by JAKE WADDINGHAM
Barker Implement and A&M Green Power joined forces to become AgriVision Jan. 1 and will serve John Deere customers in three states from 13 retail locations. There will be more than 400 employees representing AgriVision and COO Bob Irr said the emphasis will continue to be on providing progressive thinking with old-fashioned, personal customer service. Irr added the merger of the two businesses was a good fit because of their history as a family-run business.
Don’t forget to move your clocks forward one hour for daylight saving time (DST) 2 a.m. Sunday. This change makes sunrise and sunset both occur about one hour later starting Sunday. DST was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, but modern DST did not take hold until 1895. The United States set a law in 1918 to standardize the beginning and end of DST, but federal government does not require states or territories to make the change.
Company store locations in Iowa
Attention Afton residents Afton Police Chief John Coulter reports there will be no parking allowed on the west side of the Afton square today because a semitrailer hauling a large boiler will be parked there. “The boiler is en route to a power plant,” Coulter Coulter said. Coulter said the semitrailer will be parked there from one hour before sunset today until one hour after sunrise Friday. Parking will resume once the semi-trailer leaves Friday morning.
Barker Implement and A&M Green Power came together Jan. 1 to form AgriVision. Store locations include Creston, Lenox, Albia, Clarinda, Hamburg, Indianola, Knoxville, Macedonia, Massena, Leon, Pacific Junction, Red Oak and Winterset. But Irr said the biggest benefit for area John Deere customers is the longevity of service AgriVision will be
Super Six Seniors
Fatal crash near Leon Wednesday kills three
CNA associate editor
sena. The family operations that make up AgriVision have 312 years of combined agricultural experience and the company’s CEO is Jeremy Ostrander. “It is a generational transition,” Irr said. “We expect the family ownership to be a key part of the business as we go forward.” With more than 400 employees, Irr said AgriVision will focus on providing progressive thinking with the same old-fashioned, personal customer attention. AgriVision will be able to have personnel who specialize in new agricultural technology. “The use of technology continues to grow and that will be a key to our business to make sure we have the right tools in place to help the customer use it effectively,” Irr said.
Reception 6 - 8 p.m. The Depot
QUICK NEWS
By JAKE WADDINGHAM
wo area farm implement businesses have merged to provide better service to John Deere customers. Barker Implement and A&M Green Power came together Jan. 1 to form AgriVision. The company will cover 28 counties in southwest and south central Iowa as well as parts of eastern Nebraska and northern Missouri with 13 store locations. “If you look at both companies, they have been on a growth path for years and the industry continues to consoledate,” said AgriVision COO Bob Irr. “It is a journey that has been going on for a while. We believed the next logical step was the merger.” Store locations include Creston, Lenox, Albia, Clarinda, Hamburg, Indianola, Knoxville, Macedonia, Massena, Leon, Pacific Junction, Red Oak and Winterset. Irr said the two companies also had similar value points, especially in regards to family ownership and customer service that owners Don Athen and Todd Barker will strive to continue. Barker Implement was established in Lenox in 1936 and is a third-generation family operation. The business started its expansion in 1991 and grew to eight John Deere dealerships before the merger. A&M Green Power was created after the McCready family of Macedonia and Athens family of Hamburg partnered together in 2006. The company later added McCunn Implement of Mas-
Artist
able to provide. “We are in a position to provide for our customers for years to come,” Irr said.
Lengthening winter stresses Iowa’s wildlife DNR reports frigid temps and deep snow have caused some deer in Iowa to starve to death. ■
(MCT) — This long, cold, snowy winter has not been good for wildlife in Iowa. The frigid temperatures and deep snow have caused some deer in northeast Iowa to starve to death, Department of Natural Resources biologists said Wednesday. Meanwhile, the state’s most famous wildlife, the Decorah eagles, continue to incubate their three eggs in adverse conditions, and only time will tell if they hatch, according to their godfather, Bob Anderson of Decorah, director of the Raptor
Resource Project, the not-for-profit organization that developed the nest cam that’s viewed on millions of computer screens each year. The eagles, whose first egg appeared Feb. 23, have strived to keep them warm through several subzero days and nights and in mounting snow, including nearly 10 inches that fell Tuesday night. “We probably won’t know (if they succeeded) until it’s time for the first egg to hatch in another 32 to 33 days,” Anderson said Wednesday. Anderson said he knows of instances in which both eagle eggs and eagle chicks have frozen under similar extreme winter conditions. Webcam enthusiasts have monitored the nest round the clock and have reported that the eggs were uncovered a total of 59 minutes in
one 48-hour period, he added. While the eagles tend to their nest, the DNR has been seeing signs of deer starvation in northeast Iowa, where winter snowfall has exceeded 50 inches in several counties, according to Tom Litchfield, the state’s deer biologist. DNR biologist Terry Haindfield said he performed necropsies on two dead deer that had red bone marrow – a sign of starvation. They also have observed “fuzzy-faced fawns,” an expression used to describe young deer with upright facial hair, a condition that occurs when deer are struggling to maintain body heat because of malnutrition, he said. Litchfield said cold weather does not bother deer as long as they find adequate food. But deep snow can limit them to browsing on trees and
shrubs. Malnourished does carrying twins involuntarily will direct all available nourishment to one fetus at the expense of the other, he said. Winter-weakened deer also become much more susceptible to predators such as family groups of coyotes, Litchfield said. “It’s the tail end of winter that tells the story. Most of the starvation occurs at the end of a winter that won’t quit,” Haindfield said The snowy winter will cause a further decline in the state’s pheasant population, according to Todd Bogenschutz, the DNR’s upland game biologist. “Whenever the statewide average snowfall exceeds 31 inches, which is the average right now, pheasant numbers go down,” he said. Declines will be steepest in the
northeast segment of the state, which has had well more snow than the southwest portion, Bogenschutz said. However, most nongame wildlife species are faring well, said Bruce Ehresman, a biologist with the state’s Wildlife Diversity Program. “I have not seen animals suffering, but traditional food sources have been nearly used up in some areas,” he said Ehresman said he has received several reports of goldfinches being much less visible around feeders in northeast Iowa. “They probably went farther south than they usually do,” he said. —————— ©2014 The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Distributed by MCT Information Services
Serving Southwest Iowa since 1879 Price 75¢
If you do not receive your CNA by 5 p.m. call 641-782-2141, ext. 221. Papers will be redelivered in Creston until 6:30 p.m. Phones will be answered until 7 p.m.
Volume 130 No. 188 Copyright 2014
Contact us 2014
In person: Mail: Phone: Fax: E-mail:
503 W. Adams Street Box 126, Creston, IA 50801-0126 641-782-2141 641-782-6628 news@crestonnews.com
Contents
Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Deaths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Heloise Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 NASCAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Friday weather High 43 Low 22 Full weather report, 3A