United Group Insurance

No. 1 Williamsburg and No. 2 Assumption prepare for Friday’s 3A title game at state softball

Sports

July 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

Top ranked Williamsburg and second ranked Davenport Assumption will collide in Friday afternoon’s Class 3A championship game at the state softball tournament in Fort Dodge. Assumption advanced to the title game for the seventh time in eight years with Wednesday’s 7-5 win over Dubuque Wahlert. Williamsburg got by Estherville Lincoln Central 8-0.

That’s Williamsburg coach Adam Berte. These are familiar opponents. The Knights beat Williamsburg the last two years in the state tournament while the Raiders claimed a 4-3 win in a regular season game back in early June.

If recent history is any indication the game will be close.

A victory would give Wlliamsburg a first ever state title.

That is senior catcher Jenna Thurm who says these teams have played so often it has almost become a rivalry.

 

Posted in Sports |

ISU Mourns Loss of Hall of Famer Dedric Willoughby

Sports

July 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

AMES, Iowa – Dedric Willoughby, an Iowa State Hall-of-Famer and one of the greatest shooters in Cyclone men’s basketball history, died yesterday at the age of 49.

A native of New Orleans, Willoughby was the linchpin on two of Iowa State’s most successful teams in 1995-96 and 1996-97, earning first team all-league honors and leading the team in scoring (20.5 ppg; 18.9 ppg) both seasons.

Willoughby played just two seasons at Iowa State. He began his career at New Orleans for future Cyclone head coach Tim Floyd, but when Floyd took the Iowa State job in 1994, Willoughby transferred to Iowa State prior to the 1995-96 season.

Iowa State was picked to finish last in the final season of the Big Eight Conference, but with Willoughby, and outstanding teammates Kelvin Cato, Kenny Pratt, Shawn Bankhead and Jacy Holloway, the Cyclones shocked the nation by finishing second in the Big Eight (9-5).

Willoughby was the Big Eight Newcomer of the Year and the catalyst in the school’s first-ever Big Eight Conference postseason tournament title in 1996.

In the final Big Eight Tournament championship game, Willoughby calmly sank two clutch free-throws in the final seconds to propel the Cyclones to victory over No. 5 Kansas, 56-55. He was named MVP of the tournament.

In Willoughby’s senior season (1996-97), the Cyclones rose as high as No. 4 in the AP poll and again placed near the top of the league standings, tying for third in the inaugural season of the Big 12 at 10-6.

Willoughby is remembered for his smooth jumpshot. He had a quick release and was extremely accurate, drilling 190 3-pointers at a near-40-percent clip during his career. Willoughby’s nine 3-pointers vs. No. 1 Kansas in Hilton Coliseum in 1997 stood as the school standard for many years.

He made 102 3-pointers in his senior season, a total which still ranks No. 1 on ISU’s single-season record chart.

Iowa State advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in Willoughby’s final season. In his last game as a Cyclone, Willoughby made eight 3-pointers and scored 34 points against UCLA, as the Cyclones lost on a last-second shot (74-73) to miss out on the opportunity to advance to the Elite Eight.

His 34 points vs. UCLA equals the most by a Cyclone in a NCAA Tournament game.

Willoughby was named a Second Team All-American by Basketball Times in 1997 and ended his career as the first player in Cyclone history to score over 1,000 points (1,186) in just two seasons.

Willoughby played professionally for a number of years, making his NBA debut in 1999-2000 with the Chicago Bulls, reuniting with Floyd, who left Iowa State after the 1997-98 season to coach the Bulls. He averaged 7.6 points in his lone season in the NBA.

Willoughby was named to Iowa State’s All-Century men’s basketball team in 2008 and was inducted into the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.

Posted in Sports |

Big 12 Announces 2024 Men’s Basketball Conference Opponents

Sports

July 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

The Big 12 announced the Conference scheduling matrix for the 2023-24 Men’s Basketball season. Teams will play five Big 12 opponents twice, then play the other eight conference opponents once, for a total of 18 Conference games.

Opponents were selected based on a combination of geography, historical results and a poll of the coaches to best balance the schedule in terms of travel and competitiveness. A full Big 12 schedule will be released at a later date.

Baylor
Home-and-away: BYU, Kansas, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech
Home-only: Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Oklahoma
Away-only: UCF, K-State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia

BYU
Home-and-away: Baylor, UCF, Iowa State, K-State, Oklahoma State
Home-only: Cincinnati, Houston, TCU, Texas
Away-only: Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia

UCF
Home-and-away: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Home-only: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma
Away-only: K-State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas

Cincinnati
Home- and-away: UCF, Houston, TCU, Oklahoma, West Virginia
Home-only: Iowa State, K-State, Oklahoma State, Texas
Away-only: Baylor, BYU, Kansas, Texas Tech

Houston
Home-and-away: UCF, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas
Home-only: K-State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Away-only: Baylor, BYU, Oklahoma, TCU

Iowa State
Home-and-away: BYU, Houston, K-State, Oklahoma, TCU
Home-only: Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Away-only: Baylor, UCF, Cincinnati, Texas

Kansas
Home-and-away: Baylor, Houston, K-State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State
Home-only: BYU, Cincinnati, TCU, Texas
Away-only: UCF, Iowa State, Texas Tech, West Virginia

Kansas State
Home-and-away: BYU, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, West Virginia
Home-only: Baylor, UCF, Oklahoma, TCU
Away-only: Cincinnati, Houston, Texas, Texas Tech

Oklahoma
Home-and-away: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas
Home-only: BYU, Houston, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Away-only: Baylor, UCF, K-State, TCU

Oklahoma State
Home-and-away: BYU, Kansas, K-State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech
Home-only: Baylor, UCF, TCU, West Virginia
Away-only: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Houston, Texas

TCU
Home-and-away: Baylor, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Home-only: UCF, Houston, Oklahoma, Texas
Away-only: BYU, Kansas, K-State, Oklahoma State

Texas
Home-and-away: Baylor, Houston, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Home-only: UCF, Iowa State, K-State, Oklahoma State
Away-only: BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas, TCU

Texas Tech
Home-and-away: Baylor, UCF, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas
Home-only: BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas, K-State
Away-only: Iowa State, Houston, Oklahoma, West Virginia

West Virginia
Home-and-away: UCF, Cincinnati, K-State, TCU, Texas
Home-only: Baylor, BYU, Kansas, Texas Tech
Away-only: Iowa State, Houston, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State
Read More

Posted in Sports |

Iowa Announces 4 Football Sellouts

Sports

July 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa’s 2023 home football contests against Western Michigan (Sept. 16, 2:30 p.m.), Michigan State (Sept. 30, TBA), Purdue (Oct. 7, TBA) and Minnesota (Oct 21, TBA), scheduled at Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium, are officially sold out. The announcement was made Thursday by the UI Athletics Department.

 

There are a limited number of all-inclusive hospitality ticket packages available for each game; ticket information is available at hawkeyesports.com/tickets. 

 

Tickets remain for games against Rutgers (Nov. 11, TBA) and Illinois (Nov. 18, TBA), while a limited number of tickets remain for the season opener against Utah State (Sept. 2, 11 a.m.).

 

Tickets are only sold and issued by the UI Athletics Ticket Office and its authorized agents. Persons buying tickets from other entities do so at their own risk. Fans should use caution if buying tickets from unauthorized outlets and are strongly encouraged to use SeatGeek, the official fan to fan marketplace of Hawkeyes, for sold out events. The UI Athletic Ticket Office (hawkeyesports.com/tickets) is only able to service/support purchases made through that office, or on SeatGeek. Iowa Athletics reserves the right to cancel any ticket purchases, less fees, made for the purpose of resale without notification.

 

All tickets for University of Iowa athletic events are distributed electronically and should be downloaded to a smartphone device. If you do not have access to a smartphone, please contact the ticket office to make arrangements.

 

Tickets are distributed no earlier than three weeks prior to the start of a season. If applicable, season tickets and/or parking will not be released until all required contributions have been received and processed by the I-Club. For more information, please visit hawkeyesports.com/mobiletickets.

Posted in Sports |

Big 12 Announces 2023-24 Women’s Basketball Opponents

Sports

July 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

The Big 12 announced the Conference scheduling matrix for the 2023-24 women’s basketball season. Teams will play five Big 12 opponents twice, then play the other eight conference opponents one time, for a total of 18 conference games.

Iowa State is set to play newcomer BYU as well as Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia twice. Cyclone fans can also look forward to home contests against Baylor, Cincinnati, Oklahoma and TCU. The Cyclones’ five away-only games will be UCF, Houston, Texas and Texas Tech.

Opponents were selected based on a combination of geography, historical results and a poll of the coaches to best balance the schedule in terms of travel and competitiveness. A full Big 12 schedule with dates and times will be released at a later date.

The full Big 12 Schedule Matrix can be found below.

Baylor

Home-and-away: Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas, West Virginia
Home-only: UCF, Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech
Away-only: BYU, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Oklahoma

BYU

Home-and-away: Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, TCU
Home-only: Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Away-only: UCF, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas

UCF

Home-and-away: Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia
Home-only: BYU, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas
Away-only: Baylor, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas Tech

Cincinnati

Home-and-away: BYU, UCF, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Home-only: Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU
Away-only: Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas

Houston

Home-and-away: Baylor, BYU, UCF, TCU, Texas Tech
Home-only: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas
Away-only: Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia

Iowa State

Home-and-away: BYU, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia
Home-only: Baylor, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, TCU
Away-only: UCF, Houston, Texas, Texas Tech

Kansas

Home-and-away: Baylor, BYU, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma
Home-only: Cincinnati, Houston, Oklahoma State, West Virginia
Away-only: UCF, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech

Kansas State

Home-and-away: UCF, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas
Home-only: BYU, Houston, Oklahoma State, West Virginia
Away-only: Baylor, Cincinnati, TCU, Texas Tech

Oklahoma

Home-and-away: Cincinnati, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas
Home-only: Baylor, UCF, TCU, Texas Tech
Away-only: BYU, Houston, Iowa State, West Virginia

Oklahoma State

Home-and-away: Baylor, UCF, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech
Home-only: BYU, Houston, Texas, West Virginia
Away-only: Cincinnati, Kansas, Kansas State, TCU

TCU

Home-and-away: BYU, Houston, Texas, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Home-only: UCF, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State
Away-only: Baylor, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Oklahoma

Texas

Home-and-away: Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech
Home-only: BYU, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas
Away-only: UCF, Houston, Oklahoma State, West Virginia

Texas Tech

Home-and-away: Cincinnati, Houston, Oklahoma State, Texas, TCU
Home-only: UCF, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State
Away-only: Baylor, BYU, Oklahoma, West Virginia

West Virginia

Home-and-away: Baylor, UCF, Cincinnati, Iowa State, TCU
Home-only: Houston, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech
Away-only: BYU, OSU, Kansas, Kansas State

Posted in Sports |

Statewide Speed Awareness Day

News

July 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, IA – Iowa’s 2023 daily traffic fatality count is over 20% higher than the 5-year average: an alarming trend. The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau is teaming up with law enforcement to keep drivers and passengers safe by raising awareness about the dangers of speeding and urging drivers to obey speed limits.

On July 26, Iowa will join Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas for a Speed Awareness Campaign. Law enforcement in your community will be on heightened alert for speeding vehicles and motorcycles.

Much like impaired driving, speeding is a selfish choice with deadly consequences for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around another vehicle, a hazardous object, or an unexpected curve. Even the safest cars with the newest technologies are limited in how much they can help reduce the odds of a crash.

Tragically, Iowa experienced a dramatic 25% increase in speeding-related fatalities from 2020-2021. In 2021, speeding-related crashes killed 84 people on our roads, accounting for almost one-quarter of all crash fatalities.

“We are asking drivers to please slow down,” said GTSB Bureau Chief Brett Tjepkes. “Our goal is to save lives, and we’re putting all drivers on alert — the posted speed limit is the law. No excuses. On July 26 drivers will notice extra law enforcement on Iowa’s roads. If drivers choose to exceed the posted limit, they can expect a citation.”

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau works with city, county, state, and local organizations to develop and implement strategies to reduce deaths and injuries on Iowa’s roadways using federally funded grants.

Posted in News |

Eastern Iowa food bank works to stockpile 50,000 meals before fall

News

July 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A food bank serving nine eastern Iowa counties hopes to raise the equivalent of 50-thousand meals September. The Hawkeye Area Community Action Program has already raised 27-thousand meals. With schools out of session and cafeterias empty, many children and their families turn to food pantries for assistance, but that increased demand coincides with a lull in donations.

The program’s Chris Ackman says people remember to donate during the year-end holidays but donations often drop off during the summer. He says the food is essential for the 150 food sites across the region. The facility covers Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, and Washington counties.

Feeding America estimates that one in 13 people in the service area struggles with food insecurity. Last year, H-A-C-A-P distributed 9.2 million pounds of food.

Posted in News |

ROSALEE NILAN, 85, of Carroll (Svcs. at a later date)

Obituaries

July 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

ROSALEE NILAN, 85, of Carroll, died Monday, July 17, 2023. Services for ROSALEE NILAN will be held at a later date. Rieken Funeral Home is assisting the family.

ROSALEE NILAN is survived by:

Her son – Jeff (RoxAnn) Nilan, of Oakland.

Her daughter – Jill (Kent) Musfeldt, of Coon Rapids.

4 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, many other relatives and friends.

Posted in Obituaries |

Red Oak teen cited following a non-injury accident Wednesday afternoon

News

July 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A teen from Red Oak was cited for a turning at an intersection violation. Red Oak Police say 16-year-old Cameron Durbin was driving a 2004 Ford F-150 pickup southbound on N. Broadway Street and had attempted to turn east onto W. Coolbaugh Street, from the incorrect lane. A 2019 Ford Escape SUV driven by 68-year-ol Patricia Long, of Red Oak, who was also turning southbound onto Broadway.

Police said Long was in the appropriate left turning lane, turning east onto Coolbaugh. The driver’s side rear tire and box of the pickupmade contact with the front passenger side of the SUV, causing $1,500 damage to each vehicle. The accident happened at around 1:17-p.m., Wednesday.

No injuries were reported.

Posted in News |

Unemployment rate steady, labor participation rate up

News

July 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment rate held steady in June at two-point-seven percent. Iowa Workforce Development spokesperson, Jesse Dougherty, says that’s encouraging news. “But even more notable was the fact that our labor force participation rate has continued to rise throughout this year. It’s the fourth month in a row, and we’re now at 67-point-eight percent, which is actually one of the highest numbers in the country,” Dougherty says.

The labor participation rate dropped during the pandemic, but has been coming back up. “The labor force participation rate is key, because it gives us a picture of that active labor pool, not only the Iowans who are employed, but also those who are actively looking for work,” he says. “And when we’re seeing that pool continue to grow, that’s something encouraging, not just for those job seekers, but also for the overall health of our economy.”

Doughtery says they do have some information from surveys of those entering the workforce. “What was notable in June is that nearly every one of the Iowans who entered the labor force did so by finding a job. And so we typically see a little bit more of a gap in terms of the time period of entering the labor pool versus finding a job. But last month, things moved very quickly,” he says. He says the impacts of the summer showed in the jobs gains. “A couple areas, one being leisure and hospitality. And that is covering the areas of arts, entertainment and recreation, a lot of the industries that you would see within the summer months, and so that was a positive sign,” Dougherty says. “But we also saw education, healthcare add a thousand jobs, generally driven by healthcare and social assistance jobs.”

Some areas lost jobs, most notably construction losing 71-hundred. “We see that as a general cooling of the industry. So there have been some losses there in the last two months. Construction, though in Iowa hit an all time high for employment in January. So we think part of that is just some general cooling from some employers that you know, that we’re ramping up there,” He says. “So that a little bit is expected something that we’re continuing to watch, but we don’t see too much of a major concern there.”

It was the second straight month that the unemployment rate was unchanged.

Posted in News |