Templeton Rye co-owner responds to lawsuit allegations

October 4th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Keith Kerkhoff, co-owner and Templeton Rye recipe-holder of Templeton, Iowa-based Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC, responded today (Saturday)to allegations made in lawsuits filed in Chicago. On the company’s social media site, Kerhoff said “The unfortunate and misguided lawsuits have been turned over to our lawyers. The claims made in these lawsuits are false and damaging to our company.”

He went on to say “Templeton Rye is a unique, award-winning whiskey based on the Prohibition Era Kerkhoff recipe. We have a distilling partner in Indiana and flavor engineer in Kentucky who supply ingredients but Templeton Rye is made in Templeton, Iowa. They supply flour and eggs and we bake the cake.”

Kerkhoff said “We have never hidden the fact that we have a distilling partner in Indiana. We don’t think folks buy Templeton based on where it might be distilled. We think they buy our product because it is a great tasting whiskey with a unique story at a fair price. We are a small Iowa company trying to do great things in our community and our state. It is a shame that we are being attacked with this frivolous lawsuit from a Chicago law firm.”

Last Tuesday,the Iowa attorney general’s office said a lawsuit alleging whiskey maker Templeton Rye misled consumers can proceed. The proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in Illinois by a Chicago law firm on behalf of consumers in the country who have purchased a Templeton Rye bottle. It claims the company broke consumer protection laws and misled drinkers about where the whiskey is made. The newspaper reports a second Chicago law firm plans to file a class-action lawsuit.

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OPAL HARGENS, 92, of Manning (Svcs.10/25/14)

Obituaries

October 4th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

OPAL HARGENS, 92, of Manning, died Sat., Oct. 4th, at the Manning Plaza Nursing Home. Funeral services for OPAL HARGENS will be held 10:30-a.m. Sat., Oct. 25th, at Zion Lutheran Church in Arcadia. Ohde Funeral Home in Manning is in charge of the arrangements.

Visitation at the funeral home is from 4-to 6-pm Fri., Oct. 24th.

Burial will be at the Arcadia Cemetery.

Opal Hargens is survived by her children:

Dennis Hargen of Des Moines; Dean Hargens of Solon, and Janis Benton of Rio Rancho, MN.

Her Sister in law: Mary Brockman of Carroll

and 6 Grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

Iowa State AD goes on 2 1/2-minute tirade about call

Sports

October 4th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) – Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard went on a 2 1/2-minute tirade about a call that he believes turned the game in the Cyclones’ 37-20 loss to No. 21 Oklahoma State on Saturday. With the score tied at 6-all late in the second quarter, the officials ruled Oklahoma State’s Desmond Roland was stopped just short of the goal line as time expired in the first half. The play was reviewed and the call reversed, giving the Cowboys a 13-6 lead.

Pollard said it was the latest in a string of bad calls against the Cyclones in recent years. He said some Iowa State players acted inappropriately after the call, and he didn’t fault them, saying such calls end “careers for football coaches, ADs and presidents, so something’s got to be done.”

Posted in Sports |

Jacksonville powers through Drake 29-14

Sports

October 4th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Ulysses Bryant rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns, including a 59-yarder late in the fourth quarter, and the Jacksonville defense forced four turnovers to lead the Dolphins to a 29-14 victory over Drake on Saturday. Kade Bell had 259 yards passing and one touchdown for Jacksonville (4-1, 2-0 Pioneer).

Drake (2-3, 1-1) pulled within 22-14 with 8:52 left in the fourth quarter on a Conley Wilkins short TD run, but gave up the long TD run by Bryant with 2:30 left in the game. Drake trailed by just three at halftime, but four turnovers on four consecutive possessions, including three interceptions by quarterback Andy Rice.

Rice finished with 264 yards passing and one touchdown, a 5-yarder to Eric Saubert in the first quarter, to lead Drake. Saubert had four catches for 79 yards. The win was the fourth straight for Jacksonville, which snapped a three game losing skid to Drake.

Posted in Sports |

No. 21 Oklahoma St defeats Iowa St 37-20

Sports

October 4th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Desmond Roland ran for 95 yards and two touchdowns and Tyreek Hill returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown Saturday to help No. 21 Oklahoma State defeat Iowa State 37-20.

Brandon Sheperd caught a career-high eight passes for 91 yards and Jhajuan Seales added four catches for 75 yards and a score for the Cowboys (4-1, 2-0 Big 12). Hill had 148 yards in kickoff returns and 46 yards in punt returns. Daxx Garman passed for 271 yards and a touchdown and Ben Grogan made three field goals for the Cowboys.

The score was 6-6 when Roland scored as time expired in the first half. Hill’s kickoff return pushed the Cowboys’ lead to 20-6 in the opening seconds of the third quarter. Sam B. Richardson passed for 200 yards and threw two touchdown passes to E.J. Bibbs. The Cyclones (1-4, 0-3) were held to 322 total yards.

Posted in Sports |

Sioux City officer shot; suspect in custody

News

October 4th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Police say a man suspected of shooting and injuring a Sioux City officer is in custody after turning a gun on himself. The Sioux City Journal reports) that the incident began late Friday afternoon when police officers were called to a house for a disturbance. Police say Officer Jill Ohm was the first to arrive. Police say she struggled with the 27-year-old suspect before the man shot her in the chin.

Ohm was taken to a Sioux City hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. At the same time, police launched a massive search for the shooter.

Police say the suspect was found Friday night in the basement of an abandoned home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. His condition is not known.

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Atty. for Bluffs teen involved in fatal fight wants a punishment hearing

News

October 4th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

The lawyer for a Council Bluffs teen suspended from school following a fight on September 25th that turned deadly, and is being required by the district to attend an alternative school, says he’s asking for a formal hearing before the Council Bluffs School District’s Board of Education. According to Omaha television station KETV, 16-year old Gregary Teer’s attorney made the request Friday, in a letter sent to district officials.

The attorney is asking for a formal hearing before the school board to discuss Teer’s punishment. He claims Teer’s 14th amendment rights for due process were violated. The attorney also said he plans to seek an injunction to have Teer return to class at Abraham Lincoln High School, if they don’t get a formal hearing. He said also they’d be willing to negotiate if there was a way to gradually have Teer turn to the school this year.

The Council Bluffs School District said it’s consulting with its attorney and didn’t have an immediate response. Earlier in the week, school officials said Teer wouldn’t be suspended, and charges of assault were dropped, after video-taped evidence of his fight with 17-year old Dakota Escritt, indicated Teer was not the aggressor, and was trying to defend himself. Escritt died last weekend from injuries to his skull that occurred when he fell to the floor and struck his head.

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