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Boswell says former foe “told an untruth”

News

October 1st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Congressman Leonard Boswell gave a five-word explanation Sunday afternoon when asked about the lawsuit he filed Friday against his 2008 Democratic primary opponent. Ed Fallon of Des Moines claims two Boswell staffers offered him an 80-thousand dollar job on Boswell’s congressional staff if he would drop his bid to run against Boswell. During a news conference in Des Moines, Boswell was asked why he filed the defamation suit against Fallon. “Because he told an untruth,” Boswell said. Boswell said nothing more about the lawsuit or Fallon’s statements. During an interview with Radio Iowa Friday night, Fallon said his former wife, who served as his 2008 campaign manager, was in the room when the job offer was made. Boswell is seeking damages from Fallon, alleging Fallon’s recent public statements have damaged his reputation.

(Radio Iowa)

National Bullying Prevention Month begins today

News

October 1st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

October brings the start of National Bullying Prevention Month. July Hertzog, the director of the PACER National Bullying Prevention Center, says it’s a month to educate the public about this issue. Her organization, which is located in Minnesota, started addressing the issue in 2006.

Official T-shirt of National Bullying Prevention Month in support of PACER.

“We recognized at that time that bullying was going to be an issue that we wanted communities to get behind, so this is actually the seventh year of this event. And we have a message of ‘the end of bullying begins with me,’ and it’s about a time when communities can unite behind bullying prevention,” according toe Hertzog.

Hertzog says there will be activities across the state and nation addressing the problems of bullying in the classroom, and everyone is asked to wear orange on Unity Day on October 10. “It’s and activity that’s simple to do, we really encourage schools to take part in it,” Hertzog says. “Because what it does is just send that visible tangible message, that it is an issue that people care about and that they want to show support for those people who are being bullied.” Hertzog says the main way to end bullying is to work together and stand up to address this problem.

She said the message is to start addressing the problem right now to talk about it and take action. Hertzog says PACER offers help for those who want to address it with resources at www.PACER.org/bullying. There is also a national toll free phone number for more information on bullying prevention. It’s 1-888-248-0822.

(Radio Iowa)

Branstad defends school lunch menu changes

News

October 1st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Governor Branstad says recent changes in school lunch menus can help Iowa reach his goal of becoming the healthiest state in the country.”More home-grown fruits and vegetables and more whole grain items is clearly what is needed — along with good exercise,” Branstad says. But critics say the changes aren’t going over well with the students, and more food is being thrown away. Registered dietician Teresa Nece is teaching a class at Iowa State University about food service management. She says give these new menus “time” to work.

“In schools we have to teach habits,” she says. “…To make that type of a change — to increase fruits and vegetables to students — we really have to look at how long does it take a student to learn to like something and science tells us it can takes as many as a dozen times for children to learn to like a new food item.” The governor suggests kids can embrace changes in the school lunch menu — if it’s presented in the right way. “What I find is when you really get kids involved in this, they become enthusiastic about doing the right thing and recognizing that this is something that will help them throughout their lives.”

David Stark, president and chief operating officer of Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, says the changes have been a topic in his home. “Ask my four kids about the fewer desserts in their school menu this year — they’re disappointed,” Stark says. “I’m thrilled, as their dad, that that’s happening and we’ve got to do more of that.” Stark says he and his wife haven’t been the most popular soccer league parents over the years because for treats they brought slices of fresh oranges. But Stark says his own children are starting to embrace the changes in their school lunch menu and recently raved about the fresh raspberries they were served.

Stark, Nece and Branstad made their comments during a news conference on a related topic — improving the equipment in school kitchens so staff can prepare food that’s more appetizing and attractive to students.

(Radio Iowa)

Beltran homers twice as Cardinals beat Nats 10-4

Sports

October 1st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate for the ninth time in his career and drove in five runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals closed in on the NL’s second wild-card berth by beating the Washington Nationals 10-4 Sunday. St. Louis (86-74) reduced its magic number for clinching to two, pending the game later Sunday between the Los Angeles Dodgers (83-75) and Colorado. Washington (96-63), already assured of the capital’s first postseason baseball since 1933, saw its magic number for clinching the NL East remain at one over second-place Atlanta (93-66). Lance Lynn (18-7) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, improving to 5-0 with a 2.10 ERA in his last five appearances.

Foulkes’ sentencing set for Monday morning

News

September 30th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Sentencing is set to take place at 9-a.m. Monday in Cass County District Court, in the case of a former Anita Community School District teacher who pled guilty on September 4th, to two-counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor by a School Employee, Counselor or Therapist, with the intent to arouse. 65-year old William Glenn Foulkes entered into voluntary plea agreement which stipulated he would plead guilty to the two Aggravated Misdemeanor counts in exchange for a felony charge of Sexual Exploitation, and the remaining 47 Aggravated Misdemeanor charges of Sexual Exploitation being dropped.

Foulkes admitted to kissing a juvenile female on numerous occasions while teaching the student in a math program, from August 2009 until November 11th, 2010. He resigned from his teaching position in November 2010.

Foulkes remains free on $50,000 bond pending sentencing. As part of his sentence, he will likely be required to register as a Sex Offender, and complete a Sex Offender Treatment Program in a residential correctional facility. He is also expected to pay restitution to the State and Victim, and have no contact with the victim.  In addition, it’s expected Foulkes will be required to serve two, two-year terms of supervised probation for the combined counts, with the time to be served consecutively, or back-to-back. He had faced a maximum of 103-years in prison and fines of more than $300,000.

He’ll also be required to pay fines for each count ranging from $625 to $6,250, plus court costs and surcharges.

Chargers use 6 turnovers to beat Chiefs 37-20

Sports

September 30th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Philip Rivers threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns, and the San Diego Chargers capitalized on six turnovers by the Kansas City Chiefs in a 37-20 victory Sunday.
Five of the Chiefs’ turnovers came in the first half, when San Diego (3-1) raced to a 27-6 lead. The Chargers coasted the rest of the way to sole possession of first place in the AFC West. Matt Cassel threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas City (1-3), but he also had three first-half interceptions.

Jamaal Charles, who followed his big game last week at New Orleans with touchdowns rushing and receiving, fumbled twice.  San Diego running back Jackie Battle had a pair of scores against his former team. Dwayne Bowe had seven catches for 108 yards and a touchdown for Kansas City.

Cyclone Offense Sputters as ISU Falls to Texas Tech

Sports

September 29th, 2012 by admin

AMES, Iowa — Seth Doege tossed three touchdown passes and Texas Tech held off host Iowa State 24-13 on Saturday night in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

Doege threw for 331 yards to lead the unbeaten Red Raiders (4-0, 1-0), who held Iowa State to just 189 yards of offense.

Doege’s 19-yard TD pass to Eric Ward put Tech up 21-13 with 10:36 left, and Ryan Bustin added a 39-yard field goal with 2:20 to go.

James White had 57 yards rushing for the Cyclones (3-1, 0-1). Iowa State’s Steele Jantz had one of the worst nights of his career, throwing for just 73 yards on 10 of 20 passing to go with three interceptions and a fumble.

The pick that Tech turned into the go-ahead touchdown wasn’t his fault.

But the fumble that sealed Iowa State’s fate was all on him.

Ernst Brun Jr. caught the ball near midfield, but the ball popped out after he was drilled by D.J. Johnson. Cornelius Douglas brought the ball back to Iowa State’s 9-yard line, and after a holding penalty, Doege found Ward for the score.

The Cyclones then got into Red Raiders territory with just under seven minutes left when the ball slipped out of Jantz’s hands on a scramble.

Texas Tech recovered near midfield and ran down the clock before Bustin’s decisive field goal.

Jantz also gained just 14 yards on 19 rushes, and his final interception came in the Tech end zone with 57 seconds left.

Jantz threw for just 3 measly yards on seven passes in the first half. But he picked up 21 yards on a crucial third-and-20 and found Brun in the back corner of the end zone to put the Cyclones ahead 13-7.

It all went downhill from there for the Cyclones.

Tech answered right back on Doege’s 4-yard TD pass to Darrin Moore that made it 14-13 Red Raiders with 1:01 left in the third quarter.

The Cyclones forced Texas Tech into a 41-yard field goal try by Bustin that was wide right early in the fourth quarter, but a relatively solid night defensively for Iowa State went unrewarded.

The Cyclones held the Red Raiders to just 63 yards rushing and a season-low 24 points.

Texas Tech rolled over its first three opponents — Northwestern State, Texas State and New Mexico — with such ease that the Red Raiders entered play ranked first in the nation in total defense and second in total offense.

Tech, which lost to Iowa State 41-7 in 2011, realized this wouldn’t be another easy romp.

The Red Raiders punted as many times in the first seven minutes, twice, as it had all season. The Cyclones also kept getting in Doege’s face, and on a key third down Doege threw it right to Klein, who took it back 87 yards for the touchdown.

But Klein missed a tackle on Texas Tech’s Jakeem Grant on an 11-yard TD reception that tied the game at 7 with 1:32 left in the first half.

Texas Tech’s defense would prove worthy of its ranking in the national standings, holding Iowa State to 3.3 yards per play and making it pay for Jantz’s mistakes.

Drake Wins at Campbell

Sports

September 29th, 2012 by admin

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Drake University football team improved to 2-0 in the Pioneer Football League with a commanding 35-7 victory over Campbell Saturday evening in Buies Creek, N.C. The Bulldogs held one of the top rushing teams in the league to just 57 yards on the ground in a game that was delayed by more than an hour due to inclement weather and played in wet, rainy conditions.

The Bulldogs held a 481-to-286 advantage in total yardage and racked up 32 first downs in the victory. Offensively Drake was led by senior quarterback Mike Piatkowski’s (Wheaton, Ill.) 258 yards on 23-of-38 passing with a touchdown through the air and on the ground. The aerial attack was supported by 283 rushing yards with Gary Scott, Jr. (Forsyth, Ill.) leading the pack with 77 yards and a touchdown followed by Trey Morse’s (Elmo, Texas) 68 yards.

The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday, Oct. 6 when they host PFL rival  and fellow defending league co-champion San Diego for homecoming. Kickoff at Drake Stadium is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Panthers Fall to No. 1 NDSU

Sports

September 29th, 2012 by admin

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — John Crockett rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns as North Dakota State kicked off its Missouri Valley Conference schedule with a 33-21 victory over Northern Iowa on Saturday night.

Crockett scored on a 3-yard run late in the second quarter and from 6 yards early in the third. Brock Jensen added 243 yards passing, including a 19-yard touchdown to Kevin Vaadeland in the fourth quarter, for the Bison (4-0), who haven’t lost a road game since the 2010 season.

The Panthers (1-4, 0-2) pulled within 20-14 midway through the third when Sawyer Kollmorgen hit Wes Smith for a 27-yard score. Later, though, Kollmorgen threw an interception to set up Vaadeland’s touchdown.

Kollmorgen added a 20-yard TD to Terrell Sinkfield in the final minute and finished with 213 yards passing, while David Johnson had 85 yards rushing and a touchdown.

NDSU’s Adam Keller made four of his five field-goal attempts.

Iowa Wins Back Floyd of Rosedale

Sports

September 29th, 2012 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Mark Weisman ran for 177 yards, 155 in the first half, to lead Iowa to a 31-13 win over Minnesota on Saturday and give the Hawkeyes possession of the Floyd of Rosedale bronze pig trophy.

Christian Kirksey’s 68-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter sealed the win for Iowa (3-2), which bounced back from last week’s disappointing 32-31 loss to Central Michigan to win the Big Ten opener for both schools.

Minnesota (4-1) was off to its best start since 2008, but couldn’t get anything going on offense Saturday. Max Shortell threw three interceptions and the Gophers managed only 75 yards in the first half. The Hawkeyes scored three touchdowns during a six-minute span of the second quarter to jump out to a 24-0 halftime lead.

Weisman punched in an 8-yard run on the first play of the quarter.

Then the Gophers went three-and-out, and Iowa’s normally conventional offense pulled a surprise with a flea-flicker on the first play of the drive. Weisman pitched the ball back to James Vandenberg, and the senior quarterback found a wide-open Jordan Cotton for a 47-yard score.

Minnesota was forced to punt again and Micah Hyde’s 27-yard punt return gave Iowa the ball at midfield. Six plays later, Vandenberg’s 1-yard dive into the end zone finished off the drive.

Weisman only carried five times in the second half.

Weisman, a fullback-turned-tailback, was inserted into Iowa’s starting lineup because of injuries, and the walk-on has responded with 507 yards and seven touchdowns the last three games.

Minnesota won the previous two meetings with Iowa, rallying from behind in both games to win the rivalry trophy. The Gophers couldn’t muster a comeback this time.

Minnesota lost a fumble to open the second half. Shortell responded with a 79-yard drive that ended in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Fruechte, cutting the Hawkeyes’ lead to 24-7 midway through the third quarter.

The Gophers had three more possessions without Iowa scoring, but Minnesota punted once and Shortell threw two interceptions — the second returned for a TD by Kirksey after the linebacker made a nice play to catch the ball.

Quarterback MarQueis Gray missed his second straight game for Minnesota, which hasn’t won at Kinnick Stadium since 1999.

Saturday was Kirk Ferentz’s 200th game as Iowa’s head coach.