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Drought may mean fewer, smaller animals at fairs

Ag/Outdoor

July 29th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

MILWAUKEE (AP) — State and county fairs in the sweltering and drought-stricken Midwest may see smaller livestock and produce this year. The dozen pigs Greg Marzahl and his 15-year-old daughter are bringing to the Wisconsin State Fair are about 15 pounds smaller than the normal 275 pounds. Marzahl had three grand champion pigs last year. He says this year, the heat is affecting the pigs’ virility and appetites. The Wisconsin fair opens its 11-day run Thursday in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis.

State fairs also are set to begin in the next two weeks in Indiana, Iowa and Illinois. Those states also have been hit by unusual heat and drought. Marzahl still plans to bring his pigs to the fair, expecting his competition will be smaller too.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor |

Saturday’s State Baseball Tournament: Championship Results

Sports

July 29th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Class 1-A State Championship: Martensdale/St. Marys 1, Mason City/Newman Catholic 0

Class 2-A State Championship: Dyersville/Beckman Catholic 3, Alleman/North Polk 1

Class 3-A State Championship: Dalls Center/Grimes 13, Decorah 0

Class 4-A State Championship: Ankeny 10, Ft. Dodge 0 (6-innings)

Posted in Sports |

Small Iowa town turns to Internet to save levee

News

July 29th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

When floodwaters from the Missouri River threatened to wash away the small southwestern Iowa town of Hamburg last summer, residents helped the Army Corps of Engineers to hastily build a makeshift levee to save it.  Now, the town of nearly 1,200 is asking for help from across the country to keep the levee.  Town leaders have turned to the Internet to make their plea for help, building a site – www.hamburglevee.com – to try to raise the nearly $5 million needed to ensure the levee meets federal certification standards. Short that, the city would have to spend more than $1 million to tear the levee down.  The website notes that if 1.5 million give just $3 each to the effort, the levee can be saved “for less than a latte.”

Posted in News |

Bluffs robbery under investigation

News

July 29th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating a robbery which occurred early this (Sunday) morning. Officials say the Kwik Shop at 1602 Avenue G was robbed at around 3:45-a.m., by two masked individuals armed with handguns. The suspects wore hoods and bandanas when the entered the store and demanded money from the clerk. One was said to have been a white male, while the ethnicity of the other individual is not known.

The robbers fled the scene with an undetermined amount of cash. Their getaway vehicle was described as being an early 1990’s model four-door coupe. No one was injured during the incident, which remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728.

Posted in News |

CURTIS F. NELSON, 88, of Atlantic (Svcs. 8-2-12)

Obituaries

July 29th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

CURTIS F. NELSON, 88, of Atlantic, died Sat., July 28th, at his home. Funeral services for CURTIS NELSON will be held 10:30-a.m. Thu., Aug. 2nd, at Zion Lutheran Church in Atlantic.  Hockenberry Family Care Funeral Home in Atlantic has the arrangements.

Visitation with the family is from 5-7pm Wed., Aug. 1st at the funeral home.

Burial will be in the St. John’s Cemetery west of Exira.

CURTIS NELSON is survived by:

His wife – Sally Nelson, of Atlantic.

His children – Kristine (Ken) Bonk, of Chattanooga, TN; Margaret (Joe) Cook, of Des Moines; James (Leann) Nelson, of Aurora, NE, & Joseph (Aimee) Nelson, of Seattle, WA.

4 grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

WR Baldwin ready for second chance with Chiefs

Sports

July 28th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) – Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jon Baldwin is determined not to let his return to training camp bring back bad memories. A locker-room fight last August with then-teammate Thomas Jones left Baldwin with a broken right hand, an injury that derailed the first-round pick’s rookie season.  Nearly a year later there are still more questions than answers as Baldwin participates in camp on the same Missouri Western State University campus. Still, Baldwin prefers to talk about the future not the past. Baldwin entered camp this week as the Chiefs’ de facto No. 1 wide receiver due to Dwayne Bowe’s holdout.  That slot asks a lot of a second-year player limited to 11 games in 2011 due to the lingering injury. Baldwin had only 21 catches for 254 yards.

Posted in Sports |

Iowa Baseball Tournament Championship results

Sports

July 28th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Robbie Anstoetter went 4-for-4 with two RBI to lead Dyersville Beckman to its first state championship since 2000, as the Blazers defeated North Polk 3-1 in the 2A state finals at Principal Park on Saturday. Sam Pickard came around to score the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly to right from Zach Easter to give North Polk a 1-0 lead in the first. Beckman took its first lead of the game on a three-run second inning. Michael Boekenstedt drove in Ian Ross on a single up the middle, marking the first earned run surrendered by North Polk starter Jake Hadaway this season. The Blazers got their other runs on Anstoetter’s two-run triple that scored Boeckenstedt and Ty Troutman. Blazers’ starter Adam Noethe (9-0) allowed one unearned run on three hits in 3.2 innings to earn the win. Nate Steger pitched three scoreless innings in relief to collect his sixth save of the season. Hadaway (10-1) allowed all three runs on seven hits and struck out 11 to suffer the loss.

In the 1-A Championship game Saturday afternoon, Martensdale/St. Mary’s defeated Mason City/Newman Catholic, 1-0.

Posted in Sports |

LILLIAN E. JUHL, 85, of Harlan (formerly of Irwin), Svcs. 7-3012)

Obituaries

July 28th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

LILLIAN E. JUHL, 85, of Harlan (formerly of Irwin), died Fri. July 27th, in Harlan. Funeral services for LILLIAN JUHL will be held 1-p.m. Mon., July 30th, at the Burmeister-Johannsen Funeral Home in Harlan.

Friends may call at the funeral home from Noon until 9-p.m. Sunday, with the family present from 5-8pm to greet friends.

Burial will be in the Harlan Cemetery.

LILLIAN JUHL is survived by:

Her sons – Lowell (Wanda) Juhl, of Harlan; Roger (Karen) Juhl, of Akron, PA, & Bruce Juhl, of Denver, CO.

Her daughter – Myrna (Richard) Schwarte, of Irwin.

Her brother – LeRoy Jessen, of Waukee.

10 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, 7 great-great grandchildren, other relatives & friends.

Posted in Obituaries |

KATHERINE HOAGLAND COWEN, 75, of Shenandoah (Svcs. 7-30-12)

Obituaries

July 28th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

KATHERINE HOAGLAND COWEN, 75, of Shenandoah, died Thu., July 26th, at the Shenandoah Medical Center. Graveside services for KATHERINE COWEN will be held 3-p.m. Mon., July 30th, at the Oakwood Cemetery in Lewis. Nelson-Boylan-LeRette Funeral Chapel in Red Oak has the arrangements.

Visitation with the family will be held from 7-8pm Sun., July 29th, at the funeral home.

A memorial fund is being established.

KATHERINE COWEN is survived by:

Her children – Julie Cowen McCartney, of Red Oak; Donald Cowen, Jr. & wife Vangie, of Marcus, IA; and Tracy (& wife Kim) Cowen, of Red Oak.

10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, other relatives & friends.

Posted in Obituaries |

Western IA mail carrier rescues elderly Sloan woman

News

July 28th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

SLOAN, Iowa (AP) – A rural mail carrier is being hailed a hero for coming to the rescue of an elderly Sloan woman suffering from heat stroke.  Mary Jane Bromander says that she had been lying on the scorching driveway behind her house for about an hour Tuesday, unable to get up after venturing outside in triple-digit heat and losing consciousness.
 
     She was found by U.S. Postal Service carrier Jeff Madsen, who spotted her out of the corner of his eye after delivering her mail.
 
     Madsen propped her up, gave her water and summoned an ambulance. Once at a Sioux City hospital, workers discovered she had a 104-degree temperature – an early sign of heat stroke.
 
     Madsen says he just did what anyone else would have done.

Posted in News |