712 Digital Group - top

Nishna Valley Trails meeting set for Nov. 21st

Ag/Outdoor

November 14th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Area residents and others interested in recreation, wellness, trails and tourism, are invited to attend the next meeting of the Nishna Valley Trails association, on Monday, November 21st from 6-to 7-p.m., at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church (1101 E. 13th Street), in Atlantic. During the meeting, there will be updates on the development of trails in Cass County and Atlantic, along with reports on work with city and county partners.

A special item on the agenda will be a presentation by Cass County Wellness Coordinator Denise Coder. Everyone is invited to bring your good ideas and interest in community development, to the session.

7AM Newscast 11-14-2011

News, Podcasts

November 14th, 2011 by admin

w/ Ric Hanson

Play

2-A/3-A HS Football Semi-Finals

Sports

November 14th, 2011 by Jim Field

Class 2-A:

  • Final -- Iowa City Regina 35, Dyersville Beckman Catholic 28
  • Final -- Spirit Lake 35, West Marshall 14

Class 3-A:

  • Final -- Decorah 35, Harlan 14
  • 7:30 pm -- Union (10-2) vs. ADM (12-0)

UNI Men Roll to First Win

Sports

November 14th, 2011 by admin

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Jake Koch scored 18 points in Northern Iowa’s 63-46 victory over Old Dominion on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.

Northern Iowa entered the second half leading by eight, 33-25, but went on a 24-12 run to take a 57-37 lead with 5:07 remaining in the game. During the run, Koch hit two 3-pointers, grabbed a rebound and blocked a shot. Koch shot 6 for 8 from the field and also dished four assists.

Anthony James scored 13 points for Northern Iowa and Marc Sonnen added 12 points from the bench.

Old Dominion out-rebounded Northern Iowa 33-31 but shot a paltry 27.3 percent (12 of 44) from the field, compared to 49 percent (24 of 49) for Northern Iowa, and only hit 68 percent (17-25) of its free throws.

Northern Iowa has made a 3-pointer in 360 straight games.

Royce White Leads ISU Men in Season Opener

Sports

November 14th, 2011 by admin

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Royce White scored 25 points in his first game in two years, and Iowa State unveiled its new-look team with an 86-77 season-opening victory over Lehigh on Saturday.

White, who started his college career at Minnesota but never played for the Gophers, is one of four Division I transfers playing for the Cyclones, who got 12 points from returning regular Scott Christopherson and shot 65 percent (17 of 26) in the second half.

Lehigh (0-2) led St. John’s by 16 points in its opener before losing 78-73 and trailed Iowa State just 39-37 in the final minute of the first half. But White converted a three-point play off a crowd-pleasing dunk with 8.8 seconds left in the half, and the Cyclones outscored Lehigh 37-14 in the first 12 1/2 minutes of the second half to break it open.

Holden Greiner led Lehigh with 17 points, and C.J. McCollum scored 16.

Iowa State also got solid contributions from its other transfers. Chris Babb (Penn State), Chris Allen (Michigan State) and Anthony Booker (Southern Illinois) each scored 10 points, and Babb handed out five assists.

But White, the most highly regarded of the newcomers, clearly was the star in this one.

The brawny 6-foot-8 sophomore was 9 for 15 from the field with two dunks, grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked three shots and had two assists.

Iowa Men Hoopsters win Season Opener

Sports

November 14th, 2011 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Freshman Aaron White may not have a true position, but he can sure help Iowa with minutes like he did Friday night.

White scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench as the Hawkeyes beat Chicago State 96-53 to open coach Fran McCaffery’s second season.

It’s the first double-double by an Iowa freshman in his debut since Jess Settles had 13 points and 11 rebounds against Drake in 1993. White’s 19 points were the most by a freshman in an opener since Ricky Davis scored 18 in 1997, which was also against Chicago State.

“My role is to come in and give energy,” White said. “I hit some open shots and pulled down some rebounds. Whatever they need me to do to spark something.”

The Hawkeyes, who won their season opener for the first time since 2008, started the game on a 10-0 run and used a full-court press to force 27 turnovers. Chicago State turned it over on each of its first six possessions.

White, a lightly recruited 6-foot-8 forward from Strongsville, Ohio, can play inside and outside. He hit two 3-pointers and converted the second into a four-point play when he got knocked down in the middle of the second half.

White looked strong on the block, even at 225 pounds, snatching four offensive rebounds in only 18 minutes.

He can play defense too. At the end of the first half, White stole the ball at midcourt and went in for an uncontested layup.

“He’s a complete player,” McCaffery said. “I said this before: When you have a 6-8 player who understands how to play, dribble, pass, shoot, post up, play in the zone, he’s got a feel. He doesn’t rattle. There’s no panic in him at all.”

Sophomore Melsahn Basabe scored 14 points for Iowa. Zach McCabe added 13 points off the bench and Eric May 12.

Eight Hawkeyes scored at least five points, and Iowa’s bench totaled 57 points – four more points than Chicago State.

“Our team is capable of that,” May said. “You see it in practice every day.”

Chicago State lost 10 lettermen from last year’s squad, which finished 6-26. Junior Jeremy Robinson led the Cougars with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Iowa, which has struggled to fill Carver-Hawkeye Arena in recent years, announced a crowd of 12,987 Friday night – the most for a home opener since 2001. Iowa averaged 9,550 fans in 2009 and 11,635 last season.

“My team was really intimidated by the atmosphere,” Chicago State coach Tracy Dildy said. “For a lot of these guys it’s tough to come play at a Big Ten arena on opening night. And especially a team that feels they really have something to prove, which is how the Hawkeyes feel.”

Freshman Aaron White scored 19 points and Iowa beat Chicago State 96-53 Friday night to open coach Fran McCaffery’s second season.

Sophomore Melsahn Basabe added 14 points for the Hawkeyes, who started the game on a 10-0 run and scored 25 points off turnovers.

Zach McCabe added 13 points and Eric May 12 for Iowa. White grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Hawkeyes won their season opener for the first time in three years in front of an announced crowd of 12,987 – the most for a season opener at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 2001.

Chicago State committed 27 turnovers, including on each of its first six possessions. Jeremy Robinson led the Cougars with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Piatkowski’s 4 TDs lead Drake past Dayton 37-14

Sports

November 14th, 2011 by admin

DES MOINES, Iowa. (AP) — Mike Piatkowski threw for 285 yards and four touchdowns, and Drake secured at least a share of the Pioneer League title Saturday, beating Dayton 37-14 in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Piatkowski hit Drew Blackmon for a 39-yard score in the first quarter, then found Blackmon, Nick Rosa and Kevin Marshall in the second half as the Bulldogs (9-2, 7-1) put the game away. He was 25 for 38 with two interceptions, one of which Nick Weston returned 29 yards to give Dayton (6-5, 4-4) an early 7-0 lead.

Patrick Cashmore added 75 yards rushing and a touchdown for Drake, and Billy Janssen kicked a 32-yard field goal.

Zach Splain threw a touchdown pass to Luke Bellman for Dayton’s other score. Splain had 120 yards on 14-for-27 passing and was intercepted three times.

The win was Drake’s 10th in a row at home dating to last season.

Northern Iowa beats Southern Utah 34-21

Sports

November 14th, 2011 by admin

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Carlos Anderson ran for 115 yards and quarterback Tirrell Rennie finished with 86 yards and two rushing touchdowns to lead Northern Iowa to a 34-21 nonconference win over Southern Utah Saturday night.

The Panthers (8-2) trailed 21-7 after Brad Sorensen’s touchdown for the Thunderbirds (5-5) early in the second quarter. But the Panthers got within 21-17 at the half and Rennie’s 16-yard run early in the third quarter put Northern Iowa ahead to stay, 24-21. L.J. Fort also scored two rushing TDs for the Panthers, who piled up 284 yards on the ground in their regular-season home finale.

North Dakota State’s loss to Youngstown State into a first-place tie with the Bison in the Missouri Valley Conference at 6-1. Northern Iowa plays at Illinois State next week while North Dakota State visits Western Illinois. The Bison own the head-to-head edge having beaten Northern Iowa 27-19 on Oct. 29.

No. 13 Michigan State beats Iowa 37-21

Sports

November 14th, 2011 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Michigan State wiped away 22 years of frustration at Iowa with a resounding win Saturday over the Hawkeyes.The Spartans also took a big step toward a much more important milestone – a spot in the Big Ten’s first title game.Kirk Cousins threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns and 13th-ranked Michigan State beat Iowa 37-21 to take control of the Big Ten’s Legends Division race.B.J. Cunningham caught a pair of TD passes for the Spartans, who snapped a seven-game losing streak at Iowa dating back to 1989.Michigan State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) took a commanding 31-7 lead with two touchdowns in a 36-second stretch late in the second quarter. Cunningham followed Le’Veon Bell’s 25-yard TD run with a 22-yard touchdown catch to put Michigan State up by 24 at the break.The Spartans can now earn a spot in the Big Ten title game with wins over Indiana and Northwestern in the next two weeks.”We came here with an idea that we were going to have to weather the storm or be the storm,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said.James Vandenberg threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns for Iowa (6-4, 3-3), which lost its first home game of the season.”They were a lot more ready to play then we were, and certainly did a great job in that first half and made it a real challenge for us,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.Save for a brief flash of life out of Iowa late in the third quarter, the Spartans coasted to a payback win over the Hawkeyes after getting pounded 37-6 last season in Iowa City.Iowa quickly cut a 34-7 deficit to 13 points on Marvin McNutt’s 3-yard TD catch and a 2-yard touchdown run by Marcus Coker. But Iowa got too cute trying a hurry-up sneak on 4th-and-1 and was called for a false start, and Vandenberg’s next pass fell incomplete with 10:16 left.Dan Conroy hit a 48-yard field goal with 5:11 left, and Tony Lippett’s fumble recovery with 2:53 to go sealed the win for the Spartans.”We’ve been the hunted the last two years. We are a program that people are hunting down. Last year we were undefeated when we walked in here,” Dantonio said. “To be able to push through the discouragement last year is a sign of progress and a sign of maturity.”McNutt was stellar in his final home game for the Hawkeyes with eight catches for 130 yards, becoming the program’s leader in career receiving yards with 2,635.But Iowa only got 57 yards rushing from Coker, the Big Ten’s leading rusher entering the game.Michigan State never got going in last year’s loss to Iowa. The Spartans had been unbeaten until that game.It took less than six minutes for Michigan State to top that terrible performance.Cousins found Cunningham alone in the middle of the end zone for a 6-yard TD pass, putting the Spartans ahead 7-0 after their first drive.Cousins then followed a pick by Johnny Adams with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Edwin Baker to give Michigan State a 14-0 lead with 7:37 left in the first quarter.In less than half of a quarter, the Spartans had more points than they had scored in each of their previous three road games.Iowa’s answer came seven seconds into the second, as Vandenberg found sophomore C.J. Fiedorowicz for his first career TD grab from eight yards out. But safety Tanner Miller went for an interception of Cousins and missed, allowing Keshawn Martin to go 67 yards and set up a 22-yard field goal from Conroy.That put the Spartans ahead 17-7 – and they weren’t through yet.Bell, who ran for 112 yards, went straight up the middle of Iowa’s defense for a 25-yard touchdown run with 1:57 left in the second quarter, and Jordan Bernstine fumbled the kickoff right back to Michigan State.That set the stage for a leaping touchdown grab by Cunningham, giving Michigan State a 31-7 lead.It was a complete role reversal from last season’s game, which Iowa led 30-0 at halftime, and ended Iowa’s slim hopes of landing in the inaugural Big Ten title game.”We didn’t look ready. We left the door open way too many times in all three phases,” Ferentz said.The misery didn’t stop there for the Hawkeyes either, as Michigan State successfully converted a fake field goal in the third quarter with a 24-point lead.Iowa is out of the Legends Division title picture, which is now Michigan State’s to lose.”We’re right where we want to be with two weeks to go in the regular season,” Cousins said.

State encourages testing of wells for arsenic

News

November 14th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A recent study shows hundreds of Iowa residents are drinking tap water polluted with arsenic and health workers are increasing efforts to have private well owners test their water for the poisonous element. Arsenic is found naturally in soil throughout Iowa. It can seep into ground water, which is the source of tap water for more than half the state’s residents.

The Des Moines Register reported drinking large amounts of arsenic over decades can lead to various cancers and cardiovascular and respiratory problems. Short-term exposure can lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and skin problems. Health officials across Iowa gathered last week to talk about solutions to the problem. The University of Iowa study found nearly half of the 475 wells checked between 2006 and 2008 tested positive for arsenic.

http://dmreg.co/sB8hnx