United Group Insurance

05-03-2011 Backyard and Beyond

Podcasts

May 3rd, 2011 by admin

Lavon speaks with Jeff Ward, Executive Director for the Agricultural Development Authority, about the Iowa Agricultural Youth Institute: what it is and how to enroll.
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05-03-2011 Across Oceans

Podcasts

May 3rd, 2011 by admin

Weekly edition of Across Oceans Across Time from the Danish Immigrant Museum.

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Trojan/Trojann Relays Results

Sports

May 3rd, 2011 by Jim Field

Girls Team Scores:

  1. Harlan  180
  2. Atlantic  105
  3. Thomas Jefferson  68
  4. Glenwood  54
  5. Lewis Central  54
  6. Abraham Lincoln  42
  7. Creston  27
  8. Clarinda  26
  9. St. Albert  19
  10. Shenandoah  13

Atlantic Place Winners:

1st Place:

  • 200 — Melanie Nielsen  :26.99
  • 3000 — Ali Krogman  10:59.78
  • Sprint Medley — Taylor Young, Kari Sandage, Sam Peterson, Alex Hartwig  1:55.56

2nd Place:

  • 1500 — Ali Krogman  5:13.06
  • 4 x 100 — Melanie Nielsen, Kari Sandage, Mackenzie Holmes, Sam Peterson  :52.94
  • 4 x 200 — Melanie Nielsen, Mackenzie Holmes, Taylor Young, Sam Peterson  1:51.61
  • 4 x 800 — Sam Peterson, Shelby Worth, Liz Siggins, Jessica Arneson  10:33.46

3rd Place:

  • 400 — Alex Hartwig  1:02.08
  • 1500 — Christy Stevens  5:21.44
  • 4 x 400 — Melanie Nielsen, Taylor Young, Shelby Worth, Alex Hartwig  4:19.84

4th Place:

  • 800 — Jessica Arneson  2:33.52
  • 3000 — Christy Stevens  11:40.7
  • 400 Hurdles — Amanda Gude  1:13.16
  • Distance Medley — Kristin Johnk, Taylor Young, Shelby Worth, Jessica Arneson  4:41.21
  • Shuttle Hurdle — Mackenzie Holmes, Sam McConnell, Paige Kennon, Amanda Gude  1:12.96
  • Discus — Paige Kennon  111-08

6th Place:

  • Long Jump — Mackenzie Holmes  14-06

Boys Team Scores:

  1. Glenwood  160.5
  2. Abraham Lincoln  83
  3. St. Albert  66
  4. Atlantic  65
  5. Harlan  50
  6. Lewis Central  47
  7. Shenandoah  45
  8. Clarinda  18.5
  9. Red Oak  16
  10. Denison  7

Atlantic Place Winners:

1st Place:

  • Discus — Tyler Hovey  157-10

2nd Place:

  • 200 — Daniel Thomsen  :23.74
  • 800 — Luke Karamitros  2:05.26
  • 1600 — Luke Karamitros  4:39.11
  • 4 x 800 — Parker Hoye, Trevor Knuth, Luke Karamitros, Blake Esbeck  8:28.89
  • Distance Medley — Ryan McDermott, Tye Nielsen, Daniel Thomsen, Parker Hoye  3:49.91
  • Shot Put — Tyler Hovey  47-08

3rd Place:

  • 4 x 400 — Ethan Westering, Phillip Iekel, Blake Esbeck, Jake Auerbach  3:35.89

6th Place:

  • 100 — Ethan Westering  :12.08

Monday Local Sports

Sports

May 3rd, 2011 by Jim Field

Monday Girls Soccer
Kuemper 3, Atlantic 0

Monday Boys Golf
Lewis Central 181, Denison 184
Medalist:  Nathan Cook (Denison) 39
Runner Up:  Nick Wimmer (LC) 43

Treynor 179, Underwood 195
Medalist: Brad Bailey (Treynor)  38
Runner-Up: Cole Chapin (Treynor)  42

Monday Girls Golf
Clarinda 187, Glenwood 244
Medalist: Sarah Steinauer (Clarinda)  40
Runner-Up: Jennifer Geer (Clarinda)  41

Treynor 187, Underwood 233
Medalist: Taylor Hill (Treynor) 41
Runner-Up: Morgan Jacobsen (Treynor) 45

Monday Girls Tennis
Denison 7, Lewis Central 2

Shenandoah Tops AHS Boys, Girls Tennis

Sports

May 3rd, 2011 by Jim Field

Girls  — Shenandoah 6, Atlantic 3 at Shenandoah

Singles
#1 Liz Metheny (A) over  MacKenzie Johnson (S) 8-2
#2 Sarina Mohrhardt (S) over Shelby Svoboda (A) 8-1
#3 Kelli Kroepel (S) over Carli Thornton (A) 8-4
#4 Morgan Allen (A) over Rachel Johnson (S) 8-6
#5 Tarynne Kinghorn (S) over Sarah Schreiner (A) 8-6
#6 Ashton Matheny (S) over Tierney Kamies 8-5

Doubles
#1 M. Johnson/Morhardt (S) over Metheny/Allen (A) 8-1
#2 Kroepel/R. Johnson (S) over Svoboda/Thornton (A) 9-7
#3 Schreiner/Kamies (A) over Kinghorn/Matheny (S) 9-7

Boys — Shenandoah 5, Atlantic 4 at Atlantic

Singles
#1 Mitch Leiferman (A) over Jeff Armstrong (S) 10-4
#2 Derek Tjepkes (A) over Adam Stauffer (S) 10-5
#3 Jacob Holmes (S) over Brett Dennis (A) 10-3
#4 Adam Heslinga (S) over Tyler Fischer (A) 10-8
#5 Andrew Rolf (S) over Blake Meneely (A) 10-7
#6 Noah Welter (A) over Trent Turney (S) 10-5

Doubles
#1 Leiferman/Tjepkes (A) over Armstrong/Heslinga (S) 10-8
#2 Stauffer/Holmes (S) over Fischer/Rob Nichols (A) 10-1
#3 Holmes/Bradley Young (S) over Branden Ballinger/Austin Conrad (A) 10-7

Lane restrictions on I-29 near Pacific Junction begin May 9

News

May 3rd, 2011 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – May 2, 2011 – Road construction work will cause lane restrictions in both directions of Interstate 29 from one mile south of the junction with U.S. 34 near Pacific Junction to just north of the rest areas in Mills County beginning May 9, weather permitting, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Council Bluffs construction office.

Traffic in this work zone will be restricted to one lane in each direction. Also, a 16-foot width lane restriction will be in place.

The project is expected to be completed in early December.

(DOT Press Release)

CAM Interim School Board approves early start application

News

May 3rd, 2011 by Ric Hanson

The CAM Community School District has approved applying to the Iowa Department of Education for permission to begin the 2011-2012 school year on August 17th, 2011.  Approval of the application to the D-E is necessary if districts wish to begin classes prior to September 1st. 

The D-E’s policy says classroom days for students can begin no sooner than the week in which Sept. 1 falls.  If Sept. 1 falls on Sunday, then classes may begin during the previous week, but the Department of Education has authority to grant an earlier start to classes based on the completion of the request for early start as part of the spring Basic Educational Data Survey (BEDS). Regardless of when classes start, all students in Iowa must attend 180 days of classes, with the exception of Seniors, who are required to attend 175 days. 

In other business, the CAM Board approved a fire safety project which Superintendent Steve Pelzer says will cost a total of $30,000. Pelzer says the project will correct some deficiencies in the fire warning system at the high school, and make some needed improvements. The fire panel would be repaired, smoke detectors replaced and strobe units installed in the classrooms, among other things. 

The Board also approved an agreement with the Cass County Educational Opportunity Center for the 2011-2012 school year. In his report to the Board, High School Prinicipal Dominic Giegerich said there will be some changes to the curriculum for the coming school year, including those will create a required junior English course. He says it will teach the components of composition to all students. In the past, the required courses stopped after the sophomore year.

“Mr. G” as he’s known, says also the requirement for oral communications will be eliminated and folded into the English class, along with grammatical coursework and literature. 

Superintendent Steve Pelzer says the move would eliminate the need to share a teacher with another district, and will serve to increase the amount of reading and writing the students will be required to do.

Harkin Staff to Hold Open Listening Session in Atlantic

News

May 3rd, 2011 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, IOWA – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today (Monday) announced that his staff assistant Kevin Condon will hold a meeting in Atlantic on Friday, May 6th to listen to constituents’ views on a wide variety of issues. Residents can express their opinions about current legislative issues or seek assistance if they are having problems with a federal agency.

The meeting will take place from 2:30-3:30 PM Friday, at the Chamber of Commerce Office, which is located at 102 Chestnut Street, in Atlantic.

(Press Release)

King, Grassley, Harkin Ask that AMP Study Be Made Public; Request Second Public Hearing on Mail Processing

News

May 3rd, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King and Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin wrote to the United States Postal Service today (Monday), to ask that the Postal Service make public the details of the Area Mail Processing (AMP) Study that is being used by the Postal Service to weigh a move of Sioux City’s mail processing operations to Sioux Falls. The Congressman and Senators also asked that the Postal Service hold an additional public meeting once the AMP is released in order to give Sioux City’s residents and community and business leaders the opportunity to offer informed input about the AMP study, its data, and its conclusions.

The letter from the Congressman and Senators responds to an April 22nd letter to the elected officials from Marie Therese Dominguez, United States Postal Service Vice President of Government Relations and Public Policy. In her letter, Vice President Dominguez offered to meet with the Congressman and Senators to explain the methodology and findings of the Sioux City AMP study rather than release a copy of the study as they had requested.

Statement of Congressman Steve King: “The Siouxland Community cannot be expected to offer constructive input regarding the proposed consolidation of mail processing operations if they are not given any information about the rationale being used by the Postal Service to justify this move. Hundreds of concerned residents showed up at a town hall last week hoping to find out some details about the AMP study, but all they got was a lot of general talk about the Postal Service’s need to cut costs and maximize efficiencies. I am certain that Sioux City’s residents and community and business leaders can help the Postal Service come up with a rational proposal to cut costs and maximize efficiency in mail processing in northwest Iowa. To do so, however, they must have access to the facts, figures, and data.”

Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley: “The public meeting wasn’t much more than window dressing by the Postal Service. If the Postal Service is sincere about wanting public input, it needs to be open and forthcoming about the rationale behind its proposal. Otherwise, there’s nothing specific for the public to comment on and, in the end, the Postal Service won’t have considered public input in a very meaningful way.”

Statement of Senator Tom Harkin: “Absent further details from the Postal Service regarding how it derived its supposed savings from the closure of the AMP, closure of the AMP would be irresponsible, costing Sioux City critical jobs and threatening to delay to delivery of mail to Iowans. Given recent job losses elsewhere in Sioux City, and the resulting economic impact, the Postal Service’s attitude of “trust us” just isn’t good enough. I’m proud of Sioux City’s efforts to maintain the processing facility and to find reasonable ways to bring down costs without threatening the livelihood of dozens of Sioux City residents. At the first public meeting in Sioux City on the possible AMP closure, my office specifically requested a second meeting following the release of the study. This remains the proper course of action and I will continue to press the Postal Service for this public meeting.”

Bluffs man found guilty of 2nd degree murder

News

May 3rd, 2011 by Ric Hanson

A jury in Pottawttamie County, Monday, handed-down a “guilty” verdict against a Council Bluffs man in connection with the January 14th, 2011 stabbing death of 39-year old Tammy Rocha. 47-year old Clarence Woolsoncroft was found guilty of second-degree murder and two lesser crimes. 

He had faced charges of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery and conspiracy, but after eight hours of deliberations, jurors only found him guilty of second-degree murder, false imprisonment and willful injury causing serious injury. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory 50-year prison sentence. A mandatory minimum time of 70 percent of the sentence – or 35 years – must be served before being eligible for parole. The jury decided Woolsoncroft was not guilty of conspiracy. 

Woolsoncroft’s Attorney, Joseph Reedy said the jury’s decision would be appealed. Sentencing in the matter is scheduled for June 6th. 

Rocha was stabbed multiple times in January and found in the street near 35th Street and Fifth Avenue in Council Bluffs. Woolsoncroft, in a taped interview with Council Bluffs police detectives, said he took Rocha to a residence on Fifth Avenue on Jan. 14, because Lisa Reeves – who also faces murder charges – told him she would “make it worth his while.” He said he assumed she meant she would give him drugs or money. Woolsoncroft told investigators that he never saw anyone stab Rocha after he drove her to the scene of her death. 

Both Lisa Reeves – whom prosecutors allege stabbed Rocha – and her father, Bryan Reeves, face similar charges in the incident. Their trials are scheduled separately at a later date.