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Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley previews spring practice

Sports

March 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley says the Panthers are deeper heading into spring drills than they been since prior to COVID. UNI is coming off a 6-5 season that saw them get left out of the FCS playoffs.

Farley says spring is the next step in getting ready for next season.

Farley says spring is about building depth needed to navigate a season.

Quarterback Theo Day returns but Farley says there are a number of areas that need work.

Farley says spring is about developing technique.

Northern Iowa women’s coach Tanya Warren recaps the season

Sports

March 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

UNI women’s basketball coach Tanya Warren feels the future is bright for her program. The Panthers finished 23-10 after Sunday’s 77-57 loss at Nebraska in the second round of the W-N-I-T. Warren does not want her team to think about next season just yet.

Warren says the players need to get away from the game for a while and rest.

Warren says preparation for next season will begin in a few weeks.

Gabbie Marshall’s shooting gives No. 3 Hawkeye women a lift

Sports

March 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Iowa guard Gabbie Marshall has given the third ranked Iowa Hawkeye women a lift as they get ready to travel to Seattle for the Sweet 16. Marshall struggled with her shooting early in the season but finished with 15 points on five of eight from three point range in Sunday’s 74-66 win over Georgia.

That’s Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. Marshall says the Hawkeyes’ experience is a big factor in her play the last few weeks.

Marshall says another key has been Iowa’s willingness to share the ball.

Marshall says she has been gaining confidence the past few weeks.

The Hawkeyes take on the Colorado Buffalo’s, following their win over Duke Monday night.

Iowa’s Joe Evans talks spring drills

Sports

March 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Iowa defensive end Joe Evans says returning for a fifth season will help him reach his goal of playing in the NFL. The Ames native began his career as a walk-on and last season had 41 tackles, including six and-a-half sacks in Iowa’s 8-5 season. His experience will be a boost after defensive end Lukas Van Ness left early for the NFL Draft.

Evans says another reason for his return is he is healthy. A year ago before spring practice Evans had surgery on both shoulders.

Evans says he has spent the offseason breaking down areas he can improve in.

The Hawkeyes open spring drills Wednesday.

Democrats call for ending prescription requirement for contraceptives

News

March 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – House Democrats are planning to push to make contraceptives, like the pill, available without a prescription. Representative Lindsay James, a Democrat from Dubuque, says pharmacists in 20 states are able to provide birth control without a doctor’s prescription. “Pharmacists especially in rural Iowa are an important resource and an important part of this equation,” James says. “They are an access point for care and can help eliminate barriers and expand access to contraception.”

In 2019, Republican Governor Kim Reynolds proposed making the pill available without a prescription, but the bill stalled in the House. This year, G-O-P lawmakers in the House and Senate are considering proposals that would still require prescriptions, but the required appointments with the prescribing doctor would be less frequent. House Democrats are also proposing an amendment to guarantee abortion rights in the Iowa Constitution along with other legislation related to reproductive health care. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights…

“We campaigned on reproductive freedom,” Konfrst says. “It is still a crisis in this state and it’s critically important we address it.” During House debate of a wide ranging bill Republicans are considering, Democratic Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell of Ames intends to ask that Medicaid patients get one year of health coverage after childbirth rather than just 60 days. “What has been discovered is that a lot of women have problems after that 60 day time period,” Wessel-Kroeschell says, “and we have seen some maternal deaths after that time period, which is just simply tragic.”

She’ll also call for restoring Medicaid coverage for family planning and sexually transmitted disease testing at Planned Parenthood. Republican lawmakers ended state and federal funding for those services at Planned Parenthood in 2017. Key Republicans say they stand by the decision to “defund” Planned Parenthood and have no intention of reversing it.

Couple sentenced in human trafficking case of forced labor in Ottumwa

News

March 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A man and woman living in Wapello County have been sentenced to two years in federal prison for coercing two men from Micronesia to work in an Ottumwa meatpacking plant. A federal judge has ordered the couple to pay nearly $70,000 in restitution to the victims. According to the U.S. Justice Department, the couple are citizens of Micronesia and U.S. residents who recruited two young men from Micronesia to come to Ottumwa to work, telling them they could send money back to their families in Micronesia.

The couple pleaded guilty to withholding the workers’ passports and confiscating most of their wages. A deputy in the U.S. Justice Department says the defendants callously exploited the victims and used their power over them to profit from their hard work at the Ottumwa plant.

Anamosa State Penitentiary On Restricted Movement As Investigation Into Unknown Substance Continues

News

March 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

ANAMOSA– Due to the ongoing investigation, Anamosa State Penitentiary has been placed on restricted movement for the foreseeable future. This will limit inmate movement throughout the facility and give DOC staff the ability to conduct a large-scale search of the prison for illicit contraband. Visitation will not occur during the restricted movement period.

Two other inmates were found unresponsive in their cells and were administered Narcan on Sunday, March 19. Neither inmate required outside medical attention and both tested negative for illegal substances. Responding staff did not become ill following their encounters with these inmates. DOC has determined these cases are unrelated to the original incident that occurred on Saturday, March 18.

The original incident remains under investigation and DOC will continue to work in conjunction with the DPS Narcotics Division.

Contentious Atlantic Parks & Rec meeting Monday evening

News

March 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The normally non-confrontational Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Board of Director’s meeting was just the opposite for more than 30-minutes, Monday evening. Heads began to butt as Ali Pieken with the Splash Pad Financing Committee spoke about getting a letter of support for submitting a grant application for project funding, using Shift ATL as a grant writing agency. Councilman Gerald Brink asked why the grant application wasn’t going through Parks and Rec Director Wyatt Adderton.

Pieken said going through the process of applying for a grant is a tremendous undertaking for one person.

She said a community member brought to her attention that someone on the Atlantic City Council was not behind the Splash Pad Project. She asked the Board & Mayor Grace Garrett, “Is this project a go?” Parks & Rec Board member Jeremy Butler, who is a Co-Chair on the fundraising committee, said the Committee is ready to go, but things aren’t moving forward.

Mayor Garrett said she was at a recent meeting with Butler, and didn’t understand what he meant by a “No go.”

Garrett said “The idea of having SHIFT involved to begin with was an idea and a suggestion, but I don’t think in that regard there was ever a go, because we were waiting” [on a legal clarification] to see if that would be possible. City Clerk Barb Barrick commented on what transpired during the meeting Butler referred to…

Butler said the City has three choices.

Butler at one-point stood-up and was about to leave, but then eventually sat back down.

Jeremy Butler (Standing) speaks with Mayor Garrett as he prepared to leave.

Mayor Garrett reminded Butler that she was “All about a Splash Pad”…and that “Our Council has never said they weren’t for a Splash Pad.” Ali Pieken said she has always felt support for the Parks and Rec Board for what she’s trying to accomplish, but she has not felt support from the City Council. Wyatt Adderton offered to be the Chairperson of the Fundraising Committee and an intermediary to foster communication between the Committee and City Hall. Because the Splash Pad was on the agenda for discussion only, no action was taken during the meeting.

While the City awaits a legal decision on SHIFT ATL being a funnel for grant funds, donations for the Splash Pad can be made through City Hall. We’ll have more from Monday’s Parks & Rec Board meeting later this week.

JESSIE MARIE SHIFFER, 91, of Oakland (Svcs. 3/23/23)

Obituaries

March 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

JESSIE MARIE SHIFFER, 91, of Oakland, died March 18, 2023, at Mercy Hospital, in Council Bluffs. Funeral services for JESSIE SHIFFER will be held 11-a.m. Thursday, March 23, 2023, at the Oakland United Methodist Church. Rieken Vieth Funeral Home in Oakland has the arrangements,

Visitation with the family will be held at the Oakland United Methodist Church, on Wed., March 22nd, from 5-until 7-p.m.

Interment is in the Oaklawn Cemetery.

JESSIE MARIE SHIFFER is survived by:

Her daughter – Jeannette Ludwig, of Oakland.

5 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, her in-laws, other relatives and friends.

Renewable Fuels study of blocked carbon pipeline impact on corn price

Ag/Outdoor, News

March 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A study commissioned by the renewable fuels industry suggests corn prices in Iowa would drop significantly if carbon capture pipelines are not built in Iowa. “It’s like asking a farmer, a corn farmer on the corn side of their equation to take an 85% pay cut,” Shaw said during an online news conference this morning.

New federal tax credits are available for proposed pipelines that would capture carbon from Midwest ethanol plants and ship the carbon to underground storage in North Dakota and Illinois. “We are now looking at Iowa being the only…state on the map where there is still an active effort to derail these projects,” Shaw said.

A bill in the Iowa House would establish new steps pipeline developers would have to clear. Most notable is a requirement that property owners along 90% of a pipeline’s route voluntarily let developers have access to their land. The study found the price for corn could plummet by as much as 80 cents per bushel if carbon capture pipelines are connected to ethanol plants elsewhere, but not in Iowa. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association is asking its members to lobby House members to vote against the bill.

Tim Recker, a corn farmer from Arlington, spoke during today’s news conference. He called carbon pipelines the next step for the ethanol industry. “If we don’t find favor in getting CO2 transported, I’m going to be shipping corn to my neighboring states or I’m going to be putting a lot more corn on the river system — an 80 year old lock and dam system, our rail sytem or trucking it a lot farther than I do today,” he said “and to me, that’s going backwards in our industry, not forward.”

Shaw cited part of the study which found just 6% of Iowa field corn currently leaves the state without having value added either by being used to make ethanol, fed to livestock or converted to industrial use. “If we don’t align ourselves to be profitable under the current policy and market conditions and we let the ethanol production migrate out to those areas that do, the study found…44% of our corn would leave this state without having any value added to it,” Shaw said.

Key Republican lawmakers who have proposed new regulations for the pipelines say they’re defending the rights of landowners who don’t want their land seized through the government’s eminent domain process. Other pipeline opponents question the safety of the pipelines and whether capturing carbon from ethanol plants is among the best ways to reduce greenhouse gases.