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Davenport begins prep work for major spring flooding

News, Weather

March 15th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The National Weather Service predicts a wet spring in eastern Iowa and a rising Mississippi River, so the city of Davenport is preparing for the possibility of major flooding. In the Quad Cities, flood walls and levees hold the river back from Bettendorf, Rock Island and East Moline, but not Davenport. The city’s choice to live with the river means flooding and that requires preparation. Nicole Gleason is Davenport’s public works director. “Really, if you look at it on a large scale, we’re really flooding a minimal amount of time in the big picture,” Gleason says, “so, kind of balancing that long-term interaction with the short-term needs of flooding.”

The weather service says there’s a 50-percent chance of major flooding, which for Davenport is 18 feet. Gleason says that would require closing River Drive, diverting many commuters driving between Muscatine and Bettendorf. Gleason says the flooding is part of the balancing act for a town that chooses to live with the river, rather than walling it off.  “Any time you’re setting up a temporary measure as opposed to a permanent measure, the goal is to maintain the river views,” she says, “to make sure that when we’re not flooding — which is the majority of the time — people can see the river, interact with the river, as opposed to putting up a permanent flood structure.”

City staff are practicing the deployment of flood barriers and pump stations and the city is urging residents to visit the city’s website to sign up for alerts and get more information. Gleason says as waters rise, the city uses a combination of HESCO flood barriers and pump stations to limit damage.

(by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

Kris Murray named NABC, USBWA All-District

Sports

March 15th, 2023 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa men’s basketball junior Kris Murray is one of five players voted to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 7 First Team and United States Basketball Writers Association’s (USBWA) All-District VI squad on Tuesday. The all-district honors are voted on by NCAA Division I coaches and USBWA’s national membership.

Murray, who is a semifinalist for the Wooden, Oscar Robertson and Lute Olson national player of the year awards and a finalist for the Karl Malone Award, was last week recognized as a third team All-American by Sporting News and a first-team All-Big Ten honoree.

Murray is averaging a team-best 20.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per outing. He is the only Division I player to average 20+ points, 7.5+ rebounds, one block, and have made 60+ 3-pointers this season.

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native has scored 30+ points four times this season, 25+ points nine times, and 20+ points 15 times.

Murray and the Hawkeyes (19-13) return to action on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be televised nationally on TNT and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.

Iowa State’s Kalscheur named NABC All-District

Sports

March 15th, 2023 by admin

AMES, Iowa –Iowa State guard Gabe Kalscheur has earned a spot on the NABC All-District 8 Second Team after averaging 12.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Cyclones this year.

Kalscheur, a senior from Edina, Minn., earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Big 12 Defensive Team last week. Kalscheur has started the last 21 games for the Cyclones, scoring in double figures in 20 of 32 games played this year. He scored a season-high 26 points against West Virginia in his final game at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State returns to action on Friday, facing either Pitt or Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. (CT) on truTV in Greensboro, N.C.

NABC All-District 8 First Team
Marcus Carr, Texas
Adam Flagler, Baylor
Keyontae Johnson, Kansas State
Marquis Nowell, Kansas State
Jalen Wilson, Kansas

NABC All-District 8 Second Team
Timmy Allen, Texas
Gradey Dick, Kansas
Keyonte George, Baylor
Gabe Kalscheur, Iowa State
Mike Miles Jr., TCU

Coach of the Year: Jerome Tang, Kansas State

Creston Police report, 3/15/23

News

March 15th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

[7-a.m. News] (Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report two arrests. At around 12:26-a.m. today (Wednesday), 49-year old Allison Loy Dunphy, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. She later posted at $1,000 cash bond and was released. And, at around 3:20-p.m. Tuesday, 40-year-old Michael David Brandt, of Creston, was arrested at his residence. Brandt was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault 3rd. Brandt was taken to Union County Jail. He was being held without bond until seen by the magistrate.

Cass County Extension Report 3-15-2023

Ag/Outdoor, Podcasts

March 15th, 2023 by Jim Field

w/Kate Olson.

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AUDRIE L. WEDE, 86, of Audubon (Svcs. 3/16/23)

Obituaries

March 15th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

AUDRIE L. WEDE, 86, of Audubon, died Monday, March 13, 2023, at the Friendship Home, in Audubon. Services for AUDRIE WEDE will be held 11-a.m. Thursday, March 16th, at the Gray United Methodist Church (Gray, IA). Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon has the arrangements.

Friends may call at the funeral home, where the family will greet friends on Wed., March 15, 2023, from 5-until 7-p.m.

Burial is in the Valley View Cemetery, near Persia.

AUDRIE WEDE is survived by:

Her son – Mike (Linda) Wede, of Gray.

Her daughters – Lisa (and friend Jeff Moreland), of Audubon, and Sue Wede, of Gray.

11 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren; her brother-in-law Alfred and wife Genevieve Wede of Atlantic, other relatives and friends.

HARVEY JAMES ANDERSEN, 90, of Exira (Svcs. 3/17/23)

Obituaries

March 15th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

HARVEY JAMES ANDERSEN, 90, of Exira, died Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Exira Care Center. Funeral services for HARVEY ANDERSEN will be held 10:30-a.m. Friday, March 17th 2023, at the Brayton Lutheran Church. Kessler Funeral Home in Exira has the arrangements.

Friends may call at the funeral home, where the family will greet friends on Thursday, March 16th, from 5-until 7-p.m.

Burial is in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, west of Exira.

HARVEY JAMES ANDERSEN is survived by:

His sister – Bertha Schroeter, of Exira.

His step-son: John (J.R.) and wife Nancy Crosby, of Tulsa, OK.

His step-daughter: Jamie (Bill) Tucker, of Austin, TX.

5 Step-grandchildren; His first wife: Kay Andersen, of Las Vegas, NV; other relatives and friends.

MARJORIE LuANN CHRISTENSEN, 83, of Hamlin (Celebration of Life gathering 3-17-23)

Obituaries

March 15th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

MARJORIE LuANN CHRISTENSEN, 83, of Hamlin, died Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Audubon County Memorial Hospital, in Audubon. A Celebration of Life Memorial Gathering for MARJORIE CHRISTENSEN will be held from 4-until 7-p.m. Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Exira Event Center. Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon has the arrangements.

Friends may call at the Exira Event Center

A private family burial will take place.

MARJORIE LuANN CHRISTENSEN is survived by:

Her Special Friend – Jim Ellefson.

Her sons – Brad (Kelley) Christensen, and Tom (Teresa) Christensen.

Her sister – Marilyn Munch

10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild; her in-laws, other relatives and friends.

Rough winter leads DOT to allocate money for pavement pothole fixes

News

March 15th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – If you’ve hit some rough stretches on state highways, you are not alone. The Iowa Transportation Commission has approved amending its budget to spend 15 million dollars on weather repairs. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson says there’s been an above normal number of freeze-thaw cycles this winter that are causing issues. “We are seeing some significant impacts on some pavements,” he says. Anderson says they checked with maintenance districts across the state and believe this money will help take care of some of the issues. “It certainly won’t address all the damage we’re seeing — but it’ll get the worst of it,” Anderson says. “The last time, we had something like this was about four years ago, March 2019, we came out of a pretty unique winter season and saw the same kind of damage.”

U-S Highway 218 (IA DOT Photo)

Anderson says the Transportation Commission took the same action and spent 12 million in winter repairs in 2019. He says there are issues across the state and the money will be spread evenly among the maintenance districts. He says each district will get two-and-a-half million dollars to do the repairs. The D-O-T’s chief engineer, Mitch Dillavou says the conditions have been the worst you can get for pavement. “It’s the uniqueness of this winter where you get those fluctuations in temperatures, plus we’ve had a lot of moisture,” Dillavou says. He says his perfect winter conditions for pavement are when the temperature drops and stays the same and there’s not a lot of melting water or rain that gets into pavement cracks. Dillavou says the older pavement has more problems.

“Our newer roads have a good drainable base and better infrastructure. So, it’s our older pavements that you’ve heard just talked about quite a bit,” he says. “it gets down in there, and then it freezes, and then it just starts cracking. and things move.” Anderson says the 15 million dollars will be moved out of the next fiscal year budget to allow them to handle the repairs as soon as they can.

Drake prepares for Friday’s NCAA Tournament game against No. 16 Miami

Sports

March 15th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Drake takes late season momentum into Friday’s start of the NCAA Tournament in Albany, New York. Winners of 13 of their last 14 the Bulldogs play 16th ranked Miami Friday evening.

That’s Drake coach Darian DeVries. The Bulldogs have an experienced team that won an NCAA Tournament game two years ago.

The 12th seeded Bulldogs are the underdog but DeVries is confident the Bulldogs will make a good showing.

Drake senior point guard Roman Penn says the Hurricanes will provide a tough challenge.

For Penn it is a return to the city where his college career started. He played his freshman season at Siena College.

The Bulldogs turned it on the second half of the season. Named the preseason Missouri Valley favorites the Bulldogs stumbled out of the game to a 2-3 start to conference play.