The second ranked Iowa wrestling team opens the Big Ten Championships Saturday morning at Michigan. The Hawkeyes finished the regular season 15-1 in duals.
That’s Iowa coach Tom Brands feels the health of the lineup is improving. The Hawkeyes struggled with injuries during a good portion of the season.
Top ranked Penn State is an overwhelming favorite to win the team title.
The Iowa State and UNI wrestling teams travel to Tulsa this weekend for the Big 12. Tournament. The Cyclones are ranked fifth after finishing 16-3 in duals and coach Kevin Dresser says the postseason is a new challenge.
Dresser hopes the Cyclones are a better tournament team this season.
UNI is ranked 18th and coach Doug Schwab says the competition this weekend will be tougher than last year.
Schwab says it will take a complete effort for the Panthers to have a shot at the team title.
Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger says he remains a fan of Caleb Grill even though he is no longer part of the team. Otzelberger dismissed ISU’s top three point shooter from the team on Wednesday, just days before the Cyclones close the regular season at seventh ranked Baylor.
Grill played for Otzelberger at UNLV and followed him to Ames when he took the Iowa State job. He averaged nearly 10 points while playing in 25 games this season.
In a statement Grill said the dismissal stemmed from a word he said that he regrets. Otzelberger did not want to discuss any specific incident.
Otzelberger says he has to balance what is best for the player against what is best for the team.
The Cyclones have lost four straight games heading into Saturday’s contest at Baylor.
(Radio Iowa) – Five northeast Iowa counties are hiring an attorney to respond to development of a carbon capture pipeline. Navigator’s proposed Heartland Greenway pipeline would run through 33 Iowa counties, covering about 800 miles. Delaware County Supervisor Shirley Heimrichs says it makes sense to unite with neighboring Bremer, Butler, Emmet and Floyd Counties.
“It’s going to be a more realistic, more responsible way of spending money through a collaborative effort just because we don’t have to do all of our own work. Basically they’re doing the same work for all of us,” she says. “I think that’s going to work well for us because we’re counties of similar size and the pipeline would potentially be looking at going through all of us.” The boards have hired Timothy Whipple, a Des Moines attorney who specializes in work with government boards.
“His representation is to assist with the drafting of any future ordinances and whatever representation we might need in Utility Board hearings,” Heimrichs says. The counties are filing what’s called a petition to intervene. Heimrichs says it would ensure the county is part of any government proceedings or public meetings about the Navigator pipeline.
Navigator CO2 map.
“It’s not an ordinance, but it allows us to be in Utility Board hearings and be able to have, basically, a seat at the table,” she says. “…We’re working on getting an inspector — this is in our petition to intervene, that if we need more than one and definitely we would need more than one. In past history, if you needed one, they were 10 miles down the line and that’s not OK for our landowners. We’re trying to be proactive.” Heimrichs says it appears the pipeline route through Delaware County impacts up to 80 property owners.
“We really feel it’s important to keep doing what we can for our landowners that will be affected and ultimately this will affect everybody because it’s a land use issue, It’s a right to own your own property and not be fearful of what’s going to happen to it,” Heimrichs says. “There’s people that would like us to do more and there’s people that would like us to not to much of anything.”
Navigator’s proposed pipeline would collect carbon from ethanol and fertilizer plants and would run through Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and end in Illinois, where the carbon would be stored underground.
(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says he was “shocked” by the progress shown in the latest economic survey for Iowa and eight other Midwestern states. While he expected another drop, Goss says the region’s overall index, or business barometer, rose to its highest level since July of 2022. That index is measured on a zero-to-100 scale and it bounded from 47 in January to just over 56 in February, a huge jump.
“We asked the supply managers about what they expect in terms of recession,” Goss says. “Thirty-five percent expect no recession, ten percent expect solid growth, and most of the others expect sort of flatlining across the region for the economy, the national economy, that is.” The regional wholesale inflation gauge rocketed to a six-month high, Goss says, and while hiring numbers were up, the survey found most companies are still hurting for help.
“Still seeing an inability to find and hire those qualified workers, particularly in rural areas of the region,” Goss says. “Difficulty again finding those workers who have the skills necessary for doing the job. Half the firms reported they were having to increase entry level wages to get workers to come in and interview.” The business barometer for Iowa jumped almost six points during the month, climbing from 47 in January to just over 53 in February. Goss says the Midwest’s numbers were similar and somewhat brightened the projections looking ahead.
“The outlook, at least our numbers now, are pointing toward sideways moving in the overall economy,” Goss says. “In other words, even with the really significant bounce for the month of February, we’re still talking about slow-to-no growth in the regional economy.” Goss says the residential housing market remains mired in recession, in Iowa and across the region.
“We’re probably going to record a sixth straight month of declining housing prices, and we’re seeing that across the board, and we’re also seeing, of course, higher interest rates,” Goss says. “I expect the long-term interest rates, mortgage rates, to rise above seven percent for the first time in many years.” For Iowa, Goss says machinery manufacturing continues to expand but at a slow pace, while non-durable goods manufacturers, including food processes, expect expanding economic conditions.
DELBERT HAGEN, 84, of Cumberland, died Thursday, March 2, 2023. Funeral services for DELBERT HAGEN will be held 11-a.m. Monday, March 6, 2023, at the Lamb Funeral Home in Massena.
Friends may call at the funeral home on Monday, from 10-a.m. until 11-a.m.
Burial is in the Newlons Grove Cemetery, rural Cumberland.
Memorials may be directed to the Delbert Hagen Memorial Fund to be established by the family at a later date.
DELBERT HAGEN is survived by:
His cousins – Nadine Howell, of Atlantic, and Jean Kunert, of Spencer; other relatives and friends.
Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors have meetings set for the next few business days, to discuss the County Budget. According to Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers, the Board will meet the following dates and times, with regard to budget discussion:
Budgetary discussion is the only thing on the agenda for those three days, with no action to be taken at this time.
(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five arrests, with two individuals arrested on drug charges. Tuesday evening, 27-year-old Dakota John Allen, of Hastings (IA) was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on two-counts of Child Endangerment – Meth Exposure and Child Endangerment. Bond was set at $12,000. And, on Wednesday, 60-year-old Jeffrey Richard Pape, of Emerson, was arrested at Highway 34/365th Street, for Possession of a Controlled Substance.
On Feb. 28th, 32-year-old Brian David Benedict, of Glenwood, was arrested for Driving While Revoked. Wednesday afternoon, 32-year-old Randy Lee Rhode, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation.
And, at around 2:33-a.m. today (Thursday), 38-year-old Richard Dean Anderson, III, of Missouri Valley, was arrested on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure to Appear.
(Radio Iowa) – The busy Spring Break travel season is just getting underway, and Iowans who want to fly someplace warm — and take along a firearm — are being reminded there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it. The wrong way could cost you a lot of money and may very well ruin your vacation plans. Transportation Security Administration spokesman Mark Howell says guns on planes are fine, but they must be checked with baggage. Howell says, “TSA has no issue with passengers that want to take a firearm with them when they travel, as long as they pack it the right way and that they declared to the airline that they’re flying with — two important steps.”
Gun seizure numbers were up at several of Iowa’s largest airports last year, while the T-S-A confiscated more than 65-hundred firearms from boarding passengers nationwide, a new record. Howell is reminding Iowans who want to bring a firearm on board to make sure they follow the proper procedures. “The firearm needs to be completely unloaded with any ammunition stored separately inside the box, and then you need to secure that box with any place that has a lock on it, make sure that it’s completely secure,” Howell says, “and you take that directly to the airline’s ticket counter when you go to check in.”
Des Moines International Airport photo
Howell says the penalty for boarding with a weapon can reach nearly 15-thousand dollars, depending on the circumstances. The T-S-A says 22 guns were found at Iowa airport security checkpoints during 2022, an increase from the 14 guns found in 2021. Fifteen guns were found at the Des Moines Airport, up six from the previous year. Six guns were found at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, and one in Waterloo, which was an increase of one gun for each airport.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – Auditor of State Rob Sand today released a report on a special investigation of the City of Elgin located in Fayette County. The special investigation was requested by City officials as a result of concerns regarding certain financial transactions processed by the former City Clerk, Rhonda Dales, and covered the period October 1, 2017, through June 30, 2021.
Sand reported the special investigation identified $131,212.73 of improper disbursements and $7,531.67 of unsupported disbursements. The improper disbursements identified includes $104,282.70 of unauthorized payroll and additional checks issued to Ms. Dales and related payroll costs, $19,204.10 of unauthorized reimbursements issued to Ms. Dales, and $5,881.00 of excess insurance premium payments issued to Ms. Dales. Sand also reported the improper disbursements identified includes personal purchases made using the City’s debit card and interest and late fees to IPERS.
The $7,531.67 of unsupported disbursements identified includes $6,595.93 of reimbursements issued to Ms. Dales and $935.74 of purchases made with the City’s debit card. Sand reported it was not possible to determine the propriety of these disbursements because they were not supported by documentation sufficient to determine if they were for City operations or personal in nature. 
The report includes recommendations to strengthen the City’s internal controls and operations, such as improving segregation of duties, perform bank reconciliations, and ensure disbursements are properly supported by sufficient documentation.
Copies of this report have been filed with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Fayette County Attorney’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office. A copy of the report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s web site at Special Interest Reports.
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