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Iowa advocate says helping Ukraine immigrants has gottten tougher

News

July 31st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa advocate for Ukrainian immigrants says it’s become harder to get people out of the war-torn country. Martha Hulshof of Ireton has helped about 150 Ukrainians move to northwest Iowa through her sister, who is a missionary in western Ukraine. Hulshof says the process that has taken a couple of months can now take more than six months. She hasn’t being told why there’s been a delay, but says it is putting lives at risk.

“It’s heartbreaking what is going on over there. It’s war. And people forget since we don’t see on the news anymore what war’s really like with all the death and torture.” And Hulshof says flooding has compounded the issue of finding help for the refugees.“The situation here is hard, and it’s just that much harder to find houses and vehicles when people here have lost so much, too,” Hulshof says.

Hulshof says she is looking for northwest Iowans who want to open their homes to Ukrainian refugees.

(By Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)

Report: Iowa sees drop in deaths from alcohol and drugs, but a rise in suicides

News

July 31st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is mirroring the national trend with a slight drop in deaths due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide, according to a report from a non-partisan public health policy organization.

Dr. Nadine Gracia, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health, says figures for 2022 show the first substantial drop in those deaths in five years, though there’s still much work to be done. She says the long-term trend is still alarmingly high.

“In the state of Iowa, the data show that there were over 1,600 individuals who died due to alcohol, drugs and suicide,” Gracia says. “That was about a 1% decrease from the previous year. We saw decreases in alcohol induced death and drug overdose deaths, but there was actually an increase in suicide deaths by 6%.”

Over the past two decades, the study finds deaths from alcohol, drugs, and suicide in the U.S. increased by 142 percent. Gracia says drug overdoses, in particular, rose relentlessly in the past ten years as synthetic opioids gained in popularity. She says rural residents appear to be especially at risk.

Trust for America’s Health graphic

“We do see, for example, higher death rates among people who died from suicide from people who are living in rural areas, people who are men,” Gracia says. “For drug overdose deaths, we also see higher rates for adults who are ages 35 to 54, as well as males.”

In the report, “Pain in the Nation 2024: the Epidemic of Alcohol, Drug, and Suicide Deaths,” researchers found a slight drop in the combined rate of alcohol, drug, and suicide deaths, but that rate is still more than double what it was 20 years ago. Gracia points to a lack of access to treatment options.

“You look at the state of Iowa, for example, about 59% of the state’s residents actually live in an area that has a mental health care shortage,” Gracia says, “so we need to assure that we’re bolstering and increasing access to mental health care services for anyone and everyone who needs them.”

To save lives, she says more work needs to be done to implement prevention and harm reduction strategies, and to ensure access to mental and behavioral health care.

Cass County (IA) Nov. 2024 General Election: candidate filing update

News

July 31st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns, today (Wednesday), said the first person to file as a candidate for the November General Election, is Linda L. Pelzer, who is running for one of three positions as a member of the Cass County Hospital Board Trustees. Candidates running for that Board may file their papers any time.

As a reminder:   the filing period for candidates for Non-party political organization (NPPO) and Non-Affiliated persons for the upcoming General Election to be held November 5, 2024, are as follows:

  • Non-Party candidates and Township Trustees- August 5th-August 28th
  • Soil & Water Commissioners and Agricultural Extension-August 5th – August 28th
  • Hospital Board of Trustees- Anytime with a deadline of Wednesday August 28th.

County positions open are:

  1. Board Of Supervisors District 1, District 4 & District 5
  2. County Auditor
  3. County Sheriff
  4. Edna Township Trustee
  5. Union Township Trustee
  6. Soil & Water Commissioners (3)
  7. Hospital Board of Trustees (3)
  8. Ag-Extension (4)

For more information and for the number of signatures required for each office, please contact the Auditor’s office at 712-243-4570

LARRY NISSON, 85, of Atlantic (Celebration of Life 8/16/24)

Obituaries

July 31st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

LARRY NISSON, 85, of Atlantic, died Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at Atlantic Specialty Care.  A Celebration of Life for LARRY NISSON will be held at 11-a.m. on Aug 16, 2024, at the First United Methodist Church in Atlantic. Roland Funeral Service in Atlantic has the arrangements.

Visitation with the family present will precede the Celebration of Life, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 16th, at the church.

Memorials may be made to the family for future designation.

LARRY NISSON is survived by:

His wife – Madonna Nisson.

His daughters – Lauri (Rick) Boysen, of Atlantic, and Lynelle (Bob) Bjoin, of Des Moines, Iowa.

7 grandchildren; and 5 great-grandchildren.

Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.

Iowa State Unveils Fall Schedule

Sports

July 31st, 2024 by Asa Lucas

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State softball program has finalized its 2024 fall schedule, head coach Jamie Pinkerton announced. The Cyclones’ fall slate includes eight contests, three of which are at the Cyclone Sports Complex, as the season spans over four weeks.

ISU will again open its fall ball slate with DMACC, facing the Bears on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the Cyclone Sports Complex. Later that week, the Cyclones will welcome NIACC to the CSC for a Sunday afternoon showdown on Sept. 22.

September is rounded out with the Big Four Classic. This year, Drake is the host, as the Cyclones will take to Des Moines for three-straight days of games against in-state foes. Big Four play begins with host school Drake on 9/27 and is followed by a Saturday Cy-Hawk showdown (9/28) and a Sunday matchup with UNI (9/29).

The 2024 fall ball slate concludes with a trip up north as Iowa State heads to Minneapolis to face both North Dakota State and Minnesota on Oct. 12.

All home matchups at the Cyclone Sports Complex are available to attend free of charge.

Fall Schedule
9/18 Iowa State vs. DMACC 4 p.m. Ames, Iowa
9/22 Iowa State vs. NIACC 3 p.m. Ames, Iowa
9/27 Iowa State vs. Drake 5 p.m. Des Moines, Iowa
9/28 Iowa State vs. Iowa 5 p.m. Des Moines, Iowa
9/29 Iowa State vs. UNI 11 a.m. Des Moines, Iowa
10/2 Iowa State vs. Kirkwood 3:30 p.m. Ames, Iowa
10/12 Iowa State vs Minnesota 12 p.m. Minneapolis, Minn.
Iowa State vs NDSU 2 p.m. Minneapolis, Minn.

Castro Named to Thorpe Award Watch List

Sports

July 31st, 2024 by Asa Lucas

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior Sebastian Castro has been named to the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watch List, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (OSHOF) announced Wednesday.

The preseason watch list is selected by a screening committee whose members compile a list of players based on previous performance in NCAA Division I college football and preseason All-America lists. Castro (5-foot-11, 205-pounds) was one of 42 defensive backs named to the watch list.

Castro has also been named a 2024 Athlon preseason fourth-team All-American and second-team All-Big Ten selection. The Oak Lawn, Illinois, native was included on the Bronko Nagurski Watch List on Tuesday.

As a junior, Castro was a Pro Football Focus first-team All-American and an Associated Press third-team All-American. He also was named Phil Steele honorable mention All-America and second-team All-Big Ten. Castro was voted second-team All-Big Ten by league media and honorable mention All-Big Ten by league coaches.

Castro led the team with eight pass break-ups and three interceptions in 2023. Those totals ranked fourth and ninth in the Big Ten, respectively. He finished the year with 67 tackles (47 solo, 20 assists), including eight tackles for a loss.

Committee members will vote on a list of semifinalists to be announced on Oct. 29, with a group of three finalists to be announced on Nov. 26. A panel of over 250 sports writers, sportscasters, former players and coaches will vote to determine the winner of the 2024 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award. The award winner will be announced on the ESPN live presentation of The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 12.

Former Hawkeye cornerbacks Cooper Dejean and Riley Moss were Thorpe Award semifinalists in 2023 and 2021, respectively. Desmond King won the Thorpe Award in 2015 and was a semifinalist the following season, while Josh Jackson was a finalist for the award in 2017.

Iowa opens the 2024 season Aug. 31, hosting Illinois State inside Kinnick Stadium beginning at 11 a.m. (CT).

Steve Paternostro Joins Staff as Director of Operations

Sports

July 31st, 2024 by Asa Lucas

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa track and field has hired Steve Paternostro as Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Operations. The announcement was made on Wednesday by Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Joey Woody.

Paternostro will serve as the program’s travel coordinator, facilitate day-to-day operations of the team and act as a liaison to external staff.

Paternostro joins the staff after spending nearly three years as the director of recruiting for track and cross country at Ottawa University in Kansas. In addition to his recruiting responsibilities, he assisted with logistics and operations for the program.

Before heading to Ottawa University, Paternostro was the director of admission for engineering and technology at Trine University.

Paternostro has extensive track and field coaching experience. Prior to his time at Trine, he was the assistant women’s track coach at the University of Toledo, head coach at Alfred State and assistant coach at Daemen College.

An alum of Edinboro University, Paternostro was a Division II national qualifier in the decathlon. He was also an NJCAA national champion at Erie Community College before transferring to Edinboro. Paternostro earned his bachelor’s degree in individualized studies and human performance from Edinboro.

Pickup strikes a bull in Greene County early Tuesday morning

News

July 31st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Bagley, Iowa) – The 16-year-old male from Bagley escaped injury, after the vehicle he was driving struck a bull on the road north of Bagley early Tuesday morning, in southern Greene County. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, the accident happened on Quail Road/K Avenue just north of the intersection with 100th, at around 4:45-a.m., Tuesday.

The truck, a 2015 Dodge Ram 2500 was traveling northbound when it struck the bull owned by Christopher Laws, of Bagley. The Sheriff’s report said the pickup’s driver swerved to avoid the collision but was unable to do so. The bull ended-up in the west ditch after it was struck. The pickup sustained disabling damage amounted to an estimated $8,500. The bull was valued at $2,000.

Iowa Utilities Commission hears comments on pipeline rules

News

July 31st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Utilities Commission heard public testimony Tuesday on proposed changes to its rules on hazardous liquid pipeline. Several of the people who commented were involved in the process for the Summit Carbon Solution’s carbon dioxide pipeline permit that was ultimately awarded despite their opposition. Sheri Webb, a landowner in Shelby County, says holding hearings during the harvest leaves people out of the process. “If they’re 24-7 and a lot of those combines are going 24-7, they just switch operators or they’ve got chores to do they didn’t make it to those meetings,” she says. “that is so wrong those people were left out in the dark in many instances.”

Webb also said many older landowners don’t use computers and trying to file things online was not easy. “I even hesitated the first time I was getting on the I-U-B site, which now is our utilities commission. I didn’t know what I was doing,” Webb says. “The website’s not super friendly. And now it’s I think it’s even worse now. But I guess the point is, is when you’ve got senior citizens that either don’t have a computer or don’t have the skills, they are left in the dark and that is wrong.” She says posting public notices in newspapers is not a good way to get information out, as many people no longer take the paper. “Most counties now have a website and a lot of them have a Facebook presence so I would suggest that they also be asked to put notifications in those areas,” Carter says.

Kathy Carter of Rockford also talked about using the Iowa Utilities Commission website. “One of the first things that I would like to bring to the attention of the commission is how very hard and frustrating it was to try to find on the I-U-B website the revised rules that showed not only the red lining but additions,” she says.

The hearing is part of the Governor’s executive order requiring all state agencies to review administrative code and an update and streamline rules and regulations. The I-U-C will consider any changes to the rules and then will host public hearings before the rules are adopted.

Dubuque native, a UI engineering grad, is Boeing’s next CEO

News

July 31st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A Dubuque native who led Cedar Rapids based Rockwell Collins for five years will become chief executive of Boeing next week. Robert “Kelly” Ortberg was CEO at Rockwell Collins from 2013 to 2018. Ortberg graduated from the University of Iowa in 1982 with a degree in mechanical engineering and got a job at Texas Instruments making semiconductors. Ortberg’s Rockwell Collins career started in 1987. At one point Ortberg led a division of the company that produced electronics and communications equipment for Boeing’s 787 “Dreamliner.” It’s a different plane, Boeing’s 737 MAX, that has sparked the company current safety and financial problems.

Ortberg, who is 64, said” there is much work to be done” at Boeing and he looks forward to getting started on August 8. Ortberg led Rockwell Collins through its merger with United Technologies as well as the company’s name change to Collins Aerospace and its acquisition by Raytheon. He retired from Raytheon, now known as RTX, in 2021.

Boeing X logo

Dennis Mullenberg, a native of Sioux Center, who earned an aerospace engineering degree from Iowa State University, started at Boeing in 1985 as an intern and rose to become its CEO in 2015. He was fired in late 2019 after the Boeing 737 MAX was grounded worldwide following two overseas crashes that killed 346.

The CEO who replaced Mullenberg is now being replaced by Ortberg.