Council Bluffs is preparing for 25-thousand visitors as RAGBRAI begins this weekend. The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa brings in bicyclists from around the world and they’ll start the west-to-east trek in Council Bluffs this year. Kathy Fiscus, with the Council Bluffs Convention and Visitors Bureau, says 20 committees have been working on RAGBRAI preparations for several months, with public safety as the top priority.

Fiscus says, “That means examining the route to make sure the streets are in good shape, to consider where directional signage should go so that semi-truck traffic and RVs and campers and bicycles don’t tangle up and create a mishap.” Fiscus says it’s an honor for Council Bluffs to be the first host city for this year’s big cycling event. “It’s a way to show, not only Iowans, but the world, our beautiful city,” she says. “This year, the tire dip is at the Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park and the exit route this year will go through Council Bluffs, so the riders will see our beautiful Bayliss Park, our historic 100 block of Broadway, for example.”

Council Bluffs hosted RAGBRAI in 2009 and was designated then as City of the Year. Fiscus says 15-thousand bicyclists are expected to leave Council Bluffs Sunday morning for the start of the week-long RAGBRAI. Riders will also pass through Harlan, Perry, Des Moines, Knoxville, Oskaloosa and Fairfield along the route. RAGBRAI ends on July 27th in Fort Madison.

(Radio Iowa)

Jim field has the call of game 2 of a doubleheader at the Atlantic High Baseball Diamond.

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Jim field has the call of game 1 of a doubleheader at the Atlantic High Baseball Diamond.

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CLASS 1-A:

• Logan-Magnolia @ CAM (at A-H-S-T)
• A-H-S-T @ Exira/EHK (at A-H-S-T)
• Glidden-Ralston @ Ar-We-Va (at Coon Rapids-Bayard)
• Audubon @ Coon Rapids-Bayard (at Coon Rapids-Bayard)
• Bedford @ Lenox (at Lenox)
• Villisca @ Murray (at Lenox)
• Lamoni @ Orient-Macksburg (at Martensdale-St. Marys)
• East Union @ Martensdale-St. Marys (at Martensdale-St. Marys)
• Essex/South Page @ Nishnabotna (at Sidney)
• Stanton @ Sidney (at Sidney)
• Griswold @ Underwood (at Underwood)
• Riverside @ Fremont-Mills (at Underwood)
• Guthrie Center @ Woodward-Granger (at Woodward-Granger)
• Adair-Casey @ Earlham (at Woodward-Granger)

CLASS 2-A:

• Nodaway Valley @ West Central Valley (at Interstate 35, Truro)
• Mount Ayr @ Interstate 35 (at Interstate 35, Truro)
• Missouri Valley @ IKM-Manning (at Kuemper Catholic)
• Tri-Center @ Kuemper Catholic (at Kuemper Catholic)
• Clarinda @ St. Albert (at Treynor)
• Shenandoah @ Treynor (at Treynor)

Class 4-A

• At Dallas Center: Harlan vs. Dallas Center-Grimes
• At LeMars: Denison-Schleswig vs. Humboldt
• At Winterset: Fairfield vs. Winterset
• At Carlisle: Carlisle vs. Vinton-Shellsburg
• At Cedar Rapids Xavier: Washington vs. North Scott
• At Indianola: Norwalk vs. Indianola
• At Iowa Falls: Waverly-Shell Rock vs. Ballard
• At Solon: Maquoketa vs. Solon

 Class 5-A

• At WDM Dowling:  Dowling Catholic vs. CB Abraham Lincoln
• At Ankeny:  Ankeny vs. Fort Dodge
• At Dubuque:  Dubuque Hempstead vs. Dubuque Senior
• At Muscatine:  Cedar Rapids Jefferson vs. Muscatine
• At Ottumwa:  Ottumwa vs. Iowa City West
• At Pleasant Valley:  Cedar Rapids Prairie vs. Pleasant Valley
• At Waukee:  Johnston vs. Waukee
• At WDM Valley:  Southeast Polk vs. West Des Moines Valley

The University of Iowa has not won a Big Ten baseball championship since 1990 but new coach Rick Heller says the future for the program is bright. Heller was introduced on Monday as the Hawkeyes new coach. The native of Eldon spent the past four years as the head coach at Indiana State. Heller says Iowa AD Gary Barta offered him a partnershuip with the administration to build the program. He says he will go to work immediately and says his goal is to keep the best players in the state.

Heller says he enjoys coaching and developing talent. He coached at UNI rom 1999 until the program was discontinued in 2009. He says as the lone remaining division one program in the state Iowa has a lot of potential. Barta says the administration is making a bigger commitment top the sport of baseball and will begin the process of upgrading facilities.

Heller began his college coaching career with a successful run at Upper Iowa. He takes over a program that qualified for the Big Ten tournament three times during former coach Jack Dahm’s 10 years at the helm.

(Radio Iowa)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Iowa Energy will be the Minnesota Timberwolves’ NBA Development League affiliate for the 2013-14 season. The NBA announced the move Monday. This is the first season the teams have been paired as affiliates to develop young players. The Timberwolves had been paired with the Sioux Falls Skyforce for the previous seven seasons.

The Iowa Energy are entering their seventh season in the NBDL. The team, owned by a group of Iowa businessmen, won the NBDL title in 2011. The franchise tied a league record with four consecutive playoff appearances from 2008-2011.

Class 1-A Regional Finals

• Newell-Fonda 5, Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 1
• Martensdale-St. Marys 13, Corning 0 (3)
• Akron-Westfield 11, Charter Oak-Ute 3
• Janesville 5, Mason City Newman Cathlolic 0
• Don Bosco 3, Marquette Catholic 2
• New London 3, Earlham 1
• Remsen St. Mary’s 9, Algona Bishop Garrigan 3
• Lynnville-Sully 5, Lisbon 3

 Class 2-A Regional Finals

• Treynor 3, Logan-Magnolia 1
• Iowa City Regina 3, Highland 2 (8)
• Lawton-Bronson 2, Western Christian 1
• Durant 12, North Fayette 0 (6)
• Fort Dodge St. Edmond 4, Des Moines Christian 0
• Ridge View 2, North Union 1
• Jesup 5, Alburnett 4 (8)
• AGWSR 12, Denver 0

Class 3-A Regional Finals

• Bondurant-Farrar 13, Interstate-35 11 (9)
• New Hampton 3, Iowa Falls-Alden 1
• Monticello 2, Center Point-Urbana 1
• Clarke 3, West Burlington/Burlington Notre Dame 2
• Estherville-Lincoln Central 6, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 5
• Sergeant Bluff-Luton 5, OA-BCIG 2
• East Marshall 7, PCM 2
• Mid-Prairie 5, Davenport Assumption 1

Regular season games:

• Sioux City East 12-4, Atlantic 1-0 (game 1 5 innings)
• Sioux City North 8, Glenwood 0
• Dallas Center-Grimes 3, Carroll 2
• Harlan 10, CB Abraham Lincoln 6
• LeMars 15, Denison-Schleswig 1
• Sioux City West 3, Lewis Central 1