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BILL CHAPMAN, 80, of Winterset (& formerly of Fontanelle) – Celebration of Life 7/2/21

Obituaries

June 29th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

BILL CHAPMAN, 80, of Winterset (& formerly of Fontanelle), died Monday, June 28, 2021, at the Azria Health in Winterset. Celebration of Life Services for BILL CHAPMAN will be held 2-p.m. Friday, July 2, at the Steen Funeral Home in Greenfield.

The family will greet friends one hour prior to services on Friday at the Steen Funeral Home in Greenfield; Online condolences may be left to the family at www.steenfunerals.com.

Burial is in the Fontanelle Cemetery.  The Steen Funeral Home in Greenfield is in charge of the professional arrangements.

Memorials may be directed to the Bill Chapman Memorial Fund to be established by the family at a later date.

BILL CHAPMAN is survived by:

His wife – Sheryl Chapman of nearly 60 years

His brothers – Richard Chapman, of Des Moines; Milton (Nancy) Chapman, of Creston; Stephen (Jean) Chapman, of Fontanelle and John (Ruby) Chapman, of Colorado.

His sisters – Alice Carter, of Phoenix, Arizona and Roseann (Ron) Smith, of Washington.

2 grandsons, other relatives and friends.

Atlantic Rotary to Host Pancake Flight Breakfast on July 4

News

June 29th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic Rotary Club is excited to announce that they will again host their Annual 4th of July Flight Breakfast featuring the Pancake Man. Cancelled last year due to pandemic restrictions, the event is back for 2021, and Rotary members invite the public to join them for this fun local tradition! The Atlantic Rotary 4th of July Flight Breakfast is scheduled for Sunday, July 4th, 2021 at the Atlantic Airport, located at 59706 Airport Road just west of Atlantic. Breakfast with The Pancake Man will be served by Rotary members from 7-11 AM, featuring $7 all you can eat pancakes with sausage and drinks.

Photos from the 2019 Pancake Breakfast (Submitted)

Pilots from across Southwest Iowa and beyond are invited to fly into the airport for breakfast as well, and all fly-in pilots will eat for free. The public will be able to enjoy watching the planes take off and land at the airport while enjoying a meal. All proceeds from the flight breakfast support the City of Atlantic Fireworks Show, scheduled to be held at the AMU Well Fields, by the Atlantic Little League Fields (across from KJAN), at dusk on JULY 4th!

Iowa Draws Virginia in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Sports

June 29th, 2021 by Jim Field

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa men’s basketball team will play at Virginia on Monday, Nov. 29, as part of the 2021 Big Ten/ACC Men’s Basketball Challenge.

Game times and television information will be announced at a later date. ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU will combine to televise all 14 games of the three-day event matching top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioners Cup. The Big Ten won last season’s Challenge, 7-5.

The Hawkeyes have won six of their last eight Challenge games, dating back to 2013. Iowa has won its last three Challenge contests, beating North Carolina (93-80) in 2020 and Pitt (69-68) in 2018 in Iowa City and winning at Syracuse (68-54) in 2019.

This will be the fourth overall meeting between the two programs and first time Iowa will play Virginia in the 23 years of the event. The Hawkeyes won the first two meetings against the Cavaliers: 73-60 in the 1997 NCAA Tournament First Round in Salt Lake City and 75-64 in the 2013 NIT Quarterfinals in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Cavaliers topped Iowa in the last meeting at the 2016 Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Florida.

Iowa registered a 22-9 overall record and finished third in the Big Ten Conference with a 14-6 mark a year ago. The Hawkeyes, who advanced to the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, led the NCAA in assists per game (19.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.02), and ranked fifth in scoring offense (83.7). Its assist-to-turnover ratio established a new NCAA single-season record, while its scoring average was the program’s highest in 32 years. The Hawkeyes return multiple upperclassmen and a number of players with starting experience.

Head Coach Tony Bennett guided Virginia to an 18-7 overall record and its 10th Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title with a 13-4 league mark. The Cavaliers advanced to the ACC Tournament Semifinals and earned its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, falling to Ohio University in the first round as a No. 4 seed. The Cavaliers lose the top three scorers from a year ago in redshirt seniors Sam Hauser (16.0) and Jay Huff (13.0) and Trey Murphy III (11.3), who decided to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2021 NBA Draft. Starting guards Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman averaged 9.5 points and 4.7 points, respectively, last season.

In addition to Virginia, the Hawkeyes are scheduled to face Utah State on Dec. 18, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Iowa’s remaining 2021-22 schedule will be announced at a later date.

The 2021 Challenge schedule is listed below:

Monday, Nov. 29
Iowa at Virginia
Notre Dame at Illinois

Tuesday, Nov. 30
Indiana at Syracuse
Minnesota at Pitt
Northwestern at Wake Forest
Duke at Ohio State
Florida State at Purdue
Clemson at Rutgers

Wednesday, Dec. 1
Wisconsin at Georgia Tech
Nebraska at N.C. State
Miami at Penn State
Louisville at Michigan State
Virginia Tech at Maryland
Michigan at North Carolina

(Hawkeyesports.com)

Mystery ailment impacting birds inching westward

Ag/Outdoor, News

June 29th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Iowa DNR News) – Since May, state agencies, wildlife rehabilitators, and animal control operators in the Mid-Atlantic United States have received a sharp uptick in reports of sick or dead songbirds. Grackles, starlings, robins, and blue jays seem particularly vulnerable to this mystery ailment, which causes swollen and crusty eyes and neurologic signs, like disorientation, tremors, and loss of balance. To date, a definitive cause has not been identified and the number of affected states has expanded west to Indiana.

At this point wildlife experts cannot rule out some linkage to the Brood X cicada emergence event, as areas with affected birds largely overlap. Biologists in affected states are recommending that residents take down their bird feeders to reduce the possibility of congregating birds and facilitating disease spread. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is tracking this situation and has received no reports of unusual avian morbidity (sickness) or mortality (death) events within the state.

“At this time there is no need to remove bird feeders in Iowa, however we encourage the public to remain vigilant by reporting any unusual sightings of five or more affected birds,” said Dr. Rachel Ruden, state wildlife veterinarian with the Iowa DNR. Reports may be sent to Ruden at rachel.ruden@dnr.iowa.gov or avian ecologist Anna Buckardt Thomas at anna.buckardt@dnr.iowa.gov.

Man found in Lake Ahquabi identified

News

June 29th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources, Tuesday, said a man found dead in Lake Ahquabi on Sunday, June 27, 2021 has been positively identified as 33-year-old Joshua Sweeden, of Indianola. The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Monday, June 28, on Sweeden but the official cause of death has not yet been determined, pending further investigation and autopsy results.

On Sunday, June 27, 2021, at approximately 10:15am, a body was spotted floating in Lake Ahquabi approximately 20 yards from shore in the beach/swimming area. DNR Parks staff, Warren County Sheriff’s Office deputies and other medical personnel responded to the scene, located the body and brought it ashore. The body was transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny.

Iowa student rocketry team places 3rd in national competition

News

June 29th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The rocketry team from Webster City High School placed third in the country out of 615 teams in this year’s American Rocketry Challenge. The team competed against 99 other teams in the National Finals which took place at 10 regional launch sites earlier this month. The Webster City students and advisor Mark Murphy participated in the contest held in Dayton, Ohio. Students worked on how to safely carry a payload of one raw egg to three different altitude and time goals and to keep the egg intact when reaching the ground. The Webster City High School will received $14,000 in total prizes to be split between the team, the school and for the best in launch site at Dayton, Ohio.

Webster City High School will also receive an invitation to participate in NASA’s Student Launch initiative to continue their exploration of rocketry with high powered rockets and challenging mission parameters. The first place finisher was from Oregon Episcopal School in Portland.

Two other Iowa teams competed in the national finals — teams from Cedar Falls High School and Maharishi High School in Fairfield.

West Union man sentenced for selling meth

News

June 29th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A northeast Iowa man who sexually assaulted a woman after giving her methamphetamine will spend more than sixteen years in federal prison. Fifty-six-year-old Herman Lee Ronnfeldt from West Union pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Court information showed a search of Ronnfeldt’s apartment in West Union in late 2018 turned up more than 80 grams of meth.

Witnesses testified at sentencing that Ronnfeldt regularly distributed methamphetamine to people at his apartment — and in one case Ronnfeldt distributed meth to a woman that caused her to feel ill. He then sexually assaulted her. He was sentenced to 224 months in prison.

NANCY BLUM, 61, of Bennington, NE (7-2-2021)

Obituaries

June 29th, 2021 by Jim Field

NANCY BLUM, 61, of Bennington, NE died Sunday, June 27th at her home.  A Memorial Service for NANCY BLUM will be held on Friday, July 2nd at 3:00 pm at the Walnut Community Center.  Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Avoca has the arrangements.

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Family will greet friends on Thursday from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the funeral home.

NANCY BLUM is survived by:

Husband:  Jeff Blum of Bennington, NE.

Daughter:  Alison Blum of Bennington, NE.

Sister:  Cindy Young of Mission Viejo, CA.

Brother:  Neal (Pam) Schirm of Walnut.

Foreign Exchange Sister:  Conchi Madsen of Cincinnati, OH.

Backyard & Beyond 6-29-2021

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

June 29th, 2021 by Jim Field

LaVon Eblen visits with Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon about the new county-wide notification system.

Play

Man from Coin arrested on burglary & drug charges

News

June 29th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports 38-year-old Grant Alan Bruckner, of Coin, was arrested at around 11:10-p.m., Friday, in the vicinity of Highway 34 and Highway 59. He faces charges that include Possession of Burglary Tools, Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $3,300. And, at around 1:36-a.m. today (Tue., June 29), 46-year-old Tracey Elizabeth Farlin, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Interference with Official Acts and No Valid Driver’s License. Bond on those offenses was set at $300. Farlin was also taken into custody on a warrant out of Page County for Larceny. Bond on that offense was set at $1,000.

The Glenwood P-D says also, no injuries were reported following a collision Monday afternoon at 195th Street and Highway 34. Officials say a 2015 Jeep driven by Roger Beem, of Pacific Junction, was traveling south on 195th Street at around 4:15-p.m., and approaching the intersection with Highway 34. Torrential rains prevented the SUV from coming to a complete stop, and the vehicle began to hydroplane.

A 2007 Audi driven by 76-year-old Thomas Millikan, also of Pacific Junction, was traveling west on Highway 34. Officials say Beem tried to accelerate through the intersection to avoid a collision, but the front of the Audi collided with the rear of the Jeep. Authorities say heavy rain at the time, made it nearly impossible for either driver to see each other.