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Panorama Panther Jaidyn Sellers continues to impress

Sports

June 20th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

Not many high school students have or will follow the athletic success that Jaidyn Sellers has achieved within her time at Panorama Community High School. She led her high school basketball team to the state championship and scored twenty points in the final game. Sellers became the state’s quickest sprinter by winning state titles in the 100, 200, and 400.  Throughout her high school career, she’s won 3 Drake Relay Titles and a total of 10 state titles. To top things off, Sellers will be dawning the black and gold as she plays for the Iowa softball program in the fall.

Her accolades are numerous, and she credits the internal drive to achieve from her family.

That competitive drive led to many happy memories for Sellers as she continued to improve each year. Still, one moment inside the Blue Oval will always remain at the top for Sellers high school highlights.

When asked about her favorite sport, Sellers has a strong zeal towards softball. It’s a sport she grew up absorbing from watching her family play throughout her childhood.

Sellers future sprinting endeavors will be on the softball field and off the track. Sellers last fall signed her national letter of intent to play for the University of Iowa. The decision was a comfortable one as the proximity to home was a major benefit.

While reflecting on her time in high school, Sellers did have one piece of advice to share with athletes who are looking to be at the top of their respective sports.

Move in day for Sellers and other Hawkeye athletes will be in late August.

Day 1 Preview: Iowans @ U.S. Olympic T&F Trials

Sports

June 20th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

•U.S. Olympic Trials—Eugene, Oregon, June 21-June 30

The 2024 Olympic Trials begin on Friday and will run through June 30,  with a 2-day break on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 25-26).

Thirty five athletes with Iowa ties will be competing. See entire list below.

—52 Drake Relays alumni competing

      —There’s an excellent chance that at least five athletes with Iowa ties will make the U.S. Olympic Team: Kenny Bednarek – men’s 200; Hillary Bor, men’s 3000 steeple; Brittney Brown, women’s 200; Laulanga Tausaga-Collins, women’s discus; Karissa             Schweizer, women’s 5 or 10k.
     
       —Two-time Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones will be competing in her fourth Olympic Trials.
 

—18 Drake Relays officials working the meet including public address announcer Mike Jay

https://www.usatf.org/events/2024/2024-u-s-olympic-team-trials-—-track-field

The top 3 finishers in each event, provided they’ve met the Olympic qualifying standard (performance or ranking) will qualify to represent the U.S. at the Paris Olympics. You can check the status of an athlete by going to the World Athletics “Road to Paris” site:

https://worldathletics.org/stats-zone/road-to/7153115

Schedulehttps://www.usatf.org/events/2024/2024-u-s-olympic-team-trials-%E2%80%94-track-field/schedule

Entrieshttps://www.usatf.org/events/2024/2024-u-s-olympic-team-trials-—-track-field/status-of-entries

Startlists/Resultshttps://results.usatf.org/2024Trials/

 

 

IOWANS COMPETING IN U.S. OLYMPIC TRACK & FIELD TRIALS

Men – 20

Isaac Basten, Drake —1500

*Kenny Bednarek, former Indiana Hills CC — 100 & 200

#Hillary Bor, former Iowa State – 3000 steeple

Jamal Britt, former Iowa – 110 hurdles

Brandon Carnes, former UNI — 100 & 200

James Carter, former Iowa — triple jump

Nik Curtiss, former Iowa — shot put

Ryan Ford, former Iowa State — 10,000

Cam Jones, Iowa State, Cedar Rapids Kennedy HS —shot put

Darius Kipyego, Iowa State — 800

Courtney Lindsey, former Iowa Central CC — 100 & 200

Michael Millslagle, Graceland — high jump

Gratt Reed, Iowa, Atlantic HS — 110 hurdles

Will Reemstsma, St. Ambrose, Davenport Central HS — 400 hurdles

Gable Sieperda, Iowa State, GLR/CL HS — 3000 steeple

Mike Stein, Iowa, Spirit Lake HS — javelin

TJ Tomlyanovich, Cedar Falls HS — 400

Reno Tuufull, former Iowa — discus

Kalen Walker, Iowa, Indian Hills CC —100

Austin West, Iowa, Iowa City West HS — decathlon

Women – 15

Alex Gochenour-Brondyke, Logan Magnolia HS —  heptathlon & 100 hurdles

Brittany Brown, former Iowa  — 200

Makayla Clark, Iowa State — 800

Erin Dowd, former Iowa —  400 hurdles

Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, former Iowa — discus

$Lolo Jones, Des Moines Roosevelt — 100 hurdles

Rachel Joseph, Iowa State — 400

Paige Magee, Iowa — 100 hurdles

Kat Moody, Iowa, Waukee HS  — discus

Janette Schraft, Iowa State, Glenwood HS — 3000 steeple

*Karissa Schweizer, Dowling Catholic —5,000 & 10,000

Maria Shavers, former UNI, Hawkeye CC, Waterloo West HS — hammer throw

Tionna Tobias, Iowa – long jump

Alexina Teubel, former UNI, Mt.Vernon-Lisbon HS — 1,500

Sydney Willits, Iowa State — long jump

Key
*2021 Olympian
#2016 Olympian
$2008 & 2012 Olympian

FRIDAY SCHEDULE INVOLVING IOWANS  (all times central)

2 p.m.  Decathlon – Austin West, Iowa

7:30 p.m. Men’s Javelin, 1st Round — First Flight: Mike Stein, Iowa, Spirit Lake HS

7:48 p.m. Women’s 400 – Heat Five: Lane 4- Rachel Joseph, Iowa State

8:17 p.m. Women’s 800 —Heat Two: Hip #8 Makayla Clark, Iowa State 

8:49 p.m. Men’s 3000 Steeplechase –  Heat One: Hip #6 Hillary Bor, former Iowa State, 2016 Olympian; Heat Two: Hip #6 Gabe Sieperda, Iowa State

9:22 p.m. Men’s 1500 1st round – Heat three: Hip #13 Isaac Basten, Drake

10:15 pm Men’s Shot put 1st round – Flight one: Cam Jones, Iowa State, CR Kennedy; Nick Curtiss, former Iowa

10:22 pm Women’s  5,000 -1st round — (Heat one) – Hip #2 Karissa Schweizer, former Dowling Catholic

May unemployment unchanged from April

News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The jobs numbers are out for May and Iowa Workforce Development director, Beth Townsend, says they are positive.

She says there was some growth in jobs.

Townsend says there are some issues on the horizon.

She says the Tyson closing in Perry and the other announced layoffs will start to show up in the June and July unemployment numbers. But she says the job conditions remain very good for the works impacted by those company moves.

Townsend is confident in the I-W-D process.

Unemployment rose above three percent at the end of 2023 and has been moving down slightly since the start of the new year. The May rate this year is the same as one year ago.

With lofty expectations Iowa State men’s basketball open summer workouts

Sports

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

The expectations have never been higher for the Iowa State men’s basketball team. With their four top scorers returning from a team that won the Big-12 Tournament and made to the Sweet-16 of the NCAA Tournament the Cyclones are a likely top five team in the preseason polls and a serious contender to win the national title. Summer workouts are underway in Ames.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger who says the Cyclones are not focused on what other people think of them.

Otzelbeger does not spend time on social media so he is not familiar with all the talk surrounding next season.

Four transfers have joined the Cyclone program, including former UNI guard Nate Heise. The native of Minnesota spent the past four years with the Panthers and led them in scoring last season at 13 and-a-half points per game.

Sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic says Heise has performed well in workouts.

Momcilovic averaged nearly 11 points per game last season in being named to the Big-12 All Freshman team. He is embracing the expectations.

Momcilovic says being a more experienced team will help the Cyclones next season.

Senior guard Keshon Gilbert led the Cyclones in scoring at just over 13 and-a-half points per game last season and says the Cyclones are not focused on where they might be ranked next season.

Sen. Grassley calls EPA production standards on biofuels ‘an insult’

Ag/Outdoor, News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is calling on the E-P-A and the Biden Administration to raise Renewable Fuel Standard volumes so they keep up with the amount of biofuels our factories can churn out. Grassley says the agency didn’t boost the Renewable Volume Obligation — or R-V-O — levels far enough last year. He says it’s an “insult” for those levels to be so low and the result is a stifled industry and a discouragement of outside investment, which is costing green jobs in Iowa.

Grassley, a Republican, is joining with Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar in calling for a boost in R-V-O volumes in order to keep pace with biofuels production and availability. Sixteen other senators signed on.

The letter to the E-P-A highlights environmental benefits from an increase in biofuels production, including how biomass-based diesel can cut carbon emissions by more than 70 percent. Grassley says there are significant economic advantages for the entire supply chain, from the farmer to the consumer.

Iowa is the nation’s top producer of both ethanol and biodiesel. The letter to the head of the EPA says: “America’s environmental and energy security depend on the widespread production, availability, and use of biofuels. Biofuels play a particularly critical role in emissions reduction for heavy-duty transportation – including aviation, shipping, rail, and trucking – while opening up economic opportunities for American farmers. A strong RFS and broad availability of homegrown agricultural feedstocks are critical for ensuring we keep up the progress we have made in decarbonizing our roads, seas, railways and skies.”

Testing may be required for dairy cattle shows at Iowa fairs

Ag/Outdoor, News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – With bird flu cases confirmed in at least nine northwest Iowa dairy herds, there may be new requirements for some dairy cattle exhibited at county fairs and the Iowa State Fair this summer. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig expects to make an announcement soon.

Cows enter a more than 300-day lactating cycle and produce milk after giving birth to a calf. In early 2022 after bird flu reemerged in Iowa poultry operations, Naig cancelled live bird shows at fairs and other exhibitions to try to curb the spread of the virus. Iowa law requires county fairs to have a veterinarian inspect all livestock, poultry and birds as the animals arrive on the fairgrounds for shows and exhibits.

ISU students get a chance to chase storms as part of class

News, Weather

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A class of Iowa State University students got a first hand look at severe weather this spring in a course on identifying how storms develop. Dave Floury is one of the course instructors.

Floury, who is in the Atmospheric Sciences Department at I-S-U, says some students had been storm chasing, but wanted a more structured and safe experience.

He says they talked about the science of how thunderstorms and tornadoes form, and then went on an eight-day trip to observe them.

Their trip started in central Kansas, when to northeastern Colorado, then southwest Iowa and southwest Kansas. They also got a tour of the national Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. And finished up by running with storms in northern Oklahoma and southwest Missouri.

Bird co-leads brief on Trump gag order in Mar-A-Lago case

News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is among 24 state attorneys general asking a Florida judge let former President Trump speak publicly about the search of his Mar-A-Lago resort. A special prosecutor has asked the judge overseeing the classified documents case against Trump to issue a gag order.

Bird was part of the team that drafted a legal brief that argues the gag order would muzzle political speech.

Bird served as Fremont County Attorney and then as Guthrie County Attorney before being elected as the state’s attorney general in 2022. This is the second time Bird has been one of the leading attorneys general in drafting a brief to oppose a gag order on Trump. The first was related to federal charges that accuse Trump of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird testified at Iowa House Budget Subcommittee hearing. (RI file photo)

In this latest brief, Bird and the other attorneys general says a gag order in the classified documents case would deny Americans the right to hear what Trump has to say about the most heated political issue of the day. The special prosecutor says Trump’s comments on the case have endangered law officers involved in the investigation and threatened the integrity of the proceedings.

ELDA LOUISE FROCK, 92, of Exira (Memorial Svc. 7/1/24)

Obituaries

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

ELDA LOUISE FROCK, 92, of Exira, died June 8, 2024, at the Exira Care Center.  A Memorial service for ELDA FROCK will be held 2-p.m. July 1st, 2024, at the Exira Christian Church. Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Exira has the arrangements.

A reception with a luncheon will follow the memorial service on July 1st, in the fellowship hall of the Exira Christian Church.

ELDA FROCK is survived by:

Her daughter – Rebecca Anne (& husband Les), of Sacramento CA

Her son – Steven (Katia) Frock, of Hamlin.

Cass County (IA) Sheriff’s report on arrests from May 30th thru June 19th

News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests from over the past four weeks. Most recently:

  • On June 19th, 36-year-old Aaron Macias of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Harassment 3rd Degree.
  • On June 17th, 33-year-old Dustin Potter, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Violation of Probation; and, 33-year-old Benjamin Barnes of Griswold, was arrested on a warrant for a Sex Offender Registry Violation.
  • On June 16th, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 46-year-old Angela Logemann of Atlantic, for Simple Assault.  Logemann held pending her later release on her own recognizance.
  • On June 13th, 33-year-old Bradley Haley of Clarinda, was arrested in Cass County on a warrant for Failure to Appear.  He was held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • On June 12th, 41-year-old Zachary Frank of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation, as well as Driving While Barred and Improper Rear Lamps; and, 24-year-old Jackon Sally of Atlantic, was arrested on warrants for Violation of Probation.  He was additionally charged with Sex Abuse 3rd Degree.
  • There were two arrests June 10th, in Cass County: 71-year-old Samuel Miller  of Atlantic, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense.  Miller was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance; and 37-year-old Aaron Shamblen of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Driving While Barred, OWI 1st Offense and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Shamblen was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • June 6th, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 65-year-old Reggie Martin of Bridgewater, for OWI/1st Offense.  Martin was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • On the 4th, 39-year-old Robin Grieshaber of Cumberland, was arrested for Drug Trafficking – Methamphetamine, Driving with No Valid Driver’s License and Interference with Official Acts.  Grieshaber was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release.
  • June 3rd, 27-year-old Jacob Johnson of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication.  Johnson was booked into the Cass County Jail where he remained until his time was served.
  • On the June 2nd, 23-year-old Justin Elimo of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication.  Elimo was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • And, on May 30th, 20-year-old Phillip Germann of Anita, was arrested on for OWI/1st Offense and Operating without a Valid Driver’s License.  Germann was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release.

Unless otherwise mentioned, the above listed subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

“All criminal charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in the court of law.”

** Please Note:  The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is now using:  civil@casscoia.us as the preferred email address for any digital civil service processing needs.  Thank you.