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Sports Brief: 6/3/20

Sports

June 3rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

NFL tells teams they must hold training camps at home

UNDATED (AP) — All 32 NFL teams have been told by Commissioner Roger Goodell to hold training camps at their home facilities this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most NFL teams stay at their training complexes year-round, but Dallas, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Buffalo are among those that stage training camp elsewhere. The Cowboys and Steelers are scheduled for the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 6 and will be the first two teams to report in late July. Dallas usually trains in Oxnard, California, and Pittsburgh in nearby Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Soon, the NFL is hopeful of having club complexes fully open, but under strict medical guidelines including social distancing protocols.

WASHINGTON (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says Hall of Fame player Wes Unseld was one of the most consequential players of his era. Unseld died Tuesday at age 74 from what his family says was a series of health challenges. He spent his entire 13-season playing career with the Bullets-Wizards franchise, then was its coach and general manager. The team was based in Baltimore when he was drafted; he and his wife, Connie, opened Unseld School in that city in 1978.

UNDATED (AP) — Instead of X’s and O’s, the Denver Broncos spent Tuesday talking about racial injustice, police brutality and healing a nation rocked by demonstrations over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. Team president Joe Ellis addressed the offense and defense in separate Zoom calls that replaced the team’s regular video conference sessions, which are a substitute for in-person training during the pandemic.

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Clemson assistant Danny Pearman said he made a “grave mistake” when repeating a racial slur to ex-tight end D.J. Greenlee on the practice field three years ago. Pearman, who is white, said in a statement there was no excuse in talking that way to Greenlee, who is African-American. The incident came to light when another former Clemson player, Kanyon Tuttle, posted about it on social media. Tuttle’s post was in response to head coach Dabo Swinney’s comments concerning the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — According to a report released by a law firm, allegations of physical and emotional abuse in Rutgers University’s softball program stopped short of recommending discipline. The release of the report, which had been requested by Rutgers after an investigation by NJ Advance Media, ended a seven-month probe of allegations by players against coach Kristen Butler and volunteer assistant coach Marcus Smith, her husband. The report said 10 of 22 players left the program after the 2019 season.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Bowling Green baseball is now safe. The school said Tuesday it is immediately reinstating its baseball program, which had been dropped last month due to financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The school was facing a $2 million athletic budget shortfall due to the coronavirus outbreak, and baseball was cut in hopes of saving other sports from a similar fate. A fundraising effort was led by former BGSU players and donors.

Iowa early News Headlines: Wed., June 3rd 2020

News

June 3rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Longtime Rep. Steve King has been ousted in Iowa’s Republican primary after being ostracized by party leaders for comments about white nationalism. State Sen. Randy Feenstra won the five-way race Tuesday after he argued the nine-term conservative Republican had cost the district a voice in Congress by losing his committee assignments over comments in a 2018 New York Times story that seemed to defend white nationalism. King has a long record of incendiary comments about immigrants and white supremacy. Feenstra becomes the heavy favorite to win in the district, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by roughly 60,000. He faces Democrat J.D. Schoulten, who lost by 2 percentage points to King in 2018.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Coronavirus tests have revealed that 224 employees of a Tyson beef and pork processing plant in Council Bluffs have the virus, company officials said Tuesday. The company said 103 workers stayed home the required quarantine time and have returned to work. The company has more than 1,400 employees at the plant. Tyson also says testing at its pork processing plant in Storm Lake indicated 591 positive cases out of 2,300 workers. Iowa surpassed 20,000 positive cases on Tuesday and with 21 additional deaths, 561 people have now died.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declined to say whether there were circumstances under which she would seek President Donald Trump’s offer of military help to quell protests. Reynolds, a Republican and supporter of Trump, said at a news conference Tuesday that she relies on the advice of her public safety commissioner and other officials to ensure they have the ability to respond to protests. Reynolds said the soldiers haven’t been needed but could be quickly deployed. Reynolds declined to directly answer questions about Trump’s use of police to remove peaceful protesters Monday near the White House and his call for governors to take a similar approach in dealing with demonstrators.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Davenport say seven heavily armed men are linked to shootings that wounded a man outside a jewelry store and a police officer during unrest that rocked the city this week. Documents from the Scott County Attorney’s Office allege the local men were responsible for some of the violence that began late Sunday and prompted the county to impose a curfew. Police are still investigating the deaths of a 22-year-old woman who was shot while leaving a protest and of a man who was found near where the suspects exchanged gunfire with police.

2020 Primary – State election results – FINAL

News

June 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Adair County results (24% voter turnout)

US (Republican) Representative District 3:

David Young     570*

Bill Schafer       207

US Senate (Democrat)

Theresa Greenfield 270*; Michael Franken, 107; Kimberly Graham, 49; Eddie J. Mauro, 41; Cal Woods, 4.

Adams County (26% voter turnout)

US (Republican) Representative District 3:

David Young     274*

Bill Schafer       206

US Senate (Democrat)

Theresa Greenfield 126*; Michael Franken, 59; Kimberly Graham, 26; Eddie J. Mauro, 17; Cal Woods, 3.

Audubon County

US Senate District 4 (Republican):

Steve King     280; Bret A. Richards    249; Randy Feenstra    228; Jeremy Taylor    41; Steven Reeder    20.

State Senate District 6 (Republican):

Health Hansen     492*; Craig Steven Williams     177

Cass County (22% turnout)

US (Republican) Representative District 3:

David Young     1,039*

Bill Schafer       392

US Senate (Democrat)

Theresa Greenfield 405*; Michael Franken, 102; Kimberly Graham, 78; Eddie J. Mauro, 60; Cal Woods, 8.

Guthrie County (22% turnout)

US (Republican) Representative District 3:

David Young     685*

Bill Schafer       315

US Senate (Democrat)

Theresa Greenfield 400*; Michael Franken, 193; Kimberly Graham, 53; Eddie J. Mauro, 71; Cal Woods, 12.

Montgomery County (32.5% turnout)

US Senate (Democratic Party)

Theresa Greenfield, 350; Michael Franken, 115; Kimberly Graham, 69; Eddie J. Mauro, 34; Cal Woods, 6.

State Representative – District 23 (Republican Party)

David A. Sieck, 932*; Charlotte Dunnettt, 221.

Shelby County (28% turnout)

US Senate District 4 (Republican):

Steve King     674; Bret A. Richards    475; Randy Feenstra    276; Jeremy Taylor    88; Steven Reeder    65.

US Senate – Democrat

Theresa Greenfield, 423; Kimberly Graham, 93; Michael Franken, 90; Eddie J. Mauro, 62; Cal Woods, 18.

Pottawattamie County (22% turnout)

US Representative District 3 – Republican

David Young     4,581*

Bill Schafer        2,441

US Senate – Democrat

Theresa Greenfield 3, 598*; Kimberly Graham 847; Michael Franken 564; Eddie J. Mauro 546; Cal Woods 83.

 

Area Primary Results (Contested Local Races only) – 6/2/20 (Unofficial results) – FINAL

News

June 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

CASS COUNTY – FINAL

Republican Ticket

Supervisor/District 4:

(Incumbent) Steve Baier (of Griswold) 236*

Travis Erickson (of Cumberland)          89

Supervisor/District 5:

Bernard Pettinger (of Anita)               182*

Linda Reineke (of Massena)                92

ADAIR COUNTY – FINAL

No contested races on either Republican or Democratic ballots

ADAMS COUNTY – FINAL

No contested races on either Republican or Democratic ballots

AUDUBON COUNTY – FINAL

Republican Ticket

Supervisor At-Large (elect 2)

Duane Deist     287

Todd M. Nelson (I)     448*

Rick Thompson (I)     418*

Louis J. Wanninger, Jr.     168

GUTHRIE COUNTY- FINAL

No contested races on either Republican or Democratic ballots

MONTGOMERY COUNTY (voter turnout 32.5%) – FINAL

Republican Ticket

Supervisor/District 3 (elect 1)

Bryant Amos (I)     196 (45.48%)

Randy Cooper       235 (54.52%)*

POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY – FINAL

Republican ticket

Supervisor At-Large (elect 2)

Donn Dierks    2,032

Adam Houser  2,614

Mitchell A. Kay 2,464

Brian Shea        2,635*

Tim Wichman  3,517*

County Sheriff

Rob Ambrose   2,588

Danielle Bentzinger   1,732

Andy Brown     3,415*

SHELBY COUNTY – FINAL

Republican ticket

Supervisor At-Large (elect 2)

Steve Kenkel     1,374

Charles Parkhurst  1,250

(For more results from across the State: https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/IA/103296/web.245375/#/summary)

Minor League franchises still hoping for a shortened season

Sports

June 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Cubs president and general manager Sam Bernabe says the franchise will survive even without a Pacific Coast League season. Next week will mark two months since the I-Cubs scheduled season opener and prospects are dimming for even a shortened season.

Bernabe says the loss of an entire season would impact their budget for a couple of years.

Bernabe says a decision of minor leagues wll be made after MLB owners and players strike a deal.

Iowa has four teams in the Class A Midwest League, including the LumberKings in Clinton. General manager Ted Tornow hopes an agreement by Major League baseball can lead to shortened season for his club.

Tornow says he still hoping for even a two month season.

Tornow believes a decision on minor leagues will be made if MLB owners and players can strike a deal.

Changes coming for relief payment debit cards

News

June 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says discussions with the U-S Treasury Department have led to some changes to address issues with the debit cards sent out as federal relief money payments. Miller’s spokesman, Lynn Hicks, says there was little information sent out beforehand, and that raised questions about the cards. “People received these, they thought it might be a scam or it might be a solicitation. They had no idea that this was the stimulus money or the economic impact payment money,” Hicks says.

He says the process used to activate the cards added to the problem. “They were asked to call a number and provide their Social Security number and other personal information — which of course we always tell people don’t do that,” according to Hicks. “We are glad people were listening and had their radar up about his. Unfortunately, in this time they threw those away and they’ve had some difficulty getting the cards back.”

He says it will now be easier to call to get your card replaced through the phone system. He says you will be prompted and punch the number for a lost and stolen card and then you will be asked for the last six digits to your Social Security card. “That changed because they were originally asked to provide the number of the card, which they did not have.”

There was a seven-dollar and 50 cent fee to get a new card, but Hicks says that has now been waived. And he says the limit has been raised on how much you can withdrawal from the card. “People should be able to take the full amount out now instead of waiting and doing multiple withdrawals,” he says. “They should be able to transfer all the money to their bank account, if they chose to do so, and do so for free.”

Hick says representatives from the Nebraska attorney general’s office and the National Association of Attorneys General joined the Iowa office in asking for the changes that should improve the use of the cards.
“If they are having problems with their cards or they threw away their card — go to that number 800-240-8100. Now, keep in mind that a lot of people are probably calling, so there may be some delays here. People are still going to have to be patient,” Hicks says.

He says Treasury officials said they will work with MetaBank to update the EPIcard.com website to address these issues.

Audubon School Board approves offer on bonds saving $1.8-million in interest

News

June 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The Audubon School District, Tuesday evening, passed a Resolution directing the sale of approximately $9.11-million in General Obligation School and Refunding Bonds for the District’s HVAC system and other facility improvements. The 9.11-million includes $7.5-million for the voter approved Bond Referendum, plus $1.6-million in refunding 2013 series bonds.

Superintendent Eric Trager said when the District’s Financial Advisor Travis Squires from Piper/Sandler opened the bids and shared them with Trager and the Board Secretary Tuesday morning, Squires said the rates were “Historically low,” which Trager said made for “A good day.”

The reason he was happy, is because with five bidders, all were well below the estimated interest rate of 3.5% the District was expecting to pay, with the low bid from D.A. Davidson & Company from Denver, CO., coming in at 1.76%, which Squires said was virtually tied with the lowest bond rate they’ve seen in the State of Iowa. He said also, the last time bond rates were this low was in 2012, when they were at around 2.12-percent. After adjustments were made, the actual interest rate was 1.74-percent. The purchase price was $9, 326, 795.38.

The result was a savings on interest of $1.8-million. That means the anticipated 76-cent increase in the property tax asking will instead be reduced by about 35-cents. The District had originally said the $1.35 per 1,000 assessed valuation would be increased by 76-cents to $2.11/per thousand, but with the savings on interest, the actual increase amounts to about 30-to 35-cents/1,000. In addition, the District saves about $30,000 by redeeming the Outstanding General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2013.

The next steps includes a series of Resolution at the next Board meeting that finalize the transactions. After that, the District will be working with a construction manager to determine a cash flow, and if there are any investment options for the remaining bond proceeds that the district would like to pursue.

In other business, the Audubon School Board, Tuesday, approved a recommendation from Mr. Trager to place a duplex property in Washington State on a real estate listing, since efforts to sell the property privately, have not met expectations. The duplex, which was bequeathed to the district in the will of an Audubon graduate, is valued at $205,000.

224 workers at Council Bluffs plant test positive for virus

News

June 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Coronavirus tests have revealed that 224 employees of a Tyson beef and pork processing plant in Council Bluffs have the virus, company officials said Tuesday. The company said 103 workers stayed home the required quarantine time and have returned to work. The company has more than 1,400 employees at the plant.

Tyson also says testing at its pork processing plant in Storm Lake indicated 591 positive cases out of 2,300 workers. Iowa surpassed 20,000 positive cases on Tuesday and with 21 additional deaths, 561 people have now died.

June starts off scorching hot, a contrast to the very cool May

News, Weather

June 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – This primary election day is forecast to be the hottest day of the year so far, with highs hitting the 90s across much of Iowa for the first time in 2020. That’s a big contrast to the just-ended month of May which wrapped up cooler than normal, according to state climatologist Justin Glisan. “We were about two-and-a-half degrees below average across the state and colder than average across the Midwest,” Glisan says. “We had a lot of cloudy days, a lot of daily highs that were below average.”

As for precipitation across Iowa, Glisan says May was fairly typical. “We’re looking at about four or four-and-a-half inches of rainfall across the state, which is about average,” Glisan says. “There are sections of the state in which we have drier-than-normal conditions. That’s where we saw some D-zero introduced by the U.S. Drought Monitor. D-zero is not drought. It’s abnormal dryness.”

Forecasting models are showing inconclusive predictions for Iowa’s weather during June, as some are indicating a warmer, drier month ahead while others show it’ll be cooler and wetter.  “Typically, when we’re in the summertime when we do see wetter-than-normal conditions, that’s tightly coupled with cooler-than-average conditions,” Glisan says. “There is an expectation that perhaps June could be warm and then we get to near-normal or slightly cooler conditions moving into July and August.”

The first day of summer arrives June 20th.

Des Moines police ID victim in city’s latest homicide case

News

June 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police have identified the victim in the city’s latest homicide case. Police say 37-year-old Zachary Brooks of Des Moines was found dead in an apartment Monday evening after someone reported a suicide there.

The officers who arrived found Brooks’ body, but said his death didn’t appear to be a suicide. Police later declared Brooks’ death as the city’s 12th homicide of the year, but did not detail how Brooks died or announce any arrests..