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Iowa has 3 named to Big Ten preseason baseball honors list

Sports

February 12th, 2020 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Three University of Iowa seniors — Grant Judkins, Grant Leonard, and Austin Martin — have been named to the Big Ten Preseason Honors List, it was announced Wednesday by the league office.

Judkins, a right-handed pitcher from Pella, Iowa, will open the season as the Hawkeyes’ Saturday starter.  Last season, he went 4-7 with a 2.72 ERA with 65 strikeouts over 82 2/3 innings.  Judkins was the Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week on Feb.19 and finished the season ranking in the top 14 in the Big Ten in ERA, batting average against, and innings.

Leonard, a right-handed pitcher from Mokena, Illinois, returns for his second season as the Hawkeyes’ closer.  The reliever is a preseason All-American by the NCBWA (second team) and Collegiate Baseball (third team) and a member of the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List.  As a junior, Leonard earned second-team All-Big Ten honors after tallying a single-season school record 14 saves.  He went 2-3 with a 3.37 ERA in 28 appearances.

Martin, a catcher from Altoona, Iowa, started 53 games — 49 behind the plate — during his first season as a Hawkeye, where he hit .294 with 10 doubles, 30 RBIs, and 29 runs scored. Martin had a team-leading 18 multi-hit games in 2019 and he hit safely in 34 contests.

The Hawkeyes were not picked to finish in the top six of the Big Ten preseason poll in a vote of the league’s coaches (only the top six spots are released). Michigan was tabbed as the favorite followed by Ohio State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Indiana, and Illinois.

Iowa opens the regular season Friday at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida, facing Kent State at 3 p.m. (CT).

Iowa extends contracts for wrestling coaches Tom Brands, Terry Brands, and Ryan Morningstar

Sports

February 12th, 2020 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa wrestling coaches Tom Brands, Terry Brands, and Ryan Morningstar have agreed to contract extensions to remain in Iowa City through the 2026 wrestling season, Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair Gary Barta announced Wednesday.

“We have great confidence in Tom, Terry and Ryan,” said Barta.  “They are committed to building on the current momentum and operating within our ‘Win. Graduate. Do it Right.’ philosophy.”

Tom Brands is in his 14th season as Iowa’s head coach. He has won three NCAA team titles, four Big Ten Championships, and owns a dual record of 229-23-1 (.908). Iowa has crowned 12 NCAA individual champions and earned 72 All-America honors since 2007.

Terry Brands is in his 22nd season on Iowa’s staff. He was an assistant coach from 1992-2000, and returned to the staff in 2009. He has held the title of associate head coach since 2011.

Morningstar has served as an assistant coach since 2012.

The Hawkeyes are 11-0 this season, sitting atop the Big Ten Conference and ranked No. 1 in the country. Iowa’s 2020 lineup includes 10 wrestlers ranked in the top 10, seven ranked in the top five, and two ranked at the top of their respective weight classes, including Spencer Lee at 125 and Michael Kemerer at 174.

Iowa has led the nation in attendance in each of Tom Brands’ 13 seasons, and the University of Iowa announced Feb. 5 the Carver Circle fundraising campaign to build a new wrestling training facility south of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

MARLENE RADTKE, 83, of New Glarus, WI, formerly of Manning (2-17-2020)

Obituaries

February 12th, 2020 by Jim Field

MARLENE RADTKE, 83, of New Glarus, WI (formerly of Manning) died Tuesday, February 11th at The Villa Nursing Home in Middleton, WI.  Services for MARLENE RADTKE will be held on Monday, February 17th at 11:00 am at the Zion Lutheran Church in Manning.  Ohde Funeral Home in Manning has the arrangements.

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Friends may call on Monday after 9:30 am at the church.

Burial in the Manning Cemetery.

MARLENE RADTKE is survived by:

Children:  Laura Jacobsen of Evansville, WI; John Radtke of Spring Grove, WI.

Brother:  Marvin Bogatzke of Audubon.

Sister-in-Law:  Wilma Bogatzke of Des Moines

4 Grandchildren

Presentation offered in Atlantic Feb. 20th on career & college planning readiness

News

February 12th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic High School Counseling Office and Iowa College Access Network (ICAN), will offer a free presentation Feb 20th, on career and college readiness. The presentation is for all sophomores, juniors and their parents. It offers students and parents a chance to receive help with any questions pertaining to career and college planing, financing college, and life after high school.

The program will be divided into two parts: College Planning, from 6-until 7-p.m., and Financing for College, from 7-until 8-p.m. Both will be held Thursday, Feb. 20th, in the Atlantic High School Auditorium. If you would like more information, please contact the AHS Counseling Office at 243-5358.

Iowa governor won’t discuss center’s sexual arousal research

News

February 12th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds isn’t commenting on accusations made against state officials in a federal lawsuit involving sexual arousal experiments performed on residents at the Glenwood Resource Center, a state care center for people with intellectual disabilities. Two doctors and other former employees of the facility sued a state agency and several officials Monday alleging conspiracy to silence complaints about sexual arousal research conducted by Jerry Rea. Rea is the former superintendent of the center. Reynolds says she can’t comment on the lawsuit. She wouldn’t answer questions about when she learned of experimentation on patients and how much of Rea’s background was checked before he was hired.

Cass County Health System Earns ACR Accreditation

News

February 12th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Atlantic, IA — Cass County Health System has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in mammography as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Mammography is a specific type of imaging test that uses a low-dose X-ray system to examine breasts. A mammography exam, called a mammogram, is used to aid in the early detection and diagnosis of breast diseases in women. The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Parameters and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field.

CCHS Mammography Staff picture left to right: Jessica Sandbothe, Carrie Schmitt, Mindi Macha, Sarah Olsen, Stephanie Drogo, and Stephanie Drees. (Photo submitted)

Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report that can be used for continuous practice improvement. The ACR, founded in 1924, is a professional medical society dedicated to serving patients and society by empowering radiology professionals to advance the practice, science and professions of radiological care.

The College serves more than 37,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services. ###

Kirk and Mary Ferentz to receive Pillar of Character award

News, Sports

February 12th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and his wife Mary have won the Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award for 2020. The award is given out by the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University, which is named for the former governor and his wife. Center spokesperson Amy Smit says it is the highest honor given based on character.”An individual or individuals who have displayed good character as public role models. Past award recipients have included: Hayden Fry, Shawn Johnson, Peggy Whitson, the astronaut and just really great Iowans who are really great role models for us,” Smit says.

Kirk-and-Mary-Ferentz

Smit says individuals are nominated for the award.”The award is decided by our national advisory council. And this particular award is something Governor Ray was passionate about before be passed — that this award be presented to the Ferentz’s,” Wit explains. Kirk Ferentz has been Iowa’s head football coach for the past 21 seasons, making him the longest-tenured active coach in college football. “He’s really made an impact on so many youth over his career. It’s really astonishing when you think about the number of players who go through his program,” according to Smit. “He takes character very seriously, and has made a huge impact.”

Kirk and Mary Ferentz met during their high school days in Pennsylvania. The Ferentz’s have been married forty years and have five children and nine grandchildren. “Mary has been making an impact on her own. She’s raised over two million dollars for the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital through her ladies football academy. So, she’s been just as busy after raising their five kids at home,” Smit says.

The award will be presented in April in West Des Moines. “We’ll be getting together on April 17th at our All-Star evening to present the award to Kirk and Mary. We’ll have about 600 people in attendance — where we get together and celebrate good character,” Smit says. Smit says the event is open to the public and you can find out more at: www.AllStarEvening.org.

Maquoketa residents being asked to help monitor contamination

News

February 12th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) – City officials plan to ask residents to enroll in a program to monitor vapor contamination from a carcinogenic chemical that’s spread from a factory site in the eastern Iowa city of Maquoketa. The Telegraph Herald reported that the contamination stems from the operations of Clinton Machine Co., which built small engines in Maquoketa from 1950 into the 1990s. The factory used trichloroethene, commonly known as TCE, as a degreasing agent. Federal authorities have since determined that TCE is carcinogenic. Shelly Nellesen with the Iowa Natural Resources Department says the TCE in groundwater also creates the potential for indoor contamination.

Atlantic’s Dennis commits to Iowa Western Community College for Cross Country

Sports

February 12th, 2020 by admin

Front Row: Bradley’s Mother Stephanie Kinzie, Bradley Dennis. Back Row: Atlantic Cross Country Coach Dan Vargason, Assistant Track and Basketball Coach Jeremy Blake, Head Boys Basketball Coach Jeff Ebling.

Atlantic senior Bradley Dennis made his commitment official on Wednesday morning to attend Iowa Western Community College and compete on the Cross Country and Track and Field program.

Dennis has been a strong member of the Atlantic cross country and track programs his entire four years. Dennis was a three time state qualifier in Cross Country. He finished 33rd his freshman season in 2016, took 74th in 2018, and was 39th in 2019 in Class 3A with a time of 17:12.20 in Fort Dodge.

On the track Dennis was a member of the state Runner-Up team in 2019 for the Trojans. He was on the 4x800M Relay team that took a 4th place medal (Craig Alan Becker, Nathan Behrends, Bradley Dennis, Chase Mullenix) 8:06.88.

Crime Scene Processing class held in Atlantic this week

News

February 12th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

If you notice an unusual number of marked and unmarked law enforcement vehicles in Atlantic this week, it’s because about two dozen people employed by nearly a dozen different agencies from across Iowa and the Midwest, are in town taking part in a Crime Scene Processing class held at the Atlantic Fire Station.

The class is presented by Forensic Education, based in Londonderry, NH. They also provide classes in Social Media, Right-to-Know, Interviews and Interrogations, and Credit Card Fraud, depending on the need of a law enforcement agency or agencies.

The three-day course in Atlantic began Tuesday, and concludes Thursday. The class is designed to teach law enforcement officers how to handle any crime scene, including a vehicle break-in, burglary, or a suspicious death.

Crime Scene Process pictures from Forensic Education’s website.

Topics covered include:

  • Crime Scene Documentation and Photography
  • Fingerprinting for All Surfaces
  • Footwear, Tire and Tool Marks
  • Trace Evidence – Light Sources, DNA Evidence, Blood Evidence

Attendees are offered hands-on training through practice exercises, with all instructional materials provided. The next classes on the topic will be presented Feb. 25th through the 27th, at the Maricopa Police Department, in Arizona, and April 21-23 in Pratt, Kansas.