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Creighton economist not optimistic about holiday sales

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University Economist Ernie Goss says the two surveys he conducts don’t show a lot of promise for merchants this holiday season.  “Holiday and Christmas buying probably up about three to four percent — and most of that’s inflation,” Goss says. “So when you look at it, when you subtract out inflation, you’re at zero to one percent increase from last year at this time.” Goss says high interest rates will impact holiday spending. “One of the problems with it is credit card balances are maxed out, we’ve got the highest balances there on record. And of course that individuals are paying 20 to 30 percent on balances that are carried forward,” he says. “So that’s a real issue. And we got a nation of creditor of high a lot of debt out there right now.” He says the high interest rates are also taking away more income with increased mortgage rates.

“Individuals now are spending as much as 40 percent of their income on housing. Now, that shouldn’t be 28 to 30 percent, well it’s now that 40 percent,” Goss says. “Of course, that just that just reduces your ability to go out there and spend for the Christmas and holiday buying.” Goss says he’s seeing people opting to get out of town instead of spending on gifts. “A lot of buying is going into things like air travel and travel, even automobile travel to locations for leisure and hospitality,” he says.

Goss says October retail sales were not that good and were also down for September. He says some of that September buying was for seasonal purchases, so it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Black Friday and the rest of the holiday season.

Red Oak man arrested Monday on a Shelby County warrant

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Monday evening, arrested a man wanted on a warrant out of Shelby County. Authorities report 31-year-old Drew Ashton Gagnon, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 5:30-p.m., in the 300 block of Nuckols Street, on the warrant for Probation Violation. The offense was connected to an original charge of OWI/1st offense. Gagnon was being held in the Montgomery County Jail, while awaiting extradition to Shelby County.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Tue., Nov. 21, 2023

Weather

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today: A slight chance of rain before 7am, then a chance of sprinkles. Cloudy & windy, with gradual clearing, with a high near 43. N/NW @ 15-30 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 22. N/NW @ 5-15 w/gusts to near 20 mph.

Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 51. S/SW @ 5-15 w/gusts to around 25 mph.

Tom. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 27. S/SW winds @ 10-20 shifting to the North after midnight.

Thanksgiving Day🦃: Mostly sunny, with a high near 43.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy & blustery, with a low around 21.

Friday: Mostly cloudy & breezy, with a high near 33.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 46. Our Low was 40. We received .1″ of rain from 7-a.m. Monday thru 7-a.m. today (24-hrs). This day last year the high was 52 and the low 14. The record high for Nov. 21st in Atlantic was 71 in 1990. The record low was -14 in 1937. Sunrise is at 7:15 am and sunset is at 4:56 pm.

Chiefs fall to the Eagles Monday night, 21-17

Sports

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. [ESPN.com] — Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles got their Super Bowl LVII revenge on “Monday Night Football” with a 21-17 win over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. It marked coach Andy Reid’s first loss to his former team and center Jason Kelce’s first win over his brother, Travis Kelce. The win allows the Eagles to maintain the best record in football (9-1).

The Chiefs led 17-7 at halftime but, like in Week 8 against the Denver Broncos and Week 9 against the Dolphins, failed to score in the final two quarters and with the loss, fell out of the lead for the AFC’s top playoff seed.

Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes but it was otherwise another sluggish game for him and the passing game. Mahomes threw his only interception in the end zone when the Chiefs were in field goal range. He finished 24-of-43 for 177 yards with a 71.6 rating.

Next up for the Chiefs is a match-up against the Raiders at Raiders (325 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26).

Governor says Iowa schools’ test scores not where they need to be

News

November 21st, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says it’s time to bolster literacy programs in the early grades in Iowa schools. Reynolds has indicated raising teacher salaries would likely be a priority as well.

“We’re going to continue to invest in education. It’s really important. We’re going to continue to invest in our teachers. We’re going to continue to invest in kids with special needs,” Reynolds says. We’re not where we need to be.” The annual Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress last spring shows students from low income households had English proficiency scores that were about 15 points below the overall average, while students learning to speak and read English scored even lower.

“They deserve better and so we’re going to make sure that teachers have the tools that they need, that we’re really focused on early literacy, ESL, and again students with special needs,” Reynolds says. “We can do better. We will do better and we just need to make sure that we’re providing consistency and the rigor that’s important that will help us get the results that we need.”

Last spring’s test scores showed gains in the subject areas of math and science, but students with disabilities, English language learners and students from low income households scored significantly lower than the statewide average.

Monday Girls High School Basketball Scores

Sports

November 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

Woodbine 49, AHSTW 47

Riverside 50, Essex 13

Norwalk 71, ADM 32

Kingsley-Pierson 66, Gehlen Catholic 36

Southeast Polk 71, Iowa City Liberty 43

Ogden 50, Grand View Christian 38

Iowa State women beat Southern 78-60

Sports

November 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

The Iowa State women raced out to a 22-point halftime lead and beat Southern 78-60. Freshman Addy Brown led the Cyclones with 18 points on seven of eight shooting.

The Cyclones used several different lineup combinations in the second half.

Nebraska’s Matt Rhule previews Iowa

Sports

November 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

Motivation should not be a problem for Nebraska heading into a Black Friday game against Iowa. Not only will the Huskers be looking for their second straight win in the series but a victory sends them to a bowl game in Matt Rhule’s first season as head coach.

Rhule says the Hawkeyes have mastered the game of field position.

Rhule on an Iowa defense that gives up less than 12 and-a-half points in conference play.

CYCLONE TENNIS SIGNS FOUR

Sports

November 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State tennis program has signed four athletes to letters of intent, head coach Jaron Maestas announced Wednesday.

“I am super excited to have this group signed with ISU,” Maestas said. “When I took the job in July it was a blank slate and as this has started to come together, I am excited for the kids that we have signed. There is a storm building and the future of Cyclone Tennis is ready to keep moving forward.”

Maestas and his assistant Yair Banuelos have worked vigorously to put together a roster for the 2023-24 season and two of the signees, Ashlee Narker and Valeska San Martin Ramirez, will complete the roster by joining the Cyclones in January.

Narker, a Saint Ives, Australia, native, currently holds a WTA ranking of 1,144, while her Universal Tennis rating is 9.54. She climbed to as high as 303 in the Junior ITF rankings.

“Ash is an awesome kid,” Maestas said. “She is the first deaf women’s tennis player to obtain a WTA ranking. Her passion for the sport will bring excitement to the team this spring.”

San Martin Ramirez, a Machala, Ecuador, native, will also join the Cyclones in January. She owns a career-high WTA ranking of 1,280. San Martin Ramirez’s UTR is 9.10, while also having a Junior ITF ranking of 157.

“Valeska is a lefty we will add for the spring,” Maestas said. “Cyclone fans will love the energy and passion she brings to the court.”

Mari Paz Alberto Vilar will join the Cyclones from Alcala De Henares, Spain. She is ranked as the No. 42 player in Spain and owns a UTR of 9.62.

“I am really excited to have Mari as the first commitment for the Fall of 2024,” Maestas said. “She is going to be a player that brings the passion and energy we love in our players. She will be a big part of the future of Cyclone Tennis.”

Cristina Ramos Sierra is the second Spain native joining the Cyclones. Ramos Sierra hails from Madrid and joins the Cyclones with a UTR of 9.20. Her world tennis number is 18.2.

“Cristina was everything we are looking at in building our team culture around,” Maestas said. “She strives to be the best at what she does and wants to be a part of the Cyclone family. We are really excited to have her join us next fall.”

AHSTW Falls In Overtime in Season Opener @ Woodbine

Sports

November 20th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

The AHSTW Vikings Girls Basketball team started their 2023-24 campaign on the road vs a tough and physical Woodbine Tigers team who went 23-3 a season ago and made it to the Class 1A Quarterfinal in the State tournament. But the Vikings would not be intimidated as they came out from the start playing lots of energy and effort starting on the defensive end. Delaney Gashorn the senior leader for the Vikings got off to a great start with two baskets and a assist in the first quarter to give the Vikings a 12-10 lead after one.

The Tigers turned it up defensively in the second quarter as the Tigers forced the Vikings to 5 turnovers in the quarter and allowed the Tigers to pick up the speed of the game and get uncontested layups in transition. The Vikings had a disaster of a quarter as to go with the turnovers the Vikings struggled to score from the field as the team shot just 1-12 in the quarter and Woodbine outscored AHSTW 18-6 in the quarter to take a 26-18 lead into the break.

The two teams would play an even fourth quarter as the Tigers maintained the 8 point lead taking it into the fourth where the momentum and energy shifted early into the quarter as Ella Langer was everywhere for the Vikings creating more opportunities as Langer had 5 rebounds and 2 steals in the quarter to give the Vikings a lead before the Tigers tied it up taking the game into overtime. Head Coach of the Vikings Jason McCall was happy with Langer on defense and said they had talked about her being better defensively heading into the new season.

In the extra time frame the teams would go back and forth as Danyelle Steinkuehler knocked in one out of two free throws in back to back possessions to give the Tigers a two point lead with 21 seconds remaining. The Vikings with plenty of time got two great looks to tie as Rylie Knop missed a 10 footer and Graycen Partlow had a 12 footer just go off the back of the rim as time expired giving the Tigers a tough 49-47 win in OT to start the season 1-0. Head Coach Jason McCall knows his team left it all on the floor and was happy with how his team responded to adversity.

Coach McCall knows his team will battle and find a way to compete and give themselves a chance to win the game late and that’s exactly what they did tonight.

The Vikings have a quick turnaround as the Vikings will be back on the road tomorrow night as they travel to Cam to take on the Cougars for a 7:30 tipoff.