Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says all three quarterbacks are practicing leading up to the Black Friday game against Nebraska. Jackson Stratton is listed as the starter after leading the Hawkeyes to a victory at Maryland but Brendan Sullivan and Cade McNamara could play.
Sullivan missed the Maryland game with an ankle injury suffered in a loss to UCLA.
Ferentz says there is no plan to rotate quarterbacks against the Huskers.
(Radio Iowa) – A Luther College student has been charged after allegedly posting threats on social media early Monday. Decorah Police say 20-year-old Peter Bumba of Illinois has been charged with terroristic threats, a Class D Felony. A post on Instagram referred to a violent anime series and suggested killing 80 percent of students at Luther and police say Bumba confessed the post was his. A search of Bumba’s room and vehicle found no weapons and authorities say there is no ongoing threat to Decorah or Luther College.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Area Chamber’s Annual Scrooge Contest was held the month of November. This year’s contestants included Graydon Schmidt, Schmidt Family Funeral Home; Randy & Michelle Roy, Randy’s Computers; Jeremiah Thompson, Landus & Atlantic Volunteer Fire Department, and Ben Winford, New Life Church. This year’s winner is Graydon Schmidt, who raised $8,611 and 90 food items. Together, they raised a total of $26,859 and 1,666 food items.
“Every year, I ask myself how the community can one up themselves and, every year, I’m always impressed that they manage to do just that. This benefits a growing number of individuals and families in our community,” Bailey Smith, Executive Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce stated.
In 2016, the Atlantic Food Pantry saw an average of 18 homes each week. Today, they are averaging 110 homes weekly with the need expected to rise. This contest allows the food pantry the monetary funds to purchase food items and continue serving a large population in Atlantic.
Scrooge contestants
This Year’s Scrooge winner: Graydon Schmidt
“Our food pantry continues to see an increase of individuals and families in need of food assistance. We had such a great group of candidates this year and I’m grateful to Jackie Sampson and Karen Miller for volunteering a lot of their time to make this contest happen. What a blessing to live in a community that serves others so well,” mentioned Smith.
Past Scrooge titles have been awarded to: Mary Ann Moorman 2007, Dana Halder 2008, Tammy Wise & Janet Huey 2009, Ritchie Anderson 2010, Janet Cappel 2011, Melanie Petty 2012, David Miller 2013, Mark McNees 2014, Ted Robinson 2015, Jon Johnson 2016, Rob Stamp 2017, Rob & Sonya Clausen 2018, Billie Hoover, Jackie Sampson & Lori Christianson 2019, Brain Ruge 2020, Ray Paulin 2021, Dr. Matt Weresh, 2022, and Sheryl Dusenberry 2023.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds pardoned two turkeys from a farm in Manson today (Tuesday) named Caitlin and Clark. The turkeys strolled quietly on the grass at the Terrace Hill Governor’s mansion as the governor read the proclamation. “Now therefore I Kim Reynolds, governor of the state of Iowa, do hereby proclaim Caitlin and Clark as symbols of Iowa’s great turkey industry, they are free to roam this Thanksgiving Day, and they’ve got a lot of ground to do it on,” she says. Governor Reynolds talked about the importance of the holiday.
“I always look forward to this time of the year. It’s not only is it a time for us to really recognize our farmers and producers and all that they do to feed the world, but it’s kind of a kick off to the holiday season,” she says. She says the first recognition of turkey producers came from then Governor Robert Ray back in 1976. “Now, at that point, they didn’t pardon the turkeys. They sent them back to the farm, so I can’t say, what happens after that,” Reynolds says. “But we didn’t start pardoning the turkeys until 1989.”
Turkeys Caitlin and Clark roam the grounds of Terrace Hill. (RI photo)
The two birds came from Golden Prairie Turkeys for the second year in a row. The farm is owned by Brad and Kelly Moline. Brad is the president of the Iowa turkey producers and his daughter Ava was on hand to help with the birds. “It’s just fun because it’s a tradition that goes on for years and years, and it’s just something that we get to do for the turkeys,” she says. Ava wants to become a veterinarian, and is an Iowa State fan, but she is okay with naming the birds after the Hawkeye great. “She’s a great athlete, and I would like to be a great athlete like her. And turkeys are great for protein for athletes. So I think it was just fitting,” Moline says.
Governor Reynolds says she bought a 23-pound turkey from the farm that she will cook for her family along with a ham and all the sides for Thanksgiving.
(Iowa DNR News) – Nearly $416,000 in 50 percent cost-share grants were recently awarded to 138 Iowa rural fire departments to help their efforts to protect Iowan’s and their property from wildfires. The grants offer valuable funding assistance for wildfire suppression, personal protective and communications equipment.
Among the fire departments receiving 2024 Volunteer Fire Assistance grants, are those in:
The grants are made possible through Iowa DNR Forestry, in cooperation with US Forest Service – State and Private Forestry. Jason Walker, fire supervisor with DNR Forestry, reminds all fire departments of the importance of submitting Wildland Fire Reports whenever they respond to a wildland fire or provide assistance to a prescribed or controlled wildland fire. Wildland fire reporting forms are available atwww.iowadnr.gov/fire.
Departments returning these reports receive priority points when the Fire Assistance grant applications are scored. These wildland fire reports are compiled locally and nationally and are reported to Congress.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – State, city and county inspectors have cited Iowa restaurants and stores for hundreds of food-safety violations during the past four weeks, including roach infestations, mouse droppings, spoiled fruit, moldy chicken batter and kitchens littered with trash. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the findings are reported by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, which handles food-establishment inspections at the state level. Listed below are some of the more serious findings that stem from inspections at Iowa restaurants, stores, schools, hospitals and other businesses over the past four weeks.
The state inspections department reminds the public that their reports are a “snapshot” in time, and violations are often corrected on the spot before the inspector leaves the establishment. For a more complete list of all inspections, along with additional details on each of the inspections listed below, visit the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals’ website.
Among the restaurants that were cited, was BC’s Pizza Company, 311 E. 7th St., Logan – During a Nov. 21st visit, a state inspector cited this restaurant for failing to have a certified food protection manager on staff and noted the sliced and shredded cheese had no date markings to ensure freshness and safety. Also, the restaurant appeared to be using commercially made sauces that had discard dates going back to October and August of 2024. The visit was in response to a non-illness complaint pertaining to contaminated equipment, improper holding temperatures, food from unsafe sources, poor personal hygiene among the staff and general facility sanitation. “Complaint is verified,” the inspector reported.
The Chuong Garden Restaurant, 903 W. Townline Road, Creston, was cited following a visit on November 8th, during which a state inspector cited the establishment for 13 risk-factor violations, an exceptionally high number. The inspector reported that inside a walk-in cooler, he “observed a large bowl of raw chicken in a batter with what appears to be a build-up of mold-like substance in the interior of bowl.” Also, the inspector found raw eggs that appeared to have been acquired from an unapproved source. The inspector also observed food-service employees handling cooked chicken with their bare hands as they placed it in to-go boxes. In addition, the cooked chicken was measured at 72 degrees, close to room temperature, and cooked pork eggrolls were measured at 94 degrees. The chicken and egg rolls were discarded.
The inspector also observed that the kitchen-prepared crab Rangoon filling was measured at 60 degrees – neither hot nor cold enough to ensure safety. On the kitchen’s food-prep table, the inspector found several raw, unpasteurized eggs that were warm to the touch and which had to be discarded. In addition, there were multiple unspecified food items inside the walk-in cooler, the freezer and the cold-make table that had no preparation dates to ensure freshness and safety. The kitchen’s dishwashing machine had no detectable amount of sanitizing solution; shrimp was left to thaw on a countertop at room temperature; a separate large bowl of raw shrimp was stored on the floor; and the kitchen scoops used with cooked rice were being stored in a container of stagnant water.
The visit was in response to a non-illness complaint that pertained to adulterated food, food procured from unsafe sources and general facility sanitation. “Complaint is closed and verified,” the inspector reported.
Other establishments that were cited following an inspection, include:
The Jet Award, which honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the Jet Award Foundation.
The other two finalists are Keelan Marion of BYU and Kam Shanks of UAB.
Wetjen, who was also a Burlsworth Trophy Semifinalist, leads the nation with 807 combined kick return yards (next most is 600 yards). He is third in the FBS in punt return yards (287) and seventh in kickoff return yards (520). The native of Williamsburg, Iowa, native had an 85-yard punt return for a score against Northwestern, the seventh-longest in school history. He had 100+ kickoff return yards in three straight games (Washington, Michigan State and Northwestern) in 2024, a first by a Hawkeye since at least 1978.
The award is named in honor of Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers. The winner of the 2024 Jet Award will be selected by a panel of voters, including media members from the Football Writers Association of America, former recipients of the Jet Award, and two of our founders, Johnny Rodgers and William Reed.
Iowa (7-4, 5-3) returns to action Friday, hosting Nebraska (6-5, 3-5) in the Pioneer Heroes Game. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium. The game will be televised on NBC and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.
(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Montgomery County today (Tuesday), accepted the Fiscal Year 2024 Montgomery County Annual Financial (Cash-basis) Report. Montgomery County Auditor Jill Ozuna explained it’s the only financial report that gets published. She said the total ending fund balance as of June 30, 2024 was $2,734,026.
In other business, the Board approved claims payable for Nov. 27th in the amount of $154,290.67, and, they passed an amended resolution pertaining to the Sheriff’s Schedule of Services Inmate fees, which are intended to recoup some of the costs of room, board and medical. Officials say the amended fees should allow them to collect 60-percent of the costs.
The Board set the date and time for their January 2025 Organizational meeting as 8:30-a.m., on January 2nd. And, Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert provided her weekly report to the Board.
The Montgomery County Supervisor’s next meeting is 8:30-a.m., December 3rd.
Kansas State coach Chris Klieman says the Wildcat defense will face a tough challenge in Saturday night’s regular season finale at Iowa State. A year ago the Cyclones shredded the K-State defense for 258 yards of rushing and 488 yards of total offense in a 42-35 win in Manhattan.
Klieman says the Wildcats don’t want to get into a shootout.
Klieman says the Cyclone secondary does a good job of limiting big plays.
Nine teams are still mathematically alive for a spot in the Big 12 title game but the bigger concern for Klieman is access to the new 12-team playoff. Right now the Big-12 appears to be a one bid league and Klieman says that needs to be addressed.
(Radio Iowa) – U-S Senator Chuck Grassley says the tariffs President-elect Trump previously imposed on China pressured China to agree to buy U-S grain, but Grassley says the new tariffs Trump has threatened against Mexico, Canada AND China could hurt American agriculture. “I just think we need to get tariffs down,” Grassley says. “And that doesn’t bad mouth, in no way is that meant to disagree with Trump because I think he’s using tariffs as a negotiating tool.” Trump says he’ll add onto the tariffs already in place on goods from China unless the country imposes the death penalty on those caught trafficking the drug fentanyl. Trump also says he’ll impose 25 percent tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada because they aren’t doing enough to stop illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs into the U-S.
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-New Hartford, IA) (official photo)
Grassley says U-S agricultural exports are typically the first casualty of a trade war. “It’s kind of a tricky game when it comes to increasing tariffs,” Grassley says, “because we in Iowa and throughout the agricultural community know that the first thing that’s retaliated against is agriculture.” Grassley says throughout most of his nearly five decade career in congress, he’s been an advocate for trade agreements that reduce tariffs and resolve trade disputes. “I believe we ought to be negotiating more trade agreements,” Grassley says, “whether that’s through the (World Trade Organization) or whether that’s through the multi-lateral or whether it’s bilateral.”
And Grassley suggests Trump’s new tariff threats could be linked to a clause in the U-S-Mexico Trade Agreement Trump signed when he was president. “Sometime in ’26, the USMCA says it could be renegotiated,” Grassley says, “and maybe he’s leading up to that.” Grassley says Trump’s initial tariffs on China led to a favorable deal in which China promised to buy 200 BILLION dollars more of U-S exports, but China wound up buying far less than that and began relying on other countries for many ag commodities. Grassley says it’s too soon to judge the motivation behind Trump’s latest tariff threats and what the outcomes may be.
“I’m going to be doing everything I can in the congress to have more trade, more fair trade agreements,” Grassley says, “and always constantly telling the president to be cautious about what you’re doing so it doesn’t hurt American agriculture.” During Trump’s first administration, the U-S-D-A sent over 23 BILLION dollars worth of trade disruption payments to farmers to compensate for China’s reduction in U-S grain and meat purchases.
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