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Libertarian Party earns political party status in Iowa

News

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says the Libertarian Party has obtained official political party status in Iowa. Pate says the status began effective Wednesday after state election officials determined the party’s presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, received 59,186 votes — or 3.8 percent of the vote — in the November 2016 general election.

That surpassed the 2 percent threshold required by Iowa law to obtain official political party status. The new status gives the Libertarian Party the ability to participate in primary elections in 2018. “Libertarian” will be included as an option for Iowa residents on voter registration forms.

The last time a third part gained political party status in Iowa was in 2000, when Green Party nominee Ralph Nader received 2.2 percent of the votes cast for president.

Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament Schedule/Scores: 3/3/17

Sports

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

CLASS 4A Semifinals

(Winners advances to Saturday’s Championship game at 6-p.m)

10:00-a.m. North Scott 58, Cedar Rapids Xavier 49

11:45-a.m. Marion 33, Pella 24

CLASS 5A Semifinals

(Winners advances to Saturday’s Championship game at 8-p.m)

1:30-p.m. Cedar Falls 48, Indianola 44

3:15-p.m. West Des Moines/Valley vs. Iowa City West

CLASS 1A CHAMPIONSHIP –Friday, March 3rd

6:00-p.m. Springville vs. Turkey Valley

CLASS 2A CHAMPIONSHIP – Friday, March 3rd

8:00-p.m. Western Christian vs. Treynor

CLASS 3A CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, March 4th

4:00-p.m. Sioux Center vs. Pocahontas Area Community (PAC) Schools

CLASS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, March 4th

6:00-p.m. North Scott vs. Marion

CLASS 5A CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, March 4th

8:00-p.m. Cedar Falls vs. Iowa City West/WDM Valley winner

Iowa lawmaker says business degree was Sizzler certificate

News

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa state lawmaker says he didn’t mean to mislead anyone by claiming he had a business degree from a company that had actually awarded him a certificate for participating in a training program when he worked at Sizzler.

State Sen. Mark Chelgren’s biography on an Iowa Senate Republican website had noted he had a business management degree from Forbco Management school. The information was removed Wednesday after NBC News reported Forbco Management is a California company that operated a Sizzler franchise.

Iowa Senate Republicans spokesman Ed Failor confirmed Thursday that Chelgren’s biography was updated after the NBC report. He said Chelgren doesn’t have a college degree, but Chelgren later said he earned an associate’s degree from a community college.

Coffey’s 34, Douglas ices Northwestern women’s win over Iowa

Sports

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nia Coffey scored a season-high 34 points, Lauren Douglas added 17 — including four free throws in the last 10 seconds — and ninth-seeded Northwestern edged eighth-seeded Iowa 78-73 in the second round of the Big Ten tournament on Thursday.

Coffey had 15 points in the second quarter as the Wildcats erased a five-point deficit to lead 41-32 at the half. Iowa’s Megan Gustafson had 13 of her 27 in the third quarter, including the last five to help the Hawkeyes cut a 12-point deficit to 60-55 entering the fourth quarter.

Back-to-back baskets by Gustafson and Kathleen Doyle put Iowa up 69-68 with 3:45 to play but Christen Inman quickly answered for Northwestern. The Wildcats were clinging to a one-point lead when Ashley Deary made two free throws with 14.8 seconds left. Douglas rebounded an Iowa miss and made two from the line at 6.7 and after a Gustafson layup, Douglas iced it with four seconds to go.

The Wildcats (20-10) face top-seeded and ninth-ranked Ohio State in the quarterfinals on Friday. Coffey, who had the fourth-highest point total in tournament history, and Douglas both had eight rebounds while Deary had nine points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Iowa (17-13) also got 18 points from Ally Disterhoft.

St. Louis Cardinals agree to terms with 21 players

Sports

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

The St. Louis Cardinals said today (Thursday), they have agreed to terms with all 21 of the previously unsigned pre-arbitration players on their 40-man roster.

The list of players includes catcher Carson Kelly; infielders Eliezer Alvarez, Greg Garcia, Edmundo Sosa, Breyvic Valera; outfielders Anthony Garcia, Randal Grichuk, Jose Martinez, Tommy Pham, Stephen Piscotty, Magneuris Sierra; pitchers Matt Bowman, John Gant, Marco Gonzales, Tyler Lyons, Mike Mayers, Alex Reyes, Miguel Socolovich, Sam Tuivailala, Luke Weaver and Rowan Wick.

Audubon County: Lark Avenue bridge project update

News

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

The Audubon County Engineer’s Office has been notified that the contractor for a bridge project on Lark Avenue will begin about one week ahead of schedule, due to the nice weather. The contractor is ahead of schedule on their other projects, therefore work on the bridge in the 1900 block of Lark Avenue in Audubon County, will begin next Monday, March 6th.

Lark Avenue will be closing just south of Audubon County Road F-32 while contractors replace a bridge located in Leroy Township, section 24. Construction is expected to last about 65 working days.

Agronomy Class for Women to be Held at the Iowa State University McNay Memorial Research Farm

Ag/Outdoor

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Agronomy in the Field is a multi-session workshop being offered to women landowners, farmers, conservationists and other women who are interested in learning more about agronomy.  This series of workshops will be held monthly at the McNay Memorial Research Farm near Chariton, IA. The farm is located at 45249 170th Ave, Chariton, IA 50049.

The goals of this series are to strengthen agronomic skills for women that allow for better decision-making, provide a better understanding of inputs for crop production, see and understand different conservation practices and increase confidence in communication with spouse, farming partner, ag retailer or tenant.

“We plan to cover topics on planting conditions, crop growth and development, replant considerations, weed, disease and insect identification, pest management principles, scouting techniques, forage and pasture management, and additional practices and topics as they come up,” said Rebecca Vittetoe, ISU Extension Field Agronomist.

This series is designed to be hands-on and conducted in the field to see real-time conditions.  Each session will be approximately one hour long; you do not need to commit for the entire season to attend.

There is no charge for this series, but you must register either by signing up here: http://eepurl.com/cw1tA9 or by contacting Extension Field Agronomist, Rebecca Vittetoe at rka8@iastate.edu or 319-653-4811.

A start date will be identified this month and shared with registrants. The first session will be prior to planting, and will look at grazing cover crops. Agronomy in the Field is sponsored by ISU Extension and Outreach in cooperation with NCR-SARE Partnership Grant Project ONC17-031.  Local support is provided by Lucas, Marion, Monroe, Warren, and Wayne County Extension.

(ISU Extension Press Release)

Atlantic School Board Special meeting Friday, re: Superintendent Contract 2017-18

News

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Members of the Atlantic School Board will gather at the Middle School Library at Noon Friday, for a Special Meeting to approve the hiring of a new superintendent. Approval of the contract is the only action item on their agenda.

Earlier this week, the Board sat down with three finalists for the position: Steven Barber, Superintendent at George-Little Rock Community Schools in George, Iowa; Dr. Joe Potts, Ph.D, an Iowa native who resides in Kent, WA., and serves as High School Principal for the Kent Community School District; and Dan Dierks, who has served Superintendent for the Oelwein Community School District, since 2015.

The person selected will succeed Dr. Michael Amstein, who is retiring at the end of the current school year, after having worked for the District since 2010.

Backyard & Beyond 3-2-2017

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

March 2nd, 2017 by Jim Field

LaVon Eblen visits with author Kirk Brocker about his new book and a local reading and book signing event.

Play

BETTY JEAN BORST, 81, of Redfield (Svcs. 3/8/17)

Obituaries

March 2nd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

BETTY JEAN BORST, 81, of Redfield, died Feb. 25th, in Gilbert, AZ. Funeral services for BETTY BORST will be held 10-a.m. Wed., March 8th, at the Twigg Funeral Home, in Panora.

Friends may call at the funeral home on Tue., March 7th, from 5-until 7-p.m.

Burial is in the West Linn Cemetery, in rural Linden, IA.

BETTY JEAN BORST is survived by:

Her husband – Kennth “Buck” Borst, of Redfield.

Her daughter – Connie Kostura, of AZ.