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Iowa’s governor says transgender bathroom use should be left to local schools

News

May 17th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Governor Terry Branstad says the federal government has no business telling school officials how to make accommodations for transgender students. “I think it’s really a decision of local schools,” Branstad says. An Iowa law signed in 2007 by former Iowa Governor Chet Culver to address bullying in schools prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. This past week the Obama Administration put ALL U.S. schools on notice that they must let students use restrooms and locker rooms associated with their gender identity.

“Now you have the federal government stepping in and saying: ‘If you don’t do it our way, we’re going to withhold your federal money.’ I think that’s wrong,” Branstad says. “I mean, we want to treat everybody with respect and dignity, but we don’t think the federal govenrment ought to be coming in and threatening to withhold education money to local school districts in Iowa.” Branstad calls that “overreach.”

“I think there are bigger and more important issues that the president should be addressing, such as protecting the security of Americans,” Branstad says. Branstad says he’s troubled by reports indicating ISIS has released “kill lists” with the names of average American civilians. Branstad says he gets monthly security briefings on threats that are specific to Iowa, but cannot talk publicly about them.

Last week the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice notified school officials that they should ensure transgender students “enjoy a supportive and nondiscriminatory school environment.” The directive came in response to North Carolina’s law that requires individuals to use public restrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate.

(Radio Iowa)

NWS forecast for Cass & area Counties in IA: 5/17/16

Weather

May 17th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

350 AM CDT TUE MAY 17 2016

EARLY THIS MORNING…MOSTLY CLOUDY. PATCHY FOG. NORTHEAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.

TODAY…PARTLY SUNNY. FOG…LOCALLY DENSE THROUGH MID MORNING. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE MID 60S. NORTHEAST WIND NEAR 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING THEN CLEARING. LOW IN THE LOWER 40S. NORTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

WEDNESDAY…SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 60S. EAST WIND NEAR 10 MPH.

THURSDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 60S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE UPPER 60S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 30 PERCENT.

Red Sox-Royals postponed by rain; doubleheader Wednesday

Sports

May 17th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The series opener between the Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox on Monday night was postponed because of rain and will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Wednesday. The Royals’ Yordano Ventura will be pushed back to start Tuesday night against Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello. Steven Wright will start the day game and David Price the nightcap for Boston on Wednesday and the Royals will start Ian Kennedy and Edinson Volquez in the doubleheader.

They have not decided which pitcher will start which game. The rainout came at a good time for the Royals, who used all nine of their pitchers in a 4-2, 13-inning win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. Several relievers would not have been available.

Double leads Reno to 5-3 win over Iowa

Sports

May 17th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Mike Freeman hit a two-run double in the eighth inning, leading the Reno Aces to a 5-3 win over the Iowa Cubs in the PCL, Tuesday. The double by Freeman scored Zach Borenstein and Todd Glaesmann and was the game’s last scoring play.

Albert Almora and Shane Victorino hit RBI singles in the fourth inning to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead. The Aces came back to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning when Jack Reinheimer hit an RBI single, bringing home Peter O’Brien.

Iowa tied the game 3-3 in the sixth when Willson Contreras scored on a double play. Dominic Leone (1-0) got the win with a scoreless inning in relief while Armando Rivero (2-1) took the loss for Iowa. Silvino Bracho retired the side in order for his seventh save of the season.

Tacoma beats Omaha 7-5 on walk-off homer

Sports

May 17th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A walk-off three-run homer by Mike Baxter delivered a 7-5 win for the Tacoma Rainiers over the Omaha Storm Chasers on Tuesday, in Pacific Coast League baseball. Earlier in the inning, Chris Taylor singled, scoring Luis Sardinas to cut the Omaha lead to 5-4. The Rainiers cut the deficit to 5-3 when Tyler Smith hit an RBI single, driving in Ed Lucas in the sixth.

Jonathan Aro (1-1) got the win with a scoreless inning in relief while John Lannan (3-3) took the loss for Omaha. Hunter Dozier doubled and singled twice, scoring a run and also driving one home for the Storm Chasers. Whit Merrifield homered and singled, knocking in two runs.

Iowa early News Headlines: Tue., May 17th 2016

News

May 17th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have determined an altercation earlier this month involving a black University of Iowa freshman doesn’t meet the criteria for a hate crime. Student Marcus Owens reported he was assaulted near several bars and restaurants by white men who used racial slurs. Police investigated surveillance video and talked to witnesses and released a statement Monday describing a series of altercations involving Owens inconsistent in some ways with his initial report.

WAUKEE, Iowa (AP) — Waukee city and school district leaders are teaming up to purchase 160 acres of land in an effort to build a second high school and a city sports complex. Officials announced Monday that both the Waukee Community School District and the Waukee City Council approved the purchase agreement May 9 and will collaborate on the project. Officials plan to have the new high school open to students in 2021.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines city workers have ruined a 200-foot long, city-approved mural created by students. The colorful mural featured on a flood wall outside Central Campus in Des Moines was painted over in a misunderstanding with the city. A group leader learned Monday the mural was mistakenly covered by the city’s graffiti removal program, which destroyed nearly 100 hours of work. The project was set to be complete this week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A penny-per-gallon gas tax that for more than a quarter-century has funded efforts to clean up underground petroleum tanks near gas stations will end later this year under a measure Gov. Terry Branstad signed into law. During a bill signing Monday at the Capitol, Branstad said the program had served its purpose and he wanted to return the savings to drivers when the tax expires on Dec. 31.

Page County man killed in Fremont County crash

News

May 16th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

(Corrects gender of Kassidie to a male, not female. The State Patrol report did not specify gender in their report)

A collision Monday afternoon near Shenandoah has claimed the life of a Page County man. The Iowa State Patrol says the driver one of the vehicles, 20-year old Kassidie Runyon, of Yorktown, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. The other driver, 60-year old Cathy Lesher, of Westboro, MO., who was wearing her seat belt, was injured during the collision, and transported by Shenandoah EMS to the Shenandoah Memorial Hospital.

The crash happened at around 3:20-p.m. at the intersection of 250th Street and Highway 59. Officials say a 2003 Kia Spectra driven by Runyon, was eastbound on 250th Street and had pulled away from the stop sign at Highway 59, when his car was hit on the driver’s side by Lesher’s southbound 2006 Dodge 1500 pickup.

Both vehicles came to rest in the east ditch off Highway 59, south of 250th Street.

Atlantic CAT grant application in limbo

News

May 16th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

The status of Atlantic’s application to Vision Iowa for a CAT (Community Attraction and Tourism) Grant, is in limbo. That was the word from Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Roger Herring, during Monday evening’s meeting of the Parks and Rec Board. Herring said he and Assistant Director Seth Staashelm met with the Vision Iowa/CAT grant committee in Winterset on May 11th, and while the meeting was cordial, and he was the last presenter of the mid-day group, it was clear things weren’t going to be going as well as he’d hoped.

He said the Committee hadn’t seen the City’s application for the CAT grant prior to Herring’s presentation. Nor had they seen the dvd that was created, that gives a virtual/drone tour of the Schildberg Recreation Area and a summary of the plans for improvements to the park. He had a total of 10-minutes to make his pitch. The Committee did get a chance to see a shortened dvd presentation by Herring on the project during the presentation, but the second blow came when he learned from Vision Iowa’s legal counsel that a big element of consideration was the amount private funding the project has.

Atlantic’s project has raised money through private fundraising, but the Chairman said in a follow-up letter Herring read, that it fell short of level the CAT grant board wanted to see. He said “I don’t know where we stand for sure, other than we’ve got two weeks to do [more] private fundraising to their satisfaction.” He said, “That’s obviously not going to happen,” but he added that he would, despite his upcoming retirement, continue to work on helping the project move along.”

Roger Herring (Far right) talks about the CAT grant)

Roger Herring (Far right) talks about the CAT grant)

In addition, Herring said Vision Iowa’s legal counsel explained that because the State was re-aligning the Iowa Economic Development Department, the current Vision Iowa Board was in the process of being “dissolved,” and replaced with an “Enhanced Iowa” program, that there are few few details about. Their Board will be in place by Nov. 1st.

The bottom line is, June 8th is the last date CAT grant awards will be given. That means no further consideration will be given to any projects, certainly not until the new Board meets later this fall. Herring said he left the meeting feeling discouraged, because of what he learned. For now, he’ll call for a meeting of the Schildberg Recreation Area Committee and “Go back to the drawing board” with the new “Enhanced Iowa Board.”

He said “We’ll work with it, and make the best of it.”  The City, he said, can move forward with some aspects of the project using funds from the Hotel/Motel tax, but things won’t be coming together as quickly as they’d hoped.

NAWANA LOREE LUXFORD, 92 (Memorial Svcs. 5/20/16)

Obituaries

May 16th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

NAWANA LOREE LUXFORD, 92, died Sunday, May 15th. A Memorial
service for NAWANA LUXFORD will be held 11-a.m. Friday, May 20th, at the Oakland Christian Church. Rieken Vieth Funeral Home in Oakland is in charge of arrangements.

A visitation with her family will take place one hour prior to the service at the Oakland Christian Church.

Interment will be in the Oaklawn Cemetery in Oakland.

NAWANA LUXFORD is survived by:

Her daughters: Gail Wallin, of Clarinda; and Renee (Luke) Northwall, of
Council Bluffs.

4 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

Boyer Valley wins Girls Golf Regional at Crestwood Hills

Sports

May 16th, 2016 by admin

Crestwood Hills Golf Course in Anita was host to the Girls Class 1A Region 2B Golf Tournament on Monday and Boyer Valley came away with the team crown.  The top 2 teams and top 5 individuals advance to the Regional Final on Monday, May 23rd at Crestwood Hills Golf Course again.

Team Scoring

  1. Boyer Valley 407 *Qualified
  2. Griswold 418 *Qualified
  3. Lenox 441
  4. Exira-EHK 459
  5. CAM 499
  6. Guthrie Center 569

Individual Scoring

  1. Mateya Peters, Griswold 98
  2. Claire Gambs, Boyer Valley 100
  3. Lindsey Anderson, Boyer Valley 101
  4. Brooke Hast, Boyer Valley 102
  5. Bry Carlisle, Griswold 104
    Anna Bruck, Boyer Valley 104