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Flood Relief funds established for Fremont and Mills Counties

News

June 21st, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Omaha Community Foundation logo

Officials with the Fremont and Mills County Community Foundations have announced Flood Relief Funds have been established to provide assistance to those who have been affected by the 2011 Missouri River Flooding. Both Community Foundations are an affiliate of the Omaha Community Foundation.

100% of the monies from the funds will be distributed to nonprofit organizations that are directly serving flood victims in Fremont or Mills County. In Fremont County, an initial deposit of $5,000 was made by the Great Western Bank in Hamburg for the Fremont County Flood Fund.

Checks for donations to either county’s funds should be made payable to the fund of your choice (for example: the “Fremont County Flood Fund”) and mailed to either the Fremont or Mills County Community Foundation, 302 South 36th Street, Suite 100, Omaha, NE 68131.

Or, your donation can be dropped off at any of the following bank locations:

In Fremont County…

First Community Bank – Sidney

First National Bank – Farragut

First State Bank – Tabor

Great Western Bank – Hamburg, Riverton, and Sidney

Tri-Valley Bank – Randolph

In Mills County…

First National Bank – Glenwood

Great Western Bank – Glenwood

Glenwood State Bank – Glenwood and Pacific Junction

Houghton State Bank – Emerson

Malvern Trust & Savings Bank – Malvern 

To make an online donation, go to http://omahafoundation.org/givenow and select “Fremont County Flood Fund” or “Mills County Flood Fund” from the dropdown list, enter the amount you wish to donate, fill in the required information (Name, Address, City, State, Zip, Phone, Email) and click the “Submit” button. You will be redirected to PayPal to provide your credit card information. (Credit card donations will incur a 3% merchant processing fee from the credit card company.) 

Donations receive a gift receipt from the Omaha Community Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) allowing maximum tax benefits.

Ramen Chinese Cabbage Salad (6-21-2011)

Mom's Tips

June 21st, 2011 by Jim Field

Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup salad oil
  • 3 tablespoons sugar or 2 ackages of Equal
  • 3 tablespoons vinegar
  • 1 package of ramen noodle seasoning mix (pork, chicken or beef)

Greens:

  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
  • 2 carrots, shredded

Crunchies:

  • 3/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1 package of ramen noodles, crushed

Directions: Prepare in three parts and toss together before serving.  Best freshly made, most crunchy, but good the next day if it lasts that long! ( from Gwen Hayes)

All-Class Reunion Registration Underway

News

June 21st, 2011 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic All-Class Reunion is just under 2 weeks away, and organizers are encouraging all alumni to register for events and buy their tickets early. Ann McCurdy, Executive Director of the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce says “This is our first time hosting an all-class reunion.  We hope that people enjoy the event, and just as important, we hope to learn more about what our alumni want for future events.”

There is a registration form posted on www.AtlanticIowa.com.  While a few events require registration, most do not. McCurdy says “The day is planned so that it can be very a la carte. If you want to pop in and see the schools, great. If you want to participate in the morning in a 5k or go golfing, great. But you’re not tied to every single event all day long.”

The weekend kicks off on Friday, July 1 with a welcome reception at the Cass County Community Center. From 6 to 9 p.m., there will be appetizers, cash bar, and jazz music performed by Popcorn Button. Tickets are $7.50 each.

On Saturday, July 2nd, there are a number of activities available during the day and Pianopalooza will perform at the Cass County Community Center from 9 to midnight. Doors will open at 8 and there will be a cash bar. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

For more information about the reunion, visit www.atlanticiowa.com or call the Chamber at 243-3017.

(Chamber Press Release)

Sen. Grassley to meet with Corps of Engineers & FEMA to talk flooding

News

June 21st, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has meetings this week with the top leaders of two federal entities which have been heavily criticized for their involvement in various natural disasters, FEMA and the U-S Army Corp of Engineers. Grassley is scheduled to sit down Wednesday with Craig Fugate, chief administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Grassley says his meeting with Fugate will focus on the availability of FEMA funds for those affected by the Missouri River flooding. “FEMA treats Mississippi River floods the same as Missouri River floods, the floods the same as earthquakes and hurricanes and tornadoes,” Grassley says. “It’s just a question of will the money be available and how will it be administered?”

While FEMA has been blasted for its Gulf Coast response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Grassley says significant changes have been made in the agency’s playbook since then. “Every natural disaster, you’re going to have some people that aren’t treated exactly right,” Grassley says. “It’s not because of the basic law or it’s not from the money, it’s probably some sort of bureaucratic bungling, but since Katrina, I have not seen a pattern of bungling, more bungling when it comes to an individual here and there.”

The Corps of Engineers is also being singled out by some who say more should have been done to prevent the Missouri River’s current flooding. The Corps was tasked with setting up flood control systems on the river, including five dams, under the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, created by the Flood Control Act of 1944. In the decades since that time, Grassley says the focus has shifted and the Corps is now only involved in flood control 16-percent of the time. The new emphasis is more on things like recreational boating, environmental preservation and saving endangered species.

“So we’ve got to get back to the original purpose of Pick-Sloan, the original purpose of the dams,” Grassley says. “There’s no reason we would have to have all of this flooding that we have if the dams had been handled right.” Grassley will be meeting Wednesday with Brigadier General John McMahon, the Army Corps of Engineers Commander for the Northwest Division, which covers western Iowa.

Grassley says he and McMahon will discuss the current flooding in western Iowa and the Corps’ performance in anticipating and reacting to that flooding. “Maybe the Corps is being called upon to do too much,” he says. Grassley notes, the flooding may have been beyond the Corps’ control, due to heavy snowpack in the Rockies and some areas of Montana getting an entire year’s worth of rain in just a month’s time this spring.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

Neola man dies in tractor rollover

News

June 21st, 2011 by Ric Hanson

A tractor accident Monday afternoon southeast of Neola has claimed the life of a long-time area farmer. Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department Traffic Accident Investigator Mark Burbridge told KJAN News 71-year old William Brich, of rural Neola, died when his Oliver tractor got too close to a ditch, and rolled down an embankment into a creek. 

The tractor was pulling a flatbed trailer hauling brush. Burbridge says the load was hauled up to an area to be dumped near a creek, when Brich likely backed too close to the drop-off point. The tractor slid into the ditch and tumbled or rolled before coming to rest.

The accident happened at around 3:45-p.m. on property Brich owned off of Rosewood Road. Burbridge says the man was found on the embankment, and apparently was hit by the tractor as he was tossed-off. The tractor ended-up in the creek.

Active search for missing Carroll woman stopped

News

June 21st, 2011 by Ric Hanson

James Snovelle

Dawn Allen

CARROLL, Iowa (AP) – Officials are hoping for some sign of a missing Carroll woman, but they’ve stopped the active search for her. Fifty-year-old Dawn Allen was last seen in Carroll on May 4. Carroll Police Chief Jeff Cayler told the Des Moines Register that searches across seven counties and other efforts have failed to turn up clues that could explain what happened to Allen.

The man Allen had been dating, James Snovelle, killed himself on May 10 as officers closed in at a rural property in Coffey County, Kan. Cayler says investigators believe foul play is involved in Allen’s disappearance, and he acknowledges that finding Allen alive is unlikely.

IHSBCA Baseball Ratings

Sports

June 21st, 2011 by Jim Field

IHSBCA Baseball Ranking – June 21
(Next Rankings – June 27)

Class 4A

  1. Mason City
  2. SE Polk
  3. Ankeny
  4. West DM Dowling
  5. Cedar Rapids Kennedy
  6. Ft. Dodge
  7. West DM Valley
  8. Lewis Central
  9. Pleasant Valley
  10. Xavier, Cedar Rapids

Class 3A

  1. Solon
  2. Waverly-Shell Rock
  3. Dubuque Wahlert
  4. Glenwood
  5. Chariton
  6. Norwalk
  7. Clear Lake
  8. Central Clinton, Dewitt
  9. Charles City
  10. Boone

Class 2A

  1. Logan-Magnolia
  2. Van Buren Keosauqua
  3. Kuemper Catholic
  4. St. Edmond, Fort Dodge
  5. North Fayette
  6. Central Springs
  7. West Branch
  8. West Lyon
  9. Lake Mills
  10. Davis County, Bloomfield

Class 1A

  1. Martensdale, St. Marys
  2. Mason City Newman
  3. North Tama
  4. Don Bosco, Gilbertville
  5. St. Mary, Storm Lake
  6. Coon Rapids – Bayard
  7. Clay Central –Everly
  8. Montezuma
  9. Kee, Lansing
  10. North Mahaska

Monday Baseball Results

Sports

June 21st, 2011 by Jim Field

Kuemper 14, Atlantic 1
Harlan 13, Denison-Schleswig 12 (10 inn)
Glenwood 14, Creston 3
Clarinda 9, Red Oak 4
Exira/EHK 6, Walnut 4
Logan-Magnolia 17, IKM/Manning 13
West Monona 11, Boyer Valley 3
Carroll 4, ADM 0

Monday Softball Results

Sports

June 21st, 2011 by Jim Field

Atlantic 11, Kuemper Catholic 1 (5 inn)
Fremont-Mills 9, Shenandoah 0
Clarinda 5, Red Oak 1
Glenwood 3, Creston 2
Harlan 9, Denison-Schleswig 6
CAM 13, East Greene 2
St. Albert 14, Essex/South Page 0
Bedford 9, Corning 7
Corning 14, Bedford 0
Lamoni 1, Corning 0

WIC Tournament
Treynor 12, Griswold 1 (5 inn)
Missouri Valley 8, Audubon 5

Atlantic Game Details:

Atlantic 11, Kuemper Catholic 1 (5 innings)
1  2  3  4  5  R  H  E
KC    0  0  1  0  0  1  4  4
ATL 0  5  0  1  5 11 11  1

WP- Marissa Berns  LP- Carly Hoffman

Atlantic Highlights…
2nd – With one out, Marissa Berns walked (Mollee Welter entered as CR).
Mackenzie Holmes singled, followed by an Alisha Hinzmann single, and a Bre
VonWehye single scoring Welter.  Holmes scored on a passed ball.  ReAnn
Cappel singled scoring both Hinzmann and VonWehye.  Cappel moved to second
on play at the plate and scored on a single by Liz Metheny.

4th – With one out Liz Metheny singled and stole second base.  Metheny
scored on a single by Tiara Edelman.

5th – Marissa Berns led off the inning with a single (Mollee Welther
entered as CR).  Welter steals second.  Mackenzie Holmes singled and takes
second on the play at third to get Welter.  Alisha Hinzmann singled
scoring Welter.  Hinzmann got in a rundown between first and second
allowing Holmes to score as well.  Leah Tjepkes was hit by a pitch, stole
second and moved to third on a past ball.  ReAnn Cappel singled scoring
Tjepkes and moved to second when the throw back to the infield went wild.
Liz Metheny singled scoring Cappel with Metheny moving to second.  Tiara
Edelman singlded scoring the 11th run for Atlantic and ending the game.

Comments by Coach Hinzmann…
“This was the type of game I was envisioning that we would have more of as
we entered the season.  It goes without saying that getting a big win for
us tonight was huge.  We played pretty well against some really good
competition at Fort Dodge and although we played decent, we felt we could
have played better. We had a really good night at the plate and even when
we didn’t make solid contact our bloops fell in for hits.  Hopefully we
can get some added confidence at the plate.  I thought we were really
aggressive on which made them do things they probably weren’t comfortable
with and it led to runs for us.  Marissa did a great job pitching tonight.
She kept Kuemper runners off base all night and only game up the one
unearned run in the third.”

Airport grants announced: Audubon, Creston, Greenfield & Shenandoah

News

June 21st, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Two dozen Iowa airports are getting federal grants to improve their safety and operations. Senator Charles Grassley on Monday announced the awards totaling more than $7.4 million from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program. He says the money is awarded based on national priorities.

Locally:

The Audubon Airport Authority will receive $429,875 to construct a parking lot and rehabilitate the runway.

The Creston Municipal Airport will receive $218,500 to construct a building in which to store snow removal equipment.

The Greenfield Municipal Airport will receive $66,500 to update the airport’s master plan to help identify the airport’s future needs.

The Shenandoah Municipal Airport will receive $76,000 to construct a taxiway.

The largest award of $1.53 million will go to the Ankeny Regional Airport, which will be used to improve the runway safety area. The Washington Municipal Airport will also get more than $1 million to rehabilitate its runway.