w/ Denny Heflin
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ST. LOUIS, Mo., December 10, 2015 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have signed free-agent right-handed reliever Jonathan Broxton to a two-year (2016-17) contract. Broxton, who was acquired by the Cardinals in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers this past August, rejoins the team that he’d helped to win the 2015 National League Central title.
Broxton, 31, was 3-3 with a 2.66 ERA in his 26 games with St. Louis last season, striking out 26 batters in 23.2 innings pitched. He allowed just one run in his 12 appearances (12.0 IP; 0.75 ERA) at Busch Stadium in 2015.
A two time (2009-10) All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Broxton is 39-35 career with a 3.23 ERA and 118 saves (10th among active pitchers). The 6-4, 305-pound Georgia native combined for 63 strikeouts in 60.1 IP between the Cardinals and Brewers last season, averaging 9.4 strikeouts per 9 IP.
Broxton, who had a career-high 36 saves for the Dodgers in 2009, has appeared in 608 games with the Dodgers (2005-11), Kansas City (2012), Cincinnati (2012-14), Milwaukee (2014-15) and St. Louis (2015).
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say one person is dead after a small plane that took off from an Omaha airport crashed on Interstate 29 north of Council Bluffs. The Pottawattamie County sheriff’s office says the pilot and sole occupant died in the wreck shortly before noon on Thursday. Authorities say the plane experienced engine problems after takeoff. The plane struck a power line during the crash.
The Iowa Department of Transportation says authorities initially closed the interstate directly across the Missouri River from Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. Traffic was later restricted to one lane in each direction for several miles. Traffic camera footage shows the wreckage in the grass alongside the interstate. Fire trucks and law enforcement vehicles are at the scene, blocking traffic.
Lavon Eblen speaks with Lisa Riggs of Elk Horn about what she tells people about Elk Horn, a unique Danish village.
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(DES MOINES) – Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise today (Thursday) announced the next group of school districts chosen to launch local teacher leadership plans through Iowa’s Teacher Leadership and Compensation System. Ninety-seven school districts have been added to the state system, bringing the total number of districts in the teacher leadership system to 295 (88 percent of Iowa districts).
Among the 97 newly accepted districts is:
Ar-We-Va; ; Bedford; Boyer Valley; Coon Rapids-Bayard; Corning; Denison; Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton; Griswold; IKM-Manning; Logan-Magnolia; Missouri Valley; Mount Ayr; Shenandoah; Sidney; South Page; Treynor; Tri-Center; Villisca; Walnut; West Harrison and Woodbine.
Director Wise said “This system is about supporting teachers to do their best work so that our students can do their best work. Students and schools today face higher expectations, and we must support the critical and complex work of teaching in order to improve instruction. We’re doing that through Iowa’s teacher leadership system, and it’s exciting that so many school districts share this commitment.”
Iowa’s teacher leadership system, which taps into the expertise of top teachers to improve classroom instruction and raise student achievement, is the centerpiece of Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds’ landmark education reform package passed by the Legislature in 2013. It is the nation’s most comprehensive teacher leadership system. About 25 percent of Iowa teachers will be in leadership roles when the system is fully phased in.
As of this fall, all 336 Iowa school districts had applied to join the teacher leadership system. The 97 newly accepted districts will implement their teacher leadership plans in the 2016-17 school year. The remaining 40 school districts will have an opportunity to refine and re-submit their plans for approval in the next two months.
School districts are chosen for the system based on recommendations of the Commission on Educator Leadership and Compensation, which evaluates applications. The teacher leadership system cost nearly $50 million in fiscal year 2015. That amount is expected to grow to about $150 million annually by fiscal year 2017, which would enable all districts to participate.
(Update 12:55-p.m.)
Authorities are on the scene of a plane crash off of Interstate 29 near the 58-mile marker, north of Council Bluffs. The Iowa DOT says the plane crashed into the median not far from Omaha’s Epply Airfield. All lanes of I-29 were blocked as of 12:45-p.m.
Video from the scene shows the plane is a small, single engine aircraft. There is no official word on injuries.
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – Two eastern Iowa men are attempting to run marathons in each of the state’s 99 counties. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 44-year-old Dennis Lee of Walford and 30-year-old Daren Schumaker of Cedar Rapids plan to run in their 86th county, Cerro Gordo, on Saturday.
The men say the idea was born because both of their lives have been altered by losing family members to heart disease and strokes. The runs are intended to raise awareness and research funding for the American Heart Association. Lee and Schumaker will run a 100th marathon after running all of the counties. The final run will take place in the county that donates the most to the American Heart Association.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A panel of state budget experts has lowered Iowa revenue projections for the current fiscal year and next year. Citing falling farm income resulting from lower corn and soybean prices, the Revenue Estimating Conference on Thursday predicted the state will take in about $7.04 billion for the fiscal year that began July 1. That’s nearly $9 million less than the group’s estimate in October.
Department of Management director David Roederer says state economic growth is slowing after several years of faster growth, fueled by high commodity prices that caused rising farm incomes. For next year, the group says state revenue is likely to grow 4 percent to $7.33 billion. That’s about $21 million less than earlier projections.
The governor will use the numbers to craft the next state budget.
AREA COUNTIES: GUTHRIE-DALLAS-ADAIR-MADISON-UNION-RINGGOLD-
1019 AM CST THU DEC 10 2015
…STRONG WINDS LATE THIS MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON…
A FAST MOVING WEATHER SYSTEM IS BRINGING STRONG WINDS TO MUCH OF CENTRAL IOWA THIS MORNING. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST FOR THE REST OF THE MORNING AND INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS BEFORE GRADUALLY DIMINISHING FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. PERIODS OF SUSTAINED WINDS OVER 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 45 MPH WILL BE COMMON DURING THIS TIME.
TRAVELERS IN HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES ON NORTH TO SOUTH ROADS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION IN THESE WINDS.
The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest today (Thursday), of 21-year old Joshua Udo Laubert. The Glenwood man was taken into custody at around 2-a.m., following a traffic stop on the Highway 34/Interstate 29 on-ramp. Laubert was charged with Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1,300.
Arrested Wednesday evening in Mills County, was 20-year old Jacob Nicholas Thorne, of Sidney. Thorne was taken into custody at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant for Harassment in the 1st degree, and for being a Fugitive From Justice. He was being held without bond on the latter charge, while the Harassment charge carries a $2,000 bond.
And on Monday, deputies in Mills County arrested 25-year old Patrick Neil Jack, of Emerson, for Driving Under Suspension and having No SR-22 Insurance. His bond was set at $1,300.
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