The Audubon Wheelers keep the season alive and punched their ticket to the state tournament with a terrific win against MVAOCOU. It didn’t come easy for the Wheelers, as a stout Rams defense constantly shut down anything the Wheelers tried to do. Mattie Nielsen led off the game with a single, but Rams pitcher Mya Goslar responded by striking out Taryn Petersen, before Jordan Porsch hit a screamer to the 2nd baseman who touched the base then quickly threw over to second to turn a double play.
The double play set the tone early, as in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings, the Wheelers found themselves with runners in scoring position, with MVAOCOU finding a way out of the jam each inning. Coach Schwery talked about what she had to tell her players in the dugout.
Runs were scarce to come by on both sides, as Riley Miller had another standout performance. The freshman added to her dominant campaign, striking out 12 Ram batters and not allowing a single hit on the night. Coach Schwery talked about Miller’s season.
It all came down to the bottom of the 7th inning. Anna Larsen led off the inning with a stand-up double, then advanced to 3rd on a passed ball. With the winning run only 60 feet away, the Rams pinned back their ears, with Gemeni Goodwin and Mattie Nielsen both hitting pop-ups to the shortstop. Then with a 1-1 count, Taryn Petersen hit one to the 3rd base-shortstop gap. Rams shortstop MaKynlee made a terrific snag and throw over to first but there was no beating Taryn Petersen’s speed as she walked it off for the Lady Wheelers. After the game, Coach Schwety tipped her cap to players both past and present.
The Wheelers will await to find their seeding for the state tournament in Fort Dodge. Their first game will be next Tuesday the 23rd. The Rams’ season comes to an end at 20-12. The Rams graduate three seniors.
(State News) – A lawsuit alleges that a company operating an alternative fuels plant in the eastern Iowa town of Marengo, lied to and may have bribed, public officials before a massive explosion injured workers there in 2022. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Tali Washburn, a Pottawattamie County woman who worked for the C6-Zero company as its government relations director, is now suing the company, six of its affiliates and several company officials in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
In December 2022, C6-Zero’s roof-shingle recycling plant in Marengo was rocked by a massive explosion that injured more than a dozen people and resulted in a partial evacuation of the town.
An explosion in Marengo contaminated soil and water in the area. (Photo courtesy of Department of Natural Resources documents)
As part of her lawsuit, Washburn alleges that long before the explosion, company officials told her they had purchased a house from the Marengo city official tasked with approving the plant’s emergency safety plan. The purchase was then put in someone else’s name to obscure C6-Zero’s involvement, the lawsuit claims.
In 2023, a judge ordered the company to pay a $95,700 fine for workplace safety violations that contributed to the explosion. The state has since sued the company for $1.5 million in expenses caused by the cleanup of contaminated water at the Marengo site. A trial in that case is scheduled for later this year.
According to Washburn’s lawsuit, she was hired by C6-Zero in March 2020. In mid-2021, she claims, she “blew the whistle” on corporate wrongdoing by contacting the company’s CEO, general counsel and chief operating officer. The lawsuit alleges she then hired a former federal prosecutor as her own legal counsel and “confronted” the company about what she considered to be safety issues, loan falsification, tax issues and “interference” with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In January 2022, she claims, the company placed her on administrative leave and threatened her with a lawsuit for defamation. In July 2022, she alleges, she was fired and three months later disclosed her concerns to an unspecified “Iowa government official.”
Her lawsuit seeks damages for breach of contract, unpaid wages, fraudulent misrepresentation and civil conspiracy. C6-Zero and company officials named in have yet to file a response to the allegations.
The problems began, Washburn alleges, shortly after she was hired to help C6-Zero clear regulatory hurdles in developing recycling technology that would turn asphalt into oil. According to the lawsuit, C6-Zero’s biggest problem at that time was that it was unable to use patented technology due to various state agencies classifying the business as a recycler, a stockpiler of solid waste and a potential generator of hazardous waste. Washburn alleges she “developed a pathway” for C6-Zero to successfully obtain a “comfort letter” from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwest regional office to launch its business in Iowa. That letter was intended to “validate” the company’s commitment to operate, within the EPA’s own framework, as a manufacturer and not a generator of hazardous waste.
Shortly thereafter, the lawsuit claims, company officials directed Washburn to send a grant application to the state seeking a forgivable multimillion-dollar loan. State officials denied the grant request, allegedly citing issues with the company’s background. Months later, the lawsuit claims, company officials told Washburn they had “embellished” the grant application in part by stating they would hire 260 employees and have a total annual payroll of $3.7 million.
In addition, the lawsuit states, Chief Operating Officer Christopher Koehn “specifically and purposefully lied on the application” by listing a particular individual with a good reputation as C6-Zero’s chief technology officer. Koehn confessed to Washburn that the man never had any official role in the company and his name was included merely to bolster the company’s bid for the forgivable loan, the lawsuit alleges.
OMAHA, Neb. [KETV) – Officials in Douglas County, Nebraska, late Monday night, alerted Pottawattamie County emergency personnel, about calls they had about someone jumping into the Missouri River. Word of the incident began coming in a little before midnight. A water rescue team and first responders were able to locate the individual and bring them ashore. Medics took the unidentified person to the hospital, where they were said to be in serious condition.
Additional information is currently not available.
(Radio Iowa) – Severe storms moved across Iowa late Monday afternoon and early evening, bringing large hail, high winds and at least one tornado.
The first warning in western Iowa was for the Crawford and Carroll County areas, at around 3:40-p.m. According to the National Weather Services, tennis ball-size hail was reported by the public, in Vail. Hail the size of eggs fell in Westside, quarter-size hail was reported in Arcadia, and winds gusting to near 65-miles per hour were reported near Manning. Winds gusting to near 55-mph were noted northwest of Adel.
The New Vienna/Luxemburg Fire Department reported a wind gust of 102 miles an hour, with several reports of damage to structures, trees and vehicles. Delaware County Emergency Management Coordinator Mandy Bieber says the winds were exceptional. “Significant wind speeds in the 80 mile an hour range,” Bieber says, “and it seems like it did significantly increase as it moved across the county in Dubuque County, maybe took a little harder hit than what we did.”
Bieber says there are no reports of anyone hurt, but there are multiple reports of damage. “The Earlville area, we’re seeing some pictures of trees that have been completely blown over, that are larger, and a lot of vinyl fencing and lighter items receiving some damage as well,” Bieber says. “We did have one report of a topper ripped off of a truck.”
Tornado warnings were issued in portions of Buchanan, Delaware, Linn, Polk, Jones and Dubuque counties, as several funnel clouds were spotted. Flash flooding was reported, with Highway 61 covered with water near Zwingle and flooded roads west of New Vienna. “Lines down in several different areas, the fire departments and public works guys are all out taking care of that,” Bieber says. “Obviously, with the lines being down, we are seeing some power outages.”
Near Backbone State Park (Photo by Dan Murhpy, Delaware County. via
MidAmerican Energy reported 40-thousand customers without power at 11 P-M, mostly in the Des Moines, Iowa City and Davenport areas. Meteorologist Dylan Dodson, at the National Weather Service in Johnston, says one twister was spotted. Dodson says, “We had some severe storms that caused some extensive tree damage and some downed power lines through the Des Moines metro, with one tornado confirmed in Polk County.” That tornado was reported near Windsor Heights and Grimes. The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency reported a funnel cloud was observed a little after 6-p.m., Monday, about six-miles southwest of Grant.
On the plus side, Dodson says the storm broke the extreme heat wave, and high temperatures through the rest of the week should be in the 70’s and 80’s.
(Reporting by Janelle Tucker, KMCH, Manchester and Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)
Today: A slight chance of showers this afternoon, otherwise mostly sunny. High near 83. N/NE winds 5-10 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 78. North wind 5 to 10 mph. Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 77. Friday: Sunny, with a high near 80.
Monday’s High in Atlantic was 92. Our Low this morning, 68. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 82 and the Low was 61. The All-Time Record High in Atlantic on July 16th, was 109 in 1936. The Record Low was 45 in 1906. Sunrise: 5:59; Sunset: 8:51.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird will deliver a speech at the Republican National Convention later today (Tuesday). “I’m speaking about making America safe again,” Bird says, “a speech supporting President Trump and his priorities of to keep our communities safe and how much he appreciates our law enforcement.” Bird was the only statewide elected official to endorse Trump before the Iowa Caucuses. She declines to speculate on whether she’d accept a role in Trump’s Administration next year if he wins in November.
“Biden’s been a disaster and we all remember how much better we were when Trump was president,” Bird says. “Just glad to be supporting his campaign and be helping him all the way up through the Caucuses until today.” On the convention’s first day, Bird was tapped to oversee the process of nominating J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate. Bird was standing in a holding area just behind the convention stage when she spoke with Radio Iowa Monday afternoon.
“The mood here in Milwaukee is so positive and everybody’s so excited,” Bird said. Bird, a Guthrie County native, is an attorney who served as Congressman Steve King’s chief of staff and legal counsel for Governor Terry Branstad. She ran unsuccessfully for Iowa attorney general in 2010, finishing 11 points behind long-time Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. She defeated Miller in 2022 by about 20-thousand votes.
KNOXVILLE, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol reports one person died and another was injured, Monday afternoon, when a minivan crashed through an exterior wall of a Knoxville health care facility, striking a resident. The accident happened around 3:20 p.m. Monday at the Accura HealthCare facility when a 2014 Chrysler Town & Country van traveled through a parking lot, went out of control and accelerated through the parking lot before crashing into a wall and a resident’s room. The resident was pinned in her room and required extraction.
The resident, 70-year-old Rebecca Richardson, of Knoxville, was pronounced dead at the Knoxville hospital. The driver of the van, 86-year-old Doris McCombs, of Knoxville, was transported by air ambulance to a Des Moines hospital. The incident remains under investigation.
Due to damage to the building and “in an abundance of caution,” first responders ordered the facility to be evacuated until the building can be evaluated, Accura HealthCare said in a press release. By 9 p.m., repairs were made to the building and it was deemed safe for residents to return.
Accura HealthCare of Knoxville has 51 residents. It primarily houses seniors needing long-term care.
The Martensdale-St Marys Blue Devils won 8-0 against the Griswold Tigers on Monday night in the Class 1A Region 4 Final. From the start of the ball game Blue Devils pitcher Campbell German seemed locked in as she collected 2 strikeouts and gave up no hits in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the first inning is where Martensdale-St Marys made their first splash scoring 3 runs from an error thrown at first and a 2 RBI single by Shelby Woods put them up 3-0. The Tigers still had no luck hitting in the top of the second inning as German struck out two more and forced a pop fly. The bottom of the second inning saw 3 hits in a row for the Blue Devils including an RBI double to increase their lead at 4-0. After the second inning, both teams seemed to be stuck in neutral offensively with Griswold pitcher Karly Millikan only giving up 2 hits through the next two innings.
In the bottom of the fifth inning Martensdale-St Marys caught a second wind and went on to post 4 more runs which included a triple by Mac German and a 2-run homer from Shelby Woods giving them a massive advantage at 8-0. Griswold would remain hitless in the next two innings and never got a runner past second on the day. German ended the game with 3 strikeouts in a row, summarizing the difficult night of hitting for the Tigers as they did not record a hit all game.
When looking back on the regional final against the Blue Devils, Tigers head coach Jody Rossell complimented the talent displayed throughout the evening.
Campbell German had a truly impressive night for Martensdale-St Marys pitching 7 innings, throwing 14 strikeouts, with 3 walks, no hits, and no runs. Griswold saw great effort from Karly Millikan pitching 6 innings, collecting 3 strikeouts, giving up 8 runs, and 12 hits. Tigers catcher Whitney Pennock also helped her team by collecting 2 walks. Griswold’s loss in the regional ends their season, which also ends the high school careers for 3 seniors that coach Rossell admires, Whitney Pennock, Dakota Reynolds, and Karly Millikan.
Coach Rossell also explained that while the season ended shorter than she would like, there was still a tremendous amount of success to be proud of.
The Tigers softball season ends with a well-earned record of 27-4. The Blue Devils will start the State Softball tournament in Fort Dodge on July 22nd.
An Iowa umpire will work Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball All Star Game in Arlington, Texas. Bruce Dreckman lives in Marcus and will be working first base in the midsummer classic. It is his second All Star Game assignment.
Dreckman says an All Star Game is a much different assignment than a playoff series.
Dreckman says for the umpires the goal is the same for every game.
Dreckman will have family with him at Tuesday night’s game.
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