Iowa star Caitlin Clark says she is focused on the present and not what lies ahead. USA Basketball announced Clark has been added to the roster of the U-S Women’s team that will take part in training camp next week leading up to the Summer Olympics in Paris. She is also expected to be the top pick in next month’s WNBA Draft. Clark and her second ranked Hawkeyes prepare to face Colorado on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in Albany, New York, after edging West Virginia in her final game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
West Virginia bottled up Iowa’s high scoring offense with pressure defense and Clark says the Hawkeyes can expect more of the same going forward.
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says Clark continues to thrive in the glare of the national spotlight.
Bluder says Clark has remained focused on the team despite a hectic schedule.
USA Basketball says Clark’s attendance at the camp will depend upon Iowa’s status in the NCAA Tournament.
Darian DeVries was introduced as the new coach at West Virginia. DeVries moved on after leading Drake to six-straight seasons of 20 win or more and three NCAA Tournament appearances in the last four years.
DeVries led the Bulldogs to back-to-back Missouri Valley Tournament titles.
DeVries announed his son, Tucker, will be joining him at Western Virginia. Tucker DeVries is a two-time Missouri Valley Player of the Year. He takes over a tradition rich West Virginia program that suffered through 9-23 record this past season.
Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller says the pitching staff needs to cut back on free bases as they get set to open a Big Ten series Friday at home against Minnesota. In 197-and-a-third innings Hawkeye pitchers have walked or hit 190 batters. It is a major factor in a 13-10 start for a team that was ranked as high as 18th at the start of the season.
Heller says while the bullpen has made strides the past couple of weeks the starting staff has not. Iowa’s three main starting pitchers have walked or hit 90 batters in 80 innings of work.
While the pitching as struggled the defense and offense has shined. The Hawkeyes are hitting .319 as a team and averaging more than nine runs per game.
Heller says Iowa will honor retiring Minnesota coach John Anderson this weekend. Anderson has been the Gopher coach since prior to the 1982 season and led the program to 21 Big Ten regular season and tournament titles.
Iowa opened Big Ten play last week by winning two of three games at Purdue.
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser announced the addition of Iowa prep standout Tucker Stangel to the program. Stangel is the latest addition to the 2024 Cyclone recruiting class which is set to arrive on campus this fall.
“Tucker is a great addition to our program,” Dresser said. “He’s a proven winner and has had a lot of success at the high school level. He will elevate the level of competition and we’re excited to get him into the room.
Stangel was a two-time Iowa High School state champion and four-time placewinner at Osage. He was named the 2024 Dan Gable Class 2A Mr. Wrestler of the Year after a 54-0 senior season which ended with his second state title.
Projected as a 157-pounder, Stangel posted a 184-9 high school record and finished with back back-to-back undefeated state titles (54-0 as a senior and 40-0 as a junior).
Stangel also placed fourth at the state tournament as a freshman and third as a sophomore.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – Last week it was announced an Atlantic resident was the victim of a BitCoin scam, now another Cass County resident has come forward to say they too have become a victim of the same type of scam. Rural Atlantic resident Denise O’Brien told KJAN NEWS she wants to warn people that the scam started with a message on her personal Facebook page that resulted in O’Brien’s page being hacked.
She says anyone who goes to her personal Facebook page is seeing an imposter. She says you can help her deal with the scammers, by simply blocking the page.
A message on her now fake Facebook page says “Congratulations to me!!! So this just came in today after months and months of endless study and training. I’m happy to announce that I’ve been certified as an Expert Crypto Trader after undergoing the rigorous training which lasted for over 24 months. I’ve been keeping this secret for a long time. Getting here wasn’t that easy but l’m not a quitter. I always work hard so I can achieve my goals . I’m really thankful to my family for supporting me throughout the whole process . A CERTIFIED CRYPTOCURRENCY EXPERT (C.C.E)”
It also shows a fake Trading Certificate. O’Brien says people may think she’s selling BitCoin, but that is absolutely NOT TRUE. She does however, have a legitimate business on her farm.
She says if you’re a Facebook user and you see a suspicious message pop-up on your timeline, don’t click or respond to it.
Atlantic business owner Ann Bruck was also the target of a BitCoin scam. She wants her customers, prospective clients and followers of her business “Designer Portraits,”to know both her personal and business Facebook paged were hacked. Scammers began sending similar messages and tagging her customers and friends about BitCoin. Like Denise O’Brien, Bruck has been trying to get her pages back but she faces the same brick wall.
If any of her followers have been affected by the scam, an FBI form is available to fill out to try and clear things up. She too, stressed Ann Bruck and Designers Portraits are still in business, but she is not selling cryptocurrency, and that she is currently unable to book appointments through social media.
(Radio Iowa) – The longest-serving member on the state board that oversees the operation of the Iowa Lottery is retiring. Mary Junge is a certified public accountant and practicing tax attorney from Cedar Rapids who didn’t expect to end up with the longest tenure on the board when she started in May of 1999. “I don’t know, it just happened I guess, it’s just I came to enjoy it so much it was something so different than what I was doing in my work,” she says “… and the knowledge just kept building year after year and then…. it takes a while to really think that you kind of understand what’s going on. And then you get to that point and then you get to that point and you want to continue to contribute.” She served until 2014 and then was off the board for a time before being reappointed in 2016. Junge says a lot changed through those 23 or so years.
“Technology and just the, I mean I was just commenting to some people just the changing locations…first there was the old really old building on Grand Avenue and then moved into the Insurance building and then here, all that progression and the growth that went with that,” Junge says. She says there’s one thing she will really miss about being on the Board. “Well definitely the people, I mean you can’t be on the board this long and that develop friendships and relationships with people here it’s just been really monumental,” Junge says. Junge was honored at this week’s Lottery Board meeting.
Iowa Lottery C-E-O Matt Strawn told Junge the Iowa Lottery is grateful and it “is stronger and improved because of your service.”
(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests:
On Tuesday (March 26th), 72-year-old Daniel James McDermott, of LaVista, NE, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Failure To Appear. His bond was set at $2,000.
On Wednesday (March 27th), 41-year-old Jeffrey Dale Hankins, of Malvern, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $10,000.
(Mills County, Iowa) – The former Superintendent for the Atlantic Community School District is among three Superintendent finalists for the shared East Mills and Sidney School Districts. In a press release (shown below), school officials with the two districts announced Thursday they had narrowed their search to Steven Barber, Michael Brown, and Troy Damman. Barber served as the Atlantic School District Superintendent for six-years before resigning in June, 2023. He currently serves as the interim superintendent of the Grinnell-Newburg School District.
Barber holds superintendent licensure in advanced studies and a master’s degree in education from Iowa State University.
Michael Brown previously served as superintendent of Boyd County Public Schools in Spencer, Nebraska. He currently the director of the Quest Forward High School in Omaha, and holds an education specialist degree in school administration from Wayne State College and a master’s in education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
Troy Damman is currently superintendent of the Erie-Galesburg School District in Erie, Kansas and was also previously superintendent of the Waconda School District in Cawker City, Kansas. He holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Baker University.
Both school boards contracted with Grundmeyer Leader Services to assist in the search and plan to conduct final interviews with the three candidates on Wednesday. The boards plan to discuss and reach a final decision soon after the formal interviews.
The next superintendent would officially begin leading the two school districts July 1st, succeeding Tim Hood who announced his retirement as superintendent of the two schools last month.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors met in special session Tuesday morning, and held a public hearing on the proposed property taxes. Members of the public expressed interest in how to interpret the School, County and City Budget Year Statement to Owners and Taxpayers mailing sent as required by Iowa Code (24.2A).
The board explained that the mailing does not reflect the actual amount the taxpayer will pay for the coming fiscal year.
The hearing concluded with no action taken on the proposed taxes.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School Board, during their Work Session, Wednesday evening, discussed the prospect for Summer Program & Summer School. Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen said she spoke with the District’s Principals, and decided they would NOT recommend Summer School for grades K-through-6, but it would likely be available for certain High School classes if the student needs them for credit recovery.
Dr. Johnsen said “School if ends on May 22nd and we start-up Summer School, and they come in and let’s do the same thing. we’re not seeing any improvement or increase in their skill set from having that Summer School.” She says studies have shown students need that Summer break.
Having the break, she said, also puts less stress on parents who might otherwise have to adjust their routine to get their kids to Summer School for an hour of reading four-to five-days a week. Board member Josh McLaren said it doesn’t make sense to him, but he trusts those who have a better understanding of productive education, to make the right decision.
Atlantic High School
Dr. Johnson says the other reason for not holding Summer School, has to deal with funding, especially with regard to ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency [Pandemic] Relief) funds.
She said they would have their breakfast and lunch programs. School Board member Laura McLean said she’s frustrated by the idea there would be no Summer School, because they want to be able to support their staff and district leaders, but are getting mixed messages about the importance of those types of classes.
She said she is oriented towards those who need more support. Board President Kristy Pellett agreed. No action was taken on the recommendation to not hold Summer School, during Wednesday’s meeting, only discussion. Dr. Johnsen said she would take comments by the Board back to the District’s Principals, and have something for the regular meeting in April.
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