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USDA plans to force schools in low-income areas to give -all- students free meals

News

February 28th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Some Iowa schools may soon see changes in how they administer free and reduced-price meal programs. U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says a new proposal calls for schools in high-poverty areas to serve free breakfast and lunch to -all- students, not just those who qualify under the current guidelines. Vilsack says, “We’ve already tried this in 11 states and what we’ve seen is an increase in school lunch participation of 5% and in the school breakfast program of almost 10%.”

Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, says the program change would see free meals provided for all children in certain schools where now about 40-percent of the students qualify. “Why not just simply let all the youngsters in the school, since you have a high percentage, to access the school lunch program and the free lunch program,” Vilsack says. While it stands to reason that feeding more students would increase costs, Vilsack says the change is designed to save money.

Vilsack says, “We’re not only going to save administration expense, over the next four years as we phase this in, we’re going to see increased participation in school lunch and also in school breakfast.” The U-S Department of Agriculture says nine-million children in 22-thousand schools nationwide would qualify.

(Radio Iowa)

Posted in News |

Sheehey sends Indiana past No. 20 Iowa, 93-86

Sports

February 28th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Will Sheehey scored 19 of his career-high 30 points in the first half and Stanford Robinson added a career-best 17 to lead Indiana over No. 20 Iowa 93-86 on Thursday night in a game that was postponed last week. The Hoosiers (16-12, 6-9 Big Ten) went on a 9-0 run in the second half, capped by a 3-pointer from Evan Gordon that gave them a 62-60 lead with 13:13 remaining.

Roy Devyn Marble had 20 points and Aaron White added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (19-9, 8-7), who have lost three straight. The Hoosiers scored six straight points to take a 77-69 lead when Robinson converted a three-point play. Sheehey dunked to give Indiana an 82-73 advantage with 1:35 remaining.

The game originally was slated for last week but was postponed after an 8-foot, 50-pound steel plate fell from the ceiling of Assembly Hall about 6½ hours before the scheduled start.

Posted in Sports |

No. 25 Iowa beats Ohio State 65-61in women’s hoops

Sports

February 28th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Theairra Taylor scored 21 points Thursday night and No. 25 Iowa pulled away in the second half to beat Ohio State 65-61. Melissa Dixon scored 14, Bethany Doolittle 12, and Iowa (22-7, 10-5 Big Ten) forced 21 turnovers and had 15 steals. Ohio State (15-16, 5-10) outshot the Hawkeyes 46.2 percent to 41.7 percent from the field, 33.3 percent to 29.4 percent from distance, and 66.7 percent to 55.6 percent from the free-throw line.

The Buckeyes at one point led by five and the lead changed hands 10 times until Doolittle’s jumper with 10 seconds to play gave Iowa a 36-34 halftime edge. Taylor’s free throws in the second half sparked a 9-2 run for a 61-55 Iowa lead. Ohio State’s Ameryst Alston made it a two-point game with a layup, but Taylor hit consecutive layups for the win.

Alston led Iowa with 18 and Ashley Adams scored 12.

Posted in Sports |

Boy’s District Basketball Championship Scores (from 2/27/14)

Sports

February 28th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

1A District 13 Championship
Nodaway Valley 77, Griswold 42

1A District 14 Championship
East Mills 48, Sidney 28

1A District 15 Championship
Ar-We-Va 56, Underwood 44

3A District 3 Championship
Carroll 72, Ballard 50

3A District 15 Championship
Harlan 77, Perry 55

3A District 16 Championship
Glenwood 65, Atlantic 55

Posted in Sports |

JILL STEPHENS-BLATNY, 65, of Carson (Svcs. 3/4/13)

Obituaries

February 27th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

JILL STEPHENS-BLATNY, 65, of Carson, has died. Funeral services for JILL STEPHENS-BLATNY will be held 11-a.m. Tue., March 4th, at the Wheeler Grove United Church of Christ in rural Carson. Loess Hills Funeral Home in Carson has the arrangements.

Visitation at the funeral home will be held on Mon., March 3rd, from 5-to 7-pm.

Memorials may be directed to the family.

A private, family inurnment will take place.

JILL STEPHENS-BLATNY is survived by:

Her husband – Bob Blatny, of Carson.

Her son – Doug Hess, of Carson.

Her daughters – Kelli Burmeister, of Gretna, NE, & Megan Manzer, of Macedonia, IA>

7 grandchildren, other relatives & friends.

Posted in Obituaries |

FREDRICK “FRITZ” GILBERT MILLER II, 86, of Avoca (Svcs. 3/1/14)

Obituaries

February 27th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

FREDRICK “FRITZ” GILBERT MILLER II, 86, of Avoca, died Wed., Feb. 26th, at Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan. Funeral services for  “FRITZ” MILLER II will be held 11-a.m. Sat., March 1st, at the Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Avoca.

Visitation will be held at the funeral home one-hour prior to the service on Saturday (10-am to 11-am)

A private family burial service will be in the Graceland Cemetery at Avoca.

FREDRICK “FRITZ” GILBERT MILLER II is survived by:

His wife – Joan Miller, of Avoca.

His son – Fred (Marlene) Miller, III of Avoca.

Posted in Obituaries |

Red Oak man arrested for child endangerment

News

February 27th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A Red Oak man was arrested Thursday on a felony charge of Child Endangerment. 30-year old Michael Lisle Parson was taken into custody at around 11:15-a.m., following an investigation into an incident that took place on Feb. 25th. Parson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $10,000 cash bond.

Posted in News |

McCurdy & Godwin Scholarship Deadlines approaching

News

February 27th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Students in Cass and Audubon Counties have an opportunity to receive scholarship funds from two area endowed scholarships administered through the Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa. For students in Cass County, the Cass County Community Foundation is accepting applications for the Dustin McCurdy Endowed Scholarship Fund.The McCurdy Scholarship provides two scholarships of approximately $500 each to high school seniors from Cumberland Anita Massena High School (C-A-M).

Students in Audubon County, can submit their applications for the Exira Lions Club/Harold and Beverly Ann Godwin Endowed Scholarship. The Fund will award one scholarship for $1,000 and is open to any high school senior from the Exira-EHK School District pursuing a two or four year degree, full-time, at any accredited vocational/technical or educational institution or a college or university.

 

In both counties, applications are available from your high school guidance counselor.  Applications are due to your guidance counselor no later than March 31st.  

Posted in News |

IQPA Annual Meeting March 4

Ag/Outdoor

February 27th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A meeting set for March 4th near Lewis will bring together a group of about 80 farmers and landowners from across southwest Iowa, who are always looking for ways to improve the agricultural income of farmers, and members of the Wallace Foundation. Members of the IQPA Organization (Iowa Quality Producers Alliance) will hold their 14th annual meeting at the ISU Armstrong Research Farm, from 8:30-until 9:40-a.m.

The IQPA Meeting is being held before the Wallace Foundation’s 23rd Annual Meeting, since many of the IQPA members belong to both groups. The IQPA meeting will include election/reelection of Board Managers, whose terms are expiring, filling any vacancy on the Executive Committee, and IQPA financial report.

An update on the Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy Ethanol Plant (SIRE) will be given by IQPA Board member Ted Bauer. IQPA member, Veral Bailey of Anita, will present a 20 minute program entitled “Walking on the Moon comes to Southwest Iowa, Understanding TELEMETRY”. Bailey will review some of the current ways equipment monitoring data is used by farmers such as yield maps, grid sampling maps, and codes to indicate equipment repair problems.

New items now appearing on the horizon such as CLOUD, mega data analysis, predict crop yields, precision field and animal management are just a few items. Bailey will share his thoughts on how these Challenges and Opportunities can be of value to individual farmers if they understand these new developments in agriculture.

For more information, call Mrs. Billie Wilson, President of the IQPA Organization, at 712-789-0705, or Ag Consultant Ron Sanson at 712-303 – 8222.

 

Posted in Ag/Outdoor |

Big 12 beating up each other ahead of NCAAs

Sports

February 27th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — After two months spent mostly bludgeoning each other into submission, coaches in the Big 12 are starting to cast a wary eye toward the NCAA tournament. While other conferences may have a handful of standout teams, there are usually a few bottom-dwellers that everybody else can use to pad their records. That’s not the case in the Big 12, with its grueling double round-robin schedule, where even good teams are piling up losses.

Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas are almost certainly locks for the NCAA tournament, and Kansas State has a strong resume. Baylor and Oklahoma State are sitting on the bubble, two teams that were ranked in the top 10 at one point this season.

Posted in Sports |