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Soiree with the Swans Jan. 6th, in Atlantic

Ag/Outdoor, News

December 13th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – You’re invited to join Cass County Conservation Department Staff at Atlantic’s Schildberg Recreation Area- Lake number 4, on Saturday, January 6, 2024 for “Soiree with the Swans.” Conservation Dept. Staff will be giving ten-minute presentations regarding the Trumpeter Swans every half-hour, beginning at 11-a.m., with the last one presented at 2-p.m.

There will also be time to view the swans through spotting scopes and witness random swan feeding sessions. Hot chocolate, cookies, and other snacks will be provided free of charge with donations being accepted (for swan care).

The Schildberg Recreation Area is located on the northwest edge of Atlantic, Lake 4 is on the north side of Highway 83. Atlantic is celebrating 24 winters of the Trumpeter Swans wintering here.

This event is not to be missed! IF THE WEATHER IS “BAD” OR THE SWANS ARE NOT AT THE PARK…the program will be at the Atlantic Public Library from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. with hot chocolate, cookies, and other snacks available. The event is being sponsored by the Cass County Conservation Board, Atlantic Parks and Recreation, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Tuesday Girls Wrestling

Sports

December 13th, 2023 by admin

@ Southwest Valley

West Central valley 42, Southwest Iowa 15

West Central Valley 54, Southwest Valley 5

Southwest Iowa 24, Southwest Valley 12

@ Creston

Highway 34 60, Glenwood 24

Highway 34 60, Treynor 12

Glenwood 42, Treynor 24

@ Papillion-La Vista

Lewis Central 44, Council Bluffs 21

Lewis Central 33, Papillion-La Vista 33

Papillion-La Vista 42, Council Bluffs 24

33 animals rescued from foul conditions in central Iowa house

News

December 13th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A team from the Animal Rescue League of Iowa was called to a house in Des Moines last week to rescue dozens of animals. The A-R-L says it removed 31 dogs and two birds from conditions that were so deplorable, the house was deemed uninhabitable. A news release says the floors were coated with feces and puddles of urine that were warping the flooring. The dogs were as young as a week old and suffered from a host of conditions, including flea infestations. They’re now being cared for at the league’s headquarters.

One of the 31 dogs rescued (ARL photo)

The release says 26 animals were rescued from the same house four years ago. There’s no word on charges against the homeowner.

Tuesday Boys Wrestling

Sports

December 13th, 2023 by admin

@ Riverside

Logan-Magnolia 40, Riverside 32

Logan-Magnolia 71, St. Albert 6

Logan-Magnolia 78, Tri-Center 6

Riverside 78, St. Albert 6

Riverside 65, Tri-Center 12

Riverside 62, Red Oak 12

Red Oak 36, Tri-Center 30

@ Southwest Valley

Southwest Valley 66, Bedford 6

Southwest Valley 44, West Central Valley 24

West Central Valley 60, Bedford 9

@ Missouri Valley

Missouri Valley 36, Nodaway Valley 33

Missouri Valley 57, Audubon 16

Missouri Valley 41, AHSTW 27

Nodaway Valley 54, AHSTW 27

Nodaway Valley 64, Audubon 21

AHSTW 42, Audubon 30

@ Creston

Creston 39, Glenwood 33

Creston 54, Treynor 27

Glenwood 60, Treynor 21

@ Denison-Schleswig

Sergeant Bluff-Luton 75, Cherokee 6

Sergeant Bluff-Luton 72, Denison-Schleswig 24

Sergeant Bluff-Luton 66, Sheldon/South O’Brien 10

Cherokee 42, Denison-Schleswig 39

Denison-Schleswig 33, Sheldon/South O’Brien 33

 

Tuesday Boys Swimming

Sports

December 13th, 2023 by admin

Atlantic swam at the Larry White Invitational hosted by Southeast Polk Tuesday and finished sixth with 84 points.

The Trojans had six top-eight finishes, Keaten Rieken placed fifth in the 100 butterfly, Alex Lihs was seventh in the 200 IM and Abe Schechinger was seventh in the 100 breaststroke.

Atlantic placed fifth in the 200-yard medley relay, sixth in the 200-freestyle relay and eighth in the 400-freestyle relay. Rieken, Hunter Quist, Schechinger and Lihs participated in all three races.

Adair County Supervisors hold a brief meeting Wednesday morning

News

December 13th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Having a light agenda, the Adair County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), breezed through their business in about 10-minutes.

The Board approved a General Relief application, a 2024 ISAC Wellness Agreement, and .Homestead & Military Disallances. They also passed a Resolution calling for Board Chair Jerry Walker to accept a bid of $211,327.69 from Gus Construction, and sign the contract for, the N-24 Prussia (Township) Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) Culvert Project for the Local Farm-to-Market road. County Engineer Nick Kauffman said the bid was 17-percent over the engineer’s estimate.

The Adair County Supervisors also authorized the Chair to sign documents pertaining to the N-36 Lee (Township) RCB Culvert Project, and a Right-Of-Way contract for the N-19 Lincoln (Township) Bridge Project on the Local Farm-to-Market road.

Kauffman updated the Board on Secondary Roads Department maintenance work and activities.

UNI faculty union leader raises alarms about athletics spending

News

December 13th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of the University of Northern Iowa’s faculty union is voicing concerns over how the school is handling its money. U-N-I released a statement defending the movement of nearly a million dollars from its general fund to athletics, saying one of its missions is to identify opportunities for those programs to be more self-sustaining. United Faculty leader Chris Martin says that shouldn’t come at the cost of education, especially when athletics can already borrow from the general fund. “There was a deal way back in 2010 that UNI’s athletics programs could take money out of the general fund, but it couldn’t go past 2.4 percent,” Martin says. “So there’s always been money going toward that, but in the past year or two, it wasn’t budgeted for.”

Martin says athletics programs borrowed nine-hundred thousand dollars, which exceeded the allowed percentage. He says the university’s overall budget has shrunk by several million dollars since 2019, largely due to a decrease in funding from the state legislature.  “When we’re confronted with losing academic dollars towards athletics or other auxiliary units, that’s a concern for us on the academic side,” Martin says, “since we’re already feeling an incredible pinch from being underfunded from the state.”

U-N-I’s overall budget has shrunk by about nine-million dollars, and the number of tenure-track positions has dropped by nearly 100 over the past four years.

Two juveniles face charges over alleged threats to NW IA schools

News

December 13th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Two juveniles face felony charges after allegedly making threats against two small northwest Iowa school districts. Palo Alto County Sheriff John King says a 16-year-old suspect has been charged with a felony for an alleged threat at Ruthven-Ayrshire Community Schools on Friday. A threatening social media post on Saturday against the Graettinger Terril School District was investigated by federal, state and local authorities.

A juvenile located by Eagle Grove Police on Sunday has been charged with making threats of terrorism. The two school districts have a sharing arrangement for their athletic teams, which are known as the G-T-R-A Titans, and one superintendent oversees both districts.

Sporting News Recognizes 3 Hawkeyes

Sports

December 13th, 2023 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Three University of Iowa football student-athletes — junior Cooper DeJean, and seniors Jay Higgins and Tory Taylor — have been recognized as All-America by Sporting News. The announcement was made on Wednesday by Sporting News.

DeJean and Taylor are first team honorees by Sporting News, while Higgins is recognized on the second team.

DeJean and Taylor have reached consensus All-Americans after each being recognized as first-team All-America by Walter Camp, FWAA, AP and Sporting News (American Football Coaches Association announces its selections on Thursday). Iowa now has 31 consensus All-Americans in program history, including 16 in the Kirk Ferentz era. The Hawkeyes have had multiple consensus All-Americans six times in program history (1981, 1984, 2002, 2003, 2017, 2023).

DeJean was one of top defensive players in the nation before going down with a season-ending injury on Nov. 15. The Odebolt, Iowa, native finished the season with 41 tackles, two TFL, two interceptions and five pass break-ups in 10 games. DeJean did not allow a touchdown pass in 388 snaps in coverage in 2023. As a punt returner, DeJean was one of the nation’s best. He had a 70-yard punt return for a game-winning score against Michigan State and he had a second touchdown return for the game-winning score negated because of an “invalid fair catch signal” against Minnesota. DeJean is second in the Big Ten and ranks 14th nationally, averaging 11.5 yards per return.

DeJean was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe and Bronko Nagurski awards and a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. He was previously named the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year and the Rodgers-Dwight Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year last month. DeJean was also a first-team all-conference honoree by the Associated Press and league coaches and media.

Taylor, the 2023 Ray Guy Punter of the Year, broke Iowa’s single season punting yardage record for a third consecutive season. He has an NCAA-best 86 punts for 4,119 yards with his 47.9 average leading the Big Ten and ranking third nationally. Thirty-six of his punts have traveled 50+ yards (six punts of 60+), 27 have been fair caught, 30 have been downed inside the 20, 11 inside the 10 and six inside the 5. The Australia native only has six touchbacks and opponents average just 8.8 yards per return. He has 288 punts for 13,297 yards — both school records — and his 46.2 career average will break Jason Baker’s mark come season’s end.

Taylor (46.2) will finish his collegiate career breaking the NCAA’s career punting average record; currently held by Baylor’s Daniel Sepulveda (42.5). Taylor, who is a two-time FWAA first-team All-America, has averaged 40 or more yards (min. four punts) in an NCAA-best 42 career games. He was named the Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media last month.

Higgins has been a tackling machine for Iowa’s defense, racking up 155 tackles — the most in the Big Ten, the third-most nationally (most by a Power 5 player) and the fourth-most in a single season in school history. The Indianapolis native has led the team in tackles in 11 of 13 games with two 15+ tackle games and nine games with 10 or more stops. He has been a leader on an Iowa defense that is fourth nationally, allowing 13.2 points per game.

Higgins was previously recognized as first-team All-America by FWAA and Sports Illustrated, and a second team honoree by the AP and CBS. He is also a first-team All-Big Ten honoree by the AP and league coaches and media.

The No. 17 Hawkeyes will play No. 21 Tennessee on Jan. 1, 2024, in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The game will start at noon (CT) and will be televised on ABC.

Iowa authorities searching for a missing Ames girl

News

December 13th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

STORY COUNTY, Iowa — Authorities in central Iowa are searching for a missing Ames girl. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says five-year old Avery Lydia Doherty was reported missing to the Story County Sheriff’s Office, on Oct. 13, 2023. Avery Doherty weighs 45 pounds. She’s 4-feet, 5-inches tall, has blonde hair and blue eyes.

According to court documents, Avery is believed to be with her non-custodial mother, Esther Bender, who did not adhere to the custody agreement or show-up for her hearings. An Amber Alert was not issued when she disappeared because there is no vehicle description. Ames Police, however, say they are extremely concerned for Avery’s safety. Sgt. Amber Christian with the Ames Police Department said no one has heard from or seen Avery or Esther Bender. Authorities don’t know where they could be, but it is believed that they have left the state. Police have exhausted all leads.

If you have any information about Avery’s disappearance, contact the Ames Police Department at 515-239-5135 or the Story County Sheriff’s Department at 515-382-6566. You can also contact the Missing Person Information Clearinghouse Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at 515-725-6036.