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Notre Dame advances with a 74-57 win over Iowa

Sports

March 27th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Kayla McBride scored a career-high 28 points and top-seeded Notre Dame advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament with a 74-57 win over Iowa on Tuesday night. Skylar Diggins had 16 as the Fighting Irish (33-1) extended their school-record winning streak to 28 games and finished 13-0 on the road. Notre Dame will next face 12th-seeded Kansas in Norfolk, Va., on Sunday.

McBride had 23 points in the first half as the Irish built a 12-point advantage. The lead reached 59-39 on Diggins’ layup with 15:30 left as Notre Dame reached the round of 16 for the 11th time in 17 seasons. Bethany Doolittle had 16 for Iowa (21-13), which went 0 for 11 from 3-point range and had 21 turnovers.

Posted in Sports |

Cardinals place 3B David Freese on disabled list

Sports

March 27th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals put third baseman David Freese on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday because of a lower back strain, and hoped he would heal in time for the home opener April 8 against Cincinnati. Freese joined St. Louis closer Jason Motte on the DL. The Cardinals earlier this spring lost shortstop Rafael Furcal for the year with an elbow injury and pitcher Chris Carpenter with a potential career-ending nerve injury.

Utilityman Matt Carpenter is expected to start the season at third in place of Freese, the 2011 World Series and NL championship series MVP. Freese, who will be 30 next month, hit .293 with career best of 20 homers, 79 RBIs and 144 games last season. Carpenter played at five positions last year and added second base this spring. He batted .294 with six homers and 46 RBIs in 296 at-bats last year. Carpenter, 27, has 26 career starts in two seasons at third.

Infielder Ryan Jackson was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. Left-hander Sam Freeman was optioned to Triple-A. In 12 spring training games, Freese was batting .267 with two home runs and five RBIs. The move was retroactive to Saturday Jackson was optioned to the minors on March 17 after appearing in 17 spring training games. Freeman made two exhibition appearances.

Posted in Sports |

Iowa early News Headlines: Wed., March 27th 2013

News

March 27th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has sent a letter to senators seeking support for his nominees to the Board of Regents. The letter was delivered Tuesday to all 50 senators. Branstad says his picks have “unique skill sets.” The Senate Education Committee voted to forward two of Branstad’s three nominations to the full Senate without recommendation. Current Board President Craig Lang was not endorsed.

(Information in the following story is from: KCRG-TV, http://www.kcrg.com)

KALONA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are trying to figure out who forced an empty car to crash through a grocery store in eastern Iowa. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says the crash happened early yesterday morning at JW’s Foods in Kalona. No one was injured and the store remains open

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Bond has been set at $1 million for a Cedar Falls woman accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend in Waterloo. Kristie Clark-Richardson made her initial court appearance yesterday on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of 38-year-old Keon Dale. Authorities say the 34-year-old Clark-Richardson stabbed Dale near his northern Waterloo home a little after 11:45 p.m. Monday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Labor Department says a Des Moines trucking company failed to properly pay some employees for overtime. The department’s Wage and Hour Division says Contract Transport Inc. did not pay some drivers for delay time during trips and instead paid them based on a predetermined number of hours. Some delays were caused by weather, construction or other factors.

Posted in News |

Fans to decide Cardinals’ road cap color

Sports

March 26th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Red or blue? When it comes to road baseball caps this season, the St. Louis Cardinals are letting fans decide. The Cardinals on Tuesday announced they will let fans pick whether the team should stick with navy blue caps for road games, or go red. Red caps are worn at home. Fans can vote at cardinals.com through Wednesday. A Twitter vote is Thursday. There are actually four options: Blue caps for all road games; red caps for all road games; wear blue on the road only against red teams; or wear blue only on the last game of each road series. Results will be announced this week. The Cardinals open the regular season on the road, at Arizona on Monday.

Posted in Sports |

Kozma hits slam, leads Wainwright, Cards over Mets

Sports

March 26th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — Pete Kozma hit a grand slam and Yadier Molina added a two-run homer, leading Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals over the New York Mets 11-4 on Tuesday. Wainwright made his final Grapefruit League start and pitched six solid innings. He allowed two runs and seven hits and struck out three.

Mets starter Jeremy Hefner received a scare in the top of the fourth when he was hit on his pitching elbow by a one-hopper off the bat of Carlos Beltran. Hefner immediately left the game with a bruised right elbow and was listed as day-to-day. Lucas Duda drove in all four Mets runs with a homer, double and single.

Posted in Sports |

Senate approves education plan

News

March 26th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Democratic-majority Senate has approved a beefed-up version of Gov. Terry Branstad’s education policy plan. The 26-23 party-line vote happened Tuesday. Branstad’s proposal would hike minimum teacher salaries and provide incentive pay for teachers who take on additional leadership roles, like mentoring.

The Senate version maintains the salary minimums and would require districts to choose from several options for a leadership incentive pay program. It also has some new pilot programs, including one that would provide additional funding to disadvantaged schools.

Several weeks ago Republican-controlled House approved a scaled back version of Branstad’s proposal. In their plan, the salary minimums and incentive pay would be optional for districts. Lawmakers now must try to reach a compromise deal on new education spending.

Posted in News |

Atlantic man arrested on drug charges

News

March 26th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest last week of 18-year old Christian Monreal Sempek, of Atlantic. Sempek was taken into custody on March 20th, on charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released later that day on his own recognizance. A juvenile female was also cited into Juvenile Court on the same charges.

Posted in News |

MERNA L. TEALE, 94, of Panora (3-30-13)

Obituaries

March 26th, 2013 by Jim Field

MERNA L. TEALE, 94, of Panora died Tuesday, March 26th at the Panora Nursing & Rehab Center.  Funeral services for MERNA L. TEALE will be held on Saturday, March 30th at 11:00 am in the Church of the Brethren in Panora.  The Twigg Funeral Home in Panora has the arrangements.

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Visitation will be held on Saturday one hour prior to the service at the church.

Burial in the Brethren Cemetery in Panora.

Posted in Obituaries |

WAYNE R. HODGES, 83, of Yale (3-28-13)

Obituaries

March 26th, 2013 by Jim Field

WAYNE R. HODGES, 83, of Yale died Monday, March 25th at the Panora Nursing & Rehab Center.  Private family services for WAYNE R. HODGES will be held on Thursday, March 28th at the Twigg Funeral Home in Panora.

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Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the funeral home.

Burial in the Yale Cemetery.

Posted in Obituaries |

EVELYN H. OLSEN, 91, of Audubon (Svcs. 3-29-2013)

Obituaries

March 26th, 2013 by admin

EVELYN H. OLSEN, 91, of Audubon died Tues., Mar., 26th at the Audubon County Memorial Hospital. A funeral service for EVELYN H. OLSEN will be held at 10:30 AM Fri., Mar., 29th in the First Baptist Church in Elk Horn. Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon has the arrangements.

Family visitation will be at 5:30 PM Thurs., Mar., 28th at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon, where friends may call.

Burial will be in the Merrill’s Grove Cemetery near Fiscus.

EVELYN OLSEN is survived by:

Her children, Gary M. Olsen of Audubon, and Kay and husband Jeff Hansen of Yorkville, IL.

Her brother, Herbert and wife Marjorie Nelson of Atlantic

Sister-in-law, Mary Nelson of Irwin

Five grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren and nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Posted in Obituaries |