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Power, Dixon penalized after engines blow in Iowa

Sports

June 13th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — IndyCar drivers Will Power and Scott Dixon, who rank first and second in the points chase, will face 10-spot starting grid penalties for this week’s race in Milwaukee after blowing their engines testing at Iowa. IndyCar director of engine development Trevor Knowles says Dixon blew an engine Tuesday morning testing on Iowa’s .875-mile oval, while Power’s went out later in the day. IndyCar has mileage minimums before teams can change engines, and neither Power nor Dixon had reached those yet. The setback shouldn’t be bad for either driver, though, since there is usually room to pass on Milwaukee’s oval. Takuma Sato and Josef Newgarden also have to serve penalties this weekend because they didn’t refit their Indy practice engines when their racing engines recently expired.

ELIZABETH McLAREN, 87, of the Cumberland & Massena areas (Svcs. 6-16-12)

Obituaries

June 13th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ELIZABETH McLAREN, 87, of the Cumberland & Massena areas, died Tue., June 12th, at the Heritage House in Atlantic. Funeral services for ELIZABETH McLAREN will be held 10:30-a.m. Sat., June 16th, at the Massena Baptist Church. Steen Funeral Home in Massena has the arrangements.

Visitation is from 4-8pm Friday, June 15th at the Massena Baptist Church, with the family greeting friends from 6-8pm. Online condolences may be left to the family at www.steenfunerals.com.

Memorials may be directed to the Elizabeth McLaren Memorial Fund, to be established by the family.

Burial will be in the Massena Center Cemetery.

ELIZABETH McLAREN is survived by:

Her children – Jackie DeGroff of Topeka, KS; Rob (Tina) McLaren, of North Richland Hills, TX;, Patti (Kerry) Hensley, of Massena; and Barb (Steve) Erickson, of Massena.

10 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren; Her sisters- and brother in-laws; other relatives and friends.

Tuesday’s Area High School Baseball Scores (from 6-12-12)

Sports

June 13th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Atlantic 5, Denison-Schleswig 4 (12 innings)
Clarinda 4, Creston 2
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5, West Central Valley, Stuart 4
Corning 16, Bedford 1
Earlham 10, Panorama, Panora 0 (5 innings)
Fremont-Mills, Tabor 10, East Mills 9
Lewis Central 5, Harlan 4
Madrid 4, Woodward Academy 3
Missouri Valley 3, St. Albert, Council Bluffs 2
Nishnabotna 10, Villisca 6
Sidney 15, Stanton 1
Sioux City, North 9, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 4
Woodward-Granger 8, Guthrie Center 5
Walnut 8, East Greene 6

Huskers Extend Iowa Native Connie Yori’s Contract

Sports

June 13th, 2012 by admin

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska women’s basketball coach and Ankeny native Connie Yori has received a two-year contract extension through 2017.

Athletic director Tom Osborne said Tuesday that Yori deserved to be rewarded for a 2011-12 season in which the Cornhuskers went 24-9, including 10-6 in their first year in the Big Ten, and advanced to the championship game of the conference tournament.

Yori, who earned a base salary of $660,000 last year, will be paid $673,000 in 2012-13.

The Cornhuskers lost to Kansas in the first round of the NCAA tournament and finished the season ranked No. 22.

Yori, entering her 11th season at Nebraska, has guided the Huskers to eight postseason tournament appearances and more than 20 wins a season over the past nine years.

Tuesday’s Area High School Softball Scores (from 6-12-12)

Sports

June 13th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Ballard 9, Carroll 2
Coon Rapids-Bayard 15, West Central Valley, Stuart 5
Corning 10, Bedford 0
Denison-Schleswig 8, Atlantic 3
Earlham 12, Panorama 0
Exira-EHK 12, Glidden-Ralston 0
Harlan 10, Lewis Central 0
IKM-Manning 6, Charter Oak-Ute 5
Kuemper Catholic, Carroll 10, Missouri Valley 9
Nishnabotna 7, Villisca 3
Stanton 12, Sidney 1

Pop Warner Football Limits Contact in Practice

Sports

June 13th, 2012 by admin

CHICAGO (AP) — Pop Warner football players won’t be taking quite as many hits from now on.

The youth organization says it is limiting contact in practice in an effort to make the game safer for young players starting this year.

It says coaches must limit contact to no more than one-third of their practice time. It is also banning full-speed, head-on blocking or tackling drills in which players line up more than 3 yards apart. The organization says coaches can have full-speed drills where players approach each other at an angle but “not straight ahead into each other.” It also says there should be no head-to-head contact.

The rule changes announced Tuesday were developed by Pop Warner’s medical advisory board as part of its effort to reduce the risk of concussions.

Royce White Works Out for Timberwolves

Sports

June 13th, 2012 by admin

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce White worked out for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday and said he’s hoping his hometown team drafts him with the 18th overall pick.

White played in high school in the Minneapolis suburb of Hopkins and enrolled at the University of Minnesota before a series of run-ins off the court led him to transfer to Iowa State.

White says the change of scenery served him well, and he became a star in his one season with the Cyclones.

But he says he would welcome a return to his home state. He says he knows there would be added pressure playing in front of family and friends.

The Wolves also worked out Minnesota native Jordan Taylor, a point guard from Wisconsin, and Michigan State forward Draymond Green, among others.

Cardinals Fall to White Sox 6-1

Sports

June 13th, 2012 by admin

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer, rookie left-hander Jose Quintana allowed one run over 5 1-3 innings and the streaking Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 Tuesday night.

Paul Konerko had three singles on a 3-for-4 night to lift his majors-best average to .373, Adam Dunn added a solo homer — his 21st — and Orlando Hudson hit a two-run triple for Chicago.

Quintana (2-1), making his fifth start, allowed a career-high 10 hits but did not issue a walk and was helped out by three double plays.

St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright (5-7) lasted seven innings and allowed half the amount of hits as Quintana. He gave up two runs while striking out seven and walking two.

Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association State Rankings

Sports

June 13th, 2012 by admin

Class 1-A

1. Council Bluffs St. Albert
2. Mason City Newman
3. Lawton-Bronson
4. Martensdale-St. Marys
5. Lisbon
6. Preston
7. Pleasantville
8. Algona Garrigan
9. Van Meter
10. South O’Brien

Class 2-A

1. Davis County
2. Fort Dodge St. Edmond
3. Dyersville-Beckman
4. North Polk
5. PCM
6. Iowa City Regina
7. Waterloo Columbus
8. Van Buren
9. Ogden
10. Wilton

Class 3-A

1. Sioux City Heelan
2. Dallas Center-Grimes
3. Harlan
4. Davenport Assumption
5. Clear Lake
6. Grinnell
7. Benton Community
8. Sergeant Bluff-Luton
9. LeMars
10. New Hampton

Class 4-A

1. Cedar Rapids Kennedy
2. Ankeny
3. Dowling Catholic
4. Waukee
5. Iowa City West
6. W.D.M. Valley
7. Fort Dodge
8. Southeast Polk
9. Muscatine
10. Iowa City High

Transportation commission approves 5 year plan

News

June 12th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Transportation Commission approved the annual update to its five-year transportation improvement plan during its meeting today (Tuesday). John Ranney is the director of the D-O-T’s office of program management. Ranney says “A major component of the program is the highway section, which includes investments to the primary highway system. And for the next five years, it is forecast that two-point-six-BILLION dollars will be available for highway right-of-way and construction activities.”

The highway portion includes construction on the interstate highways in the Quad Cities on the eastern side of the state, and Sioux City and Council Bluffs on the western side of the state. Dozens of other projects are set across the state as Ranney says the goal is to modernize the primary highway system. He explained  “As projects get completed, other projects are started. And another program objective that the commission does have is to add capacity and system enhancement projects.”  He says there were 10 projects added to this program covering 2013 to 2017, and there were four projects that were advanced in the program. The five-year plan also includes money for airports, rail crossings, trails and other transportation issues.

See the complete five-year plan at: http://www.iowadot.gov/program_management/five_year.html

(Radio Iowa)