Buzzerio named AVCA North Region Honorable Mention

April 13th, 2021 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa junior setter/right-side hitter Courtney Buzzerio has been named an honorable mention All-North Region team selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Tuesday morning.

Buzzerio, who was named first-team All-Big Ten last week, is only the fifth Hawkeye to earn All-Region honors in school history and first since Sara Meyermann in 2001.

The Chino Hills, California, native, led Iowa in kills (184) and aces (20), ranked second in assists (323), and third in digs (127) and total blocks (46). She posted a team-high eight double-doubles, including a string of four straight. Buzzerio recorded her third career triple-double (13 kills, 21 assists, 11 digs) against Indiana on Feb. 5., becoming the only individual in the Big Ten to record a triple-double and only one of 22 in the nation to do so this season.

Buzzerio, who played in every rotation, finished the season averaging 9.2 kills, 16.1 assists, and 6.3 digs in 20 matches.

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Man arrested on Page County warrant, Monday

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, Monday, arrested 32-year-old Christopher Lee Gillette. He was taken into custody at the Pottawattamie County Jail on an active warrant for Failing to

Christopher Gillette

appear on a Theft in the 4th degree charge.

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Ernst seeking price transparency in cattle market, promoting meat consumption in gov’t

Ag/Outdoor, News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is co-sponsoring legislation designed to foster more disclosure of the prices paid for cattle, as well as a bill to block federal agencies from promoting a “meatless” diet among employees. Ernst, a Republican who grew up on a farm near Red Oak, says these issues are important to her since her family raised hogs. “Here in Iowa, folks, we are all about the meat,” Ernst says. “Farming and ranching is not only critical to our jobs, our economy, our culture and our way of life here in Iowa, it’s also in our DNA.”

Ernst is co-sponsoring a bill that would give independent cattle producers more data about what meatpackers are paying for cattle. Since packers often buy directly from feedlots, cattle prices aren’t well represented in public sales. The bill would set up a system already used to help track hog prices. Ernst warns getting the bill through the Senate will be difficult. “What we’ll see is a little bit of pushback coming from different areas of the United States,” she says. “…You see those beef producers maybe in Texas or Oklahoma that have a different thought on how it should be handled.”

Ernst and a Kansas senator are co-sponsoring a bill that would ban federal agencies from excluding meat from the menu in government cafeterias and dining halls. “When I hear calls from the liberal left, everyone from out-of-touch politicians to Hollywood elite encouraging people to ban meat and the quality agriculture products we produce here in Iowa it makes me sizzle,” Ernst says.

Ernst is calling this bill the TASTEE Act, which stands for Telling Agencies to Stop Tweaking What Employees Eat Act. Ernst says it’s one way supporters of animal agriculture can start pushing back against the so-called Green New Deal and prevent another episode like the U-S-D-A newsletter reference to “meatless Mondays” that was retracted in 2012.

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New PK-5 Principal announced for Exira-EHK; Mask requirement continues for a few more weeks

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Exira-EHK School Board, Monday evening approved the hiring of a Principal for the Pre-K through 5^th grade school.

That’s Exira-EHK Superintendent Trevor Miller. Mr. Miller said also the Exira-EHK Board voted to continue with the mask mandate through the end of the current school year.

The Exira-EHK Board also approved: filling a Librarian vacancy through an AEA Sharing Agreement; An Operational Sharing Agreement with IKM-Manning for a School Business Official (SBO). Kyle Wagner will be leaving this Friday and taking another H-R position. He’ll be replaced by Mallory Meyer, who currently serves as a shared SBO.

And, the Board approved continuing the Operational Sharing Agreement with IKM-Manning for Superintendent. Trevor Miller

A Technology agreement was also reached with IKM-Manning for Dan Spooner, who will do a 60/40 split, with 60% of his time at Exira-EHK and 40% at IKM-Manning. The current arrangement is 50-50. In other board meeting news, they approved a bid of $84,900 from TBB&M Construction for renovation of the staff restroom in the Exira building. There were three bids in all, for the project, which involves taking two small bathrooms and turning them into one Uni-Sex bathroom.

Miller says the facility hasn’t had any updates since the school was built in 1957. Work is expected to take place over the summer and be ready by next school year.

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Omaha Man Sentenced to Prison for Possession of a Firearm

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 42-year-old Jacob Benjamin Tuttle, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced Monday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He is required to serve 84 months in prison, plus 3 years of supervised release following his prison term. He’ll also have to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund. Tuttle pleaded guilty to the offense on August 11, 2020.

On November 26, 2019 Tuttle was driving a stolen car on a rural two-lane highway in Mills County, when Tuttle saw a Sheriff’s patrol vehicle behind him. Tuttle accelerated to 100 mph
before he crashed the car on the side of the road and ran from the scene. He was arrested a short time later. On the front passenger seat of the stolen vehicle, officers found a Taurus .357 Magnum, along with 12 grams of methamphetamine. Tuttle is a convicted felon and drug user, therefore, prohibited from possessing firearms.

The investigation was conducted by the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

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Council Bluffs Man Sentenced to Prison for Gun Charge

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports that on Monday, April 12th, United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger sentenced 35-year-old David Robert Blake Vanderpool, of Council Bluffs, to 50 months (4.1 years) in prison for knowingly possessing a short barrel shotgun that was not registered to him. Vanderpool was ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund. There is no parole in the federal system.

On June 23, 2020, the Iowa State Patrol conducted a traffic stop on Vanderpool for speeding on Interstate 29. During the stop, troopers observed a sawed-off shotgun, found to be loaded, on the backseat of Vanderpool’s car. A check of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record by law enforcement found the firearm was not registered to him. Vanderpool pleaded guilty on November 20, 2020, to the firearm charge.

The matter was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the
Southern District of Iowa.

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Iowa State’s Holthaus, Enna, Herrera earn AVCA All-Region Honors

Sports

April 13th, 2021 by admin

AMES, Iowa – Three members of the Iowa State volleyball team were recipients of 2020-21 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region awards announced on Tuesday. For the second-straight season, right side Eleanor Holthaus was named to the First Team, while Izzy Enna and Candelaria Herrera picked up honorable mention distinction.

Holthaus is the ninth player in ISU history to pick up two All-Region First Team honors in a career. Herrera picked up her second career All-Region nod, as she was a First Team selection in 2019. This is the first AVCA All-Region recognition of Enna’s career.

Holthaus was the Cyclones’ outstanding performer throughout the season, leading the ISU attack with 251 kills at 3.22 per set, which she got at .261 hitting. She was in double figures 15 times, including matching her career-high off 22 twice at TCU on Nov. 21 and vs. Wayne State on March 26. She hit over .300 in a match nine times during the season. In the back row, she recorded 157 digs at 2.01 per set. Holthaus notched eight double-doubles on the season.

Enna was the leader for the ISU back row on the season, as she led the Big 12 with her 341 digs at 4.37 per set. The Kansas City native recorded at least 10 digs each time she started at libero for the Cyclones and recorded eight matches with at least 20 digs on the season. Against Kansas on Nov. 13, she posted a career-best 27 digs.

Despite missing the spring potion of the season while back in Argentina training with the National Team, Herrera put up big numbers in her 14 matches with the Cyclones. She was fourth on the team with her 2.36 kills per set, which she got at a team-best .271 hitting percentage. Herrera had six matches in double figures, including a career-best 20 kills vs. Kansas on Nov. 13. The Argentine was also ISU’s leader at the net, finishing with 1.11 blocks per set on the season, a figure that was good for sixth in the conference on the season.

Herrera spent the spring in Argentina training with the Argentina Women’s Volleyball National Team in an effort to make the team for the 2020 Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo, Japan. Herrera will take advantage of the waiver year offered by the NCAA and will return to the Cyclones in Fall 2021

Posted in Sports |

Caleb Grill returning to Iowa State

Sports

April 13th, 2021 by admin

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger announced today that Caleb Grill will transfer back to play for the Cyclones after spending last season at UNLV.

Grill signed with Iowa State out of high school and played for the Cyclones during the 2019-20 season as a freshman, playing in 29 of 32 games and making a pair of starts.

After the season, the Maize, Kansas native transferred to UNLV to play for Otzelberger, who he committed to when the coach was still at South Dakota State. Grill played and started all 27 games for the Runnin’ Rebels last season, averaging 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He also averaged 1.4 steals.

He was second on the team with 55 three-pointers, shooting at a 34.2 percent clip from long distance.

“Caleb competes in everything that he does,” Otzelberger said. “He takes pride in his defense, making the right play, shooting with accuracy and giving his all every time he takes the floor. His return to Ames will be very much anticipated and we’re excited for what he will accomplish as a Cyclone.”

As a sophomore, Grill scored a career-high 27 points against an Alabama team that went on to earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. He made 7-of-12 threes against the Crimson Tide.

Grill was in double figures 11 times at UNLV and had nine games with at least three 3-pointers made. He dished out a season-high seven assists in a win against San Jose State.

At Iowa State, Grill played 13.7 minutes per game as a freshman and averaged 2.1 points and 1.7 rebounds. He scored his Cyclone high in the Big 12 Championships, hitting three 3-pointers to finish with nine points in a season-ending loss to Oklahoma State.

Grill prepped at Maize High School and was a four-sport athlete, playing football, track and field and baseball in addition to basketball.

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Cass County Supervisors praise Public Health vaccination efforts

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Cass Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, praised Cass County Public Health for helping to vaccinate the local population. Supervisors Board Chair Steve Baier said “Things are winding down and a big part of it is a sense of urgency and people are becoming more relaxed,” in hopes things are getting back to normal. Baier said the County COVID vaccination program has been better handled than other counties’ programs.

He said there are about 200 people still on a list waiting to receive their vaccinations, and that “We’re getting to the point where just about everybody [who] wants vaccinated has been vaccinated.”

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors, Tuesday, approved the five-year Secondary Roads Construction Program, and new hires for three Maintenance positions. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman says that includes…

County Engineer Trent Wolken said he had 35 applicants for three maintenance positions and they were all very qualified candidates.

The Board passed a Resolution for the 2021 Weed Control Program, which was the same as last year, with the exception the year was changed from 2020 to 2021. They also established a Cass County Temporary County Redistricting Commission, with districts based on 2020 census data.

Once again here’s Dale Sunderman…

The unpaid Commission will include Steve Baier and Dale Sunderman as members. There were no candidates to appoint to the Cass County Zoning Board of Adjustment and/or Zoning Commission, nor was there a licensed physician’s name available for appointment to the Cass County Board of Health, so those items were tabled during Tuesday’s meeting.

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