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SUZANNE GROSS, 78, of Westphalia (Mass of Christian Burial 12/15/23)

Obituaries

December 12th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

SUZANNE GROSS, 78, of Westphalia, died Dec. 6, 2023, in Dallas Center, IA. A Mass of Christian Burial for SUZANNE GROSS will be held 1-p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Westphalia. Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan has the arrangements.

Visitation at St. Boniface Catholic Church is on Thursday, Dec. 14th, from 4-until 6:30-p.m., with a Wake service at 6:30-p.m.

Burial is in the St. Boniface Cemetery at Westphalia.

SUZANNE GROSS is survived by:

Her husband – Jerome “Jerry” Gross, of Westphalia.

Her daughter – Shellie (Dale) Schaben, of Dallas Center.

Her sons -Brian (Dianne) Gross, of Omaha, NE, and Matthew Gross, of Westphalia.

Her brothers – Dennis (Bonny) Gaul, of WA.; Gary (Claudia) Gaul, of OK.; Dale (Darlene) McDonald, and Carl (Susan) Stam, all of CO.; and John (Victoria) McDonald, of CA.

and 5 Grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

Even with record production, eastern Iowa farm can’t meet pantry demand

Ag/Outdoor, News

December 12th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Despite drought conditions, a five-acre operation at the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm wrapped up the growing season by reporting record production. Grow Johnson County produces fresh fruits and vegetables, 100-percent of which is donated to 16 local emergency food organizations. Program manager Claire Zabel) says they produced 40-thousand pounds of fresh food this year, the farm’s highest-ever yield.

Zabel says the season’s production increase is due, in part, to increased staffing this year.

Some 83-percent of Iowa is experiencing drought conditions. The U-S Drought Monitor says more than a quarter of the state is in exceptional drought. Historically, that has significantly impacted row crop yields.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Ramaswamy launches 29 county tour

News

December 12th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy kicked off a five-day, 29-county swing through Iowa this morning (Tuesday), with stops in Northwood and Osage. The tour comes after a man was charged with sending text messages threatening to kill Ramaswamy yesterday (Monday) at an event in New Hampshire.

The Des Moines Register/N-B-C News/Mediacom “Iowa Poll” released yesterday (Monday) found Ramaswamy has the support of five percent of likely Iowa Caucus-goers. Ramaswamy says many of his supporters are younger voters who aren’t being captured in polls.

Ramaswamy says he’s picking up support on Iowa college campuses and among Libertarians.

Early this (Tuesday) evening, former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally in Waterloo and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will be at Grand View University in Des Moines for a town hall forum broadcast on C-N-N at 8 p.m.

Posted in News |

DENNIS LYLE BATES, 79, of Omaha (a native of Griswold) – Svcs. 12/15/23

Obituaries

December 12th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

DENNIS LYLE BATES, 79, of Omaha (a native of Griswold), died Sunday, December 10, 2023, at Jennie Edmundson Hospital, in Council Bluffs. Funeral services for DENNY BATES will be held 11-a.m. Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, at the Rieken Duhn Funeral Home in Griswold.

Visitation with the family will be at the funeral home on Thursday from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM.

Interment will be in the Whipple Cemetery.

DENNIS “DENNY” BATES is survived by:

His sons –  Brian (Kathy) Bates, and Aaron (Megan) Bates, all of Griswold; and Kevin (Dacia) Bates, of Merrill, IA.

His brother – Kenton (Pam) Bates, of Council Bluffs.

His sister – Beth Slagle, of Crete, NE.

6 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren; other relatives and friends.

Posted in Obituaries |

Iowa men look for more offense to snap losing skid

Sports

December 12th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

The Iowa Hawkeye men are in a familiar spot as they get ready for Saturday’s game in Des Moines against Florida A@M. Sunday’s loss to Michigan was their third straight and they are 0-2 in the Big Ten. Last season the Hawkeyes opened conference play 0-3 before rebounding to finish 11-9 and making it to the NCAA Tournament.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. The Hawkeyes are connecting on less than 30 percent from three-point range during their three-game skid.

Senior guard Tony Perkins is confident the Hawkeyes will get things turned around.

As one of the veterans Perkins is trying to provide leadership.

The Hawkeyes are 5-5 overall.

Posted in Sports |

Tamin Lipsey a key in Iowa State’s 8-2 start

Sports

December 12th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

Iowa State sophomore guard Tamin Lipsey is excelling in nearly every category during the Cyclones’ 8-2 start. The Ames native is second on the team in scoring and leads the team in rebounding, assists and steals. He had a school record eight steals in Sunday’s win over Prairie View A@M.

Many of his steals are leading to easy baskets.

Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger says it is one of several school records Lipsey will set during his career.

Otzelberger says Lipsey’s instincts help him impact the game in so many areas.

The Cyclones return to action Sunday at home against Florida A@M.

Posted in Sports |

Farmland values hit record again, but increase has slowed

Ag/Outdoor, News

December 12th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State University Farmland value survey shows a record price once again, but the increase is less than last year. I-S-U’s Rabail Chandio oversees the survey, and says the average price for an acre is 11-thousand-835 dollars. “This is a three-point-seven percent (3.7%) increase from last year, and a 424-dollars increase from last year,” she says. The single digit increase comes after two straight years where land values went up by double-digits. “Last year, we saw an increase of 17 percent…, and before that the increase was 29 percent So we’re still seeing an increase, but it’s a lot more modest and has slowed down,” Chandio says. She says the current land value trend appears to be following what happened about ten years ago when land values rose, and then there were minor adjustments without a crash in the market.

“And we’re seeing kind of a similar thing here. Right now we’re seeing we were at a quite a high value during the last couple of years, which is decreasing. And we’re hoping again, that it won’t really crash but we’ll see a soft landing,” Chandio says, “as is happening in the broader economy, we avoided a recession we hope to see kind of same thing happen in the land markets.” Chandio says the slowdown led to one of the nine land districts seeing a drop in overall values for the first time in several years.

“This year the northwest (district) saw a decrease of zero-point-eight percent. All of the other crop reporting districts show and increase in the land values, with the highest being the south-central and the southeast at 12-point-eight percent and nine-point-six percent,” she says. Chandio says it appears the southern district was lagging a little behind the others in their increases, and that could be why they are showing the higher values in this report.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Governor addresses controversy over Satanic display in Iowa Capitol

News

December 12th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) –  [updated] Governor Kim Reynolds says a display from the Satanic Temple of Iowa will stay in the Capitol in Des Moines this month, but she’s asking Iowans to join her in prayers focused on the nativity scene nearby.

The Satanic Temple display features a statue with a ram’s head surrounded by electronic candles. The group got a permit to put up the display in December. A Republican lawmaker called on the governor to have it removed. Reynolds says she finds the display objectionable, but the governor says in a free society the best response to objectionable speech is more speech.

Image of left of Satanic Temple of Iowa display near the Grand Staircase; image on right of crowd gathered around Christmas tree and nativity scene in center of Capitol rotunda. (RI photos)

Reynolds is encouraging Iowans to join her today in praying over the Capitol, where a nativity scene is also on display. Reynolds says the nativity represents the true reason for the season.

Reynolds joined a large crowd gathered in the Capitol today (Tuesday) for a midday prayer service. The crowd gathered around a Christmas tree and a nativity scene that are in the center of the Capital rotunda. The smell of incense from the Satanic Temple display near the main staircase wafted over the crowd.

Posted in News |

Boil Order issued for the City of Cumberland

News

December 12th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Cumberland, Iowa)  – Cumberland Mayor Virginia Coughlin reports the City is conducting maintenance at the treatment center this morning. In a statement on social media, the Mayor said “At this time we are [asking] residents to boil water until we let let you know otherwise. Thank you.”

Posted in News |

2 Hawkeyes Earn All-America Honors

Sports

December 12th, 2023 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa field hockey student-athletes Esme Gibson and Dionne van Aalsum have been named National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Americans, it was announced Tuesday by the NFHCA.

van Aalsum earned her first career All-America nod, as she was named to the first team. She is the first Hawkeye freshman to be named an All-American since Kristy Gleason in 1989. Gibson, a second team selection, was named an All-American for a third straight season, becoming the 10th Hawkeye to earn three honors.

They are the 104th and 105th All-Americans in program history.

Van Aalsum started all 19 games this season as a true freshman. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten selection played a key factor offensively as she led the nation with 28 goals, 62 points, 1.47 goals per game and 3.26 points per game.

The Castricum, Netherlands, native was the first Hawkeye to win Big Ten Freshman of the Year since Katie Birch in 2016 and the sixth Hawkeye overall.

Gibson earned her third straight All-America distinction after scoring two goals and tallying four assists in 19 starts. She was part of a defense that recorded eight shutouts. The midfielder, who started 96 of 98 games in her Hawkeye career, recorded 4,680 career minutes playing a key defensive role the past five seasons.

The Worcestershire, England, native garnered first-team All-Big Ten honors this season and was a second-team All-American in 2022 and a third-team All-American in 2021.

Iowa finished the 2023 season with a 13-6 overall record and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.

Posted in Sports |