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Lawmaker exits Iowa House floor, says he’s leaving for basic training for US Coast Guard Auxiliary

News

May 24th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A western Iowa legislator cast his final vote in the Iowa House, then announced late last (Monday) night that he was leaving for basic training for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Jon Jacobsen of Council Bluffs says members of the group are unpaid volunteers. “An enormous amount during my youth was involved in endurance swimming and aquatics lifesaving BSA activities. I was a preverbal fish who was always happiest on water,” Jacobsen says.

Jacobsen, who is 62, says for the past eight months he’s been getting fit and losing weight in order to qualify for basic training. He’s joining about 21-thousand other Americans who are volunteers in the Coast Guard Auxilary. Jacobsen says it will give him a new perspective on protecting Iowa’s waterways and flood prevention.

“Instead of serving my constituents in the House, I will be serving them on the Missouri and the Nishnabotna,” Jacobsen said. Jacobsen is not seeking reelection to the House, but is considering a run for the state senate in 2024. Jacobsen is an attorney and a trust officer in a bank.

Posted in News |

Legislators approve $5.5 million budget increase for UI, ISU, UNI

News

May 24th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Legislators will return to the state capitol today (Tuesday) to put the finishing touches on state spending plans for the budgeting year that begins July 1st. Republicans who hold majorities in the House and Senate have agreed to provide Iowa’s 15 area community colleges with six-and-a-half million dollars more for the next academic year. Republican Senator Chris Cournoyer of LeClaire says the three state universities will get a five-and-a-half million dollar boost.

“Which brings them up to $575 million in this budget,” Cournoyer says. And Cournoyer says that’s not a trivial amount. Democrats like Representative Cindy Winckler of Davenport say tuition at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa will have to go up, as state support of the universities today is less than it was in 2009.”It is unfortunate that we have such a backward view of our role in funding education in this state,” Winckler said.

Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, says the state universities are being starved. “To continue to bleed resources out of these universities is going to cause long term damage to this state,” Quirmbach says, “long beyond any of us in our tenure here in the Senate.” Representative David Kerr, a Republican from Morning Sun, says he fought with Senators to get as much as he could for scholarships for students planning to be teachers or mental health professionals, but wasn’t able to get as much as he had hoped in his final year as a legislator.

“What do I know? I’m just going to go home, turn the TV on and say: ‘What they heck did they do again?'” Kerr said. “…Why can’t certain things be done together?” As Radio Iowa reported on Monday, the governor’s plan to provide state scholarships to students in private k-through-12 schools has been tabled.

Posted in News |

JEREMY CARL HEATH, 52, of Atlantic (Memorial Svc. 6/4/22)

Obituaries

May 24th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

JEREMY CARL HEATH, 52, of Atlantic, died Monday, May 23, 2022, at CHI Bergan Hospital in Omaha, NE. A Memorial service for JEREMY HEATH will be held at Noon on Saturday, June 4th, at the Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Atlantic. The memorial service will be live-streamed and may be viewed just below Jeremy’s obituary, located on the Schmidt Family Funeral Home’s website.

Visitation is from 10-a.m. until Noon, Saturday, at the funeral home. A luncheon will follow the Memorial service, in the Schmidt Funeral Home reception hall.

Memorials may be directed to the Jeremy Heath Family. They will be directed to many of his favorite local organizations and may be mailed to the Schmidt Family Funeral Home P.O. Box 523, Atlantic, IA 50022.

Burial is in the Southlawn Memorial Gardens, at a later date.

JEREMY HEATH is survived by:

His children – Tatum and Ben Heath

His father  – Benjamin Heath

His sisters – Noele Tyson (Kelsea Tyson and Taylor Sanchez), and Dawn Hepler (Hillary Zelmer, Heath Hepler).

Other relatives and friends.

Posted in Obituaries |

High School Softball/Baseball Scoreboard 05/23/2022

Sports

May 23rd, 2022 by admin

SOFTBALL

Atlantic 13, Lenox 3 (5 innings) (A: Zoey Kirchhoff 2-4 with a triple and double. Ava Rush 3-4 with 4 runs scored. Malena Woodard WP 2K’s 3 Hits 0 ER)
Audubon 5, Earlham 4
Boyer Valley 13, Whiting 1
CAM 16, Ar-We-Va 0 (3 innings)
CB Abraham Lincoln 4, St. Albert 2
Denison-Schleswig 13, Westwood 0
Exira-EHK 6, Coon Rapids-Bayard 0
Gilbert 6, Carroll 3
Glenwood 11, Fremont-Mills 1
Griswold 10, Shenandoah 0 (5 innings) (G: Mckenna Wiechman, Karly Millikan with 3 hits each. Wiechman 2 RBI, Millikan 3 RBI and was winning pitcher with 14 strikeouts.
Harlan vs. Dallas Center-Grimes
Logan-Magnolia 2, Kuemper Catholic 0
Madrid 9, Glidden-Ralston 4
Melcher-Dallas 4, ACGC 3
Missouri Valley 15, Riverside 6
Orient-Macksburg 16, Mormon Trail 3
Southwest Valley 17, Stanton 0 (2 innings)
West Monona 4, Lewis Central 0

BASEBALL

Lenox 7, Atlantic 3
CAM 6, Ar-We-Va 0 (C: Lane Spieker winning pitcher with 16 strikeouts. Spieker and Joe Kauffman both with 2 RBI.)
Earlham 6, Audubon 2
Lewis Central 10, Sioux City North 0
Missouri Valley 10, Riverside 1
Spencer 11, Denison-Schleswig 1 (5 innings)
West Harrison 11, Woodbine 0 (3 innings)

Posted in Sports |

Girls regional soccer schedule 05/24/2022

Sports

May 23rd, 2022 by admin

Girls regional soccer play continues on Tuesday night with Regional Semifinals being played. Here is a look at area matches.

CLASS 1A

Region 2

St. Albert @ Underwood 6:00 p.m.
Treynor @ Tri-Center 5:00 p.m.

Region 3

Panorama @ Des Moines Christian 6;00 p.m.
Hampton-Dumont @ Garner-Hayvield-Ventura 6:00 p.m.

CLASS 2A

Region 1

Spirit Lake @ Spencer 6:00 p.m.
Denison-Schleswig @ LeMars 6:00 p.m.

Region 2

Atlantic @ Lewis Central 6:00 p.m.
Glenwood @ ADM 6:00 p.m.

CLASS 3A

Region 1

Sioux City East @ CB Abraham Lincoln 5:00 p.m.
Sioux City West @ CB Thomas Jefferson 7:00 p.m.

Posted in Sports |

State singles and doubles boys tennis starts Tuesday

Sports

May 23rd, 2022 by admin

State singles and doubles boys tennis tournaments begin on Tuesday and will finish up on Wednesday. Class 1A players are competing at Byrnes Parks in Waterloo. Class 2A is playing at Veteran’s Memorial Tennis Complex in Cedar Rapids.

In Class 1A singles Atlantic’s Ethan Sturm will open up with a first round match against Daniel Skrade of Decorah. Clarinda’s Nathan Brown plays an opener against Roan Martineau of Dubuque Wahlert. Shenandoah’s Andrew Lawrence will open against Joseph Li o St. Edmond.

In the Class 1A doubles bracket Denison-Schleswig’s Colin Reis and Harrison Dahm will open against Jake Ross & Jayden Cattell of Ballard. Denison’s Carson Seuntjens and Wyatt Johnson will open against Caleb Briggs and Jack Briggs of Pella.

In Class 2A Doubles Ty James and Chris Wailes of CB Abraham Lincoln will face Kellan Croatt and Jake Nelson of Waukee Northwest in their opening match.

Posted in Sports |

Boys state golf scores after round one

Sports

May 23rd, 2022 by admin

The 2022 Boys State Golf Tournaments hit the links Monday at various courses around Ames and will finish Tuesday. Here’s a look at standings after round one.

Class 1A State Tournament
Ames Golf & Country Club

1 Lake Mills +67 F +67
2 Akron-Westfield +68 F +68
3 East Buchanan, +75 F +75
4 North Butler +83 F +83
5 English Valleys +90 F * +90
6 Don Bosco, Gilb +92 F * +92
7 Fremont-Mills, +98 F * +98
8 Wapello +101 F * +101

Bennett Berger of Lake Mills is the individual leader with an opening round of +5, 76.

Area Invidiuals: Cory Bantam, Woodbine: 16th, +19. Ryan Stiles, Earlham: T-31st, +24.

Class 2A State Tournament
Coldwater Golf Links

T1 Hudson +25 F +25
T1 Beckman Catholi +25 F +25
3 Des Moines Chri +27 F +27
4 West Branch +29 F +29
5 Western Christi +30 F +30
6 Boyden-Hull +32 F +32
7 Grundy Center +36 F +36
8 Osage +37 F +37

Jake Weissenburger of Des Moines Christian is the individual leader after an opening round -2, 69.

Area Individuals: Jackson Tennis, Missouri Valley: T-37 +13. Axton Miller, OABCIG: T-3 +1.

Class 3A State Tournament
Veenker Memorial Golf Course

1 Gilbert +26 F +26
2 Solon +38 F +38
3 Knoxville +51 F +51
4 ADM, Adel +54 F +54
5 Pella +59 F +59
6 Newton +61 F * +61
7 Spencer +63 F +63
8 Webster City +68 F * +68
9 MOC-Floyd Valle +72 F +72
10 Washington +95 F * +95

Hogan Hansen of Waverly-Shell Rock is the individual leader after an opening round of -3, 69.

Area Individuals: Jordan Greenwood, Lewis Central: T-9th +8.

Posted in Sports |

Boys Substate Soccer Scoreboard 05/23/2022

Sports

May 23rd, 2022 by admin

Boys playoff soccer continued Monday with Substate Semfinals. Here is a look at area scores. Winners meet on Thursday for Substate Finals.

Class 1A

Substate 8

Treynor 8, AHSTW 2
West Central Valley/Nodaway Valley 3, St. Albert 0

Class 2A

Substate 8

Lewis Central 6, ADM 0
Glenwood 5, Winterset 0

Posted in Sports |

Cass County Local Food Policy Council Provides Incentives to Visit Farmers Markets

Ag/Outdoor, News

May 23rd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Local Food Policy Council (CCLFPC) sees farmers markets as playing an important role in
both increasing consumption of nutritious foods and supporting local farms and food businesses. In addition to promoting the farmers markets on the CCLFP Facebook page (@CassCountyLocalFood), and through posters and news releases, this year, the Council is adding new incentive programs with the goal of drawing even more people to Cass County’s farmers markets.

Produce in the Park – New drawings for $350 in produce, weekly farm-fresh eggs, and more Farmers market shoppers will want to mark June 2 on their calendars. The CCLFPC has purchased a 20 weeks of weekly produce box from Bridgewater Farm—a $350 value—to be given away to an attendee of Produce in the Park’s opening market on June 2. Market attendees who are 18 or older can sign up for the drawing at the June 2 farmers market. The winner will receive a weekly box of eight to 12 items of fresh produce grown at Bridgewater Farm for approximately 20 weeks (the length of the Produce in the Park season). Produce in the Park will be held weekly on Thursday evenings from 4:30-6:30 PM from
June 2 to October 15 in the Atlantic City Park (10 W. 7th St. Atlantic, IA 50022).

The CCLFPC is also providing funding for Produce in the Park to offer a free weekly drawing for a dozen farm-fresh eggs from Brun Ko Farm at every farmers market of the season. Market attendees ages 18+ will be eligible to enter the drawing every week of the Produce in the Park season. The CCLFPC purchased the produce boxes and eggs at the request of Produce in the Park to encourage people to visit the market and to draw attention to the range of produce and products—such as farmfresh eggs—available at the market. 

This year, the CCLFPC is also providing funding for Produce in the Park to cover the cost of technology needed to accept SNAP/EBT (also known as food stamps). When a farmers market is certified to accept SNAP/EBT, all SNAP-qualified food products sold at the market can be purchased with a SNAP/EBT card—regardless of vendor. Produce in the Park began accepting SNAP/EBT in 2021.

Lewis Market – Free Produce Drawings, Taste Tests, and Guest Chef Samples
The CCLFPC will be providing funding to the Lewis Farmers Market for free produce giveaways, free taste tests of fresh produce, and free samples of recipes made with fresh produce. The funding makes it possible for the market to compensate vendors for their products while providing customers with the chance to try new fruits and vegetables and recipes.

All Markets – Farmers Market Coupons
For several years, the CCLFPC has sponsored “farmers market produce coupons.” These are redeemable only on produce from vendors at Cass County’s farmers markets. This year, all four farmers markets in Cass County will be accepting these coupons. Partner organizations will assist in distributing the coupons to lower-income people in Cass County.

Cass County Farmers Markets Summer 2022

Anita Farmers Market:
Location: Bandshell Park on Main Street in Anita
Time/Dates: Tuesdays 4:30-6:30 PM, June – August
Highlights: Fresh, locally grown vegetables, honey, farm-fresh eggs, Lion’s club nuts, fresh baked
goodies, popcorn, jellies, sauces, salsa, hand-crafted items, and metal yard art.
$: Some vendors accept Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) Senior vouchers and WIC checks.
Some vendors accept SNAP/EBT (also known as “food stamps”).
Contact: (402)677-2460

Atlantic Farmers Market:
Location: Farm Bureau (1501 East 7th Street, Atlantic, IA 50022)
Time/Dates: Saturdays 9:00 AM- Noon, May 21 – End of August
Highlights: Fresh produce, honey, pollen, popcorn, farm-fresh eggs, jellies, dressings, BBQ sauces, salsa,
baked goods, soaps, lotions & more.
$: Some vendors accept Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) Senior vouchers and WIC checks.
Some vendors accept SNAP/EBT (also known as “food stamps”).
Contact: (402)677-2460

Lewis Farmers Market:
Location: 3HO (201 1st St., Lewis, IA 51544)
Time/Dates: Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:00-6:30 PM, May 31– October 13
Highlights: Fresh produce, baked treats, crafts, and pallet wood creations.
$: Some vendors accept Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) Senior vouchers and WIC checks.
Contact: (712)789)-9455

Produce in the Park:
Location: Atlantic City Park (10 W 7th St., Atlantic, IA 50022)
Time/Dates: Thursdays 4:30-6:30, June 2– October 13
Website: www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com
Highlights: Fresh, local produce, baked goods, farm-fresh eggs, honey, local meat, soaps, candles,
additional crafts and art, and weekly food truck. Live music, Guest Chef, free Samples, and activities for
young and old.
$: Some vendors accept Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) Senior vouchers and WIC checks. All
qualifying food vendors at Produce in the Park accept SNAP/EBT (“food stamps”). All produce vendors at
the market both accept and distribute Double Up Food Bucks ($1 coupons for fresh produce provided
for every dollar spent on fresh produce with SNAP/EBT up to $10 per transaction).
Contact: (712) 249-5870

More About Cass County Local Food Policy Council
For more information on local food, farmers markets, and food access, follow the Cass County Local Food Policy Council’s Facebook page @CassCountyLocalFood. To learn more about the Council, contact Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or (712) 249-5870. The next Council meeting is July 12 at 2:00 PM at the Cass
County ISU Extension Office (805 W. 10th St. Atlantic, IA 50022). Meetings are open to the public.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report

Ag/Outdoor

May 23rd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (May 23, 2022) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented today on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly April through November. “With near-normal conditions across Iowa last week, farmers continued to make strong planting progress while dodging scattered showers and thunderstorms. Given this favorable weather pattern, corn planting is nearing completion,” said Secretary Naig. “Iowans woke up to chilly conditions on Sunday with isolated pockets of frost in northwestern Iowa. This week, however, looks to be wet with warmer temperatures showing up in the outlooks.”

The weekly report is also available on the USDA’s website at nass.usda.gov.

Crop Report
Weather conditions allowed farmers to gain ground on spring planting with 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending May 22, 2022, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Fieldwork activities included planting and spraying when winds allowed. Topsoil moisture condition rated 3 percent very short, 17 percent short, 76 percent adequate and 4 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 5 percent very short, 22 percent short, 69 percent adequate and 4 percent surplus.

Farmers made good progress last week with 86 percent of Iowa’s expected corn crop planted, 13 days behind last year and 3 days behind the 5-year average. Forty-seven percent of the corn crop has emerged, 1 week behind last year and 3 days behind average. Sixty-nine percent of soybeans have been planted, 12 days behind last year but 1 day ahead of the 5-year average. Eighteen percent of soybeans have emerged, 8 days behind last year and 4 days behind average. Ninety-six percent of the expected oat crop has been planted with 82 percent emerged, 9 days behind last year and 5 days behind the 5-year average. Four percent of the oat crop has headed, 3 days behind last year but 2 days ahead of average. Iowa’s first oat condition rating for 2022 was 0 percent very poor, 2 percent poor, 23 percent fair, 60 percent good and 15 percent excellent.

Five percent of the state’s first cutting of alfalfa hay has been completed. Hay condition improved to 71 percent good to excellent. Pasture condition rose to 59 percent good to excellent. Livestock conditions were good with most cattle now on pastures.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor |