Class 5A
#1 Johnston 60, #8 West Des Moines Valley 31
#4 Waukee 46, #5 Ankeny Centennial 44
#7 Cedar Falls 71, #2 Davenport North 65
#3 Dowling Catholic 53, #6 Pleasant Valley 48
Class 3A
#1 Estherville-Lincoln Central 61, #8 Forest City 47
#4 Mount Vernon 67 #5 Harlan, 25
#2 Des Moines Christian 49 #7 Benton Community, 46
Monday’s Results
Class 5-A:
Class 3-A:
Tuesday’s Schedule
Class 3-A:
Class 4-A:
Class 2-A:
The Iowa Basketball Coaches Association announced the Girls All-Region teams Monday. Here are the area players named:
CLASS 1-A REGION 2
CLASS 1-A REGION 3
CLASS 1-A REGION 6
CLASS 1-A REGION 8
CLASS 2-A REGION 3
CLASS 2-A REGION 8
CLASS 3-A REGION 7
CLASS 4-A REGION 3
CLASS 4-A REGION 8
(Radio Iowa) – A bill under consideration in the Iowa House would lower the state tax rate for Iowa’s state-licensed casinos to be at or near the tax rate for casinos in Nebraska and Missouri. Illinois casinos have variable tax rates, based on the size of the market and the games offered. Mark Joyce is a lobbyist for the company that operates the Diamond Jo casinos in Northwood and Dubuque. Joyce says lowering taxes would be a welcome move. Lobbyist Doug Struyk represents the Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington, which he says is facing competition from new casinos in Illinois. Struyk also represents Caesars Entertainment which owns the Horseshoe and Harrah’s casinos in Council Bluffs that soon will be competing with a new casino in Omaha.
Gaming revenue for all three Council Bluffs casinos began to dip when the WarHorse Casino in Lincoln opened in September of 2022 and Harrah’s opened in Columbus, Nebraska in June of last year. Struyk says that has slowed the flow of gamblers from Nebraska into Iowa. Another WarHorse Casino is expected to open in Omaha by August of this year. Representative Jane Bloomingdale is sponsoring the bill to gradually lower Iowa’s casino taxes over a three year period. She’s from Northwood. The state-licensed Diamond Jo casino is nearby.
Bloomingdale’s bill has cleared a House subcommittee, but one member of the panel said she’s concerned cutting casino taxes will lower the amount of money deposited in the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. Money from the fund is used on a variety of projects, from lake dredging to constructing or repairing state-owned buildings.
(Radio Iowa) – Koch (coke) Industries has announced a three-point-six billion dollar deal to buy a fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa, and some ag leaders fear it could create a monopoly. The purchase of the Iowa Fertilizer Company in Lee County still awaits federal review. Jason Sporrer is a sales manager for a co-op that serves western Iowa. He says when the fertilizer company opened in 2017, it brought more competition to the marketplace.
“Some of that now is going by the wayside, in my opinion,” Sporrer says. Democrats in the Iowa statehouse also have questions about the acquisition. They want federal and state regulators to investigate the impact consolidation would have on prices and the 260 employees of the facility in Wever. Iowa State University economics professor Chad Hart says four of the top producers control 80-percent of fertilizer production.
Hart says, “I think that always puts up what’s called yellow caution lights within the sector about, okay, are we truly maintaining the competitive balance there or not?” Hart says the war in Ukraine led to major swings in fertilizer pricing. A U-S-D-A spokesperson says when dominant middlemen control so much of the fertilizer supply chain, producers, and consumers “bear the brunt.”
(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Monday, arrested 23-year-old Brandon Lane Good, of Red Oak. Officials say Good was taken into custody at around 6:40-p.m. in the 200 block of E. Hammond Street, on an active Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure To Appear on a Driving while license denied or revoked, charge. Good was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond, or until extradition to Pott. County.
Monona, Iowa – One person was injured during a collision Monday morning in northeastern Iowa’s Allamakee County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash happened just before 9-a.m. north of Monona, near the intersection of County Road X26 and Smithfield Drive.
Investigators say a 2007 Chevy Impala driven by 18-year-old Carter Mielke, of Monona, was traveling southbound when it crossed the centerline and struck a 2019 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 42-year-old Jeremy Geisler, of Waucoma, that was traveling northbound.
Mielke – who was wearing his seat belt – was injured in the collision. He was flown by helicopter to Gunderson Hospital. There is no word on his condition at this time.
REDFIELD, Iowa [WHO-TV] – Multiple Dallas County fire crews battled a fire in downtown Redfield on Monday afternoon that severely damaged a bar and restaurant. Crews from Dallas, Guthrie and Madison Counties were called to the Dexfield Diner & Pub around Noon on Monday. Initial reports were that flames were shooting from the windows of the two-story building. Thick smoke was still pouring from the building more than an hour after first reports. The restaurant was closed as owner, Steve Roberts, spent the morning cleaning and preparing his business for the week ahead when the fire started.
There are no reports of injuries at this time. As the business burned, Dallas County Conservation officials worked with community members to remove relics and pieces from the neighboring museum from the Civil War up through the Gulf War. Firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from spreading. The center portion of the building is a total loss, and the cause is unknown at this time. (Photos from the Stuart Fire Dept. Facebook page)
Today: Mostly sunny, with a temperature rising to near 54 by 10am, then falling to around 36 during the remainder of the day. Windy, with a southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north northwest 16 to 26 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph. …WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 3 AM WEDNESDAY for sustained NW winds of 20-to 45 mph.
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of snow, mainly before 11pm. Cloudy during the early evening, then gradual clearing, with a low around 11. Wind chill values as low as -5. Windy, with a north northwest wind 18 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 34. Wind chill values as low as -5. Breezy, with a northwest wind 8 to 17 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 56. Windy.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 62. Windy.
Monday’s High of 78 in Atlantic smashed the old record of 72 set in 1896 (128 years ago). The Low was 33. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 45 and the Low was 24. The Record High for Feb. 27th was 71 in 2016. The Record Low was -16 in 1960. Sunrise: 6:58. Sunset: 6:08.
(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says American farmland needs to remain in American hands and she will quickly sign one of the first bills to clear the 2024 legislature. The bill closes a loophole that could let foreigners or foreign governments be investors in limited liability companies or involved in trusts that acquire Iowa farmland. The bill requires agland purchase reports filed with the state to include more information about ownership structures.
Republican Representative Derek Wulf, a farmer from Hudson, says purchasers will also have to file a complete list of all their landholdings in the United States. “Chinese nationals are buying farmland near military bases. They’re looking to steal our intellectual property from our seed and genetic companies. They’re trying to steal our livestock practices and advancements learned through generations of agriculturalists — and these are only some of the few things they’re doing. They’re coming for our way of life and, quite frankly folks, this needs to end,” Wulf said, pounding his desk on the House floor to emphasize his comments.
Representative J.D. Scholten, a Democrat from Sioux City, says now’s the time to act, because food security is national security. “With the average age of a farmer north of 58 years old, we’re going to see the largest amount of farmland transfer in Iowa’s history in the next 10-15 years, according to Iowa State University,” Scholten said. “Nationally, foreign ownership of American farmland is larger than equivalent of the entire state of Ohio and growing.”
The bill ensures Iowa’s attorney general has subpoena powers to investigate agland purchases and it significantly increases the penalty for any violations. Under current law, foreign entities caught owning more than 320 acres of Iowa farmland face a two-thousand dollar fine. The bill raises the fine to 25 percent of the assessed value of the land.
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