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Investigation into a mass shooting threat at Lewis Central results in charges

News

February 10th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department said late Sunday night, that two juveniles were charged with the Threat of Terrorism – a Class D Felony – following an investigation into a reported threat to commit a mass shooting, at the Lewis Central High School.

The investigation determined that several juveniles who attend Lewis Central High School
had discussed how a mass shooting incident could occur at the school. All students were located and interviewed by law enforcement. The parties involved are not being identified due to their ages.

County Attorney Matt Wilbur was consulted with the results of the investigation. As a result of the arrests, both juveniles were transported to and held at, the Southwest Iowa Juvenile Detention Center, in Council Bluffs.

Authorities say the Council Bluffs Police Department has been working closely with the Lewis Central Administration to resolve the threats as quickly as possible. The Council Bluffs Police Department believes that the threats are not credible, as the juveniles do not have the means to carry out their threats. Lewis Central High School will be safe for students to attend.

Officers will be present to insure the safety of students. Police say that want to thank the public for their timely reporting of this incident. The investigation is closed at this time, and no further information will be released.

DURWOOD PURDY, 94, of Fontanelle (Svcs. 2/15/20)

Obituaries

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

DURWOOD PURDY, 94, of Fontanelle, died Saturday, February 8, 2020, at the Good Samaritan Society in Fontanelle. Funeral and Masonic Services for DURWOOD PURDY will be held 10:30-a.m. Saturday, February 15, at the United Methodist Church in Greenfield. Steen Funeral Home has the arrangements.

Friends may call on Friday, February 14, 2020, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the United Methodist in Greenfield, with the family greeting friends from 5-until 7-p.m.; Online condolences may be left to the family at www.steenfunerals.com.

Burial is in the Fontanelle Cemetery with full military graveside rites conducted by the Fontanelle American Legion Carlson Post No. 247.  A luncheon will be held at the United Methodist Church in Greenfield, following the services at the cemetery.

Memorials: To the Durwood Purdy memorial fund to be established by the family at a later date.

DURWOOD PURDY is survived by:

His wife – Dorothy Purdy.

His sons – Roland (Earlene) Purdy, of Greenfield; Randy (Marcia) Purdy, of Boone; Rich (Rhonda) Purdy, of Treynor; andJeff (Annette) Purdy, of Winterset.

His daughter – Julie (Gene) Guenther, of Britt.

His sisters – Pat (Mike) McDermott, of Greenfield, and Beth Davis of Altoona.

16 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; other relatives and friends.

US–Election 2020-Iowa Results, ADVISORY

News

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The Associated Press has reviewed updated results of the Iowa caucuses provided Sunday evening by the Iowa Democratic Party and has decided that it remains unable to declare a winner based on the available information. The results, AP continues to believe, may not be fully accurate and are still subject to potential revision.

Following the Iowa Democratic Party’s release of new results, with 100% of precincts reporting, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by two state delegate equivalents out of 2,152 counted. That is a margin of 0.09 percentage points.

However, there is still some evidence the party may not have accurately tabulated some of its results, including those released late Sunday following a series of revisions.

Further, Sanders’ campaign will ask for a recanvass of the results. A recanvass is not a recount, but a check of the vote count to ensure the results were added correctly. The candidate have until 1 p.m. ET on Monday to request a recanvass, a deadline that was extended by the party from Friday.

AP will continue to monitor the race, including the results of any potential recanvass or recount. Unlike a government-run primary election, the Iowa caucuses are an event run by the Iowa Democratic Party. For the first time, the party in 2020 released three sets of results from its caucuses: the “first alignment” and “final alignment” of caucusgoers, as well as the number of “state delegate equivalents” that each candidate receives. Previously, it released only the tally of state delegate equivalents.

During the caucuses, voters arriving at their caucus site filled out a card that lists their first choice; those results determine the “first alignment.” Caucusgoers whose first-choice candidate failed to get at least 15% of the vote at their caucus site could switch their support to a different candidate. After they had done so, the results were tabulated again to determine the caucus site’s “final alignment.”

The final alignment votes were then used to calculate the number of state convention delegates — or “state delegate equivalents” — awarded to each candidate. There is evidence the party did not accurately tabulate some final alignment votes or correctly award state delegate equivalents in some precincts.

AP has always declared the winner of the Iowa caucuses based on the number of state delegate equivalents each candidate receives. That’s because Democrats choose their overall nominee based on delegates. While the first alignment and final alignment provide insight into the process, state delegate equivalents have the most direct bearing on the metric Democrats use to pick their nominee.

Sanders to seek partial recanvass of Iowa caucus results

News

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign plans to ask for a “partial recanvass” of the results of last week’s Iowa caucuses. A campaign aide confirmed the plans Sunday night, ahead of a Monday deadline for candidates to ask the Iowa Democratic Party to recanvass the results. A recanvass is not a recount, but a check of the vote count to ensure the results were added correctly.

The state party released updated results on Sunday showing Pete Buttigieg leading Sanders by two state delegate equivalents.

Calip propels No. 24 Missouri State women past Drake 89-83

Sports

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) —  Brice Calip scored 22 points and handed out eight assists and No. 24 Missouri State held off Drake 89-83. Calip sank 7 of 11 shots from the floor with a 3-pointer and made 7 of 8 free throws for the Lady Bears (20-3, 10-1 Missouri Valley Conference), who won their sixth straight game. Sara Rhine poured in a career-high 31 points for the Bulldogs (16-7, 8-3), who could have grabbed a share of first place with a victory but instead saw their three-game win streak end.

Iowa man arrested after shooting at apartment, wounding dog

News

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa man is facing an attempted murder charge after he fired shots into an occupied apartment and hit a dog in the crossfire. Des Moines Police said the 21-year-old gunman missed his intended target — a 19-year-old man — in the shooting. The dog was taken to an emergency veterinary hospital but wasn’t expected to survive the shooting. The gunfire was reported shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday at the Des Moines apartment complex. The suspect was arrested after a short foot pursuit. Witnesses told police that the suspect and the 19-year-old had an argument before the shooting.

Three score 20 points, No. 20 Iowa women top Purdue 82-71

Sports

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – Monika Czinano scored 20 points on 10-of-11 shooting, including making all five of her shots in a pivotal second quarter, and No. 20 Iowa pulled away from Purdue for an 83-71. Makenzie Meyer and Kathleen Doyle added 22 points apiece for the Hawkeyes (20-4, 11-2 Big Ten Conference), who set up a showdown at No. 13 Maryland on Thursday with the league lead on the line. Kayanna Traylor led the Boilermakers (15-10, 6-7) with a career-high 21 points, going 6 of 8 from the field and 7 of 9 from the foul line.

ROSALIE MINNIE BRADSHAW, 100, of Panora (Svcs. 2/11/20)

Obituaries

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

ROSALIE MINNIE BRADSHAW, 100, of Panora, died Friday, Feb. 7th, at Panora Specialty Care. Funeral services for ROSALIE BRADSHAW will be held 10:30-a.m. Tue., Feb. 11th, at the Twigg Funeral Home, in Panora.

Visitation will be Monday, February 10, 2020 from 5-7 P.M. at the funeral home.

Burial will be in the West Cemetery, Panora.

ROSALIE BRADSHAW is survived by:

Her daughters –Donna Vokes, of Panora; Shirley (Roy) Pittman, of Yale; Jeanette (Jim) Brogden, of Boone, and Robin (Roger L.) Dorr of Springfield, MO.

Her son – Chuck Bradshaw, of Linden.

Her brother – Bill (Theoann) Michael, of Mission Hills, TX.

12 grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren & great-great-grandchildren.

JOE B. MEWHIRTER, 88, of Atlantic (2-15-2020)

Obituaries

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

JOE B. MEWHIRTER, 88, of Atlantic died Sunday, February 9th at the Allen Place in Atlantic.  Funeral services for JOE B. MEWHIRTER will be held on Saturday, February 15th at 11:00 am at the First United Methodist Church in Atlantic.  Roland Funeral Service in Atlantic has the arrangements.

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A Masonic service will be held on Friday at 5:00 pm followed by visitation with the family until 7:00 pm at the funeral home.

Burial in the Hillside Cemetery in Elliott.

Memorials may be left to the family for future designation.

Online condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com

JOE B. MEWHIRTER is survived by:

Daughter:  Cheryl Barry, of Atlantic.

Son:  Jeffrey (Deanna) Mewhirter, of Northlake, TX.

4 Grandchildren

1 Great-Grandchild

AMERICA’S FARMERs kick off 2020 programs to strengthen causes making a Positive impact in farming communities across IOWA

Ag/Outdoor, News

February 9th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The 2020 Grow Rural Education program, which provides Iowa farmers with the opportunity to nominate local rural public schools for $15,000 grants designed to enhance STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, is officially underway!

Grow Rural Education, sponsored by Bayer Fund, has awarded more than $18 million to more than 1,000 schools nationwide since the program began in 2011. Now until April 1st, farmers can nominate their school district by visiting www.Americasfarmers.com.

Previous winners include an Iowa school district that converted an unused locker room into a Monarch butterfly incubator. And a Missouri high school used a Grow Rural Education grant to enhance its STEM classes by purchasing an aquaponics system that breeds fish and grows plants in an integrated environment.

Since 2010, America’s Farmers have awarded more than $53 million to worthy causes, students and public schools across the country. For the Grow Rural Education program specifically, farmers nominate a local public school to apply for one of the grants by visiting AmericasFarmers.com. The process takes less than five minutes and has strengthened schools by bringing together students, teachers, farmers and community members to make STEM programs more engaging.

After the school district receives a nomination, they will be notified and teachers are encouraged to submit a grant application describing their desired STEM project by April 15, 2020. A panel of qualified math and science teachers reviews the applications and selects the finalists. The program’s Farmer Advisory Council, consisting of approximately 30 farming leaders from across the country, will then select the winning school districts.

In the fall, farmers can enroll in the Grow Communities program for the chance to direct a $2,500 donation to a local eligible nonprofit organization, and the Grow Ag Leaders program will begin accepting applications for $1,500 scholarships for students pursuing an education in agriculture-related fields.