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Ryan Named Big 12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Sports

June 26th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State women’s basketball senior Emily Ryan has been named the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, announced by the league office on Wednesday. She becomes the first Cyclone to earn the award since it was established in 2013.

Ryan helped Iowa State to the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament and its second consecutive appearance in the Big 12 title game. Averaging 11.6 points and 6.9 assists per game, she was one of the nation’s most effective point guards. Ryan was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team after averaging 10.3 points and 9.3 assists over three games. She is a kinesiology and health sciences major with a 3.53 grade point average.

Iowa State Adds Illinois Transfer Sydney Malott

Sports

June 26th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State softball coach Jamie Pinkerton has announced the addition of Illinois transfer Sydney Malott to ­the 2025 roster. She will join the Cyclones with two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Malott becomes Iowa State’s first addition via the transfer portal since Sophie Maras joined the team in May 2022.

Malott, along with an eight-player freshmen class, will look to help replace 11 Cyclones from last year’s roster.

“We’re excited to have Sydney join our program. She’s an experienced player who will help out our roster. She’s played multiple positions in her college career and will help our team at all infield positions including catcher. Sydney will also play a big role in providing leadership to our young roster.”

A 5-7 infielder from Liberty, Mo., Malott played in 49 games for the Illini this last season, making 46 starts. Malott played all over for Illinois, making starts at first, second and third base as well as catcher.

An Academic All-Big Ten member, Malott slashed .283/.386/.390 as a sophomore and posted seven multi-hit games. She finished this past season with 24 RBI on 36 hits while drawing 23 walks.

As a freshman, Malott posted similar numbers, racking up 35 hits with 23 RBI. In her first season, she appeared in 48 games, making 45 starts with five long balls.

Malott tallied a career-best six RBI last season against South Dakota. She also owns a pair of three-hit games. To date, Malott totes 71 hits with 47 RBI and seven home runs.

2024 SIXTH Iowa Girls High School Softball Rankings

Sports

June 26th, 2024 by Asa Lucas

Class 5A
School
 Record
LW
1
West Des Moines Valley
22-4
2
2
Waukee Northwest
21-4
3
3
Pleasant Valley
28-2
4
4
Ankeny Centennial
23-5
1
5
Johnston
21-8
5
6
Ankeny
17-12
8
7
Muscatine
19-9
6
8
Cedar Rapids Kennedy
17-12
10
9
Des Moines Roosevelt
23-6
9
10
Southeast Polk
17-14
11
11
Iowa City Liberty
17-10
7
12
Urbandale
16-12
13
13
Waukee
14-15
12
14
Des Moines Lincoln
23-8
NR
15
Dubuque Senior
19-11
15
 
Dropped Out: Ames (14)
 
Class 4A
School
Record
LW
1
North Polk
27-3
1
2
Dallas Center-Grimes
24-5
6
3
Norwalk
22-4
2
4
Fort Dodge
24-8
3
5
North Scott
22-3
4
6
ADM
20-8
8
7
Cedar Rapids Xavier
23-10
9
8
Western Dubuque
23-5
5
9
Carlisle
21-7
6
10
Winterset
18-13
11
11
Bondurant-Farrar
21-8
12
12
Clear Creek-Amana
20-10
10
13
Burlington
17-5
NR
14
Sergeant Bluff-Luton
20-5
13
15
Gilbert
12-12
15
 
Dropped Out: Pella (14)
 
 
Class 3A
School
Record
LW
1
Williamsburg
24-6
1
2
Benton Community
24-6
2
3
Dubuque Wahlert
17-8
3
4
Mount Vernon
27-9
4
5
Davenport Assumption
18-10
5
6
Estherville Lincoln Central
23-5
6
7
Sumner-Fredericksburg
27-3
7
8
PCM
18-3
10
9
Clarinda
25-6
9
10
West Lyon
14-2
13
11
West Liberty
15-8
12
12
West Marshall
19-7
11
13
Washington
21-9
8
14
Central Lee
22-5
14
15
Chariton
12-7
15

Dropped Out: None
 
Class 2A
School
Record
LW
1
Van Meter
29-1
1
2
Alburnett
27-5
2
3
Northeast
19-6
2
4
Audubon
21-3
7
5
Cardinal
21-7
9
6
Iowa City Regina
18-10
5
7
West Monona
25-4
4
8
Lisbon
22-9
6
9
East Marshall
24-3
11
10
Interstate 35
17-13
10
11
Louisa-Muscatine
22-3
12
12
Wapsie Valley
19-7
14
13
Durant
14-14
13
14
Treynor
11-6
NR
15
Missouri Valley
19-6
8

Dropped Out: Central Springs (11)
 
 
Class 1A
School
Record
LW
1
Martensdale-St Marys
21-4
1
2
Wayne
18-3
2
3
Remsen St. Mary’s
16-0
3
4
Fort Dodge St. Edmond
17-5
6
5
Collins-Maxwell
21-2
4
6
Sigourney
18-6
5
7
Southeast Warren
18-2
7
8
North Linn
24-10
8
9
Newell-Fonda
21-6
9
10
Mason City Neman Catholic
25-3
11
11
Earlham
18-12
12
12
Clarksville
16-7
13
13
Griswold
20-2
10
14
Edgewood-Colesburg
22-10
15
15
Akron-Westfield
18-4
14
 
Dropped Out: None

Fourth of July holiday may bring record number of vacationers

News

June 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Record numbers of travelers in Iowa and nationwide are expected to venture at least 50 miles from home over the long Independence Day weekend, according to AAA. Brian Ortner, the motor club’s Iowa spokesman, says it’s a happy coincidence that as the number of travelers is rising, the price of travel is falling. “It’s a 7% increase on numbers,” Ortner says, “and then cost-wise, it’s about 2% lower than we were last year.”

AAA projects almost 71-million people will be vacationing during the Fourth of July holiday, including more than five-million people in the seven-state region that includes Iowa. The majority of travelers — about 60-million nationwide — will be going by motor vehicle, as Ortner says gasoline prices are down. “Last year, the state average in Iowa on Independence Day was $3.35 a gallon,” Ortner says. “If we look at where we are currently, we’re at $3.18. That is a great number to see, that the average is lower.”

AAA graphic

The projections show nearly six-million people will be traveling by air over the holiday, which would also set a record. “Prices for air travel have decreased a little bit. They’ve gone down about 2% from last year,” Ortner says. “The other good sign is that hotel costs are going down and rental car costs are going down, so those longer trips are becoming more affordable as we move through the summer.”

Despite concerns about inflation, AAA estimates consumers will be boosting their spending over Independence Day weekend by five-and-a-half percent compared to a year ago.

Eastern Iowa officials begin prepping for rising Mississippi

News

June 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – While the flood fight and recovery continues in western Iowa, the eastern edge of Iowa is bracing for more rain and a rising Mississippi River.

The river has been steadily rising over the past week due to heavy rainfall, prompting flood warnings in parts of southeastern Iowa. Northeast Iowa has mostly been spared, giving Emergency Management Coordinators like Sarah Moser in Clayton County time to prepare.

“What’s always a concern for us is more rain and especially for the McGregor area because with what Wisconsin’s getting, it’s hard for the National Weather Service to predict then what the level will be,” Moser says, “so that always has us on our toes.”

The ground in the area is already saturated. “Not only do we’ve got to be worrying about the river rising, like the Mississippi, but also we would have some of those internal rivers like the Turkey River or Volga River, those quick rising ones,” Moser says, “as opposed to the Mississippi which is that slow rise.”

The river is forecast to reach 20 feet in Clayton County by the start of July, which would be near the levels reached during flooding in 2019.

The City of Davenport has deployed temporary barriers and water pumps along the Mississippi River in preparation for flooding.

Nicole Gleason, Davenport’s Public Works director

Nicole Gleason, Davenport’s Public Works director, says spring floods due to melting snow in the Mississippi River basin are easier to predict. Summer floods depend on the timing of rainfall.

“We can’t tell you exactly how much rain a storm is going to dump or where exactly that rain is going to go and if it will contribute to the Mississippi watershed or not, so at this point it’s really kind of a 24 hour (by) 24 hour basis,” she says. “We’ll just have to keep watching it daily and act accordingly.”

The city is offering sandbags to impacted residents. A number of parks and streets near the river have been closed. The Mississippi crest in Davenport is expected around July 4 and current forecasts indicate it will be far below the record set in 2019.

(Reporting by Grant Winterer and Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

Eastern Iowa woman arrested for calling police to get out of meeting online date

News

June 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (KCRG) — A North Liberty woman who reportedly got cold feet just before meeting someone she met through a dating app was arrested after police said she falsely reported the man was threatening to assault her, leading to the man being detained for over an hour. KCRG reports, in a criminal complaint, police said 18-year-old Sumaya Thomas called 911 just after midnight on June 16 to report that her abusive ex-boyfriend was texting her, threatening to hit, punch, kick and stab her. She also allegedly reported that she was pregnant with the man’s baby.

However, officers found the man leaving the scene. He reportedly told officers he had only just met Thomas about a week ago on a dating app. They then changed from talking via the app to exchanging text messages. The man showed police the text conversation, which officers said corroborated his story. When officers interviews Thomas, they said she reported having known the man for two years and that she was pregnant with his baby, and that he had been abusive to her and wouldn’t leave her alone.

After a third interview, police said Thomas admitted to making the false reports because she got cold feet before meeting him and no longer wanted to. During the interview, Thomas reportedly told police she didn’t think officers would help, so she made up the events.

Work on new Lansing bridge halted by high water

News

June 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Work on the new Mississippi River bridge from Lansing to Desoto, Wisconsin has stopped. D-O-T engineer Clayton Burke says high water made conditions unsafe. “The contractor is completely leaving the site until the water goes back down,” he says. “There’s very little they could possibly do to overcome the water levels that we’re seeing so yeah it’ll it might be a while before you see those cranes swinging around.” Burke says Mother Nature will determine when the work gets underway again.

“We’re seeing about a week out the river gauge is going to be over 16 and a half feet. And we need that to get back down to about 12 before we can keep working on the bridge again,” Burke says. “And we’ve seen in the past when the Mississippi goes up, it goes up fast but it stays there for a long time. So we might be losing weeks to a month of scheduled time here.”

Burke says the contractor will likely bring in multiple crews once the water goes down so they can work nights and weekends to make up for lost time. The new bridge is was scheduled to be completed at the end of 2026. Burke says around 29-hundred people cross the Lansing bridge each day. The bridge that’s being replaced at Lansing was closed for a time in February after two piers shifted and they had to be repaired.

Field is nearly set for next week’s John Deere Classic

Sports

June 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

The field will be set Friday night for next week’s John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities. Two-time John Deere champ and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth was the latest big name on the PGA Tour to join the field. Tournament director Andrew Lehman.

Lehman says being two weeks before the British Open has helped them attract more big names.

Lehman says the John Deere Classic has a mix of tour regulars and young golfers trying to break through.

Players have until Friday after the second round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit to join the field and Lehman says there is the possibility of adding three more players ranked within the top 50 in the world.

Today is the final day for the public to play the TPC at Deere Run and Lehman says the tournament takes it over Thursday morning.

Lehman says they already have more than two thousand volunteers for next week.

The first round of the John Deere Classic is July fourth.

State Auditor Rob Sand urges Iowans & government entities to be on the look-out for scams during natural disasters

News

June 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Des Moines, IA – State Auditor Rob Sand today (Wednesday) urged Iowans and their community leaders to be on alert for people preying on victims of the flooding in Iowa. Sand says “Iowans are known for rallying around victims of natural disasters.  Communities come together to help with clean-up and provide for people who have lost everything. Unfortunately, natural disasters are also calling cards for con artists.”

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the most common fraud following a natural disaster includes fake housing inspectors and building contractors, phony disaster donation efforts, and calls or texts requiring account information in exchange for financial assistance. Sand says “These scammers are not stupid.  They’re sneaky. They’ll use all means to try to steal personal and public funds – phone calls, texts, emails.  They’ll even pose as government officials to get account information or social security numbers.”

Sand offers these tips for avoiding scams in the wake of natural disasters:

  • Never give out social security numbers or account information over the phone or via text or email.
  • Confirm that emails from vendors are legitimate by calling the vendor through a verified number, not the number in the email.
  • Never pay a contractor a large sum of money upfront.
  • Make checks for materials payable to the contractor and the supplier.
  • Request a copy of the contractor’s liability insurance information.
  • Require that all work be outlined in a contract, including completion dates and costs for materials, permits, and labor.
  • Get at least three estimates from contractors and be leery of “too good to be true” offers.
  • Federal and state workers will never ask for money and will always carry identification badges.

Retiring Iowa community college president sees growing demand for skills, not 4 year degrees

News

June 26th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the North Iowa Area Community College is predicting enrollment at community colleges will grow in the years ahead. Dr. Steven Schulz is retiring at the end of the month. “Let’s be honest, the methodology’s changing. There’s going to be more people in this sector, people looking for skills, not four year degrees,” Schulz says. “There’s lot of change going on.”

Schultz has been president of NIACC in Mason City for the past decade. Schulz, who’s retiring after a 42 year career as an educator, says he worries about the future for students in rural areas of the state. “I think it’s going to be up to communities and local school boards and local community colleges to really tell their story and express their needs in way that the legislature can see we’re still here,” Schulz says, with a laugh, “and we want to do the work of our communities.”

NIACC president Dr. Steven Schulz is retiring at the end of this month. (NIACC photo)

Schultz is a native of Geneva, a small town in Franklin County. He holds degrees from Wartburg College, the University of Northern Iowa, Drake University and Iowa State University. Schulz previously worked at Des Moines Area Community College and U-N-I, He served as the superintendent of Carroll Community Schools from 2000 to 2004.