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A Vocabulary of Respect: Spread the Word to End the Word

News

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa – Residents across Iowa and the nation are being asked to take time today to stop and think about how their words may disparage others – whether that is the intent or not. This is “Spread the Word to End the Word” day, when people are asked to remove the word “retarded” from their vocabulary.

“When we use the word, we disparage those who do have an intellectual disability,” said Rik Shannon, public policy manager for the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council. “What we really would like to see people do is select language that’s more respectful and inclusive.”

While today is focused on getting everyday people to stop using the “R-word,” Shannon said, on a
higher level, the state of Iowa has stopped using the term in health, eduction and labor policy, following the lead of the federal government.

“In 2010, President Obama signed what’s called Rosa’s Law, which removed the terms ‘mental retardation’ and ‘mentally retarded’ from federal code language,” he said, “and replaced it with terms such as an ‘individual with an intellectual disability,’ or simply ‘intellectual disability.’ ” In Iowa, Shannon said, there are nearly 50,000 individuals with intellectual disabilities and their family, friends, neighbors and coworkers, all of whom deserve the same respect as everyone else.

Details about the observance are online at r-word.org. The text of Rosa’s Law is at govtrack.us and Iowa resources are at idaction.org.

(Iowa News Service)

OLLIVENE L. MENDENHALL, 93, of Audubon (Svcs. 3/7/15)

Obituaries

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

OLLIVENE L. MENDENHALL, 93, of Audubon, died Tue., March 3rd, at the Friendship Home, in Audubon. Funeral services for OLLIVENE MENDENHALL will be held 11-a.m. Sat., March 7th, at the Hockenberry-England Funeral Home, in Audubon.

Friends may call at the funeral home one-hour prior to the service on Saturday (10-a.m.).

Burial will be in the Maple Grove Cemetery, with a lunch to be served after the commital service, at the home of Dee and Roy Rustvold.

OLLIVENE MENDENHALL is survived by:

Her sons – Gary (Patty) Mendenhall, of Carroll, & Jeff Mendenhall, of Branson, Mo.

Her daughters – Marilyn Andreasen, of Tabor, & Dee (Roy) Rustvold, of Audubon.

Her sister – Elinor Anderson, of Naples, FL.

11 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Atlantic man arrested Tuesday in Audubon County

News

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County report the arrest Tuesday afternoon, of  a Cass County man. 19-year old Jacob Quentin Dvorak, of Atlantic, was taken into custody at around 1-p.m. on an Audubon County warrant charging him with a probation violation. Dvorak was being held in the Audubon County Jail on $10,000 bond.

Girls State Basketball Schedule: Wed., 3/4/2015

Sports

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Class 4A Quarterfinals
10:00-a.m. Ballard vs. Bishop Heelan
11:45-a.m. Western Dubuque vs. Indianola

Class 5A Quarterfinals
1:30-p.m. West Des Moines/Valley vs. Mason City
3:15-p.m. Iowa City West vs. Southeast Polk
5:00-p.m. Dowling Catholic vs. Johnston
6:45-p.m. Waukee vs. Cedar Falls

Class 1A Semifinals
8:30-p.m. Newell-Fonda vs. Burlington Notre Dame

Speed hike dead, but cell phone ban alive at statehouse

News

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

A bill that would have raised the speed limit on Iowa’s interstates has hit a dead end in the Iowa Senate, but legislators are advancing bills targeting those caught texting and driving on Iowa roads.The Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday tabled a bill that would have given the D-O-T authority to raise the speed limit to 75 miles an hour on highways designed for higher speeds.
Senator Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale, was the bill’s sponsor.

“I heard from probably hundreds of Iowans — some for, some against and I would say it’s healthy to have the conversation,” Zaun says. “I would say it’s dead for right now.” But Zaun says if there’s an opportunity to insert his proposed speed hike into another bill being debated in the senate, he’ll try it. “Might possibly do an amendment if I find the right vehicle to do that, no pun intended,” Zaun says, with a laugh. A bill that would ban drivers from holding a cell phone while they’re driving is eligible for debate in the House Transportation Committee this afternoon (Wednesday).

The SENATE Transportation Committee, however, has voted to allow police to pull someone over if they suspect the driver is texting, but the committee did NOT vote to ban talking on a cell phone while driving. Senator Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, says it’s “common sense” not to start listing all kinds of behavior — from talking on your cell to eating a hamburger — that leads to distracted driving.

“We’re hoping that people and technology adapt so that holding a hand-held will be a thing of the past,” Bowman says. Under current Iowa law, drivers are not to be writing, reading or sending texts while they’re behind the wheel, but law enforcement cannot pull you over simply because they suspect you’re texting. A driver has to be committing some other traffic violation like speeding or running a stop light. The bill now eligible for debate in the Senate would make texting while driving a “primary offense” and give police the authority to cite it as the sole reason for a traffic stop.

(Radio Iowa)

NWS weather forecast for Cass & area Counties: 3/4/2015

Weather

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

345 AM CST WED MAR 4 2015

EARLY THIS MORNING…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW. COLDER. NORTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

TODAY…PARTLY SUNNY. COLDER. SCATTERED FLURRIES THROUGH MID MORNING. SCATTERED FLURRIES IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 20S. NORTHWEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY THROUGH MIDNIGHT THEN BECOMING CLEAR. SCATTERED FLURRIES IN THE EVENING. LOW NEAR ZERO. NORTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

THURSDAY…SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 20S. WEST WIND NEAR 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. WARMER. HIGH IN THE MID 40S. SOUTHWEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

SATURDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 40S.

Iowa tops Indiana 77-63

Sports

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Aaron White had 21 points and five rebounds to lead the Iowa Hawkeyes to a 77-63 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday night. Jarrod Uthoff had 14 points and six rebounds, and Gabriel Olanseni added 13 points for the Hawkeyes (20-10, 11-6 Big Ten), who have won five straight.

Nick Zeisloft scored 15 points, all from 3-point range, and James Blackmon, Jr. finished with 14 points and five rebounds for the Hoosiers (19-11, 9-8), who have lost two in a row. Olaseni’s go ahead basket with 5:40 left in the first half to make it 25-24 gave Iowa the lead for good. Peter Jok, who finished with eight points, made two 3-pointers and Uthoff scored to put the Hawkeyes ahead 61-48. They led by as much as 16 when Anthony Clemmons scored a free throw with 1:10 left to play.

High School Basketball Scores from Tuesday 3/3/2015

Sports

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

BOYS BASKETBALL
4A Substate Championships
Sioux City, North 47, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 46
Ames 64, Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines 47
Cedar Rapids, Kennedy 58, Linn-Mar, Marion 54
North Scott, Eldridge 59, Bettendorf 41
Pleasant Valley 57, Clinton 32
Iowa City, West 79, Cedar Rapids, Washington 50
Des Moines, Hoover 56, Ankeny Centennial 33
Waukee 65, Valley, West Des Moines 47

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Class 2A State Tournament- State Quarterfinal
Western Christian, Hull 50, Regina, Iowa City 45
Class 3A State Tournament – State Quarterfinal
Crestwood, Cresco 58, Spirit Lake 46
Mediapolis 63, Mount Vernon 53
Nevada 54, Red Oak 38
PAC-LM 63, Clear Lake 59
Class 4A State Tournament – State Quarterfinal
Carlisle 56, Waverly-Shell Rock 50
Harlan 54, Cedar Rapids Xavier 31

Northern Iowa’s Tuttle named Valley player of year

Sports

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Northern Iowa forward Seth Tuttle, the Missouri Valley’s active leader in scoring and rebounding, has been selected the conference’s player of the year. Tuttle, a senior, received 38 of a possible 47 first-place votes in voting by coaches, sports information directors and a media panel. Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet, teammates on regular season champion and ninth-ranked Wichita State, were second and third.

Baker had five first-place votes and VanVleet, the player of the year last season, had four. Joining those three on the all-conference team were D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius of Evansville and Devonte Brown of Indiana State.

Iowa early News Headlines: Wed., 3/4/2015

News

March 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation say they’re still unsure why the agency’s first drug-sniffing dog jumped out of a truck window in October and fled into traffic. Earlier this week, the Iowa Appeal Board approved a $1,323 payout for damages to the owners of the vehicle that struck and killed the 2-year-old Belgian Malinois named Sara. The Oct. 8 incident was ruled an accident.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Senate committee has approved a bill that would expand language on a texting while driving ban but without a provision to prohibit people from using hand-held devices like cellphones. It is now available for the full Senate for debate. The committee also agreed to defer a vote on a bill that would have increased the speed limit on some Iowa highways from 70 mph to 75 mph.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Younger children could use guns with their parents’ approval under a bill approved by a House panel. The bill that now heads to a full committee also includes a provision blocking public access to the names of people with permits to carry and purchase weapons. The bill also would allow purchases of suppressors to silence firearm. People now must be at least 14 to use a pistol or revolver.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — The longtime owner of an iconic Ottumwa restaurant has sold the eatery after nearly 40 years of it being in the family name. Shirley McBeth, the woman in charge of the Canteen in Ottumwa, says she has transitioned ownership of the restaurant to Scott Pierce, an Ottumwa businessman. The Canteen has belonged to McBeth and her husband since 1976. The Canteen has been relocated once since its opening more than 80 years ago.