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State Softball Tournament begins in Ft. Dodge today

Sports

July 17th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Girls State Softball Tournament gets underway today (Monday), at the Rogers Sports Complex, in Fort Dodge. The action begin at 11-a.m. in Class 1A, when #1 Kee High (35-2) takes on #8 Montezuma (19-12) on the Buena Vista University ball diamond. At 11:30, #1 Durant (31-7) takes on #8 Logan-Magnolia (31-3), in Class 2A. That’ll be on Diamond #2.

Here’s the schedule for the rest of the day:

Class 1A: (games on the BVU Diamond)

1:00-p.m. #4 Westwood (29-10) vs. #5 Colfax-Mingo (25-11)

3:00-p.m. #2 Akron-Westfield (35-2) vs. #7 Sigourney (22-11)

5:00-p.m. #3 Clarksville (27-2) vs. #6 Belle Plaine (23-6)

Class 2A: (games on Diamond #2)

1:30-p.m. #4 North Union (30-6) vs. #5 Iowa City Regina (27-11) on Diamond #2.

3:30-p.m. #2 Interstate 35 (26-4) vs. #7 Central Springs (29-4)

5:30-p.m. #3 Waterloo Columbus (34-5) vs. #6 Eddyville-Blakesburg (30-8).

Central Iowa man charged with 2nd offense OWI in fatal crash

News

July 17th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Police say a Bondurant man was drunk when the vehicle he was driving struck and killed a motorcyclist. The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. Friday south of Ankeny. Polk County Sheriff’s deputies say a vehicle driven by 26-year-old Taylor Linse was northbound on Northeast 14th Street when it crossed into the southbound lane and hit an oncoming motorcycle.

On Sunday, authorities identified the motorcyclist who was killed the crash as 56-year-old Rueben Ignacio Enriquez, of Ankeny. They also revealed Linse was arrested and charged with second-offense operating while intoxicated, vehicular homicide, driving while license revoked and a probation violation.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa early News Headlines: Monday, 7/17/17

News

July 17th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

MESERVEY, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa man has been convicted of kidnapping and torturing his girlfriend. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 41-year-old Charles Raymond Albright, of Meservey was convicted Friday of two felonies related to the kidnapping.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — An independent study finds no racial bias in traffic stops by police in a city in eastern Iowa but notes that minority drivers are more likely to be arrested and cited once they’re stopped. St. Ambrose University researchers tell The Telegraph Herald that further analysis is needed to determine if these disparities found in Dubuque signify racial bias. The study found that minority drivers were nearly 20 percent more likely to receive citations than white drivers.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A deadly jail escape has prompted officials in a southwestern Iowa county to consider spending up to $200,000 to install body scanners that would be used on inmates when they enter the jail. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker tells The Daily Nonpareil that the scanners would be used to find contraband inmates try to smuggle into the county jail. It would be used as they enter the jail and for trips to and from the courthouse.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) — A former southern Iowa teacher has pleaded guilty to a felony count of sexual exploitation by a school employee. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that 61-year-old Alan Stewart, of Oskaloosa, pleaded guilty this week. He was charged in March after a report was filed of an inappropriate relationship he had with a student in 2015.

Frazier’s 9th-inning single gives Pirates 4-3 win over Cards

Sports

July 16th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Adam Frazier’s game-ending single capped a two-run rally in the ninth inning that lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates over the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Sunday. Francisco Cervelli reached on an infield single leading off the ninth against Brett Cecil (1-3), and Jordy Mercer’s one-out double scored pinch-runner Josh Harrison with the tying run. Jose Osuna grounded out, David Freese was intentionally walked and Frazier lined a single to center.

Pittsburgh took two of three against an NL Central rival, winning Friday on Josh Bell’s three-run homer in the ninth off Seung Hwan Oh. Bell and Frazier both got their first walkoff hits in the big leagues. Wade LeBlance (4-2) pitched a hitless ninth. Yadier Molina had put St. Louis ahead 3-2 with an eighth inning home run, the first allowed by Juan Nicasio this year.

Central IA woman arrested in Montgomery County, Sunday afternoon

News

July 16th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

A woman from Polk County was arrested Sunday afternoon in southwest Iowa, on moving violations, and a warrant. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 61-year old Claudina Maria Hildreth, of Windsor Heights, was pulled over for speeding at around 1:30-p.m. at the intersection of Highways 71 and 34.

She was taken into custody for Driving While Suspended with seven withdrawals in effect, speeding, and on a warrant out of Boone County for Driving While Suspended. Hildreth was being held for Boone County in the Montgomery County Jail. Her bond was set at $2,000.

Iowa’s US Senators celebrate Gorsuch appointment to Supreme Court

News

July 16th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Iowa’s two Republican U.S. Senators celebrated the appointment of a conservative to the U.S. Supreme Court with about a thousand evangelical Christians at Saturday’s “Family Leadership Summit” in Des Moines. Senator Chuck Grassley says he was “subjected” to daily “blunt personal smear attack” last year because he refused to hold a hearing for President Obama’s choice to fill the court vacancy.

“The 2016 election confirmed that the courage of one’s conviction withstands the test of leadership and it doesn’t hurt to have a thick skin,” Grassley said, to applause. “It comes in handy when the Iowa newspapers editorialize you that when you hold up a nomination the way the Democrats held it up several times that you are unAmerican.”

Senator Joni Ernst says President Trump and Vice President Pence are standing firm on efforts to “defund” Planned Parenthood and are rolling back “burdensome rules” enacted by the Obama Administration. “All we seem to hear about in the media is adversity — adversity in Washington, D.C.,” Ernst said. “Yet the reality is we have confirmed a new supreme court justice who is in the mold of Antonin Scalia and thank you Senator Grassley for leading that charge.”

Ernst and Grassley were both greeted with standing ovations from the crowd. White House Advisor Kellyanne Conway was the keynote speaker at the event.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Key segments of Iowa GOP, Democratic Party hold events in same convention complex

News

July 16th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Two organizations that often represent polar opposites on the political spectrum held events in the same convention complex in downtown Des Moines on Saturday. About a thousand evangelical Christians gathered for the Family Leadership Summit. Kellyanne Conway, a senior counselor to President Trump, asked the crowd to “pray for” people in “the media” who “mock” the president.

“As the person in the West Wing who does not say: ‘fake news, enemy of the people, opposition party’…my grievance is not biased coverage, it’s incomplete coverage,” Conway said. “Biased coverage people can see for themselves…I think part of becoming civil is making sure people are connected with the relevant information that they need and they deserve.” About three hours later on Saturday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addressed about 11-hundred gathered at the annual convention for the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund. Sanders also criticized the media — for a lack of “progressive voices.”

“People are paralyzed,” Sanders said. “…People don’t think their voices matter and your job, in and every way you can, is to bring people together, raise issues that other people are not talking about, force discussion and create the kind of vibrant democracy that we need to see.” Sanders is the independent who nearly tied with Hillary Clinton in the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2016 Caucuses. Sanders urged the crowd in Des Moines this Saturday “not to fall for the bait” that divides American against American.

“Don’t believe everything you see on the TV. Yeah, you can get pretty depressed,” Sanders said. “…Of course there are racists and sexists and homophobes. You’re going to see ’em on TV every night, but they are not the majority of the American people.” Conway celebrated Trump’s “nine and a half point’ victory in Iowa last November and she told the crowd Trump is “keeping faith with people of faith.”

“When President Trump said ‘the forgotten man or the forgotten woman,’ he didn’t mean forgotten in your communities, forgotten in your churches or synagogues,” Conway said. “He meant forgotten by the swamp, the system, the special interests and that’s why we’re there.” That message resonates with people like Curt McNew of Cresco. McNew says it seems to him that more people are engaged in politics these days.

“Some for good reasons and some for not,” McNew says. “The Trump Administration shakes things up. A lot of it’s for the good and I think he also arouses a lot of snakes out of the swamp.” Conway also lamented the tone in politics. “If they’re going to criticize policy, that’s terrific,” Conway said. “But criticizing, I mean, how I look or what I wear or how I speak — it’s really remarkable and it totally undercuts modern feminism.” Conway didn’t give a speech at the event. She was interviewed by The Family Leader president Bob Vander Plaats. Vander Plaats says his goal for the day was to focus on “a message of civility” and to “raise the bar” in the midst of the maelstrom in the media and on social platforms like Twitter.

“When you start going personal and attacking…I think you’ve lost the argument,” Vander Plaats says. Vander Plaats urged the crowd to “put principle over politics” and to greet “friends and neighbors” in the same building at a convention featuring Sanders with respect rather than scorn. “It’s two different world views,” Vander Plaats told reporters shortly before his event began, “but yet we can co-exist together.” Paula Friend of Des Moines says she came to the Family Leadership Summit “with an open mind.”

“I prepared by praying first because I really want everything that’s done or said to glorify God,” Friend said. Linda Michels of Zearing attended the other convention and she says the “separation” that’s going on in the country will be its “undoing.” “Peace is the answer and talking together is definitely the way to go,” Michels says. Long-time Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement organizer Hugh Espy delivered a similar message from the stage, arguing political action should be “firmly rooted in love.”

“But that doesn’t mean we’re not angry. It’s what we do with that anger that defines us,” Espy says. “And what we do with it is we turn it into powerful, inspiring, forward-thinking action — action that takes us to higher ground.” Sanders was on stage for more than an hour and used a good share of his time to critique what he called the “horrific” health care bill Republicans intend to bring up for a vote in the Senate next week.

“To Senator Grassley and Senator Ernst, please take a hard look at what this disastrous legislation will do to the people of Iowa and the people of Iowa and I say to them, I beg of them: ‘Please vote no,'” Sanders said, to cheers. Conway spoke at a private fundraiser for the Republican Party. One of the people at the event says Conway delivered a “very detailed” and “passionate” defense of the health care legislation. Neither Conway nor Sanders spoke with Iowa reporters while they were in the state on Saturday.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Midwest Sports News 7/16/15

Sports

July 16th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Royals pitcher Nate Karns will undergo surgery next week to remove a rib that’s causing nerve pain in his forearm. He will miss the remainder of the season, though he expects to be ready by the time spring training rolls around. The right-hander was placed on the disabled list May 24th while the Royals began trying to determine the source of his nerve discomfort.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Shin-Soo Choo flared a lazy fly ball down the left-field line with one out in the ninth inning, driving in the only run off Danny Duffy and giving the Texas Rangers a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. Texas won its 12th straight win over Kansas City dating to last July.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lance Lynn worked six and one third innings and added a rare run-scoring double at the plate as the St. Louis Cardinals cooled off the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 on Saturday night. Tommy Pham had three hits and an RBI for St. Louis. Matt Carpenter went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

NEW YORK (AP) — Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and John Isner will headline World TeamTennis, which begins its 42nd season on Sunday. Williams, who finished runner-up at Wimbledon on Saturday, will play her sixth season for the Washington Kastles. She’ll travel to Philadelphia to face the Freedoms on July 24th and be home for the Springfield (Missouri) Lasers on July 25th.

 

(Updated) 2 dead, 8 hurt in separate accidents in Iowa

News

July 16th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

(Updated 7/17) — Two separate accidents over the past few days, left a total of two people dead and seven more injured. The Iowa State Patrol says the latest happened at around 10:42-p.m. Saturday, in central Iowa’s Tama County. Officials say a 2010 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 74-year old David M. Keidel, of Cedar Falls, was traveling north on High 21 and entered a bridge construction zone, where the highway was reduced to one lane. A 2011 Cadillac DTS driven by 81-year old Donald G. Selken, of Vinton, was southbound on Highway 21 in the construction zone. The vehicles collided head-on.

Selken who wore a seat belt, died in the crash. Keidel, and a passenger in Selken’s car, 73-year old Lois M. Schmitt, of Vinton. were injured in the crash and transported by ambulance to Covenant Hospital. Both were wearing their seat belts. The accident remains under investigation.

The other accident happened at around 2:30-p.m. Friday, in southeast Iowa’ Van Buren County. The State Patrol says a 2005 Mercury Mariner SUV driven 26-year Mindy Rae Johnson, of Burlington, was eastbound on Highway 2, when it made contact with the gravel shoulder, causing Johnson to over-correct and lose control of SUV. The vehicle entered the north ditch and rolled into a corn field. Johnson died at the scene. An adult passenger, 36-year old April Irene Maul, of Burlington, and five children in the vehicle were injured. Two of them — a 3-year old and a 5-year old — were transported to the Van Buren County Hospital by ambulance. The other three children were eight years of age, each.

Iowa early News Headlines: Sunday, July 16th 2017

News

July 16th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:15 a.m. CDT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A deadly jail escape has prompted officials in a southwestern Iowa county to consider spending up to $200,000 to install body scanners that would be used on inmates when they enter the jail. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker tells The Daily Nonpareil that the scanners would be used to find contraband inmates try to smuggle into the county jail. It would be used as they enter the jail and for trips to and from the courthouse.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) — A former southern Iowa teacher has pleaded guilty to a felony count of sexual exploitation by a school employee. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that 61-year-old Alan Stewart, of Oskaloosa, pleaded guilty this week. He was charged in March after a report was filed of an inappropriate relationship he had with a student in 2015.

EXIRA, Iowa (AP) — A fire that started in a downtown bar has destroyed four businesses in the small western Iowa town of Exira (ex-ZYE’-ruh). The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that fire began early Friday morning in a two-story building housing Jerry’s Bar. The fire spread to nearby businesses, including a hardwood floor and decor store, a gift shop called Gabby’s and Crabby’s Place, and a building where a local psychologist lived. No one was injured.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — A Democratic congressman from Iowa has announced a $400,000 federal grant awarded to the Ottumwa Regional Airport. Rep. Dave Loebsack says the grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration. . The funding will be used for the reconstruction of 6,500 feet of the existing runway pavement that has reached the end of its useful life.