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Grassley on: Jackson nomination vote, Ginni Thomas’ texts

News

March 29th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Several U-S senators have already declared how they’ll vote on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the U-S Supreme Court, but Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s not yet ready to commit one way or the other. “No, and I don’t think I’ll announce it until next Monday when we have a committee meeting,” Grassley says. “I might make up my mind before then but right now I’m going through the — I don’t know — 35 to 40 hours the hearing went on, through the records, because I had other committee meetings and couldn’t be there for all of it.”

Grassley says he and members of his party asked “tough, thorough” questions of Jackson and conducted a “fair” hearing, though he remains unhappy the Judiciary Committee didn’t have access to all of her non-public documents. “We’re still, as Republicans, some documents we’re trying to get,” Grassley says. “We may not get them but we’re not going to hold up the nomination from going forward just for that reason but I’m sure that most people are going through the same process I am.”

The Judiciary Committee has a vote on Jackson scheduled for Monday. As yet, there are no Democrats who have indicated they’ll oppose Jackson’s nomination, while no Republicans have yet said they would support her.
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Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he has no worries about Justice Clarence Thomas and any possible cases that may come before the U-S Supreme Court regarding the January 6th riot. Several agencies report Thomas’ wife, Ginni, exchanged more than two dozen texts with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about efforts to overturn the election.  “I think a wife has a right to have her own personal views on anything she wants to have them on,” Grassley says. “I mean, I don’t want to tell Mrs. Grassley what she can say or not say.”

Grassley, a Republican, says Justice Thomas is “a person of integrity” and it’s Thomas alone who should decide if he should recuse himself from any future proceedings. “It’s pretty well established in the Supreme Court that each justice themselves make a determination for recusal,” Grassley says, “and it’s worked this way for 240 years and that’s the way it’s going to have to work now.”

In the past, Ginni Thomas has said there is no conflict of interest between her husband’s position and her conservative activism.

ISU’s Tre Jackson enters transfer portal

Sports

March 29th, 2022 by admin

Iowa State backup point guard Tre Jackson has entered the transfer portal. Jackson averaged 3.7 points this season for the Cyclones, averaging 12.8 minutes in 28 games.

Jackson’s playing time was up and down this season but he was part of the rotation during the Cyclones NCAA Tournament run. Jackson appeared in 74 games over three seasons at Iowa State.

The 6-foot guard from Columbia, SC will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Cardinals and Albert Pujols reunited

Sports

March 29th, 2022 by admin

ST. LOUIS, MO., March 28, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have reached an agreement with Albert Pujols on a one-year contract for 2022, re-uniting the franchise with one of its most decorated players of all-time.  Pujols, 42, was drafted by St. Louis in 1999 (13th round) and played his first 11 seasons with the Cardinals, nine of those as a National League All-Star.

“We are pleased and excited to have Albert return to the Cardinals for the upcoming season,” stated Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr.  “This reunion with Albert is a wonderful opportunity for not only him and the Cardinals, but also for our great fans, the St. Louis community, our players and staff, and everyone connected to the St. Louis Cardinals organization.  “We look forward to seeing Albert in the “Birds on the Bat” once again, and wearing his familiar uniform number 5.”

A member of the Cardinals 2006 and 2011 World Series Champions, Pujols compiled a .328 batting mark, 445 home runs and 1,329 RBI in his 11 seasons (2001-11) with the Cardinals, earning National League MVP honors in 2005, 2008 and 2009.

“Seldom does one get to share in watching or being a part of ‘living’ history,” said Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak.  “From the day we called Albert’s name in the draft room back in 1999, to now, as we set our sights on 2022, this reunion just makes sense in so many ways.  We are all looking forward to reuniting Albert with his Cardinals family, and for the fan in all of us, including myself, this feels like looking through the pages of a favorite scrapbook or baseball card album and seeing those images and memories jump off the pages.”

Pujols currently ranks among the top-10 in Major League Baseball’s all-time career leaders in RBI (2,150, 3rd), home runs (679, 5th), doubles (672, 5th), extra base hits (1,367, 4th), total bases (6,042, 4th) and  at-bats (11,114, 8th) and his 3,301 career hits rank 12th.

In his 11 seasons with the Cardinals, “El Hombre” posted franchise career top-10 totals for slugging pct. (.617, 1st), on-base pct. (.420, 2nd) home runs (445, 2nd), RBI (1,329, 2nd), doubles (455, 2nd), walks (975, 2nd), games (1,705, 8th), runs (1,291, 3rd) and batting average (.328, 6th).

Albert is a 10-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger, two-time Rawlings Gold Glover, 2001 N.L. Rookie of the Year, 2004 N.L. National League Championship Series MVP, 2003 National League batting champion (.359), and 2008 Roberto Clemente Award honoree.

Pujols led the National League in runs scored five times, hits once (212 in 2003), home runs twice, and RBI once (118 in 2010).   He holds the 2000s decade (2000-09) National League “Triple Crown” for batting (.334), home runs (366) and RBI (1,112) despite the fact he didn’t debut until 2001.

Pujols has appeared in 74 career postseason games for the Cardinals, hitting a franchise postseason record 18 home runs with 52 RBI, including a World Series record-tying 3 HR’s in Game 3 of the 2011 Fall Classic.

Pujols ranks among the all-time Busch Stadium III leaders in games played (462, 5th), home runs (112, 1st), RBI (358, 2nd), runs scored (314, 3rd) and hits (544, 2rd).

The St. Louis fan-favorite spent the 2012-21 seasons in Los Angeles with the Angels and Dodgers, earning an All-Star selection in 2015 with the Halos.  Pujols had six seasons with 20 or more homers for the Angels and four 100-plus RBI seasons.   He batted .254 with 12 HR’s and 38 RBI in 85 games with the Dodgers last season, and hit .294 with 13 HR’s and 34 RBI with a .939 OPS in his 146 plate appearances versus left-handed pitching in 2021.

Pujols will wear his iconic uniform no. 5, which the team never re-issued after its 2011 World Series Championship season.

Frederickson Memorial Fund donates to ACSD Archery Program

News

March 29th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund has donated a set of 3D shooting targets to the Atlantic Community Schools’ archery program.  The program which continues to grow each year offers students in 6th through 12th grade the opportunity to shoot at both bullseye and 3D tournaments.  This year the Atlantic High School became the State Champions and several students from both the middle school and high school division will be traveling to Salt Lake City, UT at the end of April to compete in the NASP Western Nationals.

Frederickson Fund spokesperson Melanie Petty (Trevor’s mom), said “We look forward to watching this group continue to grow in the sport for years to come.”

Pictured: Grant Petty and Coach Clint Roland (Photo & info. courtesy Melanie Petty)

Heartbeat Today 3-29-2022

Heartbeat Today, Podcasts

March 29th, 2022 by Jim Field

Jim Field visits with Paige Jensen about her role as Cass County Pork Queen.

Play

2 Cass County men set to graduate from the Iowa DPS Basic Academy

News

March 29th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Johnston, Iowa) – Two law enforcement officers from Cass County are set to graduate Friday morning from the 46th DPS (Dept. of Public Safety) Basic Academy. The ceremony for recruits takes place in Johnston. According to Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla, for the past 10-weeks, the 17 recruits – including Dustin Gelner and Tyler Shiels, from Cass County – have completed courses on the laws of arrest, search and seizure, defensive tactics, arrest techniques, precision driving, firearms, emergency management services, criminal law, human relations, physical fitness, human trafficking, motor vehicle law and many other law enforcement-related courses.

Following graduation, Dustin Gelner, a former Atlantic Police Officer, and Tyler Shiels, formerly with the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, will both become members of the Iowa State Patrol.

Guests speaker for the ceremony is IDPS Commissioner Stephen K. Bayens. The event is open to family members of the recruits.

High School Track Scoreboard 03-28-2022

Sports

March 29th, 2022 by admin

GIRLS TRACK

Bondurant-Farrar Invitational

Creston finished 7th with 38 points and Winterset was 3rd with 108. Creston’s Brianna Fields went 5th in the Shot Put and 3rd in the Discus.

BOYS TRACK

Creston finished 5th with 82 points and Winterset was 4th. Creston’s top finishes were a win by Brandon Bailey in the 800M, 5th place run for Casen Dryden in the 200M, Jayden Pettegrew was 5th in the 400M and 3rd in the 400M Hurdles. The Panthers were 3rd in the 4x200M, 2nd in the 4x400M and 4x800M,

High School Golf Scoreboard 03-28-2022

Sports

March 29th, 2022 by admin

Girls Golf

St. Albert 213, Logan-Magnolia 235, Tri-Center 245
Medalist: Lainey Sheffield, St. Albert, 49
Runner-Up: Alexis Narmi, St Albert 53

Boys Golf

Tri-Center 202, St. Albert 222
Medalist: Grant Way, Tri-Center, 43
Runner-Up: Jaxon Johnson, Tri-Center, 50

High School Soccer Scoreboard 03-28-2022

Sports

March 29th, 2022 by admin

Girls Soccer

Glenwood 3, Sioux City West 1
Lewis Central 10, Sergeant Bluff-Luton 0
Tri-Center3, Harlan 1

Boys Soccer

Riverside 3, Atlantic 2 OT (R: Rhett Bentley 2 goals, Mikey Casson game-winner in 2nd OT. A: Gershon Segura and Tristan Mathisen each had a goal.)

ISU class teaches beer brewing

News

March 29th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – There are some students at Iowa State University who can actually say beer is helping them get their degree. I-S-U professor Robert Brown has been brewing beer on his own for years and was approached by the Center for Crops Utilization Research to develop a class on the subject.  “So I scrambled working with the folks that approve courses at Iowa State and got it approved last November, and here we are teaching it,” Brown says. He got help from an I-S-U Alum who donated brewing equipment his company makes to get them going, and the crop center found space for the brewing lab.

“The students get a lecture once a week, and then they spend the whole afternoon in the laboratory,” Brown says. “And they are introduced to different kinds of equipment appropriate to whether it’s home brewing they are interested — or to look at commercial brewing of beer.” He admits some people question a beer brewing course on campus — but he says there’s a lot to it. “The course is called the science and practice of brewing. And I put science first because the students are asked to reach back to what they learned their freshman and sophomore years in chemistry and biology and microbiology, and things that they learned — especially those who are engineers — to heat transfer, thermal dynamics, and apply that to the brewing of the beers,” according to Brown.

Robert C. Brown (left) works alongside Jessica Brown (no relation) while brewing their Capsaicin Sour ale. (2021 photo via ISU Engineering News)

He says you can’t just throw the ingredients together and expect to get a good beer. It takes some time. “Working out how much grain and how much water to work into it,” he says. “So it really is for many of them I think a culmination of their studies at the university — whether it was food science or mechanical engineering.” Brown says the industry has changed so much in the last several years and there’s more happening now as well. “There’s talk about hard seltzers for example and non-alcoholic beers, so there’s a revolution that’s technology driven,” he says.

Brown says the talk also centers on whether to brew large batches of beer you can market nationwide, or focus on smaller batches to be sold locally. Students in the class do have to be 21. Brown says he takes a team approach to the brewing process. There are five students assigned to each of the four identical brew stations, and sometimes they are trying to determine if one brew was better than the other with the same recipe.

He started the brewing class in January and says the batches of beer have been improving.