(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Tuesday afternoon, arrested a woman on Forgery and Theft charges. 36-year-old Alana Marie Johnson, of Red Oak, was arrested on four Felony counts of Forgery (Class-D Felony), and an Aggravated Misdemeanor charge of Theft in the 3rd Degree. Johnson was being held on a $5,000 cash bond.
(Iowa DNR) – Channel catfish move close to shore and are eager to bite in many lakes and the large reservoirs across Iowa just after the ice is gone. The bite starts sooner in southern Iowa impoundments since they lose ice a week or two before northwest Iowa natural lakes.
After eating light during the winter, channel catfish put the feed bag on in early spring cleaning up small fish that died over the winter. Search for actively feeding fish on windblown shorelines and points where dead fish are piled up and the shallow water warms quickly. Keep the wind in your face and move often until you find actively feeding fish.
Use cut bait or shad sides fished on the bottom. To keep the bait on the hook, try using a 1/0 to 3/0 bait holder hook and enough weight (3/8- to 1/2-ounce) to cast into the wind. Bring along disposable latex gloves to handle the bait and help keep the smell off your hands.
Ice-out catfishing can be good in any lake that has an abundant catfish population. Iowa’s flood control reservoirs, Rathbun, Red Rock, Coralville and Saylorville usually offer the best action. Try catfishing in the natural lakes, like Storm Lake, North Twin, Tuttle, East Okoboji, Little Wall Lake, or Black Hawk Lake in northwest Iowa soon after the ice is gone. Small impoundments, like Don Williams, Big Creek, Volga Lake, Diamond Lake, Mormon Trail Lake, Greenfield City Reservoir, or Lake Icaria, also offer good early spring catfishing.
Catfish can be found in almost every body of water across Iowa. Check the weekly fishing report to find out where catfish are biting.
Kellerton, Iowa – The first rhythmic and haunting cooing begins as the night sky fades and sunrise begins. The short grass prairie booming grounds prepares for a display found nowhere else in Iowa. This is prairie chicken country and April 1 will be Prairie Chicken Day at the Kellerton Wildlife Management Area, in Ringgold County. Activities originate from the viewing platform on 300th Avenue, southwest of Kellerton. The bird’s annual ritual begins as early as mid-March and lasts through April. Male prairie chickens meet at the booming grounds every morning to display, spar and fight with other males trying to catch the eye of the females watching nearby.
“They will be out there until 8 in the morning or so, when they begin to slow down,” said Stephanie Shepherd, wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Diversity Program. Prairie chickens will display each morning regardless of the weather. The area has an elevated viewing platform to help see all the action. “Some mornings you can hear them and some you can’t. They are out there every day, but are less active if it’s raining or really cloudy,” Shepherd said. While there will be some spotting scopes available to use, attendees are encouraged to bring their own or a set of binoculars.
The prairie chicken population at Kellerton has benefited from a collaboration between the states of Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, and the Nature Conservancy, Blank Park Zoo and the Ringgold County Conservation Board. The collaboration extended to area producers who help to manage 30 percent of the grasslands through grazing. Some of the partners captured and relocated prairie chickens from Nebraska to the Kellerton area and the Dunn Ranch in northern Missouri to increase bird numbers and introduce new genetics to the population. While others worked to reestablish the rolling grasslands in the area.
From mid-March through the end of May, male prairie chickens meet at the booming grounds every morning to display, spar and fight with other males trying to catch the eye of the females watching nearby. Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.
“There has been a lot of collaboration to improve the landscape across the state line to recreate 160,000 acres of rolling hills of grass with few trees,” Shepherd said. “This partnership benefits not only the prairie chicken, but other grassland species as well.” This year, in addition to prairie-chicken viewing, the Iowa Ornithologist’s Union will lead a birding field trip, starting at 8 a.m. All birding experience levels are welcome and the plan will be to bird around Kellerton, Ringgold and Mount Ayr wildlife areas. Target birds include northern bobwhite, red-shouldered hawk, loggerhead shrike and northern mockingbird.
Participants can meet field trip leaders at the prairie chicken viewing platform area at 8 a.m. and can direct any questions to Dennis Thompson at cndthomps@gmail.com.
DES MOINES, Iowa – The 2023 Iowa Archery in the Schools Program season culminated with the state tournament March 4-5 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, where nearly 1,800 archers competed for scholarships and awards in bullseye targets and 780 archers competed for scholarships and awards 3D targets.
Nationals Competition: Male and female archers that placed in the top 10 within their division as individuals, receive a guaranteed spot to participate in one of the national tournaments. Information on nationals qualification can be found at NASPschools.org. 
3D All-State Team (Highest League Score Combined with State Tournament Score)
Girls All-State
Boys All-State
Complete Tournament Results
Bullseye: NASP Tournaments
3D: NASP Tournaments
The state tournament was sponsored by the Iowa Bowhunters Association, Ducks Unlimited, Whitetails Unlimited, Safari Club International, Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
(Radio Iowa) – The National Weather Service predicts a wet spring in eastern Iowa and a rising Mississippi River, so the city of Davenport is preparing for the possibility of major flooding. In the Quad Cities, flood walls and levees hold the river back from Bettendorf, Rock Island and East Moline, but not Davenport. The city’s choice to live with the river means flooding and that requires preparation. Nicole Gleason is Davenport’s public works director. “Really, if you look at it on a large scale, we’re really flooding a minimal amount of time in the big picture,” Gleason says, “so, kind of balancing that long-term interaction with the short-term needs of flooding.”
The weather service says there’s a 50-percent chance of major flooding, which for Davenport is 18 feet. Gleason says that would require closing River Drive, diverting many commuters driving between Muscatine and Bettendorf. Gleason says the flooding is part of the balancing act for a town that chooses to live with the river, rather than walling it off. “Any time you’re setting up a temporary measure as opposed to a permanent measure, the goal is to maintain the river views,” she says, “to make sure that when we’re not flooding — which is the majority of the time — people can see the river, interact with the river, as opposed to putting up a permanent flood structure.”
City staff are practicing the deployment of flood barriers and pump stations and the city is urging residents to visit the city’s website to sign up for alerts and get more information. Gleason says as waters rise, the city uses a combination of HESCO flood barriers and pump stations to limit damage.
(by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)
IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa men’s basketball junior Kris Murray is one of five players voted to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 7 First Team and United States Basketball Writers Association’s (USBWA) All-District VI squad on Tuesday. The all-district honors are voted on by NCAA Division I coaches and USBWA’s national membership.
Murray, who is a semifinalist for the Wooden, Oscar Robertson and Lute Olson national player of the year awards and a finalist for the Karl Malone Award, was last week recognized as a third team All-American by Sporting News and a first-team All-Big Ten honoree.
Murray is averaging a team-best 20.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per outing. He is the only Division I player to average 20+ points, 7.5+ rebounds, one block, and have made 60+ 3-pointers this season.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native has scored 30+ points four times this season, 25+ points nine times, and 20+ points 15 times.
Murray and the Hawkeyes (19-13) return to action on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be televised nationally on TNT and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.
AMES, Iowa –Iowa State guard Gabe Kalscheur has earned a spot on the NABC All-District 8 Second Team after averaging 12.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Cyclones this year.
Kalscheur, a senior from Edina, Minn., earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Big 12 Defensive Team last week. Kalscheur has started the last 21 games for the Cyclones, scoring in double figures in 20 of 32 games played this year. He scored a season-high 26 points against West Virginia in his final game at Hilton Coliseum.
Iowa State returns to action on Friday, facing either Pitt or Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. (CT) on truTV in Greensboro, N.C.
NABC All-District 8 First Team
Marcus Carr, Texas
Adam Flagler, Baylor
Keyontae Johnson, Kansas State
Marquis Nowell, Kansas State
Jalen Wilson, Kansas
NABC All-District 8 Second Team
Timmy Allen, Texas
Gradey Dick, Kansas
Keyonte George, Baylor
Gabe Kalscheur, Iowa State
Mike Miles Jr., TCU
Coach of the Year: Jerome Tang, Kansas State
[7-a.m. News] (Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report two arrests. At around 12:26-a.m. today (Wednesday), 49-year old Allison Loy Dunphy, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. She later posted at $1,000 cash bond and was released. And, at around 3:20-p.m. Tuesday, 40-year-old Michael David Brandt, of Creston, was arrested at his residence. Brandt was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault 3rd. Brandt was taken to Union County Jail. He was being held without bond until seen by the magistrate.
AUDRIE L. WEDE, 86, of Audubon, died Monday, March 13, 2023, at the Friendship Home, in Audubon. Services for AUDRIE WEDE will be held 11-a.m. Thursday, March 16th, at the Gray United Methodist Church (Gray, IA). Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon has the arrangements.
Friends may call at the funeral home, where the family will greet friends on Wed., March 15, 2023, from 5-until 7-p.m.
Burial is in the Valley View Cemetery, near Persia.
AUDRIE WEDE is survived by:
Her son – Mike (Linda) Wede, of Gray.
Her daughters – Lisa (and friend Jeff Moreland), of Audubon, and Sue Wede, of Gray.
11 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren; her brother-in-law Alfred and wife Genevieve Wede of Atlantic, other relatives and friends.
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