The Extra-EHK Spartans Girls Basketball team dominated in the second half in their regional semifinal matchup vs CAM to win 55-31. At halftime it was just a 7 point game, but the pace of play that the Spartans play with became too much for the Cougars to handle. Taryn Petersen was the engine behind the Extra-EHK offense on Friday night. She tied Jaelynn Petersen for a game high scoring total of 14. The Spartans turned a 7 point halftime lead into a 24 point win. They crashed the offensive glass in the second half and locked down defensively to lead them to another Regional Final appearance.

In the first half, CAM was really able to hang around with the Spartans who had every advantage on paper. CAM ran their offense through Ada Hanson as they have done all season. She put in 8 of the Cougars 19 first half points, but it was apparent that if they wanted to make a full comeback, they would need to rely on other scorers as well. For the Spartans, the first half was defined by their ability to completely shut down the Cougars offense. They seemed to jump in every passing lane and were running down the court every chance they could get. On offense, the Spartans didn’t necessarily look like themselves, but they were getting a lot of open shots that just weren’t falling. The Spartans were setting the pace and it was just a matter of time before they got their shots to fall. Jaelynn Petersen led all first half scoring with 10.

It didn’t take long into the second half for Extra-EHK to heat up. 4 of their 18 3rd quarter points came within the first 30 seconds of the game. It really was the third quarter where the Spartans separated themselves from CAM. They outscored the Cougars 18-12 in the third quarter to make it a 13 point ballgame heading into the final period. One of the things that stood out was Harlow Miller’s ability to grab offensive rebounds in the second half. She lived on the offensive glass and opened up many opportunities to extend their lead. Zoey Rasmussen was huge for Extra-EHK’s effort to pull away, hitting four three pointers on the day. It seemed as if they were drawing plays up specifically to get her open in the corner. It was the third quarter that it felt like the Spartans were able to pull away. The fourth quarter was essentially time for the Spartans to drain a ton of clock. It was a complete team effort on Friday night with three girls finishing in double digits. Head coach Tom Petersen credits his girls for their efforts and for what another regional final appearance means to them.

With CAM hanging around in the second half, Coach Petersen made multiple key adjustments at the half to turn the tide in favor of his Spartans:

Coach Petersen knew to trust Taryn Petersen on the offensive end:

Harlow Miller made an incredible impact in the second half:

Coach Petersen’s mindset heading into the regional final:

The Extra-EHK Spartans have a showdown set against the GTRA Titans on Wednesday, February 25th. A trip to the state tournament is on the line with tipoff scheduled for 7pm.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the U-S Supreme Court has provided SOME clarity on the extent of the president’s power to impose tariffs. “I have said repeatedly congress needs to reassert its role (to) regulate interstate and foreign commerce,” Grassley said. Today’s (Friday’s) decision was silent on whether refunds must be issued, however, and there are likely to be separate rulings on that issue.

Grassley says Trump is a skilled negotiator and he’s urging Trump to continue making trade deals. “And while the president’s doing that, to work with congress to secure long term enforcement measures to provide broad market opportunities for farmers and businesses,” Grassley said. After Grassley spoke with reporters on his weekly conference call, Trump announced he would impose a temporary 10 percent worldwide tariff under a law that’s different from the one addressed in the Supreme Court ruling.

Ryan Marquardt, who raises cattle in Madison County, spoke during an online news conference organized by the Iowa Democratic Party.  “It’s kind of his thing it tariffs and it’s kind of the only thing he’s tried to run on,” Marquardt said, “and it hasn’t done much for us at all.” Berleen Wobeter and her husband raise corn, soybeans and cattle in Tama County. “Tariffs are a tool, so they can be used sometimes,” Grassley said. “A trade deficit is not necessarily a huge problem and he just has his own take on all this.”

Senator Grassley was a member of the U.S. House in 1977 when congress passed the law on tariffs Trump had been using, but Trump’s new round of tariffs are based on a law passed three years earlier. Last April, Grassley proposed a new law that would see any new tariffs imposed by a president expire if congress didn’t approve of the tariffs within 60 days. “And remember, congress always has to work with the president to get things done,” Grassley said. “I look forward to a cooperative working relationship with the president as we move forward.”

No other member of Iowa’s congressional delegation has commented publicly on today’s (Friday’s) Supreme Court decision. Zach Wahls and Josh Turek — the two Iowa Democrats running for the U-S Senate — says Trump’s tariffs have caused chaos for Iowa farmers, businesses and consumers and Congresswoman Ashley Hinson has failed to push back against Trump’s actions. Hinson is the leading Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Rob Sand, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, points to a recent report from the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee that found the average Iowa family has paid 13-hundred dollars in higher costs due to tariffs.

The Atlantic Trojans Boys Basketball team has wrapped up their regular season and are preparing for their first round matchup with Sergeant Bluff-Luton. Atlantic finished the season with a 6-15 record, winning a pair of games in their final five matchups. They are led in scoring by seniors Gavin McLaren (14 ppg) and Kale Jensen (12 ppg). Head coach Dalton Franken wants his team to play strong in the paint, which can benefit their outside shooting.

Gavin McLaren has been a strong leader all season:

Kale Jensen has also stood out to Coach Franken in how he leads his teammates:

Coach Franken wants his guys to play a certain type of basketball once the postseason begins:

The Atlantic Trojans begin the district tournament when they travel to Sergeant Bluff-Luton on Monday, February 23rd. Tipoff scheduled for 7pm.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-O-T is working to clear off state roadways following the snowstorm that moved across the state Thursday. Winter Operations director Craig Bargfrede says the timing of the storm created issues for crews. “The storm coming in late afternoon into the evening hours last night. It was a heavier, wetter snow, really slushy, and then there’s the normal issues with traffic,” he says. Bargfrede says temperatures dropped down into the teens, which added another variable to the work.

“Along with the type of snow, wet, heavy, slushy snow that we got, it froze up and so our treatment strategies, obviously salt is not as effective when we get down into those temperatures. So we’re doing a lot of scraping and a lot of plowing and treating as we can,” he says. “The best thing is the sun is out, so hopefully we can get some power from the sun to help us in doing some of the melting.” Bargfrede says the snow was heavy along the main storm path.

“If you draw a diagonal, basically from the Council Bluffs area going through Ames up to the Waterloo area, up to Decorah, that whole corridor, that line is still 100 percent snow and ice covered,” Bargfrede says. “And so that’s the area as well that got the heaviest amounts of snow. We’ve been getting reports of anywhere from six to eight plus inches and and even higher that in certain segments or certain areas.”

The National Weather Service has reports of ten to 15 inches of snow in north-central Iowa. Bargfrede says there are some towing bans in central Iowa, while the northwestern and southeastern corners of the state have normal winter conditions. He says clear skies should help them clear off the ice and snow. “As the sun gets out, hopefully we can use between the sun and the treatment that we put out there, we’ll be able to break through and get us back down to a bare pavement fairly quickly,” he says.

Bargfrede says another frustration is drivers not adjusting to the conditions. Bargfrede says another frustration is drivers not adjusting to the conditions. He says around the Council Bluffs area yesterday evening there where multiple cars and semis were involved accidents, he says were brought on by people traveling too fast for the conditions. Bargfrede says some plow trucks got hit as they worked across the state.

“Travelers just basically drive right into the back of our trucks, not slowing down and not really paying attention. So they’re driving distracted, they’re not realizing that they’re closing on our Iowa D-O-T plow truck as quickly as they are. And the video tells it all. I mean, you can just see the vehicle just drive right into the back of us,” Bargfrede says.

Bargfrede says drivers need to get back into safe winter driving mode and slow down whenever conditions change.

(Radio Iowa) – The city of Rock Valley and the Rock Valley Community School District are receiving millions of dollars in FEMA reimbursements nearly 20 months after devastating flooding. The City of Rock Valley has been approved for more than three-point-seven (3.7) million dollars. City Administrator Tom Van Maanen calls it “very, very positive news,” but says the recovery effort is still ongoing. “We’re far from done,” he says. The city currently has roughly 25 separate FEMA applications tied to flood recovery.

“With these getting signed off, we’re probably have resolved 15 of the 25, but money-wise, it’s probably about a third of our total requests into FEMA. But we have some big applications still working through with FEMA,” Van Maanen says. The funding reimburses the city for money already spent to replace equipment lost at the city shop, complete water and sewer work for displaced residents, and lease temporary spaces for city facilities.

Van Maanen says the money will be used to retire debt the city had to take on while waiting for federal approvals. The city has paid roughly one million dollars in interest while waiting for FEMA funding. Several large projects are still pending, including the reconstruction of the library and city shop, and a proposed 35 million-dollar home buyout program. FEMA says additional projects will continue to be reviewed and funded on a rolling basis.

This funding was part of a broader FEMA approval announced this week that included disaster recovery dollars for other communities in Iowa and Nebraska. The Rock Valley Community School District is receiving more than five-point-seven (5.7) million dollars for building repairs tied to the flood.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board approved the first awards today (Friday) for the state’s new Business Incentives for Growth or BIG program. Department of Economic Development spokesperson Kanan Kappelman says projects Bettendorf, Bondurant, Hiawatha, Vinton and Waverly are getting awards. “In total, the awards for these five companies will assist in the creation of 536 jobs and will result in close to 270 million dollars in new capital investment for the state,” she says.

Kappelman says they companies can use the money in several different ways.”Projects that modernize their facilities, include expansions, relocation of operations to Iowa. So it runs the gamut, but they need to fulfill their contractual obligations in order to receive the tax benefits,” she says. She says some of the companies that have been in Iowa for decades.

“And these companies include, of course, Arconic and Vermeer, truly legacy companies and we see their expansion projects are definitely a very positive reflection of Iowa’s advanced manufacturing industry,” Kappelman says. Arconic is going to build a new aluminum casting complex at its Davenport Works facility in Bettendorf, increasing its capacity to process and recycle aluminum into ingots used to make sheet and plate products. The 131 million dollars capital investment is expected to create 40 jobs.

Vermeer Corp. to build new production facility in Bondurant Vermeer is based in Pella and makes agricultural and industrial equipment and plans to develop a 300-thousand-square-foot production facility in Bondurant. The nearly 103 million-dollars capital investment is expected to create 182 jobs CCB Packaging in Hiawatha plans to add automated production line for packaging it provides to food and pharmaceutical companies. The 13 million-dollar capital investment is expected to create nine jobs. Two companies are receiving awards to bring business to Iowa.

“Sewer and Revolution Concrete Mixers, companies that are seeking new investment in Iowa. And so it’s really a great mix of companies,” she says. Sewer Equipment Company of America in Illinois plans to purchase a facility in Iowa to manufacture its sewer cleaning and vacuum equipment components. The three million dollars capital investment is expected to create 30 jobs.

Revolution Concrete Mixers in Minnesota will purchase an existing facility in Waverly and install approximately eight million dollars in equipment to establish new production and assembly operations. The 18 million-dollars capital investment is expected to create 275 jobs. Kappelman says many of the new jobs in the program will be paying top dollar. That includes Arconic.

“They are set to create 40 jobs incented at a qualifying wage of 28 dollars, 46 cents per hour. Vermeer also looking to create jobs 182 in total, 62 of which are incented at a qualifying wage of 35 dollars and 11 cents per hour,” she says. The BIG program was created last month.

(Radio Iowa) – Dozens of people calling for state action on water quality rallied at the statehouse Thursday. Alison Barnhill of Huxley, is a member of Food and Water Watch. “I’m here for two groups that can’t be here today, who can’t speak up for themselves,” she said. “And one is my sister and all the other people like her who are ravaged by chemotherapy and radiation and are too immuno-suppressed to be here.” Participants placed flowers on a table in the rotunda in honor of Iowans who’ve died of cancer.

Jen Sinkler, a communications organizer with Progress Iowa, told the crowd her mom just completed treatment for her second type of cancer. “Even though she is now dealing with permanent alterations to her daily life, she’s going to be O.K.,” Sinkler said, “But we are not O.K.”

Sinkler and others at the rally called on House members to oppose a bill that would shield the makers of Roundup from lawsuits that claim the company failed to warn consumers of health risks, as long as the pesticide’s label follows federal guidelines. The bill passed the Iowa Senate last year.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa county is still struggling to get federal dollars to make repairs after flooding in 2018 and ’19. FEMA initially offered four-and-a-half million dollars to restore the Linn Grove Dam and a nearby park in Buena Vista County. The agency later offered seven-and-a-half million, then pulled all funding, though it was restored through arbitration. County conservation director Greg Johnson says the latest offer still isn’t enough money to repair the dam and popular fishing spot. “We as a community just want to move forward and make the repairs that are needed to protect the property into the future,” Johnson says.

“We’re sitting here six, seven years later, and it would be really nice to get this project completed.” In 2022, it was estimated the project would cost more than 12-million dollars, while Johnson says it’s likely higher today. At one point, FEMA claimed the project wasn’t eligible for any funding, but Johnson says both sides went through arbitration with the Civilian Board of Public Appeals. “We had the CBPA ruling deeming the dam as an eligible project a year ago, the expectations that it would be scoped to today’s, 2025 costs, and that’s not what had happened,” he says.

County officials have until April 1st to appeal FEMA’s most recent offer, and Johnson says that -will- likely happen.

(Radio Iowa) – A relief fund has been set up for members of the Iowa Lakes Community College Baseball team and their families. One player was killed and a dozen other players were hospitalized when a bus carrying the team and coaches crashed February 11th. Estherville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lexie Ruter says the chamber has set up an account for donations and will send the money to the college to distribute.

Ruter says it may be used to help cover families’ travel costs to get to the 12 players who were hospitalized or to attend the funeral for Carter Johnson, the 19-year-old outfielder who was killed in the crash.

Johnson’s funeral was held Wednesday in Rapid City, South Dakota. There’s a link on the Iowa Lakes Community College website to make donations.