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Changes to PPP could help farmers, other ag industry worker

Ag/Outdoor, News

February 19th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Changes members of Congress made to the Paycheck Protection Program could mean bigger payments to Iowa farmers who’ve seen their operations hurt by the pandemic. Iowa Farmers Union president Aaron Lehman says those tweaks to the program were much-needed.

Lehman says, “Our folks out in the field have really struggled just to tighten their belts and make ends meet and the pandemic caused all sorts of trouble, up and down the line, for farmers and for people involved in all aspects of our food system.” Under recent P-P-P provisions, Lehman says that money won’t be taxed as income and won’t affect any deductions farmers may take.

Lehman says federal aid is critical for agriculture, especially since farmers and ranchers have a long road to economic recovery following the pandemic.

Farmers and small businesses can apply for P-P-P loans through their traditional lenders such as banks and farm credit institutions.

Class 1-A State Wrestling Semi-Finals & 3rd Round Consolation Results

Sports

February 19th, 2021 by Jim Field

SEMI-FINALS

106

  • Eli Becerra (Missouri Valley) beat Kendrick Huck (Nashua-Plainfield) DECISION 2-0

120

  • Brandon Paez (Lisbon) beat Jace Rose (Riverside) DECISION 6-4

126

  • Stevie Barnes (Underwood) beat Beau Klingensmith (Woodbury Central) DECISION 4-2

132

  • Gable Porter (Underwood) beat Hagen Heistand (Logan-Magnolia) UTB 5-5

138

  • Wyatt Reisz (Logan-Magnolia) beat Cullen Koedam (West Sioux)  DECISION 3-2

152

  • Briar Reisz (Logan-Magnolia) beat Lawson Losee (Riceville) DECISION 3-1 (SV-1)

170

  • Cade Tenold (Don Bosco) beat Cael McLaren (St. Albert) TECH FALL 5:33 (18-2)

220

  • Derek Anderson (Hinton) beat Tallen Myers (Southwest Valley) DECISION 1-0

285

  • Rex Johnsen (Logan-Magnolia) beat Dane Johnson (Pocahontas Area) DECISION 7-6

3rd ROUND CONSOLATION

113

  • Dawson Bergan (Edgewood-Colesburg) beat John Schroder (Riverside) DECISION 8-3

120

  • Kellen Smith (West Hancock) beat Elliot Cooney (Nodaway Valley) FALL 2:32

160

  • Kole Reis (Kingsley-Pierson) beat Gavin Maguire (Logan-Magnolia) DECISION 7-2

285

  • Matthew Kauffman (Pleasantville) beat Easton Eledge (Underwood) DECISION 4-3

Class 2-A State Wrestling Quarter-Finals & 2nd Round Consolation Results

Sports

February 19th, 2021 by Jim Field

QUARTER-FINALS

106

  • Gavin Jensen (Williamsburg) beat Vincent Mayberry (Glenwood) DECISION 10-8

126

  • Joe Weaver (Atlantic/CAM) beat Ty Koedam (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) DECISION 2-1

132

  • Averee Abben (Osage) beat Triston Barncastle (Creston/O-M) FALL 3:44

160

  • Wyatt Appleseth (Panorama) beat Gabriel Christensen (Ballard) MAJOR DECISION 13-2

170

  • Jared Voss (West Delaware) beat Kadin Stutzman (Atlantic/CAM) FALL 3:03

195

  • Jackson Kinsella (Creston/O-M) beat Jesse Schwery (Harlan) FALL 1:28

220

  • Crew Howard (Clarinda) beat Gage Marty (Solon) DECISION 4-2

2nd ROUND CONSOLATION

106

  • Jacob Zabka (Algona) beat Vincent Mayberry (Glenwood) FALL 3:24

113

  • Osvaldo Ocampo (Sheldon-S. O`Brien) beat Luke Freund (Harlan) DECISION 9-8

120

  • Ethan Follmann (Atlantic/CAM) beat Kayden Gryp (Williamsburg) DECISION 3-2
  • Matthew Beem (Glenwood) beat Donovan Morales (Central Lyon-G-LR) FALL 3:04

126

  • Luke Musich (Harlan) beat Ty Koedam (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) DECISION 3-2

132

  • Triston Barncastle (Creston/O-M) beat Hunter Steffans (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) FALL 2:23

138

  • Michael Macias (Assumption, Davenport) beat Shea Parkis (Kuemper Catholic) DECISION 3-1

152

  • Zander Ernst (Ridge View) beat Kaden Bolton (Creston/O-M) DECISION 9-2

170

  • Colin Muller (Osage) beat Kadin Stutzman (Atlantic/CAM) FALL 3:36

195

  • Brayden Smith (South Tama County) beat Jesse Schwery (Harlan) DECISION 5-4

Former Cyclone Deon Broomfield named Safeties Coach

Sports

February 19th, 2021 by admin

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell announced today that Deon Broomfield, a former standout for the Cyclones in the defensive secondary (2010-13), who already has five years of collegiate coaching experience, has been added to the staff as safeties coach.

“Deon is a person we have paid close attention to as he has moved up the coaching ranks,” Campbell said. “He is an energetic coach who will fit perfectly among our staff. He has a proven record of developing talent in the secondary and we are excited to have him return to his alma mater.”

Broomfield spent a season (2020) as a defensive assistant with the Houston Texans prior to his return to Ames.

From 2017-19, Broomfield mentored the cornerbacks at Indiana State. Rondale Green was an All-MVC performer and Kaelb Newman ranked second in the MVFC and ninth nationally in forced fumbles (3) under his watch.

He was the cornerbacks coach at Western Illinois in 2016 and the safeties coach at Carthage College (Wis.) in 2015.

Broomfield was a standout defensive back for the Cyclones from 2010-13, tallying 133 tackles, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, 16 pass breakups and three interceptions in his career.

He started 18 games in his career, including all 12 games in his senior season in 2013. He was fourth on the team in tackles (57) and led the team in pass breakups (6) in his final campaign.

Broomfield is remembered for two significant plays in his Cyclone career. In Iowa State’s upset win over No. 2 Oklahoma State in 2011, Broomfield made the key third-down stop to force the Cowboys into a missed field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter. He also had a key interception in the second OT. ISU eventually won the game, the school’s only victory over a team ranked in the top-two nationally, in double overtime.

In his senior season, Iowa State staged its largest comeback in school history (24 points) in a 52-44 triple overtime win at West Virginia. Broomfield made the final tackle of the game, stopping the Mountaineer two yards short of the goal line on fourth down.

The Palm Bay, Fla., native earned his degree from Iowa State in 2013 and was a member of the Buffalo Bills practice squad in 2014.

Iowa regents consider plan to replace UNI-Dome fabric roof

News, Sports

February 19th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — More than 20 years after it was installed, the University of Northern Iowa plans to replace the UNI-Dome’s fabric roof. The Courier reports that the estimated $7 million to $8 million project was advanced by the Iowa Board of Regents’ property and facilities committee earlier this week. Regents are expected to approve the plan at a meeting Wednesday.

Michael Hager with UNI told the committee that the project would replace only the fabric center portion of the roof. The rest of the roof is a plastic polymer that was installed in 2010 and is under warranty until 2040. The fabric portion, which was last replaced in 1999, was found to be deteriorating in 2019.

 

Cass County Master Gardener Honored with State Award: volunteer donated over 400 hours of time in 2020

Ag/Outdoor, News

February 19th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Cass County Master Gardener, Todd Turner, was honored by the Iowa Master Gardener Program as an Outstanding Master Gardener for the 2020 Year.  Todd was one of 15 honorees statewide this year.  The award is given to Master Gardeners who have invested more than 400 hours of volunteer time in a year.

Todd Turner and his wife pose in their garden in summer of 2020 (Photo submitted)

The Cass County Master Gardener group has members in many surrounding counties and Todd spent the majority of his volunteer hours working on food donation gardening and local food distribution events. He helped expand the LiveWell Montgomery County Giving Garden, and facilitated donations to 4 food pantries in Red Oak and 1 food pantry in Elliott. In addition to his home garden which is 7500 sq. ft., and the Giving Garden, he also helps with a produce garden at the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital.  Excess produce from Todd’s garden was also donated to the Grow Another Row project and other pantries in Cass County. These donations amounted to 2500 lbs. of fresh produce in 2020. In addition to growing many varieties of vegetables, Todd also enjoys growing unusual varieties, often bringing them to meetings to quiz the members on what he has brought.

Todd is not the only Cass County Master Gardener to be honored by the state program in recent years. In 2016 LaVon Eblen was also recognized as an Outstanding Master Gardener for investing over 400 volunteer hours in the Master Gardener program for the year. In 2019 LaVon was also recognized for over 1000 total hours volunteered as a Master Gardener in Cass County with the Lifetime Service Award.

LaVon Eblen is awarded the Lifetime Master Gardener Award by Extension Director Kate Olson

In total, during the 2020 growing year, Cass County Master Gardeners volunteered over 1,000 hours of service. The Master Gardener Program, offered statewide by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, trains volunteers to develop their knowledge and skills in horticulture. These volunteers then give back to their communities through gardening service and education. The goal of the Master Gardener program is to support horticulture education and community service.  Local Master Gardeners provide many hours of volunteer service and gardening education within their local communities, including demonstration gardens, horticultural education, community grants and scholarship programs, and resources for problem solving in the garden.  Education courses are available throughout Iowa on a regular basis. Applications for the Fall 2021 Program will open on March 1. For more information on the program, contact Cass County Extension Director Kate Olson, at 712-243-1132 or keolson@iastate.edu.

(Update) Police: Suspect injured in shootout with Davenport officer

News

February 19th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Police say a suspect has been injured but is expected to recover following a shootout with a Davenport police officer. The Quad-City Times reports the incident began Thursday morning with a report of an armed robbery. Police developed a suspect in that crime, and just before 6 p.m., a Davenport officer reported that he had spotted a car being driven by the suspect in the earlier robbery. Several police cars converged on the suspect’s car, and police say the suspect rammed one of the police cars before becoming stuck in a snowbank.

Police said that’s when the suspect and an officer exchanged gunfire, although police have not said who fired first in the shootout. Police identified the injured suspect as 30-year-old Clarence Washington of Davenport.

 

Ex-Cyclones DB Deon Broomfield returning to coach safeties

Sports

February 19th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Former Iowa State defensive back Deon Broomfield is returning to the Cyclones to coach the safeties. Broomfield was a defensive assistant with the Houston Texans last season. Before that he coached cornerbacks at Indiana State for three years and at Western Illinois for one. He replaces D.K. McDonald. According to media reports, McDonald is set to become safeties coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. Broomfield played 50 games for the Cyclones between 2010 and 2013.

 

Cass County COVID-19 Vaccination update (2/19)

News

February 19th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Cass County Public Health officials, Friday, reports CCHS continues to make progress administering the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible residents. At this time, Phase 1A and Tier 1 of Phase 1B are still the only eligible populations.

The Iowa Department of Public Health announced this week that they expect a delay in next week’s shipments due to adverse weather conditions across the country. At this time, Cass County Public Health does not expect these delays to have an impact on their currently scheduled appointments; should that change, they will immediately notify the patients impacted.

Backyard and Beyond 02-19-2021

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

February 19th, 2021 by Jim Field

LaVon Eblen speaks with Vince Furlong, Victim Advocate for the Family Crisis Support Network, about his work and services offered for crime victims in the area.

Play