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Sports Headlines: 8/22/20

Sports

August 22nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

UNDATED (AP) — Iowa will drop four sports programs as part of the athletic department’s response to a projected loss of $100 million in revenue because of the pandemic. Men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis, and men’s and women’s swimming and diving will be discontinued after the 2020-21 academic year. The Big Ten’s decision to postpone football and other fall sports until the spring will create an overall budget deficit between $60-$75 million this year. Iowa is the second school in a Power Five conference to drop sports. Stanford announced last month that it would eliminate 11 sports.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pinch-hitter Matt Davidson delivered a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Friday night. Davidson drove a 2-0 pitch from Tyler Webb to left field and into the Cincinnati bullpen. It was his third home run of the season, his second career grand slam and his first pinch-hit homer. Cincinnati is 2-2 after a three-game pause because of a positive COVID-19 test. St. Louis has lost four of six. The teams combined for only five hits. Michael Lorenzen earned the victory in relief. He went 1 2/3 innings. Raisel Iglasias pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jorge Soler hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Danny Duffy held the Twins in check over five, and the Kansas City Royals pounded the Twins 7-2 on Friday night to open the third straight weekend series between AL Central rivals. Hunter Dozier added a two-run shot and finished with three RBIs, and Whit Merrifield also drove in a run, as the Royals won for the sixth time in their last seven games at Kauffman Stadium. Jake Odorizzi took the loss after he was knocked from the game in the third inning by a line drive. X-rays on his abdomen taken at the ballpark were negative. The Royals placed catcher Salvador Perez on the injured list with lingering vision problems and recalled Randy Rosario to add a left-handed arm in the bullpen ahead of their three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. Perez woke up with vision problems Sunday and called Royals trainer Nick Kenney. He wound up at a specialist on Monday and was good enough to return to the lineup, but he’s been out with continued blurriness the rest of the week.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Wide receiver Tyreek Hill has only a minor hamstring strain and the Kansas City Chiefs intend to be cautious with their dynamic playmaker. Hill missed practice Friday after pulling up while running a route the previous day. That wasn’t the only good news on the injury front for the Super Bowl champs. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins was back for the first time in nearly a week along with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Chris Jones. Both of them had groin strains.

UNDATED (AP) — Parents of Big Ten football players held a protest near the conference’s Chicago-area headquarters. They are upset with the league’s decision to call off the fall season. Groups of player parents from several Big Ten schools have complained that Commissioner Kevin Warren was not forthcoming in explaining the process that led to the decision. Warren has said the decision will not be revisited. An attorney in Nebraska is threatening a lawsuit unless Warren turns over material illustrating how the decision was made.

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Phil Mickelson is going from playoff elimination on the PGA Tour to rookie on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson missed the cut in The Northern Trust. That all but assures he will not advance to the next FedEx Cup playoff event outside Chicago for the BMW Championship. Instead, Mickelson says he’ll head to Missouri and make his debut in the 50-and-over PGA Tour Champions circuit. Lefty turned 50 in June. The Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National starts Monday. It’s a 54-hole event with no cut. Mickelson says he’ll also play the Safeway Open the week before the U.S. Open.

Posted in Sports |

MILTON BARRY, 87, of Harlan (Svcs. 8/24/20)

Obituaries

August 22nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

MILTON BARRY, 87, of Harlan, died Thursday, Aug. 20th, at the Manilla Manor. Funeral services for MILTON BARRY will be held 11-a.m. Monday, Aug. 24th, at the United Methodist Church, in Irwin. Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan has the arrangements.

Visitation at the funeral home, is from 5-until 7-p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23rd.

Burial is in the Harlan Cemetery.

MILTON BARRY is survived by:

His daughters – Cyndi (Tony) Groshong, of Cambridge, NE.; Shelly (Lamont) Christensen, of Irwin, & Stacy (Terry) Rosonke, of Norwalk, IA.

6 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

Friday High School Football Scores (from 8/21/20)

Sports

August 22nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Southwest Valley 22, Nodaway Valley 15

Eldon Cardinal 63, Columbus Community, Columbus Junction 26

West Delaware, Manchester 66, Anamosa 0

Posted in Sports |

Gov. Reynolds signs new proclamation continuing State Public Health Emergency Declaration

News

August 21st, 2020 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES – Today (Friday), Gov. Reynolds signed a new proclamation continuing the Public Health Disaster Emergency for another 30 days.

The proclamation extends public health mitigation measures currently in place for businesses and other establishments. This includes the requirements for bars and restaurants to ensure six feet of physical distance between each group or individual dining or drinking; to ensure all patrons have a seat at a table or bar; and to limit congregating together closer than six feet. Requirements for social distancing, hygiene, and other public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission also remain in place for gyms, casinos, salons, theaters, and other establishments.

As Gov. Reynolds announced yesterday (Thursday), the proclamation also authorizes school districts with buildings damaged by the derecho natural disaster to offer instruction by primarily remote learning with approval of the Department of Education. And those that are unable to conduct even primarily remote learning because of the derecho may apply for a waiver of instructional time from the Department.

In addition, the proclamation suspends certain fees for the replacement of official records by county recorders or the state registrar of vital statistics for records lost, destroyed, or damaged by the derecho natural disaster. The proclamation also extends many of the previously issued regulatory relief measures necessary to respond to this public health disaster, including those related to healthcare, professional licensure, educational workforce, and expiration of driver’s licenses.

The proclamation is now in effect until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, September 20, 2020.

The proclamation can be found online here

Posted in News |

Chiefs’ Hill has mild hamstring strain; Watkins, Jones back

Sports

August 21st, 2020 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Wide receiver Tyreek Hill has only a minor hamstring strain and the Kansas City Chiefs intend to be cautious with their dynamic playmaker. Hill missed practice Friday after pulling up while running a route the previous day. That wasn’t the only good news on the injury front for the Super Bowl champs. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins was back for the first time in nearly a week along with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Chris Jones. Both of them had groin strains.

 

Posted in Sports |

Iowa State focusing on season opener

Sports

August 21st, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Three weeks from kickoff and there is growing confidence at Iowa State that there will be a football season. The Cyclones are scheduled to open at home on September 12 against Louisiana. Senior tight end Chase Allen.

Allen admits there were times it did not look like there would be a season.

Senior safety Greg Eisworth (Eyes-worth) says the players are doing there part to help make sure there is a season.

Posted in Sports |

Lumber, siding, appliances in short supply due to derecho and COVID

News

August 21st, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who are trying to rebuild their homes and lives after last week’s derecho are finding it very difficult to find certain supplies, from fence boards and two-by-fours to refrigerators and toilets. Jay Iverson, executive officer of the Homebuilders Association of Iowa, says lumber prices were bounding -before- the powerful storm hit, in part, due to trade tariffs.

“It is difficult and those tariffs were only part of the problem,” Iverson says. “Supply and demand is a bigger part of the problem, especially with the states that were closed down with the virus, including construction. When those opened back up, it really started pulling a lot of those resources.” Prices on some lumber imported from Canada have risen 80-percent in recent months, while wood supplies are depleted in many home improvement stores stretching from Des Moines to Davenport — especially in Cedar Rapids.

“They’re six weeks out on vinyl siding, too,” Iverson says. “Part of that is virus-related and the plants being shut down for periods of time.” Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Iowa homeowners lost fences during the destructive winds, which gusted up to 140 miles an hour in eastern Iowa. Good luck trying to find those six-foot dog-ear-cut cedar boards to rebuild a fence, he says, as most stores are sold out, though supplies may be plentiful in areas that weren’t touched by the storm.

“That is going to be a problem unless they start moving that inventory around, because you’re right, there are stockpiles in other parts of the country,” Iverson says. “I know they’re shuttling a lot of that between those big box stores.” For Iowans who had severe storm damage to their homes who need to replace a kitchen for example, or those who were in the process of building a new house, timetables are all being pushed back — by COVID-19 and now by the derecho.

“Electrical equipment, appliances are in very short supply, a lot of the Mexican plants have been closed down because of the virus so appliances are very difficult to obtain,” Iverson says. “Some issues with other supply chains, like in China. China produces a lot of the plumbing products.” A report from the Iowa Association of Realtors finds home sales took a healthy jump in July, bounding more than 18-percent compared to a year ago.

Statewide, more than 52-hundred homes sold last month. The association says the median sale price was 185-thousand dollars. There’s plenty of business out there, Iverson says, and there’s no decline in the number of orders — it will just take time for supplies of raw materials to catch up and be able to meet demand.

Posted in News |

Drought conditions reported in nearly 88% of Iowa

News, Weather

August 21st, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa)  – Drought conditions continue to expand in Iowa, covering nearly 88 percent of the state. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says rainfall in western Iowa over the last six months is as much as a foot below normal — and in Iowa’s extreme drought region last week’s derecho dropped between a half inch to an inch of rain. “For a drought buster to take really hold you would need measurable rainfall every five-to-seven days for a few months to really start eating into those precipitation deficits,” Glisan says.

The latest drought report was issued yesterday (Thursday). It classifies new areas of southern Iowa as abnormally dry and parts of northeast Iowa as moderately dry. Extreme drought conditions are reported in all or part of a dozen west central counties, including the cities of Carroll, Jefferson and Audubon. “It’s not looking like we’re going to get measurable rainfall that we need over the next seven days,” Glisan says.

Glisan says there may be more chances for rain as summer ends and storms tend to produce up to an inch of gentle rainfall over several hours. Until then, Glisan says weather systems over Minnesota and Missouri could shift and produce rain over Iowa and hurricane season could have an impact. “The tropics are starting to heat up again. There’s a possibility of two landfalls in the Gulf of Mexico,” he says. “If those tropical systems do make inroads into the United States, we might be able to seed some moisture into the Midwest, making conditions more favorable for rainfall.”

The U.S. Drought Monitor indicates areas of southwest and southeast Iowa are NOT in the drought zone.

Posted in News, Weather |

Iowa orders largest district to reopen schools despite COVID

News

August 21st, 2020 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa says its largest school district cannot begin the year with fully remote learning and must offer at least 50% in-person instruction, despite a worsening coronavirus pandemic. Des Moines Public Schools, which has 32,000 students and 5,000 employees, is blasting the decision by Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration to deny its request for a waiver to allow for 100% online learning.

The district announced that it will file a lawsuit to challenge the state’s order to reopen schools, a prospect that it says is simply unsafe as the virus spreads through Iowa. The looming legal showdown creates more uncertainty around the upcoming school year.

 

Posted in News |

Hawkeyes drop 4 sports amid financial crisis tied to virus

Sports

August 21st, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(By ERIC OLSON AP Sports Writer) – Iowa will drop four sports programs as part of the athletic department’s response to a projected loss of $100 million in revenue because of the pandemic. Men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis, and men’s and women’s swimming and diving will be discontinued after the 2020-21 academic year.

The Big Ten’s decision to postpone football and other fall sports until the spring will create an overall budget deficit between $60-$75 million this year. Iowa is the second school in a Power Five conference to drop sports. Stanford announced last month that it would eliminate 11 sports.

 

Posted in Sports |