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US cruise ship (w/2 Iowans onboard) in limbo as anti-virus controls spread

News

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. officials are deciding where to dock a cruise ship in California with 21 virus cases aboard and four American universities canceled in-person classes as Western countries follow China’s lead by tightening travel and other controls to contain the outbreak. The cruise ship Grand Princess, with 3,500 people aboard, was circling off San Francisco. Among the passengers are a couple from eastern Iowa’s Dubuque County. Shelley and George Goeppner, of Asbury were headed home when the outbreak was reported.

Officials want the cruise ship to dock in a non-commercial port for everyone aboard to be tested. Authorities in Florida reported the first two U.S. deaths away from the West Coast. The Netherlands reported its first virus death, while Serbia, Slovakia, Peru, Togo, Colombia and Cameroon announced their first infections. The number of cases worldwide has climbed past 100,000. More than 3,400 people have died.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the area: Saturday, 3/7/2020

Weather

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

**RED FLAG WARNING for extreme Fire Danger from Noon until 6-p.m. for counties along & south of I-80**

Today: Mostly sunny, warm & windy. High around 68. SW @ 15-30+

Tonight: Fair to Partly cloudy. Low 42. S @ 10-15.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High around 68. S @ 10-20.

Monday: Mo. Cldy w/rain. High 47.

Tuesday: P/Cldy to Cldy. High near 50.

Friday’s High in Atlantic was 52. Our Low was 19. Last year on this date, the high was 30 and the low was 19. The Record high in Atlantic on March 7th was 78 in 2000. The Record Low was -11 in 1982.

Midwest Sports Headlines: 3/7/2020

Sports

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dorka Juhasz had 15 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 6 seed Ohio State beat No. 3 seed and 19th-ranked Iowa 87-66 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State will face No. 7 seed Michigan in the semifinals. After the Hawkeyes scored the first point of the game on a free throw, the Buckeyes went on a 25-4 run, including 19 straight points, capped by Juhasz’s 3-pointer for a 20-point lead with 2:50 left in the first quarter. Ohio State led by double digits the rest of the way, going into halftime with a 48-31 lead. Kathleen Doyle led Iowa with 16 points.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa star big man Luka Garza says working vacations in Bosnia and California last summer helped elevate his game. Now he’s one of the leading candidates for national player of the year. Garza did two-a-day basketball workouts with his uncle and cousin in Bosnia and three-a-day workouts with his father and grandpa in California. Garza has led the Big Ten in scoring since November. He’s scoring 23.7 points per game and is on a streak of 15 consecutive games of 20 points or more in Big Ten play. That’s the longest streak in the Big Ten in 26 years.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Isiaih Mosley scored on a putback as Missouri State grabbed the lead midway through the opening period and hit the gas, eliminating No. 3 seed Indiana State from the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals 78-51. The top three seeds in the MVC tournament — Northern Iowa, Loyola Chicago and the Sycamores were bounced in the quarterfinals. Missouri State, the No. 6 seed, faces seventh-seeded Valparaiso, which ousted second-seeded Loyola Chicago in overtime. Gaige Prim scored 17 points to lead five Bears into double-figure scoring. Indiana State was led by 14 points apiece from Jordan Barnes and Jake LaRavia.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — Roman Penn scored a career-high 26 points, including 12 straight to start a game-breaking 18-0 run midway through the second half, and eighth-seeded Drake shocked Missouri Valley Conference champion Northern Iowa 77-56 in a quarterfinal game. It started with a pair of free throws at the 10:50 mark. He followed up with a couple of layups and then a pair of 3-pointers. After teammate Liam Robbins scored inside, Penn hit another jumper and Garrett Sturtz capped it with free throws for a 67-48 lead with 2:28 to play. Northern Iowa was led by AJ Green with 19 points.

SAINT LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — John Kizer drove the left side of the paint, drawing two defenders and passed to Eron Gordon for the winning layin as Valparaiso stormed from 18 points down to knock No. 2 seed Loyola Chicago out of the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference 74-73 in overtime. Kiser finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots for the seventh-seeded Crusaders. All nine Loyola Chicago players scored but only Keith Clemons reached double figures with a career-high 28.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Mike Matheny was let go two seasons ago from his job as St. Louis Cardinals manager. Now as Ned Yost’s replacement with Kansas City, Matheny is excited about an opportunity to build the Royals from the ground up, and his players are ready for his enthusiasm. The Cardinals won three NL Central titles and one pennant in 6 1/2 years under Matheny. They missed the postseason in 2016 and ’17, and he was fired midway through the 2018 season. Matheny joined the Royals in their player development department a year ago.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska men’s basketball player has been cited after leaving the scene of a minor accident. Lincoln police say sophomore guard Cam Mack also was cited Wednesday for negligent driving. Court records don’t list an attorney for him. A woman told police Mack’s car struck hers from behind and left the area before officers arrived. She gave officers his car license number. The Nebraska Athletic Department released a statement saying coach Fred Hoiberg was aware of the incident and wouldn’t comment until all information about the matter was known.

Girls State Basketball Championships Schedule: Saturday, March 7, 20202

Sports

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Class 4A Championship at 3-p.m.: #1 North Scott (25-0) vs. # 6 Lewis Central (21-5)

Class 2A Championship at 5-p.m.: #4 Osage (24-2) vs. #3 North Linn (24-2)

Class 1A Championship at 7-p.m.: #1 Newell-Fonda (26-0) vs. #3 Bishop-Garrigan (25-1)

Red Oak man arrested for OWI & paraphernalia charges Friday morning

News

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop late Friday morning in Red Oak resulted in an arrest. Red Oak Police say 59-year old Dennis Edward Elliott, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 10:15-a.m., for OWI/1st offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving Under Suspension.

Elliott was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

2 hurt in Montgomery County crash, Friday

News

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Two people were injured when two pickups collided head-on Friday, in Montgomery County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2001 Ford F-150 driven by 19-year old Kammi Conrade, of Red Oak, was traveling southbound on D Avenue at around 6:20-a.m., at the same time a 1998 Chevy S-10 driven by 30-year old Jacob Woods, of Shenandoah, was traveling northbound. The vehicles collided just below the crest of a hill. Woods was not wearing a seat belt.

Conrade and Woods were each flown by LifeNet helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha. The accident remains under investigation. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by Red Oak Fire & Rescue, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and the Montgomery County EMA.

Ohio State women upset No. 19 Iowa 87-66 in Big Ten quarters

Sports

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dorka Juhasz had 15 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 6 seed Ohio State beat No. 3 seed and 19th-ranked Iowa 87-66 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State will face No. 7 seed Michigan in the semifinals.

After the Hawkeyes scored the first point of the game on a free throw, the Buckeyes went on a 25-4 run, including 19 straight points, capped by Juhasz’s 3-pointer for a 20-point lead with 2:50 left in the first quarter.

Ohio State led by double digits the rest of the way, going into halftime with a 48-31 lead. Kathleen Doyle led Iowa with 16 points.

Iowa early News Headlines: Saturday, March 7, 2020

News

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:00 a.m. CST

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Colorado man who threw a cup of water on Iowa Congressman Steve King has been sentenced to two years of probation. Blake Gibbins, of Lafayette, Colorado, had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on a member of Congress. Gibbins admitted he approached a table at a Fort Dodge restaurant on March 22 last year and threw a cup of water at the Republican. Gibbins’ attorney has said Gibbins’ actions were out of character and may have resulted from recent emotional pressure. Gibbins was in Iowa for a family funeral when he approached King, and Gibbins had no criminal history.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A panel has forwarded three finalists to fill an Iowa Supreme Court vacancy to Gov. Kim Reynolds. After interviewing 15 lawyers and judges Friday, the State Judicial Nominating Commission selected Mary Chicchelly, a district court judge from Cedar Rapids; Matt McDermott, a Des Moines lawyer who for five years represented the Republican Party of Iowa; and David May, an appeals court judge from Polk City. Reynolds now has 30 days to choose from the finalists. A position on the court became available because of the retirement of Justice David Wiggins. Reynolds has seated three judges since becoming governor.

SPENCER, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa collision with a semitrailer has fatally injured two people in a pickup truck. The crash occurred a little before 1:30 p.m. Thursday on U.S. Highway 71 on the north end of Spencer. Authorities say the northbound pickup halted at a stop sign and then turned left into the path of the southbound semi. The couple in the pickup have been identified as 85-year-old Patricia Juber and 86-year-old Harvey Juber. They lived in Melvin. The semi driver and his passenger weren’t injured.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Johnson County officials says a man serving more than 80 years for two separate murder-for-hire plots died of natural causes. Clayton Schuneman with the county medical examiner’s office told The Gazette that Justin Dewitt died of a heart disease on Feb. 7. Dewitt was sentenced to 35 years in prison for a murder-for-hire scheme in which he sought to have someone kill his business associate, the associate’s wife and their two children. In 2019 Dewitt was sentenced to 50 years for trying to organize from behind bars the killings of witnesses in his first case so they couldn’t testify against him.

Official: Murder-for-hire inmate died of heart disease

News

March 6th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Johnson County officials says a man serving more than 80 years for two separate murder-for-hire plots died of natural causes. Clayton Schuneman with the county medical examiner’s office told The Gazette that Justin Dewitt died of a heart disease on Feb. 7.

Dewitt was sentenced to 35 years in prison for a murder-for-hire scheme in which he sought to have someone kill his business associate, the associate’s wife and their two children. In 2019 Dewitt was sentenced to 50 years for trying to organize from behind bars the killings of witnesses in his first case so they couldn’t testify against him.

Panel names 3 finalists to fill Iowa Supreme Court vacancy

News

March 6th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A panel has forwarded three finalists to fill an Iowa Supreme Court vacancy to Gov. Kim Reynolds. After interviewing 15 lawyers and judges Friday, the State Judicial Nominating Commission selected Mary Chicchelly, a district court judge from Cedar Rapids; Matt McDermott, a Des Moines lawyer who for five years represented the Republican Party of Iowa; and David May, an appeals court judge from Polk City.

Reynolds now has 30 days to choose from the finalists. A position on the court became available because of the retirement of Justice David Wiggins. Reynolds has seated three judges since becoming governor.