(Radio Iowa) – Organizers of a concert by country music star Tim McGraw at the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville are happy with the ticket sales that started Monday. John Sutter is Vice President of Field of Dreams Operations, and says there has been a lot of interest. “Both from the community and across the country, with national media picking this up, everyone’s very excited about this, and it being a perfect fit with Tim McGraw and his father’s connection to baseball is just really exciting,” he says. Sutter says they want to make the August 30th event more than just one concert.

“The plan is to make it a whole day event with adding additional acts to support the Tim McGraw performance, which will be the headline act, but to really take advantage of what’s looking to be like a really exciting day at the Field of Dreams,” he says. Sutter says these types of events can bring in more people who may not be familiar with the site. “We just hope this is an opportunity that people will take. Maybe they haven’t been to the Field of Dreams in a while, or, you know, maybe baseball isn’t their thing, but they are interested in country music,” Sutter says. “We’re just hoping this brings a whole new audience to enjoy and share the Field of Dreams in the Dyersville area.”

You can find more information about tickets for the Tim McGraw concert at The Field of Dreams Movie Site online at USCA.live.

ATLANTIC, IA (January 24, 2025) – Sweetheart Market will be held at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA (1100 Maple St. Atlantic, IA 50022) on Saturday, February 8 from 10 AM to 1 PM. The Pancake Man will be serving all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage, and drinks for $8 per adult and $5 per child (under 18), and the farmers market will have 30 vendors set up inside the YMCA. There is no cost to enter Sweetheart Market, and the YMCA will have a free bounce house set up for children attending the farmers market. The event’s theme is, “Bee Mine, Honey,” and the market will feature local honey vendors, as well as bee and honey information and activities from organizations including the Southwest Iowa Beekeepers and Cass County Extension. Sarah Selders will be selling bee and honey-themed face painting.

30 food and craft vendors will be at Sweetheart Market selling local food and handmade crafts. Food vendors will be offering honey, chicken, beef, lamb, local produce, sourdough bread, and lots of baked goods and desserts. Craft vendors will be selling goat milk soaps, candles, crocheted clothing and stuffed animals, seasonal home decorations, and much more.

Valentine couch pillows will be sold at Sweetheart Market

Sweetheart Market Vendor Lineup:

● Brenda’s Cookies & More/ Insights of Iowa – Cookies, sweet bread, bars, hot pads, towels, quilts, pillows
● Bridgewater Farm – Produce including greens, sweet potatoes
● Brun Ko Farm – Honey, chicken, lamb, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, garlic, spinach
● Dragonfly Creations – Candles, soaps, crafts, artwork
● Daily Bread – Sourdough loaves, cookie decorating kits, cookie painting kits, and baked goods, as well as Valentine play dough kits
● Denton Farms Soapery – Handmade soap, lotion, sugar scrubs, body butter, lip butter, wax melts
● Face Painting by Sarah – Honey and bee-themed face painting
● Frosting Inc. – Gourmet cupcakes and other baked goods
● Heaven’s Hands Crochet – Crocheted hats, scarves, fingerless gloves, sweaters, wraps, toys, home decor, and household items
● Imagine Garden Gift Store – Houseplants, fairy gardens, gifts, and garden decor
● Juj’n Juj’n and Mike Souder Original Art – Leatherwork and art
● The Kringleman – Danish Kringle, pastries, eclairs, krispies, letters, cream horns
● KookieNow with Mrs. Phippen – Kookies and homemade potpourri kitchen mix
● Mandy’s Sweet Tooth Confections – Fudge, decorated cookies and brownies, savory snacks for Super Bowl, and more
● Noble Provisions – Meat including honey bbq brats, honey bbq and honey sriracha beef sticks
● Oak Hill Honey – Honey
● Paige’s Pieces – Keychains, earrings, car hangers, signs, and more
● Pat’s Bats, Birds, and Squirrels – Bird houses and feeders, squirrel feeders, bat houses
● ReMakes Home Decor – Wood items, home decor, seasonal items
● Resin for Reason – Resin art, keychains, magnets, jewelry, trays
● Robin’s Unique Boutique – Upcycled denim jackets, tops, stocking caps and mittens, and more
● Shelbi Crochets – Crochet items for all ages, beaded products, cards, and more
● Studio Samantha Ignite Wonder Club – Prints, framed art, illustrated laptop/iPad cases, printed baby/toddler unisex clothing, greeting cards, illustrated drinking glasses, and sticker sheets
● Sweet Vale Creations – Soy candles, wax melts, car diffusers, and more
● Ter-Bear Honey – Honey
● A Witch Crafts – Artwork, crafts
● Wings of Love Sweetly Crafted – Baked goods and various crafts including cups, pens, and keychains
● Woodland Wildflower Apiary – Honey and beeswax products
● You’re So Cute Angels – Suncatchers angels, handmade soaps, crafts
● Your Forte – Specialty food and drink candles

All Produce in the Park farmers markets accept SNAP EBT, otherwise known as food stamps, for all qualifying food items. Proceeds from the pancake meal will be donated to Cass County food pantries.
The open hours for Sweetheart Market has been shifted earlier in the day due to the inclusion of the pancake breakfast. Previous flyers and coupons distributed by the Cass County Food Policy Council stated a later time.

Local organizations, including Cass County Tourism and Healthy Cass County, will be at the market sharing information about community events and opportunities. Sweetheart Market 2025 is sponsored by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, Cass County Tourism, Cass Health, City of Atlantic, First Whitney Bank & Trust and Nishna Valley Family YMCA.

(Radio Iowa) – We’re a month into a bitter cold winter, but dedicated Iowa cyclists are thinking ahead to spring and this weekend’s Iowa Bike Expo, what’s billed as the largest one-day bike show in the Midwest. Luke Hoffman, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, says they’re expecting at least five-thousand people to attend the free event in Des Moines. “Folks can come out and check out the latest gear from some bike-friendly businesses, and also just check out some of the other awesome local nonprofits. We have over 30 local nonprofits who are signed up to participate,” Hoffman says, “and tons of different vendors. We actually just sold out at 120 different vendors.”

The Saturday event runs from 9 A-M to 3 P-M at the Iowa Events Center. After the expo closes, another event begins — the first-ever Iowa Bicycle Coalition Bike Banquet, also at the Events Center from 3 to 6 P-M. Hoffman says they have a long list of educational, inspirational speakers, plus, they’ll be releasing a report on the impact of cycling in Iowa. “We have a statewide renewal of our 2012 study, which was an economic and health impact study on cycling and trails in Iowa,” Hoffman says. “That study back in 2012 showed that it was $364.9-million over 10 years ago and even just adjusting for inflation, that’s half a billion in today’s dollars.”

Hoffman says the report will detail how the popularity — and the impact — of cycling in Iowa has continued to grow. “It’s going to help us tell the story about who we are as a state. It’s a core part of our identity, that we’re a bike-friendly state,” Hoffman says. “This is going to add to that and then also advance it in a way that helps us understand that cycling isn’t just about local impacts and the economics of it, but also those health impacts of physical activity, which I think is really important, including mental health.”

One other cycling event this weekend is the Route Announcement Party for RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. That’s Saturday at 6 P-M at Vibrant Music Hall in Waukee.

(Hardin County, Iowa) – A woman from Radcliffe in north central Iowa, died Thursday after her car was struck by a train. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened at around 10:55-a.m., as a 2021 Toyota Prius was traveling east on 290th Street southeast of Radcliffe. The driver of the vehicle, 71-year-old Kathaleen Houck, failed to yield to a northbound train at a railroad crossing. After her car was struck on the rear passenger side, Houck – who was wearing her seat belt – was taken by Life Flight helicopter from the scene, to Iowa Methodist in Des Moines, where she later died from her injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen, today (Friday), issued a statement with regard to his resignation. Sonksen says “After 17 years of service in the Page County Attorney’s Office, including over nine years as the Page County Attorney, I have decided to accept an offer of employment from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.” His resignation as the Page County Attorney is effective February 12th (2025).

Attorney Sonksen says “I believe accepting this position is in the best interests of my family and my future career goals as an attorney. I look forward to serving the citizens of the State of Iowa in this position.” He said also, “It has been my honor to serve the citizens of Page County and to work with the many law enforcement professionals involved in crime fighting in our area.”

(Radio Iowa) – It took five days to douse the fire at a northern Iowa business that recycles cardboard and paper. The fire at the Mason City Recycling Center started last Friday and fire crews were still dealing with flare ups Wednesday night. Mason City Fire Chief Eric Bullinger says it was a difficult fire to fight because of bitterly cold temperatures AND because the property is outside of the city limits, in a rural area. “When you’re exposed to that element of the extreme cold, everything freezes up,” he says, “so you can imagine when you have the water out in the open, that is freezing everything up externally, too.” Bullinger, in a briefing to the Mason City Council, explained that all of the water to fight the fire had to be hauled to the site because there were no fire hydrants nearby.

“We need to draft or basically vacuum the water out of those drop tanks, but we have to have several departments assist us in this because we’re simply not set up to have that many tankers supply the water to us,” Bullinger said. “Some of those tankers involved would hold 2500-3000 gallons of water at a time and, even with a constant supply…we were using the water faster than we could bring it in.” Mason City’s fire department got assistance from the fire departments in Clear Lake, Nora Springs, Rockwell and Ventura. “There were 19 fire fighting apparatus (there),” Bullinger says. “Personnel, probably closer to 35 or 40 altogether.”

The city administrator in Mason City says it was an absolutely miserable environment in which to battle a blaze of that size and it took the work of all those fire departments as well as city and county officials and private entitles near the plant to keep the fire from spreading.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – House District 21 Republican Representative Thomas Moore, of Griswold, has issued a report on recent bills to pass before him the week of Jan. 20th. Moore said Sub-Committee bills he was a part of this week included:

Moore said House File 10 is a bill relating to the attachment of the territory of a school district that is subject to an approved dissolution proposal, and including applicability provisions.

Representative Moore said the Education Committee passed two bills out of committee. One Creates the National Guard Service Professional Qualifications Scholarship Program for Iowa Guard who are participating in a program that leads to a credential that is approved by the Adjutant General and offered by a community college, Regent institution, or private college. The other was a bill to modify the provisions of the National Guard Service Scholarship Program. Moore says they started the day Thursday with a Republican caucus, discussing SSA (State Supplemental Aid).

Moore says “In this climate of wanting to cut property taxes, 2% would be a property tax increase for around 50% or half of all the school districts in Iowa. We can and should do better.” During the HHS Committee, Moore says he “Listened to a presentation about Supporting Youth in Crisis by HHS Director Kelly Garcia. They discussed addressing the growing number of situations in which appropriate placement cannot be attained for individuals in this state in an effort to clear barriers and better serve Iowans.”

In other business, Representative Moore say Red Oak Montgomery County YMCA Director Carrie Shalters, and Atlantic Nishna Valley YMCA Director Dan Haynes spent Wednesday afternoon sharing info on Y programs and with legislators and thanking them for their support.

Left to right: Dan Haynes, Rep. Moore and Carrie Shalters. (Photo submitted)

On Wednesday, he had a constituent visit from Jerry Hansen of Red Oak. He was at the Capitol advocating for Veterans priorities and maintaining the autonomy of the County VSO’s especially in respect to training for individual service officers.

Jerry Hansen (Center) and Rep. Moore

And, Moore says “State high school FFA groups were out in full force on Wednesday,” and he was able to meet with Stanton and Atlantic/CAM groups.

(Radio Iowa) – A small, historic diner in downtown Mason City that dates back to the 1940s is being rescued in hopes it can reopen under new ownership. The Suzie Q Cafe has been closed since April of 2023 when a fire next-door destroyed the Kirk Apartments building. The restaurant got its water service from the Kirk and city administrator Aaron Burnett says in order to operate the diner, that service will need to be restored. “People didn’t realize how intimately intertwined that building was with the Suzie Q,” Burnett says. “Services were brought off of that building, and so when that building burned down, it really made it impossible for that building to operate as it had previously, and it did not reopen.”

Officials with the Mason City Historic Preservation Commission have met with the diner’s owner, who would like the commission to take ownership. If the diner needs to be moved to a new location, Burnett says there are options that need to be carefully weighed. “It’s trying to figure out what is really the best from an historic preservation standpoint and also what’s functional because it does need to be visible enough that it can actually engage in business,” Burnett says. “It’s not just meant to be sculpture, so it’s trying to balance those interests and I think there’s some good locations that will do fine.”

Photo courtesy of the City of Mason City

The diner sits on the Kirk Apartments property and the city has to lease the land under the diner from the current owner. This week, the city approved a lease agreement on the land and an asset purchase agreement for the cafe, which was established in 1948. The agreements include the rights to all recipes, including the diner’s famous Spic ‘n’ Span tenderloin.