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Scotty McCreery Announces Overseas Shows

Scotty McCreery is heading overseas. The singer just announced dates for his first-ever tour of the UK and Germany.

“I’ve received numerous e-mails and social media messages from fans asking me to perform in the UK and Germany,” Scotty shares. “I am happy to finally announce that I’m coming over in October and I cannot wait to be there.”

The trek consists of four shows, kicking off October 23rd in Berlin, Germany, wrapping October 27th in Manchester, England. Tickets for the Germany shows are on sale now, with the UK shows set to go on sale Friday. Check out the schedule below.

October 23rd: Berlin, Germany – PrivatClub
October 24th: Cologne, Germany – Heliosstraße 37
October 26th: London, UK – Bush Hall
October 27th: Manchester, UK – Manchester Academy 3

El Paso deaths climb to 22 as mayor prepares for Trump visit

By ASTRID GALVAN, MORGAN LEE and PAUL J. WEBER

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Texas border city jolted by a weekend massacre at a Walmart absorbed more grief Monday as the death toll climbed to 22 and prepared for a visit from President Donald Trump over anger from El Paso residents and local Democratic leaders who say he isn’t welcome and should stay away.

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo announced at a news conference that Trump planned to visit Wednesday, and in an early sign of emotions already running high, immediately defended the decision to welcome the president.

Trump coming to El Paso in wake of the tragedy is unnerving some residents and politicians who said his divisive words are partly to blame. But Margo, a Republican, deflected criticism.

“I want to clarify for the political spin that this is the office of the mayor of El Paso in an official capacity welcoming the office of the president of the United States,” Margo said.

Acknowledging the backlash in the community, Margo added: “I’m already getting the emails and the phone calls.”

In scripted remarks from the White House, Trump urged unity while blaming mental illness and video games. He made no mention of limiting gun sales.

Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso made clear that the president was not welcome in her hometown as it mourned. Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who was an El Paso congressman for six years, also said Trump should stay away.

“This president, who helped create the hatred that made Saturday’s tragedy possible, should not come to El Paso. We do not need more division. We need to heal. He has no place here,” O’Rourke tweeted.

Other residents in the largely Latino city of 700,000 said Monday that Trump’s rhetoric is difficult for them to stomach.

“It’s offensive just because most of us here are Hispanic” said Isel Velasco, 25. “It’s not like he’s going to help or do anything about it.”

Authorities are scrutinizing a racist, anti-immigrant screed posted online shortly before police say Patrick Crusius, 21, opened fire on Saturday. Language in the document mirrors some of the words used by Trump, who on Monday denounced white supremacy, which he has been reluctant to criticize.

The White House hasn’t announced Trump’s trip but the Federal Aviation Administration has advised pilots of a presidential visit that day to El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, where a second weekend shooting left nine people dead.

Authorities at the news conference in El Paso also revealed details about the suspect’s whereabouts before the shooting — some of the first to come out regarding his movements. Police Chief Greg Allen said Crusius drove more than 10 hours from the Dallas area before arriving in El Paso. He said Crusius got lost in a neighborhood before ending up at Walmart “because, we understand, he was hungry.” Allen didn’t elaborate.

Crusius is from the affluent Dallas suburb of Allen. The police chief said the gun used was legally purchased near the suspect’s hometown. The chief did not say what kind of weapon it was but described the ammunition as 7.62-caliber, which is used in high-powered rifles.

Crusius, who is being held without bond, said in his application for a public defender that he has no income or assets and has been unemployed for five months.

The El Paso shooting is one of the deadliest in U.S. history, and the death toll rose Monday as doctors announced that two more of the wounded had died. Dr. Stephen Flaherty of Del Sol Medical Center described the wounds as “devastating and major” and said that one patient who died had major abdominal injuries affecting the liver, kidneys and intestines.

The hospital did not release the names or ages of the two patients who died, but hospital officials described one as an elderly woman.

Mexican officials have said eight Mexican nationals were among the dead. Tens of thousands of Mexicans legally cross the border each day to work and shop in El Paso.

Allen said 15 people remain hospitalized, including two still in critical condition.

El Paso police publicly identified the 22 killed for the first time Monday, but there were some discrepancies in the spelling of names and nationalities between that list and Mexico’s.

Mexico’s foreign secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, said Monday the Mexican government considers the mass shooting to be an act of terrorism against Mexican citizens on U.S. soil. He said Mexico will participate in the investigation and trial of the man suspected of carrying out the attack.

El Paso has long prided itself on being one of the safest cities in the nation. When years of drug cartel-driven violence in neighboring Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, left tens of thousands of people dead, El Paso still had one of the nation’s lowest crime rates. Police reported 23 murders last year and 20 the year before that, making Saturday’s rampage a year’s worth of bloodshed.

Vanessa Tavarez, 36, from the rural West Texas town of Seagraves, traveled to El Paso on Saturday to renew her Mexican husband’s residency and work documents. They arrived with their 5-year-old son at a motel only to find police helicopters circling overhead.

Shopping at the Walmart where the shooting occurred was on the family’s to-do list before the attack. She said fear nagged at them after the shooting as they shopped elsewhere for supplies and went to a movie.

“I don’t think anybody would be in favor of him (Trump) being here, first of all,” Tavarez said. “Because a lot of people probably think it’s because of him that everything happened. … I just think people will be angry.”

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Weber reported from Austin. Associated Press writers Cedar Attanasio in El Paso and Jake Bleiberg in Dallas contributed to this report.

National Night Out

From ice cream socials to picnics, some four-dozen Iowa cities are taking part in this year’s National Night Out, which in most communities is Tuesday night (8/6). Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons talks about the National Night Out.

“This event is a community policing project. In today’s world, everybody thinks the police are out to get ’em. No, we’re not. We’re there to help you. We have a job to do and we try to do it the best that we can. This way, you guys can come out and see who we are.”

Sigourney is holding a National Night Out Tuesday night on the town square from 5 until 8pm.  Grinnell is also having an event from 6 to 8pm at Central Park with free ice cream, music and food vendors.  And kids can have their picture taken with McGruff the Crime Dog and Sparky the Fire Dog.

Luke Combs Lands Sixth-Straight Career-Opening Number One

Luke Combs must be getting pretty used to being number one. The singer’s latest single, “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” tops the “Billboard” Country Airplay chart this week, his sixth straight single to reach number one.

The feat now extends Luke’s record for the most career-opening number ones. Back in March he became the first artist to send their first-five singles straight to the top of the chart, when “Beautiful Crazy” spent seven weeks at number one.

But that’s not all. Luke’s debut album “This One’s For You” is spending its 44th week at number one on the Top Country Albums chart, which is the most for any male artist, surpassing Randy Travis’ “Always & Forever” which topped the chart for 43. Overall, Shania Twain is the only artist with more weeks, with “This One’s For You,” which spent 50 weeks on top.
Elsewhere on the chart….

Justin Moore’s latest album “Long Nights and Longnecks” debuts at number two on the Top Country Albums chart.

Carrie Underwood’s “Southbound” is at ten on the Country Airplay chart, her 28th Country Airplay Top Ten hit.

2 found dead in a rail car near Centerville

Law enforcement says two bodies were found in a rail car that had carried about 100 tons of steel from Mexico to south-central Iowa.  Iowa Southern Railway workers discovered the bodies Friday (8/2) when decoupling cars from an engine about 1.5 miles southeast of Centerville. The cars had been pulled there Friday after BNSF railroad dropped them off Thursday (8/1) in Albia.  Authorities think the two people were killed by the tons of shifting steel that had been loaded in Monterrey, Mexico. It’s unclear when they got into the car.  The pair have yet to be identified. The bodies were taken to the Iowa state medical examiner’s office.

SANTOS THE LAB/HOUND MIX

Hi, everyone! I’m Santos, a one-year old Lab/Hound mix. I’ve been surrendered to the shelter because my owner could no longer keep me. I’m a friendly guy and the hound in me loves to sniff–everything!! I like to play with balls and tug toys. I keep a clean kennel–I’m a very neat guy!! Come and meet me and see if we can’t begin a new life together.

For more information on Santos and a wide variety of other adoptable pets, contact Stephen Memorial Animal Shelter in Oskaloosa at  641-673-3991.

2 El Paso victims die at hospital, raising death toll to 22

By CEDAR ATTANASIO, PAUL J. WEBER and MORGAN LEE

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Two more victims of the mass shooting at a crowded Walmart in El Paso, Texas, died Monday at a hospital, raising the death toll for the attack to 22.

The Del Sol Medical Center did not release the names or ages of the patients who died, but hospital officials described one as an elderly woman.

One patient who died had major abdominal wounds affecting the liver, kidneys and intestines. That patient also received a “massive blood transfusion,” Dr. Stephen Flaherty said at a news conference.

Another patient remained in critical condition at the hospital, and five others were in stable condition, two days after the Saturday attack in which more than two dozen people were wounded. Victims were also treated at other El Paso hospitals.

Speaking at the White House on Monday, President Donald Trump condemned the two attacks that killed 31 people and wounded dozens of others. He called for bipartisan cooperation to respond to an epidemic of gun violence, but he offered scant details on concrete steps that could be taken.

“We vow to act with urgent resolve,” Trump said.

Mexican officials have said six Mexican nationals were among the dead in the border city where tens of thousands of Mexicans legally cross each day to work and shop.

Investigators focused on whether the El Paso attack was a hate crime after the emergence of a racist, anti-immigrant screed that was posted online shortly beforehand.

Authorities searched for any links between the suspect and the material in the document that was posted online, including the writer’s expression of concern that an influx of Hispanics into the United States will replace aging white voters, potentially turning Texas blue in elections and swinging the White House to Democrats.

The writer denied he was a white supremacist, but the document says “race mixing” is destroying the nation and recommends dividing the United States into territorial enclaves determined by race. The first sentence of the four-page document expresses support for the man accused of killing 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in March after posting his own screed with a conspiracy theory about nonwhite migrants replacing whites.

Including the two latest attacks, 127 people had been killed in the 2019 mass shootings.

Since 2006, 11 mass shootings — not including Saturday’s — have been committed by men who are 21 or younger.

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Weber reported from Austin. Balsamo reported from Orlando, Florida. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington and Amy Guthrie in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Farm accident fatality

A man from rural Lynnville was killed Friday morning (8/2) in a farm accident.  The Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office says 19-year-old Benjamin Van Wyk had become entangled in a sweep auger inside a grain bin around 8am Friday.  Van Wyk was pronounced dead at the scene.  The investigation into Van Wyk’s death is continuing……and an autopsy has been scheduled.

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