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Dierks Bentley’s 10th Album ‘Gravel & Gold’ Releasing in February

Posted on by Bob Ballard

Dierks Bentley has announced that he is releasing his tenth studio album, “Gravel & Gold”. The album will be released on February 24th with 14 tracks, including collaborations with Ashley McBryde and Billy Strings.

“I wrote and recorded two records that I didn’t feel were good enough and had to start over…twice,” says Bentley. “I’m going to be able look back on it for the rest of my life and be like, yeah, that was harder than I thought it would be, but zero regrets. I had to get it right. That’s the ‘Gravel & Gold’ of it all.”

The album will be a celebration of his 20-year career and will showcase his diverse musical interests, from his love of bluegrass to modern country. Bentley has not yet announced a tour to support the album but he already has several dates booked throughout 2023 including performances at country music festivals and a George Jones tribute concert.

Source: Saving Country Music

This day in Country Music History

Posted on by Bob Ballard
  • Today in 1972, a section of Memphis’ Highway 51 South was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. The road passes in front of Graceland.
  • Today in 1973, Epic released Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors”
  • Today in 1976, “Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In L.A.)” by Glen Campbell peaked at #11 on the pop singles chart.
  • Today in 1981, Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love A Rainy Night” hit #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
  • Today in 1986, Reba McEntire became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
  • Today in 1990, Randy Travis’ “No Holdin’ Back” album went platinum.
  • Today in 1992, Garth Brooks’ first TV special, “This Is Garth Brooks,” aired on NBC.
  • Today in 1992, Doug Stone hit #1 with “A Jukebox With A Country Song.”
  • Today in 1995, the single, “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under” by Shania Twain was released.
  • Today in 1998, Brooks & Dunn were #1 on the charts with the single, “He’s Got You.”
  • Today in 1998, Tim McGraw’s “Just To See You Smile” begun a six-week residency at the #1 spot on the Billboard country chart.
  • Today in 2000, Garth Brooks was named Artist of the Decade for the ’90s during the American Music Awards at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium. He also won trophies for Favorite Male Country Artist and Favorite Country Album, for “Sevens.” Shania Twain received two.
  • Today in 2001, According to the Zogby America poll, which asked over 1000 people what their “favorite musical genre” was, Americans said that they preferred country music over rock, classical or rap. In the South specifically, 23% of respondents chose country as their favorite type of music, compared with 29% in the Central/Great Lakes region. Overall, country music took the prize nationally with 22% of those polled saying they preferred to get “countrified.”
  • Today in 2006, Sugarland posted a message on its website announcing Kristen Hall leaving the trio to concentrate on songwriting.
  • Today in 2010, Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett won Best Original Song, for “The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart),” in the Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
  • Today in 2013, following her win on NBC’s “The Voice,” Cassadee Pope finally got signed to a recording contract – with Republic Nashville.
  • Today in 2015, Jason Aldean and Brittany Kerr had an engagement party at Citizen in Nashville. Guests included Luke Bryan and Eric Church.
  • Today in 2017, “What Ifs,” by Kane Brown featuring Lauren Alaina was released.
  • Today in 2017, Alabama performed for 200 diplomats in Washington, D.C., during the Chairman’s Global Dinner two days prior to the inauguration of Donald Trump.
  • Today in 2017, the Eli Young Band’s tour bus went up in flames outside of Topeka, Kansas. Fortunately, the band wasn’t aboard at the time – and while the bus driver got out safely, he did save one guitar.
  • Today in 2018, Dierks Bentley’s “Woman, Amen” hit the airwaves.

Osky Basketball Weekend Recap

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Sam Parsons

It was an eventful weekend for Oskaloosa basketball as the Indians hosted a girls and boys twin bill against conference foe Norwalk on Friday and the girls welcomed Washington to the gym the following day.

Friday

Friday’s doubleheader opened with the girls facing the Norwalk Warriors, who came into the game right below the Indians in the conference standings.

The two teams battled back and forth but for much of the game, Norwalk held the lead. A young, undersized Warriors team relied more heavily on their outside shooting game to score points and sophomore point Bailey Birmingham showed out with a nice performance, scoring 23 points; however, the Warriors’ lack of size meant that they couldn’t get much in the way of inside scoring and they were dominated on the boards by Osky’s 6’3″ sophomore Dasia Foster. Foster had her best night of the season to date, scoring 18 points and racking up a season-high 24 rebounds.

Trouble came early for the Indians when senior Presley Blommers was booked for two personal fouls in the first two minutes of action and was forced to sit out the remaining 6 minutes of the first quarter; however, the Indians were able to keep the train on the tracks. Senior Maddy Moorman came off the bench and made a pair of good defensive plays before draining a 2 point jumper to hold the Indians over as they ended the quarter up 10-9; the Warriors would get going offensively and take the lead by halftime, though, 21-17, and they entered the fourth quarter with a slim advantage as well.

Then the Indian offense came alive in the fourth. Blommers kept up her hot shooting as she finished with 23 points, going 7/12 from the field (2/3 3 PT) and 7/9 from the free throw line. The Warriors had difficulties keeping up and were forced to play the foul game in the final 90 seconds; the Indians wound up with 22 points in the fourth quarter to lift them over the Warriors, giving the program its first win over Norwalk since December 2018.

The nightcap of the doubleheader saw the Indians’ boys team face off against an experienced Norwalk squad that entered the game with a 7-3 record and four starters returning from last year’s team. The Warriors fell behind early to the Indians who had a brilliant start shooting from the field; junior Aidan Scholes hit a trifecta of triples in the first quarter on his way to a 17 point outing. The Indians held a 17-12 lead after the first quarter.

However, the Indians’ sparkling start would soon be doused by a downpour of Warrior shots as Norwalk started burying field goals. Junior Redek Born was the catalyst for Norwalk as he put up 23 points on the night, going 7/9 from the field and 5/7 from downtown. The Warriors scored 19 points in the second, 28 points in the third, and 16 more in the fourth to run away with the game as the Indians cooled off from the field. Further adding to the Indians’ woes was an injury suffered by freshman point Max Roach in the first half as he raced down the floor following a steal to attempt a transition lay-up, but fell hard on his left ankle and was helped off the floor. Roach came back in to start the second half, but aggravated his injury and was held out the remainder of the night. The Indians weren’t able to overcome all of the adversity as they fell 77-42. The Indians (1-10) will travel to Mount Pleasant tomorrow night (1/17).

Girls stats

Boys stats

Saturday

On Saturday, Osky’s girls returned to the floor for their fourth game of the week as they hosted the 6-5 Washington Demons.

The game featured an overwhelming explosion by the Indians in the first half. Dasia Foster had another banner evening for the Indians as she again used her size to dominate in the low post with 17 points and 15 rebounds on the night. The Indians had remarkable success at getting the ball down low, either passing to Foster or driving the lane, and their man-to-man defense neutralized the Demons from the field as they rocketed out to a 22-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and a 39-14 lead at halftime.

The Indians only made a pair of three-pointers on the night as Presley Blommers facilitated the offense with 14 points and 5 assists. Junior Lydia Van Veldhuizen had success on the inside as well with 9 points and 8 rebounds and sophomore Hannah Nelson also had a productive night with 8 points and 6 boards. The Indians were able to hit cruise control in the second half and never let the Demons back in the game as they earned a convincing 53-31 win to lift them back over the .500 mark at 7-6 on the season. The Indians will take a few days off after the busy week before they host the Knoxville Panthers on Thursday.

Girls stats

Maine gets 1st Mega Millions jackpot with $1.35B grand prize

Posted on by Sam Parsons

LEBANON, ME — Maine scored its first Mega Millions jackpot when a ticket purchased in the state matched the winning numbers for the lottery’s estimated $1.35 billion grand prize. The Maine State Lottery says the winning ticket was sold at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine. The lucky combination of numbers drawn late Friday night were: 30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14. The winner, whose name is not yet known, overcame steep odds of 1 in 302.6 million, which led to three months of drawings without a claim on the jackpot. The Hometown Gas & Grill owner says there’s quite a buzz at the small-town gas station and he hopes someone in town is the winner.

Gregg says pilot project to test EMS app in rural Iowa

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg says the State of Iowa will be testing a smart phone app that could improve emergency response times in rural Iowa.

“Last year on a trade mission to Israel I learned about the United Hatzalah model for EMS. Hatzalah is the Hebrew word for rescue,” Gregg says. “Think of it as Uber, but for EMS, allowing us to crowd source emergency responders. When an emergency occurs and 911 is called nearby trained volunteers are alerted through an app on their phone, allowing them to respond quickly and stabilize the patient until an ambulance arrives.”

Gregg suggests the system could be adapted to address the lack of ambulance services in rural Iowa. “As it stands today, too many rural Iowans have limited access to timely, lifesaving intervention in an emergency,” Gregg says.

In Jerusalem, the Hatzalah EMS app is used by 6200 trained volunteer medics who respond on specially equipped motorcycle ambulances.

“This Israel model has driven down response times in Jerusalem to 90 seconds on average,” Gregg says. “We believe this concept can be adapted to help address our EMS challenges in rural Iowa and we’ll be funding a pilot program to do just that.”

The Hatzalah model is being used in some areas of the United States, but mostly in urban areas.

OHS Storybook Players to perform at OWLS Lunch & Learn

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OSKALOOSA — The Mahaska County Conservation Board invites adults of any age to the O.W.L.S. (Older, Wiser, Livelier Souls) program on Friday, January 20th from 11:30 am -12:30 pm at the Mahaska County Environmental Learning Center at Caldwell Park. This month, we will have the great opportunity to watch the talented Oskaloosa High School’s Storybook Players perform!

Don’t forget to bring a friend and a lunch! Please let us know if you are coming. Reservations are made by contacting MCCB at (641)673-9327 or decook@mahaskacountyia.gov.

The Environmental Learning Center is located at 2342 Hwy. 92 East, Oskaloosa.

Mahaska Chamber Hosts First Eggs & Issues of 2023

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Sam Parsons

The Mahaska Chamber held its first Eggs & Issues forum of the new year on Saturday morning at Smokey Row in Oskaloosa.

Present at the forum for the first go-round were a total of five local officials. Oskaloosa mayor Dave Krutzfeldt and Oskaloosa city manager Amal Eltahir were both on hand to answer questions from citizens related to the city of Oskaloosa, while all three members of the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors – Mark Groenendyk, Chuck Webb, and Steve Wanders – were there to discuss issues related to county government.

Citizens asked the roundtable of local officials questions on a slew of topics, including adding certain types of businesses to the downtown area, promoting arts and culture within the community, and road conditions. When asked about when the parts of the new Mahaska YMCA under construction will be fully open, Mayor Krutzfeldt said that all of the construction was already completed except for the pools and that the city was working on getting the completed parts open “reasonably soon.”

The city representatives were also asked about the ongoing need for housing within Oskaloosa. Eltahir answered that housing is currently a “strategic priority” for the city and that there were steps that needed to be taken to encourage real estate development.

Among the questions asked early on in the forum was one related to the proposed airport in Mahaska County. Eltahir said that the city was no longer partaking in its legal battles and that the airport was still part of the city’s long term plan.

The next Eggs and Issues forum with the Mahaska Chamber is scheduled for January 28 and will feature lawmakers from the state level of government, including State Senator Ken Rozenboom and State Representatives Helena Hayes and Barb Kniff-McCulla.

Maren Morris Apologizes to RuPaul on Behalf of the County Music Community

Posted on by Bob Ballard

Maren Morris was a guest judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on Friday. Morris showed up dressed to impress, and gushed to the contestants “I can’t believe I am in here right now. I feel like I’ve stepped through my TV screen.”

The singer turned serious during her time, however. Morris has been openly vocal about LGBTQ rights, and wanted to voice her support for the performers. “Coming from country music and its relationship with LGBTQ+ members, I just want to say I’m sorry.”

Morris said it was important for her to put her feelings out there, as she noted she had been rejected by everyone for a long time in her country music career, but had found the strength to carry on. “I love you guys for making me feel like a brave voice in country music. I just thank you guys so much for inspiring me.” The contestants appreciated her apology and her being there as an ally.

This day in Country Music History

Posted on by Bob Ballard
  • Today in 1953, Bill Monroe suffered 19 broken bones in a head-on collision on Highway 31 near White House, Tennessee. He still managed to get out of the car and pull another passenger, Bessie Lee Mauldin, out from the other side. Monroe was unable to tour until May.
  • Today in 1980, the “Kenny” album by Kenny Rogers was certified gold and platinum simultaneously.
  • Today in 1982, Ronnie Milsap hit #1 on the Billboard country chart with “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World”
  • Today in 1984, Alabama’s “Roll On” album was released.
  • Today in 1984, RCA released Alabama’s “Roll On” album
  • Today in 1992, George Strait’s album, “Chill Of An Early Fall,” was certified platinum.
  • Today in 1992, the album, “Shadowland,” by K.D. Lang was certified gold.
  • Today in 1992, Gary Morris’ “Why Lady Why” album was certified gold.
  • Today in 1993, Patty Loveless performed on the Grand Ole Opry. It was her first Opry appearance since undergoing vocal surgery.
  • Today in 1997, Reba McEntire’s album, “What If It’s You,” was certified gold and platinum.
  • Today in 1997, Garth Brooks’ “In Pieces” album was certified for multi-platinum sales of 6-million.
  • Today in 1998, Lee Ann Womack’s self-titled debut was certified gold.
  • Today in 1998, Brooks & Dunn topped the charts with their single, “He’s Got You.”
  • Today in 1998, Wynonna Judd’s album, “The Other Side,” was certified gold.
  • Today in 1999, “Right On The Money,” written by Phil Vassar, took Alan Jackson to the top of the Billboard country chart.
  • Today in 1999, Trisha Yearwood received a special proposal while making a guest appearance on the historic Ryman Auditorium stage. Grand Ole Opry member and segment host, Ricky Skaggs, invited her to become the 71st member of the Opry cast. She quickly accepted.
  • Today in 2001, the Warren Brothers issued a formal apology for their scuffle with a manager at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon during Fan Fair. The charges filed in relation to the incident were officially dropped on January 23rd.
  • Today in 2001, Trisha Yearwood announced that she was teaming up with the “4 Your Life: CPR” campaign to provide CPR training to residents of Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
  • Today in 2001, the “When It All Goes South” album by Alabama was released.
  • Today in 2003, Kenny Chesney was in Tupelo, Mississippi to launch his 2003 “Margaritas ‘n’ Senoritas”
  • Today in 2004, “Unleashed” became the first Toby Keith album certified quadruple-platinum, while his “Shock’n Y’all” album reached triple-platinum status.
  • Today in 2006, The Johnny Cash biopic “Walk The Line” earned three Golden Globes: Best Musical or Comedy plus trophies for Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. The “Brokeback Mountain” piece “A Love That Will Never Grow Old” won Best Original Song.
  • Today in 2007, The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) issued a gold album for Taylor Swift’s self-titled album, which had been released the previous October.
  • Today in 2016, Scotty McCreery performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. In the game that followed, the New England Patriots finished off the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-20.

Knoxville Police Responds to Online Threats Against KCSD, Marion County Courthouse

Posted on by Sam Parsons

KNOXVILLE — Shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 12, 2023, the FBI made Knoxville Police Officers aware of online threats of violence made to Knoxville Community Schools, Marion County Courthouse, unnamed institutions within Knoxville, as well as named and unnamed persons within our community.

Through a thorough investigation officers developed two juvenile suspects. Officers spoke with the two suspects. Based on those interviews and the totality of information gathered from the investigation, the threats were assessed to be noncredible. Both juvenile suspects were taken into custody.
Additional steps are being taken to ensure the safety of students and staff of the Knoxville Community Schools, customers and employees of the courthouse, all other entities, and persons.
The Knoxville Police Department would like to thank the FBI, Knoxville Community School District, Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Marion County Attorney’s Office for their assistance with this investigation.
A criminal charge is merely an accusation. All persons are innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

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