KEOKUK COUNTY — Yesterday, investigators from the Division of Criminal Investigation, Ottumwa Police Department, and the Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant in the 2100 block of Highway 78 near Ollie.
This is an ongoing investigation. There is no known threat to the public related to this investigation.
Additional information will be released by the DCI at some point today.
This week’s H&S Feed and Country Store Pet of the Week is “Boomer”, a super-friendly and energetic Pointer mix who is house-trained and crate-trained. Boomer knows some commands, walks great on leash, loves car rides, wants to be your best buddy! Boomer gets along great with everything and everyone! Boomer is fully vetted, vaccinated and ready to go to a loving home.
If you’d like to set up an appointment to meet Boomer or any of the pets at Stephen Memorial Animal Shelter, visit https://www.stephenmemorial.org/ and fill out an adoption application.
Check out our visit about Boomer with Nicole from Stephen Memorial Animal Shelter here:
WICHITA (AP) — Donations poured in Wednesday to replace a destroyed statue of Jackie Robinson on what would have been the 105th birthday of the first player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier.
Major League Baseball pledged support. And the total raised just through one online fundraiser surpassed $145,000, which is far in excess of the estimated $75,000 value of the bronze statue that was cut from its base last week at a park in Wichita, Kansas. Police are searching for those responsible.
Only the statue’s feet were left at McAdams Park, where about 600 children play in a youth baseball league called League 42, which is named after Robinson’ s uniform number with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he broke the major leagues’ color barrier in 1947.
Fire crews found burned remnants of the statue Tuesday while responding to a trash can fire at another park about 7 miles (11.27 kilometers) away. A truck believed to be used in the theft previously was found abandoned, and police said the theft was captured on surveillance video.
Bob Lutz, executive director of the Little League nonprofit that commissioned the sculpture, said Wednesday in a message on X, formerly Twitter, that the MLB commissioner’s office and 30 clubs had committed funding toward the cost of replacing the statue and providing other support.
“Amazing, huh?” he said.
Lutz had said earlier that the money raised also could enhance some of its programming and facilities. In April, the group opened the Leslie Rudd Learning Center, which includes an indoor baseball facility and a learning lab.
“We’re not just baseball,” Lutz said. “We have after school education, enrichment and tutoring.”
One of the largest donations is a $10,000 pledge from an anonymous former Major League Baseball player who won a World Series. Wichita police Chief Joe Sullivan, who announced the donation over the weekend, has urged anyone involved in the theft to surrender and vowed that arrests were imminent.
“The community, along with the business community and the nation as a whole, have demonstrated an incredible outpouring of support,” Sullivan said in a statement Wednesday. “This effort highlights the kindness of the people and their determination to rebuild what was taken away from our community.”
Lutz, whose friend, the artist John Parsons, made the statue before his death, said the mold is still viable and anticipated that a replacement can be erected within a matter of months.
“We value what it represents,” he said. “It’s important that our 600 kids understand what it represents. And, we make every effort to educate our kids about the role that Jackie Robinson played in life and civil rights, his life beyond sports. He’s the absolute best role model you could imagine.”
League 42 drew attention to Robinson’s birthday Wednesday in a Facebook post, noting that “his legacy will hold up forever” and asking for donations.
Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of Black American ballplayers. He’s considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon. Robinson died in 1972.
Lutz said that the league appeals to “all kids, but especially to kids of color” and that the connection to Robinson resonated.
“We can’t imagine, being named League 42 without a Jackie Robinson statue in our park,” he said. “It was a no-brainer when we went about trying to name our league. And the name League 42 came up. It was like lightning and struck. We knew we had our name.”
By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)
Governor Kim Reynolds is urging legislators to advance her plan to overhaul the state’s Area Education Agencies.
“To stick our head in the sand and say: ‘Everything is perfect. I don’t want to change anything! We need more time.’ That’s ridiculous,” Reynolds said earlier today. “Businesses have to do this every day to survive. We need to start operating government in that manner because ultimately that is how the kids are going to get a quality education.”
Reynolds has said changes are necessary because test scores show students with disabilities aren’t being served well by the AEAs. The governor spoke with reporters just before hour-long hearings in the Iowa House and Senate on her bill. Key House Republicans say there’s still a need for more discussions before the bill is ready for a committee vote.
The bill did clear a Senate subcommittee, but Republican Senator Ken Rozenboom of Oskaloosa says legislators need to find answers to questions that have been raised.
“I’m not going to dissect the bill today. We’ve had discussions about it. We’ve heard pros and cons,” Rozenboom told reporters. “There are conceptual fundamental pieces of this that we need to address…and then we have to wrestle with the rollout and a timeline that, again, serves our children well.”
During the House subcommittee hearing, Okoboji Superintendent Todd Abrahamson said he supports giving school districts the federal, state and property tax money that’s currently being forwarded to the AEAs, so his district can hire its own staff.
“Change is good,” Abrahamson said. “We’ve already started to look at what we would do with the dollars — a special ed director, a speech therapist, a behavior psychologist so we could meet the needs every day in our district because those needs are not being met currently.”
Council Bluffs Superintendent Vicki Murrilo said the governor’s plan will transform an outdated system. “For the past seven years I have watched millions of flow through dollars from our district go directly to the AEAs without having a voice for how those dollars will be used to support the needs of our district,” Murillo said.
Waukee Superintendent Brad Buck, the former director of the Iowa Department of Education, told lawmakers the bill will create winners and losers. “It’s far more likely that larger districts will come out in better shape in this bill than smaller and especially rural districts,” Buck said.
Dan Daughton, a former principal and superintendent, is a lobbyist for the School Administrators of Iowa and Rural School Advocates of Iowa — groups that oppose the bill. “Right now districts are sharing school social workers with AEAs in order to provide mental health services for their children,” Daughton said. “That will go away with this bill as it is prohibited…Rural schools will be impacted, I think, more so than others….We couldn’t find mental health workers before we had this sharing agreement.”
Others who testified urged lawmakers to hit the pause button. Deb Davis, a member of the Johnston School Board, said if the bill is rushed through, there could be unintended consequences.
“I recommend taking the time needed to do an audit and study on the AEAs and invite superintendents and school districts to be a part of this process as this bill is formulated and tweaked,” Davis said.
Suzanne Costello of Kellogg is the parent of a child with learning disabilities including dyslexia who she said has been helped by the local AEA. She doubts small schools will be able to hire professional staff. “You’re going to take the person with the most special needs and you’re going to put them with somebody with a high school diploma who has very little education and skill sets and that’s what my kid’s going to get?” Costello said. “No way!”
Holly Messenger of West Des Moines told lawmakers she doubts her district could find the kind of experts the AEA provides to train teachers to help her son Kiran, who uses an eye-driven device to communicate.
“You are not going to be able to efficiently and economically get that level of collaboration with a cobbled together piecemeal fee-for-service approach,” she said, “and my son’s education will suffer because of it.”
Representatives of Iowans for Tax Relief, Americans for Prosperity and the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association urged legislators to ratify the governor’s changes, which would reduce property taxes by $33 million.
PELLA — Central College will celebrate Black History Month through a series of educational and service programs on campus throughout February.
Black History Month will kick off with “Dr. King on Our Campus: Community, Controversy, and How History Is Made.” Beth McMahon, associate professor of library science, and Lori Witt, Kenneth J. Weller Distinguished Professorship of the Liberal Arts and associate professor of history, will lead this program, 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, Boat-Moore-Weller rooms, Maytag Student Center.
“Liberation & Love: Spoke Word Poetry” with Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey will be 11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8. He will share his life, lessons and love through his captivating, powerful poetry. Having grown up in the Midwest and traveled the country performing his work, he will bring his experiences to the stage in a way that helps all understand how liberation and love belong in our lives.
The Traveling True Black History Museum will bring a unique experience to Central and Pella titled “A Tribute to the African-American Journey.” The exhibit will feature over 1,000 artifacts including original documents from historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, President Barack Obama and other influential African-American leaders. The museum is meant to preserve the history and educate others about African-American contributions to the world. The exhibit will be open to the Central community and public 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, Boat-Moore-Weller rooms, Maytag Student Center.
The Civil Rights Transit Display will return to the Maytag atrium Feb. 12-16. The bus installation showcases inspirational civil rights stories such as Rosa Park’s historic protest.
The Zuzu African Acrobats will perform 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, in Douwstra Auditorium. Originating in Mombasa, Kenya, the Zuzu African Acrobats perform traditional acrobatics set to high-energy beats, all wrapped up in a cultural experience that is representative of the coastal regions of Kenya. The group has appeared on America’s Got Talent and performed at Superbowl LIII. The public is welcome to attend.
Martin Luther King Day activities at Central were canceled due to weather. Those programs have been scheduled throughout the semester. View the schedule.
Other activities for students include:
By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Police Department shared 2023 year-end car crash data for the city yesterday.
Police say that citywide crashes were down 21.8% last year from the 9-year average from 2014-2022, and down 25.3% from 2022 alone.
Crashes on A Avenue in particular saw a pronounced decrease. The Osky PD says that A Ave crashes were down 51.1% in 2023 compared to the 9-year average from 2014-2022.
And crashes on the E-W corridor were down 23.5% in 2023 compared to the previous 9-year average.
If true, this is huge. Up til now, we’ve been told by Luke Combs that he’s had no direct contact with Tracy Chapman since turning his cover of her 1988 hit “Fast Car” into a massive country and pop hit. While Chapman did congratulate Combs in a statement, apparently they never had any communication either before or after the song took over radio last summer.
That story may not hold true for much longer. “Variety” is reporting that the folk rocker and the country superstar are planning to duet on the song at Sunday night’s GRAMMY awards. No one’s talking on either side, and the Recording Academy isn’t saying anything either – but if it happens, it will be a minor miracle; Chapman has only performed for the cameras three times since wrapping up her last tour in 2009, and the singer had thus far resisted the any suggestions to take advantage of the resurgence of “Fast Car” as an international phenomenon.
We’ll find out Sunday night; the GRAMMYs will air live from 8-11:30 p.m. ET/5-8:30 p.m. PT from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Source: Variety
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