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Trump extends TikTok ban deadline for a third time

Posted on by Sam Parsons

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 90 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership.

Trump disclosed the executive order on the Truth Social platform Thursday morning.

“He’s making an extension so we can get this deal done,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. “It’s wildly popular. He also wants to protect Americans’ data and privacy concerns on this app. And he believes we can do both at the same time.”

It is the third time Trump has extended the deadline. The first one was through an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, after the platform went dark briefly when a national ban — approved by Congress and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court — took effect. The second was in April when White House officials believed they were nearing a deal to spin off TikTok into a new company with U.S. ownership that fell apart after China backed out following Trump’s tariff announcement.

It is not clear how many times Trump can — or will — keep extending the ban as the government continues to try to negotiate a deal for TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance. While there is no clear legal basis for the extensions, so far there have been no legal challenges to fight them. Trump has amassed more than 15 million followers on TikTok since he joined last year, and he has credited the trendsetting platform with helping him gain traction among young voters. He said in January that he has a “warm spot for TikTok.”

TikTok praised Trump for signing an extension Thursday.

“We are grateful for President Trump’s leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President Vance’s Office,” the company said in a statement.

As the extensions continue, it appears less and less likely that TikTok will be banned in the U.S. any time soon. The decision to keep TikTok alive through an executive order has received some scrutiny, but it has not faced a legal challenge in court — unlike many of Trump’s other executive orders.

Jeremy Goldman, analyst at Emarketer, called TikTok’s U.S situation a “deadline purgatory.”

The whole thing “is starting to feel less like a ticking clock and more like a looped ringtone. This political Groundhog Day is starting to resemble the debt ceiling drama: a recurring threat with no real resolution.”

That’s not stopping TikTok from pushing forward with its platform, Forrester analyst Kelsey Chickering says.

“TikTok’s behavior also indicates they’re confident in their future, as they rolled out new AI video tools at Cannes this week,” Chickering notes. “Smaller players, like Snap, will try to steal share during this ‘uncertain time,’ but they will not succeed because this next round for TikTok isn’t uncertain at all.”

For now, TikTok continues to function for its 170 million users in the U.S., and tech giants Apple, Google and Oracle were persuaded to continue to offer and support the app, on the promise that Trump’s Justice Department would not use the law to seek potentially steep fines against them.

Americans are even more closely divided on what to do about TikTok than they were two years ago.

A recent Pew Research Center survey found that about one-third of Americans said they supported a TikTok ban, down from 50% in March 2023. Roughly one-third said they would oppose a ban, and a similar percentage said they weren’t sure.

Among those who said they supported banning the social media platform, about 8 in 10 cited concerns over users’ data security being at risk as a major factor in their decision, according to the report.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Trump administration is once again “flouting the law and ignoring its own national security findings about the risks” posed by a China-controlled TikTok.

“An executive order can’t sidestep the law, but that’s exactly what the president is trying to do,” Warner added.

Iowa’s Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly to 3.6 Percent

Posted on by Sam Parsons

DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.6 percent in May, up from 3.5 percent in April, despite 3,900 Iowans joining the labor force. The labor force participation rate rose to 67.3 percent, up from 67.2 percent in April. Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.2 percent.

The total number of unemployed Iowans increased to 62,400 in May from 60,700 in April.

The total number of working Iowans increased to 1,669,100 in May. This figure is 2,100 higher than April and 5,700 higher than one year ago.

“Iowans continued to rejoin the labor force in May, with nearly 4,000 people who were previously on the sidelines coming back to launch their search for a new career,” said Beth Townsend, Executive Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “IWD is well positioned to help connect these people seeking employment with career planners who understand how to work one-on-one to help match those individuals who want to work with the employers who need their skillsets. Despite some pullback in May, Iowa employers currently have more than 49,000 open jobs posted on IowaWORKS.gov.”

Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment

In May, businesses in Iowa lost 5,200 jobs, lowering total nonfarm employment to 1,593,300. Private service industries were responsible for most of the decline, although goods-producing firms decreased slightly as well. Public education offset some of this loss, fueling a gain of 1,000 jobs added, mostly at the local level. This month’s loss erases two previous consecutive months of job gains in March and April.

Professional and business service industries decreased by 1,200 jobs since April. This drop was fueled by losses in administrative support and waste management industries; this sector led all others in terms of jobs lost. Financial activities also decreased by 1,200 jobs, lowering this sector to a level not seen since February 2015. This sector produced minor gains over the last two months totaling 800 jobs. Private education services decreased by 1,000 jobs in May, which was the same for the combined trade and transportation super sector.

Iowa’s manufacturing sector continues to lead in annual jobs lost (-8,400). Durable goods-producing factories have been responsible for most of this decline (-5,900). The professional and business services sector is down 4,600 jobs over the past 12 months. Administrative support and waste management is responsible for a majority of the drop (-2,800). Conversely, health care and social assistance continues to trend up despite a slight decline this month. This sector has gained 4,600 jobs over the past 12 months. Other services is up 2,100 jobs. Industries in this sector include repair and maintenance, civic and social organizations, and other personal services.

Mahaska Health Invites Community to 6th Annual Men’s Health Event and Tractor Ride

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OSKALOOSA — Mahaska Health is excited to invite the community to its 6th Annual Men’s Health Event and Tractor Ride. Each year, Mahaska Health recognizes June as National Men’s Health Month, by providing an opportunity for community members to receive free preventative screenings and men’s health education, and to participate in a tractor ride.

The men’s health event will take place on Saturday, June 21st, 2025, at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds in Oskaloosa. From 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, Mahaska Health will provide free cholesterol tests, blood pressure checks, sleep assessments, PSA testing and more. Refreshments will be provided. Everyone is welcome to attend the free health screenings and to watch the tractors roll through the fairgrounds.

The tractor ride will begin at 10:00 am heading south out of the Fairgrounds, driving past two local Skilled Nursing Facilities. The first stop will be the Oskaloosa Care Center just after 10:00 am with the second drive through taking place at Crystal Heights Care Center. Attendees who want to bring a tractor are welcome to bring their tractors early. The gates to the Southern Iowa fairgrounds open at 6:00 am to allow time to stage before the tractor ride begins.

“We’re excited to connect with our community and promote health and well-being at this event,” shared Dr. Eric Miller, Family Medicine Physician and Accountable Care Medical Director. “It is not only a celebration of our local heritage, but also a way for our community to obtain convenient access to helpful health services. By focusing on regular check-ups, screenings, and lifestyle choices, it reduces risk. We are so grateful for the opportunity to share information and resources with our community.”

Registration is encouraged but not required. For more information and to register for the event, visit mahaskahealth.org/2025-mens-health-event or call 641-676-7420.

Oskaloosa to Host Special Election to Fill Council Seat

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OSKALOOSA — The city of Oskaloosa will be holding a special election in August to fill the vacant council seat they recently filled by appointment.

The city announced that they have received and accepted the resignation of Charlie Comfort as At Large City Council member for the City of Oskaloosa. A petition was received requesting a special election to fill the vacancy for that vacated At Large City Council seat, and the City Council has voted to hold a special election. This special election will be held on August 5, 2025. Each prospective candidate must file an Affidavit of Candidacy and a Nomination Petition with a minimum of 50 signatures with the Oskaloosa City Clerk, 220 South Market Street. The filing deadline for submission of nomination papers is Friday, July 11, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Forms can be picked up at the office of the Oskaloosa City Clerk, 220 South Market Street. Additional information can be found on the city’s website at https://www.oskaloosaiowa.org/290/City-Election-Information.

For more information regarding the special election, please visit https://elections.mahaskacountyia.gov/elections/.

Two Fatal Accidents Occur in Poweshiek County Thursday Morning

Posted on by Sam Parsons

POWESHIEK COUNTY – Two fatal car accidents took place within 30 minutes of each other yesterday morning in Poweshiek County.

According to traffic records, at around 7:16am, a semi truck with an oversized load driven by 76-year-old Gerald Allen Mayfield of Onalaska, Texas, blew out one of its trailer tires, causing Mayfield to park the vehicle on the shoulder of I-80 eastbound. The pilot vehicle, a Ford F-350 driven by Brenton Fregia of Troutman, North Carolina, parked directly behind it.

It was then that a semi truck driven by 66-year-old Larry Comstock of Stronghurst, Illinois struck the rear end of the pilot vehicle and the other semi. During the collision, Fregia was outside attending to the flat tire of the semi truck. He sustained fatal injuries in the accident.

Another injury was reported in the accident to 48-year-old Christina Marie Leeth of Onalaska, Texas. She was transported to Unity Point Grinnell for treatment.

Traffic records show that another accident occurred less than 30 minutes later, at around 7:40am, on Highway V18 north of 460th Avenue. A Pontiac Bonneville driven by 70-year-old James John Jacobi of Belle Plaine was traveling southbound while a Hyundai Sonata driven by 37-year-old Joshua Allen Klein of Brooklyn, Iowa, was going northbound. At one point, the Sonata crossed the center line into the southbound lane, causing Jacobi to attempt to maneuver onto the shoulder; however, the Sonata continued towards the Bonneville and the two vehicles collided with their front drivers’ sides. Both vehicles came to rest in the west ditch.

The collision resulted in fatal injuries to Jacobi. He was transported to Holland Coble Funeral Home by the Montezuma Ambulance. No other injuries were reported in the accident.

Oskaloosa Snaps Skid, Knocks Off DCG Behind Edgar’s Shutout

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa Indians baseball team (10-9) entered their Wednesday night conference showdown with Dallas Center-Grimes (12-6) in a cold spell. They had lost 5 straight games after starting the season 10-4, thanks in large part to playing back-to-back top 10 ranked teams in Pella and Indianola in doubleheaders, as well as sustaining frequent self-inflicted wounds in those games. Wednesday night’s game provided the right opportunity for the Indians to get back on track against a DCG team that, while formidable, was missing their best player: top 100 MLB Draft prospect Taitn Gray was in Phoenix, Arizona, for the MLB Draft Combine.

Sophomore Tyler Edgar got the start on the mound for Oskaloosa and managed to silence a Mustang lineup that, even without Gray, had more than its fair share of threats. He surrendered a 2-out double in the top of the 1st, but then proceeded to go 3 straight innings without surrendering a hit. The Mustangs collected hits in innings 5, 6, and 7, but never strung enough of them together to plate a run against Edgar and an Oskaloosa defense that performed well after struggling with errors in their recent skid.

Ultimately, Edgar did not allow a single run while going the distance against Dallas Center-Grimes. In 7 innings of work, Edgar allowed 5 base hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 batters.

Offensively, the Indians did just enough to get the job done while Edgar was rolling on the mound. They were held scoreless in the first two innings, but in the bottom of the 3rd, senior Grady Kool led the inning off with a base hit, which was immediately followed by senior Maddux Ashman getting hit by a curveball from DCG pitcher Lincoln Harris. Senior Jaden DeRonde then reached on an error, loading the bases for the top of the Indians order. It was then that Tyler Edgar drove in a run on a fielders’ choice, making the game 1-0. Osky couldn’t push the envelope any further than that, but Edgar had gotten what he needed.

Osky would score again in the bottom of the 5th inning. With just 1 run still separating them from DCG, they embarked on their journey for some insurance when Ashman reached on a 1-out single; a subsequent 2-out single from Edgar moved him up to 2nd base. That set the stage for junior Jake North: with 2 outs and a full count, Ashman took off for 3rd base and North put the ball on the ground down the third base line, setting up a difficult throw for DCG’s Brady Smith; Smith was unable to make the play in time, and Ashman made the heads-up move to sprint towards home plate in the process. While the Mustangs tried, and failed, to get North out, Ashman was busy scoring Oskaloosa’s second run to make it 2-0.

From there, Edgar shut the door on the mound, and Oskaloosa clinched the 2-0 win. It was the Indians’ 2nd win against DCG in their last 16 meetings, and the conference victory gives the team a shot in the arm after they had been sliding for 5 games.

Now with an 11-9 record, Oskaloosa will travel to Newton on Friday for a conference doubleheader.

Iran asks its people to delete WhatsApp from their devices

Posted on by Sam Parsons

TEHRAN (AP) — Iranian state television on Tuesday afternoon urged people to remove WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging without specific evidence that the messaging app gathered user information to send to Israel.

In a statement, WhatsApp said it was “concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.” WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning a service provider in the middle can’t read a message.

“We do not track your precise location, we don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another,” it added. “We do not provide bulk information to any government.”

End-to-end encryption means that messages are scrambled so that only the sender and recipient can see them. If anyone else intercepts the message, all they will see is a garble that can’t be unscrambled without the key.

Gregory Falco, an assistant professor of engineering at Cornell University and cybersecurity expert, said it’s been demonstrated that it’s possible to understand metadata about WhatsApp that does not get encrypted.

“So you can understand things about how people are using the app and that’s been a consistent issue where people have not been interested in engaging with WhatsApp for that (reason),” he said.

Another issue is data sovereignty, Falco added, where data centers hosting WhatsApp data from a certain country are not necessarily located in that country. It’s more than feasible, for instance, that WhatsApp’s data from Iran is not hosted in Iran.

“Countries need to house their data in-country and process the data in-country with their own algorithms. Because it’s really hard increasingly to trust the global network of data infrastructure,” he said.

WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

Iran has blocked access to various social media platforms over the years but many people in the country use proxies and virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access them. It banned WhatsApp and Google Play in 2022 during mass protests against the government over the death of a woman held by the country’s morality police. That ban was lifted late last year.

WhatsApp had been one of Iran’s most popular messaging apps besides Instagram and Telegram.

Iowa Weekly Fuel Report

Posted on by Sam Parsons

DES MOINES — The price of regular unleaded gasoline rose 14 cents this week, averaging $3.06 across Iowa according to AAA.

Crude Oil Summary

  • The price of global crude oil rose this week on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by $7.16 per barrel this week and is currently priced at $73.78.
  • Brent crude oil rose by $6.94 and is currently priced at $75.26.
  • One year ago, WTI crude sold for $82.67 and Brent crude was $84.79.

Motor Fuels

  • As of Wednesday, the price of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $3.06 across Iowa according to AAA.
    • Prices rose 14 cents from last week’s price and are down 7 cents from a year ago.
    • The national average on Wednesday was $3.19, up 7 cents from last week’s price.
  • Retail diesel prices in Iowa rose 20 cents this week with a statewide average of $3.48.
    • One year ago, diesel prices averaged $3.50 in Iowa.
    • The current Iowa diesel price is 12 cents lower than the national average of $3.60.
  • The current Des Moines Terminal/Rack Prices are $2.09 for U87-E10, $2.46 for Unleaded 87 (clear), $2.56 for ULSD#2, $2.81 for ULSD#1, and $1.94 per gallon for E-70 prices.

Heating Fuels

  • Natural gas prices were up 45 cents at the Henry Hub reporting site and are currently priced at $3.96 MMbtu.
  • We will continue reporting retail heating oil and propane prices in Iowa in October.

Tips for saving energy on the road or at home are available at energy.gov and fueleconomy.gov.

Dustin Ware Appointed as Interim School Board Member for Ottumwa School District

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa Community School District announced the appointment of Dustin “Dusty” Ware as an interim member of the Board of Education. Ware fills the vacancy created by former board member Jeremy Weller, who accepted the position of District Security & Safety Coordinator with Ottumwa Schools.

A lifelong Ottumwa resident, Ware is a proud graduate of Ottumwa Schools, a local business owner, and a parent with a child currently enrolled in the district. Ware brings more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience to the role, employing over 50 individuals across three businesses in the Ottumwa area.
In his letter of interest, Ware emphasized his commitment to public education and his passion for strengthening the connection between schools and the broader community. “I will bring a forward-thinking, business-minded, and empathetic attitude to the district in hopes of creating an even stronger sense of school and community pride while elevating the learning experience for our students,” Ware wrote.
The district extends its sincere appreciation to Himar Hernández for his interest in serving the Ottumwa Board of Education. His continued dedication to Ottumwa Schools and willingness to step forward is a valued reflection of community involvement and support.
Ware’s appointment will continue until the next school board election in November 2025, when three seats will be on the ballot.

Mahaska Chamber to Host Buyers Breakfast at Southern Iowa Fair

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OSKALOOSA — The Mahaska Chamber & Development Group Diplomats invite Chamber members and friends of the Southern Iowa Fair to the next Mahaska Mixer for  pancakes, sausage and drink served by Chris Cakes. Also known as the Buyers’ Breakfast, the event is hosted by the Fair Board and the Chamber Diplomats on Saturday, July 19, from 6:30-8:00 a.m. The event will be held in the Wash Rack Building at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds just south of the Pavilion. 

Following a full week enjoying the fair, plan to join others for breakfast and show your appreciation to all who continue to make the Southern Iowa Fair new and exciting year after year. Appreciation is extended to the Fair Board, 4-H, FFA, participants, leaders, sponsors, and anyone responsible for making the fair possible. The livestock ribbon auction begins at 8 am in the pavilion.

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