- Today in 1958, Jerry Lee Lewis announced his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra. The resulting furor caused Lewis to be booed off stage and forced the cancellation of all but three of his concerts on his British tour. The ensuing controversy all but ruined his career.
- Today in 1976, “I.O.U.” by Jimmy Dean peaked at #35 on the pop singles chart.
- Today in 1982, the single, “Love’s Been A Little Bit Hard On Me,” by Juice Newton entered the Top 40 chart.
- Today in 1988, the city of Los Angeles declared it Buck Owens Day.
- Today in 1992, Ricky Van Shelton’s album, “Backroads,” topped the charts.
- Today in 2003, CBS airs “Willie Nelson The Big Six-0: An All-Star Birthday Celebration,” with Ray Charles, B.B. King, Paul Simon, Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Travis Tritt, Lyle Lovett, Bob Dylan, Marty Stuart, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.
- Today in 1995, Alan Jackson released the single, “I Don’t Even Know Your Name.”
- Today in 1997, the “Put Yourself In My Shoes” album by Clint Black was certified triple platinum.
- Today in 2000, Garth Brooks’ “Double Live” album was certified for sales of 13 million.
- Today in 2000, the album, “Party Doll And Other Favorites,” by Mary Chapin Carpenter was certified gold.
- Today in 2002, Brooks & Dunn and Alan Jackson won three times each in the 37th Academy of Country Music Awards at Los Angeles’ Universal Amphitheatre. Brooks & Dunn take Entertainer of the Year; Top Vocal Duo; and Video of the Year, for “Only In America.”
- Today in 2004, Rascal Flatts was at #1 with “Mayberry.”
- Today in 2011, Reba McEntire, Jean Shepard, and songwriter Bobby Braddock were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
- Today in 2012, Pistol Annies’ Angaleena Presley married tour manager Jordan Powell in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
- Today in 2015, Chris Young’s “Neon” album went gold.
- Today in 2015, Jana Kramer married NFL tight end Michael Caussin in Charlottesville, Virginia.
- Today in 2015, Brantley Gilbert launched a two-day motorcycle ride for the Wounded Warriors Project, beginning in Houston and ending in Baton Rouge.
- Today in 2017, Bruce Robison was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms…and was eventually diagnosed with typhus, an infection spread by insects.
- Today in 2017, Rascal Flatts performed during each hour of NBC’s four-hour “Today” telecast.
- Today in 2018, Kane Brown performed “What Ifs” with contestant Spensha Baker during the season finale of NBC’s “The Voice.” The episode also featured Ryan Adams and Jason Aldean, who offered up “Drowns The Whiskey.” Blake Shelton was coaching on the show, along with Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, and Alicia Keys.
- Today in 2018, Darius Rucker participated as a wounded warrior and was presented with the keys to a new house during the Grand Ole Opry. Others performing during the military-themed edition include Trace Adkins, John Conlee, Chris Janson, Kellie Pickler, and Lee Greenwood.
- Today in 2018, Dan + Shay’s single, “Tequila,” went gold.
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H & S FEED & COUNTRY STORE PET OF THE WEEK: ANNA MARIE
This week’s H&S Feed and Country Store Pet of the Week is “Anna Marie”, a delightful 5 month old orange tabby kitten with a sweet disposition. Anna Marie unfortunately needed to have one eye removed, but that doesn’t slow her down. She loves attention, loves to explore, and gets along great with other cats. She’s not quite sure what to make of dogs, but she sure to warm up to them after she’s around them awhile.
Anna Marie is fully vetted, spayed, vaccinated and microchipped and ready to go to her ‘fur-ever’ home!
And because Anna Marie is the H&S Feed & Country Store Pet of the Week, her adoption fee is only $30 this week!
If you’d like to set up an appointment to meet Anna Marie 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 Anna Marie with Izzy from Stephen Memorial Animal Shelter here:
SpaceX reveals plans for what could be the biggest-ever initial public offering
NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk announced plans Wednesday for one of the biggest stock sales ever by taking public a space company that is currently losing billions of dollars a year.
A filing shows that his SpaceX lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses kept piling up at the start of this year, too.
The prospectus did not put a dollar figure on the amount Musk hopes to raise, but various reports have put it at $75 billion or so. An offering of that size would easily surpass the current title holder, Saudi Aramco, the oil giant that went public seven years ago and raised $26 billion.
SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has said the money will help finance projects to put people on the moon and Mars in its quest to make humans an intergalactic species as they face existential threats that could wipe out civilization.
“We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs,” the filing states.
The prospectus reads in part like a Hollywood fantasy version of the future, detailing in one section how part of Musk’s compensation will be granted only if he maintains “a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants.”
Short of that, the stock sale alone could make Musk, a major owner who founded SpaceX in 2002, the world’s first trillionaire. Forbes currently puts his net worth at $839 billion.
In addition to making reusable rockets to hurl astronauts into orbit, SpaceX has other businesses, some successful, some struggling — and with plenty of questions marks.
The document shows that Starlink, the world’s largest satellite communications company, is a big source of cash for the company, generating $4.4 billion in operating income last year. The business uses 10,000 satellites in low orbit to provide internet service to 10 million people in 150 countries and territories.
Among the struggling businesses are two Musk units that were recently acquired by SpaceX — his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and his artificial intelligence business, xAI. Those purchases were blasted by some SpaceX investors as bailouts because they are big money losers.
The prospectus said its AI business lost $6.4 billion in operations last year.
The original SpaceX business, making rockets and staging launches, has been helped by massive government contracts, which raises questions that could come back to haunt the company. Given Musk’s close relation to the Trump administration, government ethics lawyers and watchdogs have asked if he has gotten special treatment to win taxpayer money and whether that good luck will run out once President Donald Trump is out office.
SpaceX has won contracts worth $6 billion from NASA and the Defense Department and other government agencies in the past five years, according to USAspending.gov. The company noted in its filing that a fifth of its revenue last year was from the federal government.
Musk was the biggest donor to Trump’s presidential campaign and is still a big backer despite their sometimes rocky relationship after his stewardship of the government cost-cutting effort called DOGE early last year.
Like many corporate CEOs, Musk’s compensation will go far beyond his annual salary, which was $54,080 in 2025 and has remained unchanged since 2019, according to the filing.
The prospectus says stock grants for him would be sliced into 15 nearly equal amounts — 67 million shares each — and would vest only as the company achieves preset market cap goals. In addition to the Martian colony, SpaceX’s stock market value would have to reach $7.5 trillion for him to receive the full award.
He would get even more stock awards if SpaceX manages to get giant data centers the size of football fields in space.
The document shows Musk will be able to exert big control over the business.
It says he and certain other shareholders will receive shares in a special class of stock that gives them 10 votes for each share they hold. Those shareholders will be able, among other things, to elect a majority of the company’s board of directors.
“This will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters and the election of our directors,” SpaceX said in a warning to prospective investors.
SpaceX will be able to pitch the offering to investors — in what’s known in Wall Street parlance as a “road show” — 15 days after making its prospectus public. In this case, that works out to June 4.
Weekly Fuel Report
DES MOINES — The price of regular unleaded gasoline rose 9 cents from last week’s price and is currently averaging $4.28 across Iowa according to AAA.
Crude Oil Summary
- The price of global crude oil rose this week on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by $5.40 per barrel, and is currently priced at $107.77.
- Brent crude oil fell by $1.23 and is currently priced at $105.57.
- One year ago, WTI crude sold for $63.97 and Brent crude was $66.93.
Motor Fuels
- As of Wednesday, the price of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $4.28 across Iowa according to AAA.
- Prices rose 9 cents from last week’s price and are up $1.34 from a year ago.
- The national average on Wednesday was $4.56, up 5 cents from last week’s price.
- Retail diesel prices in Iowa fell 3 cents this week with a statewide average of $5.33.
- One year ago, diesel prices averaged $3.35 in Iowa.
- The current Iowa diesel price is 32 cents lower than the national average of $5.65.
- The current Des Moines Terminal/Rack Prices are $3.30 for U87-E10, $3.86 for Unleaded 87 (clear), $4.10 for ULSD#2, $4.26 for ULSD#1, and $2.59 per gallon for E-70 prices.
Heating Fuels
- Natural gas prices were up 14 cents at the Henry Hub reporting site and are currently priced at $3.02 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.
Salvaged Designs Awarded $20,000 Amex Shop Small® Grant
OSKALOOSA — Oskaloosa Main Street is excited to congratulate Salvaged Designs owner Jennifer Maxwell on being selected as a recipient of the 2026 Amex Shop Small® Grant Program in partnership with American Express®.
Salvaged Designs was one of more than 500 small businesses across the country selected to receive a $20,000 grant to support business growth, innovation, and community impact.
The Amex Shop Small® Grants Program initially launched with a $5 million contribution to support 250 small businesses in honor of America’s 250th anniversary. Through a Small Business Saturday® giving pledge, an additional $1 was contributed to the grant program for every eligible transaction made on Small Business Saturday®, with American Express contributing an additional $5.1 million — expanding the program’s reach and impact nationwide.
Located in Downtown Oskaloosa, Salvaged Designs has become a valued part of the community through its creativity, entrepreneurship, and commitment to downtown vitality. The business was also recognized locally as Oskaloosa Main Street’s 2025 Open 4 Business competition winner and was named Senator Joni Ernst’s Small Business of the Week in October 2024.
“We are incredibly proud of Jen and Salvaged Designs for receiving this national recognition,” said Angella Foster, Oskaloosa Main Street Director. “Small businesses are the heart of our downtown, and opportunities like this help strengthen not only individual businesses, but our entire community. Jen’s passion, creativity, and investment in downtown Oskaloosa continue to make a positive impact.”
The Amex Shop Small® Grants Program celebrates the important role small businesses play in local economies and neighborhoods across America.
For more information about Salvaged Designs, visit their social media pages or stop by their shop at 115 High Avenue West in downtown Oskaloosa.
EBF High School Band Set to Perform at Liberty Bowl This December
By Sam Parsons
The Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont High School Marching Band has been invited to perform at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee this December, and director Dezirae Fairchild says that the band is asking the community for donations to help fund the trip.
The band is set to perform during halftime of the bowl game, as well as the parade associated with it. Fairchild says that the band was hand-picked by an agency tasked with finding bands to perform at the event, and at first, she didn’t believe it.
Fairchild shared some details about the trip, which will include both musical performances and opportunities to learn.
The EBF Band is raising money through October and plans to hold pop can drives, bake sales, and other events throughout the summer and the early part of next school year to help support the trip. Fairchild says that there’s still a ways to go to reach their fundraising goal, but there’s time.
For those interested in making a donation to support the band trip, Fairchild says that the easiest way is to reach out to her directly.
Fairchild can be reached at dezirae.fairchild@rocketsk12.org, or donations can be sent to:
EBF Music Boosters c/o Katie Smith
PO Box 518
Eddyville, IA 52553
Our full conversation with Mrs. Dezirae Fairchild is available below.
The Nashville Palace To Honor Randy Travis With A Room Named After Him
The Nashville Palace is one of Nashville’s iconic venues, and it’s about to recognize one of Nashville’s iconic singers. The Palace is honoring Randy Travis on June 3 in a celebration of his debut album, “Storms of Life,” which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The famed country venue is renaming its front room after the legendary singer. Barrett Hobbs, The Nashville Palace owner, said in a statement, “In honor of the ‘Storms of Life’ album and years of Randy Travis and The Nashville Palace, the front room will be renamed, forever and ever, The Randy Travis Room.” The June 3rd celebration sold out in a flash, but the venue has released more tickets.
This day in Country Music History
- Today in 1976, “All The Love In The World” album by Mac Davis was certified gold.
- Today in 1977, Waylon Jennings topped the charts with the single, “Luchenbach, Texas.”
- Today in 1983, John Conlee topped the charts with the single, “Common Man.”
- Today in 1988, Kathy Mattea drives to #1 in Billboard with “Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses.”
- Today in 1991, the album, “Chill Of An Early Fall,” album by George Strait was certified gold.
- Today in 1991, Tracy Lawrence signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records.
- Today in 1991, Lee Greenwood’s video, “God Bless The U.S.A,” was certified gold and platinum simultaneously.
- Today in 1993, Alan Jackson’s single, “Chattahoochee,” was released.
- Today in 1993, Dwight Yoakam’s “Ain’t That Lonely Yet” topped the charts.
- Today in 1994, John Berry’s “Your Love Amazes Me” goes to #1 in Billboard.
- Today in 1996, Alabama’s “Super Hits” album was released.
- Today in 1998, Garth Brooks’ album, “No Fences,” became the first country album certified for shipments of 14-million copies.
- Today in 2002, self-titled albums from Mark Chesnutt, Emerson Drive and Little Big Town arrived in stores.
- Today in 2002, Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow taped an installment of “CMT Crossroads” in Los Angeles. In addition to their own material, they offered a duet on the Johnny Cash & June Carter classic “Jackson.”
- Today in 2008, Darius Rucker’s first country single, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” was released.
- Today in 2012, Gloriana is featured on ABC-TV’s “The Bachelorette” performing “(Kissed You) Good Night” as contestant Emily Maynard enjoys a first date.
- Today in 2013, Kellie Pickler won season 16 of ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars.” Wynonna, who also competed during the season, sings “I Want To Know What Love Is” on the finale.
- Today in 2016, Luke Bryan and Jason Derulo teamed up as a new episode of “CMT Crossroads” debuted. The set list included “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” “Strip It Down” and “That’s My Kind Of Night.”
New Downtown Home Positions Oskaloosa’s Hub for Growth
OSKALOOSA, Iowa – When students walk into the Oskaloosa Hub’s new downtown location this fall, they will not be stepping into a traditional classroom. They will step into collaborative workspaces and a business environment designed to mirror the professional world they are preparing to enter.
After months of searching for the right space, Oskaloosa Schools has secured a new home for The Hub at The Office (108 1st Avenue East) on the downtown square, a move that school leaders, staff, and students believe will expand opportunities and strengthen connections between students and the community.
“We wanted to be downtown. We wanted to be in the business district,” said Jeff Kirby, principal at Oskaloosa High School. “We wanted to help build a culture around business that students walking into this environment felt like they were in a business environment, and learn important workplace skills like building relationships, teamwork, and listening to understand. Being centrally located allows us to provide even more empowerment and inspiration to our students.”
The Hub program has been a three-year journey that was launched to give students authentic, project-based experiences connected to local businesses and community partners. This year’s pilot program operated out of shared space at MidWestOne Bank, where students collaborated on branding, marketing, and business projects while building professional skills. But as the program grew, so did the need for a space built around The Hub’s long-term vision.
Carrie Bihn, Hub facilitator, said students and Hub leadership toured multiple locations before finding one that fit both the program’s practical needs and future ambitions.
“We are incredibly excited to have a place that will be our own,” Bihn said. “We can set our own hours and come in after hours, or come in before school or after school, whatever we need to do to work on a project.”
The new location offers several advantages beyond simply having more room. The building is move-in ready, includes elevator access, and already contains professional meeting spaces and built-in technology students can use for presentations and collaboration.
Bihn shared that the biggest strengths of The Hub have been the collaboration with local business partners working side by side with our students. One of the best examples of this collaboration is how the current and future home of The Hub campus has been provided at no cost to the schools by our generous local partners. Students have loved having their own desks to work on their projects. They enjoy the professional work place setting, making their work more authentic.
For Bihn, the shift represents a major step forward from the makeshift setups students sometimes relied on during the pilot year.
“There’s already one or two monitors that kids can use in lieu of a projector,” Bihn said. “They’ll have that capability there to share whatever they’re working on in a presentation without having to put a projector on a trash can.”
The downtown setting also places students closer to the businesses they regularly work alongside.
That proximity matters because The Hub is intentionally designed to blur the line between school and workplace. Students collaborate with community partners on real projects, attend meetings, communicate with professionals, and learn how to navigate workplace expectations.
Kirby said sharing space alongside other businesses will help reinforce that environment daily.
“There are individuals there who model what it’s like to work in a business location for our students,” Kirby said. “Our students will have to make sure that they replicate that.”
For junior Lilia Morris, the new location already feels different.
“I’m overjoyed,” Morris said. “I was there for a business advisory meeting, and I was amazed before I even knew that’s where we were going to be.”
Morris said the current setup often felt temporary because students were sharing someone else’s workspace. The new location changes that dynamic.
“I’m really excited to be able to say, ‘This is our space,’” Morris said. “We can hang stuff on walls, make it feel like home, and really create an environment that reflects what we’re building together.”
She is especially looking forward to collaborative furniture and flexible workspaces that better match the way students actually work.
“If you need to, you can have your own space,” Morris said. “But then if you need to collaborate with other people, it’s going to be really great that you can just pull up chairs.”
The move downtown also creates new possibilities for partnerships with nearby student-run enterprises like Spirit Cafe. Bihn said she sees opportunities for Hub students to collaborate on marketing projects, operational planning and other business needs while keeping multiple student-led programs connected within the downtown district. The close proximity allows students to see authentic learning happening across different environments, from business operations to project development and customer service.
“It creates a space where students can see other students doing real work in real businesses just a few doors away,” Bihn said.
Spirit Cafe teacher Sarah DeRonde said the partnership could open the door for students to work directly with school programs, activity directors and community partners to help solve real challenges and support ongoing projects.
“We’re excited about the possibilities of having Hub students help lead conversations with coaches, activity directors and other school programs to figure out what their needs are and how students can help meet them,” DeRonde said. “That could mean marketing, design, organization, logistics or helping bring ideas from paper to reality. There are so many opportunities for students to collaborate, problem-solve and create solutions that make a real impact for our schools and community.”
School leaders believe the new space will help The Hub continue building momentum heading into the next school year. Students are expected to begin using the facility this summer, with expanded access throughout the 2026-27 school year.
Kirby said The Hub plans to continue growing student participation, strengthening internships, and expanding enterprise opportunities, including plans for a future student-run spirit store.
“We’re looking to continue to build our enterprise businesses,” Kirby said. “Another opportunity for our students to work in a real-life environment and learn and practice those skills that will help them be successful.”
Even with the excitement surrounding the move, Bihn said Hub leadership already sees the new location as another step in a larger vision, but it will take a few years to build.
“We are anticipating outgrowing this,” Bihn said. “We want this to grow, grow, grow.”
San Diego mosque shooters met online and left writings expressing hate, FBI says
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two teenagers who shot and killed three people in an attack on a California mosque were radicalized online where they first met and shared white supremacist views, according to authorities and writings they authored.
The pair “didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” Mark Remily, the lead FBI agent in San Diego, said Tuesday.
The writings, obtained by The Associated Press, include hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and both the political left and right. Both express beliefs that white people are being eliminated, and one writes about mental health struggles and being rejected by women.
Investigators also found at least 30 guns, ammunition and a crossbow at two residences after Monday’s attack in San Diego and were trying to uncover whether the shooters had broader plans, Remily said. The shooters, Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, killed themselves, according to police.
Family of the two teens could not immediately be reached for comment.
Authorities praised the three men they killed — including Amin Abdullah, a beloved security guard — for slowing the attackers at the Islamic Center of San Diego and preventing them from reaching 140 schoolchildren just steps away.
Imam Taha Hassane said Abdullah engaged the suspects in a gunbattle and called for a lockdown on his radio. He “sacrificed his life to stop them from getting inside the classrooms.”
The shooting was the latest in a string of attacks on houses of worship and comes amid rising threats and hate crimes targeting the Muslim and Jewish communities since the beginning of war in the Middle East, forcing increases in security.
Writings show shooters’ broad hatred
Authorities have said there was no specific threat against the Islamic center, which is the largest mosque in San Diego and also houses a school, police said. In Cain’s writings, he calls for Muslims to be “exterminated.”
The document includes symbols long associated with white supremacists and Nazis. The two referred to themselves as “Sons of Tarrant,” an apparent reference to the white supremacist who attacked mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, killing 51 people.
Muslim American organizations noted that anti-Muslim rhetoric has been on the rise across the U.S.
The two suspects met online before discovering they both lived in the San Diego area, the FBI said. “In terms of how the radicalization occurred, we’re still digging into that,” Remily said.
James Canning, a spokesman for San Diego Unified School District, said Clark had been attending school online since 2021 and was set to graduate next month. In 2024, he was a member of the wrestling team at Madison High School. Canning said Clark had no record of disciplinary issues in high school.
Neighbors Marne and Ted Celaya said they last saw Clark a few hours before the shooting and that he waved as he got into a car alone and drove away. They described the family as good neighbors and recalled watching Cain grow up.
“It’s unbelievable,” Marne Celaya said of the shooting. “He’s helped me bring in my groceries.”
The victims were pillars of the mosque
Police said the security guard opened fire when the shooters arrived at the Islamic Center and tried to barge inside.
As the shooters made their way into the lobby, they wounded the guard, who kept firing at them, forcing them back outside, where the attackers fatally shot him, Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
The pair went back inside and searched through rooms that were emptied during the lockdown, Wahl said. They exited into the parking lot, where they fatally shot Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad, according to police. The men drew the attackers farther away from the building, Wahl said.
Kaziha, known as Abu Ezz, “was everything” to the Islamic Center, Hassane said. “He was the handyman. He was the cook. He was the caretaker,” Hassane said.
Abdullah had worked at the mosque for more than a decade.
“He wanted to defend the innocent so he decided to become a security guard,” said family friend Shaykh Uthman Ibn Farooq.
Hassane cried as leaders of different faiths embraced him at a vigil Tuesday evening to honor the victims. He told the hundreds who had gathered at a park next to the center that they were there to celebrate the community’s unity.
“We are here to celebrate the patience, the resilience of the Muslim community,” he said. “We are here to honor our heroes, our martyrs.”
Mosque leaders were used to hate mail
The Islamic Center sits in a neighborhood with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets. It includes Al Rashid School, which offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Quran for students ages 5 and up, its website says.
Josie-Ana Edenshaw, who has been going to the mosque for three years, said it was especially welcoming to new Muslims.
“They’ve always opened their doors, even to people who aren’t Muslim, they invite people to Ramadan dinners,” Edenshaw said. “Every person at that masjid will smile at you,” using the Arabic word for mosque.
The center’s imam said Tuesday that the mosque and its community wasn’t immune to threats over the years.
“We have never ever expected such things to happen at the Islamic Center of San Diego,” Hassane said. “I mean we are used to receiving hate mails, hate messages, people driving by and cursing and all that stuff. But such horrible crime, we have never expected this.”
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