OSKALOOSA — The city of Oskaloosa announced that December 31, 2024 – January 5, 2025, has officially been proclaimed Miss Iowa Week in Oskaloosa.
During a special ceremony, Mayor Pro Tem Bob Drost presented the proclamation to Abi Batu-Tiako, the 2024 Miss Iowa. Abi, a recent William Penn University graduate, will represent Iowa at the Miss America pageant in 2025.
OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa Fire Department was called to AmericInn hotel for a fire alarm with sprinkler activation at 11:24 a.m. today, December 9, 2024. The caller reported no fire and needing assistance with shutting the sprinklers off. The Interim Fire Chief, Interim Deputy Chief, and Engine 102 responded. No smoke or fire was observed on the exterior of the building. Upon entering, smoke was observed and ORMICS was asked to respond. Engine 101 arrived after another call was complete. The sprinklers were shut off and the alarm was silenced. A person was found in a hotel room bathroom on the second floor. The person was conscious, combative, and refused to leave. Police were called to the scene to assist with removal of the combative occupant. A chair was found in the same room that had been on fire and it was removed from the building. Positive pressure fans were used to remove smoke from the building. The fire is currently under investigation and the Health Department was notified.
By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians opened their girls and boys basketball conference slate on Friday night versus the Pella Christian Eagles.
Girls Game
Osky’s girls got off to a rocky start against the rival PC Eagles in a game that featured a showdown of two ranked teams: both Oskaloosa and Pella Christian entered the night as the #15 ranked teams in their respective classes, according to the IGHSAU. Pella Christian jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the first quarter, showing off an aggressive defense that applied controlled pressure, and they were winning the rebound battle early on. To make matters worse for Oskaloosa, senior center Dasia Foster entered foul trouble early, picking up 3 personal fouls in the first quarter, which resulted in her being held out of the second quarter entirely.
The Eagles took advantage of Foster being on the bench in the second quarter, pushing their advantage up to 12 points, as they led 28-16 at halftime. The Indians weren’t able to find answers against the Eagles’ defense without Foster on the floor, and generating quality shot attempts proved to be a challenge.
Nevertheless, the Indians emerged from halftime looking like a different team. Foster returned to the floor and the rest of the Indians were able to solve some of the problems that Pella Christian was throwing at them. Senior Hannah Nelson knocked down a pair of three-pointers, sophomore Naomi Cole showcased some slashing ability on her way to double-digit points, and Foster found her groove in the paint, all while the Indians began to lock down the Eagle offense by preventing easy shots.
Coach TC Cunningham remarked on the difference he saw between the two halves.
“We came out flat,” said Cunningham post-game. “[At halftime] I told them we were lucky to be down by 12…it was going to be one possession at a time, and we needed to get it done on the defensive end…then the girls came off the bench with energy, and it was contagious.”
By the end of the third quarter, the Indians had cut the deficit to 4 points, making the score 31-27, but the momentum was firmly on the Indians’ side.
The fourth quarter saw the Indians further tighten their grip on the game with their offense exploding for 21 points in the final frame. The Eagle offense was eventually able to get going late in the fourth, but it was too little, too late. The final score was 48-41 in favor of the Indians, who are off to a 2-0 start on the season.
Boys Game
Oskaloosa’s boys faced a tough challenge to begin their conference schedule in the form of a team that was coming off an 18-win season. Pella Christian had made it all the way to the district championship last season in class 2A, and while they graduated many of the contributors from that team, they still were a formidable opponent for the Indians on Friday night.
The game began as a back-and-forth affair as both the Indians and the Eagles spread the ball around nicely on offense. The Eagles held a narrow 15-13 lead after one quarter of action. However, from there, the Eagles controlled the game on both ends of the floor. In the second quarter, Osky was limited to just 7 points, and in the second half, they were unable to re-establish their footing in the game. Junior Heavon Knox broke through with 13 points while senior Xavier Edwards tallied 11, but Pella Christian outpaced them by too much after the first quarter ended. The game was 31-20 at half, and unfortunately for the Indians, the second half didn’t offer a different game flow.
For the Eagles, senior guard Deacon Branderhorst led the way with 20 points, 12 of which came from downtown and 14 of which came in the second half. As Pella Christian pulled away, it became clear that they would be the ones starting their conference schedule on the right foot, as they won in a 59-42 final.
Oskaloosa’s girls and boys will be hosting Grinnell on Monday night in another doubleheader. Coverage will begin at 5:45pm on KBOE 104.9 FM and kboeradio.com.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction Saturday.
Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum.
Including the Dallas-based auction house’s fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5 million.
Online bidding, which opened last month, had stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon.
The sparkly red heels were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case.
Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn’t publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.
His attorney, Dane DeKrey, explained ahead of sentencing that Martin, who had a long history of burglary and receiving stolen property, was attempting to pull off “one last score” after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value. But a fence — a person who buys stolen goods — later told him the rubies were just glass, DeKrey said. So Martin got rid of the slippers. The attorney didn’t specify how.
The alleged fence, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal, was indicted in March. He was also in a wheelchair and on oxygen when he made his first court appearance. He’s scheduled to go on trial in January and hasn’t entered a plea, though his attorney has said he’s not guilty.
The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”
As Rhys Thomas, author of “The Ruby Slippers of Oz,” put it, the sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen “more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.”
Over 800 people had been tracking the slippers, and the company’s webpage for the auction had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, said Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the auction house.
Among those bidding to bring the slippers home was the Judy Garland Museum, which posted on Facebook shortly after that it did not place the winning bid. The museum had campaigned for donations to supplement money raised by the city of Grand Rapids at its annual Judy Garland festival and the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.
After the slippers sold, the auctioneer told bidders and spectators in the room and watching online that the previous record for a piece of entertainment memorabilia was $5.52 million, for the white dress Marilyn Monroe famously wore atop a windy subway grate.
The auction also included other memorabilia from “The Wizard of Oz,” such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West. That item went for $2.4 million, or a total final cost to the buyer of $2.93 million.
“The Wizard of Oz” story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the release of the movie “Wicked,” an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.
By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)
The Iowa Board of Education has approved updated rules for school open enrollment to comply with changes made by the Iowa Legislature.
Department of Education attorney Thomas Mayes says a “fairly large” change involves transportation limits. “Prior to this last legislative session, there were limits about vehicles crossing into sending district and receiving districts sending vehicles for student transportation across boundaries unless the two boards agreed,” Mayes says. He says the change creates what he calls a “skip pattern” to allow the crossing into other districts. “Small districts being able to send vehicles not more than two miles into contiguous districts if the receiving attendance center is closer than the child’s assigned attendance center in the resident district,” he says.
The change allows districts with enrollments of 2,000 or more to send vehicles without a distance requirement if the student’s residence district is less than 2,000 students and contiguous to the receiving district. It also outlines who pays for the transportation. “The sending district shall not be responsible for paying transportation subsidies to a parent If the receiving district is providing the transportation,” Mayes says.
Mayes says lawmakers reinstated the deadline for filing open enrollment requests to March for first graders and September for incoming kindergarteners. It also reinstates the exceptions for students that were previously in place if they missed the open enrollment deadline. Mayes says the open enrollment changes also align with the new law encouraging attendance.
“So if a child is truant in the receiving district that puts limitations on their ability to open enroll into a receiving district,” Mayes says. He says the rules also prevent a student who is in trouble from getting out of it by moving to another district. “If I’m suspended…by my resident district or expelled by my resident district. I cannot use open enrollment to avoid the consequences of my suspension or expulsion,” Mayes says.
Mayes presented the rules to the Board of Education during its meeting Thursday, and says their approval now triggers another public comment period before the rules will become final.
OSKALOOSA — Friends of Mahaska County Conservation has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Pella Rolscreen Foundation. This grant will help fund the Mahaska County Conservation All-Inclusive Nature Playscape and Community Area.
This grant will allow Friends and Mahaska County Conservation Board to build this Nature Playscape that will provide local and surrounding communities with an outdoor imaginative experience that has natural climbing features, a mammoth play sculpture, a log traverse, staggered trails and various other outdoor adventures. Groundbreaking is planned for April
2025.
KNOXVILLE — The body of a Des Moines man was found in Marion County over the weekend after authorities were notified that the man was missing.
According to a press release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, on December 7th, 2024 at approximately 1906 hours, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to assist in locating a missing person. A 37-year-old Des Moines man was reported missing to the Des Moines Police Department earlier in the day after his friend reported him missing. It was reported the 37-year-old male was duck hunting and his boat began taking on water; the reporting party was unsure of what body of water the male was hunting on.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Three mountain climbers — two from the U.S. and one from Canada — missing for five days on Aoraki, New Zealand’s tallest peak, are believed to have died in a fall, the authorities said Friday.
The men’s bodies were not found. But based on footprints glimpsed in the snow during an aerial survey, and items believed to belong to them retrieved from the slopes this week, the search for them has ended, Police Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker told reporters.
The Americans — Kurt Blair, 56, from Colorado and Carlos Romero, 50, of California — were certified alpine guides, according to the website of the nonprofit American Mountain Guides Association. New Zealand authorities have not named the Canadian climber at the request of his family.
The men flew to a hut partway up the mountain on Saturday to begin their ascent and were reported missing on Monday when they did not arrive to meet their prearranged transport after the climb. Searchers hours later found several climbing-related items believed to belong to the men, but no sign of them, police said.
A search stalled for three days due to treacherous weather conditions in the area. On Friday, drone operators spotted footprints in the snow and more items that authorities believe belong to the men.
The belongings — including clothing, an ice ax and energy gels — were spotted by helicopter and have been retrieved.
“After reviewing the number of days the climbers have been missing, no communication, the items we have retrieved, and our reconnaissance today, we do not believe the men have survived,” Walker said. “We believe they have taken a fall.”
The search would resume if more evidence came to light, but the men’s deaths have been referred to a coroner, Walker added.
Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook, is 3,724 meters (12,218 feet) high and is part of the Southern Alps, the scenic and icy mountain range that runs the length of New Zealand’s South Island. A settlement of the same name at its base is a destination for domestic and foreign tourists.
The peak is popular among experienced climbers. Its terrain is technically difficult due to crevasses, avalanche risk, changeable weather and glacier movement.
More than 240 deaths have been recorded on the mountain and in the surrounding national park since the start of the 20th century.
DES MOINES – After a very dry September and October, above-average rainfall in November improved drought conditions for most of the state, according to the latest Water Summary Update.
November’s preliminary statewide precipitation was 3.25 inches, or 1.43 inches above normal. Total rainfall for September and October was nearly 3.5 inches below normal, however, increased precipitation during the past month helped prevent drought conditions from worsening.
At the end of November, Iowa’s Drought Plan showed overall drought conditions have improved, with all of Iowa no longer under a drought watch designation. Statewide temperatures for the month were just over four degrees warmer than normal. The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) shows nearly all of Iowa in abnormally dry conditions or drought conditions, with a small area of northwest Iowa showing severe drought.
Conditions have improved due to recent rainfall over the past month. Precipitation forecasts from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center have no clear signal for the third driest month of the year. If the outlooks hold true, Iowa will likely maintain normal conditions in December.
“After a very dry start to the fall, the rainfall in late October and November eased concerns for hydrologic conditions and led to the removal of the Iowa’s Drought Plan drought watch designation state-wide. The state’s average rainfall for the fall months was below normal, but National Weather Service outlooks are stable. Continued normal or above normal rain in December is critical as we head into the winter months,” said Jessica Reese McIntyre, DNR Environmental Specialist.
For a thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, visit
OSKALOOSA — Oskaloosa Main Street’s37th Annual Lighted Christmas Parade will occur on Saturday, December 7 at 7:00 pm. This year’s theme is “Twinkling Christmas.” Grab your spot along the sidewalk to see all the bright and colorful lights, as they line the streets of downtown Oskaloosa.
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