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Iowa State Fair releases list of new foods for this year

By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

The Iowa State Fair will have 64 new foods when it opens the gates in August.

Some of the new offerings for this year include Bacon and Sweet Corn Lobster Rolls, a Bacon Cheddar Pretzel Dog, Blueberry Mini Donuts, a Bucket of Soda, and Butterbeer Ice Cream. For those who like their food on a stick, there’s the Crunch Cool Ranch Pickle on a Stick and Deep Fried Strawberry Shortcake on a Stick and Catfish in on a Stick, and Grilled Shrimp on a Stick.

The Fair will pick three of the new foods next Tuesday to be voted on by fairgoers as the best new food at the Fair.

2023 New Food List

(Banh Mi) Vietnamese Sandwich; (Café Muoi) Salted Coffee; A-Hootenanny Ice Cream; Amish Donuts; Apple Pie Cookie Ice Cream; Bacon and Sweet Corn Lobster Rolls; Bacon Cheddar Pretzel Dog; Bauder’s Cherry Dream Ice Cream; Berry Bowl-Frozen Sorbet; Birch Beer Soda; Blueberry Mini Donuts; Bubble Tea; Bucket of Soda; Buffalo Chicken Bacon Ranch Fries; Burrito Bowl; Butterbeer Ice Cream; Byrd Dawg Crispy Chicken Sandwich; Caramel Apple Cake Pops; Catfish in a Boat or on a Stick; Chicken Salad Hoagie; Chopped Brisket Sandwich; Chopped Italian Chicken Hoagie; Chopped Italian Ham Hoagie;Chopped Italian Roast Beef Hoagie; Citrus Boost Energy Drink; Cookie Dough Sundae, Cotton Candy Art, Cotton Candy Cheese Cake, Craft Link on a Stick,  Crunch Cool Ranch Pickle on a Stick, Deep Fried Bacon Brisket Mac-N-Cheese Grilled Cheese, Deep Fried Strawberry Shortcake on a Stick, Deep Fried Sweet Corn Nugget. Dill Pickle Flavored Cheese Curds, Dough Crazy (Chocolate Chip, Cake Batter, Brownie Batter, Brookie, CC Dough w/o CC, Monster, Cherry Chocolate Chip, Cookies and Cream) Sweet Stick, Fried Caramel Apple Cow Tail, Grilled Shrimp on a Stick, Grinder Ball, Hot Stuff Grilled Cheese, Iowa Sweet Corn Sundae, Iowa Twinkie-Jalapeno Filled with Pulled Pork, Corn and Cream Cheese, Wrapped in Bacon, Smoked with Sweet and Sticky BBQ, Finished with Ranch. Korean Bacon Egg Dog. Korean Egg Dog, Lamb Gyro Salad, Made from Scratch Bacon Maple Monkey Bread, Orange (with Peppermint) Sipper, Orange Float, Orange Slush, Orange-Frosty, Oreo Brownie Blast, Peanut Butter Cream Donuts, Pop Corn Shrimp, Pork Belly Pinwheel, Raspberry Chipotle Grilled Cheese, Shrimp Ceviche, Shrimp Poke Bowl, Shrimp Tacos, Soft Serve Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundae,Southern Fried Corn on the Cob, The Ooey Gooey All American Grilled Cheese, Ube Funnel Cake, Walking Banana Dessert,Walking Smores Dessert, Walleye in a Boat or on a Stick.

State leaders gear up to celebrate Oskaloosa Innovation Park

OSKALOOSA — State officials are on their way to Oskaloosa to celebrate and begin promoting Iowa’s latest certified site for development. The official announcement will happen on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, at 9 AM at the Oskaloosa Bandstand in the Downtown Square (106 S 1st Street, Oskaloosa). The entire community is invited. Debi Durham, Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and Iowa Finance Authority will help celebrate the accomplishment. After the event, IEDA and Mahaska Chamber will begin promoting the Oskaloosa Innovation Park to prospective investors. The rain location is the Environmental Learning Center (2342 IA-92, Oskaloosa).

The Mahaska Chamber & Development Group, the City of Oskaloosa, and the County of Mahaska partnered to register the Oskaloosa Innovation Park as the fifth largest Certified Site for the State of Iowa.

The State’s newest certified site is located in southeast Iowa on Highway 23. The 500-acre property is zoned general industrial and is ready for new businesses to buy and develop the land. The process started in 2020 and will be certified next week. The area has access to a four-lane highway, an on-site railroad, and an airport.

Vladimir Guerrero joins Vladimir Sr. as first father-son Home Run Derby winners

SEATTLE (AP) — Of course a Junior had to do something special in Seattle.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday night, matching Vladimir Sr.’s 2007 title to become the first father-son duo to accomplish the feat.

As far as who might win a head-to-head swing-off, well, that depends.

“It’s kind of difficult right now,” the Toronto Blue Jays star said with a wide grin, speaking through a translator. “With the time, with the minutes, I’ll win. If it’s by outs, he’ll win.”

In a ballpark made famous by the Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. a generation earlier, Guerrero beat Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena 25-23 in the final round. He was 8 when his father won the crown in San Francisco.

“I don’t remember much about 2007,” Vladimir Jr. said. “I guess I was too young.”

Guerrero totaled 5 1/2 miles of homers — 29,390 feet to be exact. He defeated Julio Rodríguez 21-20 in the semifinals after the Mariners star hit a record 41 in the first round in front of his hometown fans.

Batting against Blue Jays manager John Schneider, Guerrero was the last semifinalist to swing and the first finalist, setting a final round record for homers to top the mark Pete Alonso set when he beat Guerrero 23-22 in 2019.

With Guerrero Jr. catching his breath while watching, Arozarena hit against Tampa Bay field coordinator Tomas Francisco. Arozarena had 21 homers in his initial 2 minutes. He had 23 with 7 seconds left in his automatic 30 seconds of bonus time before lining and popping up on his final four swings.

Guerrero had 1 minute of bonus time, earning an additional 30 seconds because he twice reached 440 feet.

“Obviously, the power that he has was incredible,” Arozarena said through a translator. “For me, I felt good going into that round. But also he was able to get a minute of bonus time. I only had the 30 seconds of bonus time.”

Vladimir Guerrero Sr. won the 2007 derby while with the Los Angeles Angels, beating the Blue Jays’ Alex Rios 3-2 in the final.

Arozarena had the most overall homers over the three rounds, 82 to Guerrero’s 72, and the most distance at 33,077 feet. Arozarena overcame Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox 35-22 in the semifinals. Robert hit the longest drive of the night, a 484-foot shot to left in the second round. That topped the high of 476 feet by Barry Bonds in the 2001 derby in Seattle.

Trying to become the youngest Derby winner at age 22, Rodríguez knocked out Alonso, a two-time champion who hit 21. Rodríguez beat Corey Seager 32-24 in the first round last year at Dodger Stadium, then knocked out Alonso 31-23 before losing to Juan Soto 19-18 in the final.

Arozarena beat Texas’ Adolis García 24-17 in the opening pairing before a crowd of 46,952 at T-Mobile Park. García is the godfather to Arozarena’s daughter, and the two jumped into each other’s arms during warmups.

Robert knocked out Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman 28-27 in the opening round. Rutschman hit 21 left-handed, and the switch hitter then turned around to the right side and hit six more right-handed during a 30-second bonus round. From Portland, Oregon, Rutschman grew up attending Mariners games.

Guerrero, back for the first time in four years, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts 26-11 in the first round. Four years ago at Cleveland, Guerrero hit 29 in the first round and 40 in the second, then lost to Alonso in the final.

Alonso was trying for his third title in four years. Griffey Jr. is the only three-time winner, taking the title in 1994, ’98 and ‘99.

Guerrero Sr. was a nine-time All-Star but never won a World Series. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.

Guerrero Jr. is a three-time All-Star and was MVP of the game two years ago in Denver. What’s in the future? A World Series ring? Joining dad in the Hall?

“I’m a little bit too young to think about that right now,” he said. “When I get there, then I’ll think about it, I’ll see if I match my dad or was better than my dad or not.”

Iowa legislature poised to pass ‘fetal heartbeat’ bill again

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

A special legislative session will get underway this morning at the state Capitol and Republican lawmakers plan to pass a bill to ban abortions after fetal activity can be detected, usually around the sixth week of a pregnancy. The bill has exceptions for medical emergencies and fetal abnormalities as well as cases of rape or incest.

Bob Vander Plaats is president and CEO of The Family Leader, a Christian conservative group that has registered in support of the so-called heartbeat law. He said the legislature will be sending a message to the Iowa Supreme Court, which recently deadlocked over the governor’s request to let the 2018 Fetal Heartbeat Act she signed go into effect.

“You have a Supreme Court…that didn’t uphold the law. They even said they thought the legislature was being ‘hypothetical’ when they passed the law,” Vander Plaats said during a recent appearance on Iowa PBS. “…Make sure the Supreme Court understands this was not a hypothetical exercise, repass it and let it run through the system again.”

Governor Reynolds said her faith leads her to protect life when she signed the signed the Fetal Heartbeat Act in 2018. “I believe that all innocent life is precious and sacred and as governor I have pledged to do everything in my power to protect it,” Reynolds said on May 4, 2018. “…For me, it’s immoral to stop an innocent, beating heart.”

The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa said the bill imposes the views of some Christians on others. The Right Reverend Betsey Monnet (MAWN-it), Bishop of the Episocopal Diocese of Iowa, said her denomination has supported abortion rights since 1967.

“Women in Iowa who become pregnant should be able to make their own health care decisions in consultant with their doctors and, if they choose, with their own faith leaders or clergy,” Monnett said.

Some Iowa doctors say the bill is a “functional ban” on abortion. Dr. Emily Boevers (BAY-vers) is an OB-GYN at the hospital in Waverly.

“I’m very concerned about the dramatic responsibility that it’s going to place on health care providers to decide how urgently somebody might die from their pregnancy,” she said.

Dr. Francesca Turner, an OB-GYN in Des Moines, said the bill could delay critical care. “Putting the government in the middle of the physician-patient relationship is going to impact our care,” she said, “impact our ability to make medical decisions.”

A public hearing on the bill is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. and end at 11. Republican legislative leaders plan to set time limits on debate, so the bill is likely to pass before midnight.

Free Vision Screenings for Children at Pella Regional

PELLA — Pella Regional Health Center is partnering with the Oskaloosa Lions Club to offer free vision screenings for children, from 6 months old through kindergarten, on Thursday, August 3 from 4-6 pm. The screenings will be conducted by Iowa KidSight, a service project of the Lions Club of Iowa, in the Conference Room at the hospital. Parents should enter with their children through the northeast side of the hospital through Entrance 5 off Hazel Street.

The screenings are designed to provide early detection and treatment of vision impairments in Iowa’s young children. After the screenings are complete, results are sent in to be interpreted by specialists with the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. If a potential vision problem is detected, parents or guardians receive a letter of referral as well as a list of local ophthalmologists and optometrists. To ensure there are no obstacles in getting to an eye care professional and to ensure the screening program is referring appropriately, follow-up will be conducted for any child being referred.

More info: https://www.pellahealth.org/about-us/news/free-vision-screenings-for-children-at-pella-regional-august-3/

North Overlook Beach Closed Until Further Notice

KNOXVILLE, Iowa –The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, announces the North Overlook Beach at Lake Red Rock will be closed beginning July 10 and until further notice for parking lot paving. Parking for the Playscape area will also be impacted by the closure, however the Playscape will still be open for use and accessible via the Volksweg Trail. During the closure, Whitebreast Beach will remain open for swimming access at the lake.

For more information, contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Red Rock at 641-828-7522 or via email at lakeredrock@usace.army.mil.

Drug Investigation in Ottumwa Leads to Arrest

OTTUMWA — On Thursday, June 22, 2023, officers from the Ottumwa Police Department, Wapello County Sheriff’s Department, and the Southeast Iowa Inter-Agency Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at 515 Ray Street, in Ottumwa regarding a drug investigation.   

During the search, officers found distribution quantities of marijuana, THC concentrates, and items consistent with the distribution of drugs.  Controlled substances were also found inside the bedroom of a juvenile also residing at the residence.    

On July 10, 2023, at approximately 1:49 a.m., Ottumwa Police Officers obtained another search warrant 515 Ray Street to look for the suspect in this case.  The suspect was arrested at that time. Police arrested Tyson Michael Faoro, age 45, for the following charges:   

  • Distribution of a Controlled Substance to a Person Under Age 18, a Class “B” Felony
  • Use of Person Under Age 18 In Drug Trade, a Class “C” Felony
  • Possession with the Intent to Deliver Marijuana, (within a 1000 feet of a school) a Class “D” Felony
  • Possession with the Intent to Deliver THC Extracts, a Class “D” Felony
  • Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp, a Class “D” Felony

Faoro is being held in the Wapello County Jail with a $50,000 bond.  

Osky Softball, Baseball Seasons End in 1st Round of Playoffs

By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa Indians’ softball and baseball teams played on Thursday and Friday in the first round of the postseason, but both squads were turned away in tight games.

Softball

The lady Indians traveled to Newton and found themselves in a fast-moving pitcher’s duel with the Cardinals. Newton junior Hailey Sumpter got the start in the circle to face Osky sophomore Shannon Van Rheenen and the two traded scoreless innings for much of Thursday night.

There was no better indicator of the flow of Thursday’s game than the way in which the only run of the game scored: in the bottom of the 2nd, the Cardinals’ Peyton Durr reached base on a swinging 3rd strike on a wild pitch to lead off the inning. On the next play, junior Kadance Ahn laid down a bunt and reached 1st base on a throwing error, but Durr was thrown out in a rundown between 2nd and 3rd, but after Ahn moved up to 2nd, an RBI single off the bat of 8th grader Morgan Frehse brought her in. The lone run of the game had scored, and it was of the unearned variety.

Osky would threaten Newton offensively in innings 3, 4, and 5, with runners in scoring position each time around; however, Sumpter waded through the issues without sustaining any damage. Van Rheenen went the distance for the Indians and wouldn’t give up any earned runs, but it wasn’t enough to get by the Cardinals as the game ended 1-0.

Oskaloosa (12-24) graduates two decorated seniors from the team in Lucy Roach and Maleah Walker.

Stats

Baseball

Oskaloosa drew #7 Knoxville as their first round matchup in a rematch of a doubleheader that saw both games go down to the wire in May.

The game started about as well as it could have for the Indians: senior catcher Aiden North led the game off with a single and two batters later, junior third baseman Wyatt Grubb reached with a single of his own. A wild pitch sprinkled in resulted in both runners reaching scoring position, and with two outs in the top of the 1st, freshman pitcher Linus Morrison came through with a line drive, 2 RBI single to put the Indians up 2-0. Morrison would go to the mound in the bottom of the 1st and set the Panthers down in order, 1-2-3.

From there, however, the story of the game can be told in terms of senior Bo Leisure’s dominance on the mound for Knoxville, as well as unforced errors on the part of the Indians’ pitching and defense.

After surrendering the 2 RBI single to Morrison, Leisure would retire the next 14 Indian batters consecutively and only three more Indians would reach base in the entire game; they wouldn’t score any more runs, and Leisure finished the night with 14 strikeouts in the complete game.

On the flip side, Knoxville first got on the board in the bottom of the 2nd inning. After picking up two quick outs to start the frame, Morrison walked the next 3 Panther hitters in order, and with the bases loaded and 2 outs, an error by the Indians’ defense resulted in 9 hole hitter Kade Bellon reaching base and driving in the Panthers’ first run of the game. One RBI single by sophomore Trey Wight later, and the game was tied 2-2.

Knoxville wouldn’t take long from there to grab the lead. In the bottom of the third, Trenton Kingery and Bo Leisure reached on back-to-back singles to end Morrison’s day. Sophomore Jaden DeRonde took over and struck out the first hitter he faced, but walked the next two and then hit another, a span which included a passed ball that scored both Kingery and Leisure, making it 4-2 Panthers.

DeRonde would make it through the rest of the inning without further damage, and he wound up with a fine evening in relief, pitching 3.2 innings without surrendering an earned run. The lone other run to score came in the bottom of the 6th, aided by two errors from the Indians’ defense.

The rainy Friday night saw the Indians’ staff finish with 8 walks and 1 hit batter with 3 errors by the Indians’ defense, but the Panthers played a clean game on the other end, and that proved to be the difference maker as Knoxville moved on with a 5-2 victory.

Oskaloosa finishes their season at 9-26 and they graduate 8 seniors: Aiden North, Austen Coenen, Caleb Cohrt, Kam Criss, Logan Hoskinson, Jarrod Parks, Tucker DeJong, and Cael Butler.

Stats

Iowa Republicans will pursue a 6-week abortion ban during a special session that starts Tuesday

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Republican-controlled Legislature will aim to enact a ban on abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy during a rare special session that starts Tuesday, a draft of the bill released Friday shows.

The proposed measure is similar to a 2018 law that a deadlocked state Supreme Court declined to reinstate last month, prompting Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds to call for the extraordinary session. Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The drafted bill, like the 2018 law, would prohibit abortion once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.

A district court deemed that law unconstitutional in 2019 given rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s highest court that affirmed a woman’s fundamental constitutional right to abortion. Both bodies overturned those rulings last year, so Reynolds sought to reinstate the 2018 law.

The current draft of the bill, which may be amended before a vote, includes exceptions for medical emergencies, rape, incest and fetal abnormality.

Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the state, has said it plans to protest outside the Iowa Capitol on Tuesday. It has previously filed lawsuits to challenge the state’s abortion restrictions.

The bill is unlikely to encounter major roadblocks in the Legislature. Most Republican-led states have significant curbed abortion access in the year since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed itself on Roe v. Wade. Fourteen states have bans with limited exceptions and one state, Georgia, bans abortion after cardiac activity is detected. Several other states have similar restrictions that are on hold pending court rulings.

Any restrictions to come out of Iowa’s special session are likely to be challenged in court.

The question before the Iowa Supreme Court this term was largely procedural, not on the merits of the law. Last year’s ruling dictated that the “undue burden test” for abortion law remains in effect unless that legal standard is litigated further, which the court has not spoken to since. The undue burden is an intermediate level of scrutiny that requires laws do not create a significant obstacle to abortion.

Lawyers for the state argued the law should be analyzed using rational basis review, the lowest level of scrutiny to judge legal challenges.

Reynolds ordered a special session just one other year, in 2021, when lawmakers had to wait until the fall to approve the drawing of congressional and legislative districts. There hadn’t been a special session since 2006.

Iowa Republicans set Jan. 15 as date for their party’s 2024 Caucuses

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Iowa Republican Party leaders have set January 15 as the date for their party’s 2024 Caucuses.

Iowa’s Caucuses have traditionally been the kick off event of the presidential campaign for both parties. The Republican National Committee has agreed on a schedule that keeps the Iowa GOP’s Caucuses first.

National Democratic Party leaders booted Iowa from its early state line up and plan for South Carolina’s Democratic Primary to go first, on February 3 of next year. Iowa Democratic Party leaders have indicated they’ll host caucuses on the same night as Republicans next year, just to conduct party business. They’re planning a separate mail-in system for Iowa Democrats to express their preference in the 2024 presidential race, but party leaders haven’t said when that voting would start or when the results might be announced.

Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann said Iowa Republicans are “committed to maintaining Iowa’s cherished first-in-the-nation Caucuses,” where Republicans cast a straw poll ballot on Caucus night.

It’s possible the January 15 Iowa Caucus date for Republicans may change after New Hampshire officials announce the date of their state’s presidential primary. That announcement is expected sometime this fall.

January 15, 2024 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The 2004 Iowa Caucuses were also held on the holiday, but the date that year was January 19.

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