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Application Window Closes Tomorrow for Supporting Rural EMS Through an Internship Initiative

OTTUMWA — The Supporting Rural EMS Through an Internship Initiative’s application window is closing tomorrow at noon, and the program is still seeking applicants from Wapello County.

The Supporting Rural EMS through an Internship Initiative will provide an opportunity for 16 participants, aged 17-24 from the counties of Appanoose, Davis, Van Buren, and Wapello in a rural, socioeconomically depressed area in South Central/South East Iowa, to complete a paid internship to become Emergency Medical Technicians. There is a desperate need for certified EMS professionals in these counties as well as statewide.

During the summer paid internship, participants will take a state-approved EMT course while completing healthcare exploration, as well as course lab and clinical hours at area ambulance services and hospitals. During the program, interns will also receive information on furthering their education in healthcare, particularly in EMS by continuing to the Paramedic level, as well as soft skills needed to be successful in a job and career.

  • Starting date of June 1, 2023, through August 12, 2023.
  • 24-hour work week – this is a commitment to the program; the course has been condensed to meet the current summer schedule and there is very little leeway for absences.
  • Internship program will pay interns $12 per hour.
  • Participants that successfully complete the program – successfully completing the EMS course and taking NREMT Testing will be awarded a $500 bonus.

The program application and job description are attached to the email and available at www.wapelloready.org/emsintern

Old Hwy 163 Closed Starting Today

OSKALOOSA — Starting today (5/18), Old Highway 163 in Mahaska County will be closed for a repaving project.

The road will be closed until it is completely repaved, with the estimated completion date of mid-June. Old Hwy 163 will be closed from the entrance off New Hwy 163/Jewell Ave to the roundabout at Pella Ave/Hwy 432 (see highlighted area in the map above).

If you use this road to get to the Lacey Complex, it is advised that you use a different route.

ESPN announces ‘Pat McAfee Show’ will join afternoon lineup

BRISTOL (AP) — Pat McAfee’s show is moving to ESPN as part of a new multiyear deal announced Tuesday.

McAfee first joined ESPN as a college football analyst for its Thursday night games in 2019. He returned to the network last year and became part of the “College GameDay” crew as well as hosting some alternate presentations of ESPN games, including the CFP National Championship.

That will continue, but it is McAfee’s show that has created the most buzz. It began on satellite radio in 2016 and picked up steam when it began streaming in 2019. The show has been mainly on YouTube the past three years, but will move to ESPN, the ESPN YouTube Channel and ESPN+ as part of the network’s afternoon lineup beginning in the fall. It will likely air after “First Take” and start at 12 p.m. ET.

McAfee is exiting a four-year deal with FanDuel that the New York Post reported was worth $120 million.

The McAfee show is known for weekly appearances by Aaron Rodgers during the football season, including his announcement of his impending trade to the New York Jets, but also for a frequent use of profanity. McAfee said during ESPN’s presentation to advertisers Tuesday that he wouldn’t swear “nearly as much” but the substance and style of the show would not change despite its new home.

“We ain’t changing a damn thing,” McAfee said. “Every other word is good to go. … We won’t be doing that because it’s the middle of the day, but everything else will be good.”

ESPN also announced a documentary series on Serena Williams and four major matchups for the upcoming college football season.

“In the Arena: Serena Williams” has started production and comes on heels of the 2021 “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady” series. The Brady series was 10 parts and focused on each of the seasons Brady took his team to the Super Bowl.

ESPN has not announced how many parts there will be for the Williams series. Williams won 23 singles titles in grand slam tournaments, but ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said the episodes won’t be dictated by that.

“We’ll combine some things here, but it’s going to be fantastic. I’m probably as excited about that as I am any film that we have in development right now,” Pitaro said.

Williams also appeared on stage during the presentation. The series will be directed by Gotham Chopra and is co-produced by ESPN, Religion of Sports, Brady’s 199 Productions, and Williams’ and Caroline Currier’s Nine Two Six Productions.

The Labor Day weekend game between Florida State and LSU will air on ABC for the second straight season. The night game will be played in Orlando, Florida, on Sept. 3.

Alabama will host Texas on Sept. 9 in a game airing on ESPN. ABC again will have the Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma from Dallas on Oct. 7 as well as Notre Dame’s game at Clemson on Nov. 4.

The ESPN presentation was one part of the Walt Disney Company’s entire program for advertisers Tuesday. ESPN and other networks owned by Disney used to have separate programs before the move to a combined presentation a couple of years ago.

Rita Ferro, president of Disney advertising sales and partnerships, noted the move from eight different events to one stemmed from a demand from advertisers to do fewer big events.

The presentation came amid layoffs throughout the Walt Disney Company, including ESPN. Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in February that the company would reduce 7,000 jobs either through attrition or layoffs.

ESPN went through the first of two rounds of reductions last month. There also will be a round of cuts involving on-air talent over the summer done through non-renewal of contracts, buyouts or cuts.

“It has been a tough period, the past few weeks. I think folks are looking forward to getting through this month and regrouping,” Pitaro said. “We’re operating in a world where fewer households are subscribing to traditional television. That puts pressure on the business.”

Gov. Reynolds approves tougher penalties for fentanyl related crimes

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that significantly increases the criminal penalties for making or selling illegal drugs laced with fentanyl.

“Between 2019 and 2022, Iowa saw a 45% increase in opioid deaths,” Reynolds said this morning, “including and especially a 160% increase for those under the age of 25.”

The Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement has seized nearly 28,000 fentanyl pills in the last six weeks. Iowa’s Republican governor said “it’s no mystery” where this “flood” of fentanyl is coming from.

“President Biden has a constitutional responsibility to secure our nation’s border from illegal immigration and drug trafficking, human trafficking and everything that’s taking place at the southern border,” Reynolds said. “His failure is empowering criminals, it’s empowering the cartel who trade others’ lives for profit and it truly is a disgrace.”

The bill doubles the penalty making and selling illegal drugs. Those caught with 50 grams of fentanyl could be sentenced to 50 years in an Iowa prison and penalties are also enhanced for selling illegal drugs to a minor. There are also harsher sentences for providing drugs that lead to an overdose or death.

“This law brings the drug dealers who kill to justice,” said Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, who joined Reynolds for today’s bill signing ceremony. “It gives prosecutors the tools that we need to seek justice for the victims of crime and their families.”

The governor hosted a roundtable discussion in Atlantic about drug crimes before she signed the bill into law. Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Bayens said opioids are incredibly addictive and stopping the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into urban and rural Iowa is a high priority.

“Law enforcement must lean on one another and leverage all of our resources to combat this epidemic,” Bayens said.

Bayens cited the recent federal indictments of six Iowans after a series of overdoses in Cass and Shelby Counties. “In the span of just a few months, those two small rural counties had five fentanyl overdoses, two of which were fatal. Agents further learned that the distribution of naloxone in these two counties had spiked,” Bayens said.

“Once the size and scope the problem had been identified, state, federal and local law enforcement from Iowa and Nebraska initiated a proactive and targeted investigation designed to root out the source of these overdoses.”

All six of those who were arrested last year have pleaded guilty after being accused of distributing over 10-thousand fentanyl pills in southwest Iowa.

Pella City Council Approves Pay Increases for Volunteer Firefighters

By Sam Parsons

The Pella City Council met last night and changed the city’s volunteer firefighter compensation plan. After discussing the possibility of pay increases at their previous council meeting, the council voted to increase compensation paid for city accidents/fire call outs as well as training and work sessions from $15 to $20 per call or session; the changes also included increased annual stipends for leadership positions, used for out-of-pocket expenses, time spent for non-fire calls, all-day training events, and significant fire events which last longer than two hours. Overall, city staff estimated that the annual cost increase for the city will be about $9,230.

The council also extended the city’s solid waste agreement with Midwest Sanitation by one year, which would implement a cost increase of 4.8%. They also approved the preliminary plat for the Pumpkin Patch Farm subdivision. 

The next regular meeting with the Pella city council will be held on June 6.

Jonathon Terpstra 2nd in District, Individually Qualifies for State

By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa Indians boys golf team played in their district tournament yesterday and the day was highlighted by junior Jonathon Terpstra.

A jam-packed field of competition consisting of 40 players at Bos Landen saw Terpstra finish 2nd individually after shooting 77 (+5). That was enough to earn him individual qualifier status for the state tournament next week. It’s the second straight year for Terpstra qualifying for state as an individual and will be the third trip he will take to the tournament as a junior.

As a team, the Indians placed 6th. They graduate one senior from the team in Tucker DeJong.

Terpstra will play at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames next Monday and Tuesday, May 22-23.

Vice Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the latest in a string of digital media setbacks

NEW YORK (AP) — Vice Media on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the most recent digital media company to falter after a meteoric rise.

A consortium of lenders — Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital — is buying Vice for about $225 million, in addition to taking on a significant amount of the company’s debt. Other parties will be able to submit bids as well.

Vice said it expects the sale to be wrapped up in the next two to three months. It said that during the process its media brands will continue to produce content and the company will keep paying its employees and vendors.

In a prepared statement, Vice co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said the “accelerated court-supervised sale process” will strengthen the company and position it for long-term growth, “thereby safeguarding the kind of authentic journalism and content creation that makes VICE such a trusted brand for young people and such a valued partner to brands, agencies and platforms.”

Vice assets and liabilities are worth between $500 million and $1 billion, according to Monday’s filing.

The bankruptcy filing arrives just weeks after the company announced it would cancel its flagship “Vice News Tonight” program amid a wave of layoffs expected to impact more than 100 of the company’s 1,500-person workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company also said it would end its Vice World News brand.

There has been a wider surge of media layoffs and closures, including job cuts at Gannett, NPR, the Washington Post and other organizations. In April, BuzzFeed Inc. announced that its Pulitzer Prize winning digital media outlet BuzzFeed News was being shut down as part of a cost-cutting drive by its corporate parent.

Digital advertising has plummeted this year, cutting into the profitability of major tech companies from Google to Facebook.

“Advertising is down across the board, so it’s a test for a lot of the digital publications,” Megan Duncan, assistant professor at Virginia Tech’s School of Communication, told The Associated Press.

Duncan and others also noted the changing landscape of social media — a space where outlets like Vice once thrived in terms of reaching audiences.

“One of the things that I think really hurt Vice, and in turn BuzzFeed as well, is social media networks like Facebook changing their algorithms,” Jason Mollica, professor at American University’s School of Communication, said. “When you’re not pulling in the numbers that you would expect advertising-wise, you’re losing money.”

Beyond advertising and the shifting digital landscape, Mollica and Duncan also pointed to the changing habits of news consumers today — and challenges media companies across the industry face as they try to reach audiences.

“With such a focus on youth, it can be really difficult to keep being youth-oriented — and change your brand and your appeal for the next generation,” Duncan said.

Duncan also noted that Vice has relied on different rounds of funding and investors throughout the company’s history and “never really found the business model in its most recent, modern digital age that was going to sustain it.” Beyond all of this, the company has its own “complicated history” with troubles in leadership and employment, she added.

Vice Media’s roots date back to 1994, with the launch of Vice’s original punk magazine in Montreal. Vice soon moved to New York and built itself into a global media company.

Over the years, Vice developed a reputation for in-your-face journalism that covered daring stories around the world that particularly resonated with new, young audiences across digital platforms. The media company’s assets also include film and TV production, an in-house marketing agency, and brands such as Refinery 29 and Unbothered.

The media company has struggled to turn around profits in recent years. Monday’s filings show that Vice has total outstanding debt of $834 million.

In 2017, Vice was valued at $5.7 billion. Now, however, most experts estimate the company is worth just a fraction of that, The New York Times reported earlier this month.

Monday’s bankruptcy filing arrives just months after Nancy Dubuc announced that she would be stepping down as CEO of the company. Vice named longtime Vice executives Dixon and Lokhandwala as co-CEOs.

Dubuc replaced Vice co-founder Shane Smith in 2018, a turbulent time at Vice after a 2017 Times investigation uncovered rampant sexual harrassment and misconduct at the company.

Coal mine ruled out as cause of Marion County sinkhole

By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

Marion County has learned more about the large sinkhole that has become an attraction after opening up in the county.

County Public Information officer Emily Feagins says borings from the Department of Agriculture have confirmed a coal mine is not to blame.
“There was a very minimal amount of coal in the layers. So right now, we have noted out that it is not coal related,” Feagins says. She says the sinkhole could be related to limestone mining — as there is a mine north of the area, but the maps don’t give a clear picture of what’s going on.

“Mining maps just aren’t simple anyways, when it comes to locating on the top of the surface where they are below the surface. So that’s another thing that we’re kind of working on, where does it match up on top of the surface to where they are below the surface,” she says. Feagins says they want to do some more work to try and determine if a limestone mine could be the culprit.

For now, they are not going to try and fill in the hole. “Because there is the potential that this sinkhole could keep expanding that you know, it could get bigger. So it doesn’t really do us any good yet to start filling it in if we don’t know still, what’s causing it,” she explains. She says they want to be sure they have a solution that will work.

“If we fill it in and we haven’t gotten to the bottom of what’s caused it, then it could continue to sink and then at that point in time, we’re just wasting dollars, manpower, equipment on filling something and that is going to possibly concave again,” Feagins says. The sinkhole is in a field, but expanded and there is a void under a nearby road, which could collapse unless they take the right action.

The sinkhole was first reported April 14th.

Mahaska Chamber Announces Grant Opportunity for Restaurants and Brew Pubs

OSKALOOSA — The Mahaska Chamber & Development Group is offering a grant opportunity for individuals  looking to open a new restaurant or brew pub in Mahaska County.  

“This is a one-time grant in the amount of $15,000,” said Deann De Groot, Executive Director of  the Chamber. “Current data shows Mahaska County is losing 60% of restaurant and bar sales to areas  outside the county to boost this sector of our economy.” 

The grant is open to individuals who are opening a new restaurant or bar, or existing restaurants  who are looking to expand their services to help fulfill needs in the Mahaska community. Eligible  projects include full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, grill buffets, brew pubs, or similar  concepts. 

Applications will be accepted until June 30, 2023, and will be reviewed by the Mahaska County Ag & Rural Development (MCARD) loan review committee who are providing funds from the existing  Mahaska County Revolving Loan Fund. 

Applications will be scored based on overall planning, need, partnerships, sustainability, impact,  and goals of the business. 

“We expect this grant opportunity will be competitive, so encourage applicants to be thorough  in preparing their proposal,” said De Groot. 

A link to the application can be found on the Mahaska Chamber & Development Group’s website at https://www.mahaskachamber.org/resources/grants/. For more information call the  Chamber at 641-672-2591.

Oskaloosa City Council Discusses 3-Lane Conversion Data, Vacant Buildings

By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa City Council met last night and received a presentation on the status of the city’s 3-lane conversion on A Avenue and Market Street, as well as the traffic signal installation on the intersection of North Market and C Avenue. The presentation showed that in the first four months of 2023, there were 11 accidents on A Ave, down from 20 in the first four months of 2022. Meanwhile, the C Ave traffic signal has not led to a major shift in data yet, but city officials say that the intersection has seen a 13% increase in traffic without seeing an increase in collisions.

The council also awarded the contract for the Edmundson Park Playground Improvement Project to Caliber Concrete for approximately $560,000, or about 7% lower than the previously estimated cost. Work on the project will begin immediately and is expected to be completed no later than September 1st of this year.

And the council passed the 1st reading of a new ordinance for vacant buildings, implementing a vacant building registration and inspection program. The program would require registration, payment (including a registration fee of $100), and an annual inspection to ensure a building is secure and compliant. City staff estimated that less than 200 buildings would need to be registered with the program.

The next regular meeting with the Oskaloosa city council will be held on June 5.

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