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Mahaska County Supervisor Responds to Incident Involving Racial Slur

By Sam Parsons

The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors held a meeting yesterday morning.

After the board conducted their regular business, board member Steve Wanders addressed the public on an incident two weeks ago in which he used a racial slur during the board’s previous meeting.

In the incident, which occurred during the board’s meeting on March 4, Wanders used the phrase “n***** rigged” to describe the HVAC System at a county-owned building. The meeting was not live streamed.

At yesterday’s meeting, Wanders offered a brief statement regarding the incident.

The board of supervisors did not take any action during their meeting on March 4 or during yesterday’s meeting in response to Wanders’ use of the phrase. 

Fears of a global energy crisis rise as Iran keeps stranglehold on shipping and hits Dubai airport

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Fears of a global energy crisis rose Monday as the war in the Middle East raged on, with more U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Iranian capital and Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon. An Iranian drone strike temporarily shut Dubai’s airport, a crucial global travel hub, underscoring the threats to the world economy.

Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran more than two weeks ago, Tehran has regularly fired on Israel, American bases in the region, and Gulf Arab countries’ energy infrastructure with drones and missiles.

It has also effectively stopped shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported, dramatically increasing the price of oil and putting pressure on Washington to do something to ease the pain consumers are feeling.

Brent crude, the international standard, remained stubbornly over $100 a barrel on Monday. It was at $104 in early trading, up nearly 45% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. It has spiked as high as about $120 during the conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has demanded that about seven countries to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called claims that his country may be seeking a negotiated end to the war “delusional,” saying in a social media post early Monday that Iran was seeking neither “truce nor talks.”

Iran hits Dubai airport, forcing temporary closure

As morning broke Monday, a drone hit a fuel tank near Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international passenger traffic, causing a large fire.

Firefighters contained the blaze and there were no injuries reported, but the airport suspended all flights before resuming them a few hours later.

Later, a person was killed in the capital of the United Arab Emirates when an Iranian missile hit a vehicle, the Abu Dhabi media office said. Fire also broke out at an oil facility in Fujairah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, following a drone attack.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said it intercepted a wave of 35 Iranian drones sent to its eastern region, home to major oil installations.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones toward countries in the region hosting U.S. military assets since the war began. Emirati authorities say most have been intercepted by air defenses, though debris and some drones have fallen inside the country.

Israel’s military said early Monday that Iran launched missiles toward Israel as well.

The conflict is battering the world economy, driving up energy and fertilizer prices; threatening food shortages in poor countries; destabilizing fragile states; and complicating efforts by central banks to drive down prices for consumers. Much of the difficulty stems from the virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump threatens to ‘remember’ which allies do not help

Trump said Sunday he wants to police the strait to make it safe for shipping, with his party increasingly concerned that rising prices for American consumers will hurt the Republicans in elections this fall.

He did not identify the countries he said he asked to help with those efforts, but he said he won’t forget the countries that decline. He has previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

“Whether we get support or not, but I can say this, and I said to them: We will remember,” Trump said.

Ahead of a meeting in Brussels, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc’s foreign ministers would discuss possibly extending a naval mission that protects ships in the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, without giving any details.

Europeans have been critical of the U.S. and Israel for failing to provide clarity on their objectives in the war, and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Sunday questioned EU involvement, saying security for the strait can only come “if there is a negotiated solution.”

“Europe always gives constructive support when it comes to securing sea routes, but I see neither an immediate necessity nor above all Germany participating,” he said on ARD television.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament Monday that her government “has not heard anything” from Washington about Trump’s call for help protecting the strait. Still, she said there had been discussions about what could be done to protect Japanese ships, but Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said he has no plans to send warships to the strait under current conditions.

Japan, which imports more than 90% of its crude oil from the Middle East, began releasing its oil reserves Monday to address supply shortages and rising prices.

Israel hits Beirut and launches new attacks on Tehran

Massive explosions were heard in Beirut as Israel launched new attacks on the Lebanese capital before dawn, saying it was striking infrastructure related to the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia group.

The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for many neighborhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon. To date, more than 800,000 people have been displaced by Israel’s campaign in Lebanon.

In southern Lebanon, one person was killed in an Israeli airstrike early Monday and then two paramedics were killed as they arrived at the scene, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency

At least 850 people have been killed by Israeli strikes so far.

Not long after Israel’s military announced it had launched new strikes on Tehran targeting infrastructure, explosions were heard in the Iranian capital and outlying areas.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran so far, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes on Iran so far, knocking out 85% of its air defenses, military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters Monday. It has also destroyed 70% of Iran’s missile launchers, but Shoshani said Israel still has thousands of targets to hit and would continue attacks “for as long as needed.”

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.

New Iowa cancer study shows rates of diagnosis, death still rising

By Matt Kelley (Radio Iowa)

Iowa’s cancer rate is the second worst in the nation for three years running, and a comprehensive study being released today offers little optimism.

The 2026 Cancer in Iowa Report predicts some 21,700 Iowans will be diagnosed with invasive cancers this year, and 6,400 Iowans will die from cancer. Both figures are up from last year’s report.

Mary Charlton is an epidemiology professor at the University of Iowa and director of the Iowa Cancer Registry. While many states are seeing cancer rates fall, Charlton couldn’t pinpoint why Iowa’s numbers are rising.

“It’s hard to say because the risk factors that are causing the cancers now are things that could have happened 10, 15, 20 years ago,” Charlton says. “So it’s going to take a while to really turn things around and it’ll probably take some really strong new policies and new approaches in Iowa to turn things around.”

A symposium on cancer prevention and treatment this week at Drake University featured an expert on nitrate poisoning in waterways, which has been a years-long battle in Iowa. Charlton says nitrates may be one cancer culprit.

“It certainly could be a contributing factor. I think there’s a lot of things at play. Cancer is really complicated. It’s just a complex interplay of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors working all together,” Charlton says. “There’s not one thing causing it, but there’s probably lots of things contributing to it. Nitrate could certainly be one of those things.”

One bright spot in the report deals with farm families. Iowa farmers in a recent study had 13-percent fewer cancers overall than expected compared to Iowa’s general population, and their spouses had ten-percent fewer.

“The farmers in the Agricultural Health Study had lower smoking and drinking rates compared to the rest of the general population in Iowa,” Charlton says. “They also talk about something called the healthy worker effect. So to be in their study, to be a farmer that was enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study, you have to be healthy enough to be a farmer — so those are a couple of things.”

The report found the rate of new cancers in young adults in Iowa for 2018-2022 is higher than the rate for 2008-2012, and is the second highest in the nation. Also, compared to the 2025 edition of the report, Charlton says Iowa’s most common types of cancer haven’t changed.

“Same story, different year,” she says. “We still have breast, prostate, lung and colorectal cancers, followed by melanoma. They make up over half of our cancer cases in Iowa. Unfortunately, lung cancer continues to be the most common cause of cancer deaths, accounting for nearly one out of every four cancer deaths in Iowa, followed by colorectal and pancreatic cancers.”

The report says the state’s number of cancer survivors is increasing, with an estimated 175,290 survivors now living in Iowa.

William Penn University to Host Disability Awareness & Resource Fair Next Week

OSKALOOSA — Join William Penn University and the WPU Education Department for the 2026 Disability Awareness & Resource Fair! On March 26, 2026 from 1:00 to 2:30 PM at the Penn Activity Center Courts, 1802 N E Street in Oskaloosa.

This free community event is open to parents, teachers, college students, community members, and professionals who work with individuals with disabilities. Come connect with organizations that specialize in accessibility, adaptive technology, educational support, employment services, independent living resources, and community inclusion programs.

Meet incredible individuals from organizations like UI REACH, ASK Resource Center, Respite Connection, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Iowa Department for the Blind, Lindsay ChatterBox, and the Learning Disabilities Association of Iowa—plus many more!

There’s no cost to attend. Visit the www.wmpenn.edu/event/disability-awareness-and-resource-fair to register to attend.

One Dead, Two Injured in Head-On Crash in Davis County

WEST GROVE – A 2-vehicle crash in rural Davis County last night left one person dead and two people injured.

According to traffic records, the accident occurred at around 9:27pm last night near the 17000 block of Highway 2 in West Grove. A driver in a Jeep Grand Cherokee was traveling eastbound on Highway 2 while another driver in a Buick Enclave was traveling westbound. The Enclave was traveling in the eastbound lane when it collided with the Grand Cherokee head-on.

The accident report states that both drivers, as well as a passenger in the Enclave, were transported to the Davis County Hospital. The driver of the Enclave, who was not wearing a seatbelt during the crash, was pronounced deceased at the hospital. The other two individuals involved in the accident were injured, though their exact condition is not known at this time.

The identities of those involved in this accident are currently being withheld by authorities, pending notification of family.

Investigators work to determine exact reason for attack at Michigan synagogue

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Investigators worked Friday to determine the exact reason a man with a rifle crashed into a large Michigan synagogue in what federal officials are saying was an attack carried out by a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon.

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was killed by security after ramming into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit, Michigan, and driving down a hallway in a vehicle that then caught fire, according to authorities.

The FBI, which is leading the investigation, described the attack on one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues as an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.

The synagogue’s staff, teachers and 140 children at its early childhood center were not injured, according to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.

Ghazali came to the U.S. in 2011 on an immediate relative visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen and was granted U.S. citizenship in 2016, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue. One security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, Bouchard said. And 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.

Cassi Cohen, director of strategic development at Temple Israel, was in the hallway where the crash happened. She described hearing a loud bang and said she grabbed a few staff members, ran into her office and locked the door.

“When I heard the crash, I knew it was bad,” Cohen said.

She said the crash happened near a classroom and, in addition to the children, there were also more than 30 staff members in the synagogue.

Rabbi Arianna Gordon, from Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood teachers for getting the children out safely and reunited with their parents.

About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children soon after authorities cleared the building. Other families were reunited at a nearby Jewish Community Center.

Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter is enrolled in Temple Israel’s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.

“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she said.

Synagogues around the world have been on edge and ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.

The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.

And an assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.

President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the attack, calling it a “terrible thing.”

Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, said Thursday: “I’d love to say that I’m shocked, that I’m surprised, but I’m not.”

The attack was the second at a house of worship in Michigan within the past year. Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. The FBI later said he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there. Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website.

Iowa panel pares prediction of state tax revenue

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

State officials have reduced their prediction of state tax revenue for the current budgeting year by 46 MILLION dollars, but the governor’s budget direcor says there is no need to cut state spending plans for the next three months.

Iowa Department of Management Director Kraig Paulsen said officials have reserves to cover the gap. “The money’s there to meet those needs,” Paulsen a member of the State Revenue Estimating Conference, told reporters after today’s meeting.

Since July 1, there’s been a more than 8$ decline in the amount of taxes paid to the State of Iowa. The drop is due to the state income tax cut Republican lawmakers approved in 2024, along with federal tax cuts for corporations and for individuals who earn tips and overtime pay.Those changes were automatically triggered in Iowa’s tax code. “The state has $5.6 billion cash on hand,” Paulsen said during this morning’s meeeting, “…The reserve funds are full and the Taxpayer Relief Fund has a balance of $4 billion.”

House Democratic Leader Brian Meyer said it’s wrong for Republicans to cover that deficit by making withdrawals from the Taxpayer Relief Fund.”That fund should be used to lower property taxes in the state and other taxes in the state,” Meyer told reporters at his weekly news conference, “but they’re just raiding it to cover their budget mess.”

The State Revenue Estimating Conference has reduced its overall prediction for tax collections for the next state budgeting year. Jennifer Acton is direcctor of the Fiscal Services Division in the Legislative Services Agency and is a member of the panel that makes that tax prediction. She said most economic indicators in Iowa are positive, but gas prices are up considerably due to what’s happening in the Middle East and tariffs continue to be drag on the manufacturing and ag sectors. “We believe it is prudent to be cautious as we look to the future,” Acton said.

In January, Governor Reynolds proposed a nearly $9.67 billion budget for the next state fiscal year, a nearly 2% increase and $1.2 billion more than the state is expected to collect in taxes next year.

Penn Central Mall Set To Host Pre-Season Race Car Show for Southern Iowa Speedway Today and Tomorrow

By Jerry Mackey

OSKALOOSA — The Penn Central Mall in Oskaloosa will be the site of the annual Pre- Season Race Car Show this weekend, March 13 & 14. The show will be held Friday night from 5 to 8 pm and Saturday, 10am to 4 pm. Several bright shiny new race cars that will be in action at the Southern Iowa Speedway in 2026 will be on display. Race fans will have the opportunity to see the cars up close and talk to the drivers who will race on Wednesday’s nights at the Mahaska County Fairgrounds in Oskaloosa.

Fans will be able to pick up 2026 schedules and sign up for race ticket give aways. There will also be special activities for the youngsters. Fans will also be able to vote for the best looking race cars and trophies will be awarded to the best looking full bodied car, best open wheel car and a special Best of Show trophy will also be awarded.

Saturday, April 18th the Southern Iowa Speedway will host an open practice session with the track open to all types of race cars from 1-5pm. The first green flag of the season will wave for weekly racing with an expanded purse on Wednesday, April 29th

Several special events will highlight the 2026 Southern Iowa Speedway schedule, a return visit of the SLMR Late Models is scheduled for June 24th, two race nights again will be on slate during the Mahaska County Fair with the annual Caleb Hammond Race on Wednesday, July 15th, the popular Sprint Invades will be back for the second consecutive year on July 16th. Terry McCarl’s Front Row Challenge featuring the 410 Sprinters will be held Monday, August 10th. For the first time ever the “World of Outlaw” Late Models will tackle the Mahaska County Monster for a $12,000 to win race on Wednesday, August 26th. The season will wrap up with the annual running of the Fall Challenge on October 9 and 10. The Southern Iowa Fairboard and the Race Committee is excited to bring the very best in racing to the Southern Iowa Speedway in 2026 and we look forward to seeing you this weekend at the Penn Central Mall for the Car Show.

Oskaloosa Woman Arrested for Walmart Thefts

OSKALOOSA – An Oskaloosa woman was arrested this week for allegedly stealing items from the Oskaloosa Walmart by swapping price stickers.

Court documents state that on February 27th, a theft was reported at the Oskaloosa Walmart on A Avenue West. When police arrived, officers spoke with an employee who reported that two women had been swapping price tags on store merchandise, paying the lower amount and leaving the store with the items. The employee said that these actions had been observed repeatedly over the span of roughly one month. One of the women involved in the scheme was identified as 33-year-old Courtney Lynn Garber of Oskaloosa.

According to court records, Garber allegedly stole a total of over $1,000 worth of merchandise from the store in the months of January and February. Police say that store receipts, photographs of Garber, and the stolen items have all been collected during the investigation.

Garber was arrested on March 8 and transported to the Mahaska County Jail. She has since been released, but still faces a charge of 3rd Degree Theft, an aggravated misdemeanor.

Iran war has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil choke point. Reopening it is a big challenge

PARIS (AP) — Gasoline prices are rising largely because of the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passageway for oil and gas from the Persian Gulf. The waterway off Iran’s coast, now effectively closed, is so vital for the global economy that governments are working on blueprints to speedily reopen it to shipping when the shooting stops.

In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron is leading an international effort to unblock the energy choke point, so that oil, gas and goods could flow freely again “when circumstances permit.” He envisions countries using warships to escort tankers and container vessels through the strait when fighting is less intense, whenever that may be.

Former naval officers who have served in the Hormuz passage say vessels would be sitting ducks, with little room for maneuver in the strait’s narrow shipping lanes, if foreign naval forces attempted to reopen the waterway before a cessation of hostilities.

“In today’s context, sending warships or civilian vessels into the Strait of Hormuz would be suicidal,” French navy retired Vice Adm. Pascal Ausseur said in an interview with The Associated Press.

A ceasefire agreement with Iran “would make the situation shift from suicidal to dangerous. At that point, military ships could be deployed. And then escort operations could begin,” he said.

Here’s a look at how Hormuz might be made navigable again:

Battle-hardened in the Red Sea

French, American, British and other naval crews already have valuable experience of fighting off missiles and drones in the region. They have escorted and defended cargo vessels through attacks in the Red Sea carried out by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

French frigates used machine guns, cannons and sophisticated air-defense missiles to fend off Houthi strikes. French frigate Alsace downed three ballistic missiles in the Red Sea in 2024 as it was escorting a container ship. The ship’s commander at the time, Capt. Jérôme Henry, told the AP that being on the receiving end of the potentially deadly strikes was unnerving and exhausting. The sea battles also took a toll on U.S. Navy ships and personnel.

“There were repeated attacks, either by drones or missiles,” Henry said in an interview. “The crew didn’t get much sleep.”

French retired Vice Adm. Michel Olhagaray, a former head of France’s center for higher military studies, says that “all navies learned a great deal” about working together and escorting ships from their Red Sea missions and have also drawn on Ukraine’s experiences against Russian barrages of missiles and drones during Moscow’s war.

“It would allow us to deploy to that region with fairly refined know-how and a high level of cooperation — and that is extremely important,” said Olhagaray, who commanded a French frigate that patrolled the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

Higher risks

Iran is militarily far better equipped than its Houthi proxies in Yemen, which caused considerable damage and disruption in the Red Sea between November 2023 and January 2025. Armed by Iran, the rebels targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two and killing four sailors, and greatly reduced trade flows.

Iran can reach all of the Strait of Hormuz and its approaches with anti-ship cruise missiles that it developed off Chinese-made weapons, according to mapping by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. It can also target vessels with longer-range missiles, drones, fast attack craft and naval mines, which it used during the Iran-Iraq war. U.S. strikes on mine-laying Iranian vessels in this latest conflict underscore the gravity of that danger.

With war raging, the Hormuz passage is “very, very dangerous” and the risks for shipping are “much greater” than in the Red Sea against the Houthis, Olhagaray said.

“The means to counter this threat must be far more substantial and far more effective,” he said. “Before the heat can decrease … most of the offensive installations on land in Iran would have to be eliminated. There would need to be constant monitoring, patrols, extremely close surveillance, and a very high level of intelligence to be able to say that it would be possible to allow tankers to transit, even with military escorts.”

“That will not happen at all — not at all — in the near future.”

Reassuring insurers

Experts say another challenge will be reassuring shipping insurers and companies that navigating in Hormuz waters is feasible again. Insurance premiums for shipping in the strait have soared to levels that France’s transport minister described as “insane,” causing “a big problem” for shippers.

“Maritime traffic is a business. That business has to make money. If insurance costs are so high that you can’t make a profit by sailing through a given area, then you don’t sail through that area,” said Ausseur, now a director of the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies, a think tank.

Insurance rates for oil tankers that want to transit through Hormuz are many times higher than they were before the war and are approaching levels that have been charged for ships carrying grain from Ukraine during the ongoing war with Russia, said Marcus Baker, global head of marine, cargo and logistics for insurance broker and risk adviser Marsh Risk.

Potential naval escorts for commercial ships “would be helpful,” Baker said.

“That’s been done before in conflicts past, so that’s not something unusual and that will obviously give a degree of confidence to the insurers that the vessels are going to have a greater degree of safety,” he said.

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