The Oskaloosa City Council met last night and received a presentation from a needs assessment that was conducted for Mahaska County E911/EMA.
The assessment came back with dozens of recommendations of changes to the way the EMA operation is conducted in the county. Those included, but were not limited to, ending the practice of telling certain 911 callers to hang up and call back, preparing a budget which implements the District Court’s ruling on January 5, 2023, sending a monthly report to the Commission and the Joint 911 Service Board, and opening conversations with other agencies, such as the city of Pella and the Marion County Sheriff regarding possible consolidation. No action was taken by the city, but the EMA Commission is set to meet tomorrow evening at 6pm at the Environmental Learning Center in Oskaloosa.
The city also received the results of its housing needs assessment. Mayor Dave Krutzfeldt talked about what the assessment does for the city moving forward.
Krutzfeldt said that the assessment mostly returned expected results and that the city is aware of the ongoing need for housing development. One of the statistics revealed from the assessment was that the city of Oskaloosa’s median home value is $93,000, well below the statewide average of $153,900, and the median year built was 1960. The statewide median year built for homes is 1971.
At the end of the meeting, the city went into a closed session to approve the 3-year collective bargaining agreements with all 3 labor unions within the city. The police department is receiving a 7% compensation increase this year, 5% increase next year, and 4% the year after. The fire department will see a 6% compensation boost this year and then 3% in each of the next two years. And the mixed group, which included the street department, library, and remaining staff, will receive a 5% raise this year, then 4% next year and 3% the year after.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The extraordinary scene of U.S. fighter jets getting ready to strike a Chinese balloon had many people along the Carolina coast straining their necks and pointing their smartphones to the sky to capture the moment of impact.
But a group of aviation enthusiasts was, instead, intently scanning radio frequencies for the exchanges between the pilots who would follow as Huntress, NORAD’s eastern air defense sector controller, tracked the exact distance as two Air Force F-22 fighter jets closed in on the target.
The pilots had to balance striking the balloon when it was at least six miles (10 kilometers) offshore — the distance NASA had advised the military allow to keep debris from falling on land — with ensuring it was still in U.S. territorial airspace.
“Five miles offshore,” Huntress advises in a transmission that was captured by aviation hobbyist Ken Harrell, in a recording that was authenticated by NORAD.
“Frank One is switches hot,” the first F-22 reports. The call sign “Frank” was given to both aircraft to honor 2nd Lt. Frank Luke, who earned the Medal of Honor in World War I for downing multiple balloons and aircraft.
“Frank Two is switches hot,” the second F-22 radios in.
When Huntress calls out that the balloon is exactly six nautical miles out, Frank One takes the shot.
“The balloon is completely destroyed!” radios an F-15 fighter jet that also took part in the mission, advising quickly that “there appears to be metal chaff clouds. … It’s definitely metal breaking apart.”
This audio, which was first reported by The Drive, wasn’t on the civilian radio frequencies that commercial pilots use. The Air Force pilots were communicating on an unencrypted military frequency that the North American Aerospace Defense Command uses to conduct missions to secure the eastern United States, under the control center named Huntress.
Aviation enthusiasts with the right radios scan for Huntress missions and other military flights as a hobby, calling out exercises.
Ken Harrell, a 68-year-old retiree from Summerville, South Carolina, is one of those enthusiasts. On Saturday, he recorded the exchange of the balloon shootdown.
NORAD confirmed the authenticity of the recording to The Associated Press in a statement.
When Harrell got started a few years ago, he said he “bought the right kind of scanner, put up, you know, a decent antenna and a lot of software to connect to the scanner and just started listening.” He said the scanner only cost about $160 to get started.
On Saturday, he got a call from a fellow enthusiast who said Huntress was guiding F-22s in to hit what the Pentagon has said was a spy balloon and China has insisted was a civilian weather balloon.
“He says, get on the scanner, man! Huntress has been controlling the F-22 Raptors, you know for the balloon, they’re gonna do it,” Harrell said. “So I jump up, crank up everything, and started listening in.”
When Harrell heard the pilots’ and controller’s voices, “I was excited,” he said. “I’ve listened to a lot of other stuff — fighters practicing, intercept exercises, and that’s cool, but when I first turned the scanner on and it went to my local Huntress frequency, it was pretty apparent: This was a mission. Boom.”
The owner of a Cedar Rapids business is in Washington, D.C., urging congress to modernize the Small Business Administration. Sydney Rieckhoff is the CEO of Almost Famous Popcorn, a company she co-founded with her brother 10 years ago when she was 14.
“Ninety-four percent of small business owners think that congress should join together to reorganize the Small Business Administration and really modernize it to be a tool and a resource for small businesses across the country that fits with the times, fits with the challenges that we feel today,” she says.
Rieckhoff’s company received a Paycheck Protection Program grant at the beginning of the pandemic. Reickhoff says while it helped keep employees on the company’s payroll, it exposed problems in the Small Business Administration. “Kind of outdated procedures and policies that take place in it,” she says.
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is the top Republican on the Senate Small Business Committee. Ernst says she and the Democrat who’s chair of the committee plan to work on a bipartisan plan that would lead to a top to bottom review of the Small Business Administration.
“The way Americans did business with Small Business over two decades ago is very different than the challenges and the technology that small businesses have today,” Ernst says.
Ernst has invited Rieckhoff to be her guest tonight in the U.S. House to watch President Biden’s State of the Union speech. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson has invited Sergeant Trent Dirks of Eldora, an Afghanistan vet who trains dogs to be service animals. Congressman Randy Feenstra’s guest at tonight’s speech is the C-E-O of a company building a $450 million beef processing facility in Mills County.
Following a water main break near the intersection of 11th street and High Ave E, a boil order was put in place for Oskaloosa residents within a boundary with 11th street as the west border, 9th avenue East as the south border, B avenue East as the north border, and including all of Park Place, North and South Park, Highland Avenue , Hillcrest Drive, Solar Drive, Terrace Drive and Maplewoods Drive.
The Water Department has said that no further precautions are necessary.
WASHINGTON — As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to clean up legacy pollution and revitalize the environment and economy of coal communities, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has awarded $300,000 in cooperative agreements for three watershed restoration projects in Iowa. The funds, part of OSMRE’s Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program, go to non-profit watershed restoration groups and other non-profit organizations for the construction of acid mine drainage treatment facilities that help restore the biological health of local streams.
“Watersheds are essential for communities, supplying water for municipal, industrial, agricultural and recreational uses,” said Acting Regional Director William Joseph. “WCAP funds help local nonprofit groups restore watersheds negatively impacted by abandoned mine lands and support citizen-based conservation in coal communities.”
Pathfinders Resource Conservation and Development, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening local economies and encouraging natural resource conservation, was awarded $300,000 for three AMD projects selected through the merit review process for federal funding opportunities. WCAP grants result in partnerships that encourage long-term commitment to projects through engagement with local communities and environmental conservation.
“Pathfinders RC&D is excited to partner with OSMRE through the Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program,” said Ashley Utt, Pathfinders RC & D executive director. “With the continued efforts from OSMRE, Pathfinders RC&D, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and Mahaska Soil Water Conservation District, water quality is being improved, and Iowa landscapes are being restored to their natural beauty.”
The following watershed projects will benefit from this round of WCAP grants:
This project will abate hazardous abandoned mine land features, re-establish pre-mining drainage patterns and construct nearly two acres of wetlands.
$100,000 – Jager North; Oskaloosa, Iowa
This project will eliminate coal mining features that present a danger to the public and re-establish pre-mining drainage patterns to include a small drainage way and two wetlands.
$100,000 – Jager South; Oskaloosa, Iowa
This project will eliminate coal mining features that present a danger to the public and re-establish pre-mining drainage patterns to include a small drainage way and two wetlands.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The gambling industry’s national trade group predicts that 1-in-5 American adults will make a bet on Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. The American Gaming Association says over 50 million U.S. adults plan to bet on the game, wagering a total of $16 million. That’s more than twice the amount that was expected to be wagered on last year’s Super Bowl. Sports betting is legal in 33 states plus Washington, D.C. this year, up from 30 states last year. The group’s survey finds bettors evenly split, with 44% backing the Eagles and an identical 44% putting their money on the Chiefs.
Iowa State University researchers are part of an effort led by Purdue University to diversify the cornbelt. ISU sociology professor J. Arbuckle says farmers once planted many different crops on their land.
“The long rotations with lots of different crops, spread risk, all around the farm, but they also took care of, you know ecological processes, agro ecological processes that took care of a lot of the, you know, the pest cycles and the weed cycles and that sort of thing,” he says. The crops became less diversified with the advent of chemicals to deal with the pests and weeds, and the use of mechanized farm machines.
Arbuckle says farmers started specializing in soybeans and corn.
“We’re seeing a lot of problems stemming from that specialized system, right? So we’ve got a lot of tillage going on that results in reduction of soil health and soil erosion. We also have herbicide resistant weeds, we’ve got pesticide resistant insects,” Arbuckle says. There’s also a boom and bust pattern for the price of those commodities. He says this project is looking at ways to add some diversity back into the system.
“To number one, provide more market opportunities for farmers, more ways to have more resilient cropping systems that use more agroecological processes to deal with those pest and weed cycles,” Arbuckle says. “But also to deal with some of the more extreme weather that we’re having.” They hope to find some of the answers with the ten million dollar USDA grant.
“This is a five-year project. So we don’t have any illusions that we’re going to change the system in five years,” he says. “So really, what we’re doing is looking at different options and pathways and potential creative visions for ways that we might open doors for diversification.” The team includes more than 30 investigators who are working with farmers and other agricultural stakeholders in Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois to envision and evaluate more diverse agricultural systems for the Midwest.
OTTUMWA — Beginning Wednesday February 8th, 2023, the following closures will take place:
The intersection of Walnut and Second Street will be closed for storm sewer installation.
South Van Buren Avenue from the alley adjacent to 130 S. Van Buren to Main Street will be closed for storm sewer installation.
This work is part of the continued Phase 8 sewer separation project. Residents will have limited access to their homes, all other motorists are advised to seek alternate routes, and to navigate in and out of the construction areas with extreme caution. Weather permitting, expect the work in both of these locations to last about two weeks.
The Knoxville city council met last night and held public hearings for improvements to both Edwards Park and Veterans Park.
The Edwards Park Improvements Project mostly involves making improvements to the drainage at the park, including the replacement of the outlet structure. 8 bids for the project were received and the contract was awarded to Cushman Excavating for $179,318.90. Work is expected to be done by the end of September.
The Veterans Park Improvements Project is more extensive. It entails vegetation removal, pavement removal, tree protection, excavation, bioretention cells, splash pad PCC, equipment and amenities, playground area, landscaping and seeding, restroom, utilities including electrical, water service, storm sewer and subdrain structures and piping, and sanitary structures and piping, PCC sidewalk, temporary traffic control, erosion control, and other miscellaneous work. 5 bids were received and Cushman Excavating was awarded the contract for a low bid of $1,012,500. This project has the current deadline of August 18, 2023.
The council also heard budget presentations from the police department as well as the airport and library. The airport’s expenditures for the upcoming year are estimated to be $691,250, a decrease of 15.07% from the previous year. The library’s expenditures are estimated at $704,017, an increase of 10.44%. And the police department’s expenditures are expected to total about $2,197,691, an increase of 14.89%. No action was taken yet, with more budgetary presentations still to be given in the coming weeks.
The next regular meeting with the Knoxville city council is scheduled for February 20.
Friday night was Senior Night at Oskaloosa High School for girls and boys hoops, and it was a night headlined by the history made by two members of the Indians’ girls team.
Osky senior Presley Blommers entered the contest 11 points shy of the 1,000 mark for her career total. Sophomore Dasia Foster was 8 rebounds away from breaking the school’s single season record in that category.
Both would reach the milestones quickly enough. But plenty of drama was included along the way.
The game began with Blommers scoring 10 points in the first quarter, seeming poised to hit 1,000 very quickly, and the Indians jumped out to a 14-4 lead; however, the Cardinals put up quite the fight. They were able to round into form with sophomore Alex Garvis among the primary players tasked with stopping Blommers. The Cardinals succeeded in a big way in the second quarter; they outscored the Indians 10-5 in the frame and held Blommers off the scoreboard. Blommers was hobbled from an ankle injury sustained early in the game, but gutted it out for the rest of the night; in the meantime, though, the Indians and Cardinals were tied at halftime, 19-19, and she still hadn’t hit the milestone.
“I thought we came out and looked pretty good. I thought, ‘Okay, we’re in rhythm, this is going to happen,'” said Osky coach TC Cunningham after the game. “And then the closer Presley got to the record, the tighter we became. And [her teammates] wanted it just as much as her.”
Dasia Foster sat out for much of the second quarter and entered halftime with 3 (unofficial) rebounds. She still had some ground to cover to make history, too.
The third quarter of play was back and forth, but the celebrations cut through the tension when Blommers hit a lay-up in the third quarter to record her 1,000th and 1,001st career points.
It wasn’t long after that that Foster would break the school record for rebounds in a single season; this moment didn’t quite have the reaction from the crowd that Blommers’ shot did, as rebounds are not counted live on the scoreboard, but it was clear by the time the fourth quarter began that Foster, who finished the night with 12 official rebounds, had the record.
“Before the game, I was nervous,” said Foster. “I don’t really get super nervous before games, but this game, I just knew what I wanted to do, and what I needed to do. And it was just nerve wracking. But then I got in the game, and it was just gone.”
“I wanted to get it done with one of my favorite teammates and best friends, Presley Blommers…being able to have her break 1,000 for her Senior Night and me getting the school record is just a crazy feeling.”
Still, there was a job to be finished: Newton had, in the midst of all the emotion, taken the lead from the Indians and entered the fourth with a 31-29 lead.
With the feelings of pride put in the rearview mirror (for now), the Indians got back to work in the fourth. Right away, Blommers started piling on the points on her way to 19 on the night. The Cardinals, meanwhile, got cold from the floor after shooting the ball exceptionally well for much of the game. Junior Sophia Reynolds finished the game with 19 points and was on fire from midrange in the first three quarters, but with the Indians’ defense tightening up and shots starting to miss, the Cardinal offense was held to just 4 points in the fourth quarter as the Indians put the finishing touches on a 43-35 victory to seal the deal on a great night for Osky girls basketball.
“I’m so proud of them,” Cunningham responded when asked about the girls who came through with the milestones. “The work they’ve put in, the time they’ve gelled together to know how to play with one another…it’s been great to see them grow. Especially Presley…to see her grow and mature to where she’s at, she is a true leader of our basketball team and as a student in Oskaloosa High School. Dasia is just a sophomore…her future is off the charts.”
The win improves their record to 9-10 on the season with two games left to play before the postseason begins.
Full postgame comments from TC Cunningham:
Full postgame comments from Dasia Foster:
The nightcap of the doubleheader featured Osky’s boys hosting the 5th ranked 3A team in the state in Newton. The Cardinals entered this game full strength; in their previous meeting with Osky, they had been missing senior guard Jake Ingle, who is their #2 scorer on the season.
It was the Cardinals’ game to lose from the first quarter on. The game began with a touching moment as the Indians agreed to let the Cardinals score 2 points on a lay-up in exchange for senior Brody Allman getting the start and cashing in a 2 point shot of his own to begin the competitive part of the game 2-2. It was Allman’s second field goal attempt of the season, and his second make.
From there, though, the 5th ranked Cardinals handled their business. They jumped out to a 24-13 lead after one quarter and led 42-29 at half, thanks in large part to 16 points and 5 (unofficial) rebounds in the half from senior Cole Plowman, who finished with a game-high 23 points. The third quarter was even more dominant for Newton, as they held the Indians to just 6 points scored and pulled away to a 27 point lead entering the final quarter. The Cardinals coasted to a 79-43 victory to sink the Indians to 1-16 on the year.
Osky will face Knoxville tonight (2/6) in search of win #2 on the year.
