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Marion County Board of Supervisors Discusses Junction 92 Shop, Statues in Downtown Knoxville

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Sam Parsons

The Marion County Board of Supervisors met yesterday and had a discussion with the city of Knoxville about the possibility of placing statues on the courthouse square in downtown Knoxville. The city proposed placing the statues, which would be models of famous sprint car drivers, on county property near the courthouse, but ultimately the board did not take action on the proposal, citing concerns about using county property for something specific to the city.

The board also discussed funding proposals for its planned Junction 92 shop project, which has been in the planning process for a few years. County engineer Tyler Christian presented a few proposals, recommending one template in particular that featured a down payment of 51-59%.

The board ultimately advised the engineer’s office to further explore the down payment option in the hopes of receiving a more robust proposal in the near future. The next Marion County Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for October 11.

Mahaska Connect Links Residents, Services

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OSKALOOSA – Life has been a challenge for many Americans now and for the foreseeable future. The same can be said for many of Mahaska County’s homeless and near-homeless residents. Love INC has helped provide support for many of those challenges.

Love INC, a partnership churches, is once again hosting Mahaska Connect. This year’s event will be held at Central United Methodist Church from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5. This the third year the organization has hosted Mahaska Connect to link neighbors with services that may be difficult to obtain. The past two events have had upwards of 100 attendees each year.

“Love INC of Mahaska County is hosting Mahaska Connect to bridge the gap between our neighbors needing assistance, and the church and community resources they need,” said executive director Susan Doolan. “It is a great testimony as our community comes together to help our neighbors.”

Many times, neighbors do not know where to go for certain services or how to obtain the services. The inability to adequately interact with legal services, courthouse offices, personal services and other obstacles have created frustration for neighbors.

Love INC and its community partners is providing an opportunity for those who need services from legal to personal care, or just someone to talk to may find those resources. Mahaska Connect will link homeless or near-homeless with the opportunity to access a number of services free of charge.

Legal services, such as court for minor offenses and securing birth certificates; personal care such as haircuts, housing information, medical and vision screenings, vaccinations; housing information, counseling services and a multitude of other services. Brunch will be provided. For more information, contact Love INC at 641-676-3750.

Oskaloosa Rallies from 2-0 Deficit to Beat #3 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Sam Parsons

A highly anticipated battle of two area schools lived up to its billing last night as the Oskaloosa Indians and the 2A #3 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Rockets went the distance in a 5-setter.

The Rockets were strong out of the gate, taking control of the first set and leading 20-13 before the Indians were able to claw their way back into the set, ultimately coming up just short, with the Rockets taking it 25-23. The second set favored the Rockets as well, as they won it more convincingly, 25-19, and appeared poised to secure the sweep and keep rolling through their season.

However, the Indians would not admit defeat; they fought back and won a back-and-forth third set to get on the board, 25-23. The fourth set went similarly and the Indians were able to tie it up at 2-2 with another 25-23 win before moving on to the pivotal 5th set.

Neither team was ever in firm control of the fifth set as it was a truly tightly contested affair, going to an extra point, but with the Indians up 15-14, a perfectly placed serve from senior Maleah Walker went untouched for an ace and the Indians were able to complete the comeback victory 3-2.

Oskaloosa (12-8) will turn around and play again tonight against Pella Christian. Pregame coverage begins at 7pm on KBOE.

#3 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (18-4) is back on the road tonight at Albia.

Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Cuba en route to Florida

Posted on by Sam Parsons

HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Ian has made landfall in western Cuba, lashing the island with rain and winds as it barreled north toward the Florida coast. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says that Ian hit Cuba early Tuesday as a Category 3 storm as it continued to strengthen, with sustained winds of 125 mph. Authorities in Cuba evacuated more than 50,000 people in Pinar del Rio province, the country’s main tobacco-growing region, ahead of Ian’s arrival, which was expected to bring flooding. The government also set up dozens of shelters in the island. The hurricane is expected to strike Florida as early as Wednesday, possibly as a Category 4 storm.

U.S.D.A. numbers find land values way up

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

Survey information released from the U.S.D.A. shows a big increase in farmland values and cash rent. Iowa State University livestock economist, Lee Schulz, says the cropland increased 19.7%.

“And that’s the highest that we’ve seen since 2011 and 2012. When you look at pasture land values, they’re up a little over nine percent,” he says. Schulz says this is one set of numbers in the overall picture. “I would put this as, as one data point, you know, among many, when we look at, you know, understanding what farmland values and cash trends are Iowa State, for example, does surveys have both values and rents,” he says, “there’s the Federal Reserve Bank, and those branches do those. So, you know, I think it’s important always to take all the information available.”

He says high commodity prices are one of the big drivers of land values. “You know as we look at what you can make off that ground — certainly looking at corn and soybean prices. Also remember that interest rates have been really historically low, now we’re starting to see those increase at those low interest rates, all else equal, that helps support land values,” he says.

Schulz specializes in livestock and says that industry is having an impact on pasture land values. “I think it maybe doesn’t get necessarily the attention that the cropland values do. But pasture land is very much going to follow the cattle cycle. And so as we look at the downturn of the cattle inventory, and we’re starting to see higher prices and expectation of higher prices for cattle in the years to come, that’s certainly going to be supportive of pasture land values,” Schulz says.

He says as the commodity prices rise there’s competition for that land. The Fed Reserve recently raised interest rates again and Schulz says that is going to continue to impact land values along with the other factors. “It’s setting up to be a very dynamic market, on what we’ll see these land values do in the year and years to come,” Schulz says. Iowa State releases its annual land value survey in December.

Mahaska County Voter Registration and Election Day Information

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OSKALOOSA — Mahaska County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections is asking that eligible voters in Mahaska County who have not yet registered or changed their Mahaska County address with the Auditor’s Office consider doing so before the early voter registration deadline of 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 24, 2022. After October 24, new
registrations in Mahaska County, will be required to follow the same process as those registering on election day. If voting at the polls, any Mahaska County voter who has not changed their address with the Auditor’s Office prior to the deadline, will need to change their address at their new voting precinct on election day and show proof of residency and ID.

Eligible persons are allowed the right to register to vote and cast a ballot on Election Day if they are able to provide proof of both their identity and residency at the polls. The best form of ID is a valid Iowa Driver’s license with current address.

Pre-registered voters are required to provide an approved form of identification at the polling place before receiving and casting a regular ballot. Voters who are not pre-registered – such as voters registering to vote on election day – and voters changing precincts must also provide proof of residence. A voter who is unable to provide an approved form of identification (or prove residence if required):

  1. May have the voter’s identity / residence attested to by another registered voter in the precinct,
  2. Prove identity and residence using Election Day Registration documents, or
  3. Cast a provisional ballot and provide proof of identity / residence at the county auditor’s office by Noon, Monday, November 14.

Election Day Registrant attesters must provide an approved form of identification and complete the attester’s oath. For additional information about providing proof of identity and / or residence visit: https://sos.iowa.gov/voterid or call 641-673-7148.

Voter Registration forms can be obtained online at www.sos.state.ia.us/elections or www.mahaskacountyia.gov or at the Auditor’s office. Registrations should be mailed to Mahaska County Auditor, 106 South 1st Street, Oskaloosa, IA 52577. The Auditor’s office is open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Any questions concerning this process or about the General Election can be answered by calling 641-673-7148.

University Park Fall Festival Happening This Weekend

Posted on by Sam Parsons

This Saturday, University Park is hosting its 2022 Fall Festival. Mini Putt will be free and open from 3-9pm. Food trucks will be parked on center street. There will be live music from 4-8pm. A free bounce house will be available from 3-9, and there will be a bags tournament hosted by the American Legion. Check out the City of University Park Facebook page for more info.

Pella CSD Tables Discussion on School Logo Royalties

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Sam Parsons

The Pella Community School Board met last night and approved an agreement between the district and The Queue Esports Arena to cooperate on future Esports events with the school. Among other actions taken by the board was the approval of the district’s Certified Annual Report and the approval of builder’s risk insurance for the Pella Early Childhood Center.

The board also had a discussion about the school’s logo and the possibility of collecting royalties on sales now that the logo is trademarked. Superintendent Greg Ebeling explained…

Ultimately, no action was taken last night as the board wanted to iron out the details of a royalty agreement before a decision was made. The Pella Community School Board will next meet on October 10.

Rihanna to headline the next Super Bowl halftime show

Posted on by Sam Parsons

NEW YORK (AP) — Rihanna is set to star in February’s Super Bowl halftime show. The singer, who declined to perform in the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show out of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, on Sunday posted an image on Instagram of an arm holding up an NFL football. The NFL and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation have a multiyear pact with the league to pick halftime show performers. They confirmed that Rihanna will headline this season’s Super Bowl. The game will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12. After years of Pepsi sponsoring the event, the upcoming halftime show will be sponsored by Apple Music.

Iowa Republicans hold voter registration edge over Democrats

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

With six weeks remaining in the 2022 campaign, Iowa Republicans have about a 4.5% statewide voter registration edge over Democrats.

“Way back in 2008, the Democrats had an advantage of about 108,000 registrations and now we’re down 87,000 and that’s just a massive difference,” says Jeff Link, a consultant who’s worked for a number of Democratic candidates, including Fred Hubbell, the party’s nominee for governor in 2018.

Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann says a big turning point was in 2020, right after the Iowa Democratic Party’s presidential Caucuses.

“We just assumed there would be a bump in Democratic voter registration,” Kaufmann says. “That never happened. In fact, the gap continued to widen and it hasn’t stopped since.”

For years, independents were the largest voting block in Iowa. Flip back to the last midterm election, in 2018, and 36% of all active registered voters were independents. Link says having independents shrink from being the largest to the smallest block of voters in Iowa is significant.

“It just really shows that things are more polarized than ever,” Link says. “You know, when you’re the smaller party, that’s not good. You want it to be less polarized, so having a big number of independents, I think, is healthy for the state.”

Kaufmann says he intends for the GOP to keep its “foot on the pedal” and seek out new voters.

“I think the most irresponsible thing that I could do as a chair is assume that this is permanent and assume that this will continue on its own,” Kaufmann says. “I don’t believe that. I think Iowa is always going to have swing state tendencies. We have for the last century.”

As of September 1, 2022, there were a total of 1,859,224 active registered voters in Iowa.

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