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Registrations Now Open for Oskaloosa Main Street’s 2025 Young Ambassador Contest

OSKALOOSA — Oskaloosa Main Street announced the plans underway for the Main Street Young Ambassador Contest. One young man and one young lady will once again be chosen as Oskaloosa’s Young Ambassadors. If you have a three-year-old to kindergarten-age child, enter them now!

The Young Ambassador contestants will all be introduced, and the winners will be announced on Monday, Dec. 1 at 6:00 pm at a gala event at Penn Central Mall held for the winners, their fam­ily, and local media. All participants will receive the same great prizes and will have the opportunity to participate in the “Holiday Joys and Toys” Lighted Christmas Parade, on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7 pm.
To enter submit the following to Oskaloosa Main Street, 222 1st Ave. East, Oskaloosa. (2nd floor of the MidWestOne Drive-thru building): A photograph of your child no larger than 3×5, $5 registration fee, Child’s name, birthdate, parent’s name, address, phone, school attending, favorite activity, and what they want for Christmas. If you have a preference on canister location, you must get permission from that business. Entries will be accepted until 3:00 pm, Friday, October 17.
Business sponsors are needed to display a secure bank that will be provided for collecting monetary votes for the candidates. Voting begins Monday, October 27 and ends the morning of December 1. The Young Ambassadors will be determined based upon amount of money they receive in their canisters. Proceeds from event will enable a contribution to a local preschool and go towards Christmas parade expenses.  For more information call 641.672.2591.

What to know after US says it has reached framework deal with China to keep TikTok in operation

MADRID (AP) — TikTok users in the U.S. may get a reprieve from the threat of a shutdown after the Trump administration announced it has reached a framework deal with China for the ownership of the popular social video platform.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press conference after the latest round of trade talks between the world’s top two economies concluded in Madrid that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal. He said the objective of the deal would be to switch to American ownership.

He did not disclose the terms of the deal, saying that it is between two private parties, but added that “the commercial terms have been agreed upon.”

What

is the deal?

Little is known about the actual deal in the works, including what companies are involved and whether the United States would have a stake in TikTok. Li Chenggang, China’s international trade representative, said the two sides have reached “basic framework consensus” to properly solve TikTok-related issues in a cooperative way, reduce investment barriers and promote related economic and trade cooperation, according to China’s official news agency Xinhua.

Oracle Corp. has been floated as a likely buyer for the platform. Representatives for the company did not immediately respond to a message for comment on Monday.

In Madrid, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the team was “very focused on TikTok and making sure that it was a deal that is fair for the Chinese,” but also “completely respects U.S. national security concerns.”

Wang Jingtao, deputy director of China’s Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, told reporters in Madrid there was consensus on authorization of “the use of intellectual property rights such as (TikTok’s) algorithm” — a main sticking point in the deal.

The sides also agreed on entrusting a partner with handling U.S. user data and content security, he said.

Extensions continue

Though he has no clear legal basis to do so, Trump has continued to extend the deadline for TikTok to avoid a ban in the U.S. This gives his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership. The next deadline is on Sept. 17, and Trump has already signaled he would extend it if needed.

It is not clear how many times Trump can keep extending the ban as the government continues to try to negotiate a deal for TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance. While there is no clear legal basis for the extensions, so far, there have been no legal challenges against the administration. Trump has amassed more than 15 million followers on TikTok since he joined last year, and he has credited the trendsetting platform with helping him gain traction among young voters. He said in January that he has a “warm spot for TikTok.”

How do Americans view TikTok?

For now, TikTok continues to function for its 170 million users in the U.S. Tech giants Apple, Google and Oracle were persuaded to continue to offer and support the app, on the promise that Trump’s Justice Department would not use the law to seek potentially steep fines against them.

Americans are even more closely divided on what to do about TikTok than they were two years ago.

A recent Pew Research Center survey found that about one-third of Americans said they supported a TikTok ban, down from 50% in March 2023. Roughly one-third said they would oppose a ban, and a similar percentage said they weren’t sure.

Among those who said they supported banning the social media platform, about 8 in 10 cited concerns over users’ data security being at risk as a major factor in their decision, according to the report.

Why does the U.S. want China to divest?

During his first term as president, Trump led the effort to ban TikTok, saying it posed a threat to U.S. national security. But his tune changed when he returned to the White House a second time, signing an executive order on his first day in office to keep the app running.

During Joe Biden’s Democratic presidency, Congress and the White House used national security grounds to approve a U.S. ban on TikTok unless its Chinese parent company sold its controlling stake.

U.S. officials were concerned about ByteDance’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government. Another concern became the proprietary algorithm that populates what users see on the app.

Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report

DES MOINES — Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly April through November. Additionally, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship provides a weather summary each week during this time.

“The warm and dry weather is helping to push Iowa’s corn and soybean crop toward maturity as harvest gets underway across the state. These conditions have also been helpful to farmers who are chopping silage, baling hay, seeding cover crops, and getting equipment and bins ready,” said Secretary Naig. “Looking ahead, forecasts indicate that the warm temperatures will continue this week with rain chances trending back into the picture.”

The weekly report is also available on the USDA’s website at nass.usda.gov.

Crop Report
Warm, and continued dry conditions allowed Iowa farmers 6.5 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending September 14, 2025, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Field activities included finishing up the third cutting of hay, harvesting corn silage and preparing for row crop harvest.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 4 percent very short, 22 percent short, 65 percent adequate and 9 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 2 percent very short, 18 percent short, 71 percent adequate and 9 percent surplus.

Ninety percent of corn was dented or beyond, 5 days ahead of last year and 1 day ahead of the five-year average. Forty-eight percent of corn has matured, 4 days ahead of last year and 3 days ahead of average. Corn condition rated 1 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 16 percent fair, 59 percent good and 20 percent excellent. Soybeans coloring advanced to 73 percent, 2 days ahead of last year and 1 day ahead of average. Thirty-five percent of soybeans were dropping leaves. Soybean condition rated 1 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 20 percent fair, 57 percent good and 18 percent excellent.

The third cutting of alfalfa hay reached 96 percent complete. Pasture condition rated 63 percent good to excellent.

Mahaska County Board of Supervisors Approves Services Agreement with Mahaska Health

By Sam Parsons

The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors held a regular meeting yesterday morning and approved a services agreement with Mahaska Health. As part of the agreement, the hospital will fully fund a Mahaska County Sheriff’s Deputy to be stationed at the hospital year-round, including salary and benefits, for security purposes. The agreement was approved unanimously by the board.

The board also approved the termination of a 28E agreement with Keokuk County for the shared assistant attorney position. Mahaska County attorney Andrew Ritland told the board that Keokuk County attorney Maddison Denny reached out to him requesting the termination of the agreement in the wake of their shared assistant attorney, Trevor Rubenzer, leaving his role for a new employment opportunity. Ritland told the board that he did not anticipate the vacant role being filled imminently. 

The next regular meeting for the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors is scheduled for October 6.

Osky Council Approves Amendment to Complete Streets Policy

By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa City Council held a regular meeting last night and approved a resolution amending their Complete Streets Policy.

The amendment changes the name of the policy to the Complete Streets and Sidewalks Policy and changes the department managing it from the Development Services Department to the Public Works Department. Additionally, it updates the list of exceptions to the policy to include projects that cannot be shown to have a current or future connection to an existing sidewalk, trail, or other pedestrian feature within one mile, as well as a reduction of design consideration to only a single side of the street for sidewalks on dead end roads. The amendment also originally included an appeal process in the list of exceptions, but that item was stricken from the policy by the council. The amended version was approved in a 4-2 vote, with council members Ronda Almond and Lisa Ossian voting “no.”

The next regular meeting for the Oskaloosa City Council is scheduled for October 6.

Indians’ Comeback Effort Falls Short Against Mount Pleasant

By Sam Parsons

Oskaloosa’s football team was in action for their 3rd non-district matchup of the 2025 season on Friday night against the 2-0 Mount Pleasant Panthers, and the Panthers solidified their program’s upward trajectory with a commanding 34-20 victory.

Early in the game, the Panthers were able to take advantage of strong offensive starting field position on multiple occasions. Their first scoring drive began at the Oskaloosa 44 yard line, which was followed by another TD drive that started at the Osky 42 yard line; both of those were thanks in large part to Osky’s offense quickly stalling and proceeding to punt the ball into a strong wind. Then, an interception by Mount Pleasant’s Jack Newman set the Panthers up at the Osky 6 yard line, setting up another quick score. Before the Indians knew it, they were down 20-0 in the 2nd quarter.

The Indians were able to get on the board midway through quarter #2 with the help of a couple of big penalties on the Panther defense. Junior QB Tyler Edgar was able to hook up with senior wideout Heavon Knox for a 39 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 20-6.

The Panthers, however, would prove that their offensive success was more than a product of fortunate field position, as they embarked on a 75-yard touchdown drive late in the first half to go up 27-6 at halftime. The Panthers’ power-based running game was able to have quite a bit of success, and sophomore tight end Isaiah Lange hauled in 4 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown in just the first half of play. On the other end, an aggressive, blitz-happy Panthers defense was keeping the Indian offense quiet.

The 3-score for Mount Pleasant lead grew larger in the 3rd quarter when the Panthers again got the ball with pristine field position at the Indians’ 47 yard line and scored in 4 plays. Running back Ramzy Davis tallied his 3rd rushing touchdown of the night to cap off the drive, extending the lead to 34-6.

By then, the lead had become practically insurmountable for the Indians, whose offense began to rally in the 4th quarter with a pair of touchdowns: Edgar scored on a QB keeper midway through the 4th, and then he found Knox from 19 yards out for their second TD connection of the night with 2:53 left to make it 34-20.

The improbable Indians’ comeback appeared to be on the brink of reality when Omar Garcia delivered a successful onside kick that was recovered by Cael Ashman at the Panthers’ 34 yard line. The Panthers continued to apply heavy pressure with constant 6- and 7-man blitz packages, but Edgar was able to hit Kayne Boender for what appeared to be an 11-yard touchdown with roughly 1 minute left in the game; unfortunately, the score was called back due to an Oskaloosa holding penalty, and the Indians weren’t able to get back in the end zone after that. The Panthers were able to stave off the comeback effort and finish with a 34-20 victory to improve to 3-0, setting Oskaloosa back to 0-3 in the process.

The Indians will look to bounce back on Friday night in their final non-district game of the season at Washington. Coverage will begin at 7pm on KBOE 104.9 FM and kboeradio.com.

Game stats

Pope Leo XIV marvels at his ‘huge learning curve’ in an interview released on his 70th birthday

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV marveled at the “huge learning curve” he has taken on as pontiff and likened some aspects of the job to jumping “in on the deep end of the pool very quickly,” in excerpts of an interview released Sunday on his 70th birthday.

The pope also lamented widening income gaps between the working class and CEOs, recalling the recent news that Elon Musk could be in line to become the world’s first trillionaire.

“If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble,” Leo said in the comments, the pope’s first interview as history’s first American pope.

The comments came just a day after Musk’s brother’s company, Nova Sky Stories, staged a light show over the Vatican featuring 3,000 drones depicting images from the Sistine Chapel and even Pope Francis’ face.

The interview was conducted this summer by Vatican correspondent Elise Ann Allen for her forthcoming biography of Leo. Excerpts were published Sunday on Allen’s Catholic news site Crux, and in the El Comercio daily of Peru.

In the excerpts, Leo spoke about feeling both American and Peruvian, given his dual citizenship and 20 years of missionary experience in Peru. He said that experience gave him great appreciation of the Latin American church and Pope Francis’ ministry as history’s first South American pope.

Asked whether he would root for the U.S. or Peru in a future World Cup, Leo drew parallels to his childhood in Chicago and the value of not shutting down opponents.

“Even at home, I grew up a White Sox fan, but my mother was a Cubs fan, so you couldn’t be one of those fans that shut out the other side,” he said. “We learned, even in sports, to have an open, dialogical, friendly and not angry competitive stance on things like that, because we might not have gotten dinner had we been!”

Francis promoted Leo to a top job at the Vatican in 2023, making clear he viewed him as a potential successor. Nevertheless Leo said he wasn’t fully prepared for the job.

“There’s still a huge learning curve ahead of me,” he said, adding that he had found his footing as pastor, but that the challenge was the job as world leader.

“On that one I had to jump in on the deep end of the pool very quickly,” he said.

Leo’s 70th birthday is celebrated at the Vatican

The interview was released Sunday as Leo marked his 70th birthday, which was celebrated at the Vatican during his traditional noon blessing.

Leo saw giant “Happy birthday” banners, in English, Italian and Spanish, balloons and congratulatory signs held up by the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Groups of Peruvian believers, including dancers in traditional attire, were out in force.

“Dear friends, it seems you know today I have turned 70,” Leo said to cheers. “I thank the Lord, my parents and all those who remembered me in their prayers.”

When he was elected last May at age 69, the former Robert Prevost was the youngest pope since 1978, when Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope John Paul II at age 58.

Many people in the square knew it was Leo’s birthday and wished him well, especially given the weight of responsibility he had taken on to run the Catholic Church.

“Well, he definitely needs a lot of support, because he has to carry on a pontificate during a particularly difficult period, both for geopolitical issues and certainly for internal matters,” said Lorenzo Vecchio, a member of a Catholic university group in the piazza. “We are certainly happy that he is a very young pope.”

Commission discusses raising Iowa hunting, fishing, trapping fees

By Rachel Cramer (Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Natural Resource Commission discussed the possibility of increasing hunting, fishing and trapping by 5% at their monthly meeting.

Commissioners and those who spoke on the issue Thursday say the increase could help the DNR do more to conserve and restore wildlife habitat. Commissioner K.R. Buck says the issue has generated a lot of support. “We have lit a fire underneath the sportsmen. I will guarantee you that besides the CO2 pipeline, I’ve been contacted more in the last two weeks about this, and they’re all in favor,” he says.

Buck says supporters don’t think it will be enough. “They’re all afraid that 5% isn’t going to get us where we need to be,” Buck says.
State law caps annual license fee increases at 5%.

State lawmakers and the governor would need to sign off before a license fee increase went into effect.

Oskaloosa City Council to Consider Amending Complete Streets Policy Tonight

By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa City Council will meet tonight and consider a resolution amending their Complete Streets Policy. 

As part of the amendment, the policy would be renamed to the Complete Streets and Sidewalks Policy, and it would be managed by the Department of Public Works instead of the Development Services Department. It would also remove the existing Sidewalk Improvement Policy and add more exceptions, including projects which cannot be shown to have a connection or future connection to an existing sidewalk, trail, or other pedestrian feature within one mile.

The meeting will begin at 6pm in the Oskaloosa City Council Chambers.

2 Dead, 4 Injured in Rural Poweshiek County Accident

POWESHIEK COUNTY – Two people were killed and several others were injured in an accident in rural Poweshiek County on Saturday evening.

According to traffic records, at around 5:32pm on Saturday, 18-year-old Andrew Buttler of Freeport, Florida was driving a Jeep Wrangler eastbound on Ewart Road and failed to stop at Highway 63, resulting in a collision with a Jeep Renegade driven by 51-year-old George Wegner of Judsonia, Arkansas. The two vehicles came to a rest in a nearby cornfield.

The two rear passengers in the Wrangler were not wearing seat belts and both were pronounced dead on the scene by authorities. The two rear passengers were identified as 18-year-old Sydney Andersen of Grinnell and 18-year-old Aaliyah Martin of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Andersen was a 2025 graduate of North Mahaska high school.

Four other individuals involved in the accident were reported as injured and transported to the Grinnell Regional Medical Center, including Buttler, Wegner, 18-year-old Martin Contreras of Hinsdale, Florida, and 48-year-old Jessica Atta of Judsonia, Arkansas.

Assisting on the scene were members of the Iowa State Patrol, the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, Montezuma Fire and Ambulance, the Malcom Fire Department, the East Poweshiek Ambulance Service, the Iowa DoT, Poweshiek County Emergency Management, and the Grinnell Fire Department.

The North Mahaska School District announced that this week’s scheduled activities have been postponed or canceled, with Friday night’s football game to be determined.

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