The Waterloo Black Hawks begin defense of their Clark Cup championship tomorrow night as they open their U-S-H-L season at Sioux Falls. Waterloo is coming off its first ever Tier-One National Championship. A big question for the Hawks is finding someone to replace goalie Kevin Regan who anchored Waterloo defensively as he captured the Clark Cup M-V-P award. Waterloo coach P.K. O’Handley talked says goalie situation features a three-way battle. Being the defending champs, O’Handley realizes his team will now go from being the hunter to the hunted. He says some of the guys don’t realize that yet, but he says they will in a hurry.
Iowa looks to get back on track at Michigan
September 24, 2004 By
The Iowa Hawkeyes open the Big Ten race at Michigan. The Hawkeyes are 2-1 and will be looking to bounce back from a 44-7 shellacking at Arizona State last week. Iowa’s offense was smothered in the loss but coach Kirk Ferentz is confident that unit and quarterback Drew Tate will bounce back. Ferentz says Tate has been knocked down before and will get back up. He says when you loose and perform poorly, as they all did starting with him, then he says you should be disappointed.Iowa’s defense could not slow down Arizona State’s pass game and Ferentz says Michigan’s standout receiving corps will also provide a challenge. He says you can choose your poison, and the tight end is really good too. Ferentz says the Hawkeyes know what it will have to take a chance. He says he’s more concerned about where his team is going and how they’re performing than he is about Michigan’s talent. He says if they perform well, it should be a good football game.
Regatta rows down the Des Moines River
September 24, 2004 By
The song goes “row, row, row your boat” but the rowers in Des Moines this weekend won’t be rowing “gently.” The 21st annual Des Moines River Regatta is drawing some 600 rowers from all across the Midwest. Julia Martinusen is organizing the event. The bigger races will involve more than 20 boats, or shells, taking part, each with between four and eight rowers. Racing begins at dawn on Saturday and runs until sunset with 62 scheduled races between the 30-some teams. Martinusen says the races are exciting for the competitors — and almost as thrilling for the spectators.Teams are coming from colleges, clubs and cities all over the region, from both Drake and the University of Iowa, and from other states, including: Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. Unlike a foot race, the boats don’t all line up and take off. Martinusen explains how the shells compete. They start one after another, every ten seconds, using synchronized clocks at the start and finish. Teams are starting at the Des Moines Botanical Center and finishing at Prospect Park, rowing a three-mile course up the Des Moines River. There is no admission fee for spectators.
State Patrol to gather for 70th anniversary picture
September 24, 2004 By
The state capitol will be overrun by the Iowa State Patrol this weekend, but it’s not part of stepped up security. Sergeant Regina Clemens says the entire patrol is getting together for a 70th anniversary picture. She says it’ll include all current employees and also retirees, who’ll gather on the west steps of the capitol. Clemens says the photo is scheduled for Sunday. She says there’ll be approximately 450 people involved in the whole picture. She says they’ll actually take three pictures, one with everyone, one with the current patrol employees, and one with just the sworn personnel. So who’s patrolling the streets while the troopers are saying cheese? She says they’ve notified the counties and cities that the troopers will be out of the area for awhile. She says they will still have people in the communications center. Clemens says this is a rare happening. She says this is the third time all the officers have gotten together — the last in 1985. Clemens says the actual 70th anniversary is July 28th of next year, but they’re taking the photo now for use in a yearbook and other displays for the anniversary.
Challenger criticizes Boswell for breaking term-limit pledge
September 24, 2004 By
The republican who’s challenging democrat Congressman Leonard Boswell criticized Boswell today for breaking a promise. Stan Thompson, a republican lawyer from Des Moines, this morning held up a copy of a term limit pledge Boswell signed a few years ago.Thompson ripped the paper in two to make his point. He says Boswell promised to serve just eight years in Congress, but has already served eight years and is now breaking his word. Thompson says “Iowa voters expect their elected officials to keep their word.” He says Boswell’s congressional record over eight years shows not one bill with his name on it has become law. Boswell responded. Boswell admits he signed the term limit pledge, but his “grandfather told (him) one time a thinking person is allowed to change their mind with new information.” Boswell says he decided a couple of years ago he’d try to stay in Congress rather than lose the seniority he’s accumulated. Boswell says it’s not good for Iowa to lose the influence he’s gained from his eight years in Congress because it would just give states like California and New York more influence. Thompson and Boswell made their comments during taping of an Iowa Public Television program that will air tonight at 7:30. The two men are seeking to represent Iowa’s third congressional district which stretches from Des Moines to Grinnell.
Rural Greene farmer dies in grain bin accident
September 24, 2004 By
An autopsy’s being done today on a rural Iowa man who died in a grain bin as he was doing farm work. Floyd County Sheriff Rick Lynch says a man in rural Greene called around nine Thursday morning to say he’d been working on a corn bin. The man said his father-in-law had been climbing a ladder to check the bin, and when he looked again he didn’t see the man and found he’d fallen into the bin. The farmer shut down his equipment and called 911. The dead man’s identified as 83-year-old George Schultz of Greene. Fire, police, rescue and sheriff personnel came and determined before long that Schultz was dead, possibly dragged further down into the smothering grain by an augur being used to move it. Still, it was two hours before they could cut holes in the bin and remove enough grain to retrieve his body. They even had someone bring out beams and plywood so if they could get near the victim they could shore up the grain and take the pressure off to rescue the person alive. Sheriff Lynch says it’s a rural area and they’re familiar with calls to farm accidents. There was one just last spring in neighboring Mitchell County, but it was a rescue case as they were able to shore up the corn and get the victim out alive. Sheriff Lynch says the Floyd County Search and Rescue Unit’s had special training for this kind of farm accident. Almost all the members have gone for special training in how to deal with farm incidents, and so have members of fire departments in and around Floyd County.
Class 1A features key football matchups
September 24, 2004 By
In high school football action tonight, class 1A second ranked Pekin plays host to West Branch in an early showdown in district six.Pekin coach Tom Stone says to win the game they have to stay error free when it comes to turnovers. He says they have to play good sound defense and he says their special teams have to play better than West Branch’s special teams.Stone expects both teams to be ready to play, and says it should be fun and exciting. Also in 1A, third ranked Dike-New Hartford visits Wapsie Valley in district four. After back-to-back heartbreaking losses Wapsie Valley is fighting for its playoff life and Dike-New Hartford coach Tom Wilson expects to meet a motivated foe. He says they’re looking to get back on the winning track and are very athletic and well coached. Wilson says the keys for his team are doing a good job at the line of scrimmage and controlling the quarterback.
