An experienced crew of linebackers will lead the Iowa defense while a young defensive line matures. Outside linebacker A.J. Edds says it will take a while for the defense to adapt to the loss of Mitch King and Matt Kroul up front. He says that means they have to make more plays up front with everyone stepping up the play to fill in for the loss of King and Kroul. Iowa’s defense over the past few years has been as simple as it has successful and Edds says it is a philosophy based on team defense. He says they know how to play off each other and he says they are just a solid fundamental team. Edds says the philosophy begins with limiting big plays. Edds says the Hawks play a style that fits their personel and he says knowing you limitations is important and then carrying that out. Iowa opens September fifth at home against U.N.I.
Experienced linebackers will key Iowa defense
Luther looks to move into title contention
The Luther football team hopes to move into title contention in the Iowa Conference race this season. The Norsemen finished 5-5 a year ago in Mike Durnin’s first season as head coach. He likes their chances to climb in the standings. He says they have some juniors and sophomores that got a lot of playing time last year that return to go with the seniors. Durnin says pre-season camp is a critical time of the season as he says you need to get schemes retaught to be sure they are ready to take on the game of football mentally. Then physically they have to be ready to handle the contact. Durnin hopes the defense is as successful as it was in 2008. The Norse ranked second in the Iowa Conference in defense and they gave up only 14.5 points per contest. He says they need turnovers and to stop the explosive plays to keep the other team out of the endzone. Quarterback Chris Reynolds returns after earning the starting job as a freshman. Luther’s offense is looking to improve after ranking eighth in the league in ’08. Luther opens the season at St. Olaf on September fifth.
Grant Wood to be posthumous "Iowa Award" recipient
Governor Chet Culver will posthumously give the state’s highest citizen honor to an Iowa artist whose "American Gothic" painting is both well-known and often parodied.
Grant Wood was born in Anamosa, grew up in Cedar Rapids and lived in Iowa City until his death in 1942. Attorney Jim Hayes owns the Iowa City house where Wood lived.
"Finally this award came to Grant Wood and I think this is just the beginning of lighting a light in Iowa and the nation for the recognition of his works," Hayes says.
Wood helped found the "Stone City Art Colony" to help artists survive the Great Depression. His 1930 classic — "American Gothic" — was inspired by a Gothic Revival style cottage in Eldon, Iowa. His sister and a dentist from Cedar Rapids were the models for the man and woman who were depicted in the painting.
Wood became an art professor at the University of Iowa in 1934. His painting style is often called "American Regionalism," and Hayes — the man who owns the painter’s Iowa City home — says Wood’s work still draws attention.
"I happen to believe that there’s a rebirth of interest in Grant Wood," Hayes says. "The more we see Grant Wood and the more the nation sees Grant Wood, I think the more they appreciate it."
The governor was at Wood’s former home in Iowa City today to announce he’ll name Grant Wood an "Iowa Award" winner at a ceremony later this fall.
The "Iowa Award" was established in 1948 but only 20 people have received it. Here is the list of recipients:
1951 President Herbert Hoover (engineer, humanitarian, author, and U.S. President);1955 Jay N. Darling (cartoonist, conservationist, Pulitzer Prize winner); 1961 Dr. Frank Spedding (educator, chemist, worked on the first atomic bomb);1961 Dr. James Van Allen (educator, physicist, rocket space exploration); 1966 Henry A. Wallace (U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Vice President of the United States);1970 Mamie Eisenhower (First Lady, wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower);1975 Dr. Karl King (composer, bandmaster);1978 Dr. Norman Borlaug (crop geneticist, worked to end world hunger, Nobel Peace Prize winner);1980 Monsignor Luigi Liguitti (director, National Catholic Rural Life Conference);1984 George Gallup (founder of the Gallup Poll);1988 Meredith Willson (composer, musician);1992 Carrie Lane Chapman Catt (leader in suffrage movement and for world peace);1996 Simon Estes (international opera singer);1999 Maurice Lasansky (artist, educator);1999 John Atanasoff (physicist, mathematician, educator, inventor of the first electronic digital computer);2001 John Ruan (innovative entrepreneur, philanthropist, World Food Prize sponsor); 2002 George Washington Carver (internationally renowned scientist and humanitarian);2005 Robert D. Ray (Governor, statesman, mayor, university president, lawyer, insurance executive); 2006 Harry Hopkins (Presidential advisor);2009 Grant Wood (artist).
Davenport hosts Celtic Highland Games
A Battle of the Bands is scheduled Saturday in eastern Iowa, but it’s not between rock bands or even marching bands. This "battle" involves bagpipes.
The 11th annual Celtic Highland Games in Davenport will feature dozens of bagpipers and drummers from three of the region’s top pipe and drum corps. Lisa Lockheart is chair of the Games and says this new Battle of the Bands event will put bagpipes in their rightful spotlight.
All three bands will be facing off, each playing separate sets with a winner being chosen based on the audience reaction, then all three bands will play together as one giant bagpipe band. Lockheart says the bagpipes are a much-maligned instrument but at this festival, they’re beloved.
"There’s all sorts of jokes and quips about bagpipes and what they sound like, but the truth is it’s a highly-developed skill that takes years and years to learn," she says. "There are certain nuances and things that you can listen for that really sets a good bagpiper apart from someone who’s less experienced."
The one-day festival celebrates Celtic culture with music, dance, sports and family fun. Workshops are being offered during the day, including one called "Bagpipe Appreciation." There’s also a workshop on how to speak Gaelic (GAY-lick), which Lockheart says isn’t an easy task.
"At one point, Gaelic was a dying language but thanks to some efforts to bring it back among the northern part of Scotland and throughout Ireland, it is digging back in and developing more speakers," she says. "Anything we can do to encourage that, we’d like to try." It’s tough to master because many of the letters don’t correspond with sounds Americans are used to — like the word "ceilidh" is pronounced "KAY-lee."
A ceilidh is a traditional Irish gathering that features music, dancing and refreshments. One of the day’s big draws will be the Games of Strength, featuring a variety of athletic events that involve throwing things like large hammers, sacks of grain and heavy rocks. The games will be held at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport.
Southern Iowans cash in million dollar Powerball ticket
"On behalf of the Iowa Lottery, I’m pleased to present the Hog Hut Friends with a check for one-million dollars," Rich said. Rick Hamilton and Sharon Sulser of Chariton and Vickie and Terry Chambers of Columbia are camping together at the Iowa State Fair. Rick bought the ticket during a stop at a Pleasant Hill gas station to pick up ice. He noticed the ticket was a winner after checking the numbers Thursday afternoon. "My knees went weak, I lost my breath and got dizzy," Hamilton said. "(Sharon) wouldn’t believe me…nobody’s believed us yet." The long-time friends had always agreed that if one of them won a lottery jackpot, they would split the money. The "Hog Hut" is the couple’s local motorcycle hang-out. Hamilton insists the money won’t change their lives. "It’s not going to change us, it’s just going to make life a little easier for all of us," Hamilton said. In fact, both couples plan to keep camping at the Iowa State Fair through the weekend. "Everybody’s welcome to come up and have a cold one with us if they want," Hamilton said as the others laughed. After taxes, the four individuals will split $700,000. None of them were sure what they might do with the money. "Anything is possible, but I think we’re just going to put it in a bank and then just sick back and think about it for a week or two before we do anything silly," Hamilton said. The two couples originally tried to claim their prize on Thursday at 5 p.m., but the Iowa Lottery offices had just closed. "I had my face up against the window there, I saw a light was on and I got somebody’s attention," Hamilton said, laughing. A lottery employee urged them to call a financial advisor and return in the morning. Hamilton, 55, is a retired U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employee who now runs his own soil sampling business. His partner, 51-year-old Sulser, works at the Hy-Vee in Chariton. Vickie and Terry Chambers are both 50 and operate a farm in Columbia, which is located just south of Knoxville. The couples said they’d won much smaller Iowa Lottery prizes in the past. "Well, these three always call me lucky," Hamilton said. "I keep telling (Sharon) she’s the luckiest person alive." As everyone laughed, Sharon responded, "As long as he keeps on winning, I am." The couple’s winning ticket matched five numbers during Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, but missed the red Powerball for a $200,000 prize. Hamilton choose the Power Play option, which multiplied the prize to $1 million. 
Two southern Iowa couples, who refer to themselves as the "Hog Hut Friends," are splitting a big Powerball prize. Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich presented them with a check this morning.
Motorist escapes injury in bridge collapse
A motorist narrowly escaped injury this morning when a bridge collapsed in rural northern Iowa. The Mitchell County Engineering Department says the bridge is located about a mile north and east of Otranto on Dancer Avenue between 480th and 490th Streets. Reports from the scene indicate it appears a car drove over the bridge when it collapsed. Nobody in the car was injured. Mitchell County authorities are continuing to investigate.
Grasley says Senate committee moving forward using public input on health care
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he talked last night with the other members of the so-called "Gang of six" in the senate committee that’s working on the health care bill.
Grassley, one of three Republicans in the group, says they haven’t talked since the August recess.
Grassley says, "We needed to update each other on how we feel about the present environment exampled by the raucous town meetings that have taken place — not so much in Iowa — but in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the grassroots expression that that exemplifies."
Grassley says they want to move forward taking the public opinion into account. Grassley says the health care issue is just part of an overall concern of the public. "What you hear about health care at the town meetings is more like the straw that broke the camel’s back in the sense that people see the nationalization of banks, the nationalization of General Motors, they see big deficits and then they see us talking about spending more money in the two bills that are out there — not our bill — but the two bills that are out there…they just think that congress has gone bananas," Grassley says.
There’s been some talk that Democrats might try to pass something without the Republicans support if they can’t get the provisions they want, but Grassley says that hasn’t impacted his group. Grassley says the senate committee has decided it wants to move ahead, and move ahead taking into account what the impact of what they’ve heard at the town hall meetings.
Grassley made his comments at the Iowa State Fair where he is hosting a group of ambassadors from other countries. There were reports that protesters might show up to speak to confront the senator, which he says is okay. Grassley says any sort of protest whether he sees is or not is "perfectly legitimate in a democracy." Grassley says he believes he’s been open to "a lot listening to that" including his town hall meetings and he has 16 more town hall meetings scheduled.
Grassley toured the fairgrounds Friday with the ambassadors. He says the visit won’t lead to any immediate agreements. Grassley says they do once in a awhile sign some contracts, but he says the trip is more to open doors to Iowa and get the state access to other countries. Grassley says he’s heard good response from the ambassadors.
Grassley says they’ve seen the best of Iowa’s industry and financial services, along with colleges like Buena Vista and Iowa State University. He says the thing that has seemed to impress the ambassadors the most is the friendliness of Iowans. The ambassadors toured the animal exhibits, looking at the biggest bull and other animals before sitting down to a lunch that included a turkey leg.
