Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
Marc Morehouse, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – IOWA CITY — Iowa running back Marcus Coker has been suspended from the Insight Bowl for disciplinary reasons, according to the University. A university release stated
The Cerro Gordo County Compensation Board met Monday evening and recommended a 2.5% pay increase for elected county officials. The board was chaired by former Mason City Mayor Tom Jolas. Other on
The Mason City Zoning Board of Adjustment has approved a conditional use permit for Creative Energy Systems, moving them one step closer to building a $35 million dollar plant in Mason City.
MANILA, Philippines — The death toll from devastating floods in the Philippines reached 957 after bodies swept to sea were retrieved, the Office of Civil Defense said Tuesday. The southern city of
By Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – This year at the movies — who knew? Who knew Martin Scorsese could pull off a French period piece for kids (“Hugo”)? Who knew Roland
By Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — This wasn’t supposed to be a milestone year in the Aretha Franklin annals. But 2011, which began shrouded in health mystery before blossoming
By Rick Bentley, McClatchy Newspapers – This week’s new DVD releases range from a first-rate family film to a so-so concert movie. “Dolphin Tale,” Grade A-minus: A young boy tries to help
By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced Monday it will hear arguments over three days in late March to decide the constitutionality of President Barack
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times – WASHINGTON — Four current members of the House of Representatives received special VIP loans from Countrywide Financial Corp., according to the chairman of a congressional
By Allison Steele, The Philadelphia Inquirer – PHILADELPHIA — During more than 10 years of living with alleged kidnapper Linda Ann Weston, Edwin Sanabria never yelled for help or tried to escape.
By Becky Schlikerman, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — A central Illinois mother was responsible for the chilling murder-suicide that claimed the lives of two adults and three children in tiny Emington, Ill.,
By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times – VENTURA, Calif. — The father of an openly gay Oxnard, Calif., junior high school student spilled his rage in a Ventura courtroom Monday, telling the
By Elisha Anderson, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — A father who admitted he had his 9-year-old daughter drive his van while he was intoxicated pleaded guilty Monday to a felony child-abuse
By Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — The 1-800-GET-THIN marketing company, under scrutiny by federal and local authorities, has pledged to change the way it advertises Lap-Band weight-loss surgery to
By Kathleen Hennessey and Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — Faced with criticism from within the party, House Republicans wrestled Monday night with the next step in their politically risky and increasingly
By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times – MINOT, N.D. — In the middle of winter, when the temperature slips toward zero and bone-numbing winds blow in off the prairie, living in a
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske and David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau – HOUSTON — The case of a grocery store clerk wrongly convicted of murdering his wife has rocked the legal system across
By Kevin McDermott, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — From Springfield to Jefferson City to Washington, government today has more electronic windows into its soul than ever before. Consider the hypothetical
By Lynn Thompson, The Seattle Times – SEATTLE — The fight over plastic bags could move to the Washington state Legislature in the coming session as environmentalists seek to expand the ban
By Shawn Boburg, Hannan Adely, Chris Harris and Rebecca O’Brien The Record (Hackensack N.J.) MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A small plane that took off from Teterboro, N.J., Tuesday morning crashed on Route
By Alfred Lubrano, The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — The Superior Court of Pennsylvania on Tuesday reversed the attempted prostitution conviction of a woman who was famously tried for trying to trade sex
By Annie Sweeney, Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — A suspect in a plot to set off a bomb near Chicago’s Wrigley Field could plead guilty to federal charges in February. U.S. District Judge
By Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The House rejected a Senate-brokered compromise to extend a tax cut for working Americans and sent the measure to a conference committee for
By David Ashenfelter, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student who pleaded guilty against the advice of his standby lawyer to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound
Mike Hlas – The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Iowa State 24, Rutgers 15 Iowa 23, Oklahoma 15 What a Dec. 30 it will be for football fans in Iowa if Sports
Dave DeWitte – The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Rockwell Collins is collaborating with NASA on a data link that will enable unmanned aircraft to safely operate in the national airspace. Rockwell
Dave DeWitte, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Cedar Rapids and Iowa City ranked near the top in the annual Milken Institute ranking of cities by economic performance for 2011, according to a
UPDATED with comments from Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman The 2012 Iowa precinct caucuses won’t have quite the same feel for Democrats as they did four years ago. However, President Obama’s re-election campaign
Jeff Hunt – The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – FORT MADISON – When Matt Morris, president of the Fort Madison Bank and Trust Co., told the Lee County Board of Supervisors Dec.
Dale Alison, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – Next Monday will be the day after Christmas; the Monday after that will be the eve of the Iowa caucuses. Democrats will meet Tuesday
A Burlington, Iowa man police say peddled crack cocaine in the area will not have felony convictions in his record. Carlos Darvell Thompson was placed on probation for five years Monday after
Scott Dochterman, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa IOWA CITY — The Big Ten is set to earn nearly $47 million in payouts from a league-record 10 bowl appearances this year that could
The Mohawk bowling teams swept West Des Moines Valley on Monday. The varsity boys won 2834 to 2606. Cody Brandau rolled a 156 and a 246 for a series score of 402,
A driver in the vicinity of South Pierce Avenue and 240th Street in Mason City called in a natural gas odor around 6:15 am Tuesday morning. The Cerro Gordo Sheriff’s Office and
The Mason City Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) will be meeting Tuesday at 4pm to consider new information they have received from the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health regarding a
The Mason City Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies responded to gunshots on North Federal Avenue in Mason City on Tuesday morning. Mason City police said Tuesday that officers were
Dave DeWitte, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids – Alliant Energy electric customers bills will go up in February as a new transmission rider granted in its last case is adjusted for the first time. The
This year is racing to its end, for some it could be a good thing, for other perhaps not. It has been reported both on this site and in the local paper
The Mason City Public Library will be featuring one of its online resources each month to help familiarize its patrons with the many choices they have in using our services from home
The Cerro Gordo County Supervisors met Monday, December 19th, 2011. (PHOTO: CG Supervisor Jay Urdahl) A short report was given by the County Engineer on road conditions. Meetings will return to their