Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
MASON CITY – The National Weather Service in Des Moines is warning that there is a “very high fire danger today” throughout the North Iowa area. The report says that “the combination
Scott Dochterman, CR Gazette – INDIANAPOLIS — Matt Gatens remained composed but a little stunned in the Iowa locker room Friday afternoon. Gatens’ Hawkeyes suffered a 92-75 loss to Michigan State in
By Jack Daly, McClatchy Newspapers – ATLANTA — Luke Loucks helped Florida State fight off a staunch effort from Duke and earn a 62-59 win in the semifinals of the ACC tournament
By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times – SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. has been given the green light to offer video services to residents of Kansas City, Mo., which could put the
By Tom Hudson, McClatchy Newspapers – When does a possibility become a promise? For three years the Federal Reserve has said it expects the economy to remain so weak it will likely
By Nathan Olivarez-Giles, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Apple Inc. has been denied permission to file a patent-infringement lawsuit against Eastman Kodak by the film-maker’s bankruptcy judge. Judge Allan Gropper,
By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times – BEIJING — China’s annual inflation rate fell to a 20-month low in February, giving policymakers room to ease lending at a time of tapering economic
By Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Technology firm Quest Software Inc. has agreed to go private in a deal valued at $2 billion. The Aliso Viejo, Calif., software
By E. Scott Reckard and Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Bank of America Corp. has agreed to reduce the loan balances of underwater homeowners more aggressively than other
By Dawn C. Chmielewski, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Walt Disney Studios’ science-fiction adventure film “John Carter” could lose $165 million, according to revised projections from one Wall Street analyst.
By David Hiltbrand, The Philadelphia Inquirer – This is going to sound morbid only because it is. When a celebrity of sufficient stature dies, TV’s high-gloss infotainment shows (“Access Hollywood,” “Extra,” et
By David Hiltbrand, The Philadelphia Inquirer – Nickelodeon’s made-for-TV boy band, Big Time Rush, stretch their skinny legs, graduating to a movie format with a London setting, an espionage plot and even
The Yomiuri Shimbun – TOKYO — The U.S. government has sounded out the Japanese government on a plan to transfer about 1,300 Marines based in Okinawa Prefecture to another location within the
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch – NEW YORK — Syrian troops on Saturday shelled a northern region viewed as a center of a year-long uprising as President Bashar al-Assad met with an international
By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times – WICHITA, Kan. — Rick Santorum has won the Kansas Republican caucuses, according to The Associated Press and network projections, his eighth statewide victory in the
By Thomas Fitzgerald, The Philadelphia Inquirer – PHILADELPHIA — Hard-won Republican gains among female voters have all but evaporated amid a noisy national debate over reproductive health. That opinion shift — if
Ray Richardson, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. – Minnesota Timberwolves rookie sensation Ricky Rubio will miss the rest of the 2011-12 NBA season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left
MASON CITY – No more noisy parties at the Ashley Inn Motel. Four years ago, when new managers Rob Peterson and Kelly Helgeland took over, things started to change for the business.
Mark D. Hinnenkamp, 51 of Hanlontown, IA, died Thursday March 8, 2012 at Hospice of North Iowa in Mason City. A visitation will be held on Monday, March 12, 2012, from 5:00
By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times – MINNEAPOLIS—These are the Los Angeles Lakers nowadays, needing every possible drip of luck and skill to beat a team on the road, even if the opponent
By Barry Jackson, McClatchy Newspapers – MIAMI — The Dolphins have made the list of finalists for coveted free agent Peyton Manning and expect to meet with him after he returns from his
President Barrack Obama’s Weekly Address: Investing in a Clean Energy Future Speaking from a factory in Virginia, President Obama talks about how companies are creating more jobs in the United States, making
By Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times – WASHINGTON — Slow down. So says the Governors Highway Safety Association, which is flashing its figurative red lights over speeding on the nation’s roads, saying that
By Amelia Rayno, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – INDIANAPOLIS — In a way, it almost seemed fitting that the Minnesota Gophers would lose this way: in a close game, in overtime, and by missing
By Don Lee, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — Providing solid evidence of a strengthening economy, employers extended their brisk hiring into February — a trend that, if it continues, could change the
By Mary Shanklin, The Orlando Sentinel – ORLANDO, Fla. — The people who could end up paying the financial price for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin are, ultimately, the homeowners of the
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa State’s divers continued their competition at the NCAA Zone Diving meet Friday at the Wellness and Recreation Center. Sarah Nelson led the Cyclone effort with a six-dive
By Adam Teicher, McClatchy Newspapers – KANSAS CITY, MO. — Chairman Clark Hunt acknowledged Friday that the Chiefs are pursuing quarterback Peyton Manning, but they’re certainly not the only team. Manning started what
By Pete DiPrimio, The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.) – INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue couldn’t handle Ohio State’s 1-2 combination of Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas and lost, 88-71, in Friday night’s quarterfinal round of
By Mark Snyder, Detroit Free Press – INDIANAPOLIS — On Monday, Michigan coach John Beilein cited the “magical” finish to the regular season. Apparently it followed to the Wolverines to the Big Ten tournament.
By Vahe Gregorian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – KANSAS CITY, MO. — Fifth-ranked Missouri held up its end of the bargain, and then some, by storming past Texas, 81-67, on Friday night at the
By Bryan Burwell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Sprint Center had suddenly gone silent. For most of the early evening, there was this sea of blue overwhelming the arena,
Jermaine Pigee, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – Iowa Board of Regents President Craig Lang wants everyone to know how important state colleges are. “Our public universities attract students from all over the
By Jennifer Sullivan and Jonathan Martin, The Seattle Times – MONTESANO, Wash. — Grays Harbor County sheriff’s deputies are searching for a man who stabbed Superior Court Judge Dave Edwards and shot a
By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — Despite fissions that threaten to break up his state and rising concerns about human rights abuses, Libya’s new prime minister assured top officials in
By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — A giant crater at the moon’s south pole may hold the answer to a long-standing mystery about why portions of the lunar crust
By Matthew Schofield, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — Months after the United States sided with rebels against Syrian President Bashar Assad, senior U.S. intelligence officials acknowledged Friday that not only could Assad survive
By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times – BEIJING — During the winter break from high school, Tsering Kyi would spend her days tending the yak and sheep, always taking a book with her
By Geoff Pender, McClatchy Newspapers – GULFPORT, Miss. — Newt Gingrich told a Gulfport campaign rally crowd he was more than an hour late Friday because he detoured his campaign bus to film
This week, we spent more time debating in the House and less time in committees. On Wednesday, we passed twenty-five bills with only two being considered controversial. However, we expect that the