Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 8-seeded Iowa State men’s basketball team defeated defending national champion and ninth-seeded Connecticut 77-64 Thursday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the KFC
The Iowa Leading Indicators Index (ILII) rose to 104.6 (100=1999) in January 2012 from 104.5 in December. The Iowa non-farm employment coincident index recorded a 0.05 percent rise in January, extending the
James Q. Lynch, CR Gazette – Online poker enthusiasts’ run of luck has run out. The Iowa House doesn’t plan to take up Senate File 2257, which the Senate approved 29-20 earlier this
Trish Mehaffey, CR Gazette – The task force that spent a year studying and considering court innovations to make Iowa courts more affordable, less complicated and more efficient released its final report late
MASON CITY – A Mason City man who had been facing up to two years in prison on an aggravated misdemeanor count of possession of child porn was sentenced to reside at
MASON CITY – A house fire was extinguished today by the Mason City Fire Department. Click here to view photos. The incident occurred at about 12:50 p.m. at 547 9th Street SE.
James Q. Lynch, CR Gazette – A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Wednesday, March 14, 2012. 2012: STEM SCALE-UP: The Governor’s STEM Advisory Council Executive Committee released
James Q. Lynch, CR Gazette – DES MOINES — An effort to ban the traffic enforcement cameras used in Cedar Rapids and other Iowa communities has become roadkill in the legislative rush
Erin Jordan, CR Gazette – IOWA LOTTERY PLAYERS TAKE COMFORT — players in 32 other states are bigger suckers. That’s according to the “Sucker Index” created by Bloomberg News that compares lottery
John Mangalonzo, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – KEOKUK – Agents from the Lee County Narcotics Task Force have arrested a Keokuk woman, accusing her of being part of an elaborate meth-cooking operation.
Matt Levins, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – Two years ago, the University of Iowa wrestling team looked like it was back. The Hawkeyes had won three straight NCAA Championships and was re-establishing
John Mangalonzo, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – A simple call about a pickup blocking a driveway has resulted in an enhanced drug charge being filed against a Burlington man. Des Moines County
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – NIACC softball continued play at the Snowbird Classic on Wednesday with a 4-3 loss to Brookdale Community College (NJ) and an 8-0 win over Massasoit Community College (MA).
By Joe Buttweiler MASON CITY — Found: A really big orange rubber ball. It was in the middle of the street about half a block from home as we returned from a
(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry Branstad today announced that he would sign “Kadyn’s Law” at Northwood Elementary School, the school which Kadyn Halverson attended. The bill has been dubbed “Kadyn’s Law” by
By Katherine Skiba and Ian Duncan, Chicago Tribune – WASHINGTON — Almost 200 years after the British burned down the White House, President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, hosted Prime Minister David
By Paul West, Tribune Washington Bureau – ROSEMONT, Ill. — After a pair of pivotal Southern tests, the Republican presidential race has become a battle between Mitt Romney’s grind-it-out delegate arithmetic and Rick
By Annie Sweeney, Chicago Tribune – JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Outside the walls of the federal prison here, say the name Rod Blagojevich and you get only the slightest hint of recognition. Blagovich?
By Cheryl Powell, Akron Beacon Journal – AKRON, Ohio — Everyone makes mistakes. But when it comes to providing medical care to kids, Ohio’s pediatric hospitals have decided even a single error is
By Karen Sudol, The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) – NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A jury will return Thursday to continue deliberating charges in the trial of a former Rutgers student who is accused of
By Bob Secter and Andy Grimm, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — Rod Blagojevich may have a problem with hidden recording devices, but the convicted former governor of Illinois rarely met a camera he
By Frances Robles, McClatchy Newspapers – SANFORD, Fla. — Televangelist preacher Jamal Bryant vowed to “shut down Florida” at a rally on Wednesday to demand justice for slain Miami-Dade teen Trayvon Martin. “This
By Rick Pearson, John Byrne and Dahleen Glanton, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — As the Republican presidential contest moves to Illinois, Mitt Romney finds his campaign parked squarely at the corner of perception
By Stacey Mulick, McClatchy Newspapers – TACOMA, Wash. — Pierce County prosecutors will be evaluating whether manslaughter or other charges can be filed after a 3-year-old boy found a loaded handgun inside a
By Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times – WASHINGTON — In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate approved a $109 billion transportation bill Wednesday. The measure passed 74-22, underscoring the political appeal of
By Tom Lasseter, McClatchy Newspapers – BEIJING — In a rare public mention of the tumultuous Cultural Revolution, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned on Wednesday that unless his nation pushes for political reform
By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Congress acted legally when it eliminated Endangered Species Act protections for the Northern Rocky Mountain population
By Noah Matthews, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – In yet another example of how time is passing me by with the speed of a quad-core processor, WinZip, the venerable file compression utility for Windows
By Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – The movie-loving world years ago split into two camps: those who have given up on Nicolas Cage, dismissing everything he touches as tainted, and those who
By Paul Richter and Alex Rodriguez, Tribune Washington Bureau – ISLAMABAD — China’s largest bank has backed out of a deal to finance a proposed Iran-to-Pakistan gas pipeline that is opposed by the
By Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — Senate leaders have averted, for now, a showdown over President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees, reaching a tentative agreement that would allow the chamber to
By Barry Shlachter, McClatchy Newspapers – FORT WORTH, Texas — The European Union said Wednesday that it’s moving to end a drawn-out trade war over hormone-treated beef from the United States and Canada
I’m glad to have the chance to speak again to the Independent Community Bankers of America, even if it’s by way of prerecorded remarks. This will be the first time in quite
AMES, Iowa – 10th-seeded Iowa State faces seventh-seeded Green Bay Saturday at approximately 5:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum in the first round of the NCAA Championships. The Cyclones and Phoenix will meet
By Steve Mills, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — When he surrenders at a federal prison outside Denver this week, Rod Blagojevich will trade his beautiful bungalow on a corner lot in Ravenswood Manor
By Matt McKinney, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — The stolen laptop sent its owner a hopeful message just hours after it had been spirited out of his south Minneapolis home. The message
by Matt Marquardt – It is “Sunshine Week” in Washington D.C. The Federal Government is celebrating the Freedom of Information Act and transparency. Senator Charles Grassley, who claims to be a champion
By Mike Swift, San Jose Mercury News – SAN JOSE, Calif. — With its “Don’t Be Evil” motto, Google Inc. has always held itself to a higher moral standard. Now Google observers, including
Sioux County, IOWA – On Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 39 year old Wendi Kats was arrested on a charge of Theft 2nd degree, a Class D felony. Kats is a former Sioux
By Sandi Doughton, The Seattle Times – SEATTLE — The standard story on the origin of mammals holds that our ancient forebears didn’t creep out of the evolutionary shadows until after the demise