Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Honda Motor Co. said it will recall about 554,000 model-year 2002 to 2004 CR-V and model-year 2003 Pilot vehicles in the United States
By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — While stronger-than-expected auto sales are prompting industry analysts to raise their forecasts of how many cars Americans will buy this year, automakers are
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch – NEW YORK — U.S. stocks on Friday snared their biggest first-quarter gain in more than a decade, after a better-than-anticipated rise in consumer confidence and spending boosted views
By Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times – NEW ORLEANS — Kentucky fans almost turned blue Saturday but can exhale now. The disaster defeat to Louisville in the NCAA tournament semifinals was averted. It
By Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel – ORLANDO, Fla. — As we now head toward the national-championship game of college basketball Monday night, there has been but one pervading thought as I’ve watched
By Kellis Robinett, McClatchy Newspapers – MANHATTAN, Kan. — Bruce Weber is well known in coaching circles and is one of the most recognizable faces in college basketball, but he comes to Kansas
James Q. Lynch, CR Gazette – A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Friday, March 30, 2012: COOKING WITH KIDS: The Iowa House adopted a resolution calling on
By Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – The debate before Friday night’s game at Target Center was whether Kevin Garnett in his prime or Kevin Love as a 23-year-old stats monster was the
By Joseph Goodman, McClatchy Newspapers – TORONTO — The Heat had several potential excuses Friday for yet another subpar performance on the road. And for three quarters, it seemed Miami could have used
Rocky Hulne, Austin Daily Herald, Minn. – HAYFIELD — One of Minnesota’s best all-time three-point shooters will continue his sharp-shooting at the college level. Hayfield senior Bobbie Stephens recently signed his letter-of-intent to
John Shipley, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. – FORT MYERS, Fla. – Scott Baker felt good about a four-inning start against Boston’s Class AAA team this morning, March 31, calling it a “step
By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times – A word of a warning to parents of adolescents, from the nation’s poison centers: Yes, you’ve secured your medicine chest and your liquor cabinet; but a
By Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun – Facebook may be focusing users too much on their body weight and image, according to a new survey from the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard
By Dahleen Glanton and Dawn Rhodes, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — Nineteen-year-old Jonathan Knowles has an array of hoodies hanging in his dorm room closet, scattered among his suits, dress shirts and ties.
By David Enders, McClatchy Newspapers – NEAR RAMTHA, Jordan — Outside a Bedouin shepherd’s tent, in view of the Syrian border, Abu Khalid sits in the grass, a laptop perched on his knees.
By Marc Caputo, McClatchy Newspapers – MIAMI — From suspect to victim to cultural symbol, Trayvon Martin has metamorphosed into a political point of departure over race. When President Barack Obama spoke about
by Jody Spear and Kelly Meyer – Around 8:00 pm, Friday, the Mason City Fire Department was dispatched to Curries Manufacturing on 9th Street SE. It was reported that a fire had
I have never been to the Landfill facility, I don’t know what it looks like. Now that it is front and center in this community it has peaked my interest. I know
By Paul Richter, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The Obama administration cleared the way for tightening sanctions on Iran with a determination that a reduction in the global purchases of Iranian oil
By Brian Bennett, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is proposing to make it easier for illegal immigrants who are immediate family members of American citizens to apply for permanent
By Paul Richter, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The Obama administration says it has dropped plans to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid for North Korea over Pyongyang’s plans to launch what
Measure calls for changes to 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ Forms WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) has introduced legislation that allows taxpayers to systematically tell Congress their federal spending priorities. The
DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate continued to drop in February, falling to 5.3 percent from 5.4 percent in January. The comparable rate for February 2011 was 6.0 percent.
George C. Ford, CR Gazette – Farmers are expected to plant a record corn crop and fewer soybean acres this year than they did in 2011, according to projections reported Friday by
By Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times – WASHINGTON — Virginia Tech did not violate federal law in its email response time that notified students of a campus rampage that left 33 people dead,
By Carol Rosenberg, McClatchy Newspapers – MIAMI — The former Swiss diplomat who runs the International Red Cross ended a round of meetings this week with President Barack Obama and senior U.S. officials
By Arelis R. Hernandez, The Orlando Sentinel – ORLANDO, Fla. — If George Zimmerman is not arrested in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin soon, the Rev. Al Sharpton says he will call
By Craig Gilbert, Mike Johnson and Don Behm, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – APPLETON, Wis. — Despite staking rival Rick Santorum to a six-day head start in Wisconsin, Mitt Romney arrived here Friday with
By Neela Banerjee, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON—Days after the Obama administration approved Royal Dutch Shell’s oil spill response plan for drilling in the Arctic Ocean off the Alaskan coast, an independent federal
Meg Kissinger, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it was denying a petition to ban BPA from all food and drink containers, saying the science does not
Mike Hlas, CR Gazette – There are no such things as curses, jinxes, hexes. You can’t get bad luck from a black cat running in front of your path, unless it has
By Batsheva Sobelman, Los Angeles Times – JERUSALEM — Clashes erupted Friday between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as Israeli security troops remained on high alert throughout
By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — The 17 nations of the eurozone agreed Friday to increase their bailout resources in an attempt to keep a lid on the debt crisis
By Dalina Castellanos, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — A West Texas polygamist who authorities said had multiple “celestial marriages” was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison. Wendell Loy Nielsen, 71,
By Kathleen Hennessey and Michael A. Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — Framing the November election as a defining moment for the middle class, President Barack Obama said voters would have a
By Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News – If the betting public, NCAA selection committee and NBA Draft boards are to be believed, the next 72 hours will be a Big Blue coronation.
James Q. Lynch, CR Gazette – A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Thursday, March 29, 2012: REPLACEMENT LICENSES: The Iowa Department of Transportation will implement a 10-year
By Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Moviegoers are expected to return to the multiplex this weekend for second helpings of “The Hunger Games,” pushing the teen epic to No.
By Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – “You can be blasé about some things, Rose,” Cal Hockley (Billy Zane) pretentiously sniffs about the big, doomed ship, “but not about Titanic!’” And so it
By Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — After barely a year, Current TV has sacked fiery host Keith Olbermann. In a statement Friday afternoon, former Vice President Al Gore and