Little Rain, but cooler temps a relief
by Jody Spear – Cerro Gordo County was under a severe thunderstorm warning Wednesday afternoon. The announcement was a a hopeful sign. The clouds swarmed in, the thunder started to rumble and
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by Jody Spear – Cerro Gordo County was under a severe thunderstorm warning Wednesday afternoon. The announcement was a a hopeful sign. The clouds swarmed in, the thunder started to rumble and
By Janet Stobart, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — A private contractor’s planning for security at the Summer Olympics in London was incompetent, the chairman of a British Parliament committee said Tuesday. As
By Jim Wyss, McClatchy Newspapers – MIAMI — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continues amassing power, controlling courts, hounding critics and muzzling the media, Human Rights Watch said in 133-page report released Tuesday. “For
By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — A top executive at Viacom said Wednesday that talks with DirecTV over a new agreement have broken down. In an interview, Denise Denson,
By Rebecca Cohen, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday ordered Capital One Bank to refund about $140 million to 2 million customers, marking the new watchdog agency’s
HARLAN – Larry Finstad, 48, of Harlan, has been charged with one count of illegally taking fish by hand. Finstad faces fines and civil damages of $177 for illegally taking a catfish
WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley has asked for a complete accounting of how the Department of Justice is responding to an incident last month in Louisiana where a senior civil rights lawyer
From the Iowa DNR – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently found zebra mussels on a sampler in Bluebill Lake. The sampler was placed in the lake specifically to monitor
Kathrin Lauer and Helen Maguire – Budapest (dpa) – Hungarian authorities have arrested alleged Nazi war criminal Laszlo Csatary in Budapest, Hungarian news agency MTI reported Wednesday. Csatary, 97, a Hungarian national,
By Sheera Frenkel and David Enders, McClatchy Newspapers – JERUSALEM — The head of Israeli military intelligence told his country’s parliament on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad won’t be able to defeat
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior quarterback James Vandenberg has been named to the 2012 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List, the Davey O’Brien Foundation announced. The list features
(DES MOINES) – Gov. Branstad today appointed Larry McLellan judge to the 5C Judicial District. He also appointed Joel Barrows judge to the 7th Judicial District. McLellan, of West Des Moines, received
The CR Gazette Editorial Board – It’s troubling, but not surprising, to see the swelling ranks of Americans who are receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits — formerly known as food stamps.
The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a federal lawsuit against Rutherford County, Tenn., alleging that the county violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA)
IRVING, Texas – Iowa State linebackers A.J. Klein and Jake Knott were named to the 2012 Preseason All-Big 12 Football Team. Quarterback Geno Smith (West Virginia), defensive end Alex Okafor (Texas) and
By Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune – WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday announced it will conduct a broad investigation of flame retardants that a Chicago Tribune series identified as examples
Orlan Love, CR Gazette – UPDATE: While federal crop insurance will help Iowa grain farmers survive the drought, many livestock producers, who lack such protection, will not, according to Bill Tentinger of LeMars,
By Ian Hamilton, The Orange County Register – After two years of minimal competition, the tablet wars are heating up. This year might finally be the time to jump in. But what to
By Reid Kanaley, The Philadelphia Inquirer – Working from home sounds like a great idea. But is it? Home- and mobile-office life may have advantages, but perhaps not for everyone. See if it
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times – TYLER, Texas — Disillusioned with the regular cast of Lone Star State conservatives, a “tea party” crowd of about 400 gathered at Lakeview Church of the
By Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Tuesday that a key global benchmark interest rate remains “structurally flawed” and acknowledged as indefensible the
By David Lightman, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s campaign so far is convincing a lot of independent voters that Mitt Romney is a cold-hearted, out-of-touch rich guy. Obama’s engaging in
By Alex Kane Rudansky, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — In the early morning hours of Aug. 6, NASA and space enthusiasts across the world will be able to monitor the Mars landing
By Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times – New York City’s pioneering ban on all but the smallest amounts of trans fats in restaurant food has led to a significant reduction in consumption,
MASON CITY – The Iowa Choral Directors Association is proud to bring Tonic Sol-fa to the North Iowa Community Auditorium at 8:00 p.m. Monday July 23. The New York Times describes Tonic
By William Douglas, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — For Republicans, there’s something about former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that makes her an inspirational choice to be Mitt Romney’s running mate — or
By David Lauter, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The fight over Bain Capital that has absorbed the presidential campaign for the past week is a battle primarily for the disaffections of one
By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times – It’s a long way from becoming policy, but President Obama’s proposal to raise taxes on households making at least $250,000 a year seems to be
By Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — In some of the toughest comments yet delivered on behalf of Mitt Romney’s campaign, former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu assailed President
By Amy Hubbard, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Two hooded men, their faces covered, went into a Florida Internet cafe Friday, hefting a baseball bat and toting a handgun. What they
By Dan Browning, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — Just months before the state Department of Natural Resources is planning to let hunters harvest 400 wolves in Minnesota, a federal grand jury in
By Ian Duncan, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — Legalizing marijuana in even a single state could drive down prices dramatically across the country, encouraging more people to smoke the drug, a panel
By Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times – For the first time, more than 8,000 temporary wilderness firefighters — the men and women who battle some of the nation’s most devastating fires —
By Stephanie Warsmith, Akron Beacon Journal – AKRON, Ohio — More than 1.7 million Ohioans voted before Election Day in the 2008 presidential election — about 30 percent of all ballots cast. And
By Mike Rosenberg, San Jose Mercury News – SAN JOSE, Calif. — Imagine being taxed a dollar for driving to the store. Commute to work? That’ll be a few bucks more. Is it
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times – IRWIN, Pa. — In remarks that played on debunked assertions about the president’s birthplace, Mitt Romney on Tuesday said that President Barack Obama’s administration resembled foreign
By Amy Hubbard, Los Angeles Times – Two men, two days in a row, tried to assault an Idaho woman in her home. Now her husband is accused of putting an ad on
James Q. Lynch, CR Gazette – Gov. Terry Branstad has confidence his director of Human Services will “do the right thing” in deciding how to handle a request from 41 GOP House
By Clark Spencer, McClatchy Newspapers – CHICAGO — Through the years, the confines of Wrigley Field have been friendlier to the Miami Marlins than to its longtime tenant, the Chicago Cubs. It was
By Jim Souhan, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – You’ve got to give the Timberwolves credit. Well, really, you usually don’t, but let’s make an exception. Even during the most remarkable summer in Wild history,