Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
By Jackie Burrell – Red-nosed reindeer may be immortalized in merry carols, but candy canes — those striped, peppermint delights of yore — hold a special place in every child’s heart. Yet
By Bill Ward, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – A recent study came up with this blockbuster finding: Young men think about sex. A lot. Actually, here’s the real revelation: They think about food almost
By Jay Price, McClatchy Newspapers – CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — An HIV discovery from researchers led by a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill scientist is the biggest scientific breakthrough of 2011, according to the
By Cynthia Dizikes, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — Cardinal Francis George has never been shy about expressing his views on divisive issues like abortion rights and civil unions for same-sex couples. But
By Curtis Morgan, McClatchy Newspapers – MIAMI — Federal regulators on Thursday signed off on a next-generation nuclear reactor slated for Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point plant and five other utilities
By Lisa Mascaro and Peter Nicholas, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders, bowing to pressure from both the White House and their Senate colleagues, agreed to a stopgap measure
By William Weir, The Hartford Courant – HARTFORD, Conn. — The way we use fluoride hasn’t changed much since the mid 20th century, but a new Yale University study could change that.
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times – A Las Vegas judge Wednesday sentenced boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. to 90 days in jail for his role in a 2010 domestic violence case involving
Q. That was a clean half of basketball. One turnover in the second half, five overall. You must be happy. COACH McCAFFERY: I think when you’re going to beat a good team,
AMES, Iowa – There was plenty of good football news in the Iowa State football camp Thursday. Firstly, Iowa State fans have now secured 5,002 tickets for the Dec. 30 New Era
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head football coach Paul Rhoads signed a pair of junior college student-athletes and another signee who will enroll at Iowa State for the 2012 spring semester and
A Blue Zones Walk was held in Mason City on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011. Walkers congregated at the Music Man Square at noon and were asked to wear blue. There was a
By Roy Gutman and Sahar Issa, McClatchy Newspapers – BAGHDAD — A dozen car bombs detonated Thursday in the Iraqi capital, killing 65 people and wounding more than 200, in the latest
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times – MOSCOW — In his final state of the nation speech, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday promised a series of political reforms apparently aimed
By Clare Byrne and Jasper Mortimer PARIS — The already strained relations between France and Turkey suffered a further blow Thursday after France’s National Assembly adopted a bill making it a crime
By Sinikka Tarvainen MADRID — The world’s biggest lottery on Thursday showered prizes worth $3.3 billion on Spaniards, with the jackpot going to a small farming village. The Christmas lottery awarded 180
By Sheera Frenkel, McClatchy Newspapers – BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The Alam family used to boast of their biblical view over the lush valley outside the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Grape orchards
By Curtis Tate, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — The Associated Press was ready to formally dedicate a new bureau in North Korea’s capital this week, giving AP the first permanent bureau operated
By Tom Hussain, McClatchy Newspapers – ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A U.S. military investigation has blamed poor coordination between American and Pakistani forces for the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a friendly
(Op-ed given to NorthIowaToday.com by a person from Manly, wishing to remain anonymous) I live just outside Mason City but come to town often with my wife. I would like to say
John Bohnenkamp, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa IOWA CITY – Fran McCaffery didn’t give his Iowa basketball team much time to enjoy its 41-point win over Central Arkansas on Monday night. McCaffery
Jeff Raasch, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Two weeks after a crash that seriously injured two of his children, a Cedar Rapids father has been accused of being drunk behind the
(DES MOINES) – The Governor’ Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Advisory Council has charged nine working groups with bringing solutions to the challenges Iowa faces in STEM Education. Eight priorities identified
An Osage man has made a large donation to the Humane Society of North Iowa: 2000 pounds of dog food! The donor, Garth Jordan, made arrangements through the Osage Cooperative Elevator to
WASHINGTON – U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson today announced a $1.34 million Economic Development Administration (EDA) investment to the city of Fort Madison, Iowa to make sanitary sewer infrastructure improvements needed to
As three council members leave the Mason City City Council, three new persons were sworn in on Wednesday. Alex Kuhn, John Lee and Jean Marinos are not officially council members yet, but
MIAMI — A couple of years ago, Steven Spielberg was attending a horse show with his daughter when some kids recognized him and came over to say hello. “They started saying ‘Oh,
FARGO, ND—U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Dec. 16, 2011, Eder H. Rojas, 23, formerly from Woodbury, Minn., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson on a charge
DAVENPORT, IA—On December 19, 2011, Mary Pat Harper, formerly Mary Pat Lord, age 57, of Davenport, was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Jarvey to 24 months’ imprisonment in connection
MINNEAPOLIS—On December 16th in federal court in St. Paul, a 43-year-old St. Paul man was sentenced for photographing and filming pornographic images of three girls and one boy who were under the
By David Sarno, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Your computer’s appetite for cookies would put the Cookie Monster to shame. Without letting you know, your Internet browser gulps down hundreds of
A sex offender who failed to register when he moved to Iowa pled guilty on December 19, 2011, in federal court in Cedar Rapids. Bruce Myers, age 44, from Kentucky, was convicted
WASHINGTON – Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Sharis A. Pozen issued the following statements today after AT&T Inc. abandoned its proposed acquisition
The North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) Foundation is proud to announce the addition of three new members to its Board of Directors: Nancy Prohaska of Garner is an elementary counselor at
Senator Rick Santorum, candidate for President will be in Mason City on Tuesday, December 27th at The Historic Park Inn from 12:00pm to 1:30 pm. He will be holding a town hall
Story by Jody Spear and Kelly Meyer – Jordan Grube, a senior at Mason City High School, will be heading for Des Moines 0n January 9th to start her job as a
A local paper carrier sent this image. She says she got a can of beer and powdered sugar as a Christmas gift from a paper subscriber. She thought it was a very
Six contracts with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Division of Soil Conservation for five watershed improvement projects and one water quality-farming education project were approved Dec. 20 by the