Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
(DES MOINES) – Gov. Branstad is ordering all flags in the state to be flown at half-staff beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 13, 2012, until 8 a.m. on Monday, July
by Matt Marquardt – MASON CITY – You can meet some interesting folks in this town if you broaden your horizons. Early this morning on Mason City’s 15th Street NE, a group
By Tara Merrigan, Austin American-Statesman – AUSTIN, Texas — Allegations of scientific misconduct have prompted the University of Texas to investigate a professor’s study that found adults with gay parents reported significantly
By Annika McGinnis, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — In response to New York Times stories that relied on leaks of sensitive national-security information, a House of Representatives panel on Wednesday discussed legislation
By Anne Danahy, McClatchy Newspapers – STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Joe Paterno said the cases surrounding Jerry Sandusky that unfolded at Penn State weren’t a reflection on football or academics at the
By Curtis Tate, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — Top officials at Penn State University, including the late head football coach Joe Paterno, knew as far back as 1998 that Jerry Sandusky (pictured)
By Kelly Smit, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — A vintage Russian jet was destroyed after crashing Thursday morning in Minnesota as it attempted to land for a weekend air
By Laura King and Aimal Yaqubi, Los Angeles Times – KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai had a suggestion Thursday for Mullah Mohammed Omar, the fugitive leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban movement: Run
By Elisha Anderson and Gina Damrom, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel was shut down Thursday afternoon as authorities investigated a bomb threat. The tunnel was cleared out and
by Jody Spear – MASON CITY – The IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series held it’s special Sports Mod and Late Model races at the I-35 Speedway at the North Iowa Events Center
by Kelly Meyer – MASON CITY – At approximately 6:30 pm, Wednesday evening, the Mason City Fire Department and Ambulance responded to a fire call to Graham Manufacturing on 19th Street SW.
By Ralf Krueger and Clare Byrne – PARIS — Nine climbers were killed Thursday in one of the worst avalanches in recent years in the French Alps. The avalanche took place on
by Jody Spear and Kelly Meyer – GARNER, IOWA – Garner held their 32nd Annual Duesey Days this past weekend, starting Friday and going through Sunday. Duesey Days has quite a story
By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times – BONSALL, Calif. — America’s best race walker is standing in the corner of his kitchen kneading three bags of buttered microwave popcorn into a lumpy
By Sam Mellinger, McClatchy Newspapers – KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bud Selig is a former used-car salesman who now makes $18 million and has a private jet but wants to teach history
WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) seized 70 websites that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise. The 70 websites
A former U.S. civilian contractor was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for conspiring to steal military generators in Iraq and selling them on the black market, announced Assistant Attorney General
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa seniors James Ferentz and Micah Hyde were named to the Outland Trophy and Bronko Nagurski 2012 preseason watch lists, respectively, on Thursday. The Outland Trophy
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State punter Kirby Van Der Kamp is one of 25 candidates on the watch list for the Ray Guy Award, the Augusta Sports Council sports announced Wednesday. The
From U.S. Rep. Tom Latham: Today (Wednesday), I continued my longstanding effort to replace the misguided and unpopular new health care law with real solutions that will get results for the American
Truck driver tells of “threat” made by activist at Christie’s Clear Lake event CLEAR LAKE – An activist at a Christie Vilsack campaign event, claiming to be HIV-positive, warned a Clear Lake
By Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Steve Nash walked into the Lakers’ practice facility Wednesday wearing a black pinstriped suit with a red pocket square, his white dress
By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – QUESTION: I recently did Google searches for dehumidifiers and for mantel clocks. Now, whenever I use Google to go to a website, I see ads
Mason City, July 9, 2012 – The Cerro Gordo County Community Foundation (CGCCF) held its annual awards ceremony Monday, July 9, announcing grants in excess of $86,532.88 to 39 area non-profit agencies
From ProgressIowa.org: Hewlett-Packard, Deere, BestBuy, CVS, and MillerCoors dump ALEC When will Iowa stop sending tax dollars to this extreme organization? DES MOINES, IOWA — Five additional companies have left the American
By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times – HOUSTON — Mitt Romney’s speech before the nation’s oldest civil rights organization was framed by his campaign as an olive branch to the black community
AMES, Iowa – July 10, 2012 – The Iowa Transportation Commission today approved $5.6 million for the fiscal year 2013 State Aviation Program, which includes several subprograms detailed below. The Airport Improvement
By Denise-Marie Balona, The Orlando Sentinel – ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida A&M University President James Ammons resigned Wednesday amid a growing scandal over the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion and
By Peter Delevett, San Jose Mercury News – SAN JOSE, Calif. — In the wake of Facebook’s underwhelming Wall Street debut, many in Silicon Valley had been counting on a number of
MANLY, IA – A car show was hosted by Manly Nursing and Rehab on Wednesday morning. Volunteers came out to share their automobiles with residents and anyone else who wanted to stop
By Don Lee, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve policymakers are split over whether to launch another big stimulus program. While “almost all” of the policymakers agreed that unemployment remains
By Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — For the 33rd time, House Republicans passed legislation taking aim at the nation’s new health care law — this time in a largely
By Christi Parsons, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama chose not to attend this year’s NAACP convention because of “scheduling” issues, aides said, explaining it was not because he
By Kim Geiger, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — An effort by food and beverage makers to gut a federal program that protects domestic sugar producers from foreign competition was roundly defeated
By Troy Wolverton, San Jose Mercury News – If you want a tablet but can’t afford an iPad, Google’s new Nexus 7 is not a bad choice. It’s got a beautiful screen,
By Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – There’s considerably less drift in “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” the latest in a long line of lucrative cartoons from Blue Sky Studios and their friends
By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — British billionaire Richard Branson and his space company Virgin Galactic unveiled plans to build a rocket designed to be launched in midair
(Sacramento, CA) — Shiraz Malik, 34, an alleged international drug trafficker, has been extradited from the Czech Republic to the United States to face criminal charges filed in the Eastern District of
By Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – Here’s one thing the movies get wrong pretty consistently — the reaction of seemingly rational people upon seeing the supernatural, the impossible, the miraculous. (PHOTO:
WASHINGTON – A leader and two soldiers in the Barrio Azteca (BA), a transnational border gang allied with the Juarez Cartel, were sentenced in El Paso, Texas, to life, 30 and 20