Category: Watercooler

By Tere Figueras Negrete and Kathleen McGrory, The Miami Herald – MIAMI — Rumors swirled Friday that former Cuban leader Fidel Castro had died. But reports from a blogger and Fidel Castro’s son

MASON CITY – A Mason City teenager has been reported missing since Thursday. Nicole E. Krueger, age 15, was reported missing to the Mason City Police Department (641-421-3636), in Mason City on

WATERLOO – Waterloo police are reporting that on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at approximately 1:30 PM, Waterloo Police were sent to Blessed Sacrament School, 600 Stephan Avenue, on a report of a

DES MOINES – The National Weather Service reported Friday morning that sever weather could hit Iowa starting Friday night. Scattered thunderstorms are expected to begin this evening. There will be periods of

By Julia Shaw – It’s clear that Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan want the No. 2 job. But why? After all, the vice presidency hasn’t always been a coveted

By Ricardo Lopez and Don Lee, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The number of people filing new jobless claims plunged last week to a 41/2-year low. Analysts said the report Thursday probably

The Kansas City Star – VOICES OF FAITH: IS THE DEATH PENALTY WRONG? TOO MANY ERRORS Lama Chuck Stanford, Rime Buddhist Center & Monastery: Nearly all religions consider killing to be wrong. So

OKOBOJI, Iowa – One of Iowa’s larger shallow lakes will be the focus of a water quality improvement project that was born out of the historic drought of 2012. The 1,200-acre Trumbull

The Philadelphia Inquirer – ARBITRAGE 3 stars. Slick and suspenseful financial-world thriller, with Richard Gere as a hedge fund king whose world is collapsing under the weight of a huge accounting scam

By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Wall Street is not thrilled with the new fall television season. On Thursday, two prominent media analysts issued reports expressing concern about the

By Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — There will be a tense standoff between two rescue thrillers at the box office this weekend, as “Taken 2” and “Argo” battle for

By Bonnie Miller Rubin, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO—Getting admitted to a top university isn’t enough. For many students, finishing the mission and getting a degree requires a variety of initiatives, from a rigorous

By William Douglas and Anita Kumar, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — In their first and only debate, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Rep. Paul Ryan verbally wrestled over Medicare, Social Security and

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times – An Idaho dairy farm linked to Burger King, In-N-Out and other food companies has been accused by an animal rights group of “some of the most

By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times – ASHEVILLE, N.C. — GOP nominee Mitt Romney and the Rev. Billy Graham discussed policy and personal connections Thursday at a meeting at the evangelical leader’s

By Christi Parsons, Tribune Washington Bureau – CORAL GABLES, Fla. — President Barack Obama cast the “new, latest version of Mitt Romney” as a salesman simply softening his image in an effort

MASON CITY – Shannon Renae Lybarger of Mason City was booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail at 1:28 pm, October 10th, 2012 on valid warrants after being picked up by Mason

New service provides crime victims and public real-time offender location notifications through IowaSexOffender.com website –  DES MOINES, Iowa — Crime victims who want to know when a registered sex offender moves locations,

MASON CITY – On Monday, September 8th, 18-year-old Cody James Studer was sentenced after pleading guilty to driving while barred and a reduced aggravated misdemeanor count of eluding police. Originally Studer faced

By Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – The writer-director of “In Bruges,” the playwright turned filmmaker Martin McDonagh, sells out and makes his first Hollywood film, “Seven Psychopaths,” a commentary on selling

By Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — If there were ever a genre referred to as “film maudit hot mess,” movies so irrepressibly wrong as to be irresistibly right,

By Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — The woman whom Roman Polanski was convicted of sexually assaulting in Los Angeles when she was a teenager will pen a memoir

By Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – Kid-friendly funnyman Kevin James is at his cuddliest in “Here Comes the Boom.” And he has to be. This amusing but sometimes unsettling comedy marries

FOREST CITY, IOWA, October 11, 2012 – Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WGO), a leading United States (U.S.) recreation vehicle manufacturer, today reported financial results for the Company’s fourth quarter and fiscal year 2012.

From the Iowa DNR – Untreated wastewater, starting as a slow leak from a force main, has pooled below Greenwood Avenue in Nashua. The Chickasaw County town discovered the leak about 7

WORTH COUNTY – Jerry Parmley, former director of Veterans Affairs, Worth County, passed away Monday, October 8th at his home surrounded by family.  He fought a hard battle and is now at

The Lime Creek Nature Center Timber Trot was held on October 6 at the Lime Creek Conservation Area. The results of the five-mile run are as follows: Overall Female Winner: Jeanne McCurnin 38:17; Overall

MASON CITY – Mason City police arrested two Algona women Wednesday on multiple charges related to prescription forgery. Arrested were Gina Splitt, 34, and Melissa Ricke, 33 after an on-going investigation into

My fellow Christian friends, we preach of “Right to life” yet we endorse the National Rifle association, we lead our fellow Americans into war under false pretenses, we object to the right

Rod Boshart, CR Gazette – VAN METER – GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney took aim at President Obama’s rural record Tuesday, saying he will ease burdensome regulations and “kill the death tax”

DES MOINES – The following offender has escaped from a residential work release facility.  The offender was transferred to this facility after being granted a work release by the Iowa Board of

By William Douglas and Anita Kumar, McClatchy Newspapers – AKRON, Ohio — What a difference two weeks — and a lackluster debate performance by President Barack Obama — has made for Republican

By Frances Robles, The Miami Herald – MIAMI—Seven months after the killing of unarmed high school junior Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman’s family is on a national media crusade to clear the family’s name.