Category: Watercooler

By Jay Levin, The Record (Hackensack N.J.) – HACKENSACK, N.J. — Character actor Sam Coppola of Leonia, N.J., who gave John Travolta sage but salty advice in the 1977 film classic “Saturday Night

MASON CITY – At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, former council candidate Sandy Servantez offered an apology to fourth ward council member Janet Solberg.

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — In case you can’t tell which foods at Wal-Mart are healthful, the world’s largest retailer will make it obvious right on the package

By Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News – SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down Proposition 8, finding that California’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because it deprives

Des Moines, Iowa – State Representative Sharon Steckman of Mason City has announced that she will visit Mason City multiple times in February and March.  Steckman will be at the Listening Post February

MASON CITY – The Charles H. MacNider Art Museum’s 2012 Winter Film Series, Films in February, Movies in March, continues this Saturday, February 11 at 2:00 p.m. withPage One: Inside The New York

I can see a central auditorium being built here; if I close my eyes I can see the ice rinks, I can here the squeal of the blades as they cross the

By Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune – No artist owned 2011 quite like Adele, and she’s poised to sweep the major awards at the Grammys next weekend (8 p.m. EST Feb. 12 on CBS).

From Senator Charles Grassley – The U.S. Constitution says the President shall address Congress “from time to time” to report on the state of the union.   The annual address gives the President

Rod Boshart, CR Gazette – State Auditor David Vaudt gave high marks Monday to Gov. Terry Branstad and the split-control Legislature for shrinking a “spending gap” to $139 million and improving the

Dave DeWitte, CR Gazette – Alliant Energy expects to reach a decision by the end of June whether to build another power plant or pursue another path to meet its long-term energy

By James Oliphant, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — Perhaps the most attention-getting Super Bowl ad — other than that dog blackmailing his owner with tortilla chips to keep quiet over a felinicide,

By Alex Branch, McClatchy Newspapers – FORT WORTH, Texas — Country music star Randy Travis was arrested early Monday on suspicion of public intoxication outside a Texas church, authorities said. Just after midnight,

By Dan Caesar, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – The Super Bowl on Sunday was the most-watched program in U.S. television history, according to The Nielsen Co., the third year in a row it has

MASON CITY – An Albuquerque, New Mexico man was arrested by Mason City police Tuesday morning. Mason City police officers were dispatched at about 9:30 a.m. to 636 South Polk Avenue on

American Bar Association gives her highest possible ranking –  WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement upon learning that the White House had formally nominated Stephanie Rose

AMES, Iowa – Feb. 6, 2012 – The Federal Railroad Administration, in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), is kicking off the Chicago to Omaha Regional Passenger Rail System Planning

By Andrew Dunn, McClatchy Newspapers – CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Three months after banks scrapped plans for debit card fees, it’s becoming clearer how they intend to recoup money lost in the Dodd-Frank financial

Elmwood-St. Joseph Municipal Cemetery is planning their next History Walk.  An informational meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 15th at 6:30 PM in the classroom at the Mason City Public Library

CR Gazette – The Gazette Editorial Board —- We all want efficient government that delivers the greatest number of vital public services at the lowest cost to taxpayers. But there comes a

MCT FORUM – By Winifred C. Chin – Recent revelations about the deplorable working conditions at an Apple factory in China provide a cautionary tale about globalization and consumerism. On Jan. 26, the

MCT FORUM – By Alan K. Simpson – Jan. 12 marked the second anniversary of the horrific earthquake that ripped Haiti apart. While we quite properly remembered the unthinkable loss of Haitian lives

By Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Not even the biggest television event of the year could shake 2012’s winning streak at the box office, as ticket sales were up

Los Angeles Times – From the Los Angeles Times’ Ministry of Gossip blog: ——— ‘MYSTERIOUS ISLAND’: KRISTIN DAVIS WANTS TO PET JOSH HUTCHERSON The characters in “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” encounter

To those it may concern this letter is to inform you that due to the decision by Three Eagles Communication to change formats on the radio station 102.7 formerly the Blaze currently

Terry Coyle, CR Gazette – Thousands of Iowa students will pick up their No. 2 pencils to fill in tiny circles this month in a school-year ritual that may become as foreign

In today’s paper, using too many words, the Globe threw the Fat Man overboard.  It took awhile to get to the conclusion of the editorial but the true meaning was threaded throughout

By David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times – Welcome to the post-privacy era. What’s most striking about Facebook’s initial public offering isn’t that it values the 8-year-old company at up to $100 billion, or

By David Hiltbrand, The Philadelphia Inquirer – People, please, can we end this silly charade? You’re not fooling me. The minute I tell one of you I write about television for the newspaper,

By Chuck Barney, Contra Costa Times – Well, it had to happen sometime. Now in its 11th season, the prime-time juggernaut known as “American Idol” has become a little less juggernaut-y. Early “Idol”

By Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Kids’ television, which has the license to be fanciful and strange in ways that grown-up TV does not, is a place where anything

Main Street Mason City is pleased to announce the 6th Annual Valenwine Event at Music Man Square. The event will be held on Friday, February 17th from 6-10 pm and features music,

By Tim Logan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – ST. LOUIS — The world’s biggest beer-maker is placing a big bet on a new brew. Anheuser-Busch InBev this week is rolling out Bud Light Platinum,

By Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers – JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (PG): Dwayne Johnson takes over for Brendan Fraser in the second installment of the Jules Verne-flavored family adventures, this one set on

by Matt Marquardt – MASON CITY – According to a Blue Zones Project Scoreboard, Mason City needs to pick up the pace to solidify itself as a strong Blue Zone Community candidate.

Brandi Hagen, Albert Lea Tribune – LAKE MILLS, Iowa — The school board in Lake Mills hopes to build a safe room for the school in case of a direct hit from a