Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times – BEIRUT — Turkey hinted that it would ask its NATO allies to consider Syria’s downing of a Turkish jet to be an attack on the
By Juan O. Tamayo, McClatchy Newspapers – MIAMI — The U.S. State Department is increasing funding for the technology side of its Cuba democracy programs in hopes of expanding the flow of uncensored
By Ken Dilanian, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — In an effort to make it more difficult for the news media to divulge secret programs, America’s top intelligence official plans to seek more
By Michael Doyle and David Lightman, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday upheld part of Arizona’s strict border-control law, which compels the state’s law enforcement officers to check the
By Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times – Low-lying neighborhoods in northern Florida remained threatened by possible flooding on Monday as Tropical Storm Debby slowly worked its way through the Gulf of Mexico.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times – BEIRUT — The regional standoff concerning Syria’s downing of a Turkish fighter jet off the Syrian coast shows no signs of abating. On Monday,
By Yasuhiro Takizawa, The Yomiuri Shimbun – TOKYO—An agreement between Japan and Russia to jointly develop a Siberian oil field is expected to accelerate expansion of crude oil procurement from that country
BEIJING—The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft completed China’s first manual docking, a major step in the nation’s space program, state media announced Sunday. Flight engineer Liu Wang piloted the craft to dock with Tiangong-1 in
By David C. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is set this week to decide the politically charged constitutional clashes between President Barack Obama and Republicans over his
By Roy Gutmanm, McClatchy Newspapers – ISTANBUL — Turkey on Sunday called for a meeting of its NATO allies after charging that Syria shot down a Turkish F4 Phantom jet Friday over international
John Lundy, Duluth News Tribune, Minn. – They came with shovels, with pails, with rakes, with chain saws, with gloves and especially with long, sturdy boots designed for thick mud. Two hundred
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org – North Dakota’s billion-dollar surplus just keeps getting bigger. Thanks in large part to a boom in oil production, the state’s budget reserves are expected to top
By David Haugh, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — For all the innocence he stole, there is not a prison term long enough or a hell hot enough for Jerry Sandusky, convicted of
By Brian Bennett, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — After quietly testing Predator drones over the Bahamas for more than 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security plans to expand the unmanned
By Sean Cockerham, McClatchy Newspapers – NEW ORLEANS — Clifford Burchfield sleeps in an abandoned building in the Algiers section of New Orleans, with no plumbing, electricity or running water. He can’t afford
Chelsea Davis, Ottumwa Courier, Iowa – OTTUMWAOne week after straight-line winds and rain pummeled the city, Ottumwans are returning to normal as remaining debris is carted away. “It’s an ongoing tabulation of dollars,”
By Jeremy Roebuck, Jeff Gammage and Susan Snyder, The Philadelphia Inquirer – BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Jerry Sandusky was convicted Friday night of molesting 10 boys over 15 years, closing the first chapter
By Laura King and Aimal Yaqubi, Los Angeles Times – KABUL, Afghanistan — To the people of Afghanistan’s teeming, dusty capital, sparkling blue Lake Karga on the city’s outskirts has long been a
Jermaine Pigee, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – The newest members on the Burlington School Board recently made their presence known. At a meeting earlier this week, three of the board members came
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times – KABUL, Afghanistan — With an eye toward a major international donors conference next month, President Hamid Karzai on Thursday sought to deflect fears that billions of
By Batsheva Sobelman, Los Angeles Times – JERUSALEM — Thirty Jewish families have agreed to evacuate their homes in the West Bank outpost of Ulpana and avoid confrontation with Israeli authorities acting on
By Larry Oakes, Richard Meryhew and Chris Havens, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – DULUTH, Minn. — As state officials toured Duluth Thursday to see the damage left behind by historic flash flooding, the currents
By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Scientists have created versions of the H5N1 bird flu that spread easily among mammals through droplets in sneezes and have concluded that the
By Alan Boswell, McClatchy Newspapers – KILO 18, South Sudan — The stories all begin and end the same. In the beginning, there were bombs. Those started dropping in the fall. Some people
By Timothy M. Phelps, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court threw a lifeline to thousands of convicted cocaine dealers who were on the edge of what the justices called a
By Patrick J. McDonnell and Rima Marrouch, Los Angeles Times – BEIRUT — A Syrian air force warplane that “lost contact” with its Syrian controllers landed in neighboring Jordan on Thursday and
By Tim Townsend, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – ST. LOUIS — On Thursday, Catholics across the country will amplify what is an already loud outcry over the federal government’s so-called contraception mandate. With
POLK CITY, IA – The beach area at Big Creek State Park will be receiving a major facelift beginning Sept. 4, when contractors begin replacing the existing beach complex facilities with three
Doug Belden, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. – Opponents to a proposed marriage amendment to Minnesota’s constitution have raised more than three times the amount of its supporters. Minnesotans United for All
By Mark K. Matthews, The Orlando Sentinel – WASHINGTON — A record-breaking mission to the International Space Station has triggered another space race back on Earth, with Florida competing against Texas and
Andrew Krueger and John Myers Tribune staff, Duluth News Tribune, Minn. – Mayor Don Ness has declared a state of emergency in the city of Duluth, citing “significant damage, debris and popped
DES MOINES, Iowa – An Iowa Lottery player who bought a ticket at a Cedar Rapids supermarket won Wednesday’s $241 million Powerball jackpot, becoming the state’s biggest lottery winner to date. The
Dan Linehan, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn. – MANKATO – The Mankato City Council will soon discuss whether to weigh in on the debate about the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
John Keilman, Chicago Tribune – My son has played organized sports since he was 3, and so far it has been great. He has made lots of friends, gotten plenty of exercise
By Kathleen Hennessey and Don Lee, Tribune Washington Bureau – LOS CABOS, Mexico — President Barack Obama back-slapped and smiled through another gathering of world leaders this week, but left a meeting
By Matthew Schofield, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — In 2009, Cambodian Prom Vannak Anan dove into a dark sea and away from a life of beatings, unpaid labor and imprisonment on a
By Nancy A. Youssef, Amina Ismail and Mohannad Sabry, McClatchy Newspapers – CAIRO — Top security officials denied reports by Egyptian state media Tuesday that former President Hosni Mubarak — whose health
AMES, Iowa – (June 19, 2012 – 3:30 pm) – An electric outage reported just before 3 p.m. today affected the entire city for approximately 10 minutes before power was restored to
By Lars Nicolaysen – TOKYO — Typhoon Guchol assaulted parts of Japan on Tuesday with fierce winds and heavy rainfall, forcing thousands to flee their homes and disrupting transportation throughout the country.
By Jon Stephenson and Ali Safi, McClatchy Newspapers – KABUL, Afghanistan — Twenty-three people have been killed in a spate of violence in southern Afghanistan, including civilians, policemen, insurgents, and a coalition soldier