As the sun rises on a new day, embrace the boundless potential within you. You are capable of achieving greatness beyond your wildest dreams. Believe in yourself and your abilities, for you are a force to be reckoned with. Let go of self-doubt and fear, and step boldly into the light of possibility.

Each moment presents an opportunity for growth and transformation. Embrace the challenges that come your way, knowing that they are simply stepping stones on your journey to success. With resilience and determination, you can overcome any obstacle that stands in your path. Trust in your inner strength and persevere, for you are capable of achieving anything you set your mind to.

Today, affirm your worthiness and embrace the abundance that surrounds you. Open your heart to love, joy, and gratitude, knowing that you deserve all the blessings that come your way. Celebrate your uniqueness and shine brightly as you navigate the twists and turns of life's journey. Remember, you are enough, and the world is waiting for

Where the cows been shitting .
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Apologies if this was discussed in the finals thread. I wasn't reading through it tonight.

Sure seemed like they had no idea the match wasn't tied. If so, that's a massive blunder and destroyed MM's chance at 4x.

Either way props to Carr for securing big takedowns early, riding really tough, and doing enough at the end to avoid a final stall call.

Today is the Opening Day for MLB and MLB TV announcer
Harry Caray has his great grandson Chris Caray starting his
career as the TV announcer for the Oakland A's.

Harry Caray finished his legendary career with the Chicago
Cubs from 1982 to 1997.

Harry's son Skip Caray was TV announcer for the Atlanta
Braves from 1976 to 2001.

Harry's grandson Chip Caray is currently with the St. Louis
Cardinals after being with Atlanta Braves from 2005 to 2022.

Bottom Line: 4 Generations of Caray's in MLB TV Booths

A fertilizer spill this month in southwest Iowa killed nearly all the fish in a 60-mile stretch of river with an estimated death toll of more than 750,000, according to Iowa and Missouri conservation officers.
That is the biggest fish kill in Iowa in at least a decade and the fifth-largest on record, according to state data.
And it could have been worse: Fish populations were likely smaller than normal when the spill happened because of cold water temperatures and low river flows.
“Thank goodness, in a way, it happened when it did,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ fisheries bureau. “But this is a big one. It’s a lot of river miles that have been impacted.”
NEW Cooperative in Red Oak spilled about 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer. (Photo courtesy of Iowa DNR)

The spill originated at NEW Cooperative in Red Oak, where a valve that either malfunctioned or was not properly closed leaked about 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer, most of which went into the nearby East Nishnabotna River.
The leak happened on a weekend from March 9 to 11 in an area where the fertilizer is distributed to customers of the farmers’ co-op. That area is not required by state rules to have barriers that would prevent a leak from reaching the river.
The result was a widespread annihilation of aquatic life.
A DNR investigation found dead or dying fish for 50 miles of river — beyond where the East and West Nishnabotnas meet — all the way to the Missouri border. There were also numerous dead frogs, snakes, mussels and earthworms.
The DNR will return in late spring to note whether the fertilizer killed turtles that had buried themselves in the river bottom for winter. Their bloated carcasses will float to the river surface.
Todd Meyer, of Shenandoah, planned to fish the East Nishnabotna not long after hearing about the spill. River contaminations have happened in the area but have never impeded his boating trips on the east or west segments of the river.
For example: About a week after the fertilizer spill, gasoline overflowed from an underground tank at an Atlantic convenience store, and some of it went into the East Nishnabotna. That did not result in an apparent fish kill, the DNR said.
But after the fertilizer spill, “the whole river was full of dead fish,” Meyer recalled. “It was just nuts.”
Meyer used a drone to survey the dead fish in the East Nishnabotna River a few days after the spill.

Missouri finds ‘near total fish kill’​

The carnage continued into Missouri, where the unified Nishnabotna River flows for about 10 miles before it meets the Missouri River.
Matt Combes, a science unit supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation, said there was “a near total fish kill” in that state.
“I can’t even think of another instance where a fish kill occurred out of state and moved into our state,” he said.
The department surveyed one bank of the river for about two miles and counted nearly 4,000 dead fish. It will use that sample to estimate the total number of fish that were killed, Combes said, which will likely be in the tens of thousands.
The department is continuing to monitor the Missouri and Nishnabotna rivers for additional effects from the contamination. It’s possible NEW Cooperative will face sanctions in both states.
The size of the fish kill in Iowa was estimated to be about 749,000, said Chris Larson, a fisheries supervisor for the DNR. Small fish such as minnows and chubs account for the vast majority of those fish, but among them were also about 7,700 channel catfish that anglers target.
Those who are responsible for fish kills typically pay restitution to the state based on the number and types of fish that die. Larson said a total restitution amount has not yet been solidified, but that the estimated value of the small fish is about $85,000. The value of the catfish would be about $115,000.
Those two figures combined would be the largest valuation for a documented Iowa fish kill, according to DNR data.
Others that have caused recent fish kills have typically paid fish restitutions and a fines of up to $10,000 — the maximum the DNR can order administratively. The department has the option to seek higher penalties in district court.

Did he just inhale all of the drugs throughout his life? Guy sounds like he was one breath away from croaking.

She's the only non-WNBA player to be selected.
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Any requests you’ve communicated?

Iowa lawmakers have nightmares about lab-grown meat rising from its test tube and strangling the state’s livestock industry.



So, of course, they have a bill, Senate File 2391, designed to drive a steak through “cultivated protein food products.” The steak is a big old porterhouse if you’re wondering.


What’s a “cultivated food product?”




“ … a food product having one or more sensory attributes that resemble the type of tissue originating from an agricultural food animal but that, in lieu of being derived from meat processing, is derived from manufacturing cells, in which one or more stem cells are initially isolated from an agricultural food animal, are grown in vitro, and may be manipulated …”


A “misbranded food product” labeled with an “identifying meat term,” such as burger, bratwurst, etc. but is meatless, can’t be sold unless it’s also clearly labeled with words such as “Fake,” “Plant-Based” and ”Vegan.“


Community colleges, state universities and K-12 public schools would be barred from purchasing misbranded meat products and cultivated protein food products. And if the federal government ever approves cultivated protein food products for purchase by recipients of food assistance, Iowa will be required to request a waiver to prohibit lab meat purchases.


It passed the Senate without opposition and is now awaiting passage in the House. It’s bipartisan!





A House amendment would add eggs and dairy products to the bill, including a mouth-watering list of cheeses.


Far be it from me to oppose any labeling providing more information to consumers.


But this is a useless bill for a couple of reasons.


First, companies selling meatless products aren’t trying to trick carnivores into buying plant-based brats or burgers. I have proof in my freezer, thanks to my daughter who quit eating red meat and chicken. These products are labeled to make sure people who want meatless products are not getting any meat.


“Burger Patties Made from Plants,” reads the Impossible Burger label, very clearly.


Second, even if you have a strong hankering for lab-grown meat, there’s nowhere you can buy it. Last year, the USDA approved lab chicken for sale in two high-end restaurants in California. But those eateries dropped it and it’s no longer available in the U.S., according to the online magazine WIRED.


And if, eventually, lab meat turns out to be safe and affordable, why stop institutions and low-income people from buying it?


What's the real motivation for this bill?


“This is a preventative measure against an activist federal government that wants to see our children eat from a petri dish,” said Sen. Dawn Driscoll, R-Williamsburg.


Ah, red state politics. The feds are going to force feed our kids lab meat. Do your research. It’s all part of a plot to make us buy electric vehicles, get vaccinated and encourage radical vegans to come after our meat and gas stoves.


Again, I’m all for labeling, so let’s add labels to “agricultural food animals” detailing environmental harm done by confined animal feeding operations. Let’s add a warning that the meat you’re about to consume might have been handled by immigrant child labor. How about, “In the event of a pandemic, we will do nothing to protect meatpacking workers.”


The more consumers know, the better. Right?


(319) 232-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com

No one was hurt, but this is starting to happen way too often. Today it school near me in Shenandoah Iowa.

The Iowa Senate passed a bill Tuesday to allow younger teens to drive themselves to work without an adult riding along.



Iowa law currently allows teens as young as 14-and-a-half years old — six months after earning their instruction permit that allows them to drive with adult supervision — to drive without an adult for farm work, and to travel to and from school.


Senate File 2109 would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to drive to any kind of job, not just farming, following a law passed last year that allows younger teens to work longer hours and later in the day.




The bill reduces the distance a teen can drive under the “special minor’s restricted license” from 50 to 25 miles to school or a job. Driving cannot be part of the work.


“You can drive to the pizza place to make the pizza; however, you cannot drive the pizza delivery truck to deliver the pizza,” said Sen. Adrian Dickey, the bill’s floor manager and a Republican from Packwood.


Senate Democrats voted against the bill, citing concerns about recent changes to child labor laws and the decision-making abilities of 14-year-olds, and the potential impact of the bill on car insurance rates. The crash fatality rate for teens in the United States is almost three times the rate for people in their twenties.


“This is too far too fast,” said Sen. Todd Taylor, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids. “Some (14-year-olds) are ready (to drive by themselves), sure. Some are not ready. And my money is no, let’s be safe for those 14-and-a-half year olds for driving.”





Dickey said the bill implements the unanimous recommendations made by an interim study committee created under last year’s youth employment law. The committee was made up of Republicans and Democrats and representatives from various state departments and the insurance industry.


Dickey said the bill provides uniformity between a variety of youth driving permits currently allowed, so the law enforcement can enforce them more effectively.


The bill also changes the hours when teens with the license are allowed to drive. Instead of allowing them to drive from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., they would be limited to driving up to one hour before and after their shift or when school activities begin and end.


Dickey said the bill also establishes stronger penalties than in current law for violating the restrictions of the permit, causing a crash or breaking the rules of the road.


The bill passed 33-15 and now heads to the Iowa House for consideration.

Iowa lawmakers advance vape registry bill​

House lawmakers advanced a proposal Tuesday backed by tobacco companies that would restrict vape sales in Iowa.


The House Ways and Means Committee unanimously recommended passage of House Study Bill 682. The bill, which now is eligible for consideration by the full House, would create a registry of approved vaping products that have been vetted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure vape shops are selling only approved products.


Retailers could sell only products listed on the state-approved registry — which would be limited to those the FDA has approved for sale, or those whose application is pending review by the FDA or whose denial is being appealed.


To register with the state, a manufacturer would have to provide proof of marketing authorization or a similar order from the FDA, a pending application that remains under FDA review or a court order that shows a final authorization has not yet taken effect.


To date, the FDA has authorized just 23 e-cigarette products and related devices, all of them tobacco-flavored, while rejecting more than a million applications.


“Although there are thousands of other products that are in the pipeline for approval,” and would be legal under the bill, said Rep. Brenk Siegrist, R-Council Bluffs. “ … the emphasis of the bill is that there are just tons of products that are unregulated from China and other countries which we're just not sure what's actually in them. This was really an attempt to try to get … something that has some semblance of regulation.”


Retailers, manufacturers and distributors say the bill would severely restrict vape sales in the state, to the benefit of Big Tobacco.


The bill was amended to remove a requirement for two unannounced regulatory visits per year to vape shops, and instead allows checks by Department of Revenue or law enforcement as needed.


Opponents, including Iowa’s vaping industry, say the bill imposes a confusing and complicated registration scheme that has been challenged in courts in other states. They note the FDA has not released a comprehensive list of products that have received denials or injunctions, making it difficult for retailers and officials to know what is legal.


“My concern is consumer safety issue — making sure these products that are in the marketplace have been vetted and tested to make sure that they're safe for consumers to use,” said Rep. John Forbes, D-Urbandale. “So I'm hopeful that this will work for the for the retailers in the state of Iowa.”

House greenlights sequel for Iowa film tax incentive​

Iowa House lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday for a limited revival of state tax incentives for movies and television shows filmed in Iowa.


House File 2662 would establish a two-year, $10 million pilot program from 2025 to 2026 under which movie projects that film in Iowa would be eligible for tax rebates worth up to 30 percent of the project’s expenses on specified production costs.


Proponents say the new proposal will be an improvement upon the original, which was shut down in 2009 after an audit showed $26 million in improperly issued funds, resulting in at least seven criminal convictions.


The new bill was written by the Iowa Economic Development Authority, which would operate the program, and is designed to provide better oversight. The legislation, which is now headed to the Senate for consideration, would require an examination of qualified expenses submitted for reimbursement by a certified public accountant prior to disbursement of a rebate.


To be eligible, a film must have a production budget of at least $1 million and evidence that it is fully funded. Qualified productions include feature films, television series, documentary or unscripted series that is rated G, PG, PG-13, or R by the Motion Picture Association of America or the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board.


Republicans voted down an amendment offered by Rep. Chuck Isenhart, D-Dubuque, that would have required the IEDA to request an audit of program expenses by the State Auditor’s Office after disbursing the first $5 million to identify any issues.


Both Isenhart and Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, R-Northwood, said they’re confident the program’s second run can be successful.


“I do personally feel like this is one of the best bills that we're going to pass this year,” Bloomingdale said.


She said Iowa is missing out on millions of dollars in tourism and economic investment, as well as jobs, as it has been passed over as a filming location because of tax incentives in other states. Bloomingdale pointed to the tourism that's been created by Iowa movies such as the “Field of Dreams” and “The Bridges of Madison County.”


“I'm excited for this to pass,” she said. “I'm excited to see what movie is the first movie in the state” under the revived film tax incentive program.

A Glenwood dentist with a history of alleged sexual misconduct with multiple patients has agreed to surrender his license.
In December, the Iowa Dental Board declared that 65-year-old Dr. Calvin Weber posed “an imminent threat to public safety” and suspended his license on an emergency basis. The action came four months after Weber was criminally charged with assaulting a female outside his office.
The board accused Weber of improper sexual contact with a patient or making lewd, lascivious or improper remarks or advances to a patient, and with violating Iowa law with regard to the practice of dentistry.
Police records related to the incident show that in July 2023, a woman came to the Glenwood Police Department and complained that she while she was in Weber’s dental office, he made comments on how sexy she was and grabbed her buttocks. She reported that he then followed her outside of the building and again grabbed her buttocks, pulling her close to him and telling her, “Keep being sexy.”
As a result of the allegations, police charged Weber with assault, a simple misdemeanor, in August 2023. In December, a judge found Weber guilty of assault and fined him $855. Recently, Weber agreed to surrender his license.
Weber was first licensed by the state in 1983 and has a history of alleged misconduct with female patients.
In July 1993, he was charged with unprofessional conduct in the practice of dentistry and accused of inappropriately touching two female patients – one of whom was 17 years old — during their dental appointments.
One month after those charges were filed, Weber was accused of misconduct with two additional patients. One of the patients alleged she awoke from sedation to find Weber’s hand beneath her blouse, touching her breast while calling her sexy. She said Weber later asked her out and the two had consensual sex at his home. She later described elements of Weber’s anatomy and the layout of his home for investigators.
The board suspended Weber’s license indefinitely while ordering him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation within 60 days before being considered for reinstatement.
Four months later, in April 1994, the board accused Weber of failing to submit to an evaluation and Weber agreed to surrender his license. After surrendering his Iowa license, Weber moved to Florida where he was employed as a golf professional, board records show
In December 2006, after Weber submitted to an evaluation and agreed to undergo ongoing therapy, the board reinstated his license.
Iowa Capital Dispatch could not reach Weber for comment.

I think LSU women's basketball has a pretty clear hold on #1 currently. It starts at the top and the players reflect their leader. That said... who were some of the least likeable teams in any sport over the last 50 years? Let's hear your faves. And please...more than just "I hate the Cowboys" or something similar. Specific players/coaches and personalities that just rub you the wrong way for a reason and made their team hateable.

From the Denver Post this morning.

“It’d be hard to get into her head,” CU Buffs guard Tameiya Sadler told me Tuesday just before practice for the Sweet 16 at the Events Center. “But we’re going to try it."

...

“Caitlin’s very emotional, so for us, it’s like, we can’t feed into her emotions that she’s going to play with,” Sadler continued. “Because she’s going to fall, she’s going to throw up her hands, she’s going to talk to the refs. But at the end of the day, we can’t focus on that. We have to focus on us.”

Any recommendations for very light weight and comfortable? Bonus if they fit big heads...

Apparently, gang activity in and around their hotel was creating a problem.






Oh...wait....this was in Idaho, and the Utah Women's team in the NCAA Tourney.
Because, MAGAs...


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Until this month, House Republicans referred to information provided by a “highly credible” FBI informant as the core of their case to impeach President Biden. This week, they quietly deleted any mention of that source from official documents. This one small move speaks volumes about an ill-founded GOP crusade that seems finally to be reaching an embarrassing denouement.



Special counsel David Weiss — the man in charge of the Justice Department’s criminal case against Hunter Biden — last week filed charges against Alexander Smirnov. The 43-year-old U.S.-Israeli citizen, prosecutors say, lied to federal investigators about the Biden family’s business dealings. These lies, crucially, included claims that the president and his son each sought $5 million bribes from Ukrainian energy company Burisma when Mr. Biden was vice president, in exchange for protecting the firm from scrutiny by Ukraine’s national authorities. Now, Mr. Smirnov has also disclosed that “officials associated with Russian intelligence” fed him his information.
Of course, there’s reason for skepticism about that latest explosive allegation from this supplier of apparently bogus bombshells. The memo released on Tuesday portrays Mr. Smirnov as a con man hawking “an amalgam of otherwise unremarkable business meetings and contacts,” none of which occurred during the time period he purported, as proof of corruption. He apparently lied about his wealth, his profession and more. Prosecutors even refer to “new lies” Mr. Smirnov is “actively peddling … that could impact U.S. elections,” involving suggestions that Moscow “may use as ‘kompromat’ ” information taken from intercepted phone calls of Hunter Biden in a foreign hotel.


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Might Mr. Smirnov also be lying about Russian officials providing him with dirt on the president? Absolutely. But that is the point. Either Mr. Smirnov is an asset in a current Kremlin plot to spread disinformation about the president, an eerie echo of 2016’s election interference, or he is dissembling about that, too. Either way, congressional Republicans have staked their impeachment inquiry on the words of a fabulist.
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​

This turn of events is devastating for the Republican effort to oust the president, given how heavily the politicians orchestrating it have leaned on Mr. Smirnov’s claims. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), partnering with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), sent a letter to the Justice Department in May demanding it release a key document that could reveal a “criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden … involving an exchange of money for policy decisions.” “This is the biggest political corruption scandal, not only in my lifetime, but I would say the past 100 years,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) told Fox News when Mr. Grassley posted the form on his website last summer after the FBI refused to provide Congress with copies.


“That to me is really the heart of this matter,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said this year. “The most corroborating evidence we have is … from this highly credible, confidential human source.” On Wednesday, he insisted that the revelations about Mr. Smirnov don’t “change the facts.”



In a sense, Mr. Jordan is right: The facts about Hunter Biden’s business dealings never supported the effort to remove Joe Biden from office. Mr. Smirnov’s assertions had already been dismantled, including in a GOP Senate investigation, before the past week’s discrediting, and the witnesses Republicans have called to their hearings have sworn under oath that the president wasn’t involved in any of his son’s schemes.
The Post's View: The Hunter Biden indictment is sound. The Joe Biden impeachment inquiry is not.
The House Republicans’ impeachment quest has never been credible. Payments from son to father supposedly from Chinese businessmen looking to buy influence have turned out to be reimbursements — the father loaned his son money to buy a Ford Raptor truck because his bad credit precluded financing, nearly two years after he left the vice presidency. Similarly, a much-ballyhooed personal check to Joe Biden from his brother James Biden obtained by Mr. Comer’s committee turned out to be another repayment, offered when Joe Biden was neither a government official nor a candidate.
After authorizing their inquiry in December, Republicans could abandon it before summer — holding out hope before then that closed-door interviews with James Biden and Hunter Biden will turn up the proof of wrongdoing that so far has failed to materialize. Giving up is the right answer. The Justice Department’s case against Hunter Biden for federal tax crimes as well as falsifying paperwork on a gun purchase might be strong. But Congress’s attempt to punish President Biden for Hunter Biden’s poor decisions was always weak. Now, it has utterly collapsed.