REMEMBERING RANDY
WOLVERINES THIRD
Friends of the late Randy Hagle gathered at Fogle Lake in Diagonal Friday night to release more than 200 Chinese lanterns on what would have been his 58th birthday. For photos of the event, see page 14A. >>
Nodaway Valley boys golf wins the program’s first state trophy, placing third at the Class 1A Boys State Golf Meet in Marshalltown. For more on the Wolverines, see SPORTS, page 8A. >>
creston
News Advertiser
SHAW MEDIA GROUP SERVING SW IOWA SINCE 1879 BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE AT WWW.CRESTONNEWS.COM
TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016
Area Special Olympics Iraqi forces push into athletes named to IS-held Fallujah All-Iowa Elite team By SCOTT VICKER
CNA managing editor svicker@crestonnews.com
AMES — Several area student-athletes received the surprise of a lifetime recently. The Des Moines Register started its All-Iowa Elite program in 2015, honoring the top athletes in 21 boys and girls high school sports in Iowa. Athletes selected to the All-Iowa Elite teams are invited to the Register’s All-Iowa Sports Awards Banquet, featuring keynote speaker Peyton Manning, on June 18. The Register partnered with Special Olympics Iowa to honor 12 of its top athletes by including them in the All-Iowa Elite program. “I think inclusion is very important at every turn for people with disabilities,” East Union Special Olympics coach Jean Kinyon said. “They just want to be accepted and appreciated, and the Des Moines Register is doing that by honoring them.” Lenox Special Olympics coach Mitch Sorensen said the Special Olympics athletes are just as deserving of the recognition as athletes in any of the other 21 sports. “I think it’s great that Spe-
Contributed photo
Area Special Olympics student-athletes, from left, Bobby Argo of Bedford, Meghan Nordstrom of Lenox and Dakota Williams and Lynn Singer of East Union display plaques they received after being named to the Des Moines Register’s All-Iowa Elite program.
cial Olympics is recognized. It’s an amazing thing,” he said. “They work hard, they try hard, they play and they practice hard. It’s nice they get the same recognition. Generally, maybe they don’t throw as far, but they put in as much effort as any other athlete, so it’s nice they get the recognition.” Among the 12 Special Olympics athletes honored “I THINK inclusion were East Union’s Dakota Williams and Lynn Singer is very important at as a unified team, Lenox’s every turn for people Meghan Nordstrom and Bobby Argo. with disabilities. Bedford’s Nordstrom of Sharpsburg, They just want to who has been in the LeSpecial Olympics probe accepted and nox gram for at least 10 years, appreciated.” has competed in track and field, bowling, alpine skiing, JEAN KINYON snowshoeing and softball. East Union Special Olympics coach Williams and Singer com-
__
peted together as a unified team in cheerleading this year. A unified team is comprised of one Special Olympics Iowa athlete and a partner without intellectual disabilities. According to Kinyon, Special Olympics Iowa sent out an email asking for nominations for athlete of the year. “I nominated those two girls (Williams and Singer). They both had awesome lists of volunteer activities they’ve done,” Kinyon said. Special Olympics Iowa and Wells Fargo will name its male and female athletes of the year at the All-Iowa Sports Awards Banquet and will also give out an award to the top unified team. In addition, the Special Olympics Iowa athletes be-
“THEY work hard, they try hard, they play and they practice hard. ... They put in as much effort as any other athlete, so it’s nice they get the recognition.”
__
MITCH SORENSEN
Lenox Special Olympics coach
ing honored are invited to a meet-and-greet with Manning before the awards banquet. “There will be approximately 700 athletes up there that night. There’s 11 Special Olympics athletes,” ELITE | 2A
CAMP TARIQ, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi forces battling their way into Fallujah repelled a four-hour counterattack by the Islamic State group on Tuesday, a day after entering the southern part of the militant-held city with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes. A leading aid group meanwhile raised alarm over the unfolding “human catastrophe” in Fallujah, where an estimated 50,000 people remain trapped, and renewed calls on warring parties to open up safe corridors for civilians to flee. The dawn attack unfolded in Fallujah’s Nuaimiya area, most of which was captured by Iraqi troops the previous day, two special forces officers told The Associated Press. They spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to release the information. IS militants used tunnels and snipers, and targeted Iraqi forces with six explosives-laden cars that were destroyed before reaching their targets, the officers said. Iraqi forces suffered casualties, but the officers didn’t provide details. Monday’s push into Nuaimiya, a sprawling agricultural area, was the first attempt by Iraqi forces to enter the city, which fell to IS in January 2014. In recent days Iraqi forces had focused on driving the militants from outlying areas to tighten a siege on the city. The clashes subsided by Tuesday afternoon, but the officers said further progress was slowed by roadside bombs planted by militants. The troops also paused to destroy tunnels in the area. The officers said 106 militants have been killed since
“A HUMAN catastrophe is unfolding in Fallujah.”
__
JAN EGELAND
Norwegian Refugee Council
Monday. Fallujah was the first Iraqi city to fall to IS and is the last major urban area controlled by the extremist group in western Iraq. The militants still control the country’s second largest city, Mosul, in the north. The U.S.-led coalition and Iranian-backed Shiite paramilitary forces are helping the Iraqi army in the battle to retake Fallujah. But the fight is expected to be protracted, as the militants have had more than two years to dig in. Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in Fallujah and hidden bombs are believed to be strewn throughout the city. “A human catastrophe is unfolding in Fallujah,” Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said, adding that only one family managed to escape from the town on Monday. Since the offensive began a week ago, 554 other families have escaped from areas surrounding Fallujah, which lies 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad. “Warring parties must guarantee civilians safe exit now, before it’s too late and more lives are lost,” Egeland added. The NRC said a lack of food, medicine, safe drinking water and electricity in the city is “pushing families to the brink of desperation.” FORCES | 2A
CNA photos by KELSEY HAUGEN
LEFT: An avenue of flags is set up at Graceland Cemetery in Creston Monday for Memorial Day, a national day of remembrance of those who died while serving in U.S. armed forces. For video of a 21-gun salute at Graceland Cemetery and “Taps” played at McKinley Park, visit crestonnews.com. ABOVE: Local VFW Honor Guard members, from left, Mayor Gary Lybarger, Robert Jungst, Richard Dresback and Denny Abel stand at attention during a Memorial Day service Monday at Graceland Cemetery in Creston. The ceremony, led by VFW member Gary O’Daniels, included a prayer, message from the Rev. Jim Morris, “Taps” played by Tim Kenyon and echoed by Skip Kenyon and 21-gun salute.
WEDNESDAY WEATHER
CONNECT WITH US
COMPLETE WEATHER 3A
crestonnews.com | online 641-782-2141 | phone 641-782-6628 | fax Follow us on Facebook
77 54 PRICE $1.00
Creston News Advertiser 503 W. Adams Street | Box 126 Creston, IA 50801-0126
Copyright 2016
Volume 132 No. 258
2016
If you do not receive your CNA by 5 p.m. call 641-782-2141, ext. 6420. Papers will be redelivered in Creston until 5:30 p.m. Phones will be answered until 6 p.m.
If we are there... your picture is available at
www.crestonnews.com click on Photos