LASTING LEGACY
5 MINUTES WITH
Jan Lesan, who retired this spring, leaves a lasting legacy on the Creston/O-M golf program after serving as coach for 24 years. For more on Lesan, see SPORTS, page 1S. >>
This week’s “5 minutes” feature is with Dana Dodge, personal trainer with Southern Prairie YMCA. For more on Dodge, see page 10A. >>
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2016
Memorial poker run
In reversal, Trump says IS claim about Obama was sarcastic
Contributed photo
Participants begin to line up on their motorcycles at a past Josh Davis Memorial Poker Run starting at the Perry Elks Lodge. In its sixth year, the poker run honoring a fallen veteran, the late Davis who died serving in Afghanistan at age 19, begins at 10:15 a.m. Saturday in Perry and includes a stop at Creston Elks Lodge.
The 6th-annual Josh Davis Memorial Poker Run is scheduled Saturday. The run, starting in Perry with a stop in Creston, honors fallen veteran Josh Davis. The public is welcome to sign up the day of. ■
By KELSEY HAUGEN 19 while serving in Afghani- with his wife, Sally, helped hand at the end of the run. CNA associate editor khaugen@crestonnews.com
PERRY – What started as a small poker run in remembrance of teenaged fallen veteran Josh Davis has grown into a group of more than 150 motorcycles and nearly 250 riders from all over Iowa honoring Davis and other veterans. The late Davis, who lived in Des Moines and then Perry, holds a Purple Heart after dying May 7, 2010, at age
stan as a U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal. Following Davis’ death, a group of those who knew him started the annual Josh Davis Memorial Poker Run. Now in its sixth year, the poker run takes place Saturday, and the route includes a meal stop at Creston Elks Lodge. “Josh’s whole life ambition was to be a marine, and he accomplished that in his short 19 years,” said Jeff Collins of Perry, who
launch the ride. “This run is in support of him, the military and our community, as well. It’s an amazing sight when you see all the bikes rolling down the highway and when you get a nice big stretch of road where you can see the bikes going on for more than a mile.” A poker run is an event in which participants, often on motorcycles, visit checkpoints and draw a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker
This year, the Josh Davis Memorial Poker Run is a 165-mile route that begins at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at Perry Elks Lodge. Then, riders proceed to Iowa Veterans Cemetery, and then Sports Page in Winterset. The next stop is the Creston Elks Lodge for a meal. They will then proceed to American Legion Hall in Dexter and end back at Perry Elks Lodge, where there will be RUN | 2A
Iowan accused of desecrating US flag in oil pipeline protest SOMERS (AP) — An Iowa man who flew a U.S. flag upside down under a Chinese flag to protest future placement of an oil pipeline near his home has been charged with desecrating the American ban-
ner. Homer Martz told The Messenger the pipeline will be placed without his consent next to the well supplying his Calhoun County home south of Somers. Under Iowa law
flag desecration is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail. Martz noted on a sign that China has no freedom and told the newspaper he would have taken down the flags if he’d known
about the law. Court records don’t show his trial date. The pipeline route starts in North Dakota and runs through South Dakota and Iowa before ending in Illinois.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — After days of alleging repeatedly that President Barack Obama literally founded the Islamic State group, Donald Trump abruptly shifted tone on Friday and insisted his widely debunked claim had been sarcastic. Trump, in an early-morning post on Twitter, blamed CNN for reporting “so seriously” that he had called Obama and Democrat Hillary Clinton the extremist group’s founder and most valuable player. He added, in all capital letters: “THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?” Only hours before, the billionaire businessman had restated the allegation with no mention of sarcasm, telling rally-goers in Kissimmee, Florida, that “I’ve been saying that Barack Obama is the founder.” It’s a claim that Trump repeated at least a dozen times in three cities since debuting the attack-line Wednesday during a rally outside Fort Lauderdale. In fact, Trump had refused to clarify that he was being rhetorical or sarcastic when a s k e d about the r e m a r k Trump during interviews. On Tuesday, when conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt tried to steer Trump toward explaining he really meant Obama’s Mideast policies created conditions that IS exploited, Trump wanted none of it. “No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do,”
Trump said, using another acronym for the extremist group. Told that Obama was trying to defeat the militants, Trump added, “I don’t care. He was the founder.” The controversy over the Islamic State has dogged the campaign in a week in which he has been trying to highlight his economic proposals. Trump is encountering worrying signs as his campaign moves into the November election. Clinton’s lead over Trump in national polls has widened in recent days, while a growing number of fellow Republicans have declared they won’t support their own party’s nominee. Clinton is looking to take advantage by expanding into traditionally Republican states, seeking a s w e e p i n g Clinton victory in November. It wasn’t immediately clear why Trump altered course Friday and said the whole notion was sarcastic. But the allegation had elicited fresh concerns about Trump’s relationship with the truth and his preparedness to be commander in chief. Clinton’s campaign has cried foul and accused Trump of mimicking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talking points, and the Democratic Party had asked for an apology. “I just do not think insults and bullying is how we are to get things done,” Clinton said as she laid out her TRUMP | 2A
CNA photos by SCOTT VICKER
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Volume 133 No. 52
2016
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TODAY
Final days: LEFT: Carson Beer, 8, of Creston tosses a ball as he exits the water slide at Creston City Pool Thursday afternoon. RIGHT: Lexi Henry, 11, of Creston plugs her nose as she enters the water after jumping off the diving board Thursday afternoon at the Creston City Pool. Sunday marks the final day the Creston City Pool is open for the season.
2016 Five County
Fair Review
The Creston News Advertiser’s 2016 Five-County Fair Review provides photos and results from local fairs across southwest Iowa.