State Dance Will Start This Week

The 11th Annual Knoxville Racing Charitable Organization (KRCO) Fundraiser is February 25, 2023 at Dyer-Hudson Hall. Doors open at 4 p.m The silent auction starts at 4 p.m., followed by a live auction at 7 p.m. The silent auction closes at 8 p.m. A spaghetti meal will be available for purchase at $10.00 from 5-8 p.m. Meal tickets are available at the door.

The Knoxville Wrestling Squad split a triangular with Martensdale-St. Mary’s and Carlisle on Tuesday night. The Panthers fell to the Wildcats 60-17. Tre DeRaad, Braylon Trout, and Luke Spaur got wins for the Panthers. The script was flipped for the Panthers in the match against Martensdale-St. Mary’s as Knoxville rolled to a 60-12 win. Reagan Roberts, Dane Gullion, Andon Trout, Chaz Graves, Daniel Gorskikh, Wayne Johnston, Ruger Kendall, Trenton Kingery, along with DeRaad, Braylon Trout, and Spaur took wins. Knoxville will now turn its focus to the class 2A district this Saturday in Ballard.

The Indianola Chamber of Commerce annual dinner and awards ceremony is tomorrow, the chamber’s first in-person annual dinner since 2019. Chamber President and CEO Amanda Zwanziger tells KNIA News the speaker this year will be author Eric Recker with the theme of Win The Now, and is all about taking advantage of the unique opportunities afforded in Indianola, and using the momentum that has been building for years to help Indianola reach its potential.

KNIA/KRLS Radio received the “Business of the Year” award from the Indianola Athletics Booster Club, presented last Friday evening at the Indianola basketball games. The award was received by Indianola Market Director Nathan Sage, Indianola News/Sports Director Andrew Swadner, and Rick Wilson. Nathan Sage said winning the award...

Funeral services for Roger L. Casner, 70, of Indianola, will be held 2 p.m., Saturday, February 11, 2023 at Overton Funeral Home with burial following in the IOOF Cemetery. Visitation will be held 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the funeral home prior to service where family will be present to greet friends. Memorial contributions may be made to the family in his name. Overton Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. To sign an online condolence, visit www.overtonfunerals.com.

The City of Indianola is hosting the first What Do You Love About Indianola? photo contest beginning this month, and continuing throughout the year. Indianola residents are asked to take a high-resolution photo of something they love in Indianola, submit it to the city by the end of the month, and a winner will be selected and awarded a $50 gift certificate to an Indianola business. For more information about the contest, click below.

The Simpson College athletics department had a host of teams competing over the weekend. The Storm men’s wrestling squad dominated Buena Vista 39-9, picking up their second American Rivers Conference dual victory, and will have a chance to pick up their third as they face off against Central and Dubuque over the next two weeks.

For the first time in program history, the Indianola boys basketball team is outright Little Hawkeye Conference champions after knocking off Pella 79-68 last night as part of a doubleheader heard live on 94.3 KNIA, KRLS2 and Pella Dutch Live. In the opener, the 8th-ranked Dutch girls held on for a 53-50 victory over #13 Indianola.

The students of Pella High School’s Orchestra are excited to share their work with the community this week. Students Loic O’Neil, Aidan Smith, Rachael Stratton, and Clayton Flattery invite the public to “An Evening of Music at Tamory Hall” on Thursday, February 9th at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Pella. The students say they’ve been challenged this year to perform a different type of music, and they will feature a unique variety at the upcoming performance. Hear more about Pella High School’s orchestra on the Let’s Talk Pella podcast.

There is a huge need for more ball fields in the Knoxville community. Part of the master plan that Knoxville Recreation Director Brandon Nemmers proposed to the city council recently calls for three soccer fields, one large enough for high school and two smaller fields. Nemmers tells KNIA/KRLS News, the...

The Indianola YMCA has begun their annual fundraising campaign, raising money throughout the spring to assist the Y in completing their mission. Executive Director Heather Hulen tells KNIA News the YMCA is a charity organization, and all monetary funds help make up the gap in their budget to allow all in the area to take advantage of Y services.

Mason Lodge #53 in Indianola is hosting a breakfast fundraiser this Saturday, raising money for their annual scholarship fund. Each year, the Warren Lodge raises money for a scholarship to give away to an Indianola High School student during the annual scholarship night event. The breakfast will include pancakes, egg casserole, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and coffee. The breakfast will be held at the Warren Lodge next to the fairgrounds on Hwy 92 from 7 to 10am.

PCM – 1 total. Knoxville joined the other five schools in having participants at state — and those not mentioned above earned a Division II “excellent,” mark.

The Knoxville Boys Basketball Squad never led in a 79-57 loss to Oskaloosa on Monday night. The Panthers started cold from the field and never could recover shooting just 5/21 from three point range and just 32% overall. Oskaloosa broke the game open in the 3rd quarter outscoring the Panthers 27-16 in the frame after holding a 3726 lead at halftime. Landen Norris had a career high 29 points in a losing cause for Knoxville, who dropped to 11-8 on the season and will travel to class 3A top ranked Bondurant-Farrar on Thursday.

The Spirit of Pella has announced its first downtown mural. The non-profit organization is partnering with The Brew Coffeehouse and an artist, according to Christi Vande Voort. She says the goal is to not only enhance the holiday season, but work on other decorative projects to enhance the Central Business District and beyond. Hear more about the Spirit of Pella on part two of a conversation on today’s Let’s Talk Pella.

Marion County Naturalist Marla Mertz reports of all the eagles around Lake Red Rock. Some of the opportunities that nature gives way points us in the direction that spring is soon to come. With the amount of eagles being observed, it appears that there is a huge population living in Marion County according to Mertz.

The Simpson College women’s and men’s basketball teams host Buena Vista in an American Rivers Conference doubleheader tonight, with both teams aiming for spots in the upcoming conference tournament. The Storm women picked up a huge win last Saturday at Luther and are firmly entrenched in the conference...

Melcher-Dallas students held a Read-a-Thon. Every student at the elementary building, three year olds through 6th grade, participated in the 10 day Read-a-Thon. The Read-A-Thon is a fundraiser that raised money for the school while encouraging and rewarding students for reading. Strong reading skills are key to educational success and the 10 days of reading gets students involved and excited about books and other reading materials, according to teacher Holly VanWyk.

Central College’s music program welcomes the public to three concerts in February. Festival Choir, A Cappella Choir and Chamber Singers will perform at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in Douwstra Auditorium on Hoekstra Family Stage. The performance will conclude 10-12th Grade Singfest, an all-day workshop hosted by Central’s music program. Mark Babcock, a 1991 Central graduate, M. Joan Kuyper Farver Endowed Chair in Music and professor of music, will direct the performance. Joining Babcock will be a guest director, Liza Calisesi Maidens, a 2010 Central alumna and director of choral activities at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Funeral services for Delores Marie (Bassett) Cowman, age 74, of Knoxville will be held Wednesday, February 8 at 10:30AM at. Celebrate Community Church in Knoxville with visitation Tuesday February 7th from 3:00pm to 7:00pm with the family present. from 4:00pm to 7:00pm also at Celebrate Community Church. Burial will be...