Sports

By Bryce Kelly, Mt. Pleasant News Head Henry County Naturalist, Cari Nicely, will soon have much-needed help thanks to a recent hiring by the Henry County Conservation Department.According to Henry County Conservation Director, John Pullis, the department has officially hired an assistant naturalist to help Nicely in her various duties. At this time, the new hire?s name is not being released to the public.?Out...

IOWA CITY (AP) ? Louisville?s much-debated No. 3 seed doesn?t matter much anymore.Shoni Schimmel had 26 points, seven assists and five steals to help Louisville thump host Iowa 83-53 on Tuesday night and earn its fifth trip to the Sweet Sixteen under coach Jeff Walz.Antonita Slaughter added 17 points on five 3s for the third-seeded Cardinals (32-4), who advanced to Sunday?s regional semifinal at home against ...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? The NFL officiating department will help referees rule on instant replay reviews starting next season.League owners passed a rule Tuesday allowing referees to consult with director of officiating Dean Blandino and his staff to help determine whether a call should be upheld or overturned. NFL officials said the change should speed up the process.Blandino and other staff will be monitoring ...

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News Henry County Board of Supervisors approved a motor grader purchase for the secondary-roads department, accepted the resignation of a part-time assistant county attorney and approved the hiring of her replacement during its regular meeting Tuesday.A 2017 Caterpillar motor grader will be arriving in the county in either July or August, according to Henry County Engineer Jake ...

Another round of indoor track meets were ran Thursday at the indoor track at Central College in Pella.The Fairfield and Pekin girls? track teams both competed against regional foes. The Trojans were able to nab second in the shuttle relay and fourth in both the shuttle hurdle and 4x800 races. Fairfield senior Marisa Repp had top five finishes in the 55 hurdles, high jump and as a member of the distance medley ...

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ? Phone messages between Oscar Pistorius and the girlfriend he shot dead indicate that she was sometimes afraid of him.The couple had also argued about what she alleged was the athlete?s short temper and jealousy, police Capt. Francois Moller testified Monday, citing text messages he extracted from cell phones.Moller says that about 90 percent of the messages he downloaded were what ...

IOWA CITY (AP) ? In a tournament filled with close calls and upsets, few would have been surprised if 11th-seeded Marist scared or even beat Iowa on its home floor.The only thing stunning on Sunday night was how well the Hawkeyes shot the ball.Theairra Taylor scored 22 points, Bethany Doolittle added 21 and Iowa blew out Marist 87-65 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.Samantha Logic had 11 points, 10 ...

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) ? Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman broke bones above his left eye and nose when he was hit by a line drive Wednesday night, the latest frightening injury to a pitcher struck in the head by a batted ball.Chapman was undergoing further testing at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was set to spend the night for observation, according to a statement from the Reds.First-year ...