Iowa

Four Iowans were inducted into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame. They are:

Published

2 months ago

September 23, 2024

Four Iowans were inducted into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame. They are:

Four remarkable Iowans were inducted into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame.

Since 1995, Iowans have been inducted into the African American Hall of Fame for their contributions to their communities and the state of Iowa. The 2024 class was inducted on Saturday.

They are:

Celeste M. Lawson

Celeste Lawson, the daughter of Gary Lawson, the founder of the Iowa African American Hall of Fame, is recognized for her 30-plus years of uplifting Black voices and awareness in Des Moines and throughout the state.

In April of this year, Lawson was recognized for her service and was inducted into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame for her advocacy and push for recognition of Juneteenth and metastatic breast cancer.

From 1990 to 2015, Lawson volunteered with Iowa Juneteenth Observance, which her father founded in 1990, helping establish Juneteenth celebrations throughout Iowa. She also helped start the Iowa Juneteenth Observance exhibit at the State Historical Museum of Iowa and placed “Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom” in public libraries, middle and junior high schools in all 99 counties.

As a result of her work, Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2002 signed and declared the third Saturday in June as Juneteenth National Freedom Day in Iowa. Iowa was the seventh state to make Juneteenth an official state holiday.

In 2019, Lawson’s mother, Lois Lawson, died from metastatic breast cancer. Lawson worked to raise awareness for the disease, and, in 2020, Gov. Kim Reynolds declared Oct. 13 to be recognized as Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day in Iowa.

Edith Renfrow Smith

Edith Renfrow Smith is Grinnell College’s first African American alumna.

The Renfrow family was one of few African American families in Grinnell while Renfrow Smith was growing up. According to a Grinnell College report, she is the granddaughter of an escaped slave who established himself in Grinnell as a barber and was the only one of six children to stay there for college. She graduated in 1937 with a major in psychology and minors in economics and history.

After graduation, Renfrow Smith worked at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the University of Chicago, the state of Illinois, and the city of Chicago and was a public school teacher for over 20 years.

The Smith Gallery at Grinnell College is named after her, and the Edith Renfrow Smith Black Women’s Library was dedicated in 2019 in her honor in the Black Cultural Center on campus. She is the namesake of the soon-to-be-completed Renfrow Hall.

She currently resides in Chicago and recently celebrated her 110th birthday on July 14.

Barbara Woods

For over 30 years Barbara Woods worked with Iowa State Extension and Outreach as the special projects manager and was an adjunct professor of human development and family studies at Iowa State University.

Woods received her doctorate in home economics from Iowa State in 1981 and is credited with bringing county extension offices “into the computer age,” according to the American Association of University Women branch in Ames.

She received the Career Achievement in Outreach Award from the College of Human Sciences in 2017, the Distinguished Service Award from the Iowa affiliate of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in 2016, as well as one from ISU Extension and Outreach in 2011.

Woods retired from the university in 2023.

Bridget Saffold

Bridget Saffold, a registered nurse in Waterloo, formed the Focus on Diabetes, a Waterloo nonprofit that aims to promote awareness of diabetes.

Each year, she helps host Cedar Valley Focus on Diabetes, where doctors share research and treatment options for diabetes and also offers free screenings for diabetic patients, their families and the Cedar Valley community.

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saffold helped assemble Focus on Diabetes COVID-19 Assist, donating around 200 care packages to diabetes patients to help them stay safe at home. She was recognized by ABC for her efforts.

In 2021, she was inducted into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame for her work in Waterloo for diabetes patients and raising awareness of the disease.

What is the Iowa African American Hall of Fame?

The Iowa African American Hall of Fame was founded in 1995 by the Connect Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Gary Lawson.

In 2023, the Connect Foundation transferred custodianship of the Hall of Fame to the Des Moines Urban Experience, run by Dwana Bradley. Bradley also is a chairperson for Iowa Juneteenth.

There have been over 70 inductees into the Hall of Fame, including Evelyn K. Davis, Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad and Rep. Ruth Anne Gaines.

Kyle Werner is a reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@dmreg.com.

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Iowa

Iowa State vs. Utah score prediction by expert football model

Published

30 mins ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Iowa State vs. Utah score prediction by expert football model

A notable late-season Big 12 matchup kicks off this weekend as No. 22 Iowa State goes on the road against Utah. Let’s check in with the latest prediction for the game from an expert analytical football model that projects scores and picks winners.

Iowa State sits in a two-way tie for third-place in the Big 12 standings after a two-game losing skid that came to an end last weekend, but the Cyclones need help getting to the league title game.

Utah was the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 Championship Game, but slid to just 1-6 in conference play and is on a six-game losing streak, not having won since late September, against Oklahoma State, the other worst team in the league this season.

What do the analytical models suggest for when the Cyclones and Utes square off in this Big 12 matchup?

For that, let’s turn to the SP+ prediction model to get a preview of how Iowa State and Utah compare in this Week 13 college football game.

As expected, the models are siding with the Cyclones against the Utes, but by a close margin.

SP+ predicts that Iowa State will defeat Utah by a projected score of 24 to 20 and to win the game by an expected margin of 4.1 points in the process.

The model gives the Cyclones a solid 60 percent chance of outright victory against the Utes.

SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”

How good is it this season? So far, the SP+ model is 315-293-8 against the spread with a 51.8 win percentage after going 23-30 (43.4%) last weekend.

Iowa State is a 7.5 point favorite against Utah, according to the updated lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook for the game.

FanDuel lists the total at 41.5 points for the game (Over -110, Under -110).

And it set the moneyline odds for Iowa State at -280 and for Utah at +225 to win outright.

If you’re using this prediction to bet on the game, you should take …

If you do, you’ll be in the company of a minority of bettors, most of whom expect the Cyclones to dominate the Utes, according to the latest spread consensus picks for the game.

Iowa State is getting 62 percent of bets to win the game and cover the spread in the process.

The other 38 percent of wagers project Utah will either win outright in an upset or keep the game under 8 points in a loss.

Most other analytical football models also favor the Cyclones against the Utes this weekend.

That includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times to pick winners.

Iowa State is the favorite in the game, coming out ahead in the majority 63.2 percent of the computer’s most recent simulations of the matchup.

That leaves Utah as the presumptive winner in the other 36.8 percent of sims for the game.

How does that translate to an expected margin of victory in the matchup?

Iowa State is projected to be 4.8 points better than Utah on the same field in both teams’ current composition, according to the model’s latest forecast.

Iowa State is fourth among Big 12 teams with a 9.5 percent chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff, according to the FPI’s metrics.

That model forecasts the Cyclones will win 9.3 games this season.

Colorado (34.3%) leads the Big 12 in the playoff race, according to the index projections, followed by BYU (31.1%) and Arizona State (13.5%).

Utah has two games left to become bowl eligible, but the index doesn’t foresee that happening.

FPI projects the Utes will win 4.7 games and have an 11.9 percent chance to make a bowl game.

When: Sat., Nov. 23
Where: Salt Lake City, Utah

Time: 6:30 p.m. CT | 5:30 p.m. MT
TV: Fox network

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

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UNI Tops No. 8 Iowa State in Women’s Basketball

Published

8 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

UNI Tops No. 8 Iowa State in Women’s Basketball | Western Iowa Today 96.5 KSOM KS 95.7 – News for Atlantic, Audubon, Harlan, Red Oak and Western Iowa

News and Information for Atlantic, Audubon, Harlan and Red Oak | Western Iowa Today

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Iowa

ESPN FPI for Week 13 Big 12 games including Iowa State at Utah

Published

16 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

ESPN FPI for Week 13 Big 12 games including Iowa State at Utah

We have reached Week 13 in the college football season, which means the pressure intensifies and the need for wins is amplified.

This week there are several featured attractions around the Big 12 Conference. Those includes BYU looking to rebound at red-hot Arizona State while Kansas tries to knock off a third straight ranked opponent when they welcome Colorado to Kansas City.

Arizona and TCU kick things off early Saturday afternoon with BYU-Arizona State, Colorado-Kansas, Texas Tech-Oklahoma State and UCF-West Virginia starting 30 minutes later.

The night window includes Baylor at Houston, Iowa State at Utah and Cincinnati at Kansas State.

The mid-afternoon window of games will give those interested in how the conference turns out some key answers. BYU (9-1, 6-1) and Colorado (8-2, 6-1) have it pretty simple: win the next two games and you are in for the title game in December with a berth in the College Football Playoff on the line.

The Cougars, though, are coming off a disappointing loss at home to Kansas. Now, they have to play quite possibly the hottest team in the conference in Arizona State (8-2, 5-2), who has climbed all the way back to contention.

Led by Cam Skattebo and Sam Leavitt, the Sun Devils have won three in a row and five of is around a road loss to Cincinnati. They close with in-state rival Arizona next week.

Colorado will try to do what Iowa State and BYU couldn’t the last two weeks in solving Jayden Daniels and Kansas (4-5, 3-4), who are fighting for bowl eligibility themselves. Heisman Trophy frontrunner Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders have won four straight for head coach Deion Sanders.

* Matt Campbell talks up the Utah defense

* Cyclones right back into contention in wild, wild Big 12

*Three stars in Iowa State’s win over Cincinnati including Stevo Klotz

*Complete game recap of Iowa State’s win over Cincinnati

* Scouting the opponent: Get to know QB Brendan Sorsby

* Latest college football playoff rankings

* What Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield had to say about Cyclones

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