Iowa
Iowa Great Lakes businessman Butch Parks dies at 81
SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (KTIV) – The Iowa Great Lakes community is remembering Leo “Butch” Parks, a longtime lakes-area businessman and founder of Parks Marina.
He died Tuesday, Jan. 6, at the age of 81.
Parks established the marina on East Lake Okoboji in 1983, growing it from a small fishing boat operation into a business with marinas, sales, service, rentals, storage, and popular destinations like the Barefoot Bar.
Parks and his wife, Debbie, also owned Okoboji Boat Works for 23 years.
Funeral services are set for Friday, Jan. 16, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Spirit Lake. It will be followed by a celebration of life at Snapper’s restaurant in Okoboji that evening.
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Over the last few weeks, there has been some speculation that former Iowa State Cyclone star Milan Momcilovic may return to college, and potentially find himself in a great situation that can not only build his draft stock, but get him paid as well.
Most people are expecting Momcilovic to head to the Kentucky Wildcats, a school that has been struggling to find talent over the offseason. In a desperate manner, head coach Mark Pope hopes that Momcilovic will undeclare from the draft and head to Kentucky. He also could head to the Arizona Wildcats, who have recently gained interest. But it’s not confirmed, and people do believe that Momcilovic could stay in Ames, IA next season.
Momcilovic has been a three-year player under T.J. Otzelberger at Iowa State. As a freshman, he averaged 10.9 points per game, bringing it up to 11.5 points as a sophomore. He was a solid three-point shooter as well, shooting at 35.9% and 39.6%, respectively.
But it was in his junior season that he broke out, proving himself to the entire nation. He averaged 16.9 points per game, shooting an unbelievable 48.7% from beyond the arc. It was a historical season from the big man, who showcased everything throughout the season. His shooting was there, he proved himself in the post, and found ways to create open shots all around the court.
But after the season, he announced that he would be declaring for the NBA Draft, as well as the transfer portal. If he returns to college, it’s going to be a three-horse race between Kentucky, Arizona, and his former squad, Iowa State.
Why Momcilovic Should Come Back
Momcilovic needs to return to the Cyclones. Over the last few years, he has showcased that he perfectly works in Otzelberger’s system, and is becoming a better defender over time. In addition, Iowa State is a better team than the Wildcats, and that was showcased in the second round of the March Madness, where the Cyclones dominated by 19 points.
In addition, while Arizona beat Iowa State twice, their frontcourt depth may cause Momcilovic to get limited minutes. If Momcilovic wants to compete for a national championship, continue to play in a place that has worked out great, be the star, and wants to overall increase his draft stock, he has to come back to Ames.
All three are great options, and Momcilovic, being such an impressive player, will certainly perform well wherever he decides to go. However, Iowa State is definitely the right option for him next season if he wants to get the absolute best out of his unique and incredible game.
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The opening round of the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Golf Tournaments took place on Tuesday in three classes of action.
Class 3A, Class 2A and Class 1A compete in the spring, as Class 4A crowned individual and team champions this past fall.
Defending Class 3A individual state champion Parker Rodgers of Nevada is out to a strong start, firing a round of 3-under at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa, to take the early lead. Rodgers sits two shots ahead of Spirit Lake’s Jaizik Miller.
Rodgers, a junior who shot a two-round total of 7-under last year, four birdies and an eagle, carding a three on the par-5 sixth.
Jamin Colvin from Ballard is third at even-par as two others are at 1-over and four more at 2-over heading into Wednesday.
The team standings are packed at the top, as Knoxville, Ballard and North Polk all shot the same score and are tied for the lead. Atlantic and MOC-Floyd Valley are each just a shot back, with Solon sitting three back of first.
Trey Swanson Leads After Opening Round Of Class 2A
Junior Trey Swanson from Rock Valley holds the overnight lead in Class 2A, as he fired a round of 2-under at South Hills Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa. A shot back of Swanson is McGavin Smith from West Beanch, as both Benny Waller of Aplington-Parkersburg and Judd Jirovsky of Grundy Center are tied or third at 1-over.
Waller was an all-state basketball player this past winter while Jirovsky earned honors on the football field and is committed to Stanford University to continue his golf career.
Waterloo Columbus Catholic holds a two-stroke advantage in the Class 2A team race over Rock Valley, as Unity Christian and Grundy Center are tied for third, eight shots back.
Defending Class 1A State Champion Faces Deficit
Keith Thompson of Hamburg, the two-time defending Class 1A individual state champion, is a shot back after 18 holes of competition. Thompson fired a 1-under to finish second heading into Wednesday, as East Marshall’s Cody Weaver is first.
Weaver, also a senior, carded a 3-under that included five birdies at Westwood Golf Course in Newton, Iowa.
Drew Henderson of North Union and freshman Sid Hesse of South Winneshiek are tied for third at 1-over.
Harris-Lake Park holds the team lead by three shots over both Boyden-Hull and South Winneshiek.
Complete results and live scoring can be found online at both the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa PGA Junior websites.
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Watch: The three things that led to the Iowa caucus disaster
Three things led to a disastrous caucus night for Democrats.
The Des Moines Register
Iowa Democrats will travel to Washington, D.C., this week to pitch a streamlined caucus plan they hope will convince national party leaders that Iowa deserves another shot to be at the front of the presidential nominating calendar.
The state is among a dozen that will make in-person appeals to members of the Democratic National Committee’s powerful Rules and Bylaws Committee across three days beginning Wednesday, May 27.
That committee is tasked with setting the calendar for the 2028 presidential primary — a move that will determine where a wide-open field of expected candidates will dedicate their time, attention and resources in the years ahead.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart has argued repeatedly that the committee should reconsider Iowa as Democrats work to regain ground with rural, working-class voters who have fled the party in droves.
“In order to do that, we’ve got to have a state like Iowa where any Democratic presidential candidate can compete, where it’s affordable and where the candidates can look forward to getting up close and personal and really understanding the issues that will bring us back to an understanding of working class voters,” Hart told the Des Moines Register.
The committee plans to choose one state from each of four geographic regions, as well as a potential fifth state.
Members said the final calendar should include a grouping of states that represent the wider electorate.
The applicants are:
- East: Delaware and New Hampshire
- Midwest: Illinois, Iowa and Michigan
- South: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
- West: Nevada and New Mexico
Each of the prospective states made written applications, which the committee reviewed at a January meeting.
Here’s what Iowa Democrats want their 2028 presidential caucuses to look like
Late last year, the Iowa Democratic Party released the results of a survey it conducted to gather feedback from rank-and-file Democrats about the future of the presidential nominating caucuses.
Hart said it was clear through that survey that Iowa Democrats want the caucuses to be more accessible.
She said Iowa Democrats are proposing opening an absentee window to allow Democrats to indicate their presidential preferences by mail ahead of an in-person caucus.
“We can no longer hold a caucus on one cold night in January and think that that’s representative of our Democratic Party,” Hart said. “That’s a priority for us that we have more accessibility, and the obvious way to do that is through a mail-in process.”
Hart said that absentee process will be completed before Caucus Day to allow for an in-person component, which is also important to Iowa Democrats.
But gone will be the caucus format of years past when Democrats had to physically stand to show their support for a candidate and be counted.
The complicated math and “state delegate equivalents” also are out.
Instead, Democrats will express their preferences for their favorite candidate in writing.
“I think from our party faithful, from our volunteers who were tasked with making that math work, I think that was a lot of pressure on people and just was a headache,” Hart said. “They want a simpler process.”
She said she believes the new proposed process retains “the character and the flavor of the in-person caucus” but ditches the things that overcomplicated the system.
The tabulation of results should be simpler, and the party plans to hire a vendor to ensure it can release the full set of results on Caucus Night, she said.
In the past, any hint of paper ballots has triggered a fight with New Hampshire, which has long argued that it holds the nation’s first primary after Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. If Iowa’s caucuses starts to look too much like a primary, New Hampshire has pushed back.
“My major concern is not with New Hampshire,” Hart said. “New Hampshire’s got to do what New Hampshire’s got to do. We’re going to do what’s best for Iowa.”
At the presentation in Washington, D.C., representatives for Iowa will make the case to the committee that in addition to winning back rural voters, national Democrats need to be able to counter the message Republicans will be spreading in Iowa as they host their first-in-the-nation caucuses in 2028.
Republicans spent $120 million in ads while competing in Iowa’s 2024 Republican caucuses, they’ll say, far exceeding what was spent in other early states.
Iowa representatives contend that unanswered messaging overwhelmed Democrats in Iowa and nationally at a key moment in the campaign cycle.
They will also argue that Iowa Democrats are on track to regain ground in the 2026 midterm elections with key battleground seats in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and the governor’s race.
How did Iowa Democrats get here?
The DNC stripped Iowa of its first-in-the-nation caucus spot and reordered the nominating calendar in 2022 following a disastrous 2020 presidential caucus in which Iowa’s results were riddled with delays and errors.
Then-President Joe Biden recommended that South Carolina replace Iowa at the front of the line in 2024, with New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan to follow.
In 2024, rather than holding their traditional in-person first-in-the-nation caucuses, Iowa Democrats held a fully absentee mail-in event with the results announced on Super Tuesday in March.
Democrats met in person only to conduct party business the same day Iowa Republicans held their caucuses.
The DNC reopened the calendar process in 2025, with committee leaders saying they would prioritize states that can create a “rigorous, efficient and fair” nominating contest.
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.
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