Iowa
The Budget newspaper brings stories from around the world • Iowa Capital Dispatch
In these days of digital newspapers, I find The Budget delivers a comforting, hefty thump when it lands in my rural mailbox. The Budget, published since 1890 out of Sugarcreek, Ohio, brings 50 to 60 paper pages of news from every Anabaptist community in the world, including Amish, Mennonites, and Brethren.
It boasts “50,000 Readers each week in Plain Communities across the Americas.” The “scribe” of every community reports the weather, the comings and goings, the births and deaths, and the illnesses and recoveries of their group — plus any other anecdotes that might resonate with these far-flung readers.
With the news comes inserts advertising everything from harmonicas to wellness centers where “brain scanning, rife scanning, and microscope blood analysis” is offered. Individual ads hawk the necessities of Amish life: horseshoes, hoop house covers, trampoline parts, and pain-relief supplements. And yet another section includes feature stories and national news — the opening of an Amish quilt show at the Smithsonian Institute, volunteer work drilling wells in Haiti, and lectures on the odyssey of some Mennonites who fled Prussia, where they were forbidden to own land, to settle in Russia, then eventually in Mexico.
The Anabaptist diaspora kicked off in 18th century Europe and spread all over the world, but the majority of the communities settled in the United States. A quick glance at The Budget finds columns from Pennsylvania where the Amish first fled from persecution, to Alabama, to Kentucky, to Montana. Predominantly, the Amish, a sub-group of the larger Mennonite umbrella, left the Swiss/Alsace region of Europe to find the religious freedom to practice their beliefs that rejected infant baptism, military killing, and swearing oaths of allegiance to the state.
This week’s Budget column from Fredericksburg, Ohio began with a description of the eclipse:
Screech owl hooted. In the Speelman Bottom 18 deer came out to feed. The eclipse goggles were great. But our youngest one was worried the birds will become blind since they don’t have the convenience of these glasses. Our oldest Hershberger in church wondered if the hens will lay twice since it was expected they’ll go roost.
Then at the end of this column, another animal became a main character in a story about a benefit auction:
The auction seemed well-attended with some high-priced items, which is good. One of my uncles deemed it wise to check on buying a tall night-stand, there at the auction for his wife’s side of the bed, giving her a convenient spot to park her glasses and dentures, instead of on the floor. Recently, one morning they searched high and low around the bed for those teeth of hers. Bed cover shaken, nothing. In the living room underneath the recliner they were found then, all honor to the house pup … Teeth got thoroughly scrubbed!
But it was the wind that carried the theme of the rest of this week’s paper. A scribe in Albia, Iowa, thanked the previous owners of their farm for the plantings that block the fierce spring winds:
Andy and Millie, I don’t know if you read these or not, but we’ve often been thankful for the plants and trees you planted, now for our benefit. Also, the evergreen wind block on the north–that is a real blessing in good old IA! Smile.
In contrast, in Nashville, Arkansas, the scribe didn’t have such a good experience with the wind:
Later Mon. evening a thunderstorm from the south brought several gusts of wind. A neighbor was burning brush behind Grace Point Mennonite Church and the wind caused it to spread and put the building in danger. Our fire department responded to the call and soon had it under control.
Then wedged into the right-hand corner of the next page of The Budget: a story of a visit to the Schlabach’s former family home near the village of Jessberg in Hesse, Germany. The family had once occupied a house that now stored bagged fertilizer and garden supplies. Two hundred years before, the Schlabachs had left everything behind to set sail for the United States:
The Schlabach family had boarded the ship “James von Bremen” at the port city of Bremen on the Weser River on April 19, 1820. Due to “adverse winds and storm,” which prolonged the ocean crossing to three and a half months, it was not until the 15th of August that the ship first touched shore at the harbor in New York.
In the end, it’s the columns of the scribes in international locations that most interest me. I followed the Waterford, Ireland community throughout the pandemic, intrigued by the lockdowns there, the quarantines, and the romance between a member of the community with a man in the U.S. I traced the travels of the prospective groom. He had to bring proof of vaccination from the United States, then isolate once he had arrived in Waterford before he could be married to his beloved.
I saw the war in Ukraine through the eyes of communities in Suceava, Romania who ran medical supplies through Moldova into their ravaged neighboring country. The Mennonites drove trucks toward Odesa, risking their lives, bombs and missiles dropping around them. A Feb. 14, 2024 entry again reported on this Mobile Medical Team:
The first week they worked in several villages in the Mykolaiv region that was very destroyed. Last week, the team spent about 2 days working in the Chernihiv region, which is very near the Russian border. These villages were not as destroyed as the one in Mykolaiv since the 2 opposing armies only traveled through them and did not clash there.
The team enjoyed their time with the believers in these areas. These people have lived through so much. The one family stayed in their homes during the occupation. One day, a Russian tank came barreling up to their house. The boys stepped outside and raised their hands to show that they were not armed. The soldiers rushed out of their tank and did the same. It is comical to think about but sad to realize the tremendous fear that war brings into people’s hearts.
And finally, the Christian Aid Ministries scribe in Jerusalem dramatized the tremendous fear that lives in the hearts of those in Gaza and Israel. On January 31, 2024, she wrote:
. . . Fifty miles from here, the conditions in Gaza continue to worsen. I hear it by the news and from bits and pieces of information from Palestinian friends who have family in Gaza. Daily, and especially at night, I hear the low rumble of fighter jets overhead. The sound is not terrifying, but it is a reminder that one more bomb will explode in Gaza.
On Feb. 21, 2024, the Jerusalem scribe wrote :
Since the bombardment, 1.9 million Gazans have been internally displaced. Some shelter in makeshift tents. Some have sought asylum in Australia and other countries, but most do not have the $5,000 fee needed to get through the border. The Christian family that we know by name has spent the past months in schoolrooms at the churchyard. Most days are long days of boredom, but a sniper can show up at any time, bringing moments of terror. .
Six Gazan babies, each with a caretaker, have been in Bethlehem since the war began. They have fully recovered from their open-heart surgeries, but now cannot return to their families in their war-torn homeland.
Then this week, the Jerusalem scribe continued:
I was awakened about 1:30 a.m. with the whistle of the warning siren and the boom of intercepted missiles. I wasn’t frightened. I was saddened. Neighbors were watching the drone and missile activity from their rooftops. . .
Today is a balmy spring day with not a cloud in the sky. Schools and offices are closed, but the shops are open. Ben Gurion airport was closed for a few hours last evening but is open today. I still have a ticket to fly to the States on the 16th because of an expired visa. I trust for no more missile activity so that the airport can remain open.
This country certainly needs your prayers.
Bill Fennelly on Iowa State’s NCAA record coming to an end
Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly talks about his team’s NCAA record for 3-pointers coming to an end
The Iowa State women’s basketball team is back in the Big 12 Conference race after a three-game winning streak.
The Cyclones will try to stay hot when they take on No. 20 West Virginia at noon Sunday in Morgantown, West Virginia.
It’s a huge game for the Cyclones (13-6 overall, 4-2 Big 12), who after a slow start to the Big 12 season suddenly find themselves back in the hunt for the conference crown.
Iowa State has rattled off consecutive victories over Arizona State, Arizona and Texas Tech. The Cyclones will face a tough West Virginia (14-3, 4-2) team that has won four of its last five games.
Watch Iowa State vs. West Virginia on Fubo (free trial)
What channel is West Virginia vs Iowa State women’s basketball on today?
TV channel: FOX
Livestream: Fubo (free trial)
When does West Virginia vs Iowa State start?
Date: Sunday, Jan. 19
Start time: Noon CT, at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.
West Virginia 2024-25 schedule
- Record: 14-3, 4-2 Big 12
- Nov. 5: Towson, W, 85-41
- Nov. 9: Niagara, W, 110-41
- Nov. 12: Pitt, W, 82-54
- Nov. 15: Texas A&M, W, 83-62
- Nov. 19: Bowling Green, W, 78-47
- Nov. 22: Lafayette, W, 98-28
- Nov. 29: High Point, W, 89-54
- Nov. 30: Boise State, W, 82-47
- Dec. 1: Texas, L, 78-73
- Dec. 6: East Tennessee State, W, 85-40
- Dec. 15: Temple, W, 68-46
- Dec. 21: Colorado, L, 65-60
- Jan. 1: UCF, W, 80-58
- Jan. 4: BYU, W, 66-53
- Jan. 8: Texas Tech, W, 89-53
- Jan. 11: Oklahoma State, L, 64-57
- Jan. 15: Colorado, W, 73-46
Iowa State 2024-25 schedule
- Record 13-6, 4-2 Big 12
- Nov. 4: Chicago State, W, 95-65
- Nov. 7: Indiana State, W, 64-42
- Nov. 10: Southern, W, 84-56
- Nov. 14: St. Thomas, W, 80-47
- Nov. 20: Northern Iowa, L, 87-75
- Nov. 24: Drake, W, 80-78
- Nov. 28: South Carolina, L, 76-36
- Nov. 30: Middle Tennessee, W, 75-59
- Dec. 3: USC Upstate, W, 92-35
- Dec. 8: Central Michigan, W, 82-56
- Dec. 11: Iowa, L, 75-69
- Dec. 15: Eastern Illinois, W, 87-55
- Dec. 17: UConn, L, 101-68
- Dec. 21: Oklahoma State, L, 81-75
- Jan. 1: Kansas, W, 78-64
- Jan. 5: Utah, L, 75-67
- Jan. 8: Arizona State, W, 90-83
- Jan 11: Arizona, W, 79-58
- Jan. 14: Texas Tech, W, 71-58
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Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468
The night was a mixture of triumph and tragedy for the Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team, as their victory over Iowa State was overshadowed by the devastating injury to freshman Avery Neff. While the team delivered a season-high score of 197.300 and showcased remarkable growth, the loss of Neff, the No. 1 recruit, left an emotional void.
The atmosphere in the Huntsman Center shifted dramatically when Neff’s final tumbling pass on floor ended in disaster. A routine that had already demonstrated her exceptional talent turned into heartbreak when her ankle gave out, and she fell face-first onto the mat. Her left leg bent awkwardly, and she immediately clutched her ankle in pain. Medical personnel and coaches rushed to her aid, and the usually electric crowd fell silent. Teammates cried openly on the sidelines, their emotions mirroring the collective concern of the Red Rocks family.
Neff had been a standout performer throughout the night, earning high scores on vault (9.900), bars (9.850), and beam (9.925). Her contributions exemplified why she had been ranked so highly coming into the season, and her injury was a significant blow to the team’s momentum. Head coach Carly Dockendorf expressed the team’s mixed emotions, emphasizing the difficulty of balancing a strong performance with the sadness of losing a key member.
“What an amazing three quarters of our meet there, and was just feeling so good about everything we had done,” Dockendorf said. “This is the tough part about sports anywhere on any team, and it’s just — it’s hard to watch. It definitely kind of changed the emotional feeling of the meet at the end, but this is why we’re a team.”
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Despite the emotional impact, the team showed incredible resilience, finishing the meet with poise. Veteran Jaylene Gilstrap, tasked with following Neff on floor, delivered a beautiful routine that earned a 9.90, helping the team maintain focus. Grace McCallum followed suit, closing out the floor rotation with another 9.90. Dockendorf praised her gymnasts for their ability to stay composed, acknowledging their determination to finish strong.
The meet itself was a testament to the Red Rocks’ improvement. They opened with a season-best 49.300 on vault, led by Neff’s 9.900 and Camie Winger’s 9.875. McCallum’s return to competition with a Yurchenko 1.5 vault marked a significant milestone, even though her landing was slightly off. On bars, McCallum dazzled with a 9.975, earning that score for the second consecutive meet. The beam rotation was equally impressive, with Neff contributing a near-perfect 9.925 and Winger adding a 9.900.
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While Utah dominated Iowa State, whose best apparatus score was a 49.000 on floor, the victory felt hollow. The Cyclones struggled throughout the meet, particularly on bars, where they were forced to count multiple low scores. Utah’s win showcased their depth and talent, but the team’s joy was tempered by Neff’s uncertain status.
As the night ended, the team gathered around their injured teammate, embodying the unity and support that define the Red Rocks program. Neff’s injury served as a stark reminder of the unpredictability of sports and the strength required to overcome adversity. For the Red Rocks, the final score may have been a victory on paper, but the real story was the resilience of a team rallying around one of their own in a moment of profound loss. At the end of the night, Neff took time to post on her Instagram story. Her caption was simple with “God’s Plan >>>”. Neff’s only words to keep Utah fans guessing about the status of the star freshman.
Video: Iowa coach Fran McCaffery talks 94-70 loss to UCLA
Head coach Fran McCaffery discusses Iowa’s blowout loss to UCLA on Friday.
How much can the narrative surrounding a team change in less than one week?
Just last Saturday, Iowa basketball was riding high after a 25-point win over Indiana. This marked back-to-back home victories and inspired some optimism about what the Hawkeyes are capable of this season.
Two games later, those feelings have shifted dramatically.
Saying Iowa’s West Coast trip was a disappointment is an understatement. The Hawkeyes suffered a pair of double-digit losses, the latest of which was a 94-70 blowout to UCLA on Friday. Iowa never led for a single second throughout those two games.
Understandably, there is mounting frustration from the fan base.
But as ugly as these two games were, Iowa’s season does not end here. The Hawkeyes still have 13 regular season games remaining, plus at least one more in the Big Ten Tournament, assuming Iowa makes the 15-team field.
For better or worse, the season’s fate is still in the balance. With so many games remaining, there is plenty of time for the Hawkeyes to get back on track. But there is also plenty of time for it to get much worse.
“I think we have a really good group with guys with character,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said Friday. “We’ve got some veteran guys. We will try to move on from what has not been a good trip and learn from some of the mistakes we made. Will remain positive. I want them to remain positive with each other.”
Iowa (12-6, 3-4) got jumped on early in Friday’s contest and never recovered.
Remarkably, UCLA made its first nine shots from the field. To make matters worse, Payton Sandfort got banged up in the first half and sat out the majority of the game. The Bruins led by 33 points at halftime, making the rest of the game a mere formality.
In what has been a theme this season — and even more broadly, in McCaffery’s Hawkeye tenure — the Iowa defense folded. UCLA shot 62% from the field and 35% from deep. During the West Coast trip, Iowa allowed its opponents to shoot a combined 63% from the field.
“They were really aggressive and shot it well not only inside but from the perimeter,” McCaffery said of UCLA. “I thought we worked really hard in practice the last couple of days. I thought we would be better. Got to give them credit for it. We got better as the game went on. But we’ve got to be better at the start.”
Iowa is now 0-4 in true road games, with losses to Michigan, Wisconsin, USC and UCLA. Only one of those four came by single digits. The Hawkeyes have allowed an average of 98.5 points during that span.
Allowing 116 points in a road loss to Wisconsin should’ve been enough of a wake-up call. And to its credit, Iowa responded with consecutive wins following that loss. But then, a similar failure happened again. And again.
The Hawkeyes’ season is now on the verge of spiraling.
At the same time, a season is not supposed to be defined by adversity. But rather how one responds to it. If every team that dealt with challenges quit, no one would be left standing.
Take UCLA for example. The Bruins entered Friday having lost five of their last six games, including four straight. The sky was falling until Friday when suddenly it wasn’t anymore.
Rutgers was in a similar situation. The Scarlet Knights started 1-4 in Big Ten play but have now won their last two, including a road victory over Nebraska. Things are looking up for them.
There is nothing that says Iowa can’t do the same. The Hawkeyes will have plenty of opportunities.
At Carver-Hawkeye Arena alone, Iowa is still set to face Michigan State, Purdue, Oregon and Wisconsin, among others, all of which should present resume-building opportunities. The Hawkeyes have lost just one game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season, against No. 2 Iowa State.
McCaffery’s team will have plenty of chances away from home too, though it will need to overcome its road woes to remain competitive.
“I didn’t see a lack of effort,” McCaffery said Friday. “I saw a lack of execution to some of the things that we prepared for and that’s disappointing because that leads to falling behind. Of all the teams that I’ve coached, it’s one that I’m really proud of, any team that I’ve ever had, even before I came here, our guys stay locked into the game plan and they compete. And they compete in terms of how they think.”
Clearly, Iowa needs to get better to make the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes’ performances in California were inexcusably poor.
But there is still so much season left to play. Which means the best could still be yet to come. And so could the worst.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
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