Free Republic

A rift over the Des Moines Register’s handling of the Carson King story has led to the resignation of the entire staff of the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa from the newspaper, effective immediately. In a Tuesday post on RAGBRAI’s Facebook page, TJ Juskiewicz said the Register, “refused to offer me the opportunity to openly speak to the RAGBRAI Nation, and answer the hundreds of passionate questions asked about the future of RAGBRAI following the Des Moines Register’s handling of the Carson King story.” Juskiewicz said his efforts to communicate with riders were blocked because “it did not...

DES MOINES, Iowa: Officials announced Saturday evening the 2016 RAGBRAI route stops for cyclists. The course is a southern Iowa route that will lead cyclists through 420 miles of terrain. RAGBRAI officials said they expect more than 10,000 riders. RAGBRAI begins July 23 and ends July 30. STOPS 1. Glenwood 2. Shenandoah 3. Creston 4. Leon 5. Centerville 6. Ottumwas 7. Washington 8. Muscatine

John Scherle squeezed a little politics into the lemonade he sold on his farm near Henderson. According to the signs he posted for “Hope-y, Change-y Obama Lemonade,” with special “class warfare prices” that depend on each customer’s income. Those who make less than $25,000 per year pay 25 cents, while those in the upper income brackets pay a full five bucks.

For the fifth time, but the first in nine years, the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa will make its final stop in Burlington this summer as it takes riders along a 442-mile route through southern Iowa, with its final overnight stop in Mount Pleasant. "We are thrilled they chose Burlington to be the ending location of the great ride across Iowa," said Beth Nickel, executive director of the Burlington Convention and Visitors Bureau. RAGBRAI, now in its 38th year, is scheduled for July 19 to 25, starting at the Missouri River in Council Bluffs and ending at the...

Ultralight plane crashes while covering RAGBRAI RICEVILLE (Iowa)(AP) --- An ultralight plane crashed Thursday afternoon while following the RAGBRAI route for a documentary, but the two people aboard appeared to have suffered only minor injuries. Pilot Jim Hill, of Manchester, and his passenger, Amy Throop, 26, of Ottawa, Canada, were flying over Riceville when the plane went down on the north edge of town. Jana Jarvis, of Riceville, said she was standing on her deck watching the plane when she saw it at the top of nearby trees and then heard it hit the ground. She and her son ran...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Colorado authorities are trying to figure out why the bike of a well-known Des Moines doctor and cyclist would have headed into oncoming traffic. Dr. Robert Breedlove, an orthopedic surgeon from Des Moines, died Thursday while cycling in a nationwide bike race. Breedlove was competing in the 24th Annual Race Across America endurance race, which takes just over a week to complete. Breedlove holds the RAAM tandem record. The race began on June 19. The accident happened at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday about 26 miles west of Trinidad, Colo. The driver of that truck said he...