Sun Courier

07/10/2025

06/10/2025

G-R Rebels ranked No. 3 heading into Week 7 play!

03/10/2025

Front & sports pages of the Friday, Oct. 3 edition of the Sun Courier on newsstands now. We appreciate every time you !

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03/10/2025

Classic country band Katie & the H***y-Tonks (KTHT) fronted by Gladbrook-Reinbeck alumna Katie Sires turned downtown Reinbeck’s Broad Street into an open-air dance floor last Saturday afternoon as part of their debut Becktoberfest appearance.

While it wasn’t a polka, folks had absolutely no problem dancing or tapping along as they sipped drafts from The Dig Inn and enjoyed over 90 minutes of h***y tonk music off KTHT’s debut album “Ain’t No Shame” plus a host of other songs.

"Reinbeck is a special town and we are so thankful that Ben asked us to be a part of Becktoberfest 2025. Cheers!" KTHT band manager and drummer Luke Sires told the newspaper.

If you missed the bash this year, you really (really!) did miss out so be sure to drop by in 2026! Click⤵️ for more including photo gallery (we'll post a few later here as well).

REINBECK – Classic country band Katie and the H***y Tonks (KTHT) fronted by Gladbrook-Reinbeck alumna Katie Sires turned downtown Reinbeck’s Broad Street into an open-air dance floor last Saturday afternoon as part of their debut Becktoberfest appearance. While it wasn’t a polka, folks had abs...

03/10/2025

Collins-Maxwell jumped out to a 49-0 halftime lead and defeated the GMG football team 55-24 last Friday night in 8-Man District 6 play.

GMG junior quarterback Ethan Klemesrud had a part of all three touchdowns, rushing eight times for 120 yards and two scores. He was 8-of-17 passing for 109 yards, one touchdown and one interceptions. Jacob Snider hauled in a 50-yard touchdown pass, while Jordan Rhodes made three grabs for 37 yards.

Bodie Hutchinson led the Wolverines (0-5, 0-3) with five tackles.

GARWIN — Collins-Maxwell jumped out to a 49-0 halftime lead and defeated the GMG football team 55-24 last Friday night in 8-Man District 6 play. C-M quarterback Cooper Wierson ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns while passing for 111 yards and three more scores for the Spartans (5-1, 3-0), who ...

03/10/2025

Gladbrook-Reinbeck freshman Caleb Pifkin took fourth place at the Belle Plaine Invitational cross country meet on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Franklin Park.

GMG’s Brayton Davis was the area’s next finisher, placing seventh in 19:42, and G-R’s Caleb Bowser was 10th in 20:27.

On the girls’ side, GMG’s Grace Mathern just missed a top-10 finish, taking 11th in 24:29, while her teammate Taelyn Sash was 16th in 26:01.

Local runners continuing to make us all proud!!! Way to go!

BELLE PLAINE — Gladbrook-Reinbeck freshman Caleb Pifkin took fourth place at the Belle Plaine Invitational cross country meet on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Franklin Park. Pifkin clocked in at 19 minutes, 52 seconds, to lead the Rebels to a fifth-place finish with 104 team points. Meskwaki was sixth wit...

03/10/2025

Caleb Pifkin raced his way to a medal finish at the competitive Sam Iverson Invitational to pace the Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys cross country team on Sept. 25 in Grundy Center.

Pifkin, a freshman, garnered a medal by finishing eighth in 18:40.

Senior Brayton Davis paced the GMG Wolverines with a 21st place finish, clocking in at 19:46.

During the girls varsity race, GMG’s freshman duo continued to hold their own this season with Grace Mathern racing to 51st in 24:28 & Taelyn Sash taking 66th in 26:14.

GRUNDY CENTER — Caleb Pifkin raced his way to a medal finish at the competitive Sam Iverson Invitational to pace the Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys cross country team on Thursday, Sept. 25, at Town & Country Golf Club in Grundy Center. Pifkin, a freshman, garnered a medal by finishing eighth in 18 minute...

03/10/2025

Gladbrook-Reinbeck senior middle hitter Kennedy Brant was celebrated during the Tuesday, Sept. 23, triangular in Oelwein for reaching an astonishing 1,000 career kills. Stellar work, Kennedy!

This season, the 6-foot Brant is leading her team with 231 kills (as of Tuesday, Sept. 30) and a .342 kill efficiency. As of press time, she was No. 5 in Class 1A (No. 21 across all classes) for kills. She is also tied for No. 2 in total blocks in 1A (tied for No. 10 across all classes) with 65. 💥

OELWEIN – Gladbrook-Reinbeck senior middle hitter Kennedy Brant was celebrated during the Tuesday, Sept. 23, triangular in Oelwein for reaching an astonishing 1,000 career kills. Brant, pictured with her teammates in the Oelwein High School gym, recorded the milestone during the Rebels’ 2-0 swee...

03/10/2025

"Will we ever learn that violence begets more violence, and that an eye for an eye only results in blindness?"

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. -Isaiah 1:18- Will we ever learn that violence begets more violence, and that an eye for an eye only resu...

03/10/2025

"If the [Trump] administration is wrong – and effects of climate change do worsen – our children will inherit a world that is very different from what we have now.

"However, if they are correct that climate change is no big deal, but our efforts to address climate change continue, our children will also inherit a world that is very different. Skies will be cleaner, homes and factories will be powered by cheaper clean energy, ecosystems will be protected, and oceans will thrive."

Recently, in less than a week, Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Chicago, Ill. all experienced 1-in-1000-year rainfall events. Really weird. Moreover, this was not the only weird thing happening. Ocean currents are being altered, animal migration patterns of many birds and the monarch butterfly...

03/10/2025

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) focuses on "red flags" in the U.S. farm economy in this week's Q&A.

"As harvest season gets into full swing, I’m keeping a close eye on dark clouds looming on the horizon, inching too close to home for tens of thousands of Iowa farmers. Roughly one-third of family farms were lost in the U.S. during the Farm Crisis in the 1980s, and hundreds of farmers took their own lives, overcome with the anguish of losing their livelihoods. The farm economy today has telltale warning signs of a brewing storm that could lead to financial devastation the likes of which we haven’t seen in four decades."

Q: What red flags are catching your attention in the U.S. farm economy? A: As a lifelong family farmer, I understand Iowa farm families weather the storms of cyclical markets and natural disasters. Managing risk is central to the job. As harvest season gets into full swing, I’m keeping a close eye...

03/10/2025

Columnist Sean Dengler addresses the current economic crisis in farm country.

"As it stands today, delivering a bushel of soybeans to Tama-Benton Cooperative would be $9.35. For farmers, this is probably below their cost of production. These soybean prices have been in the tank, and they appear to be staying there for the near future. The main reason prices are so low is soybean production has been built upon exports to China."

As it stands today, delivering a bushel of soybeans to Tama-Benton Cooperative would be $9.35. For farmers, this is probably below their cost of production. These soybean prices have been in the tank, and they appear to be staying there for the near future. The main reason prices are so low is soybe...