Author: Cecil Larson

Hunt Midwest has broken ground on a manufacturing facility in a suit for Community Tire Wholesale at the Hunt Midwest Business Center (HMBC), the sprawling 2,500-acre industrial mega-site development just east of Interstate 435 in Kansas City's established Clay County industrial corridor.Community Wholesale Tire, already one of the largest family-owned tire distributors in the Midwest, will fully occupy HMBC Logistics V, a new 203,899 square foot facility that will increase and modernize its Kansas City distribution center footprint. The tire company joins a growing list of HMBC businesses.The new location will give Community Wholesale Tire unparalleled access to major interstate…

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The nature and geography of American innovation is in the midst of change. Over the past half century, the most exciting areas for high-tech innovation have involved innovations in entirely new areas. Today, many of the most important are applying new technologies such as robotics, electrification and artificial intelligence to existing industries.This is a significant opportunity for regions that have been left behind by the historical dominance of technology by just a few coastal cities. Regions in the middle of the US are well positioned to revitalize their core manufacturing industries with new technologies.

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PAMELA COTANT For the State Gazette It's not every day that middle school orchestra students get to learn from a peer like eighth grader Momo Fredrickson.Momo, a junior at Hamilton High School, placed first in the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory's youth orchestra division of the Walgreens National Concerto Competition. She competed in late December and won with her performance of Bruch's Violin Concerto No. Illinois.Niiki Hakala is a first-year band teacher at Hamilton after teaching band for 19 years at four other schools. He said Momo is the most talented student he has taught, and while Hakala can work with…

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In November, Jim Peelen was elected governor of Nebraska. At the time, he was financially connected to about 40 companies, including the company he spent three decades expanding into one of the nation's largest hog producers, Pillen Family Farms. Here are the highlights from this story: The governor did not say whether he sold his business holdings. One of the best ways for office holders to avoid conflicts of interest is to sell their assets, but Nebraska law does not require it. A potential conflict of interest is that Pillen now oversees the agency that regulates hog farms that he…

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Rob Mayes. Photo: Ford Fairchild Actor and singer-songwriter Rob Mayes returns with his new single “MIDWEST, USA” just in time for the 4th of July holiday weekend. The song is raw and honest, combined with a patriotic vibe. Mayes is able to pay homage to his musical roots and what makes the Midwest so great. Moreover, you must enjoy it for its beauty and simplicity. Vocally, the listener might be reminded of Eric Church meets David Nile, and that should be taken as a major compliment to Rob Mays. Once again, Mayes proves that he is one of the most…

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This is one of many stories about the Ohio High School Athletic Association football championship games for the 50th anniversary of the first OHSAA playoff tournament.Saint Henry, Ohio, grows corn, soybeans, wheat, oats and ball players.The most visible structure in the city – apart from the Catholic Church of St. Henry – it's a welcome to St. Henry sign declaring it his home Jim Lachey, Bobby Hoying, Jeff Hartings and Wally Post.Hoying was a quarterback who made Ohio State's all-time team. Post, Hoying's grandfather, is in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Lachey was one of “The Hogs” during Washington's…

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Adolescent and young adult behavioral health provider Newport Healthcare has announced the acquisition of pediatric mental health provider PrairieCare. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. PrairieCare brings nine Minnesota locations to the deal. Its services include mental health screenings, clinical services, inpatient psychiatric hospital, intensive outpatient programs (ICU), partial hospitalization programs (PHPs), and hospice services. This acquisition comes at a time when demand for youth and adolescent mental health services is soaring. In fact, about half of teens in the U.S. have experienced a mental health disorder at some point in their lives, according to the Office of Population…

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Reporting nearly 28% revenue growth between 2020 and 2022, Buist Electric was named ENR Midwest Specialty Contractor of the Year. Photo courtesy of Buist Electric Rising prices and supply chain issues are just some of the challenges that specialty contractor companies have had to overcome in recent years. Despite these headwinds, Buist Electric, based in Byron Center, Mich., continued to grow, achieving year-over-year revenue growth of $81 million in 2020, to $84 million in 2021, to $107 million in 2022, an increase over three years of almost 28%. For this reason and other factors, Buist Electric was named the ENR…

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One of the most famous political tweets in history is also one of the most inscrutable.On November 3, 2014, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) is offered the following thought on the social media platform: “Windsor Heights Dairy Queen is a good place to know.”People generally knew what. Dairy Queen is primarily an ice cream chain, after all, so one assumes the then-seventy-year-old senator was referring to the frozen treat. Although it was November, the weather is usually not freezing, especially in Iowa. And then there was the odd phrase. normally “you know what” is code for … you know what.…

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