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Crystal Ball Gala postponed due to COVID | News | desototimes.com DeSoto Times-Tribune
Women's Basketball | January 4
DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team will take the floor at the NIU Convocation Center for the first time in over a month Wednesday night when the Huskies host the Ball State Cardinals at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and locally on WLBK 98.9 FM/1360 AM, as well as on the NIU Huskies app.
In November 2021 many breweries across the country received notification from Ball Corporation that starting January 1, 2022, the minimum order for printed aluminum cans, pending available supply, has increased from one to five truckloads per SKU for non-contracted customers. In addition, Ball announced that it will no longer warehouse inventory on behalf of customers and has pointed most non-contract customers to a set of distributors for future orders.
This news comes at a difficult time for the brewing industry which is already dealing with the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and supply chain issues. Many craft brewers pivoted to packaging their product to bring in much-needed income when their primary sales platforms disappeared (tasting rooms, bars, and restaurants) during the pandemic. Cans currently make up around 60 percent of independent craft packaged volume, and, as demand for sustainable aluminum beverage packaging continues to grow at an accelerated pace and large beverage brands switch from plastic bottles to cans, the squeeze on supply for small brewers continues to tighten.
Throughout the last month Brewers Association staff has been in contact with Ball and members of Congress to discuss ways to mitigate some of these changes and help ensure that they do not have an overwhelmingly negative impact on small and independent craft breweries. At the end of December, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden (D-OR), sent a letter to Ball Corporation asking that among other things Ball consider a delay of implementation on direct orders from non-contracted customers.
Ball notified the Senator’s office and the Brewers Association that it will postpone until March 1, 2022, the implementation of their minimum order requirements for customers that do not have supply contracts with the company, with the caveat that they will not be able to provide those customers with delivery date assurances. Ball also stated that they are open to further engaging with brewers on the distributor supply option to offer additional sources of aluminum beverage packaging. Sen. Wyden issued a statement on Jan. 4 welcoming Ball’s decision to postpone.
Though we know that this does not fully solve the supply chain issues, this is a positive step forward and opens the door to continued dialogue with Ball. The Brewers Association will continue to look for ways to work with our elected offices in an effort to help our members who have been impacted by this and other supply chain issues. We want to continue hearing from our members, feel free to email Bart Watson and Chuck Skypeck with stories about how supply chain issues are impacting your brewery.
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Ball to Donate $1 Million to Colorado Wildfire Recovery Efforts Victoria AdvocatePress Release From: Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp.
Posted: Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) today announced that The Ball Foundation will donate $1 million and deploy other disaster relief efforts to support communities in Colorado devastated by the recent wildfires.
To support victims of the Marshall fire, Ball coordinated with the governor's office to ensure any support was directed at the most local and targeted level, and will contribute $1 million to the Community Foundation Boulder County, benefiting the Boulder County Wildfire Fund, which is working closely with local government and nonprofit partners to coordinate, align resources and fill gaps to support those most impacted by the wildfire. The Ball Foundation will match employee donations as part of the company's ongoing community giving support efforts in addition to working with local partners, to assess local clean drinking water needs and will distribute canned water as needed.
"Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by the terrible wildfire that hit our home state of Colorado last week," said John Hayes, chairman and CEO of Ball. "Many Ball employees live and work in the areas impacted by the sudden wildfire outbreak and have experienced the devastation firsthand. This is our community and we're committed to helping with recovery and rebuilding efforts both financially and by mobilizing our employee base through volunteer recovery efforts."
Ball employs approximately 7,000 people in Colorado and has been part of the community for over 65 years. Ball's operations have not been impacted by the fires.
About The Ball Foundation
The Ball Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, private foundation. Founded in December 2010, The Ball Foundation's mission is to provide financial support to nonprofit organizations that sustain the communities in which we live and operate by improving and promoting education, recycling and community engagement. For more information about the Ball Foundation, please visit our foundation website.
About Ball Corporation
Ball Corporation supplies innovative, sustainable aluminum packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 21,500 people worldwide and reported 2020 net sales of $11.8 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," and similar expressions typically identify forward-looking statements, which are generally any statements other than statements of historical fact. Such statements are based on current expectations or views of the future and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied. You should therefore not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements and they should be read in conjunction with, and qualified in their entirety by, the cautionary statements referenced below. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to be different are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99 in our Form 10-K, which are available on our website and at www.sec.gov. Additional factors that might affect: a) our packaging segments include product capacity, supply, and demand constraints and fluctuations and changes in consumption patterns; availability/cost of raw materials, equipment, and logistics; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; footprint adjustments and other manufacturing changes, including the startup of new facilities and lines; failure to achieve synergies, productivity improvements or cost reductions; unfavorable mandatory deposit or packaging laws; customer and supplier consolidation; power and supply chain interruptions; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; inability to pass through increased costs; political instability and sanctions; currency controls; changes in foreign exchange or tax rates; and tariffs, trade actions, or other governmental actions, including business restrictions and shelter-in-place orders in any country or jurisdiction affecting goods produced by us or in our supply chain, including imported raw materials; b) our aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; c) the Company as a whole include those listed above plus: the extent to which sustainability-related opportunities arise and can be capitalized upon; changes in senior management, succession, and the ability to attract and retain skilled labor; regulatory actions or issues including those related to tax, ESG reporting, competition, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in our containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; the ability to manage cyber threats; litigation; strikes; disease; pandemic; labor cost changes; inflation; rates of return on assets of the Company's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding geopolitical events and governmental policies, including policies, orders, and actions related to COVID-19; reduced cash flow; interest rates affecting our debt; and successful or unsuccessful joint ventures, acquisitions and divestitures, and their effects on our operating results and business generally.
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Lonzo Ball, Chicago Bulls Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
During a pretty insane stretch of the regular season schedule for the surging Chicago Bulls, the team is looking to continue their winning ways as they get the team back together after the turn of the calendar year. The Bulls were one of the first teams to get hit hard by a rash of COVID-19-related issues sending players and coaches into the league’s health and safety protocol.
And one of the last notable players for the Bulls in the health and safety protocol is point guard Lonzo Ball. Missing five games now in the health and safety protocol going back a couple of weeks, Lonzo would be a very welcome addition back to the rotation for the Bulls.
The last game that Lonzo played in for the Bulls came back on Dec. 20, in a win over the Houston Rockets. But it looks like the Bulls could have Lonzo back in the mix as the team gets ready to take on the Orlando Magic on Jan. 3.
Lonzo is reportedly out of the health and safety protocol to round out the weekend and could be available for the Bulls against the Magic to start off next week. He is reportedly no longer listed on the official injury report for the Bulls meeting with the Magic on Jan. 3.
In Lonzo’s absence, though, interim head coach Chris Fleming and the Bulls did witness the rise of third-year point guard Coby White in the starting unit. Coby is playing his best basketball of the season of late and has filled in for Lonzo’s absence admirably in the starting unit.
Yet, the hope is that the Bulls will get strong second unit play out of Coby upon the return of Lonzo to the starting unit. It should also help the Bulls gain more strength back on the defensive end of the floor with Lonzo back in the top unit.
There are still some key players that could b missing for the Bulls in the Jan. 3 meeting with the Magic. Point guard Alex Caruso, center Tony Bradley, and shooting guard/forward Javonte Green could all still be missing for the Bulls next week.
After an insane game-winner from star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan in a win over the Washington Wizards on the night of Jan. 1, the Bulls are sporting a record of 24-10. DeRozan hit two straight buzzer-beating three-pointers to win back-to-back games for the Bulls to knock off the Indiana Pacers and Wizards on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, respectively.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Preston Pope has no illusions.
He isn’t very tall, nor is he the fastest guy on the field.
Since his youth playing days in the Marshalltown Football League, Pope knew how he fit in with his peers.
“I’ve always been a little bit thicker than everybody else,” he said.
Stocky or husky, broad or burly, Pope made a massive impact on the West Marshall football program in his four years on the field. His 4,412 career rushing yards and four state playoff appearances helped to solidify his place as the Times-Republican’s 2021 All-Area Football Co-Player of the Year.
“He’s probably one kid who’s spent more time in the weight room than any kid I’ve ever coached,” said West Marshall head coach Cody Hackett. “He’s probably in there right now. He’s in there every day, he’s coachable, he’ll do everything you ask him to do.”
For West Marshall, Pope’s place was to take handoffs, break tackles and score touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 200-pound senior tailback toted the pigskin 229 times for 1,764 yards and 20 touchdowns to help West Marshall compile a 9-2 record this past fall, falling one win short of the Class 2A state semifinals for the second season in a row.
His senior totals were a shade short of his junior campaign, but a large graduating class took with it a bulk of the Trojans’ offensive line from 2020. A revamped line saw players take up new roles blocking instead of running the ball or catching passes, and Pope’s numbers didn’t diminish much for his final fall.
In fact, he averaged 7.7 yards per carry — the exact same as the season before.
Pope rushed for more yards than 214 other teams did in 2021, and his rushing total alone was more than 45 teams across the state gained on offense the entire season.
“We knew he was pretty special when he was a freshman,” Hackett said. “We didn’t play him much, but we knew he was going to be good. Opposing coaches knew we had him coming up too.
“I’m just glad he was on our team and we weren’t having to tackle him. If there was a stat for it, he probably would have led the state in broken tackles.”
Pope’s ability to run over, around and through would-be tacklers was on full display for the last two seasons, when he was the feature back for Hackett’s Trojans. In 2019, Pope had to share the backfield with his older brother Peyton, the team’s quarterback, and the more experienced ball carrier finished with more attempts and more yards.
West Marshall went 6-4, falling in the first round of the playoffs to eventual undefeated state champion OABCIG, but the experience led to bigger and better things for the “little” brother.
“That was just a cool experience, being in the backfield with my brother and playing together, coming together for his final year,” Preston said. “He was injured so much in high school but he made it through. He played that whole season with a broken wrist.”
Preston’s compact build made him more durable than most high schoolers. In four years, he compiled 598 carries, 4,412 yards, 49 rushing touchdowns and an average gain of 7.4 yards per carry.
He carried the ball 36 times against Aplington-Parkersburg in his junior season, and he put the Trojans on his back for 35 carries and 261 yards in a playoff win against Mid-Prairie this past fall.
He rushed for 148 yards or more in 14 of 21 games over his final two seasons, going for 1,842 yards as a junior and 1,764 more as a senior. He ground out 305 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries against Iowa Falls-Alden in 2020.
Pope pounded opponsing defenses into submission more times than the obverse.
“He’s like a bowling ball,” Hackett said. “Our line was good but he broke a lot of tackles. He runs with a low center of gravity and he’s the type of player that the more you give him the ball, the harder he runs and wears on the opponents.
“I think that’s just him and his confidence that he got throughout years in the weight room. He likes physical contact and he likes to hit people. There were times he’d make people miss, too, but he really enjoyed contact.”
Pope was the Trojans’ leading tackle as well, totalling 196.5 tackles over his four-year career playing primarily linebacker.
But running guys over on his way into the end zone — that’s where he made his mark.
“That’s been pretty much my game,” Preston said. “I’ve always been a little bit thicker than everybody else. It was pretty early on that I got in the weight room. In sixth or seventh grade I started learning the right form and then late eighth grade going into freshman year, that’s when I really started hitting the weights hard.
“You’ve got to be big to be physical.”
So when you’re well shy of 6 feet tall, growing out is about the only way to grow up.
“He didn’t lead with his voice, he led us with his work ethic and determination,” said Hackett. “He’s not a typical kid you’ll see a school our size get, but he laid it on the line for us. You could see the hurt in his face and the years in his eyes (after West Marshall’s last game), but he should be proud of what he accomplished.”
For Pope, he puts this fall’s achievements on top of the rest.
“Just doing what we did this year because coming into the year we lost a bunch of players and just to come back and bring the team together and go 9-2 and get to the quarterfinals, that was good,” he said. “And just being part of four successful years and four state playoff appearances, coming together this last year to make it four. If you look at the guys we were missing and the size we were missing (to graduation), we knew it was going to be tough but we got ‘er done.”
2021 Times-Republican All-Area Football Team
Co-Players of the Year — Gabe Kopriva, sr., North Tama; Preston Pope, sr., West Marshall
Co-Coaches of the Year — Cody Hackett, West Marshall; Taylor Wurth, North Tama
ALL-AREA TEAM
Quarterback — Isaac Clark, so., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Peyton Hart, jr., West Marshall; Dalen Huston, so., Marshalltown.
Running Back — Garrett Kerber, sr., East Marshall; Boden Koehler, sr., South Tama; Nick Rebik, jr., Marshalltown.
Wide Receiver — Caleb Egesdal, jr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Ethan Gienger, sr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Devin McKinley, sr., North Tama; Michael Schrier, jr., North Tama.
Tight End — Adam Greiner, sr., North Tama; Gannon Williams, sr., Marshalltown.
Offensive Line — Zach Chaplin, jr., West Marshall; Clay Goecke, jr., Marshalltown; Thomas Hulme, sr., North Tama; Nick Lucas, jr., Marshalltown; Sam Schaper, jr., West Marshall.
Defensive Line — Dominick Garth, sr., Marshalltown; Cody Gebel, sr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Ryan Hosek, so., North Tama; Austin Pfantz, jr., West Marshall; Tristen Sanford-Anders, sr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck.
Linebacker — Tim Benson, sr., East Marshall; Drake Blakesley, sr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Jacob Collison, sr., South Tama; Logan Rausch, sr., North Tama; Tom Smith, sr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Caden Vellinga, jr., West Marshall; Aiden Zook, sr., North Tama.
Defensive Back — Nick Feldpausch, sr., BCLUW; Kooper Gill, sr., GMG; Bo Lee, jr., East Marshall; Ziek Slocum, sr., Marshalltown.
Kicker — Richard Toe, sr., Marshalltown.
Punter — Rudy Papakee, jr., South Tama.
Kick/Punt Returner — Larnell Bear, sr., Meskwaki; Kyler Smith, sr., South Tama.
Past T-R All-Area Players of the Year
2020 — Brayden Evertsen, sr., West Marshall; Luke Pinnick, sr., West Marshall; Carson Williams, sr., Marshalltown
2019 — Keagan Giesking, jr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Skyler Staker, sr., North Tama
2018 — Cameron Bannister, QB, West Marshall
2017 — Hunter Lott, QB, Gladbrook-Reinbeck
2016 — Bryce Flater, RB/LB, Grundy Center
2015 — Jerry Lowe, RB, South Tama
2014 — Eric Stoakes, RB, Gladbrook-Reinbeck
2013 — Duncan Ferch, RB, West Marshall
2012 — Blake Gimbel, QB, Marshalltown
2011 — Blake Gimbel, QB, Marshalltown & Dalton Ferch, RB, West Marshall
2010 — Dalton Ferch, RB, West Marshall
2009 — Jarred Carlson, WR, Marshalltown
2008 — Drake Ferch, RB, West Marshall
2007 — Tyler Peschong, QB, Marshalltown
2006 — Tyler Rabey, RB, West Marshall
2005 — Alex Mayorov, RB, GMG
2004 — Andrew Peschong, QB, Marshalltown
