Today's Local News

Kalona gearing up for tourist season

Posted: Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 4:22 am

Tourism Season is coming soon and a lot of places are getting ready. Nancy Roth with the Kalona Historical Village says they stay prepared all winter long. She says their tourism season usually starts in early April. Roth says they dont have too much to do to get ready. She says they will start opening the buildings that were closed for the winter in late March when the weather starts to stay warmer. Roth says the village still attracts tourists throughout the winter but the busiest part of the season is around June and July and during Kalona Days.

IMS Boys Basketball Team At State Tournament

Posted: Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 4:56 am

The IMS boys basketball team makes their return to the state tournament in Des Moines today. IMS is playing Ventura, who is making their first trip to the state tournament in school history. Ventura is a town of about 700 people 14 miles west of Mason City. As for IMS, their last two trips, in 05 and 07, they reached the finals and lost close games. You’ll be able to hear the game right here on the one to count on KCII. The game is scheduled to start at 2 pm.

Souper Bowl Supper Next Monday

Posted: Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 4:55 am

You are invited to a Souper Bowl Supper and it has nothing to do with football. The Second Annual Souper Bowl Supper will be held in the cafeteria at Washington High School next Monday. There will be a variety of soups and all the trimmings and drinks, prepared by the high school Nutrition and Fitness class. The soups will be served in handmade ceramic bowls made by the Ceramics and Sculpture classes. The proceeds go to Washington HACAP. You can purchase tickets in advance for $6. The Souper Bowl Supper is next Monday from 4:30 to 6:30. You can call 653-2143 for ticket information.

College Planning Night

Posted: Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 4:55 am

Seniors are preparing for college. Mid Prairie High school is holding a College Prep night tonight at 7pm. School Councilor Sarah Kos says they are brining in people from around the state to allow the seniors and juniors to ask questions and learn what to expect in college. Kos says it is geared mainly towards seniors but juniors are welcome to attend as well. The Prep night will be tonight at 7pm at the Mid Prairie High School

Lincoln Literacy Night Thursday

Posted: Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 4:55 am

Lincoln Literacy Night is coming to Lincoln Elementary Thursday night. One of the organizers and Lincoln Teacher Linda Shields says this is for parents and children. She says they will have four informative sessions going on for parents. Those include how to motivate kids to read, fun ways to improve your child’s vocabulary, bullying, and what programs are offered at the library. The kids will take part in games and story time. The parents will have time to go to two of the sessions so they want to choose the two they find most beneficial. Lincoln Literacy night will be Thursday from 6-7:30 at Lincoln Elementary.

Farm Bureau Concerned About County Secondary Roads

Posted: Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 4:55 am

The Washington County Iowa Farm Bureau is hoping find a solution to improving county secondary roads. Regional Manager for the Iowa Farm Bureau Jerry Anderson says the conditions of these roads are not very good primarily because they were built to handle limited traffic and vehicles from the 50’s and 60’s. Anderson says today there is more traffic and heavier vehicles. The Farm Bureau recently held a workshop with county officials to discuss some possible solutions. Now Anderson says the plan is to survey members to identify which solution they favor, and work with supervisors to take action along those lines.

Riverside City Council

Posted: Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 4:54 am

The Riverside City council is meeting tonight. On the agenda there will be an open public hearing on the 2009-2010 budget estimates. The council will ask for any oral or written objections and then finish with a resolution to approve the budget estimate. The council will meet at the city hall at 5pm.

Daffodil Days Delayed

Posted: Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 4:54 am

The American Cancer Society Daffodil Days is scheduled for this week with daffodils scheduled to be delivered in many locations tomorrow. Kierstan Peck, Community Relations with the American Cancer Society says because of poor weather conditions out west, the daffodil delivery has been delayed. She says at this particular time, they do not have the revised truck schedules. As soon as she receives this information she will let everyone know. Peck says she is not expecting to receive any deliveries until at least Thursday or Friday.

IMS Boys Basketball Team At State Tournament

Posted: Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 6:15 am

The IMS boys basketball team makes their return to the state tournament in Des Moines tomorrow. IMS is playing Ventura, who is making their first trip to the state tournament in school history. Ventura is a town of about 700 people 14 miles west of Mason City. As for IMS, their last two trips, in 05 and 07, they reached the finals and lost in close games. You'll be able to hear the game right here on the one to count on KCII. The game is scheduled to start at 2pm.

Souper Bowl Supper

Posted: Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 6:14 am

You are invited to a Souper Bowl Supper and it has nothing to do with football. The Second Annual Souper Bowl Supper will be held in the Cafeteria at Washington High School next Monday. There will be a variety of soups and all the trimmings and drinks, prepared by the high school Nutrition and Fitness class. The soups will be served in handmade ceramic bowls made by the Ceramics and Sculpture classes. The proceeds go to Washington HACAP. You can purchase tickets in advance for $6. The Souper Bowl Supper is next Monday from 4:30 to 6:30. You can call 653-2143 for ticket information.

Preparing for College

Posted: Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 6:13 am

Seniors are preparing for college and Mid Prairie High School is holding a College Prep night tomorrow at 7pm. School Councilor Sarah kos says they are brining in people from around the state to allow the seniors and juniors to ask questions and learn what to expect in college. Kos says it is geared mainly towards seniors but juniors are welcome to attend as well. The Prep night will be tomorrow at 7pm at the Mid Prairie High School.

Kalona Days

Posted: Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 6:12 am

Kalona Days are being put together; this years theme is celebrating the 130th birthday of Kalona. Festival Director Dave Finley is now accepting applications for food vendors, arts & crafts vendors, as well as groups, organizations and businesses that wish to have a booth or display at this 2 day event. Organizers are constructing what may be the largest quilt cake of its kind in America. For information or a vendor application please call the Kalona General Store 319-656-3535.

Business Manager Clarifies Superintendent’s Contract

Posted: Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 9:43 am

The Washington Community School District's Business Manager wants to clarify the latest superintendent's contract approved by the school board. The board approved keeping Interim Superintendent Dave Sextro on for one more year at around $124,000, which is the same value of the contract the district had with previous superintendent, Dave Schmidt. District Business Manager Jeff Dieleman says this year's contract pays Sextro around $93,000, but the district pro-rated the contract because Sextro started in late August and he had some unpaid vacations scheduled. So while the value in the latest contract appears higher, Dieleman says it's actually the same contract.

City Council Approves Budget

Posted: Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 9:42 am

The Washington City Council has approved their budget for the upcoming fiscal year and it will mean a little higher property taxes. After the council held a public hearing on the budget they passed it last night. According to City Administrator Dave Plyman for someone with a $100,000 home, they paid around $1700 in property taxes last year, about $560 of that was city property tax. He says if the home value was the same this year you'd pay around $600 in city property taxes. Plyman says the driving force behind the increase is a drop in money coming into the city from sales taxes.

New GPS System For County Engineers

Posted: Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 9:41 am

The Washington County Engineer's Office is getting a new GPS system. County Engineer David Patterson says this will replace an older system they have which is about 10 years old. Patterson says this new system is not like the one you by at a department or the Garman GPS units, this is much more accurate, with as he puts it golf ball size accuracy. The new system will cost $22,500 and work with a new GPS network the state is activating. Patterson says the equipment is instrumental in their work.

Kalona Elementary Super Kids

Posted: Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 9:40 am

Kalona Elementary School has a program in place to help kids learn to become the best they can be. Principle Jim Cayton says its called the Super Kid program. He says it is a reward system for good behavior and good academics. Cayton says they have many prizes available from pizza slices to an iPod. He says the kids have been having fun with the program and are enjoying wearing the t-shirts that are black in color and have a big superman logo on the front. The program runs all year.

IMS Sports Trainer

Posted: Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 9:40 am

One of the most important parts of playing sports is staying healthy. Eric Turner with Jet Physical Therapy says Chuck Miller is a therapist that goes to IMS to help with the sports department. Miller is an IMS Graduate and enjoys helping the teams out. Turner says the post season is very important to athletes and that they put a lot of pressure on themselves and that can cause unwanted injuries. Miller says he is hopeful for the IMS boys basketball team in the post season and hopes to see them go to the finals of the state tournament.

Washington Y Director

Posted: Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 9:40 am

Today is Washington Community Y Director Darren Pickles last day. Pickles is moving to Pennsylvania to run a brand new 45,000 square foot facility on 10 acres of land in the Lancaster metro area. Pickles says he wasn't looking to move and the opportunity just kind of fell on him. He says one of the toughest decisions he's had to make is to leave the Washington area, but the move will mean his family will be closer to friends and relatives in the east. Darren Pickles has been the director of the Washington Community Y since March 2005.

Winfield-Mt. Union School Board

Posted: Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 9:39 am

The Winfield Mt. Union Community School Board will be meeting on Monday. On the agenda the board will be employee conduct and appearance and what is expected. The School Board will also be discussing the senior class trips and a shared wrestling program with New London. The School Board will be meeting on Monday at 6:30pm in the media center.

County Supervisors At State Workshop

Posted: Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 9:08 am

Washington County Supervisors are off to Des Moines for a statewide convention. The Iowa State Association of Counties is putting it on. Washington Supervisor Chair Jim Miksch says there are various workshops and it's an opportunity to interact with other supervisors in the state, which sometimes can be as good as some of the workshops. Miksch says a couple of the workshops he feels will hit close to Washington will be one talking about alternative ways to fund county secondary road repairs and managing times when revenues are lower.