Mt. Pleasant News

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News Although many local officials and residents are harboring a wait-and-see attitude on the effects of the new fireworks law in Iowa, Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee has his mind made up.McNamee doesn?t like it and his disapproval is based on his investigation over a decade ago of a fatal fireworks accident. ?It was the most gruesome call I ever covered,? he reflected.When ...

Legislators this year passed a new fireworks law in Iowa, allowing for the sale and use of fireworks during specific hours and dates of the year. Cities can opt out of allowing use, or can limit days and hours of the discharge of fireworks in city limits.Cities cannot opt out of allowing fireworks to be sold but can limit the days and hours. Zoning in the state law doesn?t mention use or sale of fireworks. The ...

By Karyn Spory, Mt. Pleasant News WINFIELD ? The Winfield-Mt. Union Community School District has a couple of options when it comes to installing a new HVAC system, but Superintendent Jeff Maeder says there?s one that he feels is a clear advantage.Last Wednesday, Brandon Pierson, a representative of KJWW (IMEG Corp.) a Quad-Cities based engineering firm, met with the school board to discuss the best way to ...

By Ed Tibbetts, Quad-City Times One of the most prominent voices with Iowa?s older population has launched a campaign to push back against elements of the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.AARP is in the midst of sponsoring a series of public forums across the state targeting House legislation approved last month. In addition, it has begun airing television ads aimed at influencing...

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News CRAWFORDSVILLE ? With nearly two months remaining before the bell rings to signal the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, WACO has nearly completed its faculty roster.As is the case each year, school board members met for their June session June 15 at the elementary school media center in Crawfordsville.During the meeting, directors approved contracts for Skyler Rodgers ...

By James Q. Lynch, The Gazette CEDAR RAPIDS ? Donald Trump once passed over Tana Goertz, but now the former Apprentice runner-up is working to make sure the president spends a full eight years in his job.Goertz, co-chairwoman of Trump?s 2016 Iowa campaign and now is busy with re-election plans, is looking forward to the president?s visit to Cedar Rapids June 21.Unlike his visit to Des Moines, Trump?s 7 p.m. ...

First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant invites Children to ?Maker Fun Factory VBS: Created by God, Built for a Purpose.?A summer kids? event called Maker Fun Factory VBS will be hosted at First Baptist Church from June 19 to June 23. At Maker Fun Factory, kids discover that God made them?and for a purpose! Kids participate in memorable Bible-learning activities, sing catchy songs, play teamwork-building games, ...

Matt Bryant, publisher of The Mt. Pleasant News, has announced the promotion of Karyn Spory to managing editor.Spory has been with The News for nearly three years, the last two of which she has served as the leader of the news department. In her new role she will continue with her current responsibilities while adding more operations management and community outreach duties.?Karyn has been an asset to The News ...

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News There may be several more Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS) special assessments on Mt. Union residential tax bills.Bruce Hudson, RUSS executive director, told RUSS board members June 14 that several Mt. Union residents have yet to pay their May sewer bills. May bills were due June 15, and Hudson said payments not received will be added to special assessments which will ...

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News Offenders at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility soon will be employed at West Liberty Foods, Henry County supervisors learned during their meeting Thursday.Dan Clark, director of Iowa Prison Industries, told the board that West Liberty Foods approached him about employing offenders. ?West Liberty Foods has asked us about employing incarcerated offenders. They said they ...

By Karyn Spory, Mt. Pleasant News A curious raccoon was the cause of a power outage during the early morning hours on Thursday, June 15, 2017.Jack Hedgecock, Mt. Pleasant Municipal Utilities general manager, said the high profile system outage occurred at 4 a.m. Thursday morning and impacted approximately 2,000 customers in the northern half of the city.?The cause was due to a raccoon that climbed on top of ...

Workers were busy recently repairing a sewer line at a residence on East Monroe Street. The repair work necessitated the closing of Monroe Street between Walnut and Cherry streets. The work took several days.