Obituaries

By Grace King, Mt. Pleasant News Iowa Wesleyan University is bursting at the seams this year with a 30-year high in retention rates leading to 110 percent occupancy on campus this fall.With around 200 incoming freshmen and a 70 percent retention of students from freshman to sophomore year, Iowa Wesleyan University (IW) administration is finding creative ways to house their 560 students.The high occupancy ...

By John Butters, Mt. Pleasant News When you ask Tom Rhoades how he got into the carnival business, he gives a quick, terse answer.?One thing led to another,? he said.Friendly with the gift of gab, he'll bend your ear with stories of the famous and near-famous. ?I guess some of it gets kind of deep,? he admits. ?I could write a book, though.?Powerfully built with massive forearms and a grip that could crush a ...

By John Butters, Mt. Pleasant News Taking the Lord's message into public places is one of the ambitions of ?Praise in the Park?, an ecumenical gathering conducted Sunday in Mt. Pleasant's Central Park.Lori Werner, the chief organizer of the event for the past 10 years, said the annual gathering is more important now than ever. ?Now, when we have a divided world, it's important that we gather together to thank ...

The Mt. Pleasant Police Department was dispatched to a single vehicle rollover collision on Highway 218 on Saturday, Aug. 4 at approximately 12:02 a.m.Matthew Schilling, of Washburn, was driving southbound on Highway 218 when he fell asleep at the wheel, drifting onto the inside shoulder. Schilling's vehicle struck the guardrail just before the railroad bridge overpass at milemarker 42. The collision caused the ...

Editors note: The story has been updated from it's original format. OTTUMWA ? One person is dead and at least two others injured in separate shootings Friday in Ottumwa, including a shootout between suspects and law enforcement officers.At 1:42 p.m. Friday, the Ottumwa Police Department received a call reporting shots fired at 831 S. Lillian St. in Ottumwa. The caller advised that one person had been shot. ...

By Grace King, Mt. Pleasant News A year has come and gone since Henry County residents voted an emphatic ?yes? to approve a $9.1 million bond referendum to finance a new county law enforcement center.In honor of that, Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee and members of the Citizens Organized for Public Safety (COPS) hosted an open house at the courthouse Thursday, Aug. 2, giving Henry County residents the ...

By Grace King, Mt. Pleasant News Henry County departments are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best with CPR and active shooter training and investment in Stop the Bleed kits.Department heads gave routine updates during a Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday, Aug. 2, discussing ways to keep their departments and county safer.Walt Jackson, Henry County Emergency Management coordinator, recently ...

Every week, the Mt. Pleasant News will feature a Henry County resident in a profile snapshot. The questions will appear in bold.This week's 'Friend on the Front Page' is Cari Nicely, whom you may know as a naturalist at the Henry County Conservation Department.Are you originally from Mt. Pleasant? If not, what brought you here? No ? I'm from Fairfield, but my grandfather was originally from Mt. Pleasant. I ...

By John Butters, Mt. Pleasant News WINFIELD ? Winfield threw a party this past weekend and those who didn't attend missed out on some old-fashioned fun.Crooked Creek Days, a town celebration that started out 20 years ago as a one-day celebration, now fills an entire weekend with family-friendly activities, including the kickoff event Friday night, the cardboard boat regatta races at Twin Lakes Country Club.Jen...

By Grace King, Mt. Pleasant News WINFIELD ? Sink or swim at Crooked Creek Days this weekend in Winfield.For weeks, residents have been building their cardboard boats ? a staple of Crooked Creek Days ? to set them afloat at Twin Lakes Golf Course and Country Club on Friday, Aug. 3, at 6 p.m. The four-person or big boat race will be last.Activities continue from there throughout Saturday, Aug. 4, and concluding ...