Obituaries

?The Swedesburg Lutheran Church Luther League enjoyed a ski trip to Sundown Mountain in Dubuque on Sunday, Feb. 18.

DES MOINES ? Seeking to bypass what could be a protracted court battle, the Iowa House Tuesday voted 94-3 to require the contract to develop standardized tests for K-12 students to go to the University of Iowa testing services.After the Legislature sent out requests for proposals last year, the Iowa Department of Education awarded the contract to Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes of Research.The UI ...

Education will be at the forefront of discussion during a legislative forum on Saturday, Feb. 24.The legislative breakfast is the second of a four-part series hosted by the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance to bring elected state officials, Sen. Rich Taylor (D-Mt. Pleasant) and Rep. Dave Heaton (R-Mt. Pleasant) together with the public to discuss important topics each month.The Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber ...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered the creation of a task force to examine how his Justice Department can better combat a wide cross-section of global cyber threats, including efforts to interfere with elections or damage critical infrastructure.The announcement on Tuesday of the new task force came amid renewed concerns about how Russia and foreign adversaries may attempt to use cyber ...

DES MOINES ? Iowa Republicans in 2016 picked him to be the party's presidential candidate.Now Iowa's state Republican Party leaders are calling on Ted Cruz to stand down from his stonewalling of an Iowan's nomination to a federal agriculture department post.The Republican Party of Iowa's leadership committee on Monday sent to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz a letter asking the Texas Republican to stop blocking the nomination...

DES MOINES ? Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters Monday that Iowa has ?reasonable and responsible? gun laws on the books but needs to take a ?holistic? approach to addressing mental health needs and engaging citizens to report suspicious threats in the wake of last week's mass shooting in Florida.Reynolds opened her weekly news conference by offering ?sympathies and prayers to all those impacted? by Wednesday's ...

Warren Messer swept the sidewalk as snow fell late Saturday morning. Messer spent much of the past couple weeks shoveling nine sidewalks and a few driveways during heavy snowfall. Luckily for him, the rest of the snow melted throughout the day on Saturday and into Sunday.

By David Hotle, Golden Triangle News Service COLUMBUS JUNCTION ? One man was reported dead following a cave-in accident on Friday, Feb. 16.According to a news release from the Columbus Junction Police Department, Anthony Hills, 52, owner and operator of Hills Construction, was pronounced dead after an excavated area he was working in caved in while repairs were being done to a sewer line.An Occupational ...

Henry County Tourism has announced the recipients of the second annual Henry County Tourism grant program. This grant program is aimed at bringing people to Henry County and generating overnight stays at area hotels.?How exciting that we are able to increase the total grant monies this year. It is so rewarding to be able to put this money back into our community?, said Kristi Ray, executive vice president of the ...

By Grace King, Mt. Pleasant News Although a number of family members shared the stage this past weekend at Community Theatre's show ?REWIND: A revue of (almost) 50 years of musicals,? only one family had three generations of women represented on stage.Lorene Ellerhoff, of Middletown, and her daughter Lea McCormick, of Mt. Pleasant, aren't new to performing together. Ellerhoff first took the stage with her ...