Obituaries

WASHINGTON - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, told Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday he will not seek re-election in November, his office said.Ryan will serve his full term and retire in January, Brendan Buck, spokesperson for the Speaker, said in a statement.?After nearly twenty years in the House, the speaker is proud of all that has been accomplished and is ...

By Karyn Spory, Mt. Pleasant News Harlan Elementary School was placed on lockdown Tuesday morning after a man claimed that his wife had been shot outside of the school.Ronald Richard Hall, Jr., 43, of Mt. Pleasant, was arrested after he ran into Harlan Elementary School office and falsely claimed that his wife had just been shot, sending the K-5 elementary school into lockdown.According to police reports, a ...

NEW LONDON - The New London city council met at the new community hall last night to continue discussing flooring for the new building. The conversation was tabled at the last meeting because council members Scott Campbell and Dan Berner were not present.The proposed flooring is of carpet tiles in the community area and vinyl flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms.The council met at the new community hall, 103 ...

The Regional Utility Service Systems is continuing to work toward getting the ship up righted after they took over sanitarian services for Henry County when the previous sanitarian was terminated earlier this year.A part of ?straightening out the mess we've made? is reviewing permit applications for sewer systems, said Buzz Bezoni, chair of Board of Health during a meeting on Monday, April 9.Bruce Hudson, ...

The Henry County Conservation Department will be receiving some additional labor, free of charge, from inmates in the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility this spring.Department director John Pullis received a call from the Department of Corrections last week requesting projects inmates could take on in Henry County's parks and trails. So far, Pullis has supplied them with a list of 20 projects from clearing ...

The Henry County Sheriff's Office will hold an open house on Wednesday, April 11, from 5 to 8 p.m. so residents can see the Henry County Emergency Communications Division, meet the dispatchers and ask questions. The Henry County Sheriff's Office is located at 106 E. Clay St., in Mt. Pleasant.

Despite snow on Monday, construction crews got to work digging up the bricks along Jefferson St., which is part of the city's plan to move the downtown area ?uptown.?

By Gretchen Teske, Mt. Pleasant News The second annual international potluck was held at Iowa Wesleyan in the social hall and served over 80 people. Brave participants fought the snow to come in and share a dish on Sunday, April 8. Over 40 dishes and desserts were prepared by Henry County residents and IW students in an effort to unite the community.The potluck first became an idea in the fall of 2015 when ...

By Grace King, Mt. Pleasant News After recovering in the hospital for three months from injuries sustained in a hit and run last year in Ottumwa, Tara Klein found herself technically homeless.While her two children stayed with their father, Klein lost the room she was renting and ended up crashing with a new friend as she tried to get back on her feet.Landing a job at Innovairre, she wasn't able to stand on ...

By Grace King, Mt. Pleasant News The number of children living in poverty in Henry County increased from 16 percent to 18 percent, according to the 2018 County Health Rankings.While Director of Healthy Henry County Communities (HHCC) Kelly Carr said that they don't typically ?hang everything? on this data, it is the latest snapshot the county has of the overall health of its population.While an increase in ...