Obituaries

By BROOKS TAYLORMt. Pleasant NewsRoutine matters ? rezoning, approving an engineering services agreement and a couple of initial ordinance readings ? were handled by the Mt. Pleasant City Council in a brief regular meeting Wednesday evening.The council was also told by engineer Jim Warner of Warner Engineering Associates Inc. of Mt Pleasant that work in Central Park ? with the exception of finishing the ...

(AP) ? A former Iowa jail guard was the only person with reason to kill his pregnant wife, a prosecutor said Wednesday in closing arguments before the man?s murder trial went to a jury for deliberations.A judge handed the case Wednesday to a Henry County jury of six men and six women, The Des Moines Register reported. They met briefly before being dismissed for the day, and they will resume deliberations ...

Gary See, right, chairman of the Henry County Board of Supervisors, reaches into a hat held by County Auditor Shelly Barber to draw the winner of the Salem mayoral election. See drew the name of Dan Patterson, who will return to the mayor?s chair on Jan. 1, 2014.

Former Salem Mayor Dan Patterson will reclaim the post effective Jan. 1, 2014, by virtue of the luck of the draw.Patterson and current Mayor Linda Ward each had in the Nov. 5 general election. Since the community does not have an ordinance on breaking ties through a runoff election, state law says that the tie is broken by the drawing of a name from a hat by the county board of supervisors.Gary See, chairman of ...

By BROOKS TAYLORMt. Pleasant NewsThere isn?t much revenue for employee compensation next year, forewarned Mt. Pleasant Superintendent of Schools Mike Wells at Monday night?s regular meeting of the Mt. Pleasant School Board.He said due to an enrollment drop of 63 students in the certified enrollment count (the census dropped from 2,028.73 students last year to 1,964.89 during the current school year) this year, ...

By MEGAN COOPERMt. Pleasant NewsBurge Cemetery outside of New London has been facing dust issues for the past few years.?People are getting covered in dust, and not just their shoes,? said Chuck Knoll, who is part of the Burge Cemetery Commission, during Thursday?s Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting.The commission wants to have the roads fixed, in order to help control the dust. They are mainly looking ...

INVESTIGATIONSDaniel Ryan Vandenberg, 25, Stockport, was arrested at 400 block of East Henry Street and charged with operating while intoxicated (first offense), failure to prove security against liability (non-accident related) and driving on the wrong side of a two-way highway, Nov. 2.Michael Guy Given, 25, Ottumwa, was arrested at 200 block of South Adams Street and charged with public intoxication/consuming ...

The Wayland Fire Department hosted its 31st annual pancake supper this weekend. Fireman Josh Miller stops to chat with some future firemen during the supper. The department had quite a large crowd at the supper.

By TRISHA PHELPSMt. Pleasant NewsWINFIELD ? The Winfield Economic Betterment Group is taking Winfield from what used to be a sleepy little town into a place that has plenty of activities for young families.The group started two years ago when Chris Finnell became mayor of the city and its intent is to improve Winfield?s economy by hosting events for young families and encourage businesses to move to their ...

Mt. Pleasant Community High School students, from left, Austin Smith, Tony Cristoforo, Zoom Gwamna and Zach Mulford cheer on the Panther volleyball team during its opening-round 4A regional tournament match against Keokuk. The host Panthers swept the Chiefs and now travel to Solon Thursday night to tangle with the second-ranked Spartans.