Obituaries

To the editorI no longer live in Mt. Pleasant but am here visiting a dear friend and classmate. We both attended grade schools in Mt. Pleasant and graduated from the high school in 1943. We both went to Iowa Wesleyan College and I am proud that all five of my children attended college.I have been following the news about the school bond. I see the school board requests funds to bring the elementary schools up ...

To the editor:I am writing in response to a letter written concerning the leadership in the Mt Pleasant Community School District. In the letter the writer stated, ?If you honestly want to know what is going on in the district ? ask a teacher, a para-educator, a lunchroom worker, a bus driver, a maintenance person, an administrative assistant or a long-term substitute.?I have been an administrative assistant ...

To the editor:As a graduate of Mt. Pleasant High School, I was interested to learn more about the proposed strategic plan for the community?s schools so I went to one of the five community meetings.I was impressed with the scope of the plan, both including academic proposals and improvements to our facilities. Also, it was clear that this was a proposal and not a done deal.The board of education was asking for ...

By MEGAN COOPERMt. Pleasant NewsI looked at the 10-day forecast and I was immediately excited. The temperatures are finally warming up and I will spend as much time as I can outside.I?m so ready for spring/summer it?s not even funny. I have avoided looking at the weather because I fear what I will see. I don?t think I can handle any more snow, not this winter anyway, maybe not even next. Definitely snowed ...

By MEGAN COOPER Mt. Pleasant NewsSitting here, I keep thinking about the very few days we?ve had in 2014. To say it has been a ?joy? would be lying.The year began with the typical ?I will change that and that? attitude. A few self-improvements never hurt anyone.Then, tragedy struck. And again. Now I wait for the third. Bad luck always comes in threes?right?I did not know them well, just in passing, but ...

By BROOKS TAYLORMt. Pleasant NewsA long time ago, I heard a friend define a problem as nothing more than a disguised opportunity.At the time, the remark was one of those ?in one ear, out the other? scenarios, barely registering.Over the years, however, problems have taken me back to the definition and have found the definition holds a lot of truth.Along those same lines, I firmly believe that there is a ...

By MEGAN COOPERMt. Pleasant NewsTechnology has overtaken the world. I mean that literally. Haven?t you seen the way teenagers today ?socially interact?? It?s sickening?with that said, I?m a total hypocrite and didn?t realize it until recently.You see, Facebook to me is this amazing invention to keep you in touch with family, friends and people you meet in your life. What they don?t tell you is that it sucks ...

By CURT SWARMI?ve written before about the interesting things that happen on sales appointments. Here?s a goodie: As I pulled into this particular rural address, the first thing I noticed was a sprawling country estate, complete with a pond on each side of a tree-lined lane. You can?t help but like a place like that. There was also a small windmill close to one of the ponds. The windmill had the name of the home ...

By STEPH TAHTINENMt. Pleasant News I am not a sports fan. I never have been. Yet, for someone who basically despises sports, it?s amazing how much of my childhood was defined by the Green Bay Packers.It?s not that my parents are huge Packers fans. Rather, it?s a matter of geography. I grew up an hour south of the Frozen Tundra. Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. In this part of the state, the ...

By BROOKS TAYLORMt. Pleasant News Okay, I?m taking a risk, a risk by dating myself.I remember when Garrison Keillor began his radio show. For years he has hosted a radio program on National Public Radio (NPR).On his show, ?A Prairie Home Companion,? he featured the news from Lake Woebegon. Lake Woebegon is a fictional town in Keillor?s native Minnesota where ?the women are strong, the men are good-looking ...