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Henry County’s top stories of 2024
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Hershey Hall set for redevelopment
Following the approval of a tax incentive from the Henry County Board of Supervisors, developers Chris Ales and Jim Bergman look forward to renovating the former Iowa Wesleyan University Hershey Hall into affordable housing units next spring.
“We are so lucky to have this opportunity, right now, to have something great in our community,” Supervisor Marc Lindeen said during the Thursday, Sept. 19 meeting approving the tax incentive. “I am very appreciative.”
During the Thursday, Sept. 19 Board of Supervisors meeting, the supervisors unanimously approved a contract setting a Tax Increment Financing and Urban Redevelopment Area brought back to them by Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Mike Norris after previous meetings discussing the topic.
According to Bergman, current architectural plans for Hershey Hall show 32 units will take approximately 12 months to build, hopefully beginning in spring.
“It's designed to provide rents that are less than market rate rents for a period of 30 years,” he explained. “And besides that, obviously it's a renovation of an existing building. So, it's, it's keeping this building alive and refreshing it to go maybe another 50, 100 years. It's a gut rehab so the entire interior will be torn down, basically to the studs and outside walls, and completely redone.”
Mt. Pleasant Community School District takes on former Iowa Wesleyan Central Campus
During the Jan. 6, 2024 Mt. Pleasant Community School District Board meeting, Henriksen updated that board on a number of topics including district’s Iowa Wesleyan property purchase.
According to Henriksen, the school district’s $1.135 million purchase of the Iowa Wesleyan central campus property officially closed January 5.
This purchase includes everything in the central block of the IW Campus including the Howe Activity Center, Howe Student Union, P.E.O. building, chapel, Old Main, Pioneer Hall, and the parking lot south of the activity center.
Over Labor Day weekend, new signs went up on the former Iowa Wesleyan University campus. Just over a year after the university closed its doors, the black, gold, and purple sign has been replaced with the maroon and gold colors of Mt. Pleasant Community School District.
Mt. Pleasant Community Schools transition to grade-alike elementary schools
The first day of school was a little different in the Mt. Pleasant Community School District this year as elementary students no longer attend neighborhood schools, but instead grade-alike schools throughout the town.
Superintendent John Henriksen says the transition has gone very well thanks to good strategic planning. Over the summer, the district prepared for this switch by working with the Director of Building and Grounds Chad Venghaus to transition the buildings themselves.
“Teachers had lots of good time to get their rooms put together, but the one thing we were really waiting on to see how it would work was transportation,” Henriksen said. “We made good plans, we just needed to execute them.”
Southeast Iowa comes together following tornado
An EF2 tornado wreaked havoc near Hillsboro, Salem, and New London last week, but with a proclamation from the Governor and the fast-acting communities throughout Henry County, those affected can see light at the end of the tunnel.
According to the National Weather Service, widespread severe weather including hail, winds, and two tornadoes occurred across Eastern Iowa, northeast Missouri, and far Western Illinois between 1-10 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16.
NWS Storm Damage Survey teams confirmed at least two tornadoes throughout the weather event. The longest-lasting and strongest of the two, rated as an EF2, ran through Southeast Iowa including Henry County on its 42-mile long path with a maximum width of 600 yards.
Once the all-clear ran throughout the affected areas, the communities jumped in to help one another with cleanup and provisions of shelter, food, and water. Help came immediately within the New London community as the junior/senior high school offered the opportunity for students to come together and help their neighbors throughout the following day with parent permission. Additionally, neighbors took to social media to make lists of people needing help and connecting them with others that could help.
New London student killed in motor vehicle accident
As New London Community School District’s homecoming activities came to an end Friday, Sept. 27 a vehicle accident near East Adams and East Cleveland streets claimed the life of 16-year-old New London High School Student Gavin Browning and injured 16-year-old NLHS student Graden Weber.
“It is with profound sadness that we inform you of the tragic passing of one of our high school students, Gavin Browning,” NLCSD shared in a letter to parents, students, staff, and the community. “This loss is a heart-wrenching event for our entire community.”
In light of this tragedy, NLCSD acknowledges the difficulties of navigating the sudden loss of a young life. NLCSD recognizes Browning’s family, friends, teachers, classmates and community may experience a variety of emotions including shock, sadness, and confusion, but they encourage everyone to come together in this difficult time.
The New London Community did just that Sunday night as an estimated 300 people filled New London High School’s front lawn for a candlelight vigil to honor and remember Browning. The New London Jet Stop closed their doors for the duration of the vigil so employees could also attend as Browning had just recently began working at the establishment. Family, friends, and community members submitted photos of Browning to display at the vigil, and Superintendent Chad Wahls and Browning’s grandparents spoke at the somber event.
Fire department welcomes new truck and new chief
The Mt. Pleasant Fire Department officially welcomed not only its new firetruck, but its new chief in a ceremony Wednesday, April 10 following the city council meeting.
Fromer Fire Chief Drew Schumacher passed the torch of fire chief onto Anthony Blint and encouraged him to “exemplify the following: care about others first, create a shared vision, model the way, empower others, express appreciation, admit when you are wrong, seek advice and input, treat others with dignity and respect, and lead with We and not I.”
To mark the change of command Schumacher presented Blint with a fire ax as a symbol of fire service which stands ready and depicts strength, confidence, and courage. Schumacher then invited Blint’s wife and son forward for the pinning ceremony.
Following the ceremonial shift in command, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church Reverend Wayne Kamm, along with monk and firefighter Joe Campbell, performed a blessing of the department’s long-awaited new firetruck.
RAGBRAI stops in Mt. Pleasant
Thousands of RAGBRAI participants made themselves at home in Mt. Pleasant Friday, July 26 as the town pulled out all the stops and offered a warm Americana-themed welcome. American flags, smiling volunteers, good food, many drinks, and plenty of music, welcomed over 20,000 visitors to Mt. Pleasant for their Day Six overnight stay of RAGBRAI 2024.
Not many have very vivid memories of the first time RAGBRAI came through Mt. Pleasant for the first time 15 years ago, but Doris Price does. As soon as she heard that Mt. Pleasant would host riders overnight once again, she immediately reached out to welcome back the same group she hosted all those years ago.
Doris’s son David Price joined the United States Air Force in 1990, so, when RAGBRAI first came through, Doris didn’t hesitate to invite the U. S. Air Force RAGBRAI team to set up camp in her yard right across from the Mt. Pleasant Middle School.
This year Doris welcomed approximately 135 riders and 12 support individuals into her yard where Thank You is Never Enough fed them walking tacos and watermelon in appreciation of their service to their country.
Donations from RAGBRAI participants brought Mt. Pleasant $5,100 which will go toward the development of Lee Town Park, an all-inclusive playground for children of all abilities to enjoy. The playground will be located on a city owned property on East Cedar Lane.
County Attorney questions supervisors spending
Henry County Attorney Darin Stater spoke with the Henry County Board of Supervisors during the June 6 meeting about payments made by the supervisors to outside legal counsel on behalf of Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee and Deputy Carlos Lopez.
The invoices in question detailed over $3,000 of outside legal counsel expenses from Feb. 12 through May 21 of this year.
“All of those claims were approved by the board, all were paid with public funds,” Stater said.
In order for the Board of Supervisors to pay for outside legal counsel like they did, Stater claims, they needed to take official action to approve outside counsel. Without this official decision, the county should not pay for these fees. Stater shared information with the board from multiple cases that shared similar findings.
Stater requested assurance from each supervisor, White, Moeller, and Marc Lindeen. Each affirmed they would not agree to pay any further claims.
Stater informed the board he would continue to discuss the matter with the Attorney General’s Office and other county attorneys “to determine proper legal course of action to be taken.”
The following month the Henry County Attorney’s Office recovered thousands of dollars Henry County Board of Supervisors paid to outside counsel on behalf of Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee and Deputy Carlos Lopez.
Henry County Sheriff Deputy placed on Brady-Giglio list
In late October of 2023, Henry County Attorney Darin Stater mailed a letter to Sheriff’s Deputy Carlos Lopez, advising the officer he was under consideration for a spot on the local government’s “Brady-Giglio list,” a record of law enforcement officials that the prosecutor deems potentially unreliable. The decision has since been made official and was reaffirmed after a formal reconsideration process.
In hundreds of documents and internal emails obtained by The Southeast Iowa Union, Stater said Lopez made inaccurate statements under oath and planned to arrest three suspects in a felony theft case in Wayland, regardless of a search warrant’s findings.
But Henry County’s law enforcement leadership said those claims were overblown and out of context. Sheriff Rich McNamee argues Lopez has an exemplary career as an officer to stand on, and community members in the New London School District where Lopez works as a part-time School Resource Officer, say he’s had an “invaluable” positive impact there.
The incompatible narratives have raised tensions between the county’s law enforcement office and its chief prosecutor, departments whose effectiveness depends on their mutual collaboration. Fallout from the dispute has also revealed illegal spending by the sheriff, false sworn statements by the officer and a handful of potentially wrongful arrests.
Lopez later filed a court petition challenging his placement on the Brady-Giglio list. The petition, filed on Dec. 4 by Lopez’s attorney, Charles Gribble, seeks judicial review, declaratory judgment, and injunctive relief against Henry County Attorney Darin Stater, who placed Lopez on the Brady-Giglio list in December 2023.
Henry County Supervisors approve 28E agreement with EMS
The Henry County Board of Supervisors approved a new 28E agreement with Henry County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to formalize their collaboration and financial commitment to the county's emergency medical response system. Finalized on Dec. 5 during the Board of Supervisors’ regular meeting, the agreement will go into effect July 1, 2025, and will extend through June 30, 2026, with automatic annual renewals unless terminated earlier by mutual consent.
This agreement strengthens the partnership between Henry County and Henry County Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Memorial Hospital, which operates Henry County EMS.
A key step leading to this agreement was the public vote on Sept. 10, when residents approved Public Measure AV, declaring EMS an essential service in the county and authorizing a new tax levy of 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. This levy will generate about $1.1 million annually, representing a 48-cent increase per $1,000 of assessed value compared to the previous hospital levy for ambulance services.
This 28E agreement allows Henry County to contribute funding to support Henry County EMS through the new tax levy. Any tax revenue collected but not required to cover financial needs will be placed into the county's Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund, ensuring long-term financial sustainability. Additionally, the EMS Advisory Council will provide ongoing guidance to the Henry County Board of Supervisors to ensure the continued success of the EMS system.
Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com
