Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Sorted by date Results 1 - 18 of 18
The fate of a new swimming pool in Hartley will hinge on local residents supporting it at the ballot box. According to information discussed June 24 during a special city council meeting, a portion of the estimated $3 million price tag will need to be financed by a bond. The city's current debt limit is $1.7 million and it cannot borrow more than that for the new pool, which will need help from fundraising contributions and additional city monies. Hartley officials will also apply for special...
Joel DeJong is in favor of tweaking one of the Midwest's most well known sayings. "I'm 6' 6" and I've got some cornfields looking me in the eye," he said. "Eye-high by the Fourth of July is really where we'd see a lot of cornfields right now." This year's crop is progressing well, said the Iowa State University Extension & Outreach field agronomist. Great growing conditions and adequate precipitation amounts have made corn sprout high in recent weeks, and with warm temperatures heading into...
Despite a contentious discussion, City of Hartley employees will get a raise this year. The council voted 4-1 on June 24 to raise salaries and wages by 2.75 percent. Council Member Mary Westphalen cast the lone dissention due to concerns about certain benefits for the city's salaried employees. Under the new deal, the city administrator, police chief and superintendent of public works will get three weeks of paid vacation and 24 working hours of paid personal leave once they complete two years...
Though strict protocol will remain in place, residents at Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley will be allowed to see visitors sometime this month. CMHC administrator Janette Simon announced Monday new guidelines from the Iowa Department of Public Health will allow added options for visitors at long-term care facilities. CMHC and all other nursing homes in Iowa have been shuttered since March to prevent the threat of COVID-19, which is especially deadly in elderly patients. "The...
To the editor: As we prepare to enjoy Fourth of July week and upcoming celebrations in our beautiful Iowa Great Lakes region, we wish to remind you that Independence Day is founded on sacrifices, which includes a history of Americans giving up personal comforts to enhance wellbeing for all. The public health and emergency management teams of Clay and Dickinson counties are teaming up to ask you to make just a few simple adjustments in your holiday weekend plans to help protect the health of our...
To the editor: The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) is proposing the use of eminent domain with wind and solar energy. Eminent domain is the right of a government to expropriate private property for public use. This means even if you do not give a wind developer or utility company access to your land, the IUB could (according to this proposal) still run transmission lines through your property because they claim wind energy is a "public utility." One could argue renewable energy is not a public...
One year ago, the title of this column was, "The flag is more than a fashion statement." In it, I wrote about the history of our great flag and my concern that it is trivialized when its image is seemingly used everywhere on everyday items. My worry seems trivial now. One year later, we see our glorious flag set on fire, ripped apart, and desecrated in vulgar ways – by American citizens on American soil. This Fourth of July, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment in America. The asphyxiation o...
Four O’Brien County residents have been appointed to the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach council nominating committee. The committee is charged with nominating candidates for the four vacancies on the council before Aug. 26. Committee members selected to nominate extension council candidates for the 2020 election are Rodd Holtkamp, Primghar; Jennifer Mars, Paullina; Brad McDowell, Primghar; and Mariah Oliver, Paullina. By law, the nominating committee must include two women and two men and cannot include any current member of t...
Four northwest Iowa residents were recently elected to the Northwest Area Education Agency (AEA) board. They are Amy Jurrens, District 1; Patrick Murphy, District 4; Henry Jessen, District 5; and Julie DeGroot, District 7. By state law, members of AEA boards represent geographic areas known as director districts. Each has been determined to contain about the same population. Local school boards in each district elect a person to represent them on the AEA board. Each school board is allowed a...
Hartley Economic Development Corporation board members recently toured the worksite at the city's new industrial park east of Grace Fellowship on Highway 18. Grading and drainage work is wrapping up, and crews are hoping to start paving sometime this month. Completion is planned by the end of the year. Engineer Jim Thiesse gave the tour. Pictured from left to right: Marjean Westerman, Steve Leng, Patrick Carlin, Rob Jacobs, Jill Kunzman, Thiesse, Steve Prins, Andy Schierholz and Erica Haack....
Star Energy FS, headquartered in Manson, and Growmark FS, headquartered in Hartley, Iowa, are merging into one. The new company, named Growmark FS, will offer its farmer customers with a full line of agronomy, energy and grain marketing needs. “I’m excited about the opportunities that will come from the combination of these two organizations,” said Star Energy FS General Manager Jeff Manthei in a news release. “Our farmer customers have long trusted FS for all of their farming needs and now they’ll be able to do so with one FS company....
A celebration of life graveside service for Betty Lou Baish, age 88, of Milford and formerly of Lake Park, was held on Monday, June 29, 2020 at Harrison Township Cemetery near May City. Turner Jenness Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. Betty Lou Baish was born July 1, 1931, to William and Alice (Berends) Vetter on the Vetter family farm near Lake Park that was settled in 1888 by her grandfather, George Vetter. Betty attended her first years of school at the Westport #9 country school...
A graveside service with family and friends for Dale E. Nagel will be held at 11:15 a.m. on Friday, July 3, 2020, at Pleasant View Cemetery in Hartley. Hartley Funeral Home is assisting with the arrangements. Dale Eugene Nagel was born July 3, 1936, to Otto and Helen (Jensen) Nagel on a farm near Sutherland. Three years later his brother Vernon would join him. Dale attended country school and Sutherland school until his family moved to the home place near Moneta. He completed his education at Moneta, graduating with the Class of 1954. In Novemb...
Private family funeral services for Stanley D. Jespersen will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 3, 2020, at the Warner Chapel in Spencer. Pastor Mark Wilms will officiate. The services will be livestreamed on the Warner Funeral Home Facebook page. Honorary bearers are Martin McCoy-Jespersen, Alexei McCoy-Jespersen, Brian Tjossem, Cody Tjossem and Peter Kemp. Military services will be conducted by American Legion Goodwin Post #248, of Royal; American Legion Glen Pedersen Post #1 and V.F.W. Clay County Post #3159, of Spencer. Interment will...
• July 5, 1945 A plan to organize a soil conservation district in O’Brien County was drawn up by the soils committee of the program planning board. The committee felt there was sufficient need to have a district organized to take care of a soils conservation program. S/Sgt. C.J. Muilenburg was cited for leadership in battle, having gone through five major battles and keeping the same squad of men he went into combat with. His wife and daughter, Mrs. LaRue Muilenburg and Jerilyn Joy, were living with her parents near Melvin. The town council vot...
A better night at the plate supported by good pitching and defense was a successful formula for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's softball team, which defeated Trinity Christian, 11-5, on June 24 at Hull. Among the Hawks' 12 hits were a triple and two singles by Brynn Webber; a double and two singles by Hannah Jochims; and a double and a single by Bailey VerHelst. Cadence Klein, VerHelst and Webber each drove in two runs. "It was a nice win for the girls," Hawk coach Carissa Post said. "Offensively we di...
After surrendering 26 runs in two previous games, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn baseball team had chances to get into the win column at South O'Brien on June 25. But nine runners left on base put the Hawks on the wrong side of a 3-1 score. H-M-S took the lead in the second inning when Sam Heyn singled, stole second base and scored on an error. Keaton Graves and Jordan Ortega later singled in the inning, but the Hawks could not get them home. That set the pattern for the game. H-M-S stranded a...
O’Brien County Relay For Life set for Aug. 3 The annual O’Brien County Relay For Life will be held Monday, Aug. 3 in Sheldon. Due to COVID-19 regulations and social distancing, the event will be revised this year. More details will follow as the event plans are completed. All residents of O’Brien County and the area are invited to help lift the spirits of many local people who are fighting cancer. CMHC meeting canceled Community Memorial Health Center’s annual board meeting has been canceled. The event was originally postponed in March due to t...
