Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Sorted by date Results 1 - 18 of 18
Barb Rohwer has never seen anything like this before. The office of O'Brien County's longtime auditor has been exceptionally busy this month handling absentee ballot requests and in-person voters. The anomaly was expected, as the COVID-19 pandemic had election officials pushing voters to cast ballots from afar for the Nov. 3 general election. "We've had quite a few folks coming in and voting absentee," Rohwer said. "We've probably been averaging 15 a day, when in a normal year we'd see two or...
The change in ownership of one of Everly's most unique properties sparked brief discussion Monday during a quick city council meeting. Mayor Brad Behrens gave an update on Clay Central/Everly's former 7-12 grade building, which was sold last week by the school board to Guardian Education & Athletic Services (GEA) for $5,000. The sale involves the entire property, including outbuildings. "Hopefully it works out for them," said Behrens, who expressed his concerns about the sale during a public...
Plans are being developed to rebuild a destroyed grain elevator in Royal. Ag Partners submitted a building permit to the Royal City Council on Oct. 14 calling for the demolition of the affected bin and its replacement. Few other details were provided in the application, but council members gave it the go-ahead after hearing a brief update from Ag Partners' Royal location manager Lucas Kline. Brent Low, vice president of agronomy and corporate marketing at Ag Partners, said after the meeting...
A high COVID-19 positivity rate in O'Brien County is forcing a local nursing home to fork over cash to meet testing requirements. O'Brien County's 14-day COVID-19 positivity rate has been stuck at well over 10 percent for the past several weeks. Per federal guidelines, that means nursing homes like Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley must rapid-test staff members twice a week, which is resulting in a $6,000 bill every seven days for the local facility. "We're hoping our financial strife...
Over $250,000 in transportation and technology upgrades that the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn school board tentatively approved last month were finalized on Monday. The district is purchasing two off-lease 84-passenger buses for a total of $170,000. According to information presented in September by Superintendent Patrick Carlin, the 2018 Blue Bird models have approximately 36,000 and 41,000 miles. They will update the district's transportation fleet which has six buses with over 150,000 miles. Carlin...
• Traffic Nicholas Michael Koster, Newell, Seatbelt Violation. Montana Lynn Folven, Primghar, Registration Violation. Donald Ray Duin, Sheldon, Failure to Obey Stop Sign. James Martin Tallman, Sheldon, Registration Violation. Terry Jo Douglass, Primghar, Seatbelt Violation. Shayne Schreiner, Sergeant Bluff, No Valid Driver’s License; No Proof of Insurance. Payton Tyler Luinstra, Ashton, Speeding. Matthew Ryan Keithley, Hull, Speeding. Johnathan Douglas Oldenkamp, Primghar, Violation of Restricted License. Brendon Scott Harrison, Sheldon, Min...
Voters will have the opportunity to elect four members of the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach O’Brien County council at the Nov. 3 general election. Extension council members are elected at large, and all voters in the county are eligible to vote for four candidates. Extension council members whose terms expire this year are Christine Feltman, of Paullina; Ryan Freese, of Sheldon; Kiana Johnson, of Primghar; and Michael Wagner, of Primghar. Candidates on this year’s ballot include: • Eric Brown, Paullina Eric Brown is the owner...
Hartley firefighters to canvas town for fundraiser The Hartley Firefighters’ Association will be holding its annual pancake breakfast fundraiser on Sunday, Nov. 1. Prior to the event, the firefighters will be canvassing town and selling tickets on Monday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. Extra precautions will be taken this year to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while the firemen are out canvassing. They ask that if you don’t feel comfortable with them stopping, don’t answer the door. Likewise if your family is in quarantine or infected with COVID-19. If you...
COVID-19 death toll rises in O’Brien Co. The number of people who’ve died from COVID-19 in O’Brien County increased from nine to 11 over the past week. The death toll in Clay County remained unchanged at four. O’Brien County’s COVID-19 14-day positivity rate decreased from 16.5 to 16 percent over the past week, while Clay County’s dipped from 13.1 to 9.6 percent. Those figures ranked Nos. 12 and 52, respectively, among all 99 counties in Iowa. Overall, O’Brien County has had 580 total confirmed coronavirus cases since March and 326 recoverie...
A unique and beautifully-kept ballot box has recently been donated to the Royal Museum by Betty Kruse and her late husband, Roger. The ballot box was made in the 1860's and utilized in Clay Township. The relic will be on display at Home State Bank of Royal until the 2020 election, and afterwards will be moved to the museum. The Royal Museum Committee would like to thank citizens and local enthusiasts for their continued support of the museum with material and monetary donatio...
Val Johnson is no stranger to the school district as she is a Clay Central/Everly alumnus and has been a member of the CC/E educational team for more than 20 years. She began as a teacher's associate before taking over the secretary position nearly two years ago. Johnson has a degree in Early Childhood Education that helped her obtain her associate position, which allowed her to work with all grades at CC/E Elementary. Johnson appreciates her role in the CC/E family for many reasons, including...
Ronald 'Ron' Kauzlarich, 76, was born on Aug. 20, 1944, in Knoxville. Ron passed away suddenly at home on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. He was married June 6, 1970, to Jane (Hansen) Kauzlarich in Knoxville. They were constant companions and rarely went more than a few hours without checking in with each other. He graduated from Melcher High School in1962. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Northwest Missouri State University. Ron was in the Army reserves for six years. He was a...
Private family services for Clara M. Goeken were held Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, at Hope Lutheran Church in Everly, with Rev. Dan Taylor officiating. Pallbearers were Scott Goeken, Kevin Goeken, Shannon Goeken, Jessica Curran, Brook Schueller, Ryan Goeken, Nolan Goeken, Clare Goeken and Rachel Goeken. Interment was at Lone Tree Cemetery in rural Everly. Warner Funeral Home assisted with the arrangements. Clara Goeken, 97, a long-time member of the Everly community, died on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020,...
• Oct. 18, 1945 The opening of the Coast to Coast store owned and operated by Bud Epping and Carl Hain had to be considered a success as evidenced by the 1,000 doughnuts that were consumed during the day. A good “eating” time was had by all. Forty of the high school boys and three men of the faculty members planned to clear off the newly purchased lots being added to the athletic field. Steps were being taken by the board of education to see that the field was graded at the earliest possible date. Owners of many cars in Hartley were repor...
Having defeated MMCRU by a 62-0 margin in the regular season, the chances that Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn could duplicate that score in the first round of the Class A football playoffs seemed remote. But the Hawks did just that, handing MMCRU a 62-0 loss Friday night at Peterson Field. The path to H-M-S's first playoff win since 2010 was slightly different than the regular season meeting with the Royals. In the first quarter of the September 25 contest, H-M-S scored on "drives" of two, one, two and...
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's Madison Otto placed fifth at the War Eagle Conference cross country meet, placing the junior on the all-conference team for the third consecutive year and leading the Hawks to a fourth-place finish in the girls' team standings. H-M-S hosted the conference meet on Monday, Oct. 12, at the Sanborn Golf & Country Club. Hawk coach Nicole Dorhout was very pleased with Otto's performance. "Madi is running really well right now," she said. "She has continued to improve...
Three road trips last week did not end with any wins for the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn volleyball team. The Hawks closed out the regular season with a record of 5-15 overall and 1-9 in War Eagle Conference play. • vs. Hinton In a rescheduled contest on Oct. 12, the Hawks were defeated by Hinton, 3-1. After getting off to a slow start in the first set (10-25) and falling short in the second (23-25), H-M-S broke through for a win in the third set (25-18). The Hawks could not sustain the momentum a...
Hawks win regional volleyball opener Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn opened the volleyball postseason Monday night in Hartley with a 3-1 victory over Harris-Lake Park. After splitting the first two sets, H-M-S won the last two to secure the Class 1A Region 1 tournament win. H-M-S (6-15) advanced to the regional quarterfinal on Wednesday night at Remsen, where they faced Akron-Westfield. The Westerners swept Remsen St. Mary’s in the first round. The quarterfinal winner moves on to the semifinal on Oct. 26, which will be played at Gehlen Catholic High S...
