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154 YEARS • NO. 34
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014
OSCEOLA, IOWA 50213
SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
School board denies open enrollment request, even with racism allegations By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
Editors note: Osceola Sentinel-Tribune is not naming the mother or daughter in the article. A mother wanted to take her daughter out of Clarke Community School District for a year and teach her at home through K-12 public school open enrollment, also known as CAM. She cited racism in the school district as the cause. However, the request was made after the state’s March 1 deadline for the 2014-15 school year. Clarke Superintendent Steve Seid recommended the school board deny the open enrollment request because of the fact it is a late filed application and doesn’t meet the good cause requirement for late approval.
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Pictured is Miller Products company sign, located at 1015 N Main St., in Osceola.
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY Miller Products celebrates 50 years in Osceola By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
Miller Products is as good as gold in the industry. This month, the company is celebrating its 50th, or golden, anniversary of its location in Osceola. “The longevity is kind of a special treat to be able to have stayed in business with all the competition and all of issues and all of the obstacles that get thrown at you McFarland over the years,” said Jack McFarland, president of Miller Products. “It’s quite a while to be in a community, too. It’s been very good for us.” Miller Products was founded in 1936 as a bicycle dealer and kickstand manufacturer. The business has evolved into a supplier of screw-machine products. Miller Products manufactures a line of stock nonthreaded pins. This line includes a wide range of lock, hitch, bent and tension-lock-hitch pins. In addition to its stock line, they also manufacture custom-turned machine parts. Big move Fifty years ago, Miller Products was headquartered in Des Moines. However, it was decided the state’s capital wasn’t the best location or work climate to be headquartered at the time. The options for the new Miller Products were the surrounding county-seat cities of Creston, Chariton, Osceola, Winterset, Norwalk and Perry. Eventually, the top two choices were narrowed down to Osceola and Perry. The deciding factor was a stretch of newly-opened road. “At that time, our biggest customer was in Des Moines, and just at that time in 1964, they opened and completed the first section of I-35 from Des Moines to Osceola,” McFarland said. “We knew we were going to be on that road every day making deliveries.” Staying power Not a lot has changed in 50 years. “We don’t make much noise,” McFarland said. “We’re about the same size we were when we came down here. Dollar volume is greater, but we don’t vary a lot in employment.” Their products aren’t typically used locally and are shipped out all over the country. Currently, Miller Products has approximately 40 employees. It does vary, though, from the low thirties SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
Copyright 2014
in slower times to 99 employees at its peak. McFarland said there is still work to be done with Miller Products letting people know the company is a mainstay here in town. “That there is some really good opportunity,” he said. “We’re working harder now at trying to do that. But, for many, many, many years, people drove right by the plant to go get a ‘good’ job
in Des Moines. Our jobs were as good or better. But, nobody stopped.” Now, McFarland said, with the addition of other big businesses in Osceola, people will interview around town more often. Treated well There are multiple reasons Miller Please see ANNIVERSARY, Page 8
By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
Clarke Community School District has a new curriculum director. During an Aug. 11 school board meeting, Clarke Superintendent Steve Seid recommended Lance Ridgely to fill the position of curriculum director starting Aug. 12. His annual salary and days are prorated for the 2014-15 school year based on $80,000 and 240 days. The contract is a one year contract. The curriculum director is an administrative position. The board approved Ridgely’s contract during the meeting.
By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
When the emergency call was made, Miller Products came to the rescue. The year was 2010 and a man-made disaster was occurring — the BP oil rig explosion and spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. The BP oil spill, which killed 11 people, is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. To stop the flow of oil, professionals needed something they couldn’t find — a special oil boom pin. That’s where Miller Products stepped in. The pin Jack McFarland, president of Miller Products, said the company is well known around the globe because of the Internet and marketing as a manufacture of special pins and fasteners. Miller Products received a phone call shortly after the oil spill from an engineer who was looking for a special oil boom pin that was used in a cuppler, which was used for every 50 feet of boom. Boom is the absorbent floated all the way around the spill — by many, many miles. “There were none of these special pins in the world, apparently,” McFarland said. “We didn’t make it as a standard pin, but yes, we would be glad to quote it and make it as a special for that application. We literally went from a phone call on Thursday afternoon to production by Tuesday, delivering parts two and three times a day to the airport in Des Moines to be shipped to the user.” Ramping up production A week and a-half after the call, Miller Products was producing 1,000 special pins a day. Employees were working 10-12 hours a day, plus putting time in on Saturdays. By the end of the second and third weeks, they were producing 2,000 special pins a day and working 16 hour days and Saturdays. Miller Products also has a shop in Tucson, Ariz., and work on the special pins was being done there, too. This meant that eventually 3,000 oil boom pins were being produced a day.
Flags:
Obituary .......................3 Editorial ........................4 Church Directory .........7 Classifieds ...................9
Neighbors ....................5 Public Notices .............8 Record .........................2 Sports...........................6
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Weather Your Local Weather Thu
8/21
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Mix of sun and clouds.
Fri
8/22
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Mix of sun and clouds.
Previous candidate If Ridgely’s name sounds somewhat familiar to Clarke Community School District, that’s because it is. In April, Ridgely was named one of the top three candidates in the search for the Clarke superintendent position. The position was awarded to Seid. “Do you think this is a good choice?” asked Steve O’Tool, Clarke school board member, during the meeting. “Yes. We’ve had more than conversation,” Seid said. “The last conversation that we had with Lance included the administrative team, with the exception of Please see RIDGELY, Page 4
OST photo by JAKE WADDINGHAM
Clarke senior Morgan Bailey spins her flag during a routine while the Clarke band plays this year’s marching band show with a James Bond theme Thursday night on the square in Osceola. The event kicked off the school year by having the band and flags perform, plus all new teachers and the fall sports participants were introduced.
This is an example of the special oil boom pin.
Index
Please see RACISM, Page 4
Board approves Ridgely as curriculum director
Answering the call Miller Products played pivotal roll in stopping BP oil spill
Please see OIL SPILL, Page 4
Monday’s meeting During the Aug. 11 school board meeting, Seid said there wasn’t enough documentation in the daughter’s file to show racism. Seid said there wasn’t due cause for late approval because of not having enough documentation to show an extensive continuation of bullying or reflecting a pattern of discrimination. “There should’ve been documentation because I was in the school so many times, and that my daughter wrote a letter stating exactly what happened with names, places, the comments, everything, and it’s not in her file,” the mother said. “There should’ve been plenty of documentation.” According to the mother, there was a fight with her
Sat
8/23
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Sunshine. Highs in the
Don’t Forget
Thursday Night in the Park will be hosted by Southern Hills Specialty Care this evening on the courthouse lawn in Osceola.
Highs in the low 90s and Highs in the upper 80s low 90s and lows in the CHECK OUT OSCEOLAIOWA.COM FOR DAILY NEWS, DEATH NOTICES AND SPORTS. lowsUPDATED in the low 70s. and lows in the low 70s. upper 60s.