The Wright County
Monitor
Fire Drill Page 20 Sports Pages 16 & 17
City council candidate answer questions from the Monitor The Wright County Monitor sent out questionnaires to all of Clarion’s candidates for city hall, asking them about their priorities and their relationship to the city. All six candidates responded. Here’s what they had to say. What made you want to run for city council in the first place? Duane Asbe: (My reason for running for city council four years ago), and now my decision to run for re-election, remains the same … I am a strong advocate of our Clarion community and proud to be a resident of our rural town. I feel it is my civic duty and passion to help make what I feel is a progressive town even better. I have served the people of Clarion in many volunteer projects, groups and organizations throughout the years and feel by being a city council person is a way to give more especially as it pertains to the operations and functioning of the city. Additionally, there are several projects that the city is in the midst of working on that I would like to see through to completion. Randall Davenport I decided to run for city council because I have always had an interest in politics and … the well being of the city and the citizens. After having talked to a number of people, I decided that a new voice (and) some new ideas were needed
on the city council.” Nancy Duitscher I decided to run for the Clarion City Council because I think Clarion can be better. I think the City Council could do better and I love my hometown and want to see it grow. Terry Hilpipre (I have) a desire to be actively involved in the betterment of Clarion. Dave Maxheimer (I am running because) three open seats on the city council frightens me. I feel the current council has made recent progress and I would hate to see it end. Clarion is one of the better small towns to grow up and raise a family in. My goal now is to be a part of something bigger, attracting more residents to Clarion, growing our businesses, building on the visual appeal of Clarion and creating more housing. Spending the majority of my life in Clarion, I found most people, including myself, can point out issues. What’s lacking is solutions, or more importantly, wanting to be a part of the solution. I want to be a part of the solution and hope you would too. Barb Mussman Thirty-four years ago I chose Clarion. I purchased The Wright County Monitor, bought a home and raised my family here. I care about Clarion. continued on page 12
Clarion-Goldfield board holds first post-election meeting By: Clae Goater The Clarion-Goldfield School Board handled regular business at its meeting on Monday, Oct. 14. It was the board’s first meeting after school board elections. Newly-elected board members Beth Jackson, Beth Severson, and Timothy Nagel all took the oath of office. Clint Middleton was appointed board president. Severson was appointed vice president, legislative network representative, and the IASB delegate. Anita Frye was appointed and sworn in as board secretary. Bob Malloy was appointed school attorney. Terry Utech was appointed board treasurer. Missy Schultz was assigned to the Buildings and Grounds Committee and the Board Policy Committee. Schultz was also appointed the Alternate IASB Delegate. Middleton was assigned to the Wright County Conference Board and the Negotiation Committee. Jackson was assigned to the Wellness Committee, the Insurance Committee, the Teacher Negotiation Committee, and the Comprehensive School Improvement Committee. Nagel was appointed to the Buildings and Grounds Committee, and the Board Policy Committee, and the Negotiation Committee. Severson was appointed to the Teacher Negotiation Committee. Schultz was appointed to serve on the transition board as director for District One. Jackson, Severson, and Middleton were appointed to serve on the transition board for District Two. The board approved the regular, organizational, and annual meeting agendas. The board reviewed and approved the secretary’s 2012-2013 Report of Revenues, Expenditures, and Fund Balances. The board approved the second reading of district policy 701.3, regarding financial support. They approved the first reading of the district’s new tobacco policy, which forbids the
use of electronic cigarettes. The board also reviewed board policies 504.1 and 504.1A, regarding student health and immunization. They approved the continuation of drug and alcohol testing for bus drivers. An architect and an engineer from Struxture Architects have toured the elementary and middle school, studying options for air conditioning that building. They will provide blueprints and a report early enough that the board will be able to consider implementing the air conditioning project for the 2014-2015 school year. The board approved sending three cheerleaders to perform at the High School Football Championship games in the UNI-dome. The board presented an honorary diploma to Goldfield veteran Stanley Johnson. Tess Roseburrough was approved as the new sponsor for the basketball cheerleaders.
144th year Number 43
Official newspaper of Wright County
By: Clae Goater The Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight took 99 Iowa veterans, five of which were from Wright County, to Washington D.C on Sept. 7. There, they toured war memorials and Arlington National Cemetery. The flight gave veterans a chance to interact with other veterans: people that understood what they went through in a way that most people never will. Ron Newsum organized the first Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight in 2010, in large part so that his father could see D.C. while he was still alive. “At that time, he was 95 years old ... He went May 1st of 2010. Three months later, he died. So mission accomplished,” Newsum said. Originally, Newsum had planned that the Brushy Creek Honor Flight would only serve veterans from Webster County and the surrounding counties, but the project soon increased in scope. “Within three weeks, we had 80some applications. Some were from Kossuth County and Palo Alto and other places that were not in our sevencounty area,” Newsum said. “But could you turn a veteran down because he lived in the wrong county? We couldn’t. We wound up taking veterans from 29 counties and 103 communities.” Seats on the flight are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with some consideration given to the health of the veteran. “We assign a number to (each application). We date it the day we receive it, and we assign a number to it. When we go to fill a flight, it’s first come first serve,” Newsum said. “We make exceptions for veterans of any conflict who are deemed to be terminally ill.” Organizing these flights is both time-consuming and expensive. “Each flight represents $100,000,” Newsum said. “It figures out to about $617 per person. Every veteran we’ve sent flew for free.” Newsum raises money for the flight through donations from individuals and businesses, and the Honor Flight board keeps track of what counties they are coming from. “Some of the counties were really good at raising dollars for the veterans,” Newsum said. “Some of them lacked a little bit of direction.” Looking at the local county donation history, Wright County might be one of the counties that needs a little bit of direction. When the honor flight started up again in 2012 after a short hiatus, about 36 veterans from Wright County got to take the trip to D.C.
Levy. In the past, there has been an eight percent surtax as part of the ISP, in the Clarion-Goldfield District. With the new resolution, the ISP would be paid entirely by property tax, not the practice of the Dows CSD. “It will switch all to property tax for the next budget year,” said Olson. Since the levy was passed by resolution instead of vote, the levy will be for five years instead of ten. The board then set the date of their next meeting. The agreed to reschedule the normal Clarion-Goldfield school board meeting to 6:00 p.m., on Monday, Nov. 11, with the transition board meeting later at 7:30 p.m.
Jim Lester presented with EMS award By: Clae Goater Jim Lester, Director of Wright County Emergency Management Services, was one of 65 EMS directors honored by the Governor for their response to the natural disasters that occurred this summer.
“I was surprised. I didn’t know it was coming at all until I saw my name on the list,” Lester said. Lester dealt with rural flooding over Memorial Day Weekend, and had to address the Belmond tornado soon after. The county was named a Presidential Disaster Area from May 9 to June 13 of this year. “When we had the initial flooding
over Memorial Day Weekend, Jason (Schluttenhofer) and I went out and talked with the county engineer. They kept us up-to-date on what roads were closed. We just kept the communication going and kept everybody apprised about what was happening, what routes needed to be changed for emergency response, and things like that,” Lester said. “When the tornado hit, everybody just came together. After the initial chaos, we got incident command working, and everything flowed. “ Lester says that the county’s response to the disasters was a group effort, and that the county’s emergency management personnel deserve much of the praise. “I did very little, actually. I just coordinated and helped gather resources and pointed people in the right direction. That’s the role of a coordinator. That’s just the job,” Lester said. “It goes back to everybody. It’s a team. My name was on there, but the agency is the whole county. We have a great group of responders throughout the county. It’s everybody taking part in that. “ Lester said that dealing with the disasters was sometimes chaotic, but the EMS personnel did a good job of establishing order by applying their
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“The welcome home they deserve” Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight seeks donations
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Transition Board holds first meeting By: Clae Goater The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows School Transition Board held its first meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Beth Jackson, Beth Severson, Clint Middleton, and Missy Schultz all took their oaths of office. Corey Jacobsen had already taken his oath, prior to the meeting. Clint Middleton was appointed president, and Beth Severson was appointed vice president. Anita Frye was appointed acting board secretary. Robert Olson was appointed acting superintendant. Rick Engle and Bob Malloy were appointed as acting school attorneys. The board also approved a resolution regarding the Instructional Support
Thursday, October 24, 2013
training. “It was busy, but that’s why we practice and that’s why we work on the communication and coordination,” Lester said. “You go to all this training, and you always teach people that you’ve got to follow the incident command system. It’s impressive to… see it fall into place and work. It’s rewarding to know that all the training pays off in the end. “ Wright County has been named a disaster area because of flooding three times in the last five years. Lester says that dealing with flooding is different every time. “To have three in a five year period is a lot. There’s always something different. This year, it was more the rural areas. In 2008, it was Belmond. In 2010, it was Clarion that had the worst of it. It’s been different things. The rural stuff mostly affects the roadways, and we communicate more with the county engineer. They did a great job this spring in keeping us up-to-date on that,” Lester said. “In the city, you’re dealing with the city administration, and making sure they have all the resources they need to get their streets cleared and help their residents to recover. “
Sending 36 veterans on the flight would cost about $22,000. That year, the Honor flight “probably did not get $4,000” from Wright County, according to Newsum. As of September of this year, the Honor Flight raised $3,321 in Wright County. They’ve already spent $3,600 on sending six Wright County veterans to D.C. In comparison, Humboldt County raised $35,624; $18,600 of which has already been spent. Kossuth County raised $12,775 and has spent $4,800 of that. The Honor Flight board remains dedicated to sending Iowa veterans to D.C., but these funding issues force them to make tough decisions. The board has to take into account the amount of money raised per county, and that affects the number of veterans from that county who can go on the honor flight. “We decided we’d continue to take veterans from these 29 counties. We’d have to keep track of which counties we got the money from. We’d expect some organizations and groups from those counties to raise money,” Newum said. “As a board, we decided that we’d continue to take the veterans as long as we got dollars from those counties.“ Julie Reed, whose father Orville Steffenson went on the honor flight this year, is concerned about the amount of money that Wright County is bringing in. She believes that Wright County isn’t raising as much as it could, because people in the county aren’t as aware of the project as they could be. “The problem is that people just don’t know about it. I didn’t know
anything about it,” Reed said. “(People from Wright County) are generous people. “ Reed said that she had some anxiety about the trip initially. She was worried that it would be a very long day for her father, and she didn’t know much about the program itself. Reed said that all her fears were assuaged once she actually saw how well organized the honor flight is. “I was skeptical because I wasn’t well informed about the program. The minute that I walked into that banquet, I knew I didn’t have to worry,” Reed said. “I had people greeting me at the door. There were all these vets, they were all smiling. You could tell they were all enthusiastic about this. It was so well organized.” Steffenson and Rich Lindvall, Korean War veterans, both said that the whole experience was much better than they ever could have expected. They were impressed with the memorials. “I wanted to see the Korean War Memorial more than anything, and Iwo Jima. They were just terrific. That’s what we went for,” Steffensen said. “The Korean Memorial was amazing. On a foggy day, it’d almost make you turn and run the other way.” Steffenson and Lindvall also said that the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight is run very well. “It was very well organized,” Lindvall said. “It’s a great flight. It’s a great deal.” “There was no shortage of food on that trip,” Steffenson said.
Both agreed that it was good to be around people who’d shared their experiences. “It was good. You knew what to talk about,” Rich said. Newsum pointed out that the Honor Flight has experience in dealing with people who might need special medical services. Medical staff is on hand during the flight. He also said that each veteran is accompanied by a guardian, who pays their own way. Newsum hates that some veterans have to be turned down for the Honor Flight, but there’s not much he can do about it. “It’s sad to take one veteran and not another because of damn money. It’s almost criminal not to take them,“ Newsum said. If you are interested in donating money to the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight, being a guardian on an honor flight, or getting more information on the honor flight, you can contact Newsum at 515-571-4477. Julie Reed and Wright County Treasurer Peggy Schluttenhofer are also working to help the Honor Flight increase its presence in Wright County. They can be contacted at jkreed5@hotmail.com and tuckerjaydog@gmail.com respectively. Newsum wants to send as many veterans to D.C. as he can, because as each year passes, so do many of our veterans. “So many of these veterans and they didn’t talk about it. When a veteran dies, a whole library of experiences closes,“ Newsum said.
Ladies’ Night Out set for Thursday, November 7 By: Clae Goater Clarion’s annual Ladies’ Night Out is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7, from 4 to 8 p.m., this year. Ladies’ Night Out is the kickoff to Clarion’s Holiday Open House. It’s a chance to shop, socialize, and get to know our local businesses. “The chamber is excited to promote another Ladies’ Night Out to kick off the holiday shopping season. We’ve got a loaded retail market that has just as much to offer as any bigger city you would go to,” said Clarion Chamber and Development Director Kim Heller. “It’s a great opportunity for people who live locally to get into these stores and see what people have to offer. We have a thriving downtown for a community our size, and we’re fortunate to have these business owners commit to Clarion like they do.” Over 30 businesses will be participating in this year’s Ladies’ Night Out. Many will have special promotions, drawings, and contests. Look for the Oct. 31 edition of the Monitor for more information on the specific promotions that businesses will be offering. Besides the businesses downtown, there will be seven businesses without main street storefronts participating in Ladies’ Night Out in the Rock Island Depot building. Two new businesses that aren’t located downtown, Wright Eyes by Danny and That Iowa Girl, will be taking part in Ladies’ Night Out at their locations on Central Avenue. “Even though they are not in the downtown area, we hope that they have a lot of traffic because people are really interested in checking out these new businesses,” Heller said. People who visit enough shops during Ladies’ Night out will be eligible for discounts at various local restaurants. “A lot of people go out after the event, and the restaurant promotion is a way to tie in and promote the restaurants as part of the shopping experience,” Heller said. “When women turn in their incentive sheet, they’ll get a certificate to go and take advantage of the restaurant promotion.” Sam’s Chinese Kitchen is offering 15 percent off the total bill. Chappy’s on
Main is offering a half-price appetizer. Fuel is offering a free glass of house wine. Central Grill is offering a halfpriced cocktail or wine. So, if you want to get a jump on your
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holiday gift-buying while keeping your dollars local, Ladies’ Night out is a great opportunity for people in and around Clarion.
Beggar’s Night schedule The trick-or-treat schedule for Wright County communities is as follows: Goldfield will be holding Beggar’s Night on Oct. 31, from 5-7 pm. Clarion will be holding Beggar’s Night on Oct. 31, from 5-7 pm. Belmond will be holding Beggar’s Night on Oct. 31, from 5-7 pm.
Eagle Grove will be holding Beggar’s Night on Nov. 1 from 5-7 pm. Dows will be holding Beggar’s Night on Oct. 31, from 5-7 pm. Rowan will be holding Beggar’s Night on Oct. 31, from 5-7 pm. Enjoy your trick-or-treating and other Halloween festivities.