The Wright County
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Baxter on the ballot for House District 8 seat By Rebecca Peter Terry Baxter of Garner will be the Republican Party candidate for the District 8 seat in the Iowa House of Representatives. Baxter was one of three nominees at a special GOP District Convention, Thursday, Aug. 14 at Garner. Jim Black, a former state senator and a farmer from Algona, and Bob Dishman, a pastor from Goldfield, were also nominees. He replaces Henry Rayhons on the ballot. Rayhons withdrew from the race on Aug. 4. Baxter, a pastor, is co-founder and executive director of the Global Compassion Network, a missions and humanitarian relief organization. Each candidate was allowed 5 minutes to speak. “I’m very concerned about the direction of our nation, not only for our kids but for our grandchildren and all of us,” he said. In a press release announcing his candidacy, Baxter said he is a life-long conservative, supporter of the free-market system, Second Amendment rights and religious liberty. He supports traditional marriage and is pro-life. Like President Ronald Reagan, he advocates limited government. “I believe in the genius of working people to create jobs and light the fire of this economy again if we can just get big government out of the way and keep it out of the way,” he said. “It is not the role of government to create jobs. It is the role of government to free the hands of the private sector to create those jobs and stop rewarding freeloaders.” Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Baxter values good
Terry Baxter roads, quality education, a thriving local economy and churches that work together. “I am a friend of agriculture,” he said. District 8 includes all of Wright and Hancock Counties and the southern portion of Kossuth County. Balloting at the convention was done on a weighted basis, based on a percentage of District 8 vote total in the 2012 General Election. To receive the nomination, a candidate needed 50 percent plus 1 of the convention vote. In the first round of balloting, Baxter received 48 percent, Black - 39.6 percent, and Dishman - 12.6 percent. Baxter won in the second round of voting with 54.2 percent. Black received 39.6 percent and Dishman received 6.2 percent of the vote. “It’s going to be a privilege to serve you,” Baxter said upon acceptance of the nomination. Baxter will face Democrat Nancy Huisinga of Clarion in the November election.
Ninth Honor Flight will visit DC in September By Jacob Snyder WrightCoMonitor@gmail.com
Brave. Dedicated. Warriors. These are just some of the words people use to describe the veterans who defend our freedom. One of the ways local communities are repaying these individuals for their service to our country is by raising funds so they can take the trip of a lifetime, the Honor Flight. Twelve veterans from Wright County are among 90 others who will be making the ninth Brushy
Creek Area Honor Flight to Washington DC on September 6. While there, the veterans will spend the day visiting the memorials dedicated to honor their sacrifices. Family, friends, and the public are invited out to the airport in Fort Dodge to see them off and welcome them back home. The flight takes off at about 7 a.m. and returns at around 10:30 p.m. that evening.
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attend the University of North Texas after graduating high school. There she earned her performance degree in vocal music. But by that time she had started working for a large advertising agency in Dallas. “I got bit by the graphic design bug and ran with it,” Coldiron said. For the past 22 years, she continued working in the graphic arts field in various capacities. Eventually, she and her husband, Scott, moved back to the Dows area in 2009 so their children could live
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Wright County resident recently named to 4-H Hall of Fame By Jacob Snyder WrightCoMonitor@gmail.com A Clarion local was among 82 county and two state level 4-H volunteers who were recently inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame. Dale Haugland, of Clarion, was one of those inductees who took part in the event, held at the 4-H Exhibits Building on the Iowa State Fair-grounds August 17. A reception, sponsored by donors to the Iowa 4-H Foundation, followed the ceremony. “I was really surprised about being inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Haugland said, adding that he was thankful for the honor. His first volunteer assignment was more than 40 years ago when several members of the Wright County Extension staff asked him to conduct a photography workshop to teach 4-H students about cameras and how to take good pictures. Soon, he began teaching more
Dale Haugland and Albert Grunenwald, Interim Executive Director of the Iowa 4-H Foundation workshops and not just in Wright Iowa State Fair. He enjoyed this County but other counties as well. work because he liked working with Eventually, Haugland moved the many different students. “My on to be a photography judge at the favorite part was watching them
grow up and change,” Haugland said of his judging days. However, he served as more than just a leader of workshops and judge. He also mentored the students any time they needed help. “I had an open door policy at my house,” he explained. “And if the kids had problems they would come out and see me.” Haugland said participating as a volunteer has kept him busy but he has enjoyed every minute of it. And the volunteering continues to keep him active and allows him to be around young people, as you can still find him at some of the 4-H events and fairs. So, what keeps him coming back all these years? It is seeing 4-H student take what they learn from him, apply it to a project, then they come back and show him the finished product. “That’s the reward I like,” Haugland said.
Seventy-five percent done, attorney general candidate stops at the Monitor By Jacob Snyder WrightCoMonitor@gmail.com
Stand up and fight for the people of his state. That’s what Adam Gregg vows to do if elected Attorney General of Iowa. Gregg dropped by the Wright County Monitor office last Wednesday afternoon, his 69th stop on the campaign trail to visit all of Iowa’s 99 counties. “I’ve gotten really positive responses to the things I’ve been talking about,“ he said, adding how people really appreciate that he is traveling to every county in the state. After graduating from high school and Central College in Pella, Gregg went on to attend law school at Drake University. Gregg graduated from the university three years later with high honors and took his first position at one of the top law firms in Iowa, Brown & Winick in Des Moines. One of the best parts of working at the firm, Gregg said, was helping individuals, farmers, and businesses with legal matters. And despite being on track to earn partner at the firm, when the Governor’s Office contacted Gregg asking him to become a member of their team, he took the position. So, starting in 2012, he worked as the legislative liaison and a policy
C-D-G welcomes new a middle school associate By Jacob Snyder WrightCoMonitor@gmail.com A Dows High School graduate is one of the number of new staff members at the newly merged Clarion-Goldfield-Dows School District. Deb Coldiron, a ’92 graduate of Dows Community Schools, works alongside Susan Baker in the Eighth Grade Success Center. “I am looking forward to helping all our students grow in confidence as they work to achieve their academic goals,” she said. Coldiron traveled southward to
Thursday, August 28, 2014
near their grandparents and attend school in Iowa. “I have always firmly believed that Iowa has the best schools,” she commented. They opened Vesuvius WoodFired Pizza in Ames in January of the next year. Scott handled the day-today operations and Deb the graphic design needs of the company. Deb also worked for another company, Team Effort, Clarion, prior to taking the position as eighth grade associate. The idea to apply for the position arose because Deb has always enjoyed working with children and young people, something she had many opportunities to do since returning to Dows. “When I read that there was an eighth grade associate position available at the Clarion-GoldfieldDows Middle School, I knew the time was right for a change,” she said. Deb said she looks forward to working with Baker to help students discover their strengths and increase their confidence. And she is also looking forward to celebrating the students’ accomplishments with and discovering what motivates each of them. Deb and her husband Scott currently live north of Dows. Scott is the owner and a chef at Vesuvius Wood-Fired Pizza. The couple has two children, Owen and Ruby. In her spare time, Deb likes to listen to audiobooks, work on fun projects with her children and watch Deb with her two children, Owen and Ruby, on their first day of school. and discuss films with her husband.
Adam Gregg spent some time talking to folks at the Iowa State Fair on his quest to become the next attorney general of Iowa. (Courtesy of Adam Gregg Facebook page) advisor for Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. During his time at this position, Gregg was part of the 2013 Legislative session, which is wellknown in the state for accomplishing a great deal including education reform and crafting an alternative plan to the president’s Medicaid expansion. “That is something I am really proud of,” he said. The idea to run for the Attorney General position came about because Gregg felt this was the next logical step. And at the time, no Republicans had filed to run yet. If elected Attorney General, Gregg said one of his top priorities would be creating a division within the Office who would prosecute cyber crimes and crimes against children. With this division, local officials would have the tools and expertise to go after some of the sophisticated criminals. “What I am proposing is let’s
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have the expertise in the Attorney General’s office and share that statewide,” he said. He added that hopefully then, they can bring those people to justice. There are other areas of interest he also wants to focus on too, like the idea of “smaller government” and more local control. He said while many politicians talk about this, he gives concrete plans of how he would go about achieving this goal. For example, there are many advisory boards and occupational licensures across the state. “But a lot of licensures don’t truly protect the health and safety of Iowans,” he explained. “They’re designed instead to be a barrier to entry into a profession and protect entrenched interests.” To solve this problem, Gregg said, there must be a comprehensive review done of these boards and
licensures. Then, he would make suggestions to the Legislature to streamline or eliminate them, as needed. “That’s how we get serious about making government smaller and cutting red tape,” he said. “And I think there will be practical impacts from that.” Next on the list of stops following his visit to the Monitor was sitting down to talk Wright County Attorney Eric Simonson. Gregg then took a break from the politics to attend a wedding last weekend. But there was no rest for the weary as he was back to campaigning Monday in his hometown. The election for the Attorney General position will take place in November. Adam and his wife, Cari, currently live in Johnston. They have two children, Jackson and Lauren.
Slant, post, out. The receivers seen here were jumping, diving, and stretching out their arms to catch passes as they ran their routes last Wednesday at practice. The Cowboys are working hard to prepare for their first game of the season on August 29 when they travel to Eagle Grove and battle the Eagles. (Photos by Jacob Snyder, Wright County Monitor)