Volume 136, Number 36 • Thursday, September 8, 2016
OFFICIAL PAPER FOR Franklin County City of Shef¿eld & West Fork School District Shef¿eld, Franklin County, IA
WARHAWKS SERVE UP SWEEP OF NORTHWOODKENSETT SPORTS: PAGE 10
FRANKLIN COUNTY 4-H’ERS PLACE AT 2016 IOWA STATE FAIR $1 per copy
NEWS: PAGE 5
Upcoming Events Old Fashioned Sing-Along is Sept. 11 at Windsor Join song leader Dawn Groszkruger for an hour of community singing during the Old Fashioned SingAlong on Sunday, Sept. 11. Singing begins at 4 p.m., in Hampton’s historic Windsor Theatre. All ages are welcome. Mardell Jorgensen, of Latimer, will accompany the group while singing a variety of songs together. Local artist, Terry Juhl will perform his original “Spirit of America” which he wrote following the news of the September 11 attack. The sing-along is free, but a basket will be provided for donations to the theater. Come early for a bag of free popcorn and visiting. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. If you have questions, call Dawn at (641) 425-8716.
Hoedown is Sept. 12 The Hampton Old Time Country Hoedown has been rescheduled to Monday, Sept. 12, from 6-9 p.m., at the Windsor Theatre in downtown Hampton. The Hoedown is a music jam open to all levels of musicians and music lovers. It is held on the first Monday of each month. Guests are encouraged to stop by and enjoy some good old time country, bluegrass and gospel music. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. All proceeds are given to the Windsor Theatre. Concessions are open. Contact event organizer Don Wrolson at (641) 4250909 with any questions.
FC Genealogical Society to meet Sept. 17 The Franklin County Genealogical Society will be meeting Sept. 17 at 10 a.m., at the Franklin County Historical Society Library, on the Hampton Fair Grounds. This program will be on members questions.
Fitness 4-H Club available in Franklin County The Franklin Wellness Center (FWC) of Hampton is looking for adult volunteers and youth interested in forming a 4-H club. The focus is to engage youth to have fun exploring their potential in various physical activities and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Activities include, but are not limited to, all those offered at FWC, such as swimming, strength training, aerobics, tennis, pickleball, basketball and biking. Healthy eating and nutrition will also be explored. Stop at FWC or call (641) 456-2827 to sign up. Contact FWC manager Jim Davies for more information. For more information about the 4-H program opportunities in Franklin County contact County Youth Coordinator Jackie Dohlman at (641) 456-4811 or jackied@ iastate.edu.
4-H shooting sports informational meeting Youth in Franklin County are invited to learn about 4-H Shooting Sports at an informational meeting, Saturday, Sept. 10, at 1 p.m., at the Hansell Shooting Complex. Youth will learn marksmanship, the safe and responsible use of firearms, the principles of hunting and much more. The activities and the support of caring adult leaders provide young people with opportunities to develop life skills, self-worth, and conservation ethics. All youth, ages 12 and older, living in Franklin County are invited to participate. Weather permitting, youth will have an opportunity to shoot shotgun. Youth must be 12 years old to be involved in shotgun. Parents MUST attend the whole time. Members will practice safety techniques and response to range commands, learn basic shooting fundamentals, cleaning and maintaining firearms and equipment. Members also learn about eye and ear protection, the ethics about responsible gun usage, take field trips, and develop shooting skills Adults interested in volunteering are encouraged to attend. For more information about 4-H Shooting Sports, contact Project Leader Nathan Miller at (641) 425-1225 before Saturday, Sept. 10 to register.
Sheffield AA to meet The Sheffield Alcoholics Anonymous group meets each Tuesday evening in the Fellowship Hall of Zion St. John Lutheran Church at 8 p.m.
MacNider @ 50 exhibit Are you interested in the history of the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum? Do you want to know how the museum got started and the changes that have been made throughout the last 50 years? The current exhibition at MacNider delves into the full history of the museum, using articles, photographs and artworks to tell the story of this “North Iowa Treasure.”
IN THIS ISSUE: Opinion ........................................page 3 Obituaries....................................page 5 Community News ...................page 4-5 Public Notices .............................page 8 ClassiÀeds ....................................page 9 Sports ........................................page 10
Election Filings Filed papers reveal ¿ve-candidate race for supervisor
WEST FORK WELLNESS CENTER OPENING DELAYED The Wellness Center will be getting an awning and signage once its completed. ZACH CLEMENS PHOTO
• Concrete moisture content must go down BY ZACH CLEMENS The West Fork Wellness Center was originally scheduled to open at the start of the school year, but with classes in full swing, there has been a delay in the opening, even though work has progressed. The delay is due to the moisture content in the concrete. Iowa Direct, the company in charge of laying the final flooring, cannot give a timeline for when the flooring will be done, said West Fork Superintendent Darrin Strike. “The company specs require that the moisture content percentage be 85 percent or less,” Strike said. “As of [Friday, Sept. 2] our moisture readings are in the upper 80s.” It is a bit too high to be able to lay the flooring. Strike said the geothermal HVAC system is running, which is gradually sucking that moisture off, but a timeline cannot be given, as the conditions change so much it is hard to predict. The same company will be installing the finishing touches in the wrestling room; all the wrestling mats as well as the walls mats for safety. This has not been done yet because they are waiting on moisture content in the concrete to go down, so they can do it all at once Strike said. While the opening is delayed because of the flooring, there has been other progress made with the Wellness Center. The brand new parking lot on the north side of the Wellness Center, as well as the one just west, which used to be the place of the old weight room, have been poured and are now in use.
ABOVE: The new parking lot has relieved a lot of congestion around the schools. BELOW: This area will eventually have grass and landscaping. ZACH CLEMENS PHOTOS
Privatized Medicaid has four-month review
See WELLNESS CENTER: Page 4
West Fork implementing new curriculum BY ZACH CLEMENS The West Fork school district has implemented a number of new and exciting curriculum opportunities for students of all ages this year. West Fork Superintendent Darrin Strike said that teachers of kindergarten through 8th grade have been hard at work this summer implementing the Lucy Calkins workshop model for student reading and language arts programs. “It is a research-based literacy program that does a very good job of directing instruction at the student’s skill level,” Strike said. Students will have time each day to be able research and study reading material that will fit their skill level. If a student is struggling in some areas, they can receive extra instruction, or vice versa if a student has out-paced his grade level. “Teachers have been involved intensively in summer training,” Strike said. “I’m very proud of how hard our teachers have worked to get this off and running.” There is now a multi-tiered system of support for students to learn CORE subjects at West Fork. “It is time set aside daily that deepens the learning for kids at all levels,” Strike said. The West Fork science teachers have worked very hard this summer implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which include some course changes. See WF CURRICULUM: Page 4
Sheffield EMS is looking for new members. ZACH CLEMENS PHOTO
Sheffield EMS in need • EMS challenging local businesses to help BY ZACH CLEMENS The Sheffield Emergency Medical Service (SEMS) are in desperate need of new members, and as an effort to recruit they are challenging local businesses to encourage their employees to join the team. Over the last few years, member numbers have dwindled from around 20 members, to just 8 current members. To compound the problem, all current members have employment outside of Sheffield and are gone during business hours. Because of this, SEMS can no longer accept emergency calls during business hours. “This was a very difficult decision to
BY ETHAN STOETZER The deadline for candidacy in the upcoming elections for Franklin County Office passed on August 31, for the positions of supervisor, county auditor and county sheriff, as well as a special election for CAL School Board Director at-large. This Nov. 8, the county will see five candidates vie for county supervisor for district three. The candidates include three-term Republican incumbent Corey Eberling, against independent candidates John Heilskov, Ryan Rother, David Schoning and Susan Wulf-Flint. A supervisor’s term is four years. For the position of county auditor, Republican incumbent Michelle Giddings will be in the running for the position, unopposed. For the position of county sheriff, current Deputy Sheriff Linn Larson will be running on the Republican ticket against independent Rick Rieken. Current Republican Sheriff Larry Richtsmeier will be retiring from the department after 40 years in law enforcement. The CAL School Board Director at-large has one candidate, Jacob McNutt.
make, you feel like you are letting your community,” said Jim Hegarty, Sheffield councilman and vice president of the SEMS. “Even though Franklin General Ambulance is sometimes only 15 minutes away, it can seem like hours when you are needing help for a loved one.” Franklin General is only available when one of their two ambulances are available, and if they aren’t, then the next service is from Mason City, which is an even longer wait. This year alone, from January 1 to July 31, the SEMS received 58 pages for service, of those 58 calls, less than 50 percent of those calls were rerouted to other services. The reason for the low response rate is directly related to low membership. See SHEFFIELD EMS: Page 4
BY TRAVIS FISCHER The state’s privatized Medicaid program underwent its first quarterly review last week in the Iowa Senate. On Monday, August 29, the Senate’s Health Policy Oversight committee held their first meeting, where they looked over data from the rollout and heard comments from health service providers and Medicaid recipients. On April 1, after several months of delay, Iowa turned over the administration of Medicaid services to three for-profit Managed Care Organizations ( MCO s). T he privatized Medicaid program was initiated by Governor Ter- Iowa’s ry Branstad to Medicaid mitigate Iowa’s rising share of mess is Medicaid costs. everyone’s T he Branst ad administration problem. projected that — AMANDA switching to a privatized sysRAGAN tem would save t he st ate $51 million in the first six months, later revised to $36.6 million. Four months into the program, the state’s quarterly report shows that those projections are on track. During the first four months, the state of Iowa has paid $331 million to the contracted MCOs to handle Medicaid administration. Compared to the $354 million that the state was projected to spend without managed care, this has created a savings for the state of more than $22 million. However, while good for the state’s coffers, health service providers say that the new system of managed care has increased their own costs. In a survey of more than 400 providers, 90 percent said that privatized Medicaid has increased their administrative expenses. See MEDICAID: Page 4