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•••••DECEMBER 22, 2021•••••

641-208-5505

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DECEMBER 22, 2021

DECEMBER 22, 2021

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Warrant Wednesday

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Wapello County has over 500 active warrants. Warrant Wednesday’s are designed to help law enforcement locate wanted persons, with the public’s help.

Do NOT attempt to apprehend these individuals.

Instead, call the Ottumwa Police Department at (641) 683-0661 or Wapello County Sheriff ’s Department at (641) 684-4350 if you have any information on their whereabouts. Your tips can be made anonymously.

Helping you protect your #1.

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Name: Jephthah Darin Burton DOB: 08/21/1990 Warrant Issued: 12/10/2021 Warrant Details: Violation of Probation

Call 855.994.8300 to learn more!

State Farm® is #1 in individual life policies* because people trust us to help protect their families and the moments that are most important in life. Let’s explore your options.

CALL ME TODAY.

Jim Carnahan, Agent 522 Richmond Ave Ottumwa, IA 52501 Bus: 641-682-3447 www.jcarnahaninsurance.com

*Ranking and data provided by SNL Financial based on reported individual ordinary life insurance policies in force as of year-end 2014.

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Ray’s Longbranch Homemade 1/2 lb. Tenderloins & Hamburgers Drakesville, IA • 722-3355

Name: Alex James Lankford DOB: 09/30/1991 Warrant Issued: 12/15/2021 Warrant Details: Theft 4th Degree

Name: Catherine Lucille Provancha DOB: 02/05/1978 Warrant Issued: 12/06/2021 Warrant Details: Parole Violation: Original Charge - Sex Abuse 3rd Degree

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DECEMBER 22, 2021

separately, starting with the bench. Whoever buys the bench can have the piano if they want it; if not, we’ll sell the piano next.”

The piano was gorgeous, an antique upright-grand.

The rounded corners made of dark quartersawn oak, the wood carvings on the sheet music boards, the sculpting of The Ellington the legs, and hand-carved I went to the estate aucbeading on the edges tion for Delilah Ware just all made this a uniquely to see what was there. It breath-taking piano. The was July, and it was hot. A center keys had been recouple of items interested placed with modern plasme, but I wasn’t sure I tic, but the original ivory wanted to wait in the heat. keys remained on high I went inside the house to and low notes. see what was there, but mostly I was hoping to The piano bench was find some air conditioning nothing special; a late sixto escape the heat. ties piece of furniture that did not match the piano.

I fell in love the very moJim Kosman, the auctionment I saw it on the east eer, asked, “Who’ll give wall in the living room. I me two hundred to open.” knew it would probably They always start high. sell cheap because peoHe chanted a few secple don’t want these big onds, then asked for one old things. Most folks con- hundred. A man called sider them an albatross; out a bid of two dollars they just want to buy the and fifty cents. “We’ve bench or the stool. So, I got two and a half; who’ll decided to stay and wait give me five?” I raised for it. my hand. The other bidder went seventy-fifty; I The auctioneer said, raised my hand for ten.

“What we have here is an He took twelve and a half, antique piano and bench. and I nodded my head We’ll be selling them for fifteen. The other man

looked at me and said something obscene, then walked away; it shocked me that he said it. Jim paused his auction cry, glanced over the crowd, and announced, “Sold for fifteen dollars to number one-seventeen.” Then he addressed me, “Tom, do you want the piano or just the bench?”

I laughed; Jim knows me, “All I wanted was the piano, but I’ll take both.”

The man bidding against me approached me, asking if I wanted to sell the bench. “Sure, twenty-five bucks,” I said.

I could tell he was annoyed with me, “You only paid fifteen.”

“Yeah,” I replied, “but you said F-you to me, and if that isn’t worth ten bucks, I don’t know what is.” The man glared at me briefly, then repeated his rude comment. “The price just went up to fifty,” I said to him as he turned away; in the spirit of a live auc-

tion, I added, “Do I hear more?”

I bought several items that day – the piano was the treasure among them.

I went home and told my wife I had purchased a baker’s cabinet, some other things and then told her about the piano. “It’s going to look great with that antique piano bench you bought in Winona.”

She asked where I would store it since we were still finishing the remodeling of our home. “Oh yeah,” I casually mentioned, “I bought the house too. So, I’ll keep it there for now.”

(That’s another story that didn’t end as well.)

The piano sat in the house for a few months; I wanted to move it have it in our home, ready to play before Christmas.

So, I called a man named Paul Kennedy, a piano tuner. I was told Paul was a real enthusiast for old pianos. “I’ll come right over,” he said. I explained (Just the Other Day cont’d on pg 5)

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(Just the Other Day cont’d from pg 4)

the house didn’t have any utilities connected, and it was dark. “I have a flashlight on my phone,” he said, determined to come that evening, “I can be there ten minutes.”

“You better give me thirty minutes,” I told him and hung up the phone. When I got to the house, Paul was pacing on the front porch. After a brief introduction, I unlocked the door.

Paul rushed right in to look at the piano. “Holy cow, this is amazing,” were his first words. He ran his hands over the top and the sides. “I can’t believe this,” he said, then opened the keyboard and played a few notes.

“It’s not far out of tune,” he said, then pulled the piano forward to look at the soundboard, “Do you have any idea how cool it is to find this complete?

I usually find pianos like this in pieces in boxes and baskets.” Now, I was in love with this piano at the very first sight, but Paul’s excitement made my affection seem like puppy love.

“You need to get this moved into a warm space; the cold dry air isn’t good for it,” Paul said. He wrote down a few notes, including the serial number, and promised to be in touch soon.

Less than an hour passed when I received a call from Paul. I barely said hello, when he started, “Your piano is a 1906 Ellington, upright grand.

Ellington is an upscale piano built by Baldwin in Chicago….” Paul finally took a breath and asked, “Can I come to see it again in the daylight on Thursday.” I agreed and told him to call first.

By Thursday, the piano had already been moved into our house, having a couple of days to acclimate. Paul sat down and started playing lightly. “It’s really held its tune well.”

As he played, I could see dust floating in the sunlight coming through the front windows. He stood up, “Can I ask what you paid for the piano?”

“I gave fifteen dollars for the bench; the piano was free,” I told him.

Paul just laughed, “It’ll be very reasonable. Trust me; I am more interested in seeing this Ellington play again than a paycheck. I’ll be back on Monday – say three in the afternoon?”

Paul returned on Monday; he had removed the white plastic tops from the center keys and replaced them with natural ivory from other antique pianos he kept for parts. Then he pulled the toe board and started cleaning with tiny brushes and a vacuum.

When he finished cleaning, he sat at the bench, struck keys, and used a tool to turn pegs to tune the piano. Then, when he finished, Paul started playing the piano with gusto and spirit – It was magnificent!

with his case, he called for Mom and us girls to come to the living room with our instruments. A “Dad bought the piano in few neighbors and friends the very early twenties for would see him coming, Delilah to learn to play. and they came to the She was pretty young house with their instruthen. The piano company ments too. After the tuner delivered it and set it up looked over the piano, on the west wall. Everywe all started playing. It one in our family played became a regular event an instrument, and Dad for people to gather at our insisted the piano be kept house on Sunday evening perfectly tuned, so he had for a music jam. Other the tuner come by once a people came just to listen. month to check it. When The piano never seemed Dad saw the tuner walkto need much tuning; we figured Dad just wanted “I talked to Delilah’s sister, ing down the sidewalk

When I remodeled our house, I removed all the “The piano is worth about carpet and refinished the hardwood floors. Any twenty-six thousand dolfloors that weren’t wooden lars on the west coast when sold by a reputable were ceramic tile, so the entire house became part dealer.” Paul handed me of the instrument. The a card, “This is a friend sound flowed from room of mine; he’s a collector to room and was like no and a dealer. He’ll give music I’d ever heard from you six thousand for it, a piano before. I was sight unseen based on absolutely in awe at the what I’ve told him – but now that I’ve seen it in the sound and the tone. Then I told Paul some of the daylight, he’ll give you at piano’s history. least eight.”

“The piano isn’t for sale,” I told him, “It has a history here in Ottumwa, and I’m going to keep it.” Then I told Paul I wanted him to clean it up and tune it. It was very dusty inside.

Paul made a clicking noise and pointed at me, “That’s what I wanted to hear.” Before I knew it, he had the movement and keyboard taken out of the piano cabinet and was carrying them out to his car.

“Wait a minute,” I said with concern. “How much is this going to cost me?”

Dorothea, who lived next door. She told me a lot of stories:

folks to get together for the music. I think the piano tuner wanted the same thing because he never charged Dad to tune the piano.” …I just can’t hear it again…played in the cold air…never came home…

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Dangerous Company We had a tremendous storm last week. It only rained for a few minutes, but the wind blew for hours. The wind had gusts up to sixty mile per hour for most of the afternoon. When the actual storm front went through, wind speeds hit eighty to ninety miles per hour.

It did not take long to figure out what was not well hooked down. Heavy chairs on the porch went flying from one side to the other and trees blew down. We were fortunate to not have incurred any major damage, but there were a few annoyances.

There were branches down all over the yard and the garbage can lids went flying. I found one lid on the opposite side of the house, one up in the timber, and one is still missing. Because of the missing garbage can lid, I decided on Saturday to load up the trash and take it to town to the dumpster and recycle center. Leaving a trash can open is asking for trouble. We apparently have such tasty garbage; wildlife is drawn to it like June bugs to a porch light.

Billie, the poodle, was sound asleep on the couch when I announced to my wife that I was going to go to town. He was not as asleep as I thought, or he had the ability to snap awake when his unconscious brain hears certain trigger words.

One of those words that always elicits a response is “go”. Another is “town”.

Two trigger words in one sentence will sent the dog into a begging frenzy that is all but impossible to ignore. He loves to go and does not care where we might be going.

One-time last year, as the weather turned cold, we had an unfortunate incident where a mouse decided to winter in my pickup at the same time we made a garbage run.

A dog chasing a mouse inside of the cab of one’s truck while driving down the road is not something a person soon forgets. I thought of this while loading up the trash. It surely would not happen again.

Since the truck had not been used for a couple of weeks, there was always that possibility.

Jag, the terrier, was running around the truck as I loaded the three trash cans. Jag darted under the truck and came out with a mouse. I thought this might cure the potential problem. Billie jumped into the passenger seat, and we started up the driveway. He is always excited to be able to go and bounces around the inside of the truck, watching everything at once.

Being accustomed to his frantic activities, I have

learned to ignore him until he settles down to watch for squirrels, rabbits, and deer. We were almost to the end of the driveway when he made a dive for the floor and tried to get behind my feet. I was not expecting this. There is not much room for a seventy-five-pound dog on the floor of a pickup when a person’s feet are already there. My feet popped off the brake and gas peddles as I looked at the south end of a dog going north, trying to get under my seat.

I managed to stop the truck by the time we rolled into the middle of the road. I opened the door, threw Billie out, and turned around. He got to go for a ride as well as run down the driveway, which he also considers great fun. He got to stay home for this trip. I decided it was better to go to town with a mouse than a dog, a mouse, and me. Sometimes, three is dangerous company.

DECEMBER 22, 2021