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Creston Mayor Gary Lybarger has appointed Christine Nielsen to the at-large seat on Creston City Council. This appointment will need council approval. See full agenda on page 3A. >>
The Southwestern Spartans basketball team took an ICCAC lead Saturday in one of the biggest home wins in program history. More from the game in SPORTS, page 6A. >>
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Flag removal turns King Day into celebration COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Civic leaders, activists, artists and others are celebrating, marching and paying homage today to Martin Luther King Jr., marking the 30th anniversary of the federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader. In South Carolina, civil rights leaders planned a march to their state capitol as in past years when their rally highlighted calls to remove the Confederate flag from Statehouse grounds. The King Day at the Dome gathering began in 2000 with that call. Last July, organizers got their wish as South Carolina swiftly removed the flag which had flown at the capitol for more than 50 years after what police said was a racially motivated shooting that claimed nine lives at a church in Charleston. The state NAACP said there is still more work to do to honor King and the
AP file photo
In this Aug. 28, 1963, black-and-white file photo, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses marchers during his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
theme of this year’s rally is “education equity,” with speakers calling for South Carolina to spend more money to help students in poorer, more rural school districts, which
frequently have a majority of black students. And this year’s event will also include appearances by all three main Democratic presidential candidates — Hillary
Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley. The rally in Columbia is one of many planned nationwide recalling the legacy of King, who was assassinated in 1968.
In Memory of Martin Luther King Jr., a letter to my imaginary granddaughter When Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Memphis supporting a strike by black garbage workers, I was a 25-year-old “student wife” in Gainesville, Florida. My husband was finishing his doctorate. I drove the back roads of Alachua County as a caseworker for the Florida welfare department. On a Friday evening, King was shot as he stood on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He never spoke another word. When news of his death broke, riots erupted in cities all over the country, a reac-
Southern Exposure Janna Tull Steed, Guest Columnist
tion that King would have deplored. He was killed just before Holy Week. At University Methodist Church’s Palm Sunday service, the pastor preached on Jesus’ words from Luke’s gospel: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” The Rev. Thaxton Springfield never mentioned King; he didn’t have to.
You know I grew up in Crossett, Arkansas, a lumber- and paper-mill town in the southeast corner. In many ways, I am a daughter of the South. But I am also a daughter of the Church. Before I went to school, I was taken to Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. There was a picture of Jesus surrounded by children from different lands. We learned to sing, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.” The most astonishing characteristic of the African-American is that men and women captured, chained, kidnapped from their homeland, and sold as property embraced the religion of their masters. Martin Luther King Jr. was an heir of that miraculous conversion. His father was pastor of a 3,000-member Baptist church in Atlanta. King traced his
CNA photo by KYLE WILSON
On target: Juan Zamora, 11, of Creston participates in the Elks Lodge hoop shoot free-throw
competition held Saturday morning at Southwestern Community College. Zamora was one of about 100 kids between the ages of 8 and 13 who competed in the event this year. Winners from each age group now advance to district competition slated Saturday in Clive. Results from the local competition will be published in the Creston News Advertiser sports section later this week.
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Volume 132 No. 163
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STEED | 10A
Creston woman dies in head-on collision A Creston woman died Saturday evening after a head-on collision accident on Highway 34 near Jaguar Avenue — located about three miles east of Creston. The accident occurred 9:11 p.m. Saturday. Deanne Lee Hoffman, 49, of Creston was killed in the collision. According to an Iowa State Patrol crash report, Donna Jo Spare, 61, of Afton — driving a 2001 Chevy Impala — crossed the centerline on Highway 34 Saturday for unknown reasons and struck a 1997 Buick LaSabre being
driven by Hoffman. Hoffman was transported to Greater Regional Medical Center and was pronounced dead. Spare was transported to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines and her condition is unknown at this time. Services are pending for Hoffman at Powers Funeral Home in Creston. Assisting at this accident were Union County Sheriff’s office, Creston Police Department, Creston Fire Department, Afton Fire Department and Greater Regional Medical Center.
Arraignment scheduled in Dillinger murder case An arraignment is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday at Union County Courthouse for Jerry Dillinger on two counts of first-degree murder. During the arraignment, Dillinger Dillinger will give his official plea, and pretrial conference and trial dates will be set. Dillinger was charged with two counts of first-degree murder Dec. 12 after the body of his ex-sister-in-law
Loretta Lynn Dillinger was discovered in a rural Union County stock pond and the remains of a second body were discovered on the property of Dillinger’s residence in Thayer. Autopsies on the two bodies are currently being done. The second body has not yet been identified. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Union County Sheriff and secondary roads, Iowa State Patrol, Creston Police, Department of Natural Resources, State Medical Examiner and North American Police Work Dog Association all aided in the December investigation.
CNA photo by BAILEY POOLMAN
Getting scrappy: Sue Basler of Sharpsburg puts together photos on cuts of color-
ful cardstock during the Creston Publishing Company’s annual Scrap-a-thon Saturday at Supertel Inn and Conference Center. Basler and many other women from places such as Winterset and Griswold participated in the scrapbooking event. Also pictured in back is Georgia Paulsen.
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