Thursday March 20, 2014
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Winterset Elementary Gym
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A one-day retail event featuring hand-spun, hand-dyed yarn and fiber and hand-knitted and crocheted items PLUS classes and demonstrations all day!
SPORTS, page 7A
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SHOWING ITS AGE Rainbow Park’s 113-yearold fountain will soon receive $10,000 in improvements
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By KYLE WILSON
CNA managing editor
kwilson@crestonnews.com
T
he centerpiece at Rainbow Park in Creston will soon receive about $10,000 in improvements thanks to Youth Answering the Call of the Community (YACC) and Creston Parks and Recreation Department. That centerpiece — a 20-foot high concrete water fountain — has been the backdrop for Creston High School pre-prom pictures on several occasions over the past two decades. But, it turns 113 years old this year and is showing its age. The fountain has become costly to both the city and Southside Booster Club in recent years. “It leaks,” said John Kawa, president of Creston Parks Board. “It leaked enough two summers ago that the water bill became about three times what it should be, so we had to shut the fountain off.” Mark Huff, Creston
Did you know? Rainbow Park — located five blocks south of the railroad laying between Birch and Vine streets — was not the park’s original name. When Creston was first platted, the park’s original name was South Park. The change to Rainbow Park occured shortly after World War I in 1918 to honor Company C which was part of the Rainbow Division that fought in France. Source: Images of America: Creston by Dianne R. Osmun
CNA photo by KYLE WILSON
This photo from the Union County Historical Complex is of a ladies literary society called Parlor Circle. This society purchased the fountain in Rainbow Park for $600 in 1895. They also made several other park improvements during that time including rebuilding the band stand, adding seats and flower beds — this according to a Creston history book written by Dianne R. Osmun.
first day of spring
Severe Weather Awareness Week offers safety tips
parks director, said his departm e n t didn’t even turn the fountain on Kawa last year because of problems with leaking. But, Kawa and Huff agreed the fountain is “too nice of an attraction” and there is too much history behind the structure for repairs not to be made.
(MCT) — With spring starting today, the risks of severe weather disasters like flooding and tornadoes will be on the rise. To get the community ready for the spring and summer severe weather season, the state of Iowa will be holding Severe Weather Awareness Week beginning next Monday. Keith Morgan, Story County Emergency Management Coordinator, said the week-long event is intended to teach residents the basics of severe weather safety, and groups ranging from local elementary schools to senior care services are holding classes and lessons for the event. Morgan said that while some severe weather situations used to be uncommon in Iowa, recent events mean Story County should be prepared for anything. “Last May, we had the heavy rains that created surface flooding,” Morgan said. “In 2010, we had the flash flooding along our more established waterways like Squaw Creek and Skunk River. We had a good long stretch without a tornado and of course that was broken last spring. “In 2011, we had a derecho, which nobody has even heard that term until 2011. There’s all those different kinds of events that we’re susceptible to.” Morgan said the week is meant to get families thinking about their own emergency plans.
Fountain’s history The fountain was paid for by “Parlor Circle” (a ladies literary society) in 1895. It cost them $600 and was completely installed by the early 1900s. “The fountain is the focal point of the entire park,” s a i d Darlene Loudon Loudon, president of Southside Booster Club. “People love to throw down a blanket and picnic next to the fountain. That fountain is older than all of us. It’s such a unique part of the history of Rainbow Park and Creston.” Loudon admitted the fountain has been costly to her booster club, too, costing them about $25,000 in fundraising efforts over the past 20 years. “I’m hopeful they (the parks department) will find a way to fix the fountain long-term,” Loudon said. Huff said he’s currently getting pricing to sandblast, seal and upgrade plumbing and electrical on the fountain. The parks department received $3,500 from YACC in 2012. That money’s been earmarked for the fountain. Huff said the remainder of the $10,000 needed for repairs will likely come from grant funding. “This fountain has value and means something to the people (of Creston),” Huff said. “So we’re going to do the project. It needs to be done.” Huff said he is currently getting pricing for the repairs and expects the fountain improvement project to begin sometime in the fall with hope the fountain can be turned on next spring.
Please see SPRING, Page 2
Malaysia airliner debris possibly spotted BEIJING (MCT) — Australian Prime Minter Tony Abbott said Thursday that two objects that could be wreckage of Malaysia Air flight 370 were found by satellites off the west coast of Australia. “New and credible information has come to light in relation to the search ... in the south Indian Ocean,” Abbott told Australia’s parliament in Canberra on Thursday morning, local time. “The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received information based on satellite imagery of two objects possibly related to the search.’’ John Young, general manager of the maritime authority, described the largest of the objects as about 24 (78 feet) meters long and located about 1,500 miles off the coast of Perth. “This is a lead. It is probably the best lead we have right now. Bt we have to get there, find them, see them, assess them, to know if it is really meaningful or not,’’ said Young at another Please see MALAYSIA, Page 2
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Volume 130 No. 198 Copyright 2014
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Contents
Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Deaths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Heloise Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10
Friday weather High 56 Low 27 Full weather report, 3A