LABOR DAY EVENTS
MCDERMOTT FIRST
Diagonal Lions Club will host its annual Labor Day celebration Sunday and Monday. It will include a parade, glow run, meat smoking competition and more. See page 14A. >>
Cooper McDermott places first and Panther girls place fifth at Dallas Center-Grimes Invitational Tuesday evening. More on the meet in SPORTS, page 8A. >>
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Quiet zone: Firm will pay to extend medians By KYLE WILSON
City will be able to apply with the Federal Railroad Association to become a quiet zone once medians are extended properly. ■
CNA managing editor kwilson@crestonnews.com
Veenstra & Kimm engineering firm will now pay in full. The firm — which designed the safety improvement project in uptown Creston that included medians constructed on Elm Street and New York Avenue — ran into problems with city officials earlier this summer after city officials was discovered that the medians it designed were not constructed close enough to the railroad tracks. The medians were anywhere
from 10 inches to 4 feet short, depending on location, and that has prevented the city from applying to become a quiet zone with the Federal Railroad Association. In July, Veenstra & Kimm had only agreed to pay half of the cost to extended the medians and fix the problems. Last week, the firm sent an email to Mayor Warren Woods.
“We will cover costs for this repair/modification in hopes to keep on the best of terms with the city,” wrote Greg Roth with Veenstra & Kimm. “We appreciate all the city of Creston has done for us and hope for a long, continued relationship. Please keep us informed of the final costs as we hope they stay in the $6,800 or less range.” City officials said in July the
FRA would allow an 18-inch wide median to be used to gain the distance needed. Using the 18-inch wide median would cost about $7,000. Creston City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to let the engineering firm pay the $7,000 to extend the medians. Roth said in July the reason the medians weren’t close enough to the tracks was because the stoparm gates do not come down “square.” The gates are skewed toward the tracks. Roth said his firm will be more mindful that this can happen and will overplan the length of medians in the future so
this doesn’t happen again. Engineers said all other safety improvements are in place and scoring will be high enough with the FRA that the city will be able to move toward the final process to become a quiet zone. Work to extend the medians will begin this fall. In other city council news: • The council approved the hire of Mandy McDowell-Beer as a full-time dispatcher at the law enforcement center. She replaces Please see CITY COUNCIL, Page 2
Creston man sentenced on lascivious acts charge By BAILEY POOLMAN
CNA staff reporter
bpoolman@crestonnews.com
Contributed photo
Charlie Weil, right, talks to John Nish, middle, and Janet Anderson, left, at his retirement party at Wellman Dynamics on Aug. 25 in Creston. Weil, who was a molder at Wellman’s, retired on his 50th anniversary.
Wellman’s employee retires after 50 years with company By KELSEY HAUGEN CNA staff reporter
khaugen@crestonnews.com
Charlie Weil was among the first employees hired by Wellman Dynamics in Creston when its doors opened Aug. 25, 1965. On Aug. 25 this year, Weil retired, marking exactly 50 years working at Wellman’s. He was the last hourly employee left of the original hires. “I like molding, but I just turned 68, and I figured that was long enough,” said
Weil, who lives in Afton. Weil worked as a molder for Wellman’s, which manufactures aluminum and magnesium sand castings for aerospace Weil applications. After 14 months at Wellman’s, he was drafted into the Army. “I was in Vietnam for a year. That was long enough,” Weil said. Weil was stationed in south Saigon as an infan-
tryman. While he was gone, his seniority at Wellman’s kept going. Once he completed his service, he returned to work at Wellman’s in the spring of 1968. Right out of the Army, Weil got married and lived in Gravity for 35 years. In 1993, the couple divorced, and he later moved to Afton, where he currently lives. Being a molder at Wellman’s was the first and only
full-time job Weil has had throughout his life. At the time, no prior education or training was required to be hired at Wellman’s. He was a Bedford High School graduate who was trained to do tasks that were new to him. “Some jobs were just a simple top and bottom part, which is a cope and drag,” Weil said. “Other jobs had about 100 cores, of any size and shape, to make Please see WEIL, Page 2
Kevin Jay Giles, 43, of Creston was sentenced to 10 years suspended prison time, five years probation and a fine of $1,000 on a charge of lascivious acts with a child Friday at Union County Courthouse. Giles will be on probation for five Giles years, dependent on terms and conditions set by the court. Giles will have to complete a sex offender treatment program as part of his probation’s terms and conditions. If he violates those terms and conditions in any way, then he will have to serve the suspended 10-year prison sentence, and may not be eligible for parole during his sentence. According to a Union County Sheriff report, on
or about Dec. 28, 2014, the Creston Police Department was contacted by the parents of a minor child born after Jan. 1, 2004. The parents reported the child had been a party to inappropriate physical contact with Giles. The child participated in a forensic interview conducted with the assistance of the Department of Human Services child abuse assessment investigator. The child confirmed the initial report that an adult had touched the child in an inappropriate manner and area. Subsequent interviews resulted in the discovery of separate information which corroborated the allegation made by the child. “He is subject to being supervised by the parole system for the rest of his life,” said Union County Attorney Tim Kenyon. “It’s a complicated sentence because there was a child involved.” As part of his restitution, Giles will have to pay for any treatment or counseling the victim seeks, and he will be required to register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.
Furniture Mart opens uptown expansion By IAN RICHARDSON
CNA staff reporter irichardson@crestonnews.com
Sitting on a couch near the entrance of the new Central Iowa Furniture Mart building Tuesday, co-owner Ed Thompson gestured toward the sofas, recliners and dressers around him. “Would you believe all this furniture has been in a storage unit?” he asked. Tuesday was opening day at Thompson’s new store building, which is located at 124 N. Maple St. The space, which
Thompson estimates is 5,000 square feet, now allows him to show his inventory of furniture in a setting that Thompson isn’t cramped. ■ Pictured right is “If you go one of the in and look showrooms at it and it’s at the new all crammed location together and you can’t hardly sit onto it, don’t have room to move around, it makes it hard to show and sell,”
he said. “This way I can spread it out.” Ed and his wife, Anna, first opened Central Iowa Furniture Mart LLC in Osceola and moved to uptown Creston in 1991. Anna, who co-owns the company with Ed, said the couple had recently been looking to move more inventory that was in storage but was having trouble finding something in their price range. Ed then heard the North Maple building, formerly occupied by God’s
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