STATE FAIR RESULTS
Area residents competed in several different events at the 2017 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. For various results from livestock shows, see page 3A. >>
SENIOR NIGHT LOSS The Creston/O-M football team fought back but came up short Friday night in a senior night loss to Carroll. For more on the Panthers, see SPORTS, page 5A. >>
creston
News Advertiser
SHAW MEDIA GROUP SERVING SW IOWA SINCE 1879 BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE AT WWW.CRESTONNEWS.COM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2017
TAKE BACK BRIDGEWATER Bridgewater residents proactive in fight against drugs
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By ALEX FELKER
CNA staff reporter afelker@crestonnews.com
CNA photo by SCOTT VICKER
Soybean harvest: Kenny Sobotka harvests a field of soybeans Friday afternoon in his Case IH combine north of Diagonal.
Kenny had help from his father, Joe, driving the grain cart. According to the crop progress report released Oct. 16, Iowa was 32 percent harvested for soybeans, while the south central district was only 14 percent harvested. Many farmers took advantage of Friday’s weather to get back into the fields and catch up on harvesting.
CNA photo by CARTER ECKL
Structure fire: Creston firefighters prepare to fight a structure fire Friday evening. According to a Creston Fire report,
firefighters were dispatched for a structure fire 10:01 p.m. Friday at 501 N. Oak St. Firefighters then extinguished the fire. Damage estimate of the house owned by Jeff Ostergaard is $10,000.
BRIDGEWATER — When Bridgewater resident Doug Miller was forced to explain to his 5-year-old son what the word “METH” meant — spray-painted onto a rock pile north of town and paired with an arrow pointed toward Bridgewater — he knew something had to be done. “That was the point that I had had enough,” said Miller. “I spent the next few days talking with residents, neighbors and people around town, and everybody said the same thing: ‘Somebody should do something.’” But who? And what? According to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the nation’s growing opioid crisis was responsible for the deaths of 146 Iowans, and nearly 30,000 Americans in 2016. Every day, approximately 90 people suffer opioid-related deaths. “And so I decided,” said
Miller, “that if everybody thought that something needed to be done, but nobody was willing to do something about it, then I was going to let it be known that I wanted an organizational meeting to see if we could form something. “Something like a neighborhood watch,” Miller continued, “or some kind of group to see what kind of actions we could take in Bridgewater to fight this element — to fight these people that thought it was OK to move into Bridgewater — to sell drugs so blatantly in town.”
Getting organized The result was the formation of 501(c)(3) non profit Take Back Bridgewater, Iowa. The organization operates primarily through its Facebook page, “Take Back Bridgewater, Iowa,” and has been active in the city of about 200 since late February. “We’ve held four public forums,” said Miller. One with council members, the sheriff’s department, law officials and a drug councelor. We asked, ‘What have other communities done? What BRIDGEWATER | 10A
Contributed photo
Pictured is Doug Miller of Bridgewater, during a public forum the non profit group Take Back Bridgewater, Iowa, held earlier this year.
HY-VEE HALLOWEEN PARTY
CNA photos by SCOTT VICKER
AT LEFT, Brooklyn Kissell, 3, of Creston colors a picture of a cat and a pumpkin Saturday afternoon during Hy-Vee’s Halloween Party. Hy-Vee’s annual Halloween Party offered several Halloween activities for children, as well as the chance to trick-or-treat through the different departments of the store. AT RIGHT, Elliott Ross, 4, of Creston carefully picks up the cookie he decorated Saturday afternoon at Creston Hy-Vee during the store’s Halloween Party.
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Copyright 2017
Volume 134 No. 101
2016
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We are enjoying being on “one” level and having no unused space to clean. We also like the quietness of the more rural setting. Having supermarkets, schools, churches, the hospital and clinics so accessible is also a plus! We are so pleased to finally have this type of housing available in Creston. -Don and Helen Mosman Condominium TesTimonial • R RealTy • 114 n elm • 641-782-9408 • 641-745-0372