NEW CRESTON COACH
DOCTOR OZ COLUMN
Taylor Phipps, former assistant coach at Des Moines North, excited to continue tradition as new boys basketball coach at Creston High School. More about Phipps in SPORTS, page 1S.
Testicular cancer affects about 8,500 men per year with most diagnosed around 33 years of age. Several celebrities are raising awareness. More in HEALTH, page 5A. >>
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COMING SOON to McKinley Park in Creston
CNA photo by IAN RICHARDSON
This portion of McKinley’s walking trail, now without lights, will soon be the home to 10 solar light fixtures. These lights will be paid for — in large part — with a grant received through South Central Iowa Community Foundation.
Several projects are in the works at McKinley Park in Creston this summer. Here is a look at five of them. ■
By IAN RICHARDSON CNA staff reporter
irichardson@crestonnews.com
You might visit McKinley Park for the scenery. You might visit for the exercise. You might visit for the playgrounds, for the pool or just to hang out with friends. Whatever brings you to the park, chances are there’s a new project in the works that will pique your interest. From new art to a new game, several additions and renovations are on their way. Here’s a sneak preview of five of them to watch for in the coming weeks and beyond.
1
PAINTED BIRDHOUSES
McKinley’s walking trail could soon become a prime place for bird-watching, as 25 vividly painted birdhouses will be dotting the trail and the park grounds as soon as Fourth of July weekend. Creston high school Fry-Schnormeier art teacher Bailey Fry-Schnormeier gath-
ered these avian abodes from leftover woodworking projects and had her art students paint them using creative designs. “They were able to choose their own theme,” she said. “It was the end of the year, so it was a very open project.” Fry-Schnormeier said the style of art on the houses differs widely, ranging from abstract designs to wood burning techniques. Each birdhouse will have a piece of wire attached to it so it can be mounted around the park somewhere, starting with the walking trail. “I don’t really know if we’ll find a home for all of the 25 along the trail, but we’ll start there and see where we’re at,” she said.
2
BASKETBALL COURT MURAL
Besides the birdhouses, Fry-Schnormeier has another project in queue: repainting the faded mural on the wall at the McKinley basketball court. Fry-Schnormeier’s painting classes designed the mural during the spring semester. She said the mural is inspired by the work of graphic artist Peter Max and is “kind of funky.” It includes a lake reminiscent of McKinley Lake, balloons in the sky for Balloon Days and a representation of a train, paying homage to elements of the current mural. “I grew up in Creston, and I remember the mural always being up there at the park,” she said. “Moving back after college, it was like, ‘We should redo that.’”
CNA photo by IAN RICHARDSON
Pictured are a selection of the birdhouses that will be going up along the trail in McKinley Park. Painted by Creston art students, the houses number 25 in all.
CNA photo by IAN RICHARDSON
This mural design will replace the faded one on the wall at the basketball court. Creston art students designed the mural during the spring semester, and painting is slated to begin in August after school starts.
Several of last year’s students have expressed an interest in bringing the project to fulfillment too, she said. She plans to begin work when school starts in August.
3
SOLAR LIGHTING
Something else to look for along the trail will be 10 new solar light fixtures. John Kawa, chairman of the Creston Parks and Recreation board, said they should Kawa be up by the fall. The lights will go from the historical complex to the campground. Kawa said there is also good chance of continuing this move to solar as the trail extends to the other side of McKinley Lake in the future. “Hopefully we can hook
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4
RESTROOM RENOVATION
This summer, the restroom near the memorial garden will receive a makeover, completing a restroom renovation project that has been in the works for a decade. “When we started this project some 10 years ago, the biggest complaint was the restrooms,” Kawa said. “They were deplorable.” Kawa said he’s currently working on the project, which will add a new roof, new sidewalk, new stall doors, automatic flushing and more to the facility. The restroom, which is currently about five decades old, will be as nice as both the park’s other refurbished restrooms. Kawa said the restroom will be completed by July Please see MCKINLEY PARK, Page 2A
CNA photo by IAN RICHARDSON
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these all together,” he said.
This restroom, located near the memorial garden, will be the last of three to be completely renovated at the park, bringing the park’s 10-year bathroom remodel project to a close.
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DANNEMORA, N.Y. (AP) — A prosecutor says a prison employee provided contraband to the two murderers who cut their way out of a maximum-security prison in northern New York last weekend. Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie said Friday morning that Joyce Mitchell gave David Sweat and Richard Matt illegal items. Wylie says he won’t provide details about the contraband, but he said it wasn’t the power tools the convicts used to make their escape last weekend from their neighboring cells at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. Mitchell hasn’t been charged. Mitchell was a supervisor in the prison tailor shop, where Sweat and Matt worked. A person close to the case told The Associated Press that investigators believe she had agreed to be the getaway driver, but she never showed up. The person was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. Squads of law enforcement officers are heading out for a seventh day of searching for two murderers who escaped from a maximum-security prison in northern New York. Armed officers in body armor started boarding New York state prison system buses soon after dawn Friday in the village of Dannemora, where David Sweat and Richard Matt used power tools to cut their way out of their neighboring cells last weekend. They remain at large.
Trooper who spoke out after drowning demoted KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper who was critical of the agency after a handcuffed Iowa man fell from a patrol boat and drowned in the Lake of the Ozarks has been disciplined for speaking out. Trooper Randy Henry was demoted from sergeant to corporal and transferred to Truman Lake, his attorney, Chet Pleban, said in a news release Thursday. Henry had patrolled at the Lake of the Ozarks for nearly three decades. “That discipline is the result of the Patrol’s effort to silence and discredit Sgt. Henry in connection with his claim of a cover up in connection with that investigation,” Pleban said. Brandon Ellingson, a 20-year-old suburban Des Moines, Iowa, native, drowned on May 31, 2014, while in the custody of veteran road trooper Anthony Piercy. Piercy had pulled over the college student on suspicion of boating while intoxicated, handcuffed Ellingson’s wrists behind his back and then pulled an already buckled life vest, with armholes, over his head and upper torso, according to witnesses. The vest, which wasn’t properly secured, came off shortly after Ellingson tumbled into the water during transport to a zone office for a breath test, The Kansas City Star reported. Henry told state lawmakers last year that road troopers who help at the lake on a parttime basis receive very little field training.
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