ABSENTEE VOTING
SOFTBALL BANQUET
Absentee voting for Creston School Board elections is now available. Those wanting to vote absentee can vote at the Union County Auditor’s office or call 641-782-1701 to request a ballot. All ballots must be filled out and mailed by Sept. 4.
The Creston Panther softball team remembers a special season at Thursday’s postseason awards banquet. Creston qualified for the State Softball Tournament for the first time since 1996. More in SPORTS, page 1S. >>
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CHS grad nominated for Emmy Church for work on Disney cartoon no longer meeting uptown By IAN RICHARDSON CNA staff reporter
irichardson@crestonnews.com
LOS ANGELES — When the 67th annual Primetime Emmys air Sept. 20 on Fox, a Creston native will have a one-in-six shot at taking home a golden statutette of her own. Amy Higgins, daughter of Creston residents Doug and Myra Higgins, is a writer for the Disney cartoon “Wander over Yonder.” An episode she co-wrote, titled “The Gift II: The Giftening,” is up for Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program. A graduate of Columbia University Film School in New York, Higgins has been a screenwriter for both film and television. Other projects include episodes of the TBS sitcom “Men at Work” and the Disney XD cartoon “Star vs. the Forces of Evil.” Higgins said spending her early years in Creston, participating in 4-H and horse shows, is a major part of what encouraged her to develop the creativity that fuels her craft today. “The beauty of being from Creston is there’s a lot of poetry and life there,” she said. “It gave me an exceptional imagination, and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing now.” Higgins also credits her English teachers for giving her
the tools to be competitive in college and the screenwriting industry. One of her teachers, former CHS drama, speech and English instructor Jim Lippold, said he remembers Higgins’ drive and enthusiasm as a student. “Amy was creative and excited about everything that we did,” he said. “She was always a good student and anxious to be involved.” From Creston to cartoons Higgins’ interest in screenwriting began while she was pursuing her first graduate degree in political theory in Belfast, United Kingdom. While there, she wrote a play for an art festival, and it won a prize. “I thought, ‘I had so much more fun writing this play than I did writing the dissertation, so I would rather do this,’” she said. “So I very quickly finished the master’s and applied to creative writing programs.” Higgins would go on to attend film school at Columbia, where she would earn her second master’s degree and meet filmmaker Matthew Watts. The two married in 2008 and moved to Los Angeles in 2011. Amy began by writing a few short films and co-writing a feature-length film titled “Mutual Friends,” which her husband
God’s Outreach Deliverance is no longer holding church services in uptown Creston. The church is currently meeting at its former location, 306 N. Oak St., two months after receiving a conditional use permit from Creston City Council to meet in commercially-zoned uptown Creston at 124 N. Maple St. Creston Planning and Zoning Commission had initially decided in May to not allow the church to meet uptown in order to keep all of it zoned C-1 for retail use. The city council reversed this decision in June after receiving legal guidance from city attorney Skip Kenyon. The Rev. JoAnna King, pastor at God’s Outreach, and the legal representative for the landlord of the North Maple property both declined to comment on the reason for the move.
Contributed photo
Amy Higgins, pictured here at the 2013 Seattle International Film Festival, now works as a screenwriter at Disney Animation Studios in Los Angeles. Her education includes a bachelor’s in English from Drake University, a master’s in political theory from Queens University in Belfast, United Kingdom, and a master’s in film from the Columbia Film School in New York.
Please see EMMY, Page 2
Greek lawmakers back deal for bailout BRUSSELS (AP) — Eurozone officials were optimistic of approving a draft bailout deal for Greece on Friday after the country’s lawmakers cleared it in a vote that nevertheless saw the government suffer significant dissent. The bill on the rescue deal passed just in time for Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos to head to Brussels to meet his counterparts from the 19-country currency union in the hope of getting their seal of approval as well. The bailout is all that stands between Greece and a disorderly default on its debts
Pictured is Amy Higgins’ invitation to the 67th Emmy Awards nominee reception. The award ceremony will be 7 p.m. Sept. 20 and will air on Fox.
CNA photo by IAN RICHARDSON
Doug and Myra Higgins of Creston, pictured here, are the parents of screenwriter Amy Higgins.
Please see BAILOUT, Page 2
Child Support Recovery in Creston moving By BAILEY POOLMAN
CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com
Child Support Recovery employees will be working in a new building come September. The current unit is located at 215 W. Adams St. The new building, which is located immediately south of U.S. Cellular at 1101 S. Sumner St., will be larger and provide more amenities to employees. “We entered into a lease long before it (the building) was ever built,” said Eric Patterson, building owner. “They (Child Support Recovery leadership)
asked. They wanted to see if I could build the building. I didn’t build it just to have it sit there.” Construction started the first week of July and is planned to be completed by the beginning of September. Construction would have started and ended earlier, but weather caused delays in the work. Patterson said it was a convenient spot for the building. “I kind of own all that along there, and it’s a good spot there,” Patterson said. “It was convenience, really.” Child Support Recovery Unit is part of Iowa Department of Human Services. Employees
assist single parents in getting court-appointed child support payments, establish paternity and support orders and enforce orders of support. “We collect the payments and distribute them, ... and make sure the children are getting the benefits they need,” said Amy McCoy, Department of Human Services public information officer. “We have our negative actions, but the big part of our business is doing the payments for our families.” The new building will have
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CNA photo by BAILEY POOLMAN
Construction continues on the building soon to be filled with Creston Child Support Recovery Unit employees. The building, located south of U.S. Cellular on South Sumner Street, will be finished in early September and offers a variety of amenities to Iowa Department of Human Services clients and staff.
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