SEE YOU AT THE POLE Southern Prairie YMCA in Creston is hosting a “See you at the pole event” Wednesday morning. For more information on the prayer event, see page 3A. >>
OT HEARTBREAKER The Creston/O-M football team lost a heartbreaker in overtime at Atlantic Friday. For more on the Panther football team, see SPORTS, page 6A. >>
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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017
Whitson returns home Creston with even more records explores facade project to her name By CARTER ECKL CNA staff reporter ceckl@crestonnews.com
Contributed photo
Peggy Whitson, a Beaconsfield native and Mount Ayr Community High School graduate, stores blood samples in an ULTRA-COLD freezer in July on the International Space Station. Whitson, nicknamed the “American Space Ninja,” broke several records on her most recent trip to space, including the most cumulative days in space by an American astronaut.
By CARTER ECKL CNA staff reporter ceckl@crestonnews.com
One of the most decorated astronauts of all time returned home earlier this month after her third mission to space in the past 15 years. Peggy Whitson, a Beaconsfield native, landed on a Sunday morning in Kazakhstan with countless new records under her belt. The 1978 Mount Ayr Community High School graduate set the record for most cumulative days in space back in late April – and with the extension of her mission, shattered that record before coming back
down to Earth. The final count sits over 600 days – 665 to be exact – and is 130 days more than her next closest countrymen. Whitson doesn’t like to discuss the records. She prefers to promote NASA’s space program and continues to encourage more advanced development of space exploration. She seems humbled by the feats, but answers almost every question she is asked about them with a similar answer. That answer always falls along the lines of, essentially, records are meant to be broken. That, from the sound of it
includes her own. Aptly nicknamed the “American Space Ninja,” Whitson continues to voice her opinion about wanting research to continue to evolve so that more space adventures are possible for future astronauts. Missions that – as science continues to evolve – would most likely become longer and further-reaching. Her most recent mission is the seventh longest space flight ever. While up in the cosmos, Whitson also set records as the oldest woman in space and the most spacewalks by a woman. She also became the first woman to command the International Space Station
CNA photo by SCOTT VICKER
Cemetery Walk: Amalie Ohlschlager (Vanita Moberg) points to her gravestone Saturday
evening while telling a group about her life as a German immigrant during Gibson Memorial Library’s Graceland Cemetery Walk. Ohlschlager crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1868 before settling in Creston.
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twice after becoming the first woman to command the International Space Station on her second spaceflight back in 2008. According to many of her colleagues, the records are overshadowed by her work ethic and love of what she does. Whitson credits a lot of that work ethic to her parents and growing up on a farm. “I think being raised on a farm you learn a lot about dedication and work ethic,” said Whitson. “You get a healthy dose of stubborn to go along with it and that gets a lot of jobs done that might otherwise seem im WHITSON | 2A
The city of Creston is exploring a community development block grant (CDBG) to get additional funding to update building facades throughout the downtown area. The grant, which has been around most of the past decade can give the town $500,000 to assist in upgrading areas that are deemed part of a slum and blight criteria. A meeting last Thursday was held by the city, Southern Iowa Council of Governments (SICOG), an architect for the potential project and business owners to discuss the program and the next steps in the application process. Applying for the grant requires a detailed breakdown of which area will be receiving the upgrades, business owners’ approval and cost estimates. Each application will be scored by three people with the averages of those scores being the final total. Each score is based on eight scoring factors on a one-to-five scale. Forty points is the highest score an application can receive. However, any application that scores under 25 points is unlikely to be considered for the grant. “It’s not so much that you’re going to apply and not get the money, but it is a very difficult application,” said Jeremy Rounds, a regional planner for SICOG. “There is a lot of work involved.” Rounds expects his office alone to spend hundreds of hours putting together the application. The upgrade amount allowed for each individual building is not restricted under a set price, but is designed to address obvious needs of concern. “If the building has peel-
ing paint and missing mortar and bricks that are loose in the side of the building, the grant would pay for that,” said Rounds. “It’s limited by what needs are there.” Rounds expects the grant to be around 50-percent of the funding involved in the project. The city and business owners are expected to post a match to the grant, but there is no required number. Percentage breakdown between business and the city is also to be determined. “At this time, we are far from figuring out how much the city is going to put into the project,” said Rounds. “Until we know exactly which building are going to participate we really won’t know that until the end of the year.” Rounds estimates the project will cost somewhere in between $800,000 and $900,000. Eighty-nine buildings were placed on the initial survey and the project is aimed towards the traditional downtown area “between Oak Street to the alley between Pine and Montgomery (streets),” said Rounds. Thirty-one businesses in total were invited to the meeting. However, public promotion brought others in who were interested. Business owners were given a chance to fill out a statement of interest form. Business owners have until October 5 to turn in those interest forms. “Things are going to be developing over the next few months, not a whole lot is going to happen over the next week or two, but by early November we’re going to have a lot better idea of where this is going,” said Rounds. “By then, we will have probably decided if or where we are going to divide up the district, which might be of interest to people.”
CNA photo by SCOTT VICKER
Vendor fair: Brooke Coons, right, of Bedford talks about her Norwex products Saturday morning with a pair of customers during a vendor block party held at 400 W. Townline St. in Creston. Approximately 20 vendors set up booths in the yard along West Townline Street.
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