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CUT SHORT:
• Clarke County Fair Board second-annual soup supper
The free will donation soup supper is Saturday at Clarke County Fair events center. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. and serving is at 5 p.m. A silent auction is 4:30 to 6 p.m. and live auction is at 6 p.m.
Mustangs fade after early challenge against Lamoni page 6 www.osceolaiowa.com
154 YEARS • NO. 10
OSCEOLA, IOWA 50213
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014
SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
New eminent domain bill brings a wash of concerns during legislative luncheon By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Pictured, from left, are Liz Gilman with Produce Iowa — State Office of Media Production, Matt Wiggins and Susan Wynne Lunning, both with Iowa Motion Picture Association, and Paul Berge with Butter Cow Films.
Future of filmmaking Film industry roundtable event held in Osceola By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
If there’s a Hollywood, why can’t there be a “Clarkewood?” This was the running phrase during a roundtable discussion event with Iowa’s film industry heavyweights Feb. 27 at Clarke Community Development Corporation (CCDC). In attendance were Liz Gilman, executive producer of Produce Iowa — State Office of Media Production, Susan Wynne Lunning and Matt Wiggins with Iowa Motion Picture Association, and Paul and Kathy Berge of Butter Cow Films. Butter Cow Films has filmed many of its film scenes in Clarke County. In total, there were 20 people in attendance for the roundtable event. Gilman During an interview with the
Osceola SentinelTribune, Gilman said she wanted to find out what Osceola was all about. “I made a note that I needed to get down here because Gilman it sounded like a film-friendly community, and Mary Ellen (Kimball) is a great cheerleader for the community,” Gilman said. According to Gilman, Produce Iowa, which is under the direction of Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, launched in May 2013. Her job has been to promote the state of Iowa. “In order to know what to promote, I needed to get out and kind Please see FILM, Page 4
The more you know Susan Wynne Lunning and Matt Wiggins will host the 23rd annual Iowa Motion Picture Awards March 28-29 at the Capitol Theater in Burlington. The awards are Iowa’s version of the Academy Awards. Lunning said the Iowa Motion Picture Association will have a workshop at its awards about, “Film Festivals of Iowa: How They Work and How to Start One.” During a film industry roundtable event at Clarke Community Development Corporation Feb. 27, the possibility of Osceola hosting a film festival drew a lot of interest from the crowd.
Students held back a year? Clarke to implement state’s Early Literacy program By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
In the near future, third grade will be the make it or break it year for students and their reading skills.
During a Feb. 24 Clarke School Board meeting, Tom Roff, Clarke’s curriculum director, said the state has passed an Early Literacy program that will implement early-literacy interventions for all students
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Second-grade student Aleena Fry, left, works on her reading skills with volunteer Louise Halls at Clarke Community Elementary School Feb. 27. SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
Copyright 2014 2013
to be proficient in reading by third grade, or else they could be held back. “This is going to mean some serious things for a lot of kids,” Roff said. Funding The state is giving funding to school districts to increase student performance in reading. Roff said Clarke got $23,000 from the state to start implementing new after-school programs, summer-school programs and other tools designed to help struggling readers. “Things for parents to be aware of, though, is if kids aren’t meeting the reading by third grade, and the school has done what they can, (the) possibility is the retention of holding them back,” he said. Next fall, Clarke will be implementing a new universal screener, which has been approved by the state, and use that data to aid in reading proficiency. The current kindergarten class will eventually be the first third-grade class the Early Literacy program will affect.
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Board member opinions Board member Larry O’Tool asked Roff’s personal feelings on the Early Literacy program. O’Tool also shared his opinions on the program. “I’m not opposed to holding somebody back if they’re not developed or not ready to learn that yet. But, I’ve heard so many arguments about peer pressure and the stigma of holding them back,” O’Tool said. “Personally, I think, if by third grade they’re not performing at third-grade levels, then it’s beneficial to the kid to make sure that they are. If that means retaining them back for a year, then I don’t see the problem with it.” Roff said he hoped the steps along the way will catch students up to the level they should be reading at. He added, there are exemptions for students with severe disabilities. According to Roff, the school will have to notify the parents on a regular basis if their child is having difficulty in reading and staying on Please see EARLY LITERACY, Page 4
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Please see BILL, Page 4
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Pictured are Rep. Joel Fry, R-Osceola, and Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, during a legislative luncheon Friday, Feb. 28, at Lakeside Casino.
Jacobs offers business insight during campaign for U.S. Senate seat By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
What sets Mark Jacobs apart from the other candidates who are running to fill U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin’s, D-Iowa, open seat in the 2014 election? According to Jacobs, 51, a Republican from West Des Moines who is married with three children, it’s fiscal leadership and experience. “I think it’s important we send people to Washington who have experience with these types of issues,” Jacobs said during a telephone interview with the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune Feb. 24. Business experience One thing Jacobs said he knows about is inheriting a “fiscal mess.” Jacobs’ website biography states he was previously chief-executive officer (CEO) of electric-energy
company R e l i ant Energy. He originally joined Reliant as chieffinancial Jacobs officer in 2002 when it was near bankruptcy. Jacobs was a part of a team that managed a turnaround that saved the company. In 2007, at the age of 45, he was named CEO, one of the youngest at the helm of a Fortune 500 company. “The most important thing to know about me is I’m a business guy,” Jacobs said. Campaign trail Even though he has never held a political office before, Jacobs said he is hoping to bring his experience Please see JACOBS, Page 4
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People in Clarke County have worked many years on the process of constructing a new reservoir project, and quite a few are wary of any potential setback. This was the general sentiment at a legislative luncheon with Rep. Joel Fry, R-Osceola, and Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, Friday, Feb. 28, at Lakeside Casino. The luncheon was sponsored by Clarke County Development Corporation (CCDC). On the tables during the luncheon, there was a copy of House File 2411, a bill for “an act relating to state and local government powers and limitations, including authorizing loans from city reserve funds and modifying eminent domain authority and procedures and including effective
date and retroactive and other applicability provisions.” “What this piece of legislation does, to my understanding,” said Fry, “and again, I was informed about this about 20 minutes before it took place on Wednesday of last week, it adds the eminent domain language of last year’s bill … it adds that same language back into an existing bill that dealt with loans from cities.” Reservoir project How does this all relate to Clarke County? Clarke County Reservoir Commission’s (CCRC) ongoing Squaw Creek Watershed project could provide a water supply for Osceola and Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA) with an 816-acre lake, which could provide
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St. Bernard Catholic Church Fish Fry
The fish fry is 5:30-7 p.m. Friday at St. Bernard Catholic Church.
30s and lows in the upHighs in the low 40s and the mid 40s and lows in CHECK OUT OSCEOLAIOWA.COM FOR DAILY UPDATED NEWS, DEATH NOTICES AND SPORTS. per teens. lows in the low 30s. the low 20s.