Putts for Pets
The animal shelter’s Putts for Pets is planned Saturday at Osceola Country Club. It is a four person best ball tournament with a 9:30 a.m. tee-off. This is a fundraising golf tournament for the Clarke County Animal Shelter. There is a 20 percent payback to those participating. To participate, contact Mary Ann at Osceola Country Club at 641-342-3717 or Doug Miller at 641414-6041 to register your team.
Tables turned:
Introducing Mobile Banking, Sign up Today!
East Union soars past Murray, 60-23
ASB Touch Banking
page 10 www.osceolaiowa.com
1000 Jeffreys Drive, Osceola, Iowa (641) 342-2175 101 North Main, Osceola, Iowa (641) 342-2191 801 East Main, Lamoni, Iowa (641) 784-3120 113 South John Wayne Drive, Winterset, Iowa (515) 462-5090 Toll Free: 888-342-3738 • www.americanstatebank.com Member FDIC • Equal Housing Lender
154 YEARS • NO. 51
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
OSCEOLA, IOWA 50213
SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
First sale
CCRC approves first purchase of land in reservoir project By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
It was a day that had been decades in the making. During a Sept. 11 Clarke County Reservoir Commission (CCRC) meeting, the CCRC unanimously approved the purchase of land from Linda Abbott and Rick Oshel for the reservoir project in Clarke County. “We did get it done and it is a redletter day for us. Our number one purchase and Rick has always wanted to be the first one,” said CCRC member Sandy Kale. “And, I congratulate him and thank him and his family from the deepest part of our hearts. This is a big day for us.” The sale was for 11.38 acres, and the purchase price of the property was $22,760. The land in the purchase agreement is in parcel “A” located in a
portion of the southwest quarter of section 20, township 73 north, range 26. Dave Beck, project coordinator for the CCRC’s reservoir project, said the land has been surveyed and is in the upper end of the reservoir. “Linda and Rick were very good to work with,” he said. “Like we said, it took us awhile to get the surveyors out there for a variety of reasons, but we got it done.” About the project The CCRC’s reservoir project could provide a water supply for Osceola and Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA) with an 816-acre lake, which could provide 2.2 million gallons of water per day. West Lake, the current water source, doesn’t meet the needs of Clarke County and SIRWA. The total project cost for the reservoir in the CCRC’s water supply project is estimated at $37.6 million.
Funding for the project includes many sources, especially funding from the local-option sales tax. Oshel statement “My sister’s and my intentions are to take the money that we’re getting from the sale of the property and leverage it into upland treatment above the lake,” said Oshel. “That’s our intention. I mean, it might not be dollar for dollar, but that’s our intention is to spend that money on upland treatment above the lake on our farm.” Legal process While this first sale went fairly easy, not all landowners in the reservoir project area have been in favor of the CCRC’s project and it has played out in court. In an April 8 ruling, Judge Sherman W. Phipps of the Fifth Judicial
Contributed photo
Aiden Coates, right, shares his leadership portfolio with his mother Danielle Coates and the Dekko Foundation president during the second semester of last school year in the library at Clarke Community Elementary School.
Clarke enters third year of instituting The Leader in Me By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
If Clarke Elementary Vice Principal Randy Bolton sees two students have a tense interaction in the school hallway, he knows there’s a quick way to fix the issue proactively. Many times, all he has to say is, “Hey guys, can we think win-win?” “Does that mean they always can solve it themselves? No. But, I’ve had a number of times where there was probably going to be some type of an altercation, and just me reminding them thinking ‘win-win,’ they talk, they turn and they sit down, and I go on,” Bolton said. The “win-win” verbage is from The Leader in Me process that is instituted at Clarke Community Elementary School. This is the third year of the school using The Leader in Me. What is The Leader in Me? The Leader in Me is a whole-school transformation model that acts like the operating system of a computer — it improves
Please see SALE, Page 4
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Pictured are Sandy Kale, Clarke County Reservoir Commission (CCRC) member, Rick Oshel, the first landowner to sell to the CCRC’s reservoir project, and Dave Beck, project coordinator for the reservoir project, during a CCRC meeting Thursday, Sept. 11.
the performance of all other programs. Based on the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” The Leader in Me equips students with the self-confidence and skills they need to thrive in the 21st century economy and society. The Leader in Me is not an event to attend or curriculum; it’s ubiquitous leadership development, meaning it’s taking place everywhere and all the time. It’s not a 30-minute program students have to sit through every week. It’s a process of effective thinking and doing that students can enact in their daily lives. Signs of improvement According to Bolton, since instituting The Leader in Me process, overall, discipline referrals are down. “Our attendance has never really been a huge issue when you look at the big picture — the 97 percent, 98 percent,” he said. “Chronic absences are the ones I like to look at. If you have five kids that miss 20 or more days, that’s a lot of days kids Please see LEADER IN ME, Page 4
What it takes: Fitness test just one part of becoming a police officer By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
When applying for a job, most places don’t make you run a timed mile and a-half run. But, a physical fitness test is a requirement if you want to be a police officer. To get into the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, there are four areas a person has to be proficient in during the physical fitness test — sit and reach, sit ups, push ups and a 1.5 mile run. “We have the luxury of having a great relationship with the school, and so they allow us, when we have these processes, to use the track, and that’s six laps,” said Osceola Police Chief SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
Copyright 2014
M a r t y Duffus. “ A n d , they allow us to use the wrestling room because it’s got Duffus mats and things on the floor for the sit and reach, the push ups and the sit ups.” For those who don’t know, sit and reach is where a person sits on the floor with legs fully extended and feet up against a box. The person has to lean forward and reach to a certain point on the box. It’s to show range in flexibility. During the push up test, a male or female officer will
be beside the person making a fist on the ground and the person has to touch the fist every time he or she goes down. There are different scales based upon age and gender in the physical fitness test. Lots of testing Duffus said the school district also allows the usage of the library when the officers are administering a law enforcement written test and a room for the police chief to conduct interviews of applicants. The most recent physical fitness test the police department administered was a few weeks ago. The department Please see PHYSICAL FITNESS, Page 4
Index Obituary .......................3 Editorial ........................4 Church Directory .........9 Classifieds .................13
Neighbors ....................5 Record .........................2 Sports................... 10-12
Don’t Forget
Weather Your Local Weather Thu
9/11
62/50
More sun than clouds.
Fri
9/12
52/38
Rain. Highs in the low
Sat
9/13
62/42
Sunshine. Highs in the
Farmers’ market
The farmers’ market is planned 8 a.m. to noon Saturday on the courthouse lawn in Osceola.
Highs in the low 60s and 50s and lows in the uplow 60s and lows in the CHECK OUT OSCEOLAIOWA.COM FOR DAILY NEWS, DEATH NOTICES AND SPORTS. lowsUPDATED in the low 50s. per 30s. low 40s.