News
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• How the Grinch Stole Christmas
A free children’s Christmas movie is scheduled 10 a.m. Saturday, at the Lyric Theater. It will be one showing of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and limited to seating available. Santa Claus will be present before the show. The event is sponsored by Osceola SentinelTribune.
Clarke’s Morris explodes for 41 points in loss to CD page 6 www.osceolaiowa.com
154 YEARS • NO. 51
OSCEOLA, IOWA 50213
THURSDAY, DEC. 12, 2013
SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
Baumfalk enters guilty plea for second-degree theft By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
A former Clarke Community School cheerleading coach plead guilty to the charge of second-degree theft, a class D felony. According to Clarke County District Court documents, Jacqulynn “Jaci” Baumfalk entered the guilty plea Dec. 5 at Clarke County Courthouse. Court documents state, “During the time period of August 2008
through June 2011, (Baumfalk) did take possession of money belonging to others with the intent to deprive its owners thereof, and/ or did misappropriate property exceeding $1,000 in value by disposing of money belonging to others in a manner inconsistent with the owner’s rights.” Previous articles A Feb. 9, 2012, Osceola Sentinel-Tribune article stated a state audit found Baumfalk at fault for mismanagement of funds raised for a cheerleaders’ trip to Florida
in December 2010. The cheerleaders traveled to Florida to perform at the Champs Sports Bowl. According to the audit report, a special investigation of the district’s cheerleading account from Aug. 19, 2008, to June 30, 2011, identified $10,136.42 of undeposited collections, improper disbursements and a loss incurred by the district related to the account. The article states the undeposited collections totaled $8,674.14, and included $5,723.14 from fundraisers and $2,585 of payment
Chicken scratch OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
The city of Osceola has a rough draft of an urban-chicken ordinance proposal, but right now, it’s still a lot of chicken scratch. During a previous Osceola City Council meeting, the council directed Ty Wheeler, city administrator/clerk, and other city staff to create a draft of an urban-chicken ordinance proposal for the city of Osceola. Wheeler An urban-chicken ordinance would allow people to keep chickens on their city property. Wheeler presented the draft proposal at a Dec. 3 meeting. “Specifically, there were several — seven— different criteria ... a draft ordinance cover,” he said. “And, the packet in your folders tonight does just that.” What it might contain Provisions in the draft proposal covered the maximum number of birds, not allowing roosters, having a permit fee, requiring
unemployment benefits to Baumfalk, a former Clarke County Animal Shelter manager, after she appealed the initial denial. Baumfalk was fired from the shelter in March 2012 for misconduct. Baumfalk was discharged from the shelter after discrepancies were found in the shelter’s finances. Court documents released Dec. 5 state Baumfalk’s judgment and sentence will be 9:30 a.m. Feb. 4 in the district courtroom at Clarke County Courthouse.
Holiday Brilliance
Wheeler presents draft of urban-chicken ordinance, work session scheduled By AMY HANSEN
from parents. According to the audit report, the payments from parents included cash and three checks, which should have been issued to the district but were issued to Baumfalk instead. The three checks were then endorsed by Baumfalk. Animal shelter An Aug. 2, 2012, Osceola Sentinel-Tribune article stated an administrative law judge for Iowa Workforce Development’s unemployment insurance department affirmed a decision to not issue
an enclosure for the chickens, citing nuisances from odor, noise, predators, waste, storage and removal and what happens if a chicken gets loose in the neighborhood. “Also, which I never thought of until looking through some of these, if your chicken gets out and the neighbor’s dog or cat kills it, you cannot come back on the city and cite a dangerous animal claim against the dog,” Wheeler said. Work session Councilman Glenn Schaff said he would like to have a work session on the urbanchicken ordinance proposal before any action is taken on the issue. Councilman Dr. George Fotiadis agreed with Schaff. A work session was scheduled 7 p.m. today. “We need to get all the dos and don’ts together. Then, we will have no backlash on it,” Schaff said. Councilman Dave Walkup said he thought Wheeler had done a wonderful job working to create an urban-chicken ordinance proposal. “I think it’s something that we can take a pencil to and we can cross out and add on,” Walkup said. “It gives us some guidance and a format to look at.”
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Santa House: Seth and Jackie Lincoln meet Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus in the “Santa
House” on the courthouse square in Osceola for the Holiday Brilliance event Dec. 5. Holiday Brilliance was hosted by Osceola Chamber/Main Street. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus also rang in the holiday season with bells during a countdown to turn on the lights on the courthouse square Dec. 5. A new event during Holiday Brilliance was the chili cook-off competition, and the winning chili was from Homestead Assisted Living. The prize for the competition was $100 in “Warrior” dollars, which can be used at various businesses throughout the community.
Ordinance rough draft These are some of the provisions created in a draft of an urban-chicken ordinance proposal Ty Wheeler, city administrator/clerk, presented to Osceola City Council during a Dec. 3 meeting. Wheeler said the proposal is still a rough draft and things are liable to change after today’s city work session on the proposed ordinance. • A chicken shall mean a domesticated fowl. • A permitting officer shall mean a city administrator or other designee. • A permit is required. No person shall raise, harbor or keep chickens within the city limits without a valid permit obtained from the permitting officer. • In order to obtain a permit, a person must submit a completed application. • A permit fee of $25 shall be charged at the time of issuance. • A permit shall be valid for a two-year period. After two years, a person will have Please see ROUGH DRAFT, Page 4
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Caroling: Children sing Christmas carols on the bandstand in the courthouse square during Holiday Brilliance Dec. 5. With the frigid weather, the children only sang three holiday carols while spectators huddled around fire pits to keep warm. The carolers were a volunteer chorus of elementary-school students. OST photo by SCOTT VICKER
• Check out an exclusive interview with Santa Claus in the Dec. 19 edition of the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune.
State champs: Pictured are members of the Interstate 35 High School dance team that won the small school division state championship in the “hoopla” competition on Dec. 5. The Interstate 35 team also received the distinguished academic award for having a team GPA between 3.5 and 4.0. SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
Copyright 2013
Index Obituary........................3 Editorial.........................4 Church Directory..........9 Classifieds..................13
Neighbors.....................5 Public Notices...... 10-11 Record..........................2 Sports........................ 6-8
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Community Choir Christmas Cantata
The public is invited to attend the event 3 p.m. Sunday at First Christian Church in Osceola.
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