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The offices of the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune will close at noon Thursday, Dec. 24, and be closed Friday, Dec. 25.
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155 YEARS • NO. 50
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015
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Out of the oven
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Rick Santorum, who is running to be the Republican presidential candidate in the 2016 election, makes a campaign stop at the Family Table restaurant Monday, Dec. 7.
New owners to bring many store, menu changes to Pizza Hut By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
Osceola was close to losing its piping-hot, fresh pizza place. NPC International, a company that owns and operates 1200-plus stores in the U.S., were scheduled to close Osceola’s Pizza Hut restaurant Oct. 14. One day later, the restaurant was purchased by Pizza Hut franchisees Joe and Jill Comes, who own the West Des Moines-based Comes Investments Inc. “They made a decision to walk away from this market and we know we could make a go of it by investing in the building and existing people,” said Joe Comes. “We have the ability to be much more hands on.” The couple currently owns 16 stores with 13 in Iowa and three in South Dakota. The family-owned company has been working with Pizza
Huts since 1971. They acquired the Creston store earlier this summer. “I grew up playing in the construction dirt of many of our stores we still have today,” Comes said. What’s to come? Comes and his wife stepped in at the last minute to save Osceola Pizza Hut and the employees’ jobs earlier this fall. With the new owners, this means new things are in store for the restaurant. “Traditionally, we like to close it first, do the remodel, but timing did not allow since we made the deal literally one day before it closed. so we had to order new furnishings,” Comes said. Around Dec. 22, there will be new carpet, booths, tables and chairs coming. The decision was also made to add three TV’s, changed decor a Please see PIZZA HUT, Page 4
Contributed photo
Pictured are Jill and Joe Comes.
Enemy of the (Islamic) state? Santorum elaborates on national security threats during campaign stop at Family Table By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
How does Republican presidential candidate hopeful Rick Santorum stand out among the other Republican candidates? He’ll tell you the ways — but first — a pot shot at front runner Donald Trump. “I encourage you to do what you did last time, which is to take the responsibility seriously. As I like to say, this is not an episode of ‘The Apprentice.’ … The commander in chief is not an entry-level position,” Santorum said. Santorum made a campaign stop in Osceola Monday, Dec. 7, at the Family Table restaurant. This isn’t Santorum’s first time running for president. In 2012, he won the Iowa Republican Caucuses after a recount vote against opponent Mitt Romney showed Santorum ahead by 34 votes.
Radical Islam During the campaign stop in Osceola, Santorum elaborated on the dangers of radical Islam at home and abroad, especially ISIS and the country of Iran. “Iran is developing the capability to develop a nuclear weapon and Barack Obama is now giving them a legitimate pathway to get there, and giving them the money to finance it,” he said. Santorum said Iran is concerning to him because “Iran is run by a theocracy that is focused on bringing about the end of times, bringing about the return of their savior.” He made clear he believes the Democratic presidential nominee will be Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state under the Obama administration. Facing Hillary According to Santorum, Republicans need to have a candidate who
is experienced, knowledgeable and someone who the American public can trust to go up against a former secretary of state. He said many of the Republican front runners such as Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, who came from the private sector, have no national security experience. Santorum touted his experience with writing Iranian sanctions when he was in the U.S. Senate. “If you want someone who is going to be the equivalent, if you will, of Ronald Reagan, who the Soviets knew they could not mess with and the Iranians knew they couldn’t mess with … you want to elect someone that the enemy knows and fears and respects. Iran knows me because I have been a thorn in their side for 12 years,” he said. Please see SANTORUM, Page 4
Clarke elementary school library to hold book giveaway for students before holidays By AMY HANSEN OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Julieann Bar, Clarke Community Elementary School library assistant, stands next to the books she has helped to collect throughout the year for the school’s Christmas book giveaway.
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OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
Even though it might be cold this holiday season, Clarke Community Elementary School is still letting its students have an adventure during their winter break — through reading. The elementary school library is having its third year for the Christmas book giveaway event. “We’ve noticed that over the years, the books that go home for Christmas, they travel,” said Julieann Barr, librarian assistant. “They go
to grandma’s house, they go to aunties, cousins, friends, and sometimes they don’t come back. They get lost. They get left behind.” The week before winter break, the school’s library books aren’t typically checked out to children because the library is trying to collect them back before the holiday starts. During Barr’s first year at the school, there was approximately 70 books that weren’t returned to the library during this time. Giveaway This started the idea of giving a free book to stu-
Weather Local 3-Day Forecast Thu
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57/41 Times of sun and clouds. Highs in the upper 50s and lows in the low 40s.
54/42 Considerable cloudiness. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the low 40s.
47/34 A few morning showers. Highs in the upper 40s and lows in the mid 30s.
Sunrise: 7:28 AM
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Sunset: 4:46 PM
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dents before the holiday break. That way, students can take it anywhere they want without worrying about a library loss and paying the fee, which can sometimes be between $20-40. “So, it takes a lot of pressure off the kids and it takes a lot of stress off of us as librarians,” Barr said. Clarke students will receive their choice of book during the week of Dec. 1418. Each class will come to the library during their normal class time, return their Please see BOOKS, Page 4
Don’t Forget Flag essay
Check out the winners of Clarke’s fifth-grade flag essay on page 10.
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