THE NEWSPAPER THAT SERVES ALL DECATUR COUNTY
12 PAGES
USPS 310-140 LEON, IOWA 50144, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 P.O. Box 580, 111 NW. 2nd, Leon, IA 50144 E-mail: JRNEWS@GRM.NET VOLUME 93 - NUMBER 04
Wayne County School District to Hold Special Election A special election will be held on March 1 for qualified electors of Decatur, Lucas and Wayne counties. This special election will be held for the Wayne Community School District. The polls will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. and will be located in the basement conference room of the Wayne County Courthouse. The voters will cast their votes for or against the adoption of three separate public measures: Public Measure VL - Shall the Board of Directors of the Wayne Community School District be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $22,500,000 to provide funds to construct, build, furnish and equip a new 7-12 Grade facility? Public Measure VM - Shall the Board of
Directors of the Wayne Community School District be authorized to levy annually a tax exceeding Two Dollars and Seventy Cents ($2.70) per Thousand Dollars but not exceeding Four Dollars and Five Cents ($4.05) per Thousand Dollars of the assessed value of the taxable property within said school corporation to pay the principal of and interest on bonded indebtedness of said school corporation? Public Measure VN - To adopt a Revenue Purpose Statement specifying the use of revenues the Wayne Community School District will receive from the State of Iowa Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund. Deadline to vote absentee In-Person at the Wayne County Auditor's office is Monday, February 28, 2022 at 4:00 p.m.
CD Quartet to Sing at Wells Fargo
Maggie Layton, Cadence Clark, Annika Evertsen, and Addie Graham, pictured l-r, will be singing The Star-Spangled Banner at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Basketball Tournament, under the direction of Mrs. Beth Hall. The quartet will be performing on Monday, February 28.
Hand Raised in Triumph
Water bubbles out of a damaged water main pipe under the street along NE 10th Street, east of the intersection of NE Locust in east Leon.
Water Main Break Dumps Over 80,000 gallons of Water Down the Street At approximately 9:45 a.m. on Thursday, February 17, a water main break occurred in the east part of Leon that sent between 80,000 to 100,000 gallons of water down the street. MJ Electric, who has been contracted by Alliant Energy is in the process of burying underground electrical service in and around the Bootleggers Addition and inadvertently bored through one of the City’s main water lines along NE 10th Street, east up the hill from the intersection of NE Locust Street. According to Kyle Sheetz, Water Superintendent, map-
ping of the water lines in this area was done in 1976 when the engineers that installed new PVC piping made them. Also, when these new pipes were installed there were no locating wires installed along with them, which makes locating them from the topside difficult. “These maps are all we have to go off of,” stated Sheetz. “The map for this location showed the main water line at approximately 1 foot off of the curb where it was flagged to be, but when it was cut it was actually located 6 feet off the curb.” To help compensate for the rapid water loss, the pumping
rate at the plant was increased from 300 gallons per minute to 600 gallons per minute until the leak was isolated and stopped. “We had to keep the water towers from going down, which was another concern of ours,” stated Sheetz. By 11:30 a.m., the Waterworks Department had the line that was leaking shut off. By 1:00 p.m., digging of the area commenced, the break was repaired with 2 ½ feet of new pipe, and pressure was restored by around 5:00 p.m. “Due to the loss of pressure in the water lines to below 20 pounds per square inch, which could allow bac-
teria to start to grow, a boil order was initiated for the area,” stated Sheetz. “The order encompassed an area south of NE 13th and NE 14th Streets, towards the High School, and into Bootleggers Addition. This affected some 100 customers.” The hospital was not affected, but the facility was asked to conserve water. School was also canceled for the day. According to Sheetz, several rounds of testing were done over the next few days, until the water was deemed safe for drinking again. The boil order was lifted Sunday evening.
National FFA Week Celebrated this Week
by delivering pancakes Center by participating to North Elementary, in the Block the Door South Elementary, Can Drive! Today, FFA proHigh School, and the Central Trail FFA Backpack, Ag"Er"Day, Bus Barn! Student can vides the next generaChapter in Leon is cel- and America Day. also share their Photo tion of leaders who will ebrating National FFA They will also have a of the Day on their so- change the world. As Week, February 19 - 26. "Agri"Car Show, Animal cial media sites, and the top school-based This National FFA Week of the Day, and the Kiss finally help to collect youth leadership develembraces more than 93 A Contest! cans for the Central opment organization in years of FFA traditions FFA members will Decatur Food Pantry the nation, FFA helps while looking forward be showing apprecia- and the Decatur to the organization's fu- tion to faculty and staff County Outreach (continued on page 12) ture. More than 735,000 members will participate in National FFA Week activities at local, state and national levels. These members have a passion for agriculture. The Central Trail FFA has 121 members, 85 are active high school members, 21 are active middle school members, and 15 are out-of-school members. Designated a national week in 1947, the week of George Washington's birthday, National FFA Week runs from Saturday to Saturday and gives FFA members an opportunity to educate the public about agriculture. During the week, chapters conduct a variety of activities to help others in their schools Although there were several more eagles in the vicinity, this bald guy and communities learn was closest to the camera. They have also been spotted in trees farther about FFA and agri- from the water in other areas of the county. cultural education. Central Trail FFA will Last week, Decatur County Naturalist Kayla Clausen, reported that celebrate National FFA at least 20 immature and/or adult bald eagles were hanging out on or near Week by participating the ice at Little River Lake. The number of bald eagles in Iowa has nearly in the following activi- doubled compared to past winter averages according to the Iowa DNR. ties: FFA Week Kickoff After the mid-winter survey that took place the first of January, 6,000 Assembly, Greenhand eagles were reported compared to 3,500 in recent years. This was probably Initiation, Ag Olympics, because of the milder winter and more open water on lakes and rivers. This Minute to Win It allows the eagles to enjoy their main source of food - fish. Games, and Dress Up Eagles have also learned that if they spend time around feedlots, it's Days including Camo pretty much a buffet and a new food source for them. Therefore, they are Out, Anything but a often times seen farther away from water sources. The eagles at Little
You Gotta Know the Territory
Senior Tegan Carson completed a fine run at the State Tournament last Thursday, Friday and Saturday where he finished in 5th place in Class 2A at 220 pound weight class for his effort. Here he raises his hand in triumph following his 5th place match where he won 8-2 over Clark Younggreen of Mount Vernon. This was Carson's second appearance at State. Behind 10 takedowns at this tournament, he sets a new school record for the most takedowns in a season with 141. See full story on page 5. (photo by Maddy Leahy)
Leon Chamber Coffee at Caseys
Leon Chamber of Commerce monthly cof-
fee is being hosted by Caseys on Wednesday, February 23 beginning at 9:00 a.m. Everyone is Welcome!
River were seen near main boat ramp by the kayak docks.