So many times in the past the beginning of January brings a snow storm. Not in 2021. That happened at the beginning of February. We’ll get to that.
Possibly, the biggest announcement came mid-month. January 12 Iowa Wesleyan University and Southeastern Community College Announced Formation of Southeast Iowa Higher Education Alliance. While both institutions will continue to operate separately, this unique partnership between a four-year private liberal arts university and a community college will serve as an innovative model for the future of higher education securing the future of both as well as offering a smooth, affordable academic pathways between IW and SCC, broadening the educational opportunities for students and increasing the talent pipeline for the regional workforce. Through this model, a student could take college-level courses in high school and go on to complete an associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degree all within the SIHEA system.
At about 9:40 the morning of February 4 the Mount Pleasant Fire Department was paged out to a fire at 2818 Kentucky Avenue. Upon arrival at the Batey Sawmill crews encountered heavy smoke coming from a large structure. Salem and New London Departments were immediately called for manpower and tanker trucks. Crews remained on the scene for four and half hours. Mount Pleasant Fire Chief Drew Schumacher said the fire started when dust and debris caught fire while mechanics were using a cutting torch to cut bolts as they were removing equipment. They tried to put out the fire with several fire extinguishers but the fire spread too quickly. Six firefighters from Salem brought an engine, a tanker, a brush truck and a rescue unit. New London sent five firefighters and one engine.
And now for the snow storm…..at about the same time the fire department was wrapping up at the scene of the saw mill fire Henry County Engineer, Jake Hotchkiss, had to temporarily halt county plow trucks. Trucks were stopped out on the roads to wait and see if winter storm conditions would improve. Motorgraders continued to work on the gravel roads so school buses could operate since school let out early. At about 2:30 the plow trucks were back on the roads but Hotchkiss said at that time that he may have to pull them off again. White out conditions were being reported especially north of Mount Pleasant from the Trenton/Mt. Union black top going north. Travel on 218 was reported to be difficult and one lane only with icy conditions. By 3 pm the snow fall had let up but strong winds continued to blow and drift the snow creating poor visibility and treacherous road conditions. There were also reports of jack knifed semis, cars in the ditch and a crash on 218 just north of Mt. Pleasant near 185th Street. Access Energy cooperative reported several outages across its’ service area. One outage caused KILJ AM to off the air for a time.
The first quarter of 2021 saw the completion of the campaign to convince Henry County voters that Henry County Health Center should enter into a lease agreement with Great River Health Systems. On March 2 a majority of Henry County voters said, “Yes” to the public measure asking if the HCHC Board of Trustees should be authorized to pursue leasing the public hospital facilities and related assets to Great River Health System. This agreement between a public hospital and a private hospital calls for HCHC employees to remain HCHC employees and retain their benefits.