Water Summary Update: March 2023 – First below normal precipitation month of 2023

By Theresa Rose · Thursday, April 6th, 2023 at 5:00 pm CDT

Water Summary Update: March 2023 – First below normal precipitation month of 2023

DES MOINES — After four months in a row of above normal precipitation, totals for March came in lower than normal.  Precipitation for March was 1.49 inches, 0.5 inches below normal.  As a result, streamflows have been impacted, and the western part of the state is now in “Drought Watch” as defined by Iowa’s new Drought Plan. While precipitation was below normal for most of the state, over the past 90 days precipitation has been above normal, thanks to wetter than normal conditions from November through February. It should be noted that “Drought Watch” is the least severe of the IDP designations, and should serve as a reminder for Iowans to be attentive to conditions. Normal April rainfall should be adequate to restore these two drought regions to normal conditions.

“While we have liked to see a continuation of the wetter than normal months we’ve seen lately, conditions are still relatively good.  March was only 0.5 inches below normal, and that deficit can be made up over the spring months,” said Tim Hall, Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ coordinator of hydrology resources. “The Iowa Drought Plan has designated western Iowa, Drought Regions 1 and 4, as areas of ‘Drought Watch.’”

For a thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, go to www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.

The report is prepared by technical staff from Iowa DNR, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, and the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department.

Mount Pleasant Street Project Update

By Theresa Rose · Thursday, April 6th, 2023 at 4:57 pm CDT

Kinney & Sons has finished installation of the drainage structures and piping crossing Aldrin Drive. Aldrin will remain closed to through traffic over this weekend April 8th & April 9th. It is accessible to the mid-point of the street from the South off Vine St. and off Armstrong Court for the North half. It was decided to wait until after Easter weekend to start removing the pavement.

All residents should be able to access their driveways until Monday April 10th. The street will be closed to all traffic from Vine Street to Armstrong Court at approximately 7:30 A.M. The City will be picking up garbage first thing that morning. The plan is to get all concrete removed, street graded, subdrain installed and subbase material placed by Friday April 14th. Then the street would be reopened to local traffic for homeowners to access their driveways. This will continue until Jones Contracting starts setting up to trim the subbase rock for paving.

High School Girls’ Soccer: Week 2 of Season Rankings

By Slaten Swords · Thursday, April 6th, 2023 at 4:18 pm CDT

Prep Girls Soccer- The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released their second week of soccer rankings and only one team dropped out of the top 15 in all three classes combined, but there was movement throughout.

The top four teams in Class 1A stayed locked in their preseason rankings with Des Moines Christian holding on to their top spot. Underwood climbed the rankings from 10th all the way to 5th as they took down previously ranked 7th Bishop Heelan 3 to 1 last week. The Crusaders are now ranked 10th. Gilbert fell from 5th to 7th after starting the year 1-2. There was no movement from 11th to 15th in the rankings as Denver rounds out the top 15.

Dallas Center-Grimes will not have back-to-back undefeated seasons after losing to Skutt Catholic High School in Nebraska 1 to 0 last week. Nevertheless, the Mustangs are still the top team in Class 2A. North Scott and North Polk are still ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Norwalk had a tough week after losing to two opponents in Bondurant-Farrar (ranked 6th) and ADM (ranked 11th) and knocking them down from their ranking of 4th to 12th. Le Mars is the only new team entering the top 15 in any of the Classes after starting their season 4-0, they take over for Atlantic in the 15th slot.

Class 3A had the least amount of movement as the top 6 spots remained constant with Ankeny Centennial and Ankeny holding the top two spots, respectively. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln almost tumbled out of the top 15 as they went from 7th to 15th after starting the season 1-3. The Lynx started with an incredibly tough schedule having to face off against Ankeny, Ankeny Centennial, and Bishop Heelan in the span of less than a week. Muscatine jumped up four spots from 12th to 8th and Urbandale climbed up to 12th from 15th. No teams were dropped from the top 15.

New District 13 Trooper is Mount Pleasant Native

By Theresa Rose · Thursday, April 6th, 2023 at 3:48 pm CDT

Mount Pleasant High School graduate Christopher Raymer has recently graduated from the Department of Public Safety’s Basic Academy and is assigned as a State Patrol Trooper to District 13 headquartered in Mount Pleasant. Prior to attending the 48th Academy Raymer was a police officer for Washington and Fairfield Police Departments.  His training at the Academy focused on law enforcement coursework on laws of arrest, search and seizure, defensive tactics, arrest techniques, precision driving, firearms, emergency management services, fair and impartial policing, criminal law, accident investigation, human relations, physical fitness, human trafficking, motor vehicle law, domestic violence, crisis intervention for mentally ill and several other courses in law enforcement. Trooper Raymer is the son of Alan and Mary Raymer of Mount Pleasant.

Double Fatal

By Theresa Rose · Thursday, April 6th, 2023 at 6:54 am CDT

A Farmington couple was killed in a motor vehicle crash Wednesday in Lee County.  Rose Marie and Ross Becker died when their car collided with a semi at the intersection of Hwy 218 and County Road J40 at about 4:30 pm. According to the Iowa State Patrol the Becker vehicle was stopped at the stop sign and the semi was northbound on 218. Rose Marie Becker was driving and pulled out headed west.  The semi broadsided the car on the driver’s side.  Both vehicles came to rest in the median and Ross Becker was ejected.  The crash remains under investigation. The semi was driven by Juan Ramirez of Texas who was not injured.

Sports, April 6th

By Slaten Swords · Thursday, April 6th, 2023 at 6:30 am CDT

High School Track and Field

Mt. Pleasant and WACO will travel to Washington today to compete in the Demon Relays.

The girls teams of Danville, Winfield-Mt. Union, and New London will be traveling to West Burlington to compete in a meet today. The boys teams of Danville and New London will also be making the trip to compete.

The Central Lee girls track and field team’s next meet will be the Timm Lamb Pen City Relays on April 11th and the boys will be competing at the Fairfield Meet on April 11th.

High School Soccer

The Mt. Pleasant girls will travel to play Washington tonight, while the boys will be at home against the Demons.

WACO’s boy soccer team’s next game will be against Highland tonight.

The Central Lee boys’ soccer team will take on Mediapolis on April 11th.

High School Golf

Winfield-Mt. Union’s next competition will be on April 13th against Wapello.

The New London boys and girls team will face off against Wapello on April 11th.

The Mt. Pleasant girls team will compete in the Fairfield Meet, while the boys team will travel to the Washington Meet with both competitions taking place today.

The Central Lee boys team will compete in the Van Buren County Meet on April 11th.

High School Tennis

The Mt. Pleasant girls team’s next meet will be tonight against Fort Madison.

The Mt. Pleasant boys team will take on Fort Madison at home tonight.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The Tiger softball team’s next game will be at home this afternoon, April 6th, against Waldorf University with first pitch scheduled for 2 pm. KILJ will be on the call with pregame at 1:45 pm.

The Tiger baseball team crushed Hannibal-LaGrange University yesterday 16-3. The Tigers had 5 players tally multiple RBIs in the contest. David Amaya led the way as he went 5 for 6 with five RBIs and a double. Sucre Guzman tallied three RBIs. Carlos Vicente, Julian Figueroa, and Sage Bonner all had two RBIs with Bonner and Guzman each collecting a triple in the game. Joey Withers pitched 7 innings, letting go two runs and striking out four batters. The Tigers face off against Crowley;s Ridge College tomorrow at 1 pm.

The Tiger golf team’s next event will be the SCC Invitational on April 10th.

The outdoor track and field teams are scheduled to compete at the Rittgers Invitational tomorrow, April 7th, at 10 am.

Iowa Wesleyan University Wrestling has experienced a lot of success in the last three years, especially on the women’s side of things. The Tigers have three wrestlers with the ability to compete at the World Championships or the Olympics. The three wrestlers looking to attend are Adaugo Nwachukwu, JoAnna Vanderwood, and Mia Palumbo. Head Coach Jake Kadel opted to establish a Tiger Wrestling Club through USA Wrestling and created a GoFundMe to help alleviate some of the costs for these wrestlers to chase their dreams. The GoFundMe has exceeded its goal of $10,000 and Coach Kadel wanted to extend his gratitude.

“No, just wanted to say thank you for everybody’s support. Obviously, this is a super tough time for a lot of people and it’s just not a good situation overall, but we kind of make the most of it and move forward. So, everyone’s support is much greatly appreciated and can’t thank everybody enough for everything they’ve done for us as a program, as a whole.” If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe there is a link in the article on kilj.com.

Link: Tiger Wrestling Club, organized by Jacob Kadel

This Day in Sports History

1973 – Roberto Clemente Day, Pittsburgh Pirates retire his #21.

1980 – Gordie Howe completes a record 26th NHL season.

1996 – American baseball player Albert Belle shows off his arm by hitting Sports Illustrated photographer Tony Tomsic in the hand prior to a game.

New Superintendent For WMU and Columbus Community

By Theresa Rose · Wednesday, April 5th, 2023 at 3:53 pm CDT

Dr. Michael Volk will take over the head administrative position for Winfield Mt. Union and Columbus Community.  Dr. Volk replaces Jeff Maeder as the shared Superintendent for the two districts. Dr. Volk will come into the position from an administrative position with St. Patrick School in Anamosa, Iowa.  Prior to that he was the Talented and Gifted Administrator for the South Tama School District.

Jacob Miller

By Theresa Rose · Wednesday, April 5th, 2023 at 11:19 am CDT

Jacob Miller, 18, of Wapello, went to Heaven on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 6:16 p.m. at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics.  For his last honor, Jacob became a donor for several people.  Visitation will be held on Friday, April 7, 2023, from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the Snyder and Hollenbaugh Funeral and Cremation Services of Wapello.  Funeral services will be 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 8, 2023, at the Wapello United Methodist Church.  Following the services, a time of food and fellowship will be held at the church.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family in memory of Jacob.  Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sandhfuneralservice.com.

Jacob Austin Lee Miller was born on the morning of Monday, August 30, 2004, at the University of Iowa, the son of Elwood Eugene Miller and Angela Renea Starkweather.  At that time, he had an older sister named Autumn.  Two years later he was given a little brother named Ethan.  Jacob was always a handful.  From the age of four years old, when his sister tried to give him to the mailman for tormenting her, to the time he ran away from the babysitter around seven years old, and climbed to the top of a tree and stayed there until mom got home.

If you needed a hand in doing something, Jake would be the first to volunteer or if you were having a bad day, he would be the class clown to make you smile.  You could always count on Jacob.  Jacob loved all contact sports, especially boxing, soccer, wrestling and football.  In January of 2023, Jacob graduated early from Wapello High School.

 

Jacob will be greatly missed by his mother, Angela of Wapello; sister, Autumn Starkweather of Wapello; brother, Ethan Miller of Wapello; two ½ sisters of Muscatine; maternal grandparents, Tina Kammerer of Muscatine and Joe Starkweather, Sr. of Letts; maternal great grandfather, Tom McCleary of Muscatine and many cousins, aunts and uncles.

 

Jacob was preceded in death by his father, Elwood.