Author: Allison Jacobs

The Midwest Old Threshers and Settlers Reunion is a couple of months away and the annual Old Threshers Miss Sweet Sixteen program registration deadline is May 31^st.  The Sweet Sixteen Program is an excellent opportunity to meet new people, volunteer, learn new skills and have fun.  For more information on registration go to www.oldthreshers.org/sweet16.

Making plans to visit Iowa State Parks this summer will be a new adventure, as several of Iowa’s parks have received updates.  Lake Macbride has a new boat ramp and a new fishing dock.  Rock Creek has new water lines and sewer repair.  Green Valley received renovation to the fishing pier, spillway and sewer.  A 1.3-mile trail reconstruction at George Wyth, a new boat ramp at Twin Lakes and Beeds Lake has a new campground.  Pikes Peak and Lake Ahquabi have electrical upgrades, pull-through driveways and 100% reservable sites.

MEDIAPOLIS – Today, Rep. Taylor Collins released the following statement following reports of Chinese Communist Party funded trips for Muscatine High School students and staff to China.

“The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend, and they should not be treated with kid gloves,” said Rep. Collins. “As a Representative for Muscatine County, I am appalled to see students and staff from Muscatine High School being used as political propaganda for the CCP.”

“I am calling on the Muscatine School District to publicly cancel the upcoming exchange for this October, and any future trips to China paid for by the Chinese Communist Party.”

“This coming legislative session I plan to introduce legislation to prohibit this kind of infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party into Iowa’s classrooms. It’s time to draw a line in the sand – Iowa students should be learning that communists are not our friends.”

Billy Sims BBQ and Wing Stop are moving into the location that formerly housed Shokai Sushi and Taco John’s before that.

The building that housed those restaurants was demolished Wednesday.

A new building will be constructed, the menu will be expanded and the employee count will be doubled. The businesses are owned and operated by Jeremy Music and Brandon Mosley, who also own Scooter’s Coffee.

Billy Sims BBQ and Wing Stop are currently located at the City Center shopping strip, at 2750 Mount Pleasant St. Construction should start within a couple of months, and the new location could open as early as this winter.

Mom Cafe is a moms group that meets in Mount Pleasant on the third Tuesday of every month. During the school year, any mom is welcome, but during the summer, the entire family is encouraged to join in on the fun.

Mom Cafe will be meeting at Saint Alphonsus Catholic Church next Tuesday, May 21 at 6pm. They will have their famous Trivia and Treats, so please bring a potluck dish to share. They will also be ordering pizza, so please let Tamara Zechin know if you can come at 319-217-2456. They will also be highlighting ways to promote literacy with your kids throughout the summer.

Mom Cafe will not be meeting at the church on Tuesday evenings during the summer. Instead, there will be family fun activities from 2 to 4pm on the third Tuesday of each month. June’s meeting will be held at Dankwardt Park in Burlington, make a splash in July at the Winfield Pool (bring $4/person for entry), and August will round out the summer at East Lake Park here in Mount Pleasant at the red playground.

Mom Café leaders are Tamara Zechin at 319-217-2456 and Kellie Frink at 319-759-8605. Reach out with questions, and check them out on Facebook!

Pork producers across Iowa donated more than $43,000 worth of pork to local food pantries over the past few months, in conjunction with the Pork in the Pantry program, organized by the Iowa Pork Producers Association. The Pantry provides funding of up to $1,000 to each county pork producer organization that participates. Counties are responsible for purchasing the pork and donating it, and IPPA reimburses them. This year, 38 county producer organizations participated in Pork in the Pantry. Food pantries are frequently short of meat products, so this is a great way to get nutritious protein into the diets of food-insecure Iowans. In southeast Iowa Henry, Washington, and Jefferson county food pantries all received donations.

A 53-year-old Washington resident was arrested Wednesday, after police said he tried to entice someone he believed to be 13 years old.

A news release from the city’s police department said Reuben Eicher had partially admitted he intended to commit the illegal sex act in an online video; before investigators interviewed him and later executed a search warrant to seize his cellphone. The police department was initially tipped off about the case by a community member on May 4, according to the release.

Court records for Eicher’s case referenced a video, recorded phone calls, text messages and chat logs from dating app Grindr. Documents said Eicher had admitted to using the app, and to being “confronted by an individual concerning the video,” but couldn’t remember all of what happened because he was intoxicated during the confrontation.

Other area law enforcement officials have recently issued warnings against amateur pedophilia investigations, informally known as “pedo-baiting.” The process involves adults setting up social media accounts where they pretend to be under 18, then arranging sexual encounters with other adults, in which they confront the other party about pedophilia.

Generally, the encounter is filmed, sometimes secretly, and usually with the intent to submit the recording as evidence to police. Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding said in March that such videos had led to the investigation of at least one man in Fairfield.

Still, Moulding asked community members to avoid such amateur investigations as a rule of thumb, saying the practice was unsafe and sometimes compromised the evidence in the court of law.

Eicher is charged with enticing a minor, a Class D felony, which could result in a sentence of up to five years and fine of up to $7,500. Police said he was being held in the Washington County Jail awaiting an initial appearance in court.

The Washington Police Department said it was assisted in its investigation by the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Washington County Attorney’s Office.