Author: Allison Jacobs

The Mt. Pleasant Community School District School Board will meet in regular session at 6:00pm on Monday, December 9^th.  The meeting will be held in the High School Media Center, 2104 S. Grand Avenue.  Following the regular session meeting, the MP school board will hold its organizational meeting including election of officers, assignments to committees and other items.  Both agendas can be found at MTPCSD.org and the meetings are open to the public.

The New London City Council will meet in regular session on Monday, December 9^th at 6:00pm at the NL city office; 112 W. Main St.  This meeting is open to the public.

Consumer Product Space heaters can provide extra, but they can also pose a safety risk. The Safety Commission reports that portable space heaters were involved in an average of 1,700 house fires a year from 2017-2019. These fires resulted in an average of 70 deaths annually.

If you rely on a portable heater for supplemental heat, it’s important to make space heater safety a priority including whether a model gets hot enough to ignite nearby materials, whether the surface gets so hot that it can cause a burn, and whether or not the model has a tip-over switch that turns the heater off when it’s knocked over.

Nearly half of all home heating fires happen during the months of December, January, and February—and they’re often caused when a heater (typically an electric one) is placed too close to curtains, bedding, or upholstered furniture. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers and the National Fire Protection Agency, offer the following safety tips:

• Place the heater on a hard, level, and nonflammable surface. These appliances are intended to sit on the floor, not on a table.
• Establish a 3-foot kid- and pet-free zone around the heater, and never put a space heater in a child’s room.
• Keep the space heater at least 3 feet away from combustible materials, such as furniture, bedding, and curtains.
• Don’t use a heater in a workshop or garage near flammable paints, gas cans, or matches.
• Turn it off when you leave the room or go to bed.
• Unplug the heater when it’s not in use by pulling the plug straight from the outlet. Check the cord for damage periodically, and don’t use the heater if the cord is frayed or worn.
• Don’t plug another electrical device or an extension cord into the same outlet as a heater because that can cause overheating.
• Install working smoke alarms on every level of your home and in every bedroom and test them monthly.

Shotgun season for deer in Iowa begins this morning through Wednesday and then 12/14/24 – 12/22/24.  The Iowa Department of Natural Resources predicts about 100,000 Iowans will hunt during the shotgun season.  With so many people in the field, safety is the primary concern for hunters.  Under Iowa law, hunters must wear blaze orange while in the field.  Deer harvesting plays a valuable role in Iowa’s ecosystem.  The approximately 60,000 deer killed annually help maintain the population, which helps protect crops and keep deer off of roads.

Fuel Costs Continue To Fall in Iowa. Earlier this week, the price of regular unleaded gasoline fell 5 cents from last week’s price and, according to AAA, prices  are down 18 cents from a year ago.

The national average on Wednesday was $3.03, down 4 cents from last week’s price.

Retail diesel prices in Iowa fell 2 cents this week with a statewide average of $3.28. One year ago, diesel prices averaged $4.00 in Iowa. The current Iowa diesel price is 26 cents lower than the national average of $3.54.

Wholesale ethanol held steady and is currently priced at $2.16. Propane prices averaged $1.55 per gallon in Iowa.

Home heating oil prices had a statewide average of $2.90 per gallon. Tips for saving energy on the road or at home are available at energy.gov and fueleconomy.gov.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has ordered all flags in the state of Iowa to fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset today in honor of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.  Flags will be at half-staff on the State Capitol, all public buildings, grounds and facilities state-wide.  Today, we remember the thousands whose lives were lost or forever changed on this day 83 years ago.  Thank you to all who serve this country.