Author: Theresa Rose

Mount Pleasant Police arrested a man after a shooting early Saturday morning.  21 year old Tanner Box is charged with Attempted Murder.  At about 12:30 am police were called to 500 North Hamlin Street.  Officers arrived to find an adult male suffering from an gunshot wound.  The unidentified victim was transported to Henry County Health Center and then transferred to the University of Iowa Hospitals.

A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

In an effort to clear up some confusion, KILJ has talked with Mt. Pleasant Building and Zoning Administrator Jack Swarm in more detail regarding the construction of a new Jimmy John’s sandwich shop.  The City Council recently approved a site plan for a stand alone structure on North Grand Avenue for the drive thru business.  The 600 square foot building will be constructed south of the new two tenant building that currently has one occupant.  The Jimmy John’s location will be custom built for the fast food business with a double drive thru…one is a traditional drive-up and order window.  The second will be for mobile order pickups.  Then at some point in time a third structure will be built that will be marketed for further commercial development. Swarm said he has not seen a time-line for construction for either of the proposed new buildings.

Mother Nature played a big roll Saturday night at the Mt. Pleasant Marching Band Invitational. The event was called off after six bands performed through the raindrops, leaving the remaining nine to go home without performing after it was determined it wasn’t safe to continue because of lightning.

After a leadoff exhibition performance by the Mt. Pleasant Middle School, Van Buren County took the field followed by Wapello, Cardinal, Central Lee and Mount Vernon before the event was cut short.

Central Lee placed first in class 1A/2A, followed by Cardinal, Wapello and Van Buren County.  Central Lee received caption awards for Best Color Guard, Best Drumline and Best Horn Line. That was the only class that was completed.

Others schools that made the trip to Mt. Pleasant were West Liberty, Keokuk, Washington, Center Point-Urbana, Western Dubuque, Ottumwa, Muscatine and Bettendorf.

results courtesy of Dave Schneider

Mount Pleasant Police were called to a two-vehicle accident Friday morning at about 7:30 at the intersection of East Monroe and Brazelton Streets.  According to the police report Richard Howie of Mount Pleasant was driving a pickup south on Brazelton.  The truck came to a stop at the intersection. Howie then pulled into the intersection continuing South. At the same time Ryan Herr of Mount Pleasant was driving East on Monroe.  The pickup hit the Herr vehicle causing it to spin and roll over onto its’ top. It came to a stop and knocked over a stop sign  and post. Both drivers received minor injuries but were checked out at the scene and released.

On September 15th, 2022, at approximately 2:16 p.m., the Henry County Sheriff’s Office took a report of a van versus Semi accident in the 1100-grid of Benton Avenue. An investigation determined that Lori Thompson, 54, operator of a 2008 Kia Sedona, was headed Southbound on Benton Ave when she rear ended a Semi trailer turning into a farm but was unable to see it due to the gravel dust. The 2^nd vehicle, a 2001 Mack farm semi, was driven by 34-year-old Lee Unternahrer. The Kia sustained an estimated $3000 in damage and was towed away, the semi received no visible damage, minor possible injuries were reported.

Lori was cited for Following Too Closely.

***A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.***

Iowa Wesleyan University will present the 2022 Distinguished Alumni and Alumni Service Awards and induct one member into the Iowa Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 1 at 6 pm. The ceremony will take place in the Social Hall of the Howe Student Activity Center during Homecoming Weekend. The public is welcome to attend the awards ceremony by purchasing tickets at iw.edu/homecoming.

The 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award will be presented to Jackie Reszetar ’91.

Jackie Reszetar enlisted in the United States Army in 1992 and spent 21 years serving in public health roles within the military, including Environmental Health Technician and Environmental Science Officer Engineer, before retiring from the military as a Major in 2013. Reszetar continued to serve in public health roles, including becoming the Director of Environmental for the Southern Nevada Health District and serving on the Public Health Accreditation Board. Reszetar has since retired and now serves as an Epilepsy Center for Excellence, Anita Kaufmann Advocate for Epilepsy.

The 2022 Alumni Service Awards will be presented to Dave ’71 and Cathy (Garretson ’71) Helman.

Dave Helman worked with the United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons for 27 years, served as Associate Warden at federal prisons in West Virginia and Minnesota, and served as Warden in Minnesota and Illinois before retiring to Salem, Iowa, in 2001. Mr. Helman has since served as the Chairman of the Salem, Iowa Library Building Trust Fund; Chairman for four county Early Childhood Iowa Board of Directors; Chairman for Henry County Adjustment Board; and a member of Healthy Henry County Communities. Mr. Helman has also served as a chairman of the Henry County Democratic Party for nine years, led voter registration efforts on the IW campus, served annually as a Constitution Day speaker and organized the first satellite polling places at IW.

Cathy (Garretson) Helman served in public education for 28 years as an elementary classroom teacher for grades 1-4 and Title I Reading for grades 1-3 in West Virginia, Minnesota, and Illinois before retiring in 2008. Mrs. Helman has since served as President of the Friend of the Salem Crew Public Library and a member of the Salem Library Building Trust Fund. Mrs. Helman currently serves on the Lewelling Quaker Museum Board as Treasurer and docent, and she also continues to support DAR Community service projects in the James Harlan Chapter.

The 2022 Hall of Fame Inductee is Anna (Jones ’12) Zander.

Anna Zander was a two-time All-American at Iowa Wesleyan during a four-year career, making her one of the greatest players in the school’s long and distinguished history of playing women’s basketball. She was the second player in school history to receive NAIA First Team All-American honors and was a three-time First Team All-Midwest Collegiate Conference selection. Zander finished her career as the school’s all-time leader in assists and steals and also ranks fourth in school history in scoring and fifth in rebounding. She also was a member of three Tiger teams to advance to the NAIA National Tournament and, as a sophomore, was a starter on IW’s record-setting team that finished 27-8 and advanced to the Elite 8 at nationals.

Iowa Wesleyan University: As Southeast Iowa’s regional comprehensive University, Iowa Wesleyan University is a transformational learning community whose passion is to educate, empower and inspire students to lead meaningful lives and careers.