Author: Theresa Rose

The southern part of Mount Pleasant experienced a power outage Saturday but not from a storm.  Mount Pleasant Utilities reported a large outage on the electric feeder that extends thru the southern end of town and Linden Heights area.  Crews were dispatched before 8 am to restore power.  By 9 am all but a small area near Harvest Drive was restored but crews expected to have that back on within the hour.

The severe thunderstorm that blew through Southeast Iowa Sunday morning brought wind and rain.  The Mount Pleasant area not reporting hail but there were numerous branches and even a few trees brought down.  A large tree in front of the Harlan-Lincoln House on the IW campus came down on the structures porch.  It sounds like Henry Couty Road crews were out clearing trees from the roadway, at least south of Mount Pleasant. The KILJ rain gauge over flowed indicating just over two inches of rain that fell in just over an hour. As of noon Sunday, KILJ had not received any reports of widespread power outages due to the storm.

Here are the results from the Henry County Fair Beef Show held Saturday….

Grand Champion Market Beef-Cole Meyer, Reserve-Lars Smith

Champion Market Heifer-Morgan Meyer, Reserve-Grace Sheets

Market Steer Division 1-Ethan Graber, Reserve Alexis Francy

Division 2-Anna Anderson, Reserve Carter Loyd

Division 3-Cole Meyer, Reserve Lars Smith

Champion County Raised Market Beef-Mitchel Moothart

Return Bucket Calf-Madison Nichting

From the Breeding Beef portion of the show….

Grand Champion Heifer-Grace Sheets, Reserve-Katie Miller

Champion Angus-Grant Anderson, Reserve-Abigail Miller

Champion Simmental-Grace Sheets, Reserve-Ethan Graber

Champion AOB-Katie Miller, Reserve-Zenlyn Lee

Champion Crossbred-Alexa Lair, Reserve-Elijah McGohan

Champion County Raised Breeding Heifer-Katie Miller

Champion Cow/Calf-Grace Sheets, Reserve-Alexis Francy

Adaline McLain was the big winner in the Henry County Fair Rabbit Show.  Adaline brought the Best Breeding Pair, Best Commercial Rabbit and the Reserve, Best Fancy Rabbit, the Best Home Born Raised and Reserve.  She also showed the Best of Show Rabbi.  Owen Nehring had the Best of Opposite Rabbit and also the Reserve Fancy Rabbit.

Starting Monday June 20^th Customers of Swailes Auto Parts will need to start coming in by turning onto Monroe St. from Main St. The workers will help guide the people down to Swailes from the North. Kinney & Sons will be removing pavement, grading and placing subbase at the Monroe St. & Adams St. intersection. Until it’s done people will have to use caution while entering from the North.

Once Kinney & Sons finish the intersection then people will be able to access from the North on Adams St. through the Monroe St. Intersection. Kinney & Sons will also be working on the storm sewer along the South side of Monroe St. in the area of the drive thru at the Great Western Bank. Construction workers can help guide you around to still be able to access the drive thru. Though there might be some short delays.

Jones Contracting will be starting to set up the West side of Adams St. from Washington St. North to the center of Swailes Parking Lot. Mt Pleasant Utilities will also be working on installing new electric conduits on the West side of Adams St. This will be under the area of the sidewalk as construction will allow. Once the sidewalks are removed along Monroe St. the Utilities will be installing new electric conduits and light pole bases.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered all flags in Iowa to be lowered to half-staff immediately and remain at half-staff through sunrise Monday, July 20, 2020 in honor and remembrance of U.S. Representative John Lewis, a congressman from Atlanta, Georgia and longtime civil rights icon.

“From a bridge in Selma, Alabama to the halls of Congress, John Lewis was a trailblazer for justice and equality,” said Gov. Reynolds. “A giant in the Civil Rights Movement, Rep. Lewis always sought liberty and justice for all Americans. Today we come together to reflect on this remarkable life of service and remember that the fight continues to form a more perfect union for all.”

Flags will be at half-staff on the State Capitol Building and on flag displays in the Capitol Complex. Flags will also be half-staff on all public buildings, grounds and facilities throughout the state.

Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flags at half-staff for the same length of time.

Gov. Reynolds signs new public health proclamation advancing Iowa’s Return to Learn strategy

DES MOINES – Today, Governor Reynolds signed a new proclamation continuing the Public Health Disaster Emergency and taking a number of actions to advance Iowa’s Return to Learn strategy.

The proclamation directs all state agencies, school districts, and local governments to focus on preparing to safely welcome back students and teachers to school in-person in the fall.

It also provides clarity for when a school may move to primarily remote learning, authorizing it when:

• Parents select remote learning as the best option for their family;
• The Iowa Department of Education in consultation with the Iowa Department of Public Health approves a temporary move to online learning for an entire building or district in response to public health conditions;
• A school, in consultation with state and local public health officials, determines that individual students or classrooms must be temporarily moved to online learning; or
• A school chooses to temporarily move to online learning because of severe weather instead of taking a snow day.

Finally, it provides regulatory relief to address our education workforce, including removing limitations on how often and long substitutes teachers can teach and expanding the pool of Iowans who are eligible to serve as substitute teachers.

Gov. Reynolds discussed the new proclamation at her press conference. The full proclamation is online in its entirety and substantive information can be found below:

NOW THEREFORE, I, KIMBERLY K. REYNOLDS, Governor of the State of Iowa, by the power and authority vested in me by the Iowa Constitution, Art. IV, §§ 1, 8 and Iowa Code §§ 29C.6(1), 135.140(6), and 135.144 do hereby proclaim a STATE OF PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER EMERGENCY continues to exist throughout the entire state of Iowa and do hereby ORDER and DIRECT the following:

IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION

SECTION 1. Under Iowa law, “in-person instruction is the presumed method of instruction” for all school districts and accredited nonpublic schools during the 2020-2021 school year. I direct that all state agencies, school districts, and other local governmental bodies and agencies shall take all efforts to prepare to safely welcome back students and teachers to school in-person this fall. These efforts shall also ensure that schools have the flexibility to continue providing education remotely if it becomes necessary and that parents have the option to select a learning model for their children that best meets the needs of their family. But the best interests of students and families requires that our schools are prepared to provide a structured, safe, and enriching academic environment.

AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN REMOTE LEARNING

SECTION 2. Pursuant 2020 Iowa Acts Chapter 1107 (Senate File 2310), section 15, subsection 1, I hereby authorize a brick-and-mortar school district or accredited nonpublic school to provide instruction primarily through remote-learning opportunities only in the following circumstances:

1. Parental consent: If a parent or guardian voluntarily selects the remote learning opportunity from among multiple options provided by the school district or nonpublic school in accordance with its Return-to-Learn Plan; or
2. Approved temporary school building or district closure: If the Iowa Department of Education, in consultation with the Iowa Department of Public Health, approves of the temporary move to primarily remote learning for an entire school building or district because of public health conditions in the building or district.
3. Temporary remote learning for individual students or classrooms: If the school district or accredited nonpublic school determines, in consultation with state and local public health departments, that individual students or classrooms, but not all the students in a school building, must temporarily move to primarily remote learning because of public health conditions in the building.
4. Temporary remote learning because of inclement weather: If the school district or accredited nonpublic school determines that an entire school building or district must temporarily move to primarily remote learning because of inclement weather for a period not exceeding five consecutive school days unless the Iowa Department of Education approves of a longer period.

So long as any remote learning is provided in accordance with a compliant Return-to-Learn plan and is authorized in this section or is not the primary method of instruction (because at least half of the school district or accredited nonpublic school’s instruction is provided in-person during any two-week period), any instructional time provided by remote learning shall count towards the hours and days requirements of Iowa law as provided for by 2020 Iowa Acts Chapter 1107 (Senate File 2310), section 9.

EDUCATION WORKFORCE LICENSURE RELIEF

SECTION 3. Pursuant to Iowa Code § 29C.6(6) and Iowa Code § 135.144(3), and in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health, I temporarily suspend the regulatory provisions of Iowa Admin. Code rule 282-22.2, limiting the number of consecutive days and the total number of days in a 30-day period that a person may serve as a substitute teacher during one job assignment, and of Iowa Admin. Code rule 282-13.16(2) limiting the number of days of teaching in one assignment during a school year. For the duration of this disaster proclamation and any extension of this suspension, a substitute authorization or substitute license shall allow an individual to substitute in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, except in a driver’s education classroom for any length of time.

SECTION 4. Pursuant to Iowa Code § 29C.6(6) and Iowa Code § 135.144(3), and in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health, I temporarily suspend the regulatory provisions of Iowa Admin. Code rule 282-22.2(1)(a)(2), requiring a baccalaureate degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution to be issued a substitute authorization, but only to the extent that the applicant instead has achieved an associate’s degree or completed 60 semester hours of college coursework from a regionally accredited institution.

SECTION 5. Pursuant to Iowa Code § 29C.6(6) and Iowa Code § 135.144(3), and in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health, I temporarily suspend the regulatory provisions of Iowa Code § 272.2(14)(b)(2) and Iowa Admin. Code rule 282-22.2(1)(a)(3), requiring the applicant to be at least twenty-one years of age, but only to the extent that the applicant is at least twenty years of age.

SECTION 6. Pursuant to Iowa Code § 29C.6(6) and Iowa Code § 135.144(3), and in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health, I temporarily suspend the regulatory provisions of Iowa Code § 272.12 and Iowa Admin. Code rule 282-22.2, limiting the holder of a paraeducator certificate with a substitute authorization appearing on the certificate to substituting only in the special education classroom in which the paraeducator is employed. For the duration of this disaster proclamation and any extension of this suspension, a paraeducator who holds or obtains a substitute authorization on a paraeducator certificate may substitute in any classroom in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, except in a driver’s education classroom.

SECTION 7. Pursuant to Iowa Code § 29C.6(6) and Iowa Code § 135.144(3), and in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health, I temporarily suspend the regulatory provisions of Iowa Admin. Code rules 282-13.16(3), 22.2, 22.9, and any other Iowa law that would prohibit the holder of a career and technical secondary authorization or an initial career and technical secondary authorization who has completed at least one year of teaching experience employed by a school district from serving as a substitute teacher in any classroom in grade pre-kindergarten through 12, except in a driver’s education classroom. For the duration of this disaster proclamation and any extension of this suspension, the holder of a career and technical secondary authorization or an initial career and technical secondary authorization who has completed at least one year of teaching experience employed by a school district may substitute in any classroom in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, except in a driver’s education classroom without any further authorization from the Board of Educational Examiners.

SECTION 8. The Board of Educational Examiners shall provide guidance to school districts and individuals interested in serving as a substitute teacher about these expanded opportunities to assist in providing the necessary education workforce across Iowa.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE MAXIMUM TEACHING LOAD

SECTION 9. Pursuant to Iowa Code § 29C.6(6) and Iowa Code § 135.144(3), and in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health, I temporarily suspend the regulatory provisions of Iowa Code § 260C.48(2) and Iowa Admin. Code rule 281-24.5(2), providing a maximum teaching load for community college instructors, but only to the extent that a community college administration assigning an instructor a teaching load above the maximum credit load maintains written documentation that the instructor and community college administration mutually consented to the additional assignments.

IMPLEMENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

SECTION 10. The Iowa Department of Public Safety, Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Iowa Department of Transportation, and other participating state agencies are hereby directed to monitor the operation and implementation of this proclamation to assure the public’s health and safety.

SECTION 11. Nothing contained in this declaration shall be construed as an exemption from any other portion of the Iowa Code or Iowa Administrative Code not specifically identified in this proclamation.

SECTION 12. The provisions of this proclamation shall be effective immediately, unless otherwise noted. This proclamation shall not be construed to otherwise modify the proclamation issued on June 25, 2020. This state of public health disaster emergency shall continue to expire on July 25, 2020, at 11:59 p.m., unless sooner terminated or extended in writing by me.