Area Law Enforcement agencies will have their doors open today as part of the DEA National Prescription Drug Takeback Day. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office at 800 S. Grand Avenue will have the lobby open from 10am – 2pm for citizens to dispose of unneeded medications – no needles or liquids will be accepted. The HCSO reminds everyone that if you can’t make it to the office today, there is a prescription drug take back drop box available in the lobby 24/7. Visit DEATakeBack.com for area collection sites.
Ruth Mae Piper
Ruth Mae Piper, 95, of New London, died Friday, October 24, 2025, at New London Specialty Care. She was born November 1, 1929, in Dallas City, Illinois, to Harry Prescott and Esther Alma Muenzenmaier Martin. On June 3, 1951, she married Charles Edward Piper at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, and he died September 25, 1993.
Ruth was a 1948 graduate of Dallas City High School and a 1949 graduate of Burlington Beauty Academy. She worked as a nurse’s aide for over 40 years, retiring from Park Place in Mt. Pleasant. She was a member of the New London Presbyterian Church, was an avid gardener, loved flowers, yard work and antiques.
Ruth is survived by two daughters, Pam (Reggie) Williamson of New London and Jane (Greg) Hoel of Benton, Wisconsin; daughter-in-law Gerry Piper MacKaben; ten grandchildren, Staci Moore, Jess Williamson, Brittony Cummings, Piper Williamson, Nicole Maloney; Justin, Daniel, Michael, Samuel and Kurtis Edwards; twenty great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; one brother Lester Martin of Burlington and one sister Maxine Conn of Nauvoo, Illinois. Besides her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her son Hal Piper; one great-granddaughter Nora Moore; and two brothers Harold and Robert Martin.
According to her wishes, her body will be cremated, and a celebration of her life will be held at a later date.
A memorial has been established for the New London Fire and Rescue.
Elliott Chapel, New London, is assisting the family and online condolences may be left at www.elliottfuneralchapel.com
Local High School Football Scores (Week 9 and Playoffs)
8-Player
(9-0) #6 Edgewood-Colesburg 58, (3-6) WACO 7
(9-0) #4 Iowa Valley 64, (5-4) Moravia 0
Class A
(7-2) Maquoketa Valley 43, (6-3) Danville 0
(8-1) North Linn 59, (3-6) Columbus 14
(8-1) Underwood 42, (5-4) Wapello 0
(9-0) Pekin 42, (4-5) Earlham 7
Class 2A
(5-4) Mediapolis 28, (7-2) Centerville 13
(9-0) #3 Mid-Prairie 34, (3-6) North Fayette Valley 19
Class 3A
(7-2) Mt. Pleasant 25, (3-6) Fairfield 22 *Panthers clinched the playoffs
(5-4) Washington 21, (3-6) Keokuk 20
(9-0) #3 Solon 51, (0-9) Fort Madison 2
Class 4A
(7-2) #6 Western Dubuque 62, (5-4) Burlington 7
William “Bill” Dorrell, Jr. – PENDING
William “Bill” Dorrell Jr., 78, of Mount Pleasant, died Thursday, October 23, 2025, at the Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in West Burlington. Funeral services are pending at Olson-Yoder Funeral Home & Crematory. www.olsonyoderfh.com
Sports, October 24th
Postseason Volleyball
In Class 4A Region 1, Mt. Pleasant claimed the first point on an Addison Clark kill, but #1 Clear Creek Amana proved to be formidable as the Clippers sailed their way to a victory over the Panthers in straight sets. Alex Scott led the team with seven kills and nabbed an ace along with Myah Starr, while Kynlee White blocked a shot. Panther head coach Alicia Schrader talked about the team’s effort after the game,
“I mean, they’re a very solid team. We couldn’t give them anything, you know, we couldn’t give them free balls or easy serves or we knew it was coming back at us hard. I was really proud of the girls. They didn’t hang their head one bit and they stayed in it. They kept fighting. Even when we were down. They step, you know, to the last final point. They were fighting, giving it their all.”
The Panthers finished the season with a 22-15 record, their first winning record since 2021. Coach Schrader is hoping that the program uses this season as a jump pad to future success,
“We just had a talk, and I told them that I think they really raised the standard for volleyball, for Mount Pleasant this year. I kind of told them a story back when that way back when I was in 8th grade and how, you know, at that time we had a new coach and we had these shirts that said we were doormats and a few years later after that we had three consecutive trips to the state tournament and I told them that’s what I see in them and they don’t know that all these middle school girls talk about them at home. They look up to them, they’ve really inspired a whole group of kids. So, making sure they know that they are just a huge part. I hope a huge part of change and lifting the standard for Mount Pleasant.”
In Class 4A Region 6, Burlington was swept by North Scott last night. The Grayhounds finished with a 31-13 record.
In Class 3A Region 2, Central Lee fell to Assumption in straight sets (12-25, 14-25, 4-25). Brylee Cook nabbed three kills and an ace in the loss. The Hawks ended the season with a 14-16 record.
In Class 1A Region 2, #4 Holy Trinity Catholic will face off against Wapello in a rematch of last year’s semifinals on Monday, October 27th, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
In Class 2A Region 8, West Burlington will make the trip to Regina Catholic on Monday at 7 pm.
High School Cross Country
The Classes 1A and 2A boys’ and girls’ state qualifying meets ran yesterday and a handful of local runners punched their ticket to the state meet in Fort Dodge.
At Pekin, a banged up WACO boys’ team just missed out qualifying for the state meet, taking home 3rd place. Nevertheless, Locken Henderson managed to claim a 4th place time of 17 minutes and 22 seconds.
Also claiming a spot inside the top ten was Danville’s Isaac Shinn, as his time of 17 minutes and 55 seconds was good enough for 9th place.
On the girls’ side, WACO had Josie Dykstra claim 4th place and Macie Carter take 9th place as they both finished within the 20 minute and 30 second mark. Additionally, Alaina Gourely of Danville grabbed 8th place with a time of 20 minutes and 19 seconds.
In Class 2A at Regina Catholic, Notre Dame/West Burlington had two freshmen earn a spot in the state meet with Cavin Denney nabbing the last spot on the boys’ side with a time of 17 minutes and 35 seconds, while Hannah Ritter finished in 12th place with a time of 21 minutes and 4 seconds.
The Mediapolis boys’ team qualified with 106 points, which was good enough for 2nd place as a squad. The Bulldogs were anchored by Simon Wendel’s bronze medal time of 16 minutes and 31 seconds, while Will Schmidgall claimed 8th place.
Lastly, on the girls’ side, Aubree Bunnell of Central Lee clocked a time of 20 minutes and 56 seconds, which was good enough for 10th place and a spot at the state meet.
The state meets for Classes 2A and 3A are scheduled for Friday, October 31st, while Class 1A will run on Saturday, November 1st, at Fort Dodge.
High School Football
Mt. Pleasant travels to Fairfield tonight at 7:30 pm with a playoff spot on the line. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.
Washington will travel to Keokuk tonight at 7:30 pm.
Postseason Football
Mediapolis will venture to #9 Centerville tonight to start their postseason journey.
#3 Mid-Prairie will take on North Fayette Valley tonight at 7 pm at home.
WACO will travel to #6 Edgewood-Colesburg tonight for their first round matchup at 7 pm.
#4 Iowa Valley will host Moravia, who got in as a wildcard team, at 7 pm tonight.
In Danville’s third consecutive trip to the postseason, the Bears will get a chance to host a playoff game with Maquoketa Valley making the trip tonight at 7 pm.
Wapello will hit the road to face off against #8 Lynnville-Sully at 7 pm tonight.
Columbus will attempt to avenge their mid-season loss against #9 North Linn tonight at 7 pm in their first-round road postseason matchup.
Pekin will host Earlham at 7 pm tonight.
Southeastern Community College
The volleyball team will compete in the Madison College Tournament starting today.
College Football
Iowa will compete at home against Minnesota for the Floyd of Rosedale tomorrow, October 25th, at 2:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM will be on the call.
Iowa State is back in action tomorrow as they look to upset #11 BYU at home at 2:30 pm. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call.
This Day in Sports History
1979 – Billy Martin punches a marshmallow salesman, quickly fired as manager of the New York Yankees.
2021 – Michael Jordan’s 1984 Nike Air Ships sell for $1.472 million at Sotheby’s, a new record for sneakers at auction.
2021 – Tom Brady becomes first quarterback in NFL history to record 600 touchdown passes when he hits Mike Evans in 1st quarter of the Buccaneers 38-3 rout of the Chicago Bears in Tampa Bay.
Mount Pleasant Man Arrested After Pursuit Ends in Cornfield
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office reports that a Mount Pleasant man was taken into custody following a vehicle pursuit and foot chase on Wednesday, October 22.
Deputies attempted to stop a blue Chevrolet Impala, registered to Victor Wenke of Mount Pleasant, for a traffic violation. Wenke allegedly failed to yield to emergency lights and sirens, leading law enforcement on a pursuit through Mount Pleasant before heading into the Oakland Mills campground area.
After stopping the vehicle, Wenke fled on foot. Officers established a perimeter, and a K9 unit was deployed to assist in the search. The K9 tracked Wenke into a nearby cornfield, where he surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident.
Wenke was charged with Driving While Revoked, Eluding, Open Container (Driver 21 Years or Older), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Interference with Official Acts, and Operating Without an Ignition Interlock Device.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office was assisted during the incident by additional law enforcement personnel and K9 support.
Kibbe Hancock Heritage Museum Closing For The Season
Kibbe Hancock Heritage Museum in Carthage will end its season at 4 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 31. Until that closing, the museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. The museum will reopen for the next season on April 1, 2026.
The museum plans to be open as part of the Carthage Christmas Open House on Thursday, Dec. 4, from 4 to 8 p.m., featuring the model train displays of Galen Wollbrink.
For several years, Wollbrink has set up his model train displays at the museum for the public to enjoy, beginning with the Carthage Christmas Open House.
Additional model train viewing days in December and January will be announced by the Kibbe Museum closer to the holiday season.
There is no charge to enter the museum or see the displays. All the other exhibit rooms at the museum are open for viewing.
The museum is located at 306 Walnut, in Carthage, one block south of Rt. 136. For information, call 217-357-9552.
Public Notice to the WACO Community School District Voters
It has come to the attention of the Henry County Auditor’s Office that the voters in the WACO Community School District have recently received postcards regarding the public measure placed on the ballot for the upcoming City/School Election. Please be advised that the correct date for the 2025 City/School Election is Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
New postcards containing the corrected election date will be mailed on October 23, 2025, to the registered WACO Community School District voters.
We sincerely apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.
If you have any questions, please contact the Henry County Auditor’s Office at 319-385-0756.
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Robin Detrick Henry County Auditor & Commissioner of Elections