Mount Pleasant City Council Meeting December 11th at 5:30pm

By Hayden Douglas · Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 at 3:05 pm CDT

The Mount Pleasant City Council will meet in Regular Session on Wednesday, December 1 1 , 2024, at City Hall, 307 E. Monroe Street, second-floor meeting room at 5:30 p.m.

AGENDA

  1. Roll Call.
  2. Consent Agenda: To the Public — All items with an asterisk ( *) are routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion and a roll call of the Council members. There will be no separate discussion of items unless the Mayor, a Council member or citizen so request, in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and will be considered in its normal sequence on the Agenda.
  3. Receive & file communications.
  4. Approve agenda.

*5. Approve minutes of previous meetings.

*6. Approve payment of bills.

*7. Receive report of Officers including Resolution No. 2024-108 approving November transfers.

  1. Old Business-
    1. 3rd reading and adopt ordinance amending Chapter 12, Section 12-6 Stop Intersections for Harvest Drive and South Grand Avenue.
    2. 3rd reading and adopt ordinance amending Chapter 12, Section 12-4 Speed Limits for South Grand Avenue.
  2. New Business-
    1. Approve the issuance of a new Class E Retail Alcohol License for Iowa Wine & Spirits at 109 S Jefferson Street.

Great River Health Hosting Midwest Book and Gift Fairs

By Hayden Douglas · Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 at 12:45 pm CDT

Great River Health will be hosting a series of Midwest Book and Gift Fairs at their hospital campuses.

  • Henry County Health Center (HCHC) campus, Wednesday, December 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Upper Lobby.
  • Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center (SEIRMC), Fort Madison campus, Tuesday, December 17, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., in the Main lobby.
  • Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center, West Burlington campus,
    • Wednesday, December 18, from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., in the Main lobby
    • Thursday, December 19, from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m., in the Main lobby

Besides books, hundreds of items will be available at reduced prices. They include educational products, toys, music collections, and stationery.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to HCHC Friends and SEIRMC Auxiliary to support hospital projects and healthcare scholarships.

For more information, please call SEIRMC Volunteer Services at 319-768-3340 or HCHC Volunteer Services at 319-385-6524.

Arlene Mae Haifley

By Hayden Douglas · Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 at 12:40 pm CDT

Arlene Mae Haifley, 93, a resident of Fairfield, passed away Saturday, December 7, 2024 at Prestige Care Center in Fairfield.

Per Arlene’s wishes there will be no services held at this time.

Inurnment will be at Evergreen Cemetery in Fairfield. Behner Funeral Home in Fairfield is assisting the family.

Arlene was born September 18, 1931 in Jefferson County, the daughter of Harold and Elsie (Olson) McIntire. She married Robert Haifley, October 9, 1949 in Fairfield. He preceded her in death December 1, 2018.

Arlene was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Caring for her family was her greatest joy. She was a member of Suburban Heights Baptist Church in Fairfield.

Those left to honor her memory include her daughter-in-law, Christine Haifley; grandchildren, Korie (Gary) Cochran, Matthew (Erika) Haifley, Jennifer (Brian) Vanderhart and Michelle (Dana) Semprini; and eight great-grandchildren, Hannah, Connor, Steven, Austin, Evan, Noah, Carson and Harper; siblings, Marilyn Kane of Fairfield, Pamela Cubbage of Batavia, and Steven McIntire of Goldfield, Iowa.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents; and sons, Robert Allen Haifley, Jr. and Guy Lee Haifley.

Online condolences may be made to Arlene’s family by viewing her obituary at www.behnerfh.com.

Enhance Henry County Community Foundation Awarded $143,000 to 30 County organizations

By Hayden Douglas · Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 at 11:03 am CDT

Henry County, Iowa — The Enhance Henry County Community Foundation has awarded $143,000 to 30 County organizations. An estimated 35,000 people will benefit from the 20th round of grants to be made by the Enhance Henry County Community Foundation.

The 30 grants were announced at a special celebration and media advisory event held at the Union Block Building in Mt. Pleasant on December 10th beginning at 11 am. The event was open to the public, all grant recipients, public officials from throughout the county and community leaders.

This was the 20th time that the Enhance Henry County Community Foundation has engaged in grant making. The foundation applied for and received funds from the County Endowment Fund legislation.

Enhance Henry County Community Foundation President, Robert Meyer, talked to KILJ about announcement day means for these organizations.

 

“Our foundation received a total of $157,184.36. Twenty five percent of this was restricted to permanent endowment and 75 percent was required to be released through local competitive grant making. In addition, we took $32,466.84 from our endowment earnings and granted them as well.” said Robert Meyer, Foundation President.

“We received grant applications totaling $509,727.66. We only wish that we had more resources at the foundation because we know there are many needs and worthy projects throughout the county.”

The Enhance Henry County Community Foundation was organized by representatives from throughout Henry County. “Our mission involves helping the communities and non-profit organizations of the county,” said Robert Meyer. “We want to partner with communities and non-profit organizations to help them with programs and projects that might otherwise not be available to the individuals, families and visitors to our county.”

As an affiliate foundation, the Enhance Henry County Community Foundation can assist donors who wish to make outright and testamentary gifts of support to our foundation or other charitable organizations in the county. “It’s even possible for local charitable organizations to establish their own funds and benefit from special tax credits and the professional expertise and investment management we help provide,” said Robert Meyer.

Further information about Enhance Henry County Community Foundation is available by contacting, Lora Roth at 319-385-8728.

Organizations awarded:

MOPS – Winfield Food Pantry- $3,500

Henry County Child Advocacy Council- $1,000

Old Threshers Foundation -$5,000

Henry County Public Health/Healthy Henry County Communities – $2,000

Winfield Mt. Union Community Schools -$5,000

Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra- $2,000

City of Wayland – $7,700

Cradle of Hope Pregnancy Resource Center -$1,000

Mt. Pleasant Music Boosters, Inc. -$2,000

Midwest Old Settlers & Threshers Assoc. -$7,500

Main Street Mount Pleasant- $12,5000

Swedish Heritage Society Foundation- $3,000

Henry County Heritage Trust, Inc$ – 3,000

New London Community School District- $7,500

Winfield Historical Society- $3,000

Salem Recreation Association- $7,500

Domestic Violence Intervention Program- $1,000

Mt. Pleasant Community Childcare- $10,000

Mt. Pleasant Little League- $1,000

The Rec Center, LTD- $1,500

Harlan-Lincoln House, Inc- $1,300

Friends of Mount Pleasant Fire- $5,000

Daughters of the American Revolution

James Harlan Chapter- $2,000

Henry County Health Center Foundation- $5,000

Wayland Area Child Care Organization- $10,000

All God’s Creatures- $10,000

Midwest Central Railroad- $7,000

WMU Backpack Program- $1,000

New London Junior Baseball Association- $5,000

New London School District Foundation- $10,000

Southeast Iowa Regional Board of Realtors Donates Nearly 10K To Henry County Non-Profit Organizations

By Hayden Douglas · Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 at 9:34 am CDT

Southeast Iowa Regional Board of Realtors® recently sold their office building on Summer Street in Burlington, IA providing an opportunity for the Mount Pleasant Council to donate its portion of the net proceeds to 5 local 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations.

Members of the Mount Pleasant Council met to nominate and vote on various charities with the goal of supporting organizations that enhance the communities of Henry County, IA. The Henry County non-profit organizations selected to receive these funds were Henry County Conservation, Mount Pleasant Library, New London Library, Salem Library, and the Winfield Library. $9,848.73 was donated in total.

In addition to the Mount Pleasant Council, Realtor councils in Fort Madison, Keokuk, Burlington, Fairfield, Ottumwa, Rathbun and Oskaloosa also donated funds from the sale of the office building to their communities, for a combined total donation of $131,300 throughout Southeast Iowa.

The Mount Pleasant Council of the Southeast Iowa Regional Board of Realtors includes: Benchmark Real Estate, Cottage Realty, Epique, Fraise Auction & Real Estate, Jennings and Associates, Real Estate by Waters, and Southeast Iowa Realty.

Sports, December 10th

By Slaten Swords · Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 at 6:30 am CDT

High School Basketball

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team brawled with Holy Trinity Catholic last night, but the Crusader defense delivered the decisive blow, winning 41-28. The Panthers went on a 9 to 2 run in the third quarter to cut the deficit to four, but as head coach Curt Watson said after the game, it proved to not be enough,

“Yeah, we decided we were coming out we’re just going to give it everything we got and put a little press in there and I thought we got right back into the game and then we kind of got cold air at the start of the fourth quarter and they made a few layups on us and kind of turned the game around right about the start of the fourth quarter.”

Alexa Fuller led the scoring with 10 points on the night for the Panthers, while Elizabeth Griffin cashed in for 16 points for the Crusaders. The Panthers will take on Oskaloosa at home tonight with game time at 7 pm. 

Holy Trinity Catholic will take on West Burlington on Friday with the girls starting the night at 6 pm. 

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team could not keep up with Burlington Notre Dame’s offensive production last night, falling 72-44. Noah Lange led the Panthers with 12 points. Mt. Pleasant will travel to Fort Madison on Friday, December 13th, at 7:30 pm. 

New London will take on Burlington Notre Dame at home on Friday with the girls playing first at 6 pm. 

The Central Lee girls’ team handed Columbus their first loss of the season last night 54-44. The Wildcats will face off against Highland tonight at home with the night scheduled to start at 6. 

Central Lee will host Danville on Friday with game one at 6 pm. 

The Danville girls’ team lost to Fort Madison last night 61-31. 

The Mediapolis girls’ team stomped Wilton last night 75-35. Ellah Wagenbach tallied 18 points as the Bulldogs nabbed 20 steals in the win. Mediapolis will compete against Washington tonight with the girls’ scheduled to play at 6 pm followed by the boys’ game. 

Wapello will take on Lone Tree tonight at home with the night starting at 6 pm. 

Fairfield will face off against Ottumwa tonight on the road with the girls’ tipping off at 6:15 pm.

WACO will stay at home to play Louisa-Muscatine tonight with the boys’ following the girls game at 7:30. 

Winfield-Mt. Union will start a three-game homestand tonight against Hillcrest Academy with game one at 6 pm. 

Van Buren County will travel to West Burlington tonight with game one at 6 pm.

High School Wrestling

The Mt. Pleasant, WACO, and Wapello girls’ teams competed at the Williamsburg Invitational last night. For the Panthers, Zenlynn Lee finished the night 2-2 with a win over Aubree Bunnell of Fort Madison by fall and a 7-3 decision victory over Peggy Miller of Washington to finish in 4th place at the 145-pound weight class. Paris Phosy grabbed 8th place in the 115-pound weight class. WACO’s Elyssa Graber took 6th place in the 105-pound weight class, while Kenadee Helscher of Wapello finished with the gold in the 100-pound weight class with a 6-3 decision win in the championship match.

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, Van Buren County, Mediapolis, and Mt. Pleasant girls’ teams will compete at the Keokuk Invitational on Saturday. 

Fairfield will face off against Washington on Thursday, December 12th, at home. 

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will compete in a double dual on Thursday at home with Burlington Notre Dame in attendance. 

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will travel to Keokuk on Thursday. 

The New London boys’ team will host a quad with Wapello attending on Thursday.

The Mediapolis boys’ team will compete at the Tiger Duals on Saturday, December 14th, at Grinnell.

The WACO and Van Buren County boys’ teams will head to Tri-County for their invitational, while the WACO girls’ will travel to Vinton-Shellsburg for a tournament on Saturday.

The Wapello girls’ team will participate in a tournament on Saturday at Marion.

High School Bowling

Fairfield split the night against Davis County with the girls’ team falling to the Mustangs 2,412-1,809, while the boys snuck out with a 2,770-2,592 victory. Grace Forrest led the girls with 282 pins and Ethan Cass anchored the boys’ team with 423 pins. The Trojans will host Mt. Pleasant on Monday, December 16th. 

Mt. Pleasant will take on Keokuk on Thursday, December 12th, at home.

College Signing

As college coaches look to fill out their recruiting class, Coe College’s Division-III softball program added a Crusader to their ranks as Emily Ross of Holy Trinity Catholic signed her National Letter of Intent yesterday. 

She admitted that the proximity of Coe College—located in Cedar Rapids—was an important factor in her decision amongst other things,

“I’ve really enjoyed the coaches, they are very nice and then also the girls are all very nice as well and just the atmosphere at Coe like where it is, where it’s located, everything like that was just perfect for me.”

Ross destroyed the ball in her first action at the varsity level last season. The junior finished the year with a top five slash line in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference South, going with a 0.519 batting average (3rd)/0.581 on-base percentage (3rd)/0.815 slugging percentage (5th).

Crusader head coach Loren Menke discussed how important she has been to her squad,

“What she means for our program, she means pretty much everything. She’s a great softball player. Beyond that, she’s a great person and she’s a great leader and the kids just look up to her and. It’s like having a second coach. She’s just outstanding. I don’t know. I’ve heard countless kids say how they can’t imagine her not being on the team after this year. They all look up to her.”

She will be studying accounting and business administration as she joins a Kohawk squad that finished with an impressive 34-11 record (12-4 in conference) for the 2024 season, falling to #7 Case Western Reserve University in the NCAA Super Regionals. Coe College ended the year with their second consecutive 30-win season and NCAA Regional Title.

Southeastern Community College

The #11 men’s basketball team will participate in the Highland tournament on Friday, December 13th. 

College Football

#18 Iowa State will face off against #16 Miami in the Pop Tarts Bowl on December 28th at 2:30 pm in Orlando. 

Iowa will take on #19 Missouri for the Music City Bowl on December 30th in Nashville at 1:30 pm. 

College Basketball

The Iowa men’s team will host #3 Iowa State for the Cy-Hawk Series on Thursday, December 12th, at 6:30 pm. 

The #21 Iowa women’s team will take on #18 Iowa State at home for the Cy-Hawk Series tomorrow, December 11th, at 8 pm. 

This Day in Sports History

1922 – The First National Football League Championship: the undefeated Canton Bulldogs (10-0-2) are named inaugural champions.

2012 – 78th Heisman Trophy Award: Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M (QB); first freshman to win the award.

2016 – 82nd Heisman Trophy Award: Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals (QB), youngest player to win at 19.

Mount Pleasant CSD School Board Receives “Team Achievement” Award At Iowa Association of School Boards Convention

By Hayden Douglas · Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 at 6:20 am CDT

The Mount Pleasant CSD School Board was awarded the Team Achievement Award at the recent Iowa Association of School Boards Convention. The Team Achievement Award is given when a majority of board members participate in 15 or more hours of professional development.

In other School board news, a motion was approved to allow Mount Pleasant Childcare to use the Harlan Elementary school playground area, gymnasium, Music Room.

A motion was approved to appoint three new members to the Education Foundation, Todd Liechty, Court Fisher, & Charlie Yoder have been named the newest members.

The Middle School Ijag program will be hosting a Tip Night at Pizza Ranch to raise money for their Ijag program.

The School Board also approved a motion to purchase two new Liquid Propane School Buses that should arrive just before the 2025 school year begins. The district will retire two old buses to replace them, leaving the district with 6 LP buses. You can watch the entire school board meeting by MPCSD Spotlight on Youtube.

Don L. Hardin

By Hayden Douglas · Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 at 5:55 am CDT

Don L. Hardin, 89, passed away on Sunday, December 8, 2024 at Wapello Specialty Care.  Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 13, 2024 at Snyder & Hollenbaugh Funeral & Cremation Services of Wapello.  Memorial Services will be 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 13, 2024 at the funeral home.  Burial will be in Edwards Cemetery.  A memorial has been established in Don’s name.    Online condolences may be left at www.sandhfuneralservices.com.

Don L. Hardin was born on March 1, 1935 in Burlington, Iowa, the son of Paul and Viola (Aberle) Hardin.  Don was a 1952 graduate of Oakville High School and attended Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant.  On July 29, 1955, Don was united in marriage to June Wilson in Wapello.  June preceded Don in death on January 19, 2013.  Don was a teacher for the Wapello Community School System for 16 years and then went on to own his own painting business.  Don was a former member of the Wapello School Board and was a coach for many sports.  He enjoyed fishing, watching the grandkids sporting events and was an avid St. Louis Cardinal fan.

Don will be deeply missed by his sons, Randy (Kris) Hardin of Iowa City, Kevin (Patty) Hardin of Wapello, Gordon (Lisa) Hardin of Wapello and Don (Annette) Hardin of Wapello; ten grandchildren and several great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren; sister, Sandra Whitlow of Raytown, Missouri and Lynn (Teresa) Hardin of Middletown, Iowa and several nieces and nephews.

Don was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, June; grandson, Matt Hardin and three brothers, Dean, Ray and Kenny Hardin.