17 Year Old Charged with Theft for Stealing a Vehicle and Driving Erratically

By Yorke Prough · Thursday, May 30th, 2024 at 11:32 am CDT

A report was made of a vehicle driving erratically in the 800 block of W Henry in Mount Pleasant on May 30th, with the vehicle driving on people’s yards and over objects. The van was located and found to be stolen in the 400 block of N Van Buren St.

The juvenile suspect, 17 years old, was located after initially fleeing the scene on foot. They were taken into custody and transported to a juvenile detention facility.

The juvenile was charged with Theft 2nd, and Criminal Mischief 2nd. Additional charges are expected. If you suffered property damage through this incident, you are encouraged to give those estimates to the Police Department.

After numerous vehicle thefts in the past few weeks, the Mt. Pleasant Police Department wants to remind drivers to lock their vehicles and take their keys inside.

Henry County Jail the New Home for Man Found Stealing Tools from Employer

By Yorke Prough · Thursday, May 30th, 2024 at 11:27 am CDT

On May 23rd, the Mt. Pleasant Police Department began to investigate a large theft of tools from the Midwest Precast Concrete Facility. It was determined that a male subject had been stealing numerous tools with a value of almost $14,000.

Subsequently, the subject identified as William Motta, age 29 of Mt. Pleasant, was located and found to be in possession of more stolen property valued at over $4000. Additionally, he was in possession of fraudulent documents for employment. A search warrant was conducted at his residence located at 417 N Adams St. in Mount Pleasant.

Motta was arrested and charged with Theft 2nd, Theft 5th, and Forgery. He was transported to the Henry County jail pending arraignment.

Manilai Phanthouvong

By Yorke Prough · Thursday, May 30th, 2024 at 10:24 am CDT

Manilai Phanthouvong, aged 63, of Vientiane, Laos, passed away on May 27, 2024, in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. He was born on December 11, 1960. Manilai appreciated the outdoors and could often be found hunting, fishing, or gardening. Other things that Manilai was enthusiastic about were watching UFC, household projects, cooking, and spending time with his family. 

Manilai is survived by; his children- Saengkeo (Kelly) Phanthouvong, Oulai (Joy) Phanthouvong, Youthasin (Ay) Phanthouvong, Simon Phanthouvong, Aaron Phanthouvong, Michelle Phanthouvong; 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren; his siblings- Phaiboun Sirivath, Vanthana Phoummithone, Phouang (Nina) Cam, Khamla Sirivath, Da Sirivath, and Air Pounsavan: his parents- Khamchan Sirivath and Leo Sirivath; and numerous amount of nieces, nephews.

He was preceded in death by his older sister, Phithone Sirivath.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at the Armory, Friday, May 31st, 2024, beginning at 5 PM to honor and remember Manilai Phanthouvong. If you want to send flowers please send them to 315 N Jay St, Mt. Pleasant, IA.”

Online condolences may be directed to www.kimzeyfh.com.

Motor Vehicle Accident on Wednesday Evening in Hillsboro

By Yorke Prough · Thursday, May 30th, 2024 at 8:47 am CDT

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a single vehicle accident on Wednesday evening. An investigation revealed that the vehicle was traveling westbound in the 1200-grid of Salem Road when the driver swerved from hitting a deer. They then ran off into an unoccupied house.

The driver of the vehicle and sole occupant was identified as Trevor Schneider of Bonaparte. He refused medical attention and was charged with Operating While Under the Influence 3rd Offense, a class D felony, along with a citation for failure to maintain control.

 

**Below is the preliminary report

**There was a motor vehicle accident on Wednesday evening in the 1200 block of Salem Road in Hillsboro, around 8:30pm. A sizable amount of emergency responders helped at the scene, including the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, Henry County Health Center, Salem Fire, Hillsboro Fire, Hillsboro Police, and the Iowa State Patrol.

Emergency Management Unveils New Disaster Recovery Website for Severe Weather

By Yorke Prough · Thursday, May 30th, 2024 at 8:46 am CDT

Iowa has already experienced a large amount of tornadoes this year, with emergency management departments across the state working over time in 2024. The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has now launched a disaster recovery website, which they believe will help Iowans find much-needed resources and information. This is in response to the recent severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding.

The website, disasterrecovery.iowa.gov, has multiple resources, such as; assistance for those affected by severe weather including information about the current state and federal programs available, volunteer and donation information, and links for addition assistance or information. This includes mental health resources, how to clean up, insurance questions, and more.

Iowans seeking more information can visit  disasterrecovery.iowa.gov.  Resources on the website cover a wide range of topics, including:

CenturyLink Experiencing Outage Across Iowa

By Yorke Prough · Thursday, May 30th, 2024 at 8:44 am CDT

*Lumen has announced that the majority of services have been restored*

An interruption of landline phone service has affected residents, businesses, and emergency services providers resulting in phone and/or internet issues throughout Iowa due to an issue with service provider Lumen Technologies. This interruption may affect the ability to reach 911 by landline phone.

Recommended Actions:

  • If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1 from a mobile phone.
  • Texting 911 is also an available option in all 99 Iowa counties.
  • Follow local media, and official social media pages for updates on impacted or restored services. The outages may vary by location.

There are a few things that people should be aware of in the event of an outage of 911 communications:

  • Never call 911 unless you’re in a true emergency.
  • Tune in to local media, and social media from official sources for additional information and guidance.
  • Depending on the nature of the outage there may be alternative ways to reach 911.

When 911 outages occur in our state, responsible parties will conduct a thorough investigation to understand what happened and why it happened so those involved can review if changes are needed to reduce future outages.

 

*Lumen (CenturyLink) is experiencing an outage across the entire state of Iowa which is preventing most agencies from receiving VoIP calls and in some cases 911 calls. If you are trying to reach us on the administrative numbers, you will get a busy signal most likely. If it is something that needs taken care of right away, please call 911. If it can wait, please be patient and follow updates on the outage.

 

Sports, May 30th

By Slaten Swords · Thursday, May 30th, 2024 at 6:30 am CDT

High School Baseball

New London picked up their first win of the season last night against Lone Tree with a dominating 11-0 finish. The Tigers will travel to Keota tonight at 5:30 pm. 

Central Lee clobbered Highland last night 15-4. The Hawks brought the power last night with Blake Davis, Bo Herdrich, and Chase Johnson each sending a ball over the fence and collecting at least three RBIs (Johnson tallied four). Central Lee will take on Burlington Notre Dame tonight at 5:30 pm at home. 

Burlington Notre Dame pitched a shutout against Winfield-Mt. Union last night, winning 12-0. The Wolves will look for their first win against Louisa-Muscatine tomorrow, May 31st, at 5:30 pm. 

West Burlington held a 6 to 0 lead before surrendering seven runs to fall to Wapello last night 7-6. Isaac Beard led the squad with three RBIs as he smacked a double. The Falcons will travel to Danville tonight at 5:30 pm. 

Mt. Pleasant and Washington will face off against one another tonight with first pitch at 7:30 pm at Washington. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm. 

Mediapolis will travel to take on Van Buren County tonight at 5:30 pm. 

High School Softball

West Burlington and Wapello went to extra innings and the Falcons managed to stay undefeated to start the season after winning 2-0. Danville will host West Burlington tonight at 7 pm. 

New London fell to Lone Tree last night 13-1. The Tigers will host Holy Trinity Catholic tonight at 7 pm. 

Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to WACO tonight to play at 5:30 pm. 

Mt. Pleasant will look to enact revenge tonight at Washington with first pitch at 7:30 pm. 

Mediapolis will compete against Van Buren County tonight at 7 pm on the road. 

Central Lee will face off against Danville tomorrow, May 31st, at 7 pm at home. 

High School Softball Rankings

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released their newest rankings and three local teams found their way on to the top 15. 

In Class 4A, Burlington stayed put at the #11 slot with a 2-0 start to the season. The Greyhounds had their first four games canceled due to weather, so the conference wins over Keokuk by scores of 7-0 and 3-0 got the season rolling. Kylee Hill leads the team with three RBIs and two doubles, while Saydee Plummer dominated in the circle, notching 24 strikeouts in 8.2 innings of work.

For Class 3A, Washington fell back two spots to enter this week ranked 9th with a 4-1 record. Their 7-4 loss to Cardinal is their lone blemish with their offense doing most of the heavy lifting, averaging 11 runs per game. The Demons have four batters hitting 0.500 or better as Rylee Libe has a slash line of 0.833/0.857/1.000. Their pitching staff has a team ERA of just 1.56.

West Burlington is ranked #15 and the Falcons have relied on their bats to start the season with 33 runs through the first two games, while allowing 13. Logan Kelley is batting 0.750 and slugging 1.375 with a home run and nine RBIs to lead the Falcons.

High School Tennis

The girls’ state team tournament concluded yesterday and for Class 1A Pella is the champion, while the Class 2A championship belongs to Dowling Catholic. 

Pella shutout Spencer 5-0 to advance to the championship match against Xavier and it was a thriller as the Saints held a 4-3 lead before Pella won the final two sets 2-1 and 2-0. Spencer took down Dike-New Hartford 5-2 to claim 3rd place. 

Dowling Catholic dropped just one set in their two matches yesterday with a 5-1 win over Valley, giving the Maroons the hardware. Iowa City West battled back from a 3 to 0 deficit to defeat Cedar Rapids Washington 5-4 to finish in 3rd place. 

High School Soccer

The boys’ state tournament got underway yesterday and the semifinals are now set. Here’s how the action went down yesterday. 

Class 3A got the day rolling with Des Moines Hoover defeating Indianola 2-1. The Huskies will take on Norwalk tomorrow, May 31st, at 10 am after the Warriors shutout Marion 2-0, allowing only two shots on goal. 

The bottom half of the bracket saw Jacob Klein score a goal for Cedar Rapids Washington as the #6 Warriors pulled off the 2-0 upset over #3 Xavier. Dallas Center-Grimes stomped Storm Lake 8-1 to advance to the semifinal game tomorrow at 1 pm.

Class 2A was next on the schedule and the #8-seeds continued challenging the #1-seed, but Gilbert was able to eliminate Center Point-Urbana 2-1. Bishop Heelan cruised to a 5-1 win over Webster City, setting up a match against the Tigers tomorrow at 10 am. 

#6 Perry and #3 Decorah needed penalty kicks to decide their matchup and it was the Bluejays who pulled off the upset as Luis Castro saved two shots during the penalty kicks. The Bluejays will face off against #7 Assumption tomorrow at 1 pm after the Knights took down #2 Glenwood 4-0 in upset fashion. 

Class 1A experienced the biggest upset of the day with #8 Van Meter knocking off undefeated West Branch 3-1. West Liberty snuck past Western Christian 2-1. The Bulldogs and Comets will face off tomorrow at 4 pm. 

In the bottom half of the bracket, North Fayette Valley took down West Sioux 2-1 and Regina Catholic shutout Hudson 3-0. The TigerHawks and Regals will compete tomorrow night at 7 pm. 

To round out the night, Class 4A had only one upset but plenty of close games. Iowa City, City High nearly executed the upset against #1 Johnston, but came up short in double overtime 3-2. Iowa City, West downed Valley 4-2. The Dragons will take on the Trojans tomorrow at 4 pm. 

Pleasant Valley had the only upset of Class 4A with a 2-1 win over Waukee Northwest. Lastly, Dowling Catholic defeated Ankeny 3-2. The Spartans will face off against the Maroons tomorrow at 7 pm. 

The girls’ state tournament will resume today with Dike-New Hartford competing against Nevada for Class 1A to start the day. 

Prospect League

The home crowd was gifted last night with a Burlington Bees win over the Alton River Dragons 8-6. Kinnick Pusteoska clocked a home run and two RBIs in the win. The Bees will stay at home tonight against the O’Fallon Hoots at 6:30 pm. 

The Clinton LumberKings picked up a road win last night over the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes 9-6. Chase Womack slugged a double as he finished with a team leading three RBIs. The two will play tonight at 6:30 pm at Clinton. 

This Day in Sports History

1894 – Boston Beaneaters baseball second baseman Bobby Lowe is the first to hit four home runs in a MLB game in a 20-11 win against the Cincinnati Reds.

1911 – The first Indianapolis 500: Ray Harroun driving a Marmon Wasp for Nordyke and Marmon Company comes out of retirement and wins the inaugural event; average speed: 74.602 mph (120.060 km/h).

1936 – Indianapolis 500: Louis Meyer becomes the first three-time winner of the race; Lawson Harris is the first two-time winning riding mechanic. The famous tradition of serving milk in victory lane commences.

Janice Crabill

By Yorke Prough · Wednesday, May 29th, 2024 at 2:43 pm CDT

Janice (Jan) Elaine Oberman Crabill, 87, of Scottsdale, AZ and formerly of Mt. Union, New London, and Mt. Pleasant died on May 22, 2024 at Hospice of the Valley – Eckstein Center.

Jan was born on November 5, 1936 in Burlington, IA, the daughter of Howard and Edith (Spencer) Oberman.  She graduated from Mount Union High School and attended the University of Iowa for three years majoring in Business.

On June 1, 1957, she married James (Jim) Edward Crabill in Mt. Union; he died November 4, 2008. While Jim was in the Navy, she worked as a secretary in various Civil Service jobs.  After moving back to Iowa, she was an assistant to James D. Marshall who taught Dale Carnegie Courses; a bookkeeper for Hodson-McKim Motors; a teller at Iowa State Bank; and finally worked for Van Syoc Auction and Realty.

Jan was a member of the Mt. Union Booster Club, Henry County A.R.C., and Chapter U of T.T.T. of Mt. Union.  She looked forward to volunteering every year at Midwest Old Threshers.  She enjoyed reading and attending Bible classes.  While Jim was stationed in Naples, Italy, their love for travel began when they took trips throughout Europe.  Later in life, they traveled much of the U.S. in their motorhome and spent many winters in Arizona where they enjoyed spending time with family and friends.

Jan is survived by her daughters, Joyce Niemiec of Scottsdale, AZ and Joni (Brad) Fulton of Fort Madison, IA; three grandchildren, Michael (Ashley) Niemiec, Katelyn (Adam) Hofmann and Sara (Marshall) Niemiec; four great-grandchildren, Cruz and Holland Niemiec and Owen and Calvin Hofmann. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, infant son Jeffrey, and brothers Royce and Eldon.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may go to Hope Haven Area Development Center in Burlington, IA.

A celebration of life for Jan will be held at a later date.  Elliott Chapel, New London, is assisting the family with arrangements and online condolences may be left at www.elliottfuneralchapel.com