The Arctic Glacier Premium Ice facility in West Point has closed down after being purchased from an out of state buyer. A company from Ohio, Home City Ice, has bought out the facility.

With over 100 locations across the Midwest, Northeast, and South, they have been in operation since 1893 and owned by the same family for a century.

Mount Pleasant City Hall has announced a trash sticker buy back program for those with leftover green stickers. A credit will be issued on utility bills of those who bring their excess stickers to City Hall at 307 E Monroe St, 2^nd floor. Please bring your Mt. Pleasant Utilities account number with you so that they can ensure the credit is applied to the correct account.

Spring Cleanup WILL utilize the sticker program for this year, so if you plan to utilize Spring Clean-up you may want to hang on to those stickers.

Property owners in Iowa will soon receive a new mailing which will contain information about the proposed property tax rates for the next fiscal year. Iowa Code 24.2A requires that a budget statement be mailed to property owners after March 20 of each year. The budget statement will include information regarding school, county, and city proposed tax rates as well as information about scheduled public hearings regarding the proposed tax rates.

The budget statement will include the following information:

• Date, time, and location of public hearings to consider proposed property tax rates for    next fiscal year
• Phone number and website (if applicable) for each associated taxing authority
• Current, effective, and proposed tax rate information
• Comparison of current, effective, and proposed tax rates
• How current taxes levied by the school, county and city are distributed
• Comparison of how taxes would be distributed in the current and proposed budget years

Additional information regarding the budget statement will be made available online at https://dom.iowa.gov/property-taxes on or after March 20, 2024.

On March 13^th, 2024, at approximately 8:12 PM, James Gerald Griffin Jr, 56, Burlington, was stopped for a traffic violation near US 34 and 260^th Street.  It was found that Mr. Griffin’s driver’s license was suspended in Iowa.  Mr. Griffin was arrested for Driving With a Suspension and he was taken to the Henry County Jail.

Upon being booked into the Henry County Jail, and during the book-in process, Mr. Griffin’s clothing was searched and laundered.

During this time, items believed to be contraband were located.  Griffin was additionally charged with Possession of Contraband in a Correctional Institution, a class D felony.

Gasoline prices are on the up once again, according to AAA. This week the price of regular unleaded gasoline rose 3 cents. The average for a gallon of gas in Iowa is $3.17 now. This is 6 cents cheaper than 12 months ago and 33 cents less than the national average.

Diesel prices also rose, but there’s not much to complain about as it rose to $3.78 a gallon, one cent higher than last week. Thankfully, this is 14 cents less than last year and 26 cents less than the national average.

• Propane prices averaged $1.59 per gallon statewide.
• Home heating oil prices averaged $3.18 per gallon statewide.
• Natural gas prices fell 25 cents at the Henry Hub reporting site and are currently priced at $1.68/MMbtu

Tips for saving energy on the road or at home are available at energy.gov and fueleconomy.gov.

Just after 11:00 am yesterday, many agencies responded to an area in the 3200 Block of Nebraska Avenue in New London for a field fire. The New London Fire Department was joined by Mount Pleasant Fire and Rescue and Salem Fire in fighting this field fire.

At the Mount Pleasant City Council meeting last night, Anthony Blint was announced as the new Fire Chief for the city of Mount Pleasant. Formerly Senior Captain, Blint will take over as Chief on Monday, April 1^st, as long-time Fire Chief Drew Schumacher submitted his letter of resignation to the City Council in January.