Randy Ackerson

Randy J. Ackerson, 66, of Burlington passed away on Thursday, February 1, 2024 at his home surrounded by his loving family.

Randy was born on June 18, 1957, in Webster City, Iowa the son of Thomas F. and Barbara E. (Best) Ackerson.  He worked at ISC before working for Locaota and Case.  Randy was united in marriage to Dana Forrester on July 30, 2023, in Burlington.  He enjoyed listening to music and riding his motorcycle, but most of all spending time with his family.  

He is survived by his wife, Dana, of Burlington, his children, Andrea Mora, ChaChi (CeCe) Martin, Ashley Smith, Olivia Leitch, Tessa Piper, Bryan Piper and Kaylynn Leasure and six grandchildren.

Randy was preceded in death by his mother, Barbara Ackerson, one son, Tanner Ackerson and his grandparents.

Randy’s family will host a celebration of his life at his home, 1300 South 10th Street, Burlington on Saturday, February 10, 2024 from noon to 4 p.m.  Cremation has been entrusted to the care of Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.murphyfuneralandmonuments.com

Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant, is caring for his arrangements.

February 5, 2024 – February 11, 2024

02/06/24
William Bensmiller
02/06/24
Vivian Bjork
02/06/24
Ronnie Smithburg
02/06/24
Ken Hawkins
02/06/24
Peyton Thomas - 14 y/o - belated from 02/05
02/07/24
Lane Garmoe
02/07/24
Janet Klein (103)
02/07/24
Elinor Krieger-Coble
02/08/24
Lisa Miller
02/08/24
Mark Stalder
02/08/24
Kelly White
02/08/24
Terry Joe Aplara
02/08/24
Olivia Neil - 3
02/08/24
Tom and Christina Allender
02/09/24
David Muhs
02/09/24
Bryon Olson
02/09/24
Zuma Rose
02/09/24
Pat & Joyce Wathen - 50 yrs!
02/10/24
Jeffrey Beavers
02/10/24
Joy Gilleard
02/10/24
Deanna Palar
02/10/24
Monica Wesely
02/10/24
Noah Miller
02/10/24
Julie Baker
02/10/24
Payton Miller
02/11/24
Jason Goody

30th Annual InMotion Show Choir Invitational Results

Results:

Grand Champion:Central Singers Inc, Davenport Central (4A)

1st Runner Up: Swingspan, Ft. Madison

2nd Runner Up: Westside Delegation, CR Jefferson

3rd Runner Up:  Xhileration, CR Xavier

4th Runner Up:  Christopher Jive and the Uptown 45, West Branch

5th Runner Up:  Blue Vibrations, Davenport Central (Prep)

Best Vocals & Best Choreography & Best Band:

Central Singers, Inc-Davenport Central

Best Soloists:  Javah Davis-Ft. Madison

Bailey Parker-Davenport Central

Best Crew: West Branch

Fan Appreciation: PELLAdrenaline-Pella

 

Thank you and Shout out to Mt. Pleasant Middle School Choral Director Brooke Smith and Julie Gilmore for results and photos!

Sports, February 3rd

High School Basketball

Mt. Pleasant was looking to spoil Keokuk’s senior night last night, but the Chiefs had other plans, winning the girls’ game 83-13 and taking the boys game 57-38. In the girls’ game, Abby Carthey and Hailey Parrott finished with four points apiece. In the boys’ game, Christian Stacy led the way for the Panthers with 18 points. The girls’ will host Ottumwa and the boys’ will travel to Ottumwa on Monday, February 5th, with both games at 7:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will cover the boys’ game with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.

The Danville girls’ team will take on Columbus today at 2 pm in the two seed game. The Danville boys’ team demolished Wapello last night 73-44. The Bears will travel to Collins-Maxwell today at 2:30 pm. 

The Van Buren County girls’ team will face off against Davis County tonight at 5 pm on the road. The boys’ team snuck past Lone Tree last night 67-65. The Warriors will compete against Davis County tonight at 6:30 pm.

The Holy Trinity Catholic girls’ team will take on Lone Tree at Southeastern Community College (SCC) today for the one seed game at 3:30 pm. The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team will face off against WACO in the two seed game tonight at 5 pm at SCC. 

The Central Lee boys’ team fell to Hillcrest Academy last night 54-40 after being outscored 23 to 9 in the third quarter. The Hawks will take on Cardinal on Monday, February 5th, with the girls’ team playing at 6 pm.

The Mediapolis boys’ team needed overtime, but the Bulldogs escaped with a 62-59 win against Louisa-Muscatine last night. The boys’ team will take on Central Lee on Tuesday, February 6th, at 7:30 pm. The Mediapolis girls’ team will face off against Holy Trinity Catholic on Monday at 7:30 pm.

The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will travel to SCC tonight to compete against West Burlington at 6:30 pm. 

Girls’ Basketball Regional Pairings

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has released the regional pairings for classes 1A, 2A, and 3A and here’s some of our local matchups. In Class 1A Region 7, Lone Tree will host Winfield-Mt. Union. Danville will take on Burlington Notre Dame with the Bears acting as host. The winner of the two games will compete against one another. 

In Class 1A Region 8, WACO will face off against Hillcrest Academy at home and New London will travel to Holy Trinity Catholic. All Class 1A games are scheduled to take place on February 8th at 7 pm.

For Class 2A Region 6, Van Buren County hits the road to face off against Pleasantville on February 10th at 7 pm. Columbus will host West Burlington on February 13th at 7 pm.

In Class 3A Region 1, Mediapolis will host Central Lee on February 10th at 7 pm.

In Class 3A Region 5, Fairfield will take on the top seed Solon on the road and Washington will host Davis County. Both games will take place on February 10th at 7 pm.

High School Wrestling

WACO will host a tournament today.

New London, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and Mt. Pleasant will compete at districts on February 10th.

The girls’ state tournament is in the books and here is how our local wrestlers did on day two of the tournament.

#10 Mara Smith of Fort Madison was eliminated by fall at the hands of #6 Lilly Stough of Waverly-Shell Rock in the 125-pound weight class.

In the 135-pound weight class, #21 Ellie Brenneman of Mid-Prairie lost by fall to #8 Kaydence Boom of Wilton, ending her tournament run.

Keokuk’s #22 Jayliah Gardner was pinned by #15 Layna Demoss in the 145-pound weight class.

In the 155-pound weight class, #8 Tatum Wolford of Wapello defeated #20 Madilyn Rowson but fell to #4 Emmalee Spurgeon, which sent her to the 7th place match. This led to a sudden victory over #6 Lauren Luzum of Decorah to capture 7th place.

Lastly, #15 Samantha Lyons of Fairfield was eliminated by #3 Grace Britten by fall in the 170-pound weight class.

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant will travel to Louisa-Muscatine on Monday, February 5th.

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will be heading to Oskaloosa on Monday, February 12th and the boys’ team on Tuesday, February 13th, to compete in the state qualifying meet. Burlington and Keokuk will also be making the trip.

College Basketball

The #3 Iowa women’s team will travel to Maryland tonight at 7 pm.

The Iowa State women’s team will hit the road to take on UCF today with tipoff at 11 am. 

The #12 Iowa State men’s team will travel to #18 Baylor tonight at 7 pm. 

The Iowa men’s team was able to outlast Ohio State last night 79-77. Tony Perkins led the way in the winning effort with 20 points and seven rebounds. The Hawkeyes will face off against Penn State on the road on Thursday, February 8th, at 6 pm.

This Day in Sports History

1876 – Albert Spalding invests $800 to start a sporting goods company, manufacturing the first official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball and football.

2008 – Super Bowl XLII, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ: the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots, 17-14; MVP: Eli Manning, New York, QB. Thus, ending the Patriots bid for a perfect season.

2013 – Super Bowl XLVII, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, New Orleans, LA: the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31; MVP: Joe Flacco, Baltimore, QB. First Super Bowl loss in 49ers history.

Prep Wrestling: Girls’ State Tournament Results

Coralville, IA- The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s state wrestling tournament is in the books and here’s how our local wrestlers fared in day two.

#10 Mara Smith of Fort Madison was eliminated by fall at the hands of #6 Lilly Stough of Waverly-Shell Rock in the 125-pound weight class.

In the 135-pound weight class, #21 Ellie Brenneman of Mid-Prairie lost by fall to #8 Kaydence Boom of Wilton, ending her tournament run.

Keokuk’s #22 Jayliah Gardner was pinned by #15 Layna Demoss in the 145-pound weight class.

In the 155-pound weight class, #8 Tatum Wolford of Wapello defeated #20 Madilyn Rowson but fell to #4 Emmalee Spurgeon, which sent her to the 7th place match. This led to a sudden victory over #6 Lauren Luzum of Decorah to capture 7th place.

Lastly, #15 Samantha Lyons of Fairfield was eliminated by #3 Grace Britten by fall. 

State Champions

100-Pound Weight Class: Katie Biscoglia of Raccoon River-Northwest

105-Pound Weight Class: Layla Phillips of Mason City

110-Pound Weight Class: Jasmine Luedtke of Ottumwa

115-Pound Weight Class: Renah Utterback of Sigourney-Keota

120-Pound Weight Class: Camille Schult of Waverly-Shell Rock

125-Pound Weight Class: Molly Allen of Riverside, Oakland

130-Pound Weight Class: Colbie Tenborg of Saydel

135-Pound Weight Class: Bella Miller of Wahlert, Dubuque

140-Pound Weight Class: Kiara Djoumessi of Waverly-Shell Rock

145-Pound Weight Class: Mahri Manz of Lewis Central

155-Pound Weight Class: Nicole Olson of Missouri Valley

170-Pound Weight Class: Naomi Simon of Decorah

190-Pound Weight Class: Libby Dix of Mt. Vernon

235-Pound Weight Class: Olivia Huckfelt of Spencer

The Dickey Dispatch by Senator Adrian Dickey

It was an exciting week at the statehouse with several great pieces of legislation being passed through subcommittees and committees!

 

On Tuesday, I loved seeing two FFA groups from our district visit us at the Capitol! It was so incredible talking to the students who are actively pursuing leadership responsibilities through the FFA program. This week, the Mount Pleasant FFA and the North Mahaska FFA chapters visited. Each year I ask the students who grew up on a farm or have an ag background and I am always amazed how many students are in FFA with no ag background! I love this! It is a great example how out Ag industry in Iowa has marketed themselves to all Iowans about the GREAT careers in Iowa in the ag industry!

There certainly was more discussion on AEAs this week. In my previous newsletter I highlighted how the AEA system is in need to become more efficient and the administrative bloat that weighs down the AEA system needs addressed. As a business owner, I understand that changes sometimes need to be made to increase the efficiency of any system. Assistance to students with disabilities must improve as well and certainly more conversation will be had on these issues.

For those of you who know me, you know how much I am against speed cameras (or what I refer to as “revenue generators”) that are popping up all over the state. There are several bills alive right now with different approaches addressing the out of control placement of these “revenue generators” throughout the state. Some of the bills regulate them and some of the bills ban them. Whatever approach we take, it’s time to get it addressed!

  • These are “revenue generators” because the ticket is NOT issues to the person at fault, rather to the car owner. It should NOT be the responsibility of the car owner to make whoever was driving the car pay the fine, that responsibility should be on the law enforcement agency that is issuing the ticket.
  • These are “revenue generators” because the way the ticket is issued, they are not traffic violations. Therefore they do not have to follow the scheduled fine structure that is in place by state law. The state has a scale as to the maximum a fine for a speeding ticket can be charged at various intervals (5-10 MPH over, 11-20 MPH, etc….). Since these “revenue generators” do not have to follow state law, more often than not the fine from these “revenue generators” is double what state law allows!
  • These are “revenue generators” because I have seen tickets that have been issued at 1 MPH over the limit. Find me a law enforcement official who has written a ticket at 1 MPH over.
  • These are “revenue generators” because over a year ago on behalf of the Iowa Senate Transportation committee, I requested the data (number of tickets, revenue generated, crash data, etc) from every community that has these “revenue generators”, and only 1 community provided the data. They must be afraid of us seeing how much revenue these are generating!
  • These are “revenue generators” because the most profitable ones in the state are ALWAYS placed on state or federal highways, rarely on city owned streets. If the taxpayer of the state is paying for and maintaining the road, why isn’t the state getting the income from the “revenue generators” that are being placed on the road?
  • These are “revenue generators” because the City of Prairie City (just one example of MANY) has earned $3.4 MILLION in just over a year off of their cameras, with nearly all of that revenue coming from the camera on Hwy 163 (which is a state road). One can argue the safety issue concerning these “revenue generators” however there is no common sense argument to justify how citizens in the entire state should be subsidizing new tennis courts, new fire station, new water system, paving roads, etc. in Prairie City so that their residents don’t have to.

I serve on the Senate Ways and Means committee and this week we released two proposals to ensure tax relief for Iowans. The first proposal will lower corporate and individual income taxes. The second is a constitutional amendment which requires a two-thirds majority to increase taxes.

Since Republicans took the majority, we have consistently been putting money away into the taxpayer relief fund. While states such as Minnesota have been running up massive deficits, Iowa has a massive budget surplus. The logical thing to do with these funds is to give the money back to the taxpayers and that is what we intend to do!  The constitutional amendment is a GREAT idea because it ensures that regardless of the political direction Iowa goes in the future, the citizens and their tax dollars will be  protected in the Iowa constitution.

Lastly, I had the opportunity to go to catch up with Henry County Sheriff, Rich McNamme at the Iowa Sheriffs Association Legislative Reception. While we chatted about issues this session that are of importance to the law enforcement community, we also had a few minutes to share stories with others from our trip this fall when we visited the Texas border.

I’m proud to stand by our brave men and women in uniform who risk their lives to protect us! It is because of them that I proudly stood by Governor Reynolds’s Back the Blue Bill which became law in 2021. As a volunteer fire fighter for 32 years, I could not be more grateful for the work of the law enforcement community!

Shirley K. Zahner – PENDING

Shirley K. Zahner, 76, of Burlington passed away on Thursday, February 1, 2024, at the Southeast Regional Hospice House in West Burlington.

Funeral arrangements are pending at the Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant.

James H. ‘Jim” Gill

James H. ‘Jim” Gill, 95 of Mt. Pleasant passed away on Friday, February 2, 2024, at Sunrise Terrace in Winfield.

A private graveside service will be held at the Forest Home Cemetery in Mt. Pleasant.  Friends may call from 3 to 7 p.m. on Monday at the Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant.  The family will not be present.  In lieu of flowers his family suggest you make a memorial to your favorite charity in his memory.

 

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.murphyfuneralandmonuments.com

 Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant, is caring for his arrangements.