Edward Totemeier

By Yorke Prough · Friday, July 7th, 2023 at 4:30 pm CDT

Edward F. Totemeier, 75, of Mount Pleasant died Thursday, July 6, 2023, at Arbor Court in Mount Pleasant.

Ed was born September 9, 1947, in Fremont, Nebraska. He was adopted by Otho and Marie Totemeier. He attended school in New London. He married Phyllis McNeeley and they later divorced. Ed worked for the city of New London and later in the kitchen at Sirloin Stockade. He enjoyed cooking, traveling and latch hook.

Ed is survived by a daughter, Dawn Totemeier; a brother, Richard Totemeier; and a sister, Josephine Edith Knaus.  He was preceded in death by his parents.

According to his wishes there will be no formal service. The Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel and Crematory is caring for Ed and his family. www.powellfuneralhomes.com

 

Lee County Fair Celebrations Continue

By Yorke Prough · Friday, July 7th, 2023 at 11:48 am CDT

Donnellson, Iowa. A small town of less than a thousand in population, boasting two parks within a few mile radius and the kind of town where every driver that you come across flashes a wave as a gentle reminder that this is small town Iowa. While this town may be small, it is also the site of Iowa’s oldest county fair.

 

Celebrations have been ongoing since Wednesday, with FFA and 4H kids showing their animals. Josh Hawk, who was showing pigs in the competitive swine category, gave me the rundown on preparing pigs for competition. While I thought it would be a simple process, I was proven wrong rather quickly. He spends a couple of hours each day washing his pigs with water and essentially “fluffing up” their skin to really show off the animal’s strength and muscle definition.

 

Simply observing the fairgrounds for 5 minutes revealed what could best be described as a set directly out of “The Field of Dreams” movie. Children were playing baseball along the side of the learning center, pigs were housed and being prepared in a barn, contestants were nervous and excited at the same time, and Kenny’s Funland Carnival waited quietly in the background, waiting patiently for it’s turn to burst into life in the afternoon.

 

The Lee County Fair continues through this weekend, and KILJ will continue to provide updates from the grounds of the oldest county fair in Iowa.

Mount Pleasant Ordinance Committee Meeting

By Yorke Prough · Friday, July 7th, 2023 at 8:16 am CDT

The Mount Pleasant Ordinance Committee will meet Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at

9:00 a.m. at City Hall in the City Administrators’ Conference Room.

AGENDA

 

 

Call to order

Discuss Prairie Restoration

Discuss Food Truck Ordinance

Discuss Off Street Semi Parking

Discuss Ongoing Nuisances

Open forum

Adjourn

Mount Pleasant Childcare Center in Need of Summer Supplies!

By Yorke Prough · Friday, July 7th, 2023 at 6:25 am CDT

The Mount Pleasant Childcare Center needs your help. With summer in full swing, the children at the Childcare Center are busy enjoying the sun and creating crafts their parents will cherish for years to come. With this being said, the Mount Pleasant Childcare Center needs cardboard boxes, bamboo or wood skewers, kid scissors, box milk cartons, glue of all kinds, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, paint, and paint brushes as well as sunscreen. If you have extra craft supplies, or see a sale on sunscreen, please consider donating to the Mount Pleasant Childcare Center. Despite having a childcare center in Mount Pleasant, Henry County is still a childcare desert meaning your support is crucial in supporting our area centers. Donations can be dropped off at the center, 304 West Washington Street Mount Pleasant, IA.

Sports: July 7th

By Slaten Swords · Friday, July 7th, 2023 at 6:23 am CDT

High School Postseason Softball

In Class 4A Region 6, Keokuk was the location of heartbreak central as the Chiefs took down Mt. Pleasant 8-7 last night. Keokuk put the first two runs on the board off of an RBI single by Ada Wood and a sacrifice by Gracie Thompson. Saige Burchett flipped the script with a 3-run homer in the second inning to give the Panthers a 3 to 2 lead. The Chiefs tied the game in the third inning.

Burchett continued dominating at the plate as she demolished another ball over the left field fence to take back the lead and an RBI for Ella McNamee gave the Panthers an insurance run to lead 5 to 3. McNamee would add another RBI in the 6th with Jayden Housh making it 7 to 3 Panthers. The Chiefs would score one in the bottom of the 6th inning before pushing across 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning including the game winning bases loaded walk to punch their ticket to the next round. 

The Panthers finished the season with a 5-25 record. The Chiefs will take on Norwalk tomorrow, July 8th.

In Class 1A Region 8, Sigourney and Wapello will face off tomorrow at 7 pm with the winner going to the regional championship. 

In Class 3A Region 8, Washington’s 4 RBI performance by Haley Mitchell helped propel the Demons past Central Lee 10-1 yesterday. The Hawks end the season with a 21-8 record. The Demons will take on Assumption tomorrow at 7 pm.

It took 9 innings, but West Burlington snuck out with the 2-1 win over Fairfield last night. Lauren Summers went all 9 innings in the circle as she fanned 12 Trojans on her way to the win. Fairfield ended the season with a 13-15 record. The Falcons will face off against West Liberty tomorrow at 7 pm on the road.

In Class 4A Region 6, Knoxville beat Fort Madison yesterday 3-2. The Bloodhounds finished the season with a 16-13 record. The Panthers will travel to take on Burlington tomorrow. 

High School Postseason Baseball

In Class 1A Substate 5: District 9, Burlington Notre Dame will take on Moravia tomorrow, July 8th, at 7 pm. KILJ will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

In Class 2A Substate 5: District 10, Van Buren County handled Winfield-Mt. Union last night 12-0. Anthony Duncan, Tyler Stoltz, and Dylan Richardson each collected 2 RBIs. The Wolves finished the season with a 6-14 record. 

Mediapolis breezed past Central Lee 11-1 yesterday to move on to the next round where the Bulldogs will take on the Warriors in the district championship tomorrow at 7 pm.

In Class 3A Substate 4, Washington will take on the #2 seed Davenport Assumption at 5 pm.

In Class 3A Substate 5, we will see a Southeast Conference matchup to start off the playoffs with Mt. Pleasant hosting Fairfield at 7 pm. KILJ will be on the call with pregame at 6:45 pm. 

Fort Madison will travel to take on Benton and Keokuk is on the road to face off against Cedar Rapids Xavier with both games taking place at 7 pm.

Class 4A will have 8 substates and brackets of 6 teams. Each team will have an opponent for the first round with the highest winning seed getting a bye to the next round. Burlington will take on North Scott in Substate 6 as the #4 seed.

The first round for Class 3A and 4A will take place tonight. 

Mt. Pleasant Cross Country

On Mondays and Wednesdays, runs will begin at the Old Threshers Museum Theatre at 6:30 am.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, runs will start at 7 pm at Saunders Park by the swimming pool.

The runs will continue throughout the summer until the middle of August. If you have any questions, reach out to Coach Murray at 319-850-0867.

Prospect League

The Burlington Bees will face off against the Quincy Gems tonight.

The Clinton LumberKings defeated the Quincy Gems last night 10-5. Tate Gillen went 2 for 3 with a double and a home run to lead the winning effort with 6 RBIs. The LumberKings will have a doubleheader tomorrow, July 8th, against the Normal CornBelters.

This Day in Sports History

1912 – American athlete Jim Thorpe wins 4 of 5 events to win the Pentathlon gold medal at the Stockholm Olympics, medal stripped 1913 (played pro baseball), reinstated 1982.

1934 – Mary Hirsch, daughter of 3-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Max Hirsch, becomes the  first woman to be licensed to train thoroughbred horses in the United States.

1985 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: Boris Becker beats South African Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 to become the youngest man (17) to win a Wimbledon singles title.

Burlington, West Burlington, and Keokuk, Awarded Tax Credits and HOME Program Loans

By Yorke Prough · Friday, July 7th, 2023 at 6:20 am CDT

The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors recently awarded a total of more than $15 million in federal housing tax credits and HOME program loans to support the construction and rehabilitation of a total of 410 affordable rental homes for Iowans. The awards were made to 11 rental housing projects, notably in Burlington, West Burlington, and Keokuk.

 

“Housing is foundational to the economic mobility of Iowans and the strength of our communities,” said Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Debi Durham. “The financing announced today will provide hundreds of Iowa families and seniors with homes in which they can thrive in communities all throughout the state.”

 

“Not only will the new Keokuk Family Flats provide an additional 47 rental homes in our community, but it will also be a tremendous catalyst for economic ripple effects as more of our workforce will be able to live near where they work,” said City of Keokuk Mayor Kathie Mahoney.

 

Housing Tax Credits
The Internal Revenue Service makes an annual per capita allocation of federal tax credits to each state for the Federal Housing Tax Credit program. The Iowa Finance Authority is charged with allocating those credits to affordable housing developers. The developers who receive tax credits sell them to investors to generate equity for the housing developments.

 

View Award Listing Here

Chuck Grassley Visit to Mount Pleasant

By Yorke Prough · Friday, July 7th, 2023 at 6:15 am CDT

Thursday, July 6th U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley held a Henry County town hall meeting at Access Energy Cooperative in Mount Pleasant as part of his 99-county tour. Many constituents were in attendance as well as city, county, and state officials. A wide range of topics were discussed as Grassley opened his remarks stating, “There are no inappropriate questions; I don’t get those from Iowans.”

 

Some topics brought up by the attendees that affect Iowans were rural internet access, our ongoing relationship with China, and robo calls. Grassley’s response to a question on rural internet access included information about the Infrastructure bill which allocated $65 billion over the next 5 or 6 years for broadband expansion across the country. Iowa was awarded $415 million for the effort. Grassley said the bill was passed two years ago, but the money still hasn’t filtered down yet.

 

Our complex relationship with China was another hot topic, especially when talking about trade with China – imports and exports. Iowa exports about 40% of our pork to China, but that number has been decreasing. Remarks from the crowd stated a growing concern for what that will do to our economy here. Grassley couldn’t speak with certainty on the future of our trade relationship with China but did mention that our dependency on China for pharmaceutical drugs and ingredients, as well as personal protective equipment like masks and gowns, is a growing concern which was highlighted during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 

Lastly a constituent asked what was being done about those dreaded robo calls. The crowd groaned in agreement. Grassley remarked they have passed legislation that has cracked down on robo calls and spam but admitted it hasn’t eliminated them stating, “Clearly, more needs to be done.”

 

This town hall was the only town hall open to the public on his schedule for this week, crossing off 47 of the 99 counties in Iowa he represents. KILJ asked the Senator if this town hall was a typical of the discussions he’s been having as he tours the state.

Prep Softball: Final Rankings for the Season

By Slaten Swords · Thursday, July 6th, 2023 at 4:52 pm CDT

Prep Softball- The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released their final rankings for Class 3A through Class 5A as the playoffs get underway tonight.

Williamsburg has been the team to beat in Class 3A as they finished as the top team with Davenport Assumption being ranked 2nd. However, Mt. Vernon tripped during the last week of the season as they were swept by Benton, 8-6 and 10-2, along with a loss to North Scott and Fort Dodge the Mustangs went from 3rd to 7th. Wahlert Catholic’s win over the #7 ranked team in Class 4A, Xavier, resulted in them vaulting into the #3 slot. Due to Benton’s strong end to the season, they jumped up the rankings from 11th to 6th. Grinnell and West Liberty fell out of the top 15. Washington took the #14 spot with Sumer-Fredericksburg rounding out the top 15. The Demons are led by the power bat of Ella Greiner who has 5 home runs on the season along with 39 RBIs.

In Class 4A, Carlisle’s 5-4 record in their last 9 games resulted in the Wildcats losing their crown as North Polk is atop the list with a 28-4 record. Beyond some teams swapping positions, the rankings were constant from last week. Burlington locked in at the #12 spot. Gilbert was replaced by Clear Creek-Amana in the #14 spot.

Ankeny Centennial’s 31-5 record on the season cemented the Jaguars as the top team in Class 5A. Ankeny hopped over Waukee Northwest after the Wolves were swept by the #4 team in Class 4A Norwalk to end the season. #9 Pleasant Valley and #4 Muscatine faced off last week, which resulted in the Muskies being swept and being dropped to #7 and Pleasant Valley up to #6. Dubuque Senior replaced Des Moines Lincoln in the #13 slot. Waukee ranks 14th despite their 16-22 record.