Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility Warden Marcy Stroud confirmed Wednesday that a crew of inmates are mowing the Iowa Wesleyan University campus this week. There is a group that will also help with moving some items to a central location on the campus. Many members of the facility staff live in Mount Pleasant and many have attended IW. As a neighborly gesture they reached out to the USDA to make the offer of one time mowing assistance. Stroud said she was told the USDA is working on setting up a contract for regular mowing but was very appreciative of the offer of help since it appears there is not a contract in place yet. The United States Department of Agriculture will officially assume ownership of the campus June 1. The University announced March 28 that it would close and that, because the USDA holds the major loan, ownership would default back to that agency.
Shirley Ann Underwood Hunter (final arrangements)
Shirley Ann Underwood Hunter, 81, of Mt. Pleasant, formerly of New London, died Tuesday, May 23, 2023 in the Emergency Department at Henry County Health Center. She was born May 31, 1941 to John and Edith M. Underwood. She was a 1958 graduate of Denmark High School. On May 21, 1960 she married Gary Hunter in New London. He died December 2, 2013.
Shirley worked at Pleasant Manor Care Center and was a homemaker. She enjoyed making quilts, doing embroidery and spending time with her grandchildren.
Survivors include two daughters, Sherry (Jerry) Teberg of Mt. Pleasant and Melissa Wiggins of Brighton; son, John Hunter of Iowa City; grandchildren, Tanner Waterhouse and Nicole Hunter-Wiggins; great-grandchildren, Aiden and Annalise Waterhouse; brothers, Charles (Peggy) Underwood and Dick (Vicki) Underwood of Ft. Madison; sisters, Nancy Underwood of Ft. Madison and Bonnie (Mike) White of Missouri; and sister-in-law Donna Overlin of Olds. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, brother Roger Underwood, son-in-law Nevelle Wiggins, and brother-in-law Ken Overlin.
According to her wishes, her body has been cremated. A graveside service for Shirley will be held at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 (Shirley’s birthday) at Burge Cemetery, New London. Inurnment for Shirley and her beloved husband Gary will immediately follow the service. Elliott Chapel, New London, is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.elliottfuneralchapel.com.
Henry County Supervisors Meeting Agenda
AGENDA
9:00 Sarah Berndt, CDS Monthly Update
9:15 Resolution – Mental Health Agency of Southeast Iowa Region 28E Agreement
9:20 ARPA Resolution & MOU for Courthouse Generator
9:30 Remove Amendment to future land use map from the table
Other County Business as time allows
Supervisors Sub-Committee Updates
Help protect Iowa’s forests – leave firewood at home
Thousands of Iowans will be camping and building campfires this Memorial Day weekend and throughout the summer. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) encourages campers to buy firewood from where they will burn it instead of bringing it from home.
“Moving unseasoned firewood around the state can threaten the health of our forests by spreading insects like emerald ash borer that live in firewood,” explains Tivon Feeley, DNR forest health forester.
The emerald ash borer (EAB) is a small, metallic-green, invasive wood-boring beetle native to east Asia that attacks and kills ash trees. It attacks trees of any size, age, or stage of health.
The spread of EAB into uninfected areas has been primarily through people moving firewood from county to county or state to state. “These pests don’t move far on their own, but they can travel hundreds of miles in a single day in contaminated firewood,” said Feeley.
Plenty of firewood is available locally to your favorite state or county park. Ask a park ranger or campground host where to get firewood locally. Make sure to burn all firewood at the campsite and not leave it or transport to a new area.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship requires all firewood sold or acquired in Iowa to have the county and state of harvest location on the label of packages and the delivery ticket for bulk firewood.
Learn more about emerald ash borer and why not to move firewood on the DNR website at www.iowadnr.gov/eab.
Sports, May 24th
High School Soccer
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team’s season comes to an end after falling to Central DeWitt 4-1 last night on the road. The Panthers finish the season with an 11-6 record.
For girls’ soccer, Burlington Notre Dame fell to North Scott 8-0. The Nikes end the season with a 10-9 record.
Fort Madison stopped their two game skid against Burlington last night winning 3-2. Burlington ends the season with a 12-6 record. The Bloodhounds will compete against Pella for the Regional Championship.
High School Golf
Play concluded at the Ames Golf and Country Club for the boys’ Class 1A state tournament and Mason Shelledy of New London finished tied for 18th with a score of 22 over par.
On day one, Shelledy found himself tied for 30th after shooting an 86 on a par-71 course. Shelledy greatly improved on day two finishing with one of the top 20 scores of the day with a score of 78 for the same course.
Class 3A played at Veenker Memorial Country Club and Roman Roth played magnificently as he finished as the individual state champion. Roth finished 1 under after the two days of competition. He led the competition after day one with a score of 73 and followed that up with a score of 70 as he was one of two to shoot under par for the course, Davis Korver of MOC-Floyd Valley shot 1 under for day two.
The Class 1A team champion was Hillcrest Academy scoring 650. Grundy Center was the team champion for Class 2A. Class 3A’s team champion was MOC Floyd-Valley.
The New London girls’ team and Olivia Hines of Mediapolis will be competing in the state tournament with day one of the two day tournament starting tomorrow, May 25th.
Deerwood Golf Club will be sponsoring KILJ’s coverage of the girls’ state golf meet.
High School Baseball
Mt. Pleasant will travel to take on Clear Creek-Amana tonight. KILJ will be on the call with pregame at 6:45 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union fell to Pekin last night 6-3. The Wolves will face off against West Burlington tomorrow.
New London will travel to take on West Liberty tomorrow at 7 pm.
Danville lost to Mediapolis 12-2 last night. The Bears will face off against Hillcrest Academy tomorrow at home.
Central Lee will travel to face off against Burlington Notre Dame on May 26th.
High School Softball
Mt. Pleasant will host Mid-Prairie on May 26th.
Holy Trinity Catholic fell to West Burlington last night 19-9. The Crusaders had the lead after scoring 5 runs in the top of the 5th inning, but the Falcons would pour on 11 runs to end the game early. Lauren Summers smacked a home run and collected 7 RBIs for West Burlington. The Crusaders will host Pekin tomorrow, May 25th.
Winfield-Mt. Union and Pekin had a game that offenses dream about as the Wolves tallied 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to win 28-27. The Wolves will face off against West Burlington tomorrow at 7 pm.
Danville was shut out 12-0 by Mediapolis last night. The Bears will host Hillcrest Academy tomorrow with first pitch at 7 pm.
Central Lee will travel to face off against Holy Trinity Catholic on May 26th.
Iowa Wesleyan Athletics
The NAIA National Championship meet starts today for outdoor track and field. All Tiger competitors will begin competition tomorrow.
This Day in Sports History
1979 – Billy Martin issues a public apology to Reno sportswriter Ray Hagar.
1984 – Detroit Tigers win an American League record 17th straight road game.
1992 – Indianapolis 500: Al Unser Jr. holds off Scott Goodyear to win by 0.043 seconds; closest finish in Indy history; first second-generation driver to win the race.
Shirley A Hunter
Results for our Local Teams in the Boys’ State Golf Tournament
Prep Boys’ Golf- Play has concluded at the Ames Golf and Country Club for the boys’ Class 1A state tournament and Mason Shelledy of New London finished tied for 18th with a score of 22 over par.
On day one, Shelledy found himself tied for 30th after shooting an 86 on a par-71 course. Shelledy greatly improved on day two finishing with one of the top 20 scores of the day with a score of 78 for the same course.
Class 3A played at Veenker Memorial Country Club and Roman Roth played magnificently as he finished as the individual state champion. Roth finished 1 under after the two days of competition. He led the competition after day one with a score of 73 and followed that up with a score of 70 as he was one of two people to shoot under par for the course, Davis Korver of MOC-Floyd Valley shot 1 under for day two.
Deerwood Golf Club is the exclusive sponsor for boys’ and girls’ state golf here on KILJ.
Bridge Lights Dedicated to New London Man and Co-Worker
A special celebration was held Monday night on the Great River Bridge across the Mississippi at Burlington. The Burlington Lightscape Project celebrated the completed lighting of the Great River Bridge. The lights on the south side of the bridge were dedicated to the memory of Pearson Franklin of New London and Andrew Whitcomb of Burnside, Illinois. The two Frank Millard and Company construction workers were killed when they were hit by a car while working on the bridge October 18, 2022.