Thomas “T.J.” Pratt,

By Theresa Rose · Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 4:36 pm CDT

Thomas “T.J.” Pratt, 62, of Mt. Pleasant, died Friday, May 5, 2023 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

Per T.J.’s wishes, there will be no funeral service or family visitation. A private family burial will be held. Friends may call to sign the register book from 12 Noon to 7 PM on Friday, May 12 at the Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 N. Main Street. Pleasant. Online condolences may be directed to www.kimzeyfh.com

Thomas Jeffrey “T.J.” Pratt was born September 5, 1960 in Roswell, New Mexico. He was the son of Dr. Carl William and Geraldine May (Pelisek) Pratt. He grew up in the Southwest United States until his family moved to Clarinda, Iowa and later to Tama/Toledo, Iowa.

T.J. entered the United States Marines following his completion of high school. He was inducted on May 25, 1978 in Sioux Falls, SD. He rose to the rank of Lance Corporal, last serving with the 4th Battalion of the 1st Marine Division of 29 Palms, CA. He was honorably discharged on August 31, 1982 at 29 Palms.

T.J. then began his collegiate studies at the University of Montana. He graduated in 1993 with Bachelor of Science degrees in Forestry, Organic Wildlife and Transitional Wildlife and minors in Botany and Zoology.

Nearly all of T.J.’s working career was with the Department of Corrections for the State of Iowa. He served 27 years as a Storekeeper II at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Institution. He retired in January of 2023.

Survivors include a brother, Phillip Pratt of Astoria, NY and a sister, Ann Pratt of Marshalltown, IA as well as friends in the Mt. Pleasant area who made up his “adopted family”.

His parents precede him in death.

Georgia Gwinnett Sweeps Conference Championships for Softball and Baseball

By Slaten Swords · Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 4:22 pm CDT

Conference Champions- Georgia Gwinnett College showed up for the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) tournaments in a big way by winning both the baseball and softball championships.

The softball championship was a bit more dramatic for the Grizzlies as they lost game one 8-6 in extra innings to USC Beaufort. The second game was all Georgia Gwinnett College as they won 6-1 being Alexa Good picking up the win in the circle to capture the Grizzlies sixth straight CAC title.

On the baseball side of things, the Grizzlies outscored their opponents 33 to 1 to reach the championship game. 5th ranked Georgia Gwinnett College kept up that same momentum in the championship game today to win 27-4 over Fisher College. Jon Ponder and Braxton Meguiar each hit home runs in the win as the Grizzlies defended their title.

The NAIA baseball and softball world series opening rounds will begin play on May 15th.

Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report

By Theresa Rose · Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 4:13 pm CDT

May 1 – 7, 2023

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented today on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly April through November. Additionally, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship provides a weather summary each week during this time.

“Over the last week, farmers made significant planting progress before late-week thunderstorms brought much needed moisture along with unwanted hail and high winds,” said Secretary Naig. “Rain chances continue this week, but weather outlooks through mid-May are shifting towards warmer temperatures and somewhat drier conditions.”

The weekly report is also available on the USDA’s website at nass.usda.gov.

Crop Report

Mostly dry weather and warmer temperatures meant Iowa farmers had 5.7 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending May 7, 2023, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Conditions allowed farmers to make significant strides planting corn, soybeans, and oats.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 6 percent very short, 27 percent short, 64 percent adequate and 3 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 8 percent very short, 33 percent short, 56 percent adequate and 3 percent surplus.

Forty-one percent of Iowa’s expected corn crop was planted during the week ending May 7, 2023, resulting in 70 percent planted, 12 days ahead of last year and 1 week ahead of the 5-year average. Six percent of the corn crop has emerged, 6 days ahead of last year but a day behind average. One-third of Iowa’s expected soybean crop was planted during the week ending May 7, 2023, for a total of 49 percent planted, 11 days ahead of last year and just over a week ahead of the average. Ninety-six percent of the expected oat crop has been planted, just over 2 weeks ahead of last year and 10 days ahead of normal. Oat emergence, at 61 percent, moved from being behind normal a week ago to 9 days ahead of last year and 4 days ahead of the 5-year average.

The first hay condition rating of the season was 1 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 33 percent fair, 52 percent good and 10 percent excellent. Pasture condition rated 43 percent good to excellent. Some cattlemen were still waiting for pastures to put on more growth before turning out their cattle.

Weather Summary

Provided by Justin Glisan, Ph.D., State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Iowans experienced ideal conditions for field work and planting during much of the reporting period. A late-week active storm track brought widespread rainfall along with severe thunderstorms. Even with widespread wetness, unseasonably dry conditions persisted. Temperatures were more variable than the previous week with warmer conditions north to cooler readings south; in between, near-normal behavior with the statewide average temperature coming in at 56.0 degrees, 0.1 degree above normal. A cut-off low pressure center over the Great Lakes dominated the weather pattern as it spun showers into eastern Iowa through Sunday (30th) afternoon. Daytime highs varied from the mid-40s east, where clouds and rain were present, to the upper 50s west under clearing skies. Very strong northwesterly winds built in through the day with sustained speeds in the 30-40 mph range and gusts above 50 mph; Spencer Municipal Airport (Clay County) observed a 59-mph wind gust. Clouds quickly diminished overnight with Monday (1st) morning lows in the upper 30s and low 40s. After a brief lull in stronger winds, speeds increased through the afternoon hours with upper 50s and low 60s reported under sunny skies. A band of clouds moved north to south across Iowa into early Tuesday (2nd) morning, though starry skies were visible for most of the night. Strong northwesterly winds persisted with pleasant temperatures in the low to mid-60s. Winds finally died down before sunset on Wednesday (3rd) with morning lows in the low 30s north to upper 30s south under cloudless skies. Daytime highs pushed into the upper 60s and low 70s with light and variable winds and clear skies. Temperatures on Thursday (4th) afternoon were several degrees warmer, hitting the low 80s at multiple stations after morning temperatures bottomed out in the 40s with winds shifting to the south under clear conditions.

Spotty thundershowers formed in extreme northwest Iowa later in the night with a more widespread shield of rainfall forming Friday (5th) morning. The sluggish disturbance moved across central and eastern Iowa where temperatures held in the low to mid-60s. A second band of stronger storms pushed through northern Iowa prior to sunrise on Saturday (6th) before fizzling out around noon. Rain totals were highest in west-central Iowa where several stations measured at least an inch with widespread 0.25 – 0.50 inch totals over Iowa’s middle west-to-east one-third; the statewide average rainfall was 0.40 inch. Southerly winds boosted daytime temperatures into the upper 70s and low 80s over southern Iowa where southerly winds brought in higher dewpoints. A few severe-warned cells fired in southwest Iowa before diving across the Missouri border. Additional severe thunderstorms formed several hours later and overnight into Sunday (7th) in southeastern Iowa. These storms brought locally heavy downpours along with hail and straight-line wind reports across Van Buren, Henry and Lee counties. Many stations in southeastern counties also measured totals from 0.40 inch at Columbus Junction (Louisa County) to 1.17 inches in Augusta (Lee County). Heavy dew and dense fog were observed at 7:00 am over much of the state with cloudy skies and lows in the upper 50s to mid-60s.

Weekly precipitation totals ranged from no accumulation at several Iowa stations to 1.76 inches at Redfield (Dallas County). The statewide weekly average precipitation was 0.50 inch while the normal is 0.89 inch. Little Sioux (Harrison County) and Sioux City Municipal Airport (Woodbury County) reported the week’s high temperature of 86 degrees on the 4th, on average 18 degrees above normal. Chariton (Lucas County) and Vinton (Benton County) reported the week’s low temperature of 25 degrees on the 3rd, on average 16 degrees below normal. Four-inch soil temperatures were in the upper 50s north to mid-60s south as of Sunday.

 

 

 

Weather Summary

By Theresa Rose · Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 4:11 pm CDT

Provided by Justin Glisan, Ph.D., State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Iowans experienced ideal conditions for field work and planting during much of the reporting period. A late-week active storm track brought widespread rainfall along with severe thunderstorms. Even with widespread wetness, unseasonably dry conditions persisted. Temperatures were more variable than the previous week with warmer conditions north to cooler readings south; in between, near-normal behavior with the statewide average temperature coming in at 56.0 degrees, 0.1 degree above normal. A cut-off low pressure center over the Great Lakes dominated the weather pattern as it spun showers into eastern Iowa through Sunday (30th) afternoon. Daytime highs varied from the mid-40s east, where clouds and rain were present, to the upper 50s west under clearing skies. Very strong northwesterly winds built in through the day with sustained speeds in the 30-40 mph range and gusts above 50 mph; Spencer Municipal Airport (Clay County) observed a 59-mph wind gust. Clouds quickly diminished overnight with Monday (1st) morning lows in the upper 30s and low 40s. After a brief lull in stronger winds, speeds increased through the afternoon hours with upper 50s and low 60s reported under sunny skies. A band of clouds moved north to south across Iowa into early Tuesday (2nd) morning, though starry skies were visible for most of the night. Strong northwesterly winds persisted with pleasant temperatures in the low to mid-60s. Winds finally died down before sunset on Wednesday (3rd) with morning lows in the low 30s north to upper 30s south under cloudless skies. Daytime highs pushed into the upper 60s and low 70s with light and variable winds and clear skies. Temperatures on Thursday (4th) afternoon were several degrees warmer, hitting the low 80s at multiple stations after morning temperatures bottomed out in the 40s with winds shifting to the south under clear conditions.

Spotty thundershowers formed in extreme northwest Iowa later in the night with a more widespread shield of rainfall forming Friday (5th) morning. The sluggish disturbance moved across central and eastern Iowa where temperatures held in the low to mid-60s. A second band of stronger storms pushed through northern Iowa prior to sunrise on Saturday (6th) before fizzling out around noon. Rain totals were highest in west-central Iowa where several stations measured at least an inch with widespread 0.25 – 0.50 inch totals over Iowa’s middle west-to-east one-third; the statewide average rainfall was 0.40 inch. Southerly winds boosted daytime temperatures into the upper 70s and low 80s over southern Iowa where southerly winds brought in higher dewpoints. A few severe-warned cells fired in southwest Iowa before diving across the Missouri border. Additional severe thunderstorms formed several hours later and overnight into Sunday (7th) in southeastern Iowa. These storms brought locally heavy downpours along with hail and straight-line wind reports across Van Buren, Henry and Lee counties. Many stations in southeastern counties also measured totals from 0.40 inch at Columbus Junction (Louisa County) to 1.17 inches in Augusta (Lee County). Heavy dew and dense fog were observed at 7:00 am over much of the state with cloudy skies and lows in the upper 50s to mid-60s.

Weekly precipitation totals ranged from no accumulation at several Iowa stations to 1.76 inches at Redfield (Dallas County). The statewide weekly average precipitation was 0.50 inch while the normal is 0.89 inch. Little Sioux (Harrison County) and Sioux City Municipal Airport (Woodbury County) reported the week’s high temperature of 86 degrees on the 4th, on average 18 degrees above normal. Chariton (Lucas County) and Vinton (Benton County) reported the week’s low temperature of 25 degrees on the 3rd, on average 16 degrees below normal. Four-inch soil temperatures were in the upper 50s north to mid-60s south as of Sunday.

The Dickey Dispatch by Senator Adrian Dickey

By Theresa Rose · Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 4:09 pm CDT

 

Hello Senate District 44,

Well we finally made it! Thursday, May 4th, was the final day of the 2023 session. Most of the time this week was spent debating and passing final legislation out of the chamber. I am pleasantly surprised that with the amount of GREAT legislation we passed this year, that the session ended this early (still, however, a week late). While I believe we did some amazing work during our time at the Capitol this year, the work is never done. Our sights are already set on the next legislative session and figuring out ways that we can help and support Iowans.

Before getting into any legislation, I want to bring attention to an important interaction I had recently. On Thursday, April 27, I was honored to meet Paula Falconer from Oskaloosa. Ms. Falconer was honored by Lt. Governor Adam Gregg and was inducted into the 2023 Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame members and received the Excellence in Mentoring award in a ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol.

Being selected for the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame is the most prestigious state-level honor volunteers can receive as recognition of extraordinary donations of volunteer service to their communities. It is because of volunteers like Ms. Falconer, that all of our communities are able to survive and thrive! I want to give another special thank you Paula and all of our GREAT volunteers that serve SD44.

 

 

In the last week of session we passed a number of bills. The first I would like to highlight is House File 718. This bill is the solution to skyrocketing assessments and fears of being able to afford the property tax bill. House File 718 automatically reduces tax rates when assessments rise, restores basic levy limitations to control government spending, and eliminates loopholes abused by local governments to exceed limits set by law.

This bill also provides over $100 million in relief to Iowa property taxpayers, including new exemptions for veterans and senior citizens, while also increasing transparency in property taxes and local government spending. Additionally, it moves all elections for bonding to the general election date in November.

HF 430 cracks down on teachers who move from district to district if they were found to have engaged in inappropriate contact with any of their pupils. As heinous as this sounds, these instances do happen. This bill eliminates an exception for certain child abuse reports to not be filed, does not allow a school to enter an agreement where the institution would be unable to accurately describe the behavior of the instructor in question, provides liability protection for the school from employment claims, and requires all school employees 18 and over must be mandatory reporters. This whole point of this bill is to protect our kids, and I believe this bill will aid in doing so. It will also aid in preventing employees with criminal conduct from being hired by other schools.

Another great bill that we passed this week was HF 716. This bill was passed by the Senate to safeguard Iowa’s status as the first in the nation during the presidential nomination process. However, earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee made changes to the nomination calendar that would remove Iowa’s status as the first state to hold a caucus for Democrats. Instead of fighting to keep Iowa as the first caucus state, Iowa Democrats proposed a mail-in caucus.

New Hampshire views a mail-in caucus as equivalent to a primary (which it is), and New Hampshire state law requires them to hold the first primary in the country. This would break the decades-long agreement between Iowa and New Hampshire to host the opening events in the presidential nomination calendar. As a result, HF 716 was passed to prevent mail-in voting and allow both parties to determine the rules for their caucuses. This would eliminate any conflicts with New Hampshire and protect Iowa’s first in the nation status. We have always known how Iowa’s caucuses have played monumental roles in raising the profile of the state and give Iowa an incredibly strong policy voice in both parties. However, since I have been elected to the Iowa Senate, I see how national politics ENVY Iowa’s position at a whole new level! Maintaining this first in the nation status has massive benefits for Republicans, Democrats, and in the end, ALL Iowans.

The piece of legislation that took up most of debate during our last week was in regard to the $8.517 billion budget. During this debate, Democrats claimed that funding for the Area Education Associations (AEA) was going to be cut. Unsurprisingly, this claim was false and just another piece of misinformation spread by Democrats. The budget of the AEA actually increased by $3.1 million from fiscal year 2023-2024.

The funding for AEA is compiled from state aid, property tax levies, and federal funding. The portion from state aid is increased each year at the same rate of growth as SSA. Iowa Code contains a statutory decrease of $7.5 million to the AEAs, yet they still received additional funding after this decrease was taken into account. I think it is important to note that AEAs have an interesting way of spending these funds. In 2020, 42.2% of AEA expenditures were for support services for administration and staff. The AEA chief administrator’s average yearly compensation was roughly $291,414 while the average salary for Iowa’s teachers was about $230,000 less.

This year was full of long debates, but a number of triumphs for Iowans. Senate Republicans allocated $8.517 billion for next year’s budget, which is only 88.25% of ongoing revenue. This is just another example of responsible budgeting, which allows us to fund priorities such as an additional $107 million to K-12 schools this year. Senate Republicans hold responsible budgets as a key principle and have demonstrated multiple times since taking the majority in 2017 why it is so vital.

This year saw a heavy focus on education. We passed legislation focusing on parent transparency, providing common sense guidance to ensure males use the male bathrooms and females use the female bathrooms, and giving flexibility to districts to meet their specific needs. We also passed school choice, which ensures all Iowa students have access to the educational institution that best fits them.

Addressing Iowa’s workforce was also a priority this session. It is for this reason that we passed SF 318 which established the Iowa Office of Apprenticeship. This will aid individuals in developing the necessary skills they need to find success in the multiple industries that are facing staffing challenges. Furthermore, we passed legislation to cut down on barriers that prevented teachers from coming to Iowa.

We put a cap on noneconomic damages in commercial motor vehicle accident lawsuits to help keep costs down in this important industry as well. Our lives are very reliant upon the trucking industry. Given my occupation, I feel very strongly about this particular bill and see it providing positive outcomes to both trucking industries and Iowans.

 

 

Easily the largest piece of legislation I have worked on was this year’s Youth Employment Opportunities bill. As the Chairman of the Senate Workforce committee, this bill was very important to me and put me in the spotlight in several national media outlets. This legislation is providing our youth who aspire and desire to choose to have a part time job more work opportunities. There is value and dignity in working and this bill provides more flexibility to teenagers to learn the value of work. If a student can be at a basketball game or school event until 11 pm (away games often gets the students home much later than that), why shouldn’t their classmates be able to have a job until 9 pm? This legislation also requires a lot more parental permission and REMOVES lots of dangerous occupations our teenagers had previously been allowed to work in. This bill was never drafted with the intention of solving Iowa’s workforce shortage, rather it is providing young adults the opportunity to pursue a job and make money to purchase a car, a prom dress, or to even save for college. This bill is something I am very proud of and believe will aid them greatly as they grow up.

The Workforce Committee did an absolutely fantastic job this year, and I want to thank each senator that comprised this committee. It was an honor to be the chair, and I look forward to the next session and strengthening Iowa’s workforce even more.

I appreciate the correspondence from all that reached out during the entirety of this session. I value everyone’s opinions, both positive and negative, on the legislation we passed. I believe it is important to be informed on what your state government is doing and encourage anyone with questions on legislation to reach out to their senator. I will be hosting three end-of-session workshops for anyone that would like to visit with me on legislation from this past session or issues you would like to put on my radar for next year’s session. I will host these at the Packwood Community Center, 122 Main Street, Packwood. These will be Tuesday, May 23 from 7:00- 8:00 AM, 12:00 -1:00 PM, and 5:00-6:00 PM.

I am proud of the work Senate Republicans have done this year and know Iowa is heading in the right direction because of it. I absolutely love this GREAT state and will continue to do everything I can to make it a better place for ALL Iowans and their loved ones. We accomplished a lot of wonderful things this year, but I am ready to get home to my family! Thank you for your support, Senate District 44.

 

Patrick Siegrist

By Theresa Rose · Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 3:48 pm CDT

Patrick Joseph Siegrist, 57, of Fort Madison, Iowa, passed away at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, May 6, 2023, while farming near Hamilton, Illinois.

Born on May 18, 1965, in Fort Madison, the son of Donald and Celia (Mattox) Siegrist. On August 10, 1993, in Fort Madison, he married Sally Huffman.

He is survived by his wife: Sally; daughter: Nichole (Randy) Wiseman; son: Kyle (Nikole) Francy and honorary son: Dalton Verkruyse; five brothers: Clayton Siegrist of Niota, Mike (Nancy) Siegrist of Racine, Wisconsin, Tim (Margaret) Siegrist of Pueblo, Colorado, Cory Siegrist of Sparta, Wisconsin and Ryan Siegrist of Fort Madison. Also surviving are several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Pat was a 1983 graduate of Nauvoo-Colusa High School. He served four years in the United States Navy on the U.S.S. Boone. He was a mechanic and farmer. Pat was a member of the AMC Club and the NHRA. He enjoyed farming, racing and especially enjoyed vacationing with his family.

His body has been entrusted to the crematory of Schmitz Funeral Home for cremation.

Visitation will begin at 12:00 noon, Friday, May 12, 2023, at Schmitz Funeral Home in West Point, where the family will receive friends from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. There will be a time to share memories at 6:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established in his memory.

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.schmitzfuneralhomes.com. Schmitz Funeral Home of West Point is assisting the family with arrangements.

Mount Pleasant Power All Back On

By Theresa Rose · Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 11:19 am CDT

According to the Mount Pleasant Utilities, as of 10:00 a.m. all services that were affected by Sunday night’s storm damage were restored. If you are still without power, please call 319-385-2121, option 3. The Utilities would like to thank customers for being patient during this time. Also, thank you to the Electric Department for working diligently. There is still work to be done such as pole replacements, and service may be temporarily interrupted during those repairs. There is a pole near Pizza Hut that will have to be replaced, at that time there will be a brief outage but affected businesses will be contacted.

 

Fire and Crash Reports

By Theresa Rose · Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 11:09 am CDT

The Mount Pleasant Fire Department was called out two times Sunday night for storm related incidents. The first call came in at about 7 pm from the 500 block of Corkhill near Lincoln School.  Tree limbs fell into power lines.  One engine and five firefighters were standing by until the Mount Pleasant Utilities could remove the limbs.

The second call at 8:30 pm involved a motor vehicle that hit a tree in the roadway at 170th Street and Hwy 218. One engine and one rescue unit were on the scene for about 40 minutes.  Injuries were reported. Henry County Ambulance was paged out along with the Iowa State Patrol and the Henry County Sheriff’s office.

Four other property damage accidents were reported from about 7 pm to about 9:30 pm during the severe thunderstorm.