Thursday, April 13, Mount Pleasant Police investigated a motor vehicle collision at the intersection of Cherry Street and Mapleleaf Drive. Rita Davis of Mount Pleasant was driving north on Cherry. She stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded into the intersection where her vehicle collided with an eastbound Jeep driven by Katherine Street. No injuries were reported.
Henry County Ban On Burning
At the request of the Henry County Emergency Management Coordinator, Walt Jackson, the Office of the State Fire Marshal prohibits open burning in Henry County. Upon investigation the Fire Marshal finds that conditions in Henry County are such that open burning constitutes a danger to life and/or property. The ban remians in place until Jackson notifies the State Fire Marshal that the dangerous conditions no longer exist. Violation of the order is a simple misdemeanor. Jackson requested the ban on behalf of the fire departments with fire districts located in Henry County.
Prep Girls Soccer: Class 3A with a Top 3 Shakeup After New Rankings
Prep Girls’ Soccer- The third edition of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union soccer rankings has been released and Class 3A has a new #1, #2, and #3 with a big shakeup.
Class 1A had the least amount of movement as no teams were dropped out of the top 15 and the only change in rankings was Denver hoping Treynor to be ranked #14 as they start the season with a 3-0 record. Des Moines Christian has allowed only one goal on the year and have the 5th best goal scorer in Jenna Roberts (10 goals) and Sami Webster who is 1st in assists with 10 on the season. Davenport Assumption is 1-2 on the season and ranked 2nd as their two loses come against Class 3A ranked opponents in Muscatine and Bettendorf. The top goal scorer for Class 1A is Eden More for 8th ranked Van Meter as she has netted 13 goals.
Dallas Center-Grimes remains atop Class 2A despite a 3-2 record. One of those loses came against Dowling Catholic—a top team in Class 3A—2-0. North Scott is 5-0 on the season and ranked 2nd with North Polk coming into this week’s ranking 3rd. Xavier has not won a game yet but fell only one spot from 5th to 6th. LeMars dropped out of the top 15 after dropping their last two games to Spirit Lake (3-2) and Sergeant Bluff-Luton (2-0). Marion replaces the Bulldogs for the 15th ranking as the Wolves have won their two games by an average of almost 10 goals.
The city of Ankeny saw their two teams tumble from the top spots after losses to ranked opponents. Ankeny Centennial faced off against then ranked 7th Dowling Catholic two days ago and fans were treated to a fierce battle that was decided by penalty kicks, the result was a Maroon 3-2 win. The win catapulted Dowling Catholic to the #2 spot in the rankings with the Jaguars falling from 1st to 3rd. Ankeny also had their own overtime contest against Johnston that was decided by penalty kicks. The Hawks suffered the same fate as the Dragons walked away with the 1-0 victory. Johnston moved from 9th to 7th and the Ankeny fell from 2nd to 8th. Waukee Northwest takes over the top spot with a 5-0 record. Iowa City West fell out of the top 15 from their #14 spot after going 1-2 in their first three games. Dubuque Hempstead rounds out the list after being unranked last week. The Mustangs are 5-0 to start the season and has only allowed one goal on the season.
Jordan Ashton is the New Men’s Head Basketball Coach at William Woods University
Iowa Wesleyan- Jordan Ashton was a hot commodity for teams looking to fill a head coaching vacancy. The key word being “was” as William Woods University has announced that Ashton will be taking the helm for the Owls on April 28th.
Ashton’s first season leading Iowa Wesleyan was one for the history books as he directed the Tigers to a 27-3 overall record. This included a 20-game winning streak that included upsetting a then ranked #13 William Penn team 85-81 at Ruble Arena and an 11-0 home record, both school records. Additionally, the Tigers ranked as high as #23 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), it was their first time being ranked since the 2010-11 season. The Tigers also took down #14 Florida College in the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) championship game, 70-66 and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament as the 7th seed, both instances were the first time since the 2011 season.
Under his direction, Henry Shannon was named 1st Team All-Conference, Gacoby Jones and Joey Brown IV were honorable mentions, and Brown was the Champion of Character. Lastly, Ashton earned CAC Coach of the Year honors as he added 15 wins from the previous year’s total.
Ashton will be taking over a team that the Tigers defeated 62-57 last season. The Owls finished last year with a 15-13 record.
Planning for Grade-Alike Change Begins
Mount Pleasant School District Superintendent John Henriksen has shared the first version of the five phase timeline for moving Harlan, Lincoln and Van Allen Elementary buildings to a grade-alike configuration. Planning will take place between now and September 1 of 2024. The Superintendent is meeting with the elementary principals today, Thursday, 4-13-2023 to add more exact dates to the action items in each phase. Between now and June 30 they hope to assign grade levels to buildings and determine any needed construction or remodeling. Other action items during this first phase include assign principals, first pass at transportation logistics, and having a discussion on technology needs. In June the placements and schedules for the school counselors, title reading and math interventionists and the teachers for music, PE and art will be tentatively decided. Phase 2 will deal with packing dates and food service. Phase 3 focus is section numbers and room assignments, special education teacher assignments, moving logistics and calendar creation. Phase 4 from February 1 to May 31 will be the time for meetings with future building leaders and staff, special education decisions and in May teachers will begin packing. Of course, the final phase in the summer of 2024 is the actual move and then the implementation and adjustments.
Mt. Pleasant Begins Search for New Volleyball Coach
Mt. Pleasant, IA- The Mt. Pleasant school board has approved the resignation of Panther’s head volleyball coach David Streeter.
Streeter was at the helm for back-to-back conference championship runs in 2020 and 2021 as he accumulated a 35-32 record over the two year span.
Last year’s squad was led by All-SEC 1st team senior setter Tristian Shull and honorable mentions Andrea Lopreato and Addison Clark. The season’s crescendo appeared in the first round of the playoffs against conference foe, Burlington. In a 5-set thriller, The Panthers won the final set 15-7 to stop a 5-game skid against the Grayhounds.
Coach Streeter had a simple message at the end of the season for his team,
“I’m proud of these girls, the way they finished.”
The Panthers will be graduating five seniors as they look to improve on their 9-27 season.
New MP School Board Director District Alignment
Following the approval of the Mount Pleasant School Board this week, there is a new alignment for district representation. The 2020 Census results led to a slight change in director district boundaries but also gave the Board the choice to make changes to the composition of the Board. It was decided to continue with seven Board members. However, the Board just approved a resolution to change from five individual director districts and two at-large districts to three at large districts and two director districts each represented by two directors. Josh Maher, and Jennifer Crull will remain at-large. District 3 will no longer exist and the director, Angie Blint, will take the newly created third at-large seat. Chuck Andrew and Melinda Huisinga will now represent Director 1. Derek Mullin and Kevin Sandersfeld will be the two directors representing District 2.
From the Mount Pleasant City Council Meeting
The Mount Pleasant City Council passed the fiscal year 2024 budget at the regular meeting held Wednesday. The tax asking will be $12.55 per $1,000 of taxable valuation.
The first reading of an amendment to the Ordinance code increasing the cost of the Recycling/Hazchem center fee that the City is charged by Des Moines County Regional Solid Waste Commission. The increase would be ten cents from $4.15 to $4.25 cents beginning July 1.
Several contracts were approved…Johnson Controls will continue to provide technical support for the Library/Civic Center HVAC system. The Air Advantage contract for management of the Municipal airport was approved for another year and the agreement with the Mount Pleasant Benefitted District was renewed for another two years.
Dustin Thomas was appointed to the fire department as a fire fighter on the recommendation of Chief Drew Schumacher.
The Council approved the site plan for Whaley Auto Works at 915 West Washington.