David L. McCoid, age 81 of Mount Pleasant, passed away December 28. A funeral service is being planned at the First Presbyterian Church in Mount Pleasant.
2022 3rd Quarter Year in Review
The Iowa Department of Transportation announced that Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission had been awarded a $480,000 Public Transit Infrastructure Grant. The grant will improve the newly-acquired SEIBUS Mount Pleasant facility at 1405 N. Broadway in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.The project is for a major renovation of an existing facility in Mt. Pleasant. The property consists of two buildings: an 8,600 sq. ft. steel warehouse and 3,200 sq. ft. steel front office/storage facility.
Mount Pleasant Utilities Manager Jack Hedgecock introduced his successor. August 25 the transition to Nate Lucas began. Hedgecock continued to work with the new general manager for a period of time before retiring from the position in the 4th quarter.
A familiar face returned to the Mount Pleasant School Board to fill vacancy on the board. Melinda Huisinga was appointed to finish out the term of Willy Amos as the Director for District Two. Amos had to give up the seat when he moved to another residence in the school district.
Fair Queens were crowned in July….the 2022 Lee County Fair Queen was Hailey Tweedy and the Henry County Fair Queen was Chevy Mills.
The 2022 Old Threshers Miss Sweet 16 is Josie Gilmore. Josie is the daughter of Julie and Jeff Gilmore of Mount Pleasant. First Runner-Up is Natalie McCormick, the daughter of Lea and Colin McCormick. Second Runner-Up is Addison Bentler, the daughter of Don and Tonya Bentler and Miss Volunteer is Megan Borders.
Mother Nature cooperated and played a part in a recording setting year for attendance at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in Mount Pleasant. The after the Reunion ended CEO and Administrator Terry McWilliams said that preliminary numbers indicated a little over 37,000 people bought tickets to the annual event. That’s a new attendance record for the last 10 years. McWilliams said Saturday set a record for one day tickets sales, Sunday was in the top three or four, Friday’s attendance was up and Thursday was about the same as past years. Russell Dickerson’s concert on Sunday night brought in the biggest crowd to the grandstand. But McWilliams was not disappointed with the attendance to the concerts on the other three nights.
August 30 The first of five Mount Pleasant Community Visioning projects was dedicated in Saunders Park. The Saunders Park Plaza features a history of Mount Pleasant recognizing founder Presley Saunders. And a plaque recognizing the significant financial contribution to the project in memory of Scott and Amy Lowe. Members of the Lowe family, friends and community members were there for the celebration that included food and music organized by the Chamber and volunteers. Mayor Steve Brimhall spoke and after shared that this project is only the start and there is more to come as many partners work to improve the look of the town.
Iowa Wesleyan University reported a 4% over all increase in enrollment from last year. This includes the new, online and transfer undergraduate students. And while the first year freshmen numbers were down the retention rate for sophomores and juniors is the second highest it’s been in fifteen years.
Mt. Pleasant resident and business owner Ted Wiley became Grand Master of Masons in Iowa. The Grand Master is the supreme executive authority of Iowa Masonry. First initiated in 2000, Wiley has served the Mount Pleasant Lodge as Worshipful Master. His service to Iowa Masonry includes serving as Junior Grand Deacon and Junior Grand Warden. He has been a member of many Masonic committees and is equally generous with his service to the Mount Pleasant community. He is active on many community boards, foundations and committees. Wiley is the President of Jean C. Wiley and Sons Inc. Building Contractors.
The news was not good for two area health care facilities in the third quarter. Blessing Health in Keokuk informed employees that the facility will not remain open past Oct. 1 in any capacity. The decision was made based on consistent low demand for inpatient and emergency room care. Blessing leaders said the level of inpatient and emergency care demand does not support the investment required to operate a hospital of 49-beds and an emergency room around the clock, seven days a week. And then….
In an effort to recover from over $40 million dollars in operating losses, Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in West Burlington closed its’ skilled care unit. Bed capacity is also being limited in the acute care, cardiovascular health and intensive care units. Hospital officials said the measures were made to make up for staff shortages as the hospital seeks to scale back the use of travel staff, which costs much more. About half of those losses were because of the use of traveling staff.
County Officials Sworn In
Members from each of the Henry County Departments and family members filled the Supervisors office for the swearing-in of the recently elected county officials. Two of the four are new. Kellie Sloan has worked in the Treasurer’s office but is now the new Henry County Treasurer. Lynnae Buffington is the new Henry County Recorder. Marc Lindeen was re-elected to another term on the Henry County Board of Supervisors. And Darin Stater was re-elected at County Attorney. The officials were given the oath of office by District Court Judge Wyatt Peterson of Winfield.
3rd Quarter Sports Year in Review 2022
Quarter 3
Two Rivers Bank brings us the Year in Review. The third quarter is where a team likes to wear out the opponent and start running away with the game. New London baseball took that idea and brought it to another level in the month of July. The Tigers, led by seniors Dereck Santiago and Josh Catala, finished the regular season one game away from a perfect record, 25-1. The Tigers were poised to make a big run at state for Head Coach Brad Helmerson’s last season at the helm for New London. New London started their postseason run with a 6-2 win over Pekin with Tucker Gibbar knocking in three runs with a double in the game and Santiago getting the win on the mound. Parker Testa was on the call for the Tiger’s run through the playoffs. The Nikes were the next victims of the Tiger sweep, this time Cater Allen smacked the ball around for a double and a triple tallying an RBI. Santiago again was an ace on the mound striking out 8 in the 5-0 win over Burlington Notre Dame. Moravia looked to be the toughest competition for the Tigers having scored 41 runs in their two playoff games before. The Tigers bats were unphased as they clobbered the Mohawks 11-1 to punch their ticket to the Class 1A state tournament. At 28-1, the third seed Tigers were tasked to go against the sixth seed CAM and took care of them without much of an issue as Santiago and Gibbar accounted for 6 RBIs on their way to a 12-3 final. The Tigers continued their march to the State Championship dismantling Newman Catholic 16-1 in 4 innings as Gibbar added another 3 RBIs with Allen adding 3 RBIs of his own. The undefeated Hawks of Remsen St. Mary’s was the last team to face off against New London. The Tigers got out to a nice lead thanks to Gibbar’s solo home run in the fourth, but it came down to the final inning with New London clinging on to an 8-7 lead. Here’s Parker Testa’s call on the last play. Coach Helmerson had high praise for his team after the game saying, “That’s amazing. These guys are something else.” New London ran the table with the Southeast Iowa Super Conference All-Conference baseball awards with Dereck Santiago, Tucker Gibbar, Kooper Schulte, Carter Allen, Josh Catala, Camden Kasel, and Ryan Richey making the First Team. Set Bailey was named Second Team pitcher with Drew Benz and Brendan Richey getting Honorable Mentions. Brad Helmerson, Justin Schulte, and Jayden Flowers were named Coaching Staff of the Year. Helmerson was also named Des Moines Register’s 2022 All-Iowa Baseball Coach of the Year. To round out the month of July, Mt. Pleasant Baseball had Cooper Keldgord and Carter Amos make the All-SEC 2nd Team with Jake Ensminger and Lincoln Henriksen being named Honorable Mentions. For Iowa Wesleyan, Courtney Carl, the Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, Marketing, and Communications, was named Sports Information Director of the Year.
The month of August brought us the start of the high school academic year and the fall sport season with Football, Volleyball, Cheer, and Cross Country. WACO, Winfield-Mt. Union, and New London all started their playoff runs with a week zero matchup with the Warriors and Wolves picking up victories. There were high hopes for the Wolves and Warriors to start the season as WACO and Winfield-Mt. Union both ranked inside the Preseason Top 10 for the Des Moines Register. Prep volleyball was very competitive to start the season with Holy Trinity Catholic, Winfield-Mt. Union, Burlington Notre Dame, and New London all taking turns being ranked in the top 15 for the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. For Iowa Wesleyan it was the start for Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Football, Volleyball, and Cross Country. The biggest news for the Tigers was Aduago Nwachukwu winning the bronze medal for Team USA at the U20 World Championship in dominant fashion.
The month of September saw teams paving their way toward a run in the playoffs and some payer recognition for Iowa Wesleyan. Major Niccum started that trend by picking up a NSAA Defensive Player of the Week after his 15-tackle performance in a week one performance against Tabor College. Lily Garnsey earned Cross Country Runner-of-the-Week for the CAC after finishing with her personal best time of 22:23 at the Fighting Bee Invitational and Alexis Hafenstine nabbed Volleyball Defender of the Week for the CAC after a 35-dig performance against Graceland. Volleyball continued picking up recognition as Bethany Williams earned All-Tournament honors at the Jimmy John’s Classic as she accounted for 18 points through four matches. Tyler Ball picked up NSAA Special Teams Player of the Week in a 55-0 win over Finlandia thanks to a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown. The defense also set two school records in the game against Finlandia with most sacks in a game with 11 and least amount of rushing yards allowed with -119. The men’s soccer team picked up a CAC Athlete of the Week from Richard Arch after his four goals in two matches. The Iowa Wesleyan Women’s golf team won their first invite since April 2021 at the Monmouth Invitational thanks to Aubrey Duncan’s stellar performance picking up her second collegiate victory. Duncan continued playing well at the Simpson Fall Invitational earning an All-Tournament nod for her 2nd place finish. Trace White also made the All-Tournament Team for his 5th place finish.
On the high school side of things, Ben Carthey was pacing the Panthers cross-country team with multiple top three finishes. Volleyball featured Keely Malone of Winfield-Mt. Union capturing her 1,000-career assist in early September. Malone followed that up by passing Samantha Walker’s career assist record of 1,175 in a 25-assist performance against Lone Tree; Malone would finish her career with 1,431 assists. The Southeast Iowa Super Conference was fiercely competitive this season with four teams ranked within the top 15 in New London, Holy Trinity Catholic, West Burlington, and Burlington Notre Dame fighting for the title. The tournament followed the rankings as such with the Nikes besting Holy Trinity Catholic to face off against West Burlington in the Championship and the Crusaders to play New London for third place. Gabby Deery continued clobbering the ball collecting 20 kills in the championship game helping the Nikes take the title in a very competitive third set 15-12. The Crusaders would take third place in straight sets. Burlington Notre Dame would end the month ranked 3rd in Class 1A followed by Holy Trinity Catholic in 10th and New London in 15th. We’ll catch back up for regional play for upset central with the Crusaders and Mt. Pleasant shocking their opponents. For football, WACO ended the month at 7-0 and eyeing a trip to the UNI Dome. The fourth quarter will start with an exciting Homecoming game for the Iowa Wesleyan Tiger football team with a couple of trips to State to end out this fantastic year of sports for the Year in Review sponsored by Two Rivers Bank.
Daily Jail Count
Henry County Jail
In the interest of keeping Henry County residents informed, the Henry County Sheriff’s office has requested KILJ post the daily jail count. During the jail referendum campaign it was publicized that the jail would be able to house additional inmates from surrounding counties and this would generate revenue for Henry County.
Date: 12-29-2022______
22_ Henry County Inmates
34 Out of County Contract Inmates
56 TOTAL
Henry County Supervisors Meeting Agenda
Stephen Dockendorff
2022 2nd Quarter Year in Review
As second quarter began the Van Buren County Community School district board of directors set plans in motion for a new activity center. The School Board met in special session and voted to build the center estimated to cost approximately 6 million dollars. The activity center will be an addition to the existing school building. It will include a second gymnasium, a new wrestling room, 2 classrooms, an area for batting cages and turfed flooring for athletic practices, 2 restrooms and an office with a meeting room. The project will begin late this summer and is expected to be finished by August of 2023.
The highlight of the Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance Annual Banquet was the announcement of Robb Gardner as the 2022 Citizen of the Year. Other awards this year included The Fellowship Cup receiving the Humanitarian Award; Melinda Huisinga receiving the Ambassador of the Year; and Lori White as the Volunteer of the Year. This was the 80th Annual Banquet for the Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce.
Interviews began in April for a new director of curriculum and instruction for the Mount Pleasant School District. Current director Katie Gavin announced the month before that she would be moving on. Supt. John Henriksen received 21 applications for the position.
Mount Pleasant Municipal Utilities Manager Jack Hedgcock informed his Board of Trustees of his plans to retire before the end of the year.
MD Orthopaedics in Wayland announced the company had been acquired by OrthoPediatrics Corp, an Indiana-based public company founded to serve the unmet needs of children with orthopedic conditions. The Mitchell family said this is an exciting opportunity for them to join forces with another company equally focused on pediatric orthopedics.
A fight, two shots fired and one person injured in an incident that began around 8:30 pm April 12 near the Iowa Wesleyan University campus. On 4/12/22 at approximately 20:33 hours, the Mt Pleasant Police Department was dispatched to the W Broad St. and N Jackson St area for a call of a large fight. While enroute officers were notified of shots fired.
a Mt. Pleasant High School student not an Iowa Wesleyan student, was injured but it appears his condition is not life threatening.
As a result of the investigation the following people have been charged:
Decobi Davis age 19 formerly from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. –
Reckless Use of a Firearm resulting in serious injury, a Class C felony and Participating in a Riot, an Aggravated Misdemeanor.
Joseph McNeese age 19, formerly of Texas,- Participating in a Riot, an Aggravated Misdemeanor.
James Williams age 21, formerly of Chicago IL,- Participating in a Riot, an Aggravated Misdemeanor.
De’kunta Mason Jr age 19, formerly of New Orleans, LA, -Disorderly Conduct a simple Misdemeanor
J’cauri Morris age 19, formerly of Houston, TX. -Disorderly Conduct a simple Misdemeanor
Vernell Trent age 18 of Mt Pleasant. – Disorderly Conduct a simple Misdemeanor
There will also be four local juveniles charged with Disorderly Conduct a simple Misdemeanor.
During the second quarter of 2022 it was decided both Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale will be tried in adult court for the murder of Fairfield High School teacher Nohema Graber. Judge Shawn Shower denied requests from both to be tried as juveniles. The teens are charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. In his ruling in the reverse waiver hearings for each Judge Shower said“the Defendant has the potential for rehabilitation. However, the juvenile court simply has too little time to rehabilitate the Defendant for a crime of such magnitude and of the nature described in the minutes of testimony.” Goodale’s trial was set for August 23. Miller’s trial was scheduled for November 1. At the time the two trials were planned for the Jefferson County Courthouse. However, before the year was over trial dates and locations would change.
Week of 5-23
During a May meeting the New London School Board presented three Friend of Iowa Public Education awards. Receiving the awards were Janni Fitzpatrick, Senator Jeff Reichman and Representative Joe Mitchell. The New London School Board hopes to make the award presentation annually.
June 21 at 8 am a grain silo collapsed at the AgriWay Grain Elevator in Yarmounth killing one person. Rescue operations continued all day thru the night into the next day as first responders worked to find the body of the missing employee.