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KALONA, WASHINGTON COUNTY, IOWA 52247 • THURSDAY, May 19, 2005 5 Sections. 2 Inserts $1.00
Martha Nye, who will retire at the end of the school year, received
the Educator of the Year Award last Thursday.
Nye named MPEA
Educator of the Year
Retiring teachers
honored by M-P
school district
by DAVID NAMANNY
The Kalona News
Martha Nye, longtime
teacher at Washington Town-
ship Elementary School, was
named Educator of the Year
last Thursday by the Mid-
Prairie Education Association
(MPEA) and the Mid-Prairie
School District.
She was bestowed the honor
in person May 12 at the annual
MPEA year-end celebration at
the high school in Wellman.
Nye, who will retire this month,
has been teaching at Mid-
Prairie for 25 years. She has
been a teacher for a total of 43
years.
She says she plans to contin-
ue with her commitment to edu-
cation by volunteering at the
school on occasion after her
retirement.
Along with Nye, special
recognition of other longtime
Mid-Prairie teachers who
will retire this spring was
extended. They include Bob
Barrick, Phil Conaway, and
Craig Shellady. Between the
four, they have over a century
of teaching experience in the
Mid-Prairie School District.
Craig Shellady has been
teaching at Mid-Prairie for 32
years. He currently teaches
art at the high school and mid-
die school. Phil Conaway, who
is the business skills instruc-
tor at both the Mid-Prairie
middle school and high school
centers, is retiring after 31
years. Bob Barrick, a math
and science teacher at Mid-
Prairie High School has been
with the Mid-Prairie district for
21 years.
Others honored at the annu-
al MPEA celebration included
Terri Duwa, who was named
Support Staff Person of the
Year; Julie Freiden and Linda
Oldfield, MPEA Support Staff
Persons of the Year; and
MPEA Friend of Education,
Bob Freeman of Freeman
Foods in Wellman.
Conaway
Shellady
Barrlck
Kalona votes to proceed
with municipalization
Kalona City Council voted unanimously to
spend up to $100,000 to make application to
the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) to get permis-
sion to municipalize the electric utility.
The council agreed to proceed with the
process and join six other communities in
jointly hiring attorneys and consultants to
prepare for individual community presenta-
tiops to the IUB. Those communities include
Wellman, Emmetsburg, Rolfe, Terril and
Titonka.
Louie R. Ervin, executive vice president,
Latham & Associates, Cedar Rapids, reviewed
the process of municipalization. He noted
that the report done by Latham indicated that
Kalona was among the communities that had
one of the most favorable positions to acquire
its electricity from Alliant.
Ervin stressed it will rule on whether or
not it is in the interest of the citizens of
Kalona to purchase the Alliant system and
sub-stations and it will be the IUB that sets
the costs of acquiring the Alliant facilities in
the city. The city could still decide not to pro-
ceed if they didn't think it is economically
feasible.
When council members indicated a desire
to wait until June to make a decision to pro-
ceed, Ervin stressed that the other six com-
• KALOHA CITY COUNCIL - page 10A
Seek public input at Town
Meeting on Downtown Kalona
Public input on the needs and future of
downtown Kalona are being sought by the
Kalona Development, Inc. (KDI) at a spe-
cial meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Tues-
day, May 24, at the Kalona Chamber of
Commerce building.
KDI will review the response and rec-
ommendations on the recent downtown
assessment visit by the consultant team
from the Iowa Downtown Resource Cen-
ter of the Iowa Department of Economic
Development (IDED). Members of the
group were in Kalona assessing the down-
town and meeting with businesses on
March 8 and 9.
"We will be summarizing this assess-
ment report as we also kick-off a market
analysis of the community," commented
KDI President Dave Hochstetler. He noted
the assessment and public input would
form the basis on which to build a new
strategic marketing plan for Kalona.
"We want to identify our assets as we
try to formulate strategies to enhance
downtown Kalona," he stated. "The bene-
fit will be to give us a basis for developing
plans for business retention and expan-
sion.
KDI is asking business people and other
interested citizens to fill out a survey on
"Downtown Kalona...Today and Tomor-
row."
Survey questions will include:
1. List 3 reasons for someone to
expand, open a business or invest in
downtown Kalona.
• DOWNTOWn4 KALOblA - page 5A
Wilson, Thrapp to speak at
John "Lefty" Wilson and Jay Thrapp,
both of Wellman, will be the featured
speakers at the Kalona and Richmond
Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday,
May 30, according to Richmond Am
Vets Post 107 Commander Kevin Reece.
Wilson, chaplain of Sons of Am Vets
Squadron 107, will be the speaker at
the Sharon Hill Cemetery in Kalona at
10:15 a.m. May 30.
Thrapp, commander of Sons of Am
Vets Post 107, will speak at the Rich-
mond Public Cemetery at 11 a.m.
There will be no speaker at the cere.
monies at the Richmond Catholic
Cemetery following the public ceme-
tery program. While there will be no
speaker at the Catholic cemetery, there
be a reading of veterans buried there
as there will be at the Richmond Public
Cemetery.
The Mid-Prairie High School band
will provide the music at the programs
at Sharon Hill and Richmond Public
Cemetery. The Richmond Post 107
Honor Guard and firing .squad will be
at all three cemeteries.
The Richmond Am Vets auxiliary
will lay memorial wreaths at all three
cemeteries.
Lunch will be served at the Rich-
mond Am Vets Post 107 following the
Memorial Day program at the Catholic
Cemete
Gaming license approved for Riverside casino
Construction
expected to start
in July or August
by DAVID NAMANNY
The Kalona News
The proposed riverboat casino
that has drawn both praise and
protest from Washington County
residents will soon become a
reality. As the result of a 4 to 1
vote by the Iowa Racing & Gam-
ing Commission Wednesday
morning, May 11, Riverside will
be home to a new $107 million
casino, hotel and golf course.
Three of the five members of
the commission recommended
the approval of a new gaming
license to the non-profit Wash-
ington Riverboat Foundation Inc.
Following that, four of the five
voted to approve that recommen-
dation.
Commissioners Gerald Bair,
Joyce Jarding and Kate Cutler all
put their support toward the
Washington Casino. Member
Michael Mahaffey did not sup-
port any new gaming licenses.
The future casino, hotel and
golf course will sit on about 235
acres about two miles east of
Riverside. Catfish Bend Casinos
will operate and manage the casi-
no, which is projected to bring
over $80 million in the first year
of operation.
The Riverside casino will boast
a 200-room hotel, a large enter-
tainment center and a banquet
room with 24-hour dining facili-
ties. The project also includes an
18-hole golf course designed by
Rees Jones, considered one of the
world's premier golf course
designers.
Work on the hotel, casino and
golf course could start at the
same time, possibly by mid-sum.
mer or early fall, and open by the
spring of 2007. The facility is
expected to employ anywhere
from 650 to 850 people.
ii -'% . ',
Not everyone happy
with final dec is ion
Not everyone was happy
with Riverside being selected
for a riverboat gambling
license.
A statement was issued by
Kalona resident James
Hussey following the award-
hug of four gaming licenses
on May 11. Hussey, who has
been active and vocal in his
opposition to the Riverside
casino proposal, is also a
member of the Mid-Prairie
School Board.
"Four of the five Commis-
sioners chose to ignore the
study they paid for that
linked casinos with higher
rates of bankruptcy, unem-
ployment, crime and domestic
violence," stated Hussey.
"They acknowledged, but
chose to ignore, the hundreds
of heartfelt letters, e-mails
and signatures protesting the
Washington County casino.
With other casinos, they pro-
vided all manner of justifica-
tions for their votes, but when
it came to Washington Coun.
ty, they had only one reason,
and that was money."
"I've been told an olive
branch is being extended, and
that it's time to join the pro-
casino interests in support of
the larger community. I can't
accept that," Hussey added.
• HUSSEY- page 5A
The Kalona News was on hand
at the meeting last week and
received first.hand comments
from those on both sides of the
issue.
Washington Mayor Ed Brown
said he was pleased with the
awarding of a gaming license to
Riverside Casino & Golf Resort
because it means good jobs for
Washington County residents.
He related that because of plant
closings in Washington, many
Washington residents are travel-
ing to Iowa City and beyond for
jobs.
"This means that Washington
residents will have an opportuni-
ty to travel less distance for good
jobs," said Brown. "Plus it means
more tax dollars for the county
and money to be shared by cities
and non-profit groups," he added.
'nis is good for all of Washington
County as wen as tbe City of River-
side," commented Tim Putney, presi.
dent of Washington County River.
boat Casino Foundation.
• CASINO - page 5A
Sports 1-4B
Education News 6B
. Legal Publications 6B-7B
Classifieds 8-10B
Professional
Directory 9B
Weather 10B
Legal Publications in this Issue - Page 6B-7B •
Board of Supervisors, March 15
Board of Supervisors March 22
Mid-Prairie School Board, May 9
Notice of Sheriff's Sale
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