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North Mahaska Schools Evacuated

Posted on by Sam Parsons

NEW SHARON — Students, staff and faculty were evacuated just before school began Monday morning. Members of the New Sharon Fire Department and MidAmerican Energy responded to the call about 7:40 a.m.

Upon staff arrival at school Monday morning several staff members reported the scent of gas. MidAmerican Energy, New Sharon Fire Department, and Mahaska County 911 Center were immediately notified. Students and staff that had already arrived at school were evacuated to the bus garage. Arriving buses held students on the bus in a safe location.

At 7:54 a.m. a SwiftAlert notification was issued notifying parents and others of the situation and asking to keep students in vehicles and away from the building.

The resulting investigation by MidAmerican officials along with building maintenance found a pilot light on a stove in the kitchen that was causing the gas smell. The pilot light tubes have been replaced and the stove is now working properly.  MidAmerican Officials cleared the building for school to resume. SwiftAlerts were sent at 8:48 a.m. to allow students and staff to re-enter the building.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have asked MidAmerican Energy to run a gas detection meter test early tomorrow morning,” said North Mahaska Elementary Principal and Superintendent Angela Livezey. “We know it is an inconvenience to have to evacuate the building. However, we assure you that we will err on the side of caution and follow our Emergency Response Protocols.”

North Mahaska quickly entered their emergency operations plan guidance and immediately responded. No injuries occurred due to the quick actions of North Mahaska staff members. Livezey credited the quick resolution to staff members knowing the procedures based on the district’s emergency plan.

“There was outstanding coordination with today's events between school officials and school staff, MidAmerican Energy, Mahaska County Law Enforcement, Mahaska County Emergency Management, and New Sharon Fire Department. Everyone responded promptly and did a great job of keeping students safe,” said Livezey.

Biden, Xi seek to ‘manage our differences’ in meeting

Posted on by Sam Parsons

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are holding their first in-person meeting since the U.S. president took office nearly two years ago. The leaders are meeting Monday on the Indonesian island of Bali amid increasing tensions between the superpowers. Each one is competing for global influence. Both men entered the highly anticipated meeting with bolstered political standing at home. White House aides have repeatedly sought to play down any notion of conflict with China. But U.S.-China relations have become increasingly strained throughout Biden’s presidency.

Small Business Administration ask Iowans to buy local this holiday

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Matt Kelley (Radio Iowa)

While many Iowa retailers are already offering holiday-themed bargains, the Black Friday shopping blitz is two weeks from today, followed immediately by Small Business Saturday.

Jayne Armstrong, director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Iowa District Office, says 97% of Iowa’s businesses are small businesses and it’s vital for our economic livelihood to support them all year, not just on November 26th.

“It’s always important because it really is a significant sales period for a lot of small businesses, particularly our retailers, as we go into the holiday season,” Armstrong says, “but we still have a lot of small businesses that are struggling.” The worst of the pandemic may be behind us, but it left significant scars for some merchants which continue to need the routine patronage of Iowa consumers.

Armstrong says COVID taught many of us a lesson about how much we rely on the neighborhood mom-and-pop businesses.
“I really do think that America woke up,” Armstrong says. “When something’s not there that you’re used to and that a lot of people tend to take for granted, and then when we were shut down or businesses were struggling coming back, I think people kind of woke up to just how local all this is.”

She notes, there’s an obvious advantage for consumers to “Be Loyal, Buy Local,” instead of shopping online, since when you find and buy an item at a brick-and-mortar store, there’s no worry about it being delayed or lost during the shipping process.

Pella’s 2022-23 Tulip Queen Named

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Sam Parsons

The city of Pella’s Tulip Time Queen and Royal Court were named at the Tulip Queen Announcement Party on Saturday.

Cheyne Plants was named Tulip Queen and Tatum Carlstone, Anna DeNooy, Avery Verhoef, and Ellie Wogen were named to the royal court.

In the spring, the queen and royal court will make approximately 30 appearances to promote Pella’s Tulip Festival, which is scheduled for May 4-6, 2023.

George Daily Youth Theater Announces 2023 Elementary School Play

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OSKALOOSA — George Daily Youth Theater announced the title of their upcoming 2023 elementary school play. It will be “We Are Monsters,” by Denver Casado and Betina Hershey, a play that was previously performed by George Daily Youth Theater in 2018.

All students in Kindergarten-5th grade, from any school district, are welcome to participate! Participation is registration-based, not audition-based. Everyone who registers will receive a part that gives them performing experience, whether it is their first time on stage or their twentieth. Auditions will be held on January 20, 2023. Registration will open next week at www.georgedaily.org, and there are scholarships available.

Voting is Now Live for Main Street Young Ambassador Contest

Posted on by Sam Parsons

OSKALOOSA — Now is the time to place your votes for the Main Street Young Ambassador of your choice. Twenty-seven local children ages three through kindergarten are seeking monetary votes to become this year’s Young Ambassadors.

Local merchants who are sponsoring the children have banks with the name and picture of the child on the bank. Money placed in the canister of your choice is considered votes. As a reminder, any amount of money may be deposited. A portion of the proceeds will go to Little Creations Preschool, with the balance used to defray costs of the Main Street Oskaloosa Lighted Christmas Parade to be held Saturday, December 3 at 7 pm in Downtown Oskaloosa.

The winners of the Young Ambassador contest will be announced Monday, November 28, 2022, at 6:00 pm at the Penn Central Mall. Event includes music, book reading, and of course Santa and gifts. Participants are additionally invited to participate in the Parade on the Clow Train.

Show your support by voting for these youngsters. For candidate and sponsor locations, call the Main Street office of the Mahaska Chamber & Development Group at 641-672-2591, or find a list in the Oskaloosa Shopper/Herald or on the Oskaloosa Main Street Facebook page.

US judge in Texas strikes down Biden loan-forgiveness plan

Posted on by Sam Parsons

FORT WORTH (AP) — A U.S. judge in Texas has blocked President Joe Biden’s plan to provide millions of borrowers with up to $20,000 apiece in federal student-loan forgiveness. The program was already on hold while a federal appeals court in St. Louis considers a separate lawsuit by a half-dozen states challenging it. District Court Judge Mark Pittman said Thursday that the program usurped Congress’ power to make laws. Pittman is an appointee of former President Donald Trump based in Fort Worth. The debt forgiveness plan would cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients would get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven.

State Auditor Sand leads Halbur by 2614 votes, Halbur to seek recount

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

The final batch of votes from two counties are in and Rob Sand appears to have narrowly won re-election as state auditor.

About 2000 votes from Warren County and around 800 votes from Des Moines County were added to the statewide tally on Thursday afternoon. Those unofficial results show Sand ahead of Republican challenger Todd Halbur by 2614 votes. Halbur will ask for a recount.

“We have seen human error, technical errors and maybe even some blatant, egregious errors that have happened to our votes across the state, so therefore I will ask for a recount of the state auditor’s race,” Halbur said.

Under state law, Halbur could ask for recounts in all 99 counties or ask for recounts in specific counties. He has until the end of next week to make the call.

“We will follow the process of the recount according to the rule of law outlines and after the recount, I believe myself and the voters of Iowa will feel confident in these results,” Halbur said. “I don’t feel confident in the results I’m seeing now in the unofficial results.”

Because Halbur’s vote tally is currently less than one percent behind Sand’s, all recounts would be paid for by taxpayers. If Sand is confirmed as the winner, he would be the only Democrat to win a statewide race in this year’s General Election.

Sand is an attorney. He previously worked in the Iowa Attorney General’s office as the lead prosecutor in public corruption cases. He handled the prosecution of Tommy Tipton, the former Multistate Lottery IT specialist found guilty of rigging Hot Lotto jackpots.

Halbur, Sand’s opponent, recently won a $1 million jury verdict in his lawsuit against the State of Iowa. Halbur claims he was fired as comptroller of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division after telling his bosses the agency was overcharging restaurants and retailers for liquor. Agency managers have said Halbur was fired for other reasons and lawyers for the state are reviewing whether to appeal the $1 million verdict.

Halbur ran a low-budget campaign. He was not among the Republican candidates who appeared at the bus tour events Governor Kim Reynolds hosted during the final weeks of the campaign.

Penn Central Mall’s Winter Market Begins Tomorrow

Posted on by Sam Parsons

By Sam Parsons

Starting tomorrow, Penn Central Mall’s Winter Market will begin another run through the winter season.

On the second Saturday of each month from November 2022-March 2023, shoppers can walk, shop, and enjoy the mall and the Winter Market.

To register as a vendor, please contact the mall directly. You can reach Marta Iverson at (641)-673-9414 or by email at marta.iverson@musco.com.

Little sign of relief expected in October US inflation data

Posted on by Sam Parsons

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s punishing inflation rate likely kept simmering in October, giving the Federal Reserve little cause to ease up in its drive to slow price increases by steadily raising interest rates. The Labor Department is expected to report that consumer prices jumped 8% from 12 months earlier and by a sharp 0.6% from September to October. A separate measure called core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, is expected to have surged 6.5% in the past year and 0.5% from September to October. Like many other countries, the United States is struggling to control inflation, which is pressuring millions of households and dimming the outlook for the economy.

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