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Wednesday, June 12, 2013 Top Stories WINTERSET LIBRARY GETS RARE BERRY BUSH City officials joined forces with Andrew Pittz and Healthy Families, Farms and Communities 99 County Tour with the planting of an Aronia berry bush. The bushes are being planted at select community landmarks around the state. Pittz, Farmer-in-Chief of Sawmill Hollow Family Farm, arrived with a palette of 12-15 six-inch bushes, all propagated by cuttings from his Missouri Valley family farm. Ella Christensen, 10, was selected from attendees to prepare the soil, plant the bush, water it and cover with surrounding landscaping material and rock, while Pittz supervised. The Pittz family discovered the berry in the ingredient list of a gourmet juice drink.  It is similar in appearance to and use of the better-known Acai berry. According to Sawmill Hollow Family Farm, like the Acai, the Aronia berry is "one of the most nutritionally dense fruits on the planet." [read the entire article] CYCLISTS RIDE ACROSS COUNTY A steady stream of cycling enthusiasts poured into Winterset City Park early Sat-urday morning in anticipation of the 17th Annual Bike Ride Around Madison Coun-ty (BRAMCO) sponsored by Madison County Cycle Club (MCCC).  After a soggy start to summer, the early morning sunshine was a welcome sight as nearly 200 riders gathered at the starting line near the entrance of the park. Led by members of the cycle club, riders were led out of the park down South Street to Clark Tower Road where they began either a 45-mile or a 60-mile journey through the south central Madison County countryside. The main fundraising event for the cycle club, the bike ride has become a big draw over the years.  Riders descend on Winterset from all over Iowa and neighboring states, some staying to visit many of Winter-set's historic sites.  Former Rock Island Arsenal colleagues, Kathy Acre (Moline, Ill), Tonia Kennedy (Le Claire, Iowa) and Penny Kroul (Davenport, Iowa) say they have been riding together as a team for 10 years and have been looking forward to this trail for months.  Some bikers even bring their families to camp for several days in the City Park camp-ground.  Several local businesses participated. Hy-Vee, soon to make a presence on John Wayne Drive, donated snacks while Doc's Soft Water supplied bottled water.  A service van from Bike World Iowa of Des Moines was also on hand for last minute repairs or adjustments. Proceeds from the race allow MCCC to host safety programs for Elementary students in Winterset, erect new bike racks across town and post Share the Road signs throughout the county.  They also support the Des Moines Bike Collective, Bike Iowa and the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. —Amy Christensen [read the entire article] LIVE HEALTHY IOWA OFFERS NEW SUMMER CHALLENGE  Live Healthy Iowa, a campaign formerly known as Lighten Up Iowa will be kicking off a new summer challenge next week.  It’s being called the ‘Burst Your Thirst’ campaign.  The six-week challenge starts Monday, June 17.  Participants receive a water bottle and are asked to track their activity minutes, along with the amount of water consumed.  A number of prizes are offered.  Register and check it out at: wwwlivehealthyiowa.org [read the entire article] CHINESE DELEGATION MAKES MC STOP Members of a Chinese delegation visited Winterset and other areas of Madison County on Thursday. The highest ranking government official on the trip was Wang Yu, who was visiting Iowa to attend the World Pork Expo in Des Moines and discuss the purchase of breeding hogs to have shipped to China. Yu is the deputy director for the Hebei Provincial Department of Agriculture in China. Hebei is known as Iowa's sister state. [read the entire article] COUNTY TO APPEAL CASE TO IOWA SUPREME COURT  County supervisors met in a special meeting Thursday, and then went into closed session to try to decide -whether or not to appeal an Iowa Appeals Court ruling to the state Supreme Court.  Officials decided to try to appeal the lower court ruling, stating that there are several other rulings which appear to conflict with the ruling that the county received. [read the entire article] VISITOR CHECK SYSTEM APPROVED BY SCHOOL BOARD  The Winterset School Board approved a plan at its regular monthly meeting Monday to ensure that visitors to the Winterset school system are checked out before they are allowed to continue their visit at the school. Visitors would be required to report to the office and sign in for visits. They also have to produce a driver’s license.  The board approved going with the Houston, Texas-based Raptor system, on a unanimous, 5-0, vote.  School board members were first introduced to the concept at the February school board meeting.  The program — which will require visitors to have their driver’s license scanned — will cross check the the driver’s license and individual’s name with national databases, similar to but not as comprehensive, expensive or time-intensive as a personal background check.  “We’re looking for sex offenders,” said Winterset superintendent of schools, Dr. Susie Meade.  While no in-person pitch was made to the school board by the company, documents were provided which claim the visitor management software is used by school districts in 44 of the lower 48 states, except Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana and Oregon.  Once the visitor is cleared for a school visit, the visitor will be issued a temporary one-time use badge which allows them school access. [read the entire article] RELAY FOR LIFE RAISES FUNDS Madison County cancer survivors, caregivers and supporters congregated Friday to raise awareness for the fight against cancer. The Relay for Life was held on the Winterset High School track. Boy scouts from troop 115 and girl scouts from troop 983 presented the flag in a ceremony which kicked off the event. Afterwards, a smiling group of survivors took to the track to complete the "Survivor's Lap" before being joined by caregivers and finally supporters. The Survivor’s Lap is a celebration of victory over cancer. As they made the first lap around, they were cheered on by those lining the track.  A Luminaria Ceremony also took place after dark. The luminaries are lit in remembrance of people that have been lost to cancer. It is also to "honor people who have fought cancer in the past, and support those whose fight continues." A world-wide event, it was estimated that over 4 million people scattered over 20 countries participated in relays over the weekend. The event was supported by various local churches, businesses, organizations and individual donors. [read the entire article] AUTHORITIES PROBE FATAL I-80 CRASH An early Sunday morning crash left a West Des Moines woman dead after the vehicle she was driving the wrong way on Interstate 80 struck another vehicle head-on, according to the state patrol. Westbound interstate was shut down for several hours following the crash, with westbound traffic detoured through Adel. Megan Wakeham, 24, died and the drivers of two other vehicles were injured in the crash, according to the ISP report. The wreck occurred near Earlham around midnight about 25 miles west of Des Moines. According to the state patrol, Wakeham was eastbound in the westbound lanes when her car struck a vehicle driven by 20-year-old Jessie Leeper of Adair.  Leeper’s vehicle was struck from behind by an SUV, driven by Lori Wallace, 49, of Greenfield, according to the report. Wallace was taken by ambulance to Iowa Methodist Hospital. Leeper was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center. [read the entire article] SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY NOT HAVE TO BORROW MONEY TO MEET PAYROLL  For the first time in several years, it appears the Winterset school district will not have to borrow money to meet a summer payroll.  The schools have had to borrow money once this school year. That was last summer, to help meet summer payroll.  The school year runs from July of one year until the following June. The present school year is the FY 2012-13 school year, which ends June 30. The 2013-14 school year begins July 1, 2013.  The school had to borrow money during the first quarter of this year’s budget to make payroll last year.  The school has a payroll of almost $1 million monthly. Some staff get paid once monthly, while others are paid every two weeks.  The fact that the school won’t need to borrow money in the foreseeable future is a new concept for the school’s bookkeeper, Cammy Leners. [read the entire article] 2013 GMCCF RECIPIENTS  2013 GMCCF grant recipients. Over two dozen groups shared more than $90,000 in project funding from the Greater Madison County Community Foundation. The foundation distributes the county’s share of proceeds from state gaming operations. Nearly $600,000 in funding has been awarded since 2004. Recipients were awarded their 2013 grants at last Thursday’s Winterset Lawn Chair night, which features a performance by the Winterset Community Band. The next performance is Thursday. clik link for list of recipients [read the entire article] BIDS FOR LAKE WORK DELAYED  The original target was Memorial day.  Now the target is next week.  The three-member Winterset utility board met in special session Monday, expecting to approve documents so the city could finally take bids on the multi-million dollar Cedar Lake dredging project.  The bid documents weren’t quite ready, so it will be next week before the city goes out to bid on the project.  The minor delay has kicked back the bid opening until July 16.  That is when officials will know if there is enough interest in the project to attract any bidders, and whether the bids will come in within budgetary constraints.  The lake dredging project is scheduled to get under way yet this year.  Much of the work done this year will be to create a basin on some nearby farmland for the dredged materials.  Actual dredging is expected to begin next spring, and take about a year. —dkB [read the entire article] COACHES: HOW MANY IS TOO MANY ‘How many coaches is too many?’ ‘How many coaches is enough?’  While several school districts in the Raccoon River Conference have more high school coaches than Winterset, most RRC schools have about the same number of coaches.  Faced with what seems to be the annual question of how many coaches is adequate, the Winterset school board decided to wait a month before trying to decide.  They want to hear from Winterset AD Randy McDonald.  Following are the proposed number of coaches for Winterset varsity sports, and the number of students that would have to be out for the sport for the school to justify another coach. [read the entire article] BIKENIGHT TO FEATURE SEMI JUMP  Freestyle Motocross jumper Terry Russell will return to Winterset this weekend for the June 15 Winterset BikeNight.  And he’ll have company.  Last year Russell thrilled crowds during a 2012 BikeNight by jumping above the building tops on Court Avenue on the south side of the courthouse.  This year, Jake Coombs will accompany Russell for a show on the Winterset square. Both riders are accomplished professional freestyle riders that have traveled the world entertaining fans.  A Freightliner semi will be set up for the pair to jump over. [read the entire article]