September 2019

As Grundy Center set up an out of bounds play down two and in search of a game tying—or winning—shot against Cascade in the Class 2A state championship on Saturday evening, Kim Van Deest got so nervous that she had to turn away. The former Spartan six-on-six standout had been inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) Hall of Fame at halftime, and she was ready to lace up the old sneakers. She wanted to take matters into her own hands.  
           

After a brief public hearing on Monday morning, the Grundy County Board of Supervisors approved the fiscal year 2019 budget as presented by a unanimous vote.
           
Ivester-area resident Laura Hommel asked the board about whether the salary allocation for the sheriff’s position would change after 36-year incumbent Rick Penning retires, and the supervisors responded that the compensation for elected officials was not tied to experience.
           

For the better part of the last two years, BCLUW Middle School science teacher Evan Ascherl has been giving orders to students. For the next few months, however, he’ll get used to taking them upon returning to his other job as a mechanic in the Air National Guard and deploying in Afghanistan.
           
“Teaching has helped me out military wise. Things aren’t always going to go your way,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to say you know what, today’s just not the day. We’ll come back tomorrow and get it that way, and you can’t take yourself so seriously.”
           

It’s been said that the personal is political, and the line between the two became increasingly blurry during one of Republican State Representative Pat Grassley’s listening posts at the Dike City Hall on Friday morning.
           
Jane Close, a fellow New Hartford resident who lives near Mr. Grassley and his family, castigated the representative in an empty room amidst snowy roads and frigid temperatures, accusing him of attempting to “avoid” the public with the scheduling of his meetings.