The Benton County Fairboard would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Payton Sash as the 2016 Benton County Fair Queen, Bobbie Hilmer as the 2016 Benton County Fair Princesses, Macy Arbuckle 1st runner up and Carly Selken 2nd runner up and Macy Arbuckle as Miss Congeniality.

By Luke Lauer, Maple 3 Here in the North Central Region’s hometown of Vinton, Maple 3 is serving with the Parks and Recreation Department through August 5 to develop new trails and recreation areas for residents.

The Benton County Community Foundation held its annual grant awards ceremony on July 26, announcing the distribution of $106,700 in grants to benefit 31 projects of nonprofits and government agencies serving Benton County communities.

JUNE 29, 2016 The Vinton Garden Club member of National Garden Clubs, Inc., District II and Central Region met at 12:30, June 29, at Kiwanis Park to plant a Coffee tree for Arbor Day then continued on to secretaries office at fairgrounds for meeting and design workshop assisted by Fran Stueck, Master Flower Show Judge.

Duane M. Fisher of Mt. Auburn, Iowa, a 1973 and 1980 (M.S.) graduate in agriculture education who is a retired agriculture educator and FFA advisor for Vinton Shellsburg Community Schools, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Iowa State University Alumni Association.

The University of Dubuque congratulates the following student on being appointed to the Spring Semester 2016 Academic Dean's List.   To be named to the dean's list, a student must earn a grade point average (GPA) of 3.

Concordia University Wisconsin officials have released the Spring Honors List for the 2015-2016 academic year. To be eligible for the honor, students must achieve a minimum 3.

Thirty four high school students from across Iowa traveled to Washington, D.C. on June 10-16 to join more than 1,600 other students from around the nation for the 2016 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour.

The following area students were named to the University of Iowa Spring 2016 Dean's List: Cory Christensen of Atkins, IA (52206) Benjamin Markland of Atkins, IA (52206) Lane Bachelder of Belle Plaine, IA (52208) Josh Carkhuff of Belle Plaine, IA (52208) Richard Formanek of Belle Plaine, IA (52208) Caitlyn Kithcart of Belle Plaine, IA (52208) Jacob Isbell of Garrison, IA (52229) Brennen Pace of Keystone, IA (52249) Johnathon Musick of Luzerne, IA (52257) Tanysha Truax of Newhall, IA (52315) Keith White of Norway, IA (52318) Carley Deklotz of Shellsburg, IA (52332) Nicole Banks of Van Horne, IA (52346) Alexis Hicok of Vinton, IA (52349) Ben Hyland of Vinton, IA (52349) Patricia Pierce of Vinton, IA (52349) Kayla Carrothers of Walker, IA (52352) Tyler Cherry of Walker, IA (52352) Cody Johnson of Walker, IA (52352) Jason McVay of Walker, IA (52352) Jenna Schade of Walker, IA (52352) Undergraduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, and the Tippie College of Business who achieve a grade point average of 3.

Jacob Isbell, a University of Iowa student from Garrison, IA 52229, was named to the university's President's List for the spring 2016 semester.