News

Results from a new program show a significant impact on rural students and communities Kirkwood Community College’s Workplace Learning Connection (WLC) has entered into a partnership with Benton, Vinton Shellsburg, and Williamsburg Community School Districts to expand rural work-based learning opportunities in the region. As part of the partnership, a new work-based learning coordinator position has been created, which will be shared between the three school districts to expand these valuable opportunities for students.

Benton Development Group (BDG) has secured priority for funding fiber broadband projects that could serve more than 1,000 Benton County homes, farms, and businesses. The announcement of priority status for four areas in Benton County was made on Friday by the Office of Chief Information Officer for the state of Iowa. The state is poised to award grants of more than $680 million for locations without a fiber connection and homes and businesses with slow broadband access.

The annual Bike Rodeo brought teeny tiny tots and children a few years older. The event was coordinated by the Vinton Parks and Rec Department and the Vinton Kiwanis Club. Both were on hand to direct traffic. The Vinton Police Department was also on hand to perform safety checks for each of the children. Officers checked helmets to make sure they were properly worn, and making sure tires were inflated, and the bikes were ready to go.

On Friday, May 5, 2023, Harry Lyle Meader III, 49, of Cedar Rapids, was arrested following a high-speed pursuit that reached speeds of over 100 mph. Meader was wanted through Linn County on felony charges and was spotted driving a stolen Chevy Trailblazer. Meader led police on a pursuit that ended off-road in rural Tama County where he fled on foot into a wooded area and was rapidly apprehended.

Governor Reynolds has announced that applications for Students First Educations Savings Accounts (ESAs) will be accepted starting May 31, 2023. The Students First Act was signed into law earlier this year and will provide state funding for eligible students who attend accredited nonpublic schools starting in the 2023-2024 school year.   Additionally, the State Board of Education today adopted administrative rules that specify definitions for the program, eligibility requirements for participation, parameters for the application process, and program administration and accountability.

Good Neighbor RecipientsThe Palace Theatre and Vinton Unlimited are proud to announce the latest Vinton Good Neighbor recipients. The Good Neighbor project is an effort to recognize those in our community whose good deeds may go unnoticed, to encourage people to look for the positive things in our community, and hopefully prompt residents to participate and become “good neighbors” themselves.

The roundabout at the Urbana corner, on Highway 150 is now reopened for traffic

The Benton County Fairgrounds was the site for the Benton County 3rd graders on Wednesday. Every year the Benton County Extension organizes the 3rd Grade Ag Day Beginning at 9:00 a.m. the students began arriving. Students from Benton Community, Central Lutheran, Belle Plaine, Vinton-Shellsburg as well as the Homeschool Program participated. The event wraps up in the early afternoon around 2:00 p.

  Today, Governor Kim Reynolds signed the following bills into law:  HF 553: A bill for an act relating to affirmative defenses for entities using cybersecurity programs.  HF 573: A bill for an act relating to statutory corrections which may adjust language to reflect current practices, insert earlier omissions, delete redundancies and inaccuracies, delete temporary language, resolve inconsistencies and conflicts, update ongoing provisions, or remove ambiguities, and including effective date and retroactive applicability provisions.

In a lawsuit filed against the Vinton Family Restaurant, an area resident charged that the restaurant served him a bowl of chicken dumpling soup that contained wire fragments. Charlie Fraizer found himself in the emergency room in pain over the course of several days after eating at the restaurant. The incident occurred on April 27, 2022 when he went out for a late lunch.