News

An in-person session to discuss the new school year and its reopening will be held on Monday, July 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the Vinton-Shellsburg High School auditorium.For those interested in an evening time slot, we added an additional Zoom meeting to the schedule! Please join us for an informational meeting and question/answer session via Zoom on Thursday, July 30 at 7 pm.

Benton County As of 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, Benton County cases of COVID has reached 110 total cases since March. Of the 110, 81 have recovered, leaving 28 active cases in the county (there has been one death early on of an 83 year old man from Blairstown in early April.)Region 6In all of Region 6 which Benton County falls into, there are a total of 51 hospitalized with COVID-19, up by 11 since last week.

Plans are underway to build a new Emergency Service Facility. It is tentatively thought that it would be located on the Braille School property, on the corner of Highway 218/South K Ave. and 13th St.. Last September a committee with members of the Vinton Police Department, Vinton Fire Department, and North Benton Ambulance came together and interviewed several firms to design the facility.

Book Club MeetingAt the Library on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 11:00 AmNEW BOOKS The Lies that Bind by Emily GriffinPeace Talks by Jim Butcher Daddy’s Girls by Danielle Steel The Last Wife by Karen Hamilton Camino Winds by John Grisham Dance Away with Me by Susan E. Phillips Legacy by Helen Hardt Cajun Justice by James Patterson The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet The Bone Jar by SW Kane The Room Where it Happened by Michael Bolton The Art of Her Deal by Mary Jordan Incident on The Bridge by Elin Hilderbrand YOUNG ADULTAurora Rising by Amie Kaufman JuvenileJune’s Wild Flight by Max Brallier The World Needs More Purple People by Kristan Bell Jo and Laurie by Margaret Stohl The Right Royal Tea Party by Megan McDonald Dawn of the Underlord by Aaron Blabey First Day Critter Jitters by Jory John MOVIESEmma  The Swing of Things Trolls World Tour Sniper Assassin’s End Force of Nature Four Kids and It The Library will be staying at current guidelines for the month of August.

Registration for the 2020-21 school year will be available online starting July 22nd . There will not be a registration day at the high school.Please register and pay your fees online using the instructions found on our website. Payments online can be made via check or credit/debit card. Registration will be open online without a service fee July 22-August 14, 2020.

Region 6 As of 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday night, in all of Region 6 which Benton County falls into, there are a total of 40 hospitalized with COVID-19 and 15 of those are in the ICU. There are just over 1,000 beds available and 84.24% of ventilators available, or 155. Right now there are 5 from our Region on ventilators.The counties included in these numbers include Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Grundy, Howard, Jones, Linn and Winneshiek.

In a letter to the district, Vinton-Shellsburg's new Superintendent, Kyle Koeppen faces challenges that no one really has an answer to. The school has put together a document that seeks to answer questions about the new school year and what it will look like.  "This plan is a fluid, guiding document that will evolve and continue to change as circumstances warrant.

Iowa Learning Farms has announced the winners of its inaugural Beauty of Conservation photo contest. A panel of judges [sel]ed the top four prize-winning images in adult and youth categories, and a People’s Choice winner was [sel]ed through online social media voting in each category. Liz Ripley, ILF conservation outreach specialist and coordinator of the contest, says participation in the contest exceeded expectations and provided a challenging assortment for the judges to consider.

Mark our words, this girl is going to change the world!Addison volunteers twice each week and is as reliable, thoughtful, caring and genuine as any adult.  Special thanks to her parents Mike and a Holly for encouraging a volunteering spirit in her at such a young age.Sunday evening Addison Ollinger held a lemonade and cookie stand for Better Together.

As many of you may remember, last December Brennen Still had a migraine which started the first of his doctor visits. Doctors ran numerous tests and discovered that the young man had Leptomeningeal Melanomatosis which is a rare cancer diagnosis that only a few other children have been diagnosed with. At this time there has not been a discovered cure.