News

The Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District is pleased to announce that a contract for the Superintendent of Vinton-Shellsburg has been offered to Mr. Kyle Koeppen.Mr. Koeppen is currently serving as the Principal at Prairie Point Middle School and 9th Grade Academy, Cedar Rapids, IA.  He has worked at Prairie Creek as Principal since 2016.

A speed test was the first order of business when Matt Baker, the FARR Technologies staff member who has been working in Vinton since early in the project, connected the iVinton office to the new fiber network on Wednesday, February 12th. The connection with the company iVinton was using tested at 6.09 megabits for download speed and .58 for upload.

On 02-13-2020, at about 10:52 PM, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a structure fire at 7989 Benton Linn Rd, south of Walford in Benton County.The initial report was that of a shed on fire.It was later reported that a subject had entered the shed after the initial 911 report.Fire personnel would locate and recover the body of Jeffery Stallman, age 58, of rural Fairfax IA.

The Senior Coffee at the Revolution building is canceled today (Thursday, February 13) due to the expected cold temperatures.

Katelyn Folkmann of Newhall, Iowa was recently awarded the title of Benton County Iowa, Miss United States Agriculture.Katelyn Folkmann is currently a Junior at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Theatre. She is from Newhall, Iowa, where her family lives on the Heritage Farm which was homesteaded by her great-great-great grandfather in 1854.

Following an election with no candidates for the 2nd Precinct, the city has approved a special election which will be held on March 3rd. Three candidates have met the qualifications to be on the ballot for the election. Leon Barber, the owner of Barber Fix it, Andrew Elwick, Elwick Electric and Kurt Karr owner of Monkeythis have all submitted their paperwork to run in the special election.

 Kneeling, Noah Damro, 2nd row L to R-Riley Davis, Sunshine Gray, Tyson Fleshner, 3rd Row L to R- Carlee Hoppe, Natalie TecklenburgThe Union High School Fine Arts Department has again proven that hard work and determination pay off.  The musical theatre entry of “Bright Star” has been selected to perform at the All-State Speech Festival for the Iowa High School Speech Association.

 The Vinton-Shellsburg Board of Education is pleased to announce that they have selected three candidates to interview for their superintendent vacancy. The third candidate, who will interview on Tuesday, February 11th is:Mr. Matt Kingsbury, Vinton, IAInterviews will be conducted on the 6th, 10th, and 11th of February.  Numerous stakeholder groups will have the opportunity to meet the final candidates and submit input to the board about each of them.

The Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) committee is pleased to announce the recipients of the Hotel Occupancy Tax grant awards. Over $10,000 was provided to fund 11 different upcoming projects within the City of Vinton during 2020.Awardees include:· ACT I/Palace Theatre - $1,000 for concession stand upgrades· Benton County Historical Society - $1,000 for civil war re-enactment· Vinton Baseball Corporation - $725 for an informational sign and Vinton map· Vinton Guild of Fine Arts - $1,000 for art workshops· Vinton Parks & Recreation - $1,000 each for nerf parties, e-sports gaming lab, skate rink floor resurfacing and Veterans Park Memorial Renovation· Vinton Unlimited - $1,600 for Celebration Saturday and brochure restocking· Virginia Gay Hospital Health Care Foundation - $1,000 for the Benton County Community Health FairWe encourage any organization or group within Vinton that may be promoting tourism by hosting an event or developing a point of interest to attract people to visit our community to keep the HOT grant in the back of their mind.

The Vinton-Shellsburg Board of Education is pleased to announce that they have selected 3 candidates to interview for their superintendent vacancy. The second candidate, who will interview on Monday, February 10th is:Mr. Kyle Koeppen, Cedar Rapids, IAInterviews will be conducted on the 6th, 10th and 11th of February.  Numerous stakeholder groups will have the opportunity to meet the final candidates and submit input to the board about each of them.