News

A federal program that helps restore nature trails has provided $143,434 in funds for re-surfacing the entire Old Creamery Nature Trail, from Vinton to Garrison to Dysart. "The grant will fund the re-surfacing of the entire 15 miles of the Old Creamery Nature Trail," says Conservation Board member Randy Scheel. This re-surfacng will include preparing the trail base (grading and spraying vegetation), laying a 2" clean base rock for the wet areas of the trail and to raise it 2" to 4" in height, rip rap around the 9 bridges, laying down a weed barrier, surfacing the trail with lime chip 12 foot across the trail and 4" thick, and grading, rolling and watering the trail to ensure firmness.

The Regional Governing Board of the Mental Health/ Disability Services of the East Central Region is seeking advisory committee members. Applications are being accepted Feb. 1-March 3, 2014. Applications are available online at www.linncounty.org or at Benton County Social Services, 303 1st Ave., Vinton IA 52349. Contact Carol Zander at czander@co.

The Girls Basketball "Pink" Game vs. Central DeWitt has been postponed to Monday,    February 3.  The wrestling meet vs. Iowa Valley & Grinnell will now be held at the high school instead of the middle school.  Come out and support your V-S wrestlers!  

Due to the continued cold and wind chill concerns, Vinton-Shellsburg classes will begin two hours late on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Be sure to bundle up and use extra care when coming to school!

Blue Jays have been frequenting the deck at the Close residence north Vinton, attracted not by bird seed, but cat food. So far, the cats haven't seemed too interested in bird-watching. 

Due to the weather there will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 27. Stay warm and stay safe!

The Dysart Development Corporation sponsored an Old Creamery Nature Trail luncheon at the Community Building on Thursday, January 23. Thirty-one people attended to hear Randy Scheel of the Benton County Conservation Board speak about the history, recent improvements and future plans for the trail. The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad abandoned the track in 1994.

The arrest of a man who had been living in Vinton on murder charges from a 1998 cold case in Indiana has renewed interest in the history of murders and local cold cases. Vinton Today published a series on Benton County murders, including cold cases, a couple of years ago. We spoke to law enforcement officers, providers and the survivors of some of the victims.

“Let’s see if social media can help us find a killer,” wrote a member of the Vigo County (Indiana) Sheriff’s Office on that department’s Facebook page on Jan. 16. A week later, 15 years and four months after the murder of 19-year-old Erika Case in Terra Haute, Ind., that search for a killer led Indiana authorities back to Vinton and the arrest of a local resident who was a teenager in Terra Haute when the murder took place.

An Urbana used car dealer will refund fees it improperly collected from customers after Attorney General Tom Miller alleged the dealership collected finance charges and fees it was not entitled to collect, and improperly repossessed vehicles. In an agreement with Urbana Motors Inc., called an Assurance of Discontinuance, the dealership agreed to refund fees that state law did not entitle it to collect.