News
Jury Duty: Area jurors say experience was interesting, inconvenient, painful
Serving on a Benton County jury is an enjoyable – although at times inconvenient – experience that offers an opportunity to learn much about the legal process.
It can also be surprisingly and intensely painful, and force you to discuss publicly some of the most painful secrets of your past.
As a member of the potential jury pool in the first trial of Chad Stechcon, and as a member of the media covering the second trial, I saw five Vinton area residents I recognized among approximately 85 residents who came for jury duty on two consecutive Mondays.
Rodgers Park Haunted Trail returns this weekend
The Rodgers Park Haunted Trail returns this year, on Oct. 12 and 13. Times are 7-11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, and 8-11 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13. Cost is $8 for adults and $4 for children ages 5-12. Band earns more Division 1 ratings; Drum Majors honored
The Vinton-Shellsburg High School Marching Band will be concluding its marching season this Friday as the band will perform at the 2012 Waukee Marching Invitational. This event will conclude one of the finest marching seasons for the band program.
On Saturday, September 22, the VSHS Marching Band went to Cedar Rapids Prairie for the “Bands Across the Prairie Invitational” and placed 4th. Dry weather brings new clean-up climate for Cedar River volunteers
After five solid hours and four full truckloads and trips to the city dumps, 11 volunteers finally sat down, to pull off their mud-laden boots and muck-covered gloves. A collective sigh was shared by everyone.
The day began with layering their winter clothes against the 30+ temperatures and a hot cup of coffee, and then it was straight to work, climbing down the riverbank, bags in hand.
Women's Oral History now available to order on CD
In-depth first-person accounts of rural Iowa history from the last century are now available to families, researchers, library archives and schools, thanks to area trusts, private donations, volunteers and an Iowa City archive.
Ten Benton County women’s life reviews, in their own voices, were recently restored, indexed and digitized from cassette tapes to CDs through grants from the Mansfield Trust of Belle Plaine, the Gilchrist Trust of Vinton, Three Rivers Promotions of Center Point and private donations. Vinton High School Class of 1962 holds 50 year Reunion
Held in conjunction with Vinton-Shellsburg High School Homecoming, Sept. 20 – 22. Reunion attendees participated in the Homecoming parade, enjoyed the ambiance of the Ray House as a gathering space, attended the V-S high school football game, toured the former high school, current high school and the Palace Theater. Saturday night they had dinner together at the Vinton Country Club. Jury Duty: Stechcon trial demonstrates how rules define allowed evidence
The jurors who convicted Chad Stechcon of first degree burglary, domestic assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment on Thursday, Oct. 4, heard testimony and saw evidence of those crimes during two-day trial that preceded the verdict.
They heard how he threatened a woman with a knife after entering her house wearing rubber gloves and carrying electrical tape and zip ties.
Accident damages car, lights on 4th Street; no apparent serious injuries
A car collided with a street lamp post in the median on East Fourth Street in Vinton at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday night. The Vinton Fire Department and North Benton Ambulance Service responded to the scene. The ambulance crew tended to the driver, who did not seem to have any apparently serious injuries. The firefighters cleaned the roadway and checked the base of the broken post for exposed wires or other potential safety problems. VU visitors see laser, other processes at Ideal Industries
Vinton Unlimited After Hours held at Ideal Industries last night went…well….Ideally! It was a fantastic opportunity to look behind the curtain of a business that doesn’t get much foot traffic by the general public. Everyone who uses products ranging from field tile to car washes can thank Ideal Industries for the work they do. District judge discusses importance of jury service; and his experience on jury
The most important thing for people to know about jury service is how much their efforts to fulfill the jury’s important role in the judicial system are appreciated, says District Judge Douglas Russell.
Judge Russell was the presiding judge over the trial in which I was a member of the jury pool. And the week before that trial, he found himself in a role in which he had never served: A member of a jury.