News

     Benton County Public Health Director Nancy Farmer said that the extreme summer heat and the risk of exposure to tetanus by those handling storm debris are health concerns that Benton County residents should keep in mind.     "Everyone knows about the heat," said Farmer. "But sometimes people forget about the risk of tetanus.

    A hand-written sign on the Peony Family restaurant in downtown Vinton says "Closed."      Up until the first week in May, the case involving Chan Duong and his wife, Phung Ca "Polly" Long, was progressing in a way that seemed destined to allow the couple to keep operating the restaurant.     But after a federal search warrant executed May 3 revealed evidence that the couple had continued to defraud federal and state governments by underreporting restaurant sales and employee wages, the penalties for their misconduct --both in terms of the length of their prison sentences and the financial impact of their crimes on the defendants -- increased significantly.

    The FAA is investigating a forced landing of a crop dusting plane southeast of Vinton on Monday evening. Area aviation enthusiasts are praising the pilot for a successful response to a crisis situation.     "It wasn't a crash, it was a very well-done forced landing," said Rick Hadley, a pilot and Airport Commission member.

     The storm that damaged countless trees in the area has also affected the Cedar River, said Tami Stark, the organizer of the annual Cedar River RATS (Running Around Tidying Streams) group that meets the first Saturday of each August to remove refuse from the river.      This year, said Stark, the group will begin at the Riverside boat ramp and end at the Wildcat.

     The last day for tree debris pickup from the July 11th windstorm, by the Vinton Street Department will be Friday, August 12th.      Please place all remaining tree debris on the curb, not in the street, by this date. Any remaining debris will be the responsibility of the property owner. If you have questions, please call Vinton City Hall at 472-4707.

  We had a great weekend building the Shellsburg Elementary playground. We still have some work to do but it will be complete before school starts!   Thanks to all those who have donated items and helped build!

  Breeding Sheep Thursday, July 14, 2011 Roger Olson, Story City, IA   Place Ribbon White & Speckled Face Commercial Ewe Lamb 1 Tayte Lindemier P   Black Face Commercial Ewe Lamb Class 1 1 Dylan Geater P 2 Tayte Lindemier P 3 Brannen Hudson B 4 Dylan Geater B 5 Austin Leng B 6 Elizabeth Wilson B   Class 2 1 Shelby Karr P 2 Wes Kaufman P 3 Brannen Hudson B 4 Keaton Robb B   Class 3 1 Haley Meyer P 2 Logan Takes P   Grand Champion Commercial Ewe Lamb Shelby Karr Res.

  2011 Benton County Fair Home Ec. & S.E.E. Results   Ag & Natural Resources Selected for State Fair: Amy Andrews, Colin Cox, Olivia Cox, Mitchell Ternus, Larissa Volz Award of Excellence:Cassie Kenney, Kyle Miner, Abbey Pailthorpe, Larissa Volz, Matthew Voss Blue:Larissa Volz, Matthew Voss

    Ahoy, ye landlubbers!     Avast! Behold! Beyond yonder horizon!     Sailing into the sunset me sees four vessels, each with a young pup at the helm.     ARR! Now they are all awash, having been cast into the brimy deep!        From an organizer's standpoint, the first Vinton Parks and Recreation Department Cardboard Boat Race was a success (see the video at the end of the story).

     In extreme storms there are no preventative measures that can reduce tree damage. But many of our trees can be repaired and others have pre-existing weaknesses that can be corrected to reduce storm damage.  Storm damage evaluation       The first step is to visually assess the damage to your trees.