News : Remembering 2012: August broght Boomtown, changes to Nature Center

Angie Wittmer won second place at the State Fair with this painted ceramic ice cream cone.

Remembering 2012: Mathew Purdy became Conservation Director and made Nature Center top priority.

August brought news of six new health care providers beginning to serve patients at Virginia Gay Hospital.

Vinton artist Angie Wittmer won second place in the Iowa State Fair ice cream cone painting contest with "Fire and Ice," a tribute to Iowa's firefighters.

A string of burglaries in several counties led to arrests of two people.

Matthew Purdy, hired as the Benton County Conservation Director in 2012, made the completion and furnishing of the Benton County Nature Center his top priority. Many changes inside and outside of the Center just west of Rodgers Park took place last year.

After months of dry weather led to a county-wide open burn ban that threatened the annual Boomtown event, August rains allowed the event to go on, but the Saturday night finale took place in the rain.