By Robin OpsahlGov. Kim Reynolds announced Thursday she was introducing legislation that would increase taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products, institute a new tax on consumable hemp and vape products, in addition to other measures that she said will encourage healthier behaviors in Iowa.

Chloe Sanders earned her 150th high school career pin last Thursday, and went on to become the first girl in the state of Iowa to reach 200 high school career wins!History was made for Vinton-Shellsburg Girls Wrestling with this very first state champion, Chloe Sanders! Chloe becomes Vinton-Shellsburg’s first-ever female wrestling state champion, and only the second state wrestling champion in school history, joining her brother, Gabe Sanders.

At the last Vinton City Council meeting, the city approved the retirement of the Vinton Police Department's K-9 Officer, Gino. In December 2016, the German Shepherd, along with his partner Officer Ben Parmater, completed their training together in Indiana.

Swim results from the boys' swim team conference meet last weekend at Luther are as follows.  The boys placed 7th (106 points) out of 8 teams at the meet, which is amazing considering we only have 4 swimmers.

Attorney General Brenna Bird  announced today at a press conference  a new community initiative in collaboration with  the Iowa  Coalition Against Domestic Violence  and Ring  (an Amazon company)  to  support domestic violence survivors with  technology and safety  tools.

It began when Marvin and JoAnn Roster decided to build a larger garage at their home on 17th St. They followed all the rules. They drew up the plans and submitted them to the city.

By: Co-Reporter, Abby McKennaOn Wednesday, January 21st, seniors Ben Buhr and Braedon Hepker attended the FFA Legislative Symposium with chaperone Chad Newton.

The Kiwanis Club of Vinton continued its mission of serving the community by delivering dictionaries to all third-grade students in the Vinton-Shellsburg School District.

By: Co-Reporter, Bri DulinOn Friday, January 16th, the Vinton-Shellsburg FFA Chapter hosted its annual Spaghetti Dinner from 5:00—8:00 p.m. during the Williamsburg Boys and Girls basketball game.

No two days look the same in the life of a deputy. Today was a reminder of that reality, and of how quickly situations can turn critical. After a passerby called 911 to report a dog that had fallen through the ice and was struggling to stay afloat, Deputy Fairbanks responded without hesitation.