In Greene County district court Melanie Marie Smith, 25, of Jefferson pleaded not guilty Jan. 28 to a charge of accessory after the fact. A trial date was set for April 8. Information is available since the return of an arrest warrant that Richard Dean Sucher, 57, of Perry has been charged with gambling- avoid set-off and fraudulent practice- second…
Read MoreAuthor: Tori Riley
Richards retiring as Bell Tower tour coordinator
Board is hiring part-time positions The Bell Tower Community Foundation board has appreciated its dedicated Tower tour coordinator Pat Richards since 2014. During her tenure, Pat worked to expand group and bus tours to the community and reached out to many visitors to experience the Mahanay Bell Tower. Richards and the staff she hired and trained are most likely the…
Read MoreThe Capitol Roundup
~by Senator Jesse Green January 31, 2025 The third week of session has arrived and we are now in full swing with many visitors and subcommittees. To begin the week, Senate Republicans released our funding proposal for the next school year, proposing a $235 million increase for K-12 students. The increase in state funding is in addition to the budget…
Read MoreJeff city council hears FY26 budget presentation, moves ahead with airport fuel project
The proposed FY2026 (year ending June 30, 2026) for the city of Jefferson shows general revenue of $4,182,678, general fund expenditures of $4,404,312, and a combined levy rate of $14.88 (per $1,000 of taxable valuation). The combined levy rate is unchanged from the current year. However, the portion of the levy for debt service is up 36 cents over the…
Read MoreAnnual BRR is this Saturday
The town of Rippey will once again follow its annual Bike Ride to Rippey tradition this Saturday, Feb. 1. Registration and check-in at Hotel Pattee in Perry will be from 8 am to 1 pm. The 48th annual BRR ride will kick off at Willis Ave and 2nd St in Perry at 10 am. From Perry, riders will start their trek toward…
Read MoreTwo Ram grapplers champions at HOIAC tourney
~by Dustin Teays for The Scranton Journal A pair of Ram wrestlers earned champion titles at the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference tournament at Roland-Story Jan. 24. Overall, the team netted two champions, two second-place finishes, one fifth-place finish, and one sixth-place finish. The two champions on the day were Jaron Jacobs, who took first place at 113 pounds with…
Read MoreCarman’s scoring burst not enough to top PCM
~by Dustin Teays for The Scranton Journal The Greene County Rams boys’ basketball team had a career high scorer but it wasn’t enough to win when they faced Jan. 24. Senior Isaac Carman led the Rams with 22 points with most of his damage coming from beyond the arc. Carman went a blistering seven for 11 from three-point land and…
Read MoreRam girls, boys bowlers both pick up wins
~by Dustin Teays for The Scranton Journal They may have been over different teams, but both the Greene County Rams girls’ and boys’ bowling teams earned wins last week. In their first meet of the week, both Rams teams took on Fort Dodge Jan. 20. The girls ultimately fell by a score of 1,919-1,730, but the boys were able to…
Read MoreP-C boys fall to AR-We-Va, CR-B in hoops
~by Dustin Teays for The Scranton Journal The Paton-Churdan Rockets boys’ basketball team is enjoying one of its best seasons in recent years, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its speed bumps. The win total for the Rockets so far this year represents the most wins in a season since the 2019-20 season – their record is now 6-9 –…
Read MoreP-C girls hoops team marks Senior Night
~by Dustin Teays for the Scranton Journal The Paton-Churdan Rockets girls’ basketball team recently celebrated its seniors during Senior Night. Overall, the Rockets are an extremely young team, as showcased by the fact that there is just one senior on the roster, Grace Cullum. Cullum was recently recognized Jan. 21 during Senior Night against Ar-We-Va for her time with the…
Read MoreRam girls remain winless in hoops
~by Dustin Teays for The Scranton Journal This past week of matchups for the Greene County Rams girls’ basketball team featured one powerhouse. The Rams girls had two matchups last week, one against the Madrid Tigers Jan. 20, where they fell by a score of 58-35, and another against the high-powered and ranked PCM Mustangs Jan. 24, where they lost…
Read MoreView from my window – Ask our legislators about cancer rates at ‘Meet Your Legislator’ event
Governor Kim Reynolds provided the 2025 Condition of the State on Jan. 14. The budget she recommended was $9.43 billion. She recommended a $1 million allocation to study cancer in Iowa. This was 0.0111 per cent of the total budget. This allocation was to offset that the state of Iowa now has the second-highest cancer incidence among all U.S. states,…
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