SWEA CITY—The trial of a Swea City man accused of manslaughter in the death of another Swea City man has been delayed again.

Robert Dwaine Laverty, 52, is accused of voluntary manslaughter, a Class C felony, following an incident on April 3, 2021, at Howard Street and Third Avenue East in Swea City, after which 41-year-old Casey Tobin died. 

KOSSUTH—The June 7 Kossuth County primary elections will see only two contested races with Carter Nath (R) of Lu Verne running against Galen Casey (D) for District 1 county supervisor and Don McGregor (R) running against Kyle Stecker (R) for District 4 county supervisor.

SWEA CITY—Anna Maria Lane and Algona chapters of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution along with the American Legion Post #14 Swea City will honor all Vietnam War and Vietnam era veterans (1955-1975) at a ceremony on Saturday, June 25 at 1 p.m. at the park in Swea City.

The groups are asking those planning to attend to RSVP by April 22 if they wish to receive a commemorative pin and certificate at the ceremony. 

ALGONA—Bishop Garrigan High School has announced the students who qualified for the third quarter honor roll for the 2021-22 school year. 

Those with an asterisk (*) earned a 4.0 grade point average.

Iowa’s nine Area Education Agencies have received computer science grant funding from the Iowa Department of Education that will provide close to $1 million in computer science professional development and impact nearly 850 educators this summer. The grant will be used to pay for the professional learning opportunity, and it also provides a stipend for teachers who participate in that professional development.

Mike Moen

Iowa news Service

DES MOINES—When plans come together for new retail centers and office buildings, policy experts and local leaders in Iowa said municipal and real-estate developers need to adopt a more inclusive mindset.

They said child care and accessible transportation should be on a project’s checklist. The Greater Des Moines Partnership recently hosted a forum on the topic.

AMES—A research project by Iowa State University soil scientists provides new insight into the complex picture of phosphorus loss from farmland and evidence proving phosphorus runoff is often underestimated.

One of the project’s primary objectives was to determine how much dissolved phosphorus (P) in surface runoff may not be accurately measured by common methods. The work was conducted over three years with funding from the Iowa Nutrient Research Center at Iowa State.

DES MOINES—Iowa farmers intend to plant 12.6 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2022 according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service– Prospective Plantings report. This is down 300,000 acres from 2021.

Producers intend to plant 10.4 million acres of soybeans in Iowa this year. This is 300,000 acres higher than 2021.

Iowa farmers intend to plant 150,000 acres of oats for all purposes. This is up 20,000 acres from last year.

DES MOINES—The average price received by farmers for corn during February 2022 in Iowa was $6.11 per bushel according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service–Agricultural Prices report. This was 41 cents above the January price and $1.24 above February 2021.

The February 2022 average price received by farmers for soybeans, at $14.50 per bushel, was $1.60 above the January price and $1.80 above the February 2021 price.

ALGONA—Following FDA’s approval, the CDC has updated its recommendations to allow certain immunocompromised individuals and people over the age of 50 who received an initial booster dose at least 4 months ago to be eligible for another mRNA booster to increase their protection against severe disease from COVID-19. 

Individuals can come to Community Health of Kossuth Regional Health Center to receive an additional booster dose of the vaccine. 

This is the third of a four-week series.

By Kim Wegener

Features Writer

Nineteen years ago the community of Hampton addressed the day care needs of the area and built a community day care facility. The Glidden community will be opening a day care facility in 2022. Here is a snapshot look at both day care centers. 

Waiting list for center

By Kim Wegener

Features Writer

One of Ally Klee’s main goals as the new Kossuth County C.A.R.E. Team director is to reach a younger demographic that may not be aware that the C.A.R.E. Team exists. Klee said there are so many younger people and young mothers who could be benefiting from the C.A.R.E. Team that are not utilizing it. 

Mark Poeppe, owner of Poeppe Expert Psychological Services in Clive, made his appearance on the new TV show, Someone They Knew, which aired on Court TV last Sunday night. The episode, Hometown Hero, featured the 2009 shooting death of Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas who was shot by former student Mark Becker. 

IOWA CITY—On Saturday, March 26, Iowa University selected Christian Frankl as the next drum major of the 142nd Hawkeye Marching Band (HMB). Frankl’s parents are Jerry Frankl who grew up on a farm by Irvington and his mother Amy (Arndorfer) was raised near Wesley. Both are graduates of Garrigan.

BURT—Award winning Christian music duo, Blake and Jenna Bolerjack will be in concert at Burt Presbyterian Church in Burt at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 3. As husband and wife, Blake and Jenna meld their voices to create a signature, velvety blend. Their music reflects their personalities, a bubbly mix of classic and modern styles with a big sound that is energetic, happy and inspiring. They also will share their testimonies about how even in dark times God never leaves you.