TUESDAY, JAN. 9, 2024

Panora City Council discusses EMS proposal

Agrees to obtain a Mobile Solar Battery Trailer at no cost to the city.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

During the regular meeting of the Panora city council on Jan. 8, the council discussed the status of discussions with the EMS Advisory Council.

“Last Thursday, Brian (Dorsett), Blake (Michelsen), Lisa (Grossman) and I met with the county EMS advisory group,” Mayor Curt Thornberry said. “They put together a proposal.”

Michelsen and Dorsett shared their impressions from the meeting.

“Each side is kind of holding their own, and hopefully we can work through that in the next meeting or two, and finally get in a direction where we can move forward,” Councilman Dorsett said.

[...]

Guthrie County Supervisors deny appeal of Minor Subdivision decision

Approve a salary increase of 7.25% for elected officials.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

On Jan. 4, the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met for their first weekly budget workshop meeting in preparation for budgeting for the upcoming 2025 fiscal year. The supervisors heard from two departments, Veterans Affairs/General Relief and the Auditor’s Department.

Beth Watson, administrator for Veterans Affairs, provided a summary of the preliminary budgetary plans for her department.

Auditor Dani Fink shared budget numbers for her department. She explained the projected costs of elections.

[...]

Lopez and Fear join Yale City Council

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

At the Jan. 4 meeting of the Yale city council, Mindy Fear and Amber Lopez were appointed to fill two vacancies on the council. Each will fill the remainder of the terms, which run until 2025, unless a special election were to be held prior to November 2025.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

The first measurable winter storm of the season brought more than 9 inches of snowfall to the area by this morning, as seen in this photo on Main Street in Panora before sunrise.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

Effective Jan. 1, The Port at Lake Panorama has closed. According to a note on the restaurant’s door, it will remain closed until spring. Any updates will be posted on the Facebook page of The Port at Lake Panorama. At this time, the restaurant is expected to reopen by Saint Patrick’s Day.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

Landon and Lindsey Loftsgard are the new owners of Panorama Gardens in Panora. Their initial goal, according to Landon, is to keep things running the way customers have expected during the 70 years the business was run by the Olson family. Not only are there no immediate plans for drastic change, but there is a process in place to assure continuity.

“Panorama Gardens was in the Olson family, started by Dave’s father, since the early 1950s, and they’re staying on for the next couple weeks to do some training and ensure a smooth transition,” Landon said.

[...]

Guthrie County Hospital to replace cardiac telemetry equipment

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

The Guthrie County Hospital Board of Trustees met in regular session on Dec. 28. The trustees reviewed quality measures and finance numbers and also heard administrative updates from the various departments.

The trustees approved spending up to $175,000 to replace cardiac telemetry equipment, which continuously monitor patient ECG, respiratory rate and/or oxygen saturation while automatically transmitting data to a central monitor.

The trustees also discussed appointing officers for the new year. After discussion, the trustees chose to retain the officers from 2023, which include Mike Underwood (chair), Doug Kent (vice chair), Dana Tews (secretary) and Cheryl Marks (treasurer).

The board’s next regular meeting will be Thursday, Jan. 25 at 4 p.m. Board meetings are open to the public and may be attended in person or virtually. Information about these meetings and the virtual link can be found at http://guthriecountyhospital.org/newsandevents/.

BVU names students to Dean’s List

Special to the Times Vedette

Buena Vista University congratulates more than 500 students who were named to the fall 2023 Dean's List. The Dean's List recognizes full-time students achieving a 3.5 grade point average or higher for the semester. Those from the area include Lacie Davis of Coon Rapids; Audrey Franzeen of Guthrie Center; Easton Hays of Coon Rapids; Halley Joel of Stuart; Gabriel Obert of Coon Rapids; Drew Taylor of Redfield; Evan Taylor of Redfield; and Claire Woodworth of Panora.

Fett named to Concordia University's Honors List

Special to the Times Vedette

Leah Fett of Guthrie Center was recently named to Concordia University, Nebraska's Honors List for the fall 2023 semester. A total of 226 total students were named who earned a 3.9 GPA or higher while also completing at least 12 credit hours.

Dickson, Grubbs named to fall term Dean's List at Wartburg

Special to the Times Vedette

Wartburg College recognized 484 students who were named to the 2023 fall term Dean's List, including Mitchell Dickson of Stuart, and Tatum Grubbs of Casey.

Conroy named to SNHU Dean's List

Special to the Times Vedette

Justin Conroy of Redfield has been named to Southern New Hampshire University's Fall 2023 Dean's List. The fall terms run from September to December.
Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.500 to 3.699 for the reporting term are named to the Dean's List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired eight-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.

Boys basketball

Chargers upset Tigers, 54-47

The ACGC Chargers (7-2) took down the No. 4 Madrid Tigers (8-2), 54-47. ACGC outscored Madrid 29-19 in the second half to secure the win against the Tigers. The second-half comeback was fueled in part by performances from junior Noah Kading, with an eye-popping 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Jathan South was the only other Charger in double figures, adding 10 points and 5 rebounds.

ACGC beats Spartans, 65-62

ACGC (8-2) went into the weekend with back-to-back wins, this one against Exhira-EHK (7-3), with a final score of 65-62. Jathan South once again led the Chargers in scoring, this time going for 26 points on great efficiency, 9/14 from the field and 6/11 from behind the arc. Payton Policky contributed 12 points and 8 rebounds to the tight win.

Tonight's game against Woodward-Granger (5-5) has been postponed. On Jan. 12, they have another top-five test, this time against No. 3 Earlham (9-1).

Girls basketball

Chargers blow out Madrid, 51-11

The ACGC Chargers (7-3) blew out the Madrid Tigers (2-9) on Jan. 5, 51-11. Two Chargers put up double figures in points, Kelsey Carlson with 12, all of which came from three-point land, and Camdyn Richter with 11. Shay Lemke did damage on all sides of the game, with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

ACGC defeats Exira-EHK, 53-40

ACGC (8-3) pulled away from Exira-EHK (7-3) after being down in the first quarter to secure a 53-40 victory. Shay Lemke led the team in scoring this time with 18 points while also dishing out 7 assists. Stella Largent had a monster night on the glass, grabbing 16 rebounds.

Tonight's game against Woodward-Granger (8-3) has been postponed. They’re back at home on Friday, Jan. 12 against No. 15 Earlham (5-4).

Boys wrestling

ACGC wrestlers take fourth at Nodaway Valley

ACGC boys wrestling finished in the top 5 at the Tri-Center Invitational on Jan. 6, finishing fourth overall with 133 points. Nodaway Valley took first with 178.5.

ACGC Wrestlers who placed:

Chase Slaybaugh, 5th at 113
Tegan Slaybaugh, 1st at 120
Gavin Sloss, 2nd at 126
Charlie Christensen, 6th at 123
Ryder Cline, 5th at 144
Taytum Bates, 6th at 150
Jackson Pfrang, 6th at 165
Payton Jacobe, 2nd at 285

ACGC places 12th at West Central Valley Invite

The ACGC girls wrestling program participated in the West Central Valley Girls Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 6. Out of the 14 participating schools, they finished in 12. They recorded 30 points as a team. Individual results were not available as of press time.

Photo by Kevin Fister

Panthers down Ogden, 59-45

Panorama boys basketball extended their record to 7-4 over the weekend with a win over the Ogden Bulldogs, 59-45. Some notable performances from the Panthers include a near triple double for freshman Trey Boettcher. He stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 8 steals. Senior Maddox Hammerstrom flirted with a triple double, with 8 points, 12 rebounds and 9 steals.

The Panthers return to action later this week, playing at Nodaway Valley (0-8) on Jan. 11, and then at home the next day against Van Meter (5-5) on Jan. 12.

Photo by Mallory Quick

Panorama pummels Ogden, 81-4

Look away, Ogden fans. The No. 2 Panorama Panthers girls basketball (10-0) team embarrassed the Bulldogs (4-8) 81-4 on Jan. 5. Plenty of Panthers put up impressive performances. Senior Jaidyn Sellers scored 23 points on great efficiency, shooting 11/15 from the field. Tyme Boettcher was all over the floor, adding in 16 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

The undefeated Panthers face their biggest test of the season yet on Jan. 11 against No. 8 Nodaway Valley (10-1) and play at home the next day against Van Meter (6-5).

Photo by Betty Cooper

Panthers place sixth at West Central Valley invite

Panorama boys wrestling finished sixth out of 15 teams at the PCM Mustang invitational, putting up a team score of 119. PCM and Southeast Polk tied for first with 201.

Panorama wrestlers who placed:

Laine Christie, 6th at 106
Syler Shaffer, 7th at 113
Tage Monahan, 3rd at 120
Landon Kirtley, 4th at 132
Gabe Wagner, 8th at 145
Cayden Vanmeer, 1st at 152
Emmett King, 6th at 182
Issac Monrroy-Nunez, 4th at 220
Joel Cooper, 5th at 285

Photo by Betty Cooper

Panthers place 11th at West Central Valley invite

The Panorama girls wrestling program participated in the West Central Valley Girls Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 6. Out of the 14 participating schools, they finished 11. As a team they scored 34 points.

Photo by Kevin Fister

Many people have begun the new year with goal-setting and resolutions. Several people I know have made resolutions around reading more. Some have set goals to read a certain number of books per year while others have daily reading goals. So how does one keep track of all that reading?

Some people enjoy a reading journal where they record books they want to read and books that they have read; some truly ambitious readers even write reviews of the books they consumed. Others just use a habit tracker to record daily reading habits.

Many people I know are fans of downloading an app on their phones to keep track of reading progress. Some apps that are available include Bookworm Reads, The StoryGraph, and Bookly.

[...]

Photo caption: Creating a puffy paint masterpiece is one of Johnny Maine’s favorite craft activities.

Congregate Meals are served at Sneakers Café, Monday through Friday, in the Guthrie County Hospital. No meals are available on major holidays or during inclement weather. This service is available for seniors ages 60 and older. No reservation is needed. All menus follow Elderbridge-approved menus and provide at least one-third of the nutritional needs of individuals 60 and older. Menus are subject to change. Homebound residents of Guthrie Center can also enjoy a nutritious meal delivered to their home Monday through Friday. No meal delivery on major holidays or during inclement weather. Delivery service is provided by volunteers from the area churches and organizations. This service is available for seniors ages 60 and older who are not able to easily leave their home to come to the meal site for lunch. Congregate meals and Meals on Wheels are funded by donations and by the Elderbridge Agency on Aging. The program does not charge for meals, but donations from clients for their meals help with the cost of the service. For more information on these services, call 641-332-3818.

See what’s being served for hot lunch in the area schools:

PANORAMA SCHOOL DISTRICT AND PRESCHOOL

ADAIR-CASEY AND GUTHRIE CENTER JUNIOR HIGH

1-1-24
1:03 a.m. Panora Ambulance transported a patient from Audubon County Hospital to Omaha
1:48 a.m. Stuart Police responded to a report of suspicious activity
2:05 a.m. Guthrie County Deputies responded to a report of an assault in Guthrie Center
2:15 p.m. Guthrie County Deputy responded to a report of a theft and referred the person to the agency where the theft occurred
4:35 p.m. Guthrie County Deputy followed up on an investigation in Guthrie Center
4:50 p.m. Stuart Rescue responded to a medical call in Stuart
5:45 p.m. Stuart Rescue Unit 2 responded to a medical call in Stuart
11 p.m. Casey Fire Department and Guthrie County Deputy assisted a motorist in Casey
11:55 p.m. Panora Ambulance responded to a medical call in rural Panora

[...]

From the archives of The Guthrie County Vedette, Jan. 2, 2014

DOWNHILL RACERS: A light snow Monday provided an opportunity for snowboarders Preston Walker, left, Tyler Brown, center, and Dominic Walker to search the town for slick spots.

By Michael Woody | Times Vedette

This movie was apparently made to deliberately irritate at least half of its audience every night. It stars Barry Keoghan, who was Oscar-nominated for his performance in “The Banshees of Inisherin” last year, and it was written and directed by Emerald Fennell, who challenged us with “Promising Young Woman” a few years ago. This is a polarizing film that will test many audience members. It is not for the weak of heart.

Grade: B/B+

Roger Dorr of Panora has an eclectic collection of vintage car signs and related items.

By Rich Wicks | Panora Times

Roger Dorr of Panora has an eye for items from the good old days. If he finds something quirky or weird, even better. A tour of Dorr’s yard and garage yields an eclectic collection of vintage car signs and related items — and a few things that are difficult to classify.

In explaining why there is an eight-foot-long green dinosaur in his yard, Dorr said, “I used to own a convenience store 22 years ago out in Council Bluffs. It was a Texaco station, so then I started getting into the vintage gas pumps and all that stuff. The house we used to live in, I had it all set up in Texaco stuff from the 1940s and 1950s. So, here, I decided to do the Sinclair ones.”

[...]

What's the weatherman's favorite food in winter?
Brrr-itos!

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