Designer Jenny Seuntjens has earned first place as Best Ad Designer in the Better Newspapers Contest sponsored by the Iowa Newspaper Foundation with staff of the Holstein Advance and Ida County Courier taking home half of a dozen wins including three first-place wins.
Awards were presented Thursday during a convention honoring achievements.
“Great designs, great use of color, ads stand out among others” noted the judging comments for Seuntjens’ honor. A first place in Best Feature Page also went to the Ida County newspaper staff.
A visitor is making its way into the homes of area residents in Galva, Holstein and Cushing. The Holstein Advance is being delivered free to every home in several area communities, and we have local businesses who are taking advantage to let you know what they have to offer as we also bring you award-winning community news on the heels of a massive win at the state journalism awards.
Area organizations are among the beneficiaries as over $100,000 has been awarded by the Ida County Community Betterment Foundation.
Major recipients include the Holstein American Legion, Battle Creek Fire Department, Ida Grove Public Library, Galva Fire Department, Holstein Fire and Ambulance, Ida County Fair Board and McNamara-Moore Post 61.
Each won a grant of $10,000.
The fire departments’ awards will go to equipment needs while the Holstein American Legion will see a new unit for heating and cooling.
Total assets increased by over $1 million for Horn Memorial Hospital, a healthy state of affairs amid pandemic concerns.
From 2020 to 2021, the hospital saw its assets increase form just over $35 mill to $36.2 million, according to a draft Treasurer’s Report released by the hospital.
AT the same time long-term debt decreased for the hospital, from $9.5 million to just under $9 million. Liabilities increased some from just under $2.2 million to $3.4 million for a net increase in liabilities from $11.7 million to $12.4 million.
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley visited Ida County Wednesday to talk to voters over the noon hour as Iowa’s senior senator meets with constituents across the state.
For this trip, Grassley, who is Iowa’s longest-serving senator and one of only two farmers in the U.S. Senate, gathered with constituents at the Midwest Deli & Grill in Holstein.
The Senator, who is a farmer from New Hartford, Iowa, said the greatest concerns he hears from folks across the state are about inflation and illegal immigration.
While basic necessities such as bread, meat and gasoline skyrocket under some of the worst inflation since the 1970s, Ida County is among the top counties in Iowa for purchasing power, according to the results of a new study. Aggregator Smart Asset has Ida County sitting at eighth place for all of Iowa’s 99 counties for the highest purchasing power.
The study looked at cost of living in relation to income locally for each county.
Iowa’s unemployment fell to 3.3 percent in March, a drop from 3.5 the month before and down 1.1 percent from 4.4 percent last year while Ida County beat the state by .5 percent at 2.8 percent.
Area counties were among the best in the state in the numbers released by Iowa Workforce Development as Iowa itself is among the nation’s leaders.
Nationwide, unemployment was at 3.6 percent.
By comparison, only Crawford County was above the state average for the region, clocking in a 5.4 percent while Sac County stood at 3.1 percent.
The Farmer’s Market in Holstein will be back, albeit in a different location for the summer. Members of the Holstein Chamber of Commerce heard recently that Christina Kjar Hanson has taken over duties for the farmer’s market.
Up this year is a venue change, now heading to 2nd and Highway 59 in the area of CornerHaus 101. Branding for the farmer’s market will see it now called “Market on Main” with hours every Tuesday. Kickoff will be June 7 for patrons hoping for a tasty treat or something homegrown.
Efforts to renegotiate the details of how Galva-Holstein and Schaller-Crestland sharing is handled should not end in a break-up, board members heard from community members.
A joint meeting of the two boards in the Schaller gymnasium drew community members curious about a decision by the G-H board to give notice of intent to end the previous sharing agreement.
In a statement to the newspaper Superintendent Jon Wiebers made clear the G-H board was not calling for an end to all sharing, just a revisitation of how the arrangement is structured.
While the chill in the air might still feel like winter some days, this summer’s RAGBRAI passage through the area is already hot on the minds of many with Galva City Council looking at how best to get ready for the ride.
RAGBRAI kicks off Sunday, July 24 and will end the day in Ida Grove after venturing through Battle Creek as well in Ida County with the Monday, July 24 portion heading into Galva.
From there, riders will head to Schaller and Nemaha and Fonda.
For its parts, Galva expects to welcome thousands during the day with vendors out to greet visitors.
