News
Two-hour late start for VS schools on Tuesday; bundle up!
Due to the continued cold and wind chill concerns, Vinton-Shellsburg classes will begin two hours late on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Be sure to bundle up and use extra care when coming to school!
Winter visitor
Blue Jays have been frequenting the deck at the Close residence north Vinton, attracted not by bird seed, but cat food. So far, the cats haven't seemed too interested in bird-watching. No school Monday, Jan. 27
Due to the weather there will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 27. Stay warm and stay safe!
Dysart group hears of Old Creamery Nature Trail history, future plans
The Dysart Development Corporation sponsored an Old Creamery Nature Trail luncheon at the Community Building on Thursday, January 23. Thirty-one people attended to hear Randy Scheel of the Benton County Conservation Board speak about the history, recent improvements and future plans for the trail.
The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad abandoned the track in 1994. Many area residents recall Benton County murders and cold cases
The arrest of a man who had been living in Vinton on murder charges from a 1998 cold case in Indiana has renewed interest in the history of murders and local cold cases.
Vinton Today published a series on Benton County murders, including cold cases, a couple of years ago. We spoke to law enforcement officers, providers and the survivors of some of the victims. Vinton man jailed for '98 murder in Indiana; authorities say he has confessed
“Let’s see if social media can help us find a killer,” wrote a member of the Vigo County (Indiana) Sheriff’s Office on that department’s Facebook page on Jan. 16.
A week later, 15 years and four months after the murder of 19-year-old Erika Case in Terra Haute, Ind., that search for a killer led Indiana authorities back to Vinton and the arrest of a local resident who was a teenager in Terra Haute when the murder took place. Urbana Motors makes agreement with AG; to refund fees to some customers
An Urbana used car dealer will refund fees it improperly collected from customers after Attorney General Tom Miller alleged the dealership collected finance charges and fees it was not entitled to collect, and improperly repossessed vehicles.
In an agreement with Urbana Motors Inc., called an Assurance of Discontinuance, the dealership agreed to refund fees that state law did not entitle it to collect.
The sun-dog days of winter
Winter days like today's with warnings about dangerous wind chills, do not offer many reasons to go outside. But the weather does come with a unique phenomenon (just remember to not look directly at the sun!).
Sun dogs (parhelia) are the result of sunlight's refraction through ice crystals. See more scientific details HERE.
V-S two hour late start Thursday 22, 2014
Due to weather conditions, there will be a 2 hour late start tomorrow Thursday, 1/22/14.
Big Restoration at Big Grove: Restoring an Old Treasure
By Patrick McNoughton
Big Grove Wildlife Area is one of Benton County Conservation’s (BCC) outlying parcels of land. The one acre site is located approximately 2.5 miles North of Van Horne at the intersection of 21st Ave. and 67th Street. When the pioneers first came to what is Benton County today, the site would have been a small speck of timber in a sea of tall grass prairie.