News

The Benton County Sheriff's received a report of an automobile accident with fatal injuries near 7287 16th Avenue south of Keystone on Saturday evening. Authorities say a drunk driver from Texas ran a stop sign while he was driving north on 16th Avenue and entered Highway, 30, where his 2012 GMC pickup hit an eastbound 2004 Chevrolet Impala, killing all three people in that vehicle.

The Benton County Sheriff's received a report of an automobile accident with fatal injuries near 7287 16th Avenue south of Keystone on Saturday evening. The incident remains under investigation.  The accident took along Highway 30.

The Friends of the Shelter, Inc., are trying to help owners locate three missing dogs. Click on the photos for more information

The 4th Street Diner meal on Sunday, August 18th, will be Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes/Gravy, Broccoli/Cheese Sauce, Mixed Green Salad, Peach Crisp, WW Bread, Milk.   On Monday, June 24th, there were 3 tables of Pepper Cards played.  First place went to Geri Shaffer with 339 points.  Leroy Weiser won 2nd place with 314 points.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced today that cost share funds are available to help farmers install nutrient reduction practices.  The initial practices that are prioritized for funding this fall are cover crops, no-till or strip till, or using a nitrification inhibitor when applying fertilizer. “These funds are available to help farmers take steps this fall to reduce nutrient losses,” Northey said.

The boats are trailered, the canoes are dry, the buckets are stowed and the treasures from the clean up are in the landfill. The 6th Annual Cedar River Clean Up was as successful in finding trash as the 1st Annual Clean Up was in 2008. This year, we heard many of the same things we heard in 2008, ‘‘you aren’t going to find anything out there’’ , ‘‘that river’s clean, there’s nothing there’’ , ‘‘the high water took everything out of here’’ (and we had some HIGH water in 2008!!) If you watch the water flow on just the top of the river, you can see how quickly it passes through here, only to have every inch replaced every second by more water, water that’s never been here before and never will be again.

Catfish was on the menu for the second annual Vinton-Shellsburg football camp-out at the Womochil farm. The players also added a few other impromptu menu items -- staring with a bull snake. Someone saw the snake slithering near the Cedar River as players set up camp. Soon the beheaded reptile was skinned and placed on a barbecue grate placed over an open fire.

Are you an avid gardener, but would like to know more about gardening, plants and horticulture? Would you like to meet people who share your interest in gardening? If so, you may be interested in becoming a MASTER GARDENER. What is a MASTER GARDENER? Master Gardeners are individuals who have an interest in horticulture, have taken the Master Gardener training offered by the extension service and share their time and expertise with other gardeners.

Willow Huber is competing this week in the Iowa State Fair Queen event. The new Queen will be crowned on Saturday evening. Willow was named the Benton County Fair Queen last month.      Out of the seven girls participating this year besides our County Queen  Willow Huber, several of them have earned other honors.  Rylie Pflughaupt is the Iowa Jersey Princess, Aspen Auld is the Llama Association Queen.

Jenna and Nora Grovert of rural Shellsburg placed first in the Twins, Triplets and More Contest at the Iowa State Fair.  The competition was held August 8, on the opening day of the 2013 fair.  The twin daughters of Paul and Janet Grovert brought home the blue ribbon in the Most Alike, Age 3 category.  The girls also won first place in 2010 for the Under 1 category, first place in 2011 for the Age 1 category and placed 4th for the Age 2 category in 2012.