News
Celebration Park exceeds budget; council debates using $100,000 from LOST funds
The Vinton City Council narrowly and tentatively approved spending up to $100,000 in local option sales tax funds to cover the higher-than anticipated costs of Celebration Park, but must take further action at its next meeting to make the approval official.
Although fund-raising efforts have netted more than $280,000, the cost of the project is now estimated at $367,000. Scam phone calls to utility customers continue into summer
Callers threaten service disconnection and target customers with Hispanic surnames
Alliant Energy today reminded customers to be wary of scam phone calls, as complaints similar to those received in winter and spring are continuing into the summer. Similar to a scam that has been in occurring locally and nationally, customers report receiving phone calls that threaten electric service disconnection and ask them to purchase a prepaid card.
PIP Parade: Businesses, organizations celebrate
Area businesses, organizations and churches created a variety of floats and other displays for the annual Party in the Park parade Saturday. While weather had hindered preparation, the skies were dry as the participants made their way from the fairgrounds to downtown.
Pladsen, Maynard win hot dog eating contests Saturday
Both contests were close, but Alex Pladsen and Bud Maynard won the first hot dog eating events at Party in the Park.
Unlike the more highly-publicized contests where contestants eat as many hot dogs as possible, this contest only required eating one. The 18 contestants in youth and adult categories each tried to be the first to consume and swallow a foot-long, inch-thick hot dog, complete with bun, ketchup and mustard. Dancing with dad: Cooling dancers pair up
One of the highlights of Party in the Park is the Cooling Dance routines that features dancing with dads, as the young ladies are accompanied by fathers grandfathers, or other relatives or friends for their routines.
There were three such dances for the audience to see on Saturday, during Party in the Park.
Cooling Dancers perform at Party in Park
Dozens of area dancers, the students of Joan Cooling Noeller, performed during Party in the Park, sharing with the community the routines they have learned for competitions.
Many fathers also joined in the event, as three "dancing dads" routine were on the schedule.
Some of the dancers also participated in the parade, doing summersaults and other routines along the way. Prayer in the Park: 10 Commandments monument dedicated Thursday
While hundreds of area children were participating in the Thursday evening Party in the Park activities, scores of area residents walked one block south, to Hummel Park, where the Knights of Columbus and the Vinton Area Ministerial Association led a dedication ceremony for the 10 Commandments monument.
The local monument is part of Project Moses, an effort to have the 10 Commandments (and Beattitudes) placed prominently in county seats throughout the US. Local business professionals attend alcohol server training events
The Benton County Above the Influence Coalition hosted a Training for Intervention ProcedureS (TIPS) class on June 30, 2013 as part of the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG). The SPF SIG project is funded by the Iowa Department of Public Health, through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.
VFD responds to RV fire
The Vinton Fire Department responded to a report of an RV fire on 8th Street near C Avenue in Vinton on Monday afternoon. Hometown memories: Party in Park one of many things bringing people to Vinton
“This way, Grandpa! This way!”
The first person I talked to Saturday at Riverside Park was Arianna, the 2 ½ year-old.
I saw her near Hummel Pavilion and she pointed toward the playground. But as I stopped near the slide, she kept pointing north. “This way!”
We walked north until the tennis courts were in full view.