After considering 11 projects, the Enhance Iowa Board awarded $3,025,047 in Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grants to projects in 10 communities including the City of Mount Ayr. Mount Ayr was awarded a $340,000 CAT grant, on Thursday, April 4, filling the final gap in funds needed to replace the original pool built in 1963.…

The Ringgold County Board of Supervisors hired an IT Director for the county, approved 2 percent increases in salary, and set their FY25 budget at their regular meeting on Monday, April 8. New IT Director Zachary Hague will be transitioning the management of IT infrastructure internally beginning April 22. Hague received his Associate of Applied…

By Mike Avitt Dick Simpson is in the business of turning heads. Not as a pretty young lady might turn heads; Dick does it with clippers, scissors, and a barber chair. And he’s been doing it for sixty years now in the same shop. Dick finished barber school and began his internship at Clarinda. However,…

Since the pandemic, childcare has become increasingly challenging, as the number of people providing daycare has decreased. There is a shortage of in-home providers and staff for the existing centers in Ringgold County. While the issue isn’t unique to our area, organizations are collaborating and asking for support to promote childcare business and education in…

The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded three $50,000 grants to Calhoun County Public Health, Cass County Board of Health, and Van Buren County Hospital to test a new volunteer program aimed at decreasing emergency response times in rural Iowa. The total grant funding of $150,000 was made available through the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative.…