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After a year off, Mount Ayr eager to compete

After a year off due to COVID-19, head track coach Brad Elliott has seen the program take a slightly different look heading into the 2021 season. Elliott will be in the drivers seat of both the boys and girls teams this season after long-time Raiderette head coach, Deb Larsen, retired. Elliott is assisted by Daniel…

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Snapshot of History

BY MIKE AVITT Florence Lawhead supplied me with a Sun Valley Lake newsletter, dated June 1973, which contains information I did not previously have. I will use that newsletter and the May 31, 1973 Record-News for this week’s article. The marina was already built by June 1973 as a square dance was planned for July…

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Looking Back with Lora Stull

One Hundred Years Ago (From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, April 13, 1921.) Sheriff H.W. Terrell and Deputy Sheriff M.W. Snethen captured Emanuel Martin, an escaped convict from the state prison at Fort Madison, Friday evening. The sheriff and his deputy were on their way home from the northern part of the county when…

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Swimming pool concepts top council agenda

Swimming pool concepts led the agenda at the Monday, April 5 meeting of the Mount Ayr city council. Two architecture/engineering firms presented concepts for a potential new swimming pool at Judge Lewis Park. Because the lead architects from ISG could not be present at Monday’s meeting due to conflict, the company sent a PowerPoint presentation…

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EF4 tornado in 1989 strongest to hit county in past 50 years

Ringgold County and the State of Iowa recently observed National Severe Weather Awareness Week. As residents know, Ringgold County is no stranger to severe weather, but the occurrence of tornadoes here is relatively rare. Far more damage is caused annually by thunderstorms, hail, and extreme winter weather than that caused by the dreaded twisters. April…

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Ringgold COVID rate remains below state average

According to latest statistics compiled by the Iowa Department of Public Health, the percentage of positive cases of COVID-19 in Ringgold County stands at 2.2 percent among those tested over the past seven days. below the 5.2 percent state average. The county’s 14-day positivity rate came in at 2.5 percent, below the 4.9 percent state…

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Snapshot of History

BY MIKE AVITT This week’s picture comes from the Eleanor Hacker collection by way of Michell Ricker. We see what appears to be a dirt parking lot in front of the West End Market at 1004 W. South Street (Highway 2). The West End Market was opened June 16, 1950 by Leo Hacker and Nick…

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Looking Back with Lora Stull

One Hundred Years Ago (From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, April 6, 1921.) Good fortune or sheer luck is responsible for the fact nobody was killed and serious injury did not result from the collision of a Ford runabout driven by Claude Mapel and the handcar at the crossing one block west of the…

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Werner Feed Efficiency hosts Lt. Gov. Gregg

Lt. Governor Adam Gregg visited Werner Feed Efficiency Testing Center of Diagonal last week. Clint and Joe Werner were honored to have him visit their business and enjoyed telling him about their operation. Werner Feed Efficiency Testing Center is a facility that measures the daily feed intake of individual beef cattle with the use of…

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One-quarter of county residents fully inoculated

According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, as of Friday, March 26, Ringgold County residents have received 2,670 total doses and 1,090 residents (22 percent) have completed the series of two shots. Ringold County Public Health Director Becky Fletchall estimated the county should be up to nearly 25 percent by the end of this…

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