Area News

The Mount Ayr city council received an engineering update on the water distribution system update project at their regular meeting Monday, May 20. Mark Fincel, lead engineer on the project from Garden and Associates, provided the council a detailed memo outlining progress on the project so far. Fincel reported work in Division 1 in the…

Several Memorial Day observances around the county have been announced. Mount Ayr Members of American Legion Post 172 in Mount  Ayr  will install flag poles at Rose Hill Cemetery Friday, May 24. Flags will be placed on the poles Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. Flags will remain on display, until 3 p.m. Monday. Breakfast will…

Mount Ayr Community High School theater department will participate in the 2019 Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards Showcase, presented by EMC Insurance Companies, in honor of the school’s achievements for its November  production of “Mary Poppins.” Produced by Des Moines Performing Arts as the culmination of a year-long education initiative, the Showcase will be…

A total of 43 graduates will receive diplomas at Mount Ayr Community High School Sunday, May 19 at 3 p.m. in the high school gymnasium. Graduates include Hunter Arends, Timothy Asleson, Andrew Belzer, BrieAnn Byrd, Cade Clymer, Joshua Cox, Tucker Darrah, Amber Davison, Connor Eaton, Myles Greene, Quentin Gregg, Abbigail Haley, Nathan Hauge, Hunter Haveman,…

The Mount Ayr Community school board covered a wide range of topics at their regular meeting Monday, May 13. Field work “The weather caught up with us.” That was the prognosis from district superintendent Joe Drake as he briefed the board on delayed completion of improvements at the baseball and softball fields. Improvements to the…

May is School Board Recognition Month, sponsored by the Iowa Association of School Boards to celebrate the contributions of board members to Iowa public education.  The theme of this year’s recognition is “Superheroes for Public Education.” The Mount Ayr Community School District is celebrating its school board members Rod Shields – since October 1994, PJ…

The Iowa Department of Transportation is requesting public input on the proposed bridge replacement on U.S. 169 over the Middle Fork Grand River, 5.3 miles south of Iowa 2, in Ringgold County. The proposed project provides for removing the existing bridge and replacing it with a precast concrete beam bridge that is 125 feet by…

The leadership teams at Ringgold County Hospital and CHI Health Mercy Corning are pleased to announce the hiring of pediatrician Dr. Tabitha Wilson. Dr. Wilson will begin seeing patients in late August 2019. She’ll split her time between the Mount Ayr Medical Clinic and CHI Health Clinics in Corning, Lenox, and Bedford. “I’m so excited…

Third District Congresswoman Cindy Axne (right) greets DAISY Award winner Alysha England during a recent visit by the congresswoman to Ringgold County Hospital. Axne was visiting the Senior Life Solutions program at the hospital and discussing mental health issues in the area, as well as the health bill Axne is working on. The DAISY award…

Area schools shine in latest rankings Area high schools fared quite well in the latest rankings of “best high schools” by U.S. News and World Report. Mount Ayr Community High School is ranked 50th among Iowa’s 319 high schools that appear in the latest ranking. Nationally, Mount Ayr ranked at No. 5,786 among 17,245. In…