Top stories of 2014

 

Senior members of the 2014 Warrior football team hoist the trophy that was received after falling in the semifinals of the Iowa State Football Playoffs in November. South Winn finished the season with a 12-1 overall record. (Zakary Kriener photo)

 

Top stories of 2014

 

 

 

Zakary Kriener
News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

 

As the 2015 year approaches, let’s look back on some of the Ossian Bee’s top stories of 2014.

Ossian Fire Department unveils new station

The Ossian Fire Department showed off its new station in October, holding an open house for public to view the new building.

The garage space of the new station is over 5,400 square feet and features an office as well as a kitchen/meeting area. The additional space the new building offers allows each piece of equipment to be stored behind its own 16-foot door.

The new facility allows the department to operate and respond much more quickly and to operate more efficiently.

Ossian’s ‘vision’

taking shape

Ossian Crown Club began working with the Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program in late 2013 to develop a plan for community improvements for the city.

Construction on the first stage of the plan began in September and is scheduled to be completed in spring 2015.

The initial stage will include the addition of a pavilion that will allow more space for park events, such as fundraisers and town celebrations.

Warriors make

baseball history

The South Winneshiek baseball team made history by qualifying for the State Baseball Tournament in July for the first time ever.

The Warriors defeated Eagle Grove, 11-1, which advanced them to Des Moines to take on Roland-Story.

The Warriors were defeated in the opening round, 4-1, but entered the record books and posted an overall record of 34-2.

Warriors to the Dome

The 2014 South Winn football team completed its first-ever undefeated regular season in October.

The Warriors were victorious in the first three rounds of the State Football Playoffs, including a 34-7 victory over Dike-New Hartford, which advanced them to the UNI-Dome.

The Warriors lost to eventual state champion Iowa City Regina in the State semifinals, capping off the outstanding season.

SW LEGO League

competes at State

In January, the South Winneshiek Lego League team, Fire & Ice, was one of 72 teams to compete at the annual First LEGO League state competition in Ames.

The students completed critical-thinking and problem-solving problems as they programmed their robot to adapt to many variables while it executed different missions.

The process helped to develop many skills that are needed to be lifelong learners and productive citizens in the 21st century.

WMC Clinic holds

grand opening

In June, the Winneshiek Medical Center cut the ribbon on a new Ossian Clinic.

The clinic opened its doors on Main Street and now provides healthcare to members of Ossian and the surrounding communities.

Goltz to lead SW/TV as superintendent

In May, Ossian’s Clark Goltz accepted the position as interim shared superintendent for the South Winneshiek and Turkey Valley school districts. The decision was reached following a joint board meeting on May 19.

Goltz will be shared between the two school districts in a 50/50 manner.

He replaced Chris Hoover, who previously held the position between the two schools.

NICC robotic milking

barn officially open

In early April, Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Dairy Foundation’s new robotic milking facility. The ceremony was attended by over 700 visitors who were eager to see the new technology in action.

SW switches to ChromeBooks

In May, the South Winneshiek school board approved the purchase of 250 new ChromeBooks for student use in second through eighth grades.

This purchase is intended to help with the district’s 1:1 Initiative, providing for more effective means of teaching and learning by allowing each student to access a computer.

Kindergarten and first-grade students currently have access to iPads, while high school students use MacBooks.

Frac mining becomes hot topic in Winn. Co.

In October, Winneshiek County Supervisors extended an original 18-month moratorium on granting conditional use permits for frac sand mining.

The moratorium is extended to Oct. 15,2015, and will allow studies to be completed by a team from the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center.

Frac mining presents many valuable pros to the county, but also comes with risks and potential cons.

 

 

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