Long time Creston character Ron “Fox” Clinton passed away this week. He was one of those people that was always fun to be around and always seemed to have a lot of “knowledge” on almost any subject. I’ve had the pleasure of playing golf and having coffee with Fox countless times throughout my 19 years in Creston. He was the golf club master. I’m not sure how many golf clubs he left behind, but I would bet there would be enough to outfit several golf teams! If you needed info on a certain club, Fox always had the low-down on if it was a good club or a bad club to own.
Fox always seemed to know just about anybody. I would guess he was friend and mentor to thousands of people. He always called me “publisher”. I don’t know that I ever saw him mad at anybody. He should have been a diplomat because he was great at controlling the conversation in his own low key way. Southwestern Community College lost its most avid fan and supporter. But, I’m sure the memories and friendship Fox shared with everyone will be cherished and not forgotten. Thanks for the memories. Fox ... a life well lived!
MLK
There will be no paper on Martin Luther King day, which is Monday January 21st. Our company has went to taking both MLK day and Presidents’ day off. We will back and on track the Tuesday after the Monday holiday.
Basketball
Both Iowa and Iowa State are off to a good start in mens basketball. The first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament will be in Des Moines March 19 and 21. Drake is hosting the event in Des Moines, so there is a chance that you could see either one or both of the teams if they would happen get chosen for this region. Wouldn’t that be something? Tickets for the event are all pretty well sold out at this point.
Taxes and fees – Beware!
You might want to plan a little extra when it comes to taxes and fees for the next year.
With the City of Creston doing streets and an unscheduled building take down in the downtown area, look for the city portion to move upwards. The county is spending some extra bucks on buying a building for the DHS folks, plus a new controversial communication system. A few more million to the tax bill.
The City of Creston just announced a new water rate that will take a 45 percent increase starting soon. Plus, the schools have several projects going on that will continue to up their ask from the taxpayers. Also, as soon as the utilities commission passes the new rates for the Alliant Electric ask, you will get the new, higher rates applied to your electric bill.
I’m afraid the public entities will only just keep adding to people’s bill in the future. There is not much understanding by those folks that increases in spending every year is not the norm in business anymore! So property taxes will just keep going up and up. Between the income tax and property tax, Iowa won’t have a very bright future of getting people to move here. In fact it will force a lot of retired folks to flee the state for tax relief.
Thought for the week: No government is ever perfect. One of the chief virtues of a democracy, however, is that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes can be pointed out and corrected. - Harry S Truman
