Top stories of 2011

As 2011 closes, the Creston News Advetiser reflects on stories that broke this year.

While the Creston area was not without its controversies, disasters, tragedies and weather woes, the positive side of the news could also be found among the pages of the Creston News Advertiser.

The following, listed by month, are our top local picks for 2011:

April 18

Two BNSF crew
members of Creston killed

MCPHERSON — Two Burlington Northern Santa Fe crew members, both of Creston, were killed Sunday morning near Red Oak when their coal train rear-ended another BNSF train carrying maintenance equipment.

Engineer Tom Anderson and conductor Patricia Hyatt, both of Creston, were the Burlington Northern Santa Fe crew members killed in the train wreck near Red Oak, a report from the Federal Railroad Administration revealed.

The 48-year-old Hyatt had been employed by BNSF since 2005.

Details

According to Gus Melonas, director of public affairs for BNSF, both trains were traveling east bound when the accident occurred at about 7 a.m. in McPherson, located about six miles west of Red Oak. The first train, engineered by Creston natives Randy Marlin and conducted by Chris Pate, was hauling 34 cars of maintenance equipment.

They were fully stopped in McPherson.

The second train was carrying 130 loads of coal from Wyoming, destined for an eastern utility via Chicago, when they approached and rammed the back end of the maintenance train at full force.

The collision killed the engineer and conductor of the coal train.

“This is an extremely tragic situation for everyone involved,” Melonas said.

May 5

SWCC instructor identified in fatality accident

Dick Downing, 51, of Osceola has been identified as the person who died in a two-vehicle accident reported 7:41 a.m. Wednesday on Highway 34 near the intersection of Highway 169 at Afton.

According to an Iowa State Patrol report, Downing, driving a 1991 Chevrolet pickup west on Highway 34, struck the rear of a 2009 Chevrolet SUV driven west on Highway 34 by Brandi Shay, 35, of Tingley who had slowed prior to the collision.

According the Union County Sheriff’s Department, there was another accident earlier farther west on Highway 34 at Creamery Road that was causing a backup of traffic on the highway. After Downing’s truck struck Shay’s vehicle her vehicle spun into the eastbound lane where it came to rest.

The ISP report indicated Shay was also injured, but no condition report was available.
Downing's pickup is considered a total loss. Damage estimate to Shay's vehicle is $10,000.
Downing was a trades and industry — carpentry instructor and Shay is a business and information technology — business instructor, both at Southwestern Community College in Creston.

May 12

Tornado rips through Lenox

LENOX — A tornado ripped through the heart of Lenox at about 4:35 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, shredding the city park and slaughtering several homes in this southwest Iowa town of 1,407.

“It looked like something you didn’t want coming at you,” said Mayor Glenn Grout, who saw rotation of the tornado from Highway 49 as he sped home to take shelter. “I’ve only seen rope tornadoes. This was very big, very widespread. It wasn’t your typical tornado.”

The tornado spiraled on a northeasterly path through Lenox, splitting trees, snapping powerlines and peeling roofs off homes with most of the destruction coming in the city park and the west side of Lenox.

As much as 45 percent of the homes in Lenox were damaged, officials estimated during a 7:30 p.m. press conference outside the American Legion hall, and no injuries or deaths were reported in the disaster.

“We are relieved,” Grout said. “There are no injuries. It was a slow moving storm so we were able to give good warning to our residents. They had almost 15 minutes to prepare for the storm and that made a big difference.”

June 3

Pratt overturns Piper’s fraud charge

Last December, in the federal case between plaintiff Union County and defendant Piper Jaffray, a jury of 11 found Piper Jaffray guilty of fraudulent nondisclosure.

Friday, that ruling was overturned by Chief Judge Robert W. Pratt.

Pratt found Piper not guilty of fraudulent nondisclosure, subsequently, clearing Piper of all wrongdoing regarding their involvement with Union County and Crestland Cooperative before the eventual bankruptcy of the co-op.

“It is clear from the record that the county utterly failed to utilize its ability to observe the obvious, blindly expecting Piper to “throw up red flags,” Pratt wrote, “despite that fact that there is no evidence supporting a conclusion that the county ever communicated this expectation of Piper.”

Piper has now been cleared of all five counts against them including breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation and now fraudulent nondisclosure.

June 9

KSIB news director dies at 34

KSIB News Director Brad Heinrich was found dead in his home Wednesday morning.
Creston first responders were called to Heinrich's residence approximately 6:30 a.m. Wednesday and Heinrich was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Brad was a very dedicated employee and had a passion for radio,” said Chad Rieck, KSIB general manager. “He was so dedicated that one day this winter when his car wouldn’t start, he walked over two miles to work and still made it on time. Although his time was short with us at Creston Radio, he fit in from day one. Brad will be missed dearly and our thoughts and prayers go out to his parents and sisters in Wisconsin.”

According to initial reports, Heinrich died of natural causes.

The 34-year-old Heinrich joined KSIB Creston Radio as news director June 24, 2010.
A native of Prescott, Wis., he received his degree in radio broadcasting in April 2010 from Brown College in Mendota Heights, Minn.

Sept. 14

Otten pleads guilty to aggravated misdemeanor

Larry Otten, principal at Creston Middle School, recently plead guilty to fraudulent practice in the third degree.

The Creston News Advertiser first reported the story March 16 after the 64-year-old Otten was charged on a Union County warrant for fraudulent practices. Otten was charged after altering the purchase date of a 1967 Pontiac GTO.

Otten said he purchased the GTO in 2011, when documents showed the actual purchase date was Jan. 27, 2010.

Otten’s guilty plea last month for fraudulent practice in the third degree is considered an aggravated misdemeanor in the state of Iowa. The maximum penalty for the crime is confinement in jail for two years and a $6,250 fine.

However, Otten received a much lesser judgment. According to court documents, Otten will serve a one-year probabation under the supervision of the 5th Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.

As well, Otten will pay a $625 civil penalty, $125 law enforcement initiative surcharge, $300 probation supervision fee and $350 to the victim of the crime, the Iowa Department of Revenue. Otten must pay for all court costs, and as a specific condition under his probation “is prohibited from processing or exercising dominion and control over any firearms.”

Otten does have another count pending for fraudulent practice in the fourth degree stemming from the same incident in March when he also altered the purchase price of the GTO by $7,000.

However, as of Wednesday, no judgment has been rendered on that count.

Sept. 26

Mount Ayr teen dies

MOUNT AYR — A Mount Ayr teen died in a single-vehicle accident approximately 1:30 a.m. Saturday on 290th Street just west of 215th Avenue, which is south of Mount Ayr.

According to a Ringgold County sheriff’s report, Konner Evan Klommhaus, 15, was pronounced dead at the scene and Erik Joseph Freed, 15, of Redding was transported to Ringgold County Hospital. Freed was later flown by air ambulance to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines with serious injuries.

Klommhaus, son of Kory and Deborah (Faris) Klommhaus, was a sophomore at Mount Ayr Community High School.

Panthers enjoy first victory at Harlan since 1975

HARLAN — It didn’t take long for the 2011 Creston/Orient-Macksburg football team to expel the ghosts of 36 years of disappointment at Merrill Field.

On the Panthers’ first play from scrimmage Friday, quarterback Luke Neitzel raced 86 yards for a touchdown for a quick 7-0 lead. The Panthers never trailed in a 42-20 victory that locked up a district championship, ending an eight-year run for Harlan as district champs.

The last Creston victory at Harlan was a 19-18 win in 1975. The only other Panther triumph in 43 meetings was 22-17 at Panther Field in 1997. Coincidentally, the last Harlan team to lose three regular-season games included that defeat to Creston in 1975.

Harlan (6-3) was intercepted three times, coming into the game as the Class 3A state passing leader. The Panthers led by as many as 28 points twice at 35-7 and 42-14 in the second half. The halftime lead was 21-0.

“I’ve never seen them physically dominated like that,” said Dick Bergstrom, 33-year Panther head coach who retired after the 2009 season. He began coaching in 1977, two years after the last Panther win on that field.

A large contingent of Panther fans made the trip, celebrating wildly as time wound down, despite Harlan scoring on the game’s final play to cut the final margin to 22 points. They formed an impromptu tunnel of support at the southwest corner of the field to congratulate players as they left the field to board the team bus.

As the team returned to Creston around midnight, the team bus was greeted by an escort of police and fire vehicles from the edge of town to the high school, flanked by the honking horns of several private vehicles following the team into the school parking lot.

“This is unbelievable. I’ve got chills right now,” said senior Ben Landers, after watching the midnight escort of vehicles — lights flashing and sirens howling — from his seat on the team bus.

SWCC student, graduate die in Missouri crash

HOPKINS, Mo. — Southwestern Community College student Chrystal N. Olerich of Lake View and 2009 SWCC graduate Joshua E. Bix of Hopkins, Mo., were killed early Saturday morning in a one-vehicle accident east of Hopkins.

Also killed in the wreck was 22-year-old Benjamin T. McIntyre of Hopkins. Four others were injured, including Southwestern students Kaley L. Folkerts, 19, and Samantha L. Weed, 18, both of Bedford.

Olerich, 18, was a volleyball player at Southwestern. Weed and Folkerts are also volleyball players, and Folkerts is also a member of the women’s basketball team. All three have been living on campus.

Grief counseling was made available to students at 5 p.m. Saturday evening and again on Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m., as many students were returning to campus after being away for the weekend. Additional counseling will be provided as necessary.

“These are students who are involved in activities and living on campus, so a lot of people know them,” said Dr. Matt Thompson, SWCC dean of student services.

Thompson said Bix, 21, was a graduate of SWCC's business systems networking program.
Weed was seriously injured and Folkerts suffered minor injuries, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported. According to the accident report, a 2003 Chevrolet pickup was driven east on Missouri Highway 246 about a half-mile east of Hopkins by 22-year-old Scott Woods of Hopkins, when the vehicle ran off the south side of the roadway. Woods reportedly overcorrected and the vehicle went off the north side of the road.

As the truck came back onto the road, it overturned and came to rest on its wheels on the south side of the road and then caught on fire. All seven occupants of the pickup were ejected in the accident at 2:15 a.m.

Olerich and McIntyre were pronounced dead at the scene by Nodaway County Coronor Dr. Vince Shelby. Bix died on arrival at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville.

Moving day begins for Iowana’s occupants

Sharon (Ridnour) Pinske stood inside her new room in The Iowana Tuesday morning and gazed out at Uptown Creston.

“So many memories,” she said quietly.

Sharon and her brother Bob Ridnour are the first people who began the moving-in process at The Iowana Tuesday morning.

Tuesday was the first day occupants of The Iowana could move into the restored former hotel building.

Bob and Sharon were born and raised in Creston in the mid-20th century. Sharon graduated from Creston in 1954.

However, they have previously lived in North Carolina and Osceola. Now, they are both retired. Bob said he remembers when The Iowana was a hotel.

“I was in a singing group, and we sang in the mezzanine,” he said. “I remember singing up there.”

It has been a long process to get people to be able to live in The Iowana.

Background

The city of Creston obtained ownership of the seven-story Iowana building in 2008, and the total cost of renovation is an estimated $5.4 million.

MetroPlains LLC, The Iowana restoration developer, secured a $1 million Section 515 loan from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, historic tax credits and $4.4 million in low-income housing tax credits from Iowa Finance Authority (IFA).

After a few years of trying to secure a syndicator, or buyer, to purchase the tax credits, a year ago, MetroPlains announced it found a syndicator for the tax credits, as well as other agencies and investors for the project.

The city has more than $110,000 invested in the project’s updates, such as architect drawings and engineering designs, in preparation for the senior-living apartments at the former Iowana Hotel.

Apartments

There are 24 apartments in The Iowana. There are six floors inside building, but The Iowana actually has seven stories. A mezzanine level is between the first and second floors.
The first floor and mezzanine level each have two housing units.

There are four units each on the second through sixth floors. On these floors, the corner unit has two bedrooms and the other three units have one.

A washer and dryer is in every apartment, and the kitchen is equipped with a disposal, dishwasher, refrigerator, stove and microwave.

Each apartment has central air-conditioning, ceiling fans and an energy-efficient furnace with individual temperature controls. The apartments are also furnished with custom blinds, carpeting and vinyl flooring.

There is high-speed Internet access available in the apartments. The building will also offer handicap-accessible apartments.