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Juveniles charged in Creston Schools threat
• Jan. 7
Three juveniles were charged with first-degree harassment in a Creston Police Department investigation just days after an online threat in which a Creston High School student mentioned the act of bringing a gun to school.
Both school administration and Creston Police said the threat posed no immediate danger to students.
Administration received word around 8 a.m. Jan. 6 that a high school student had posted the threat in a private online chat group around 5:45 p.m. Jan. 4.
Superintendent Steve McDermott said the threat was not specific to any student, staff member or building and was “highly unlikely” to be real.
The school followed protocol, placing students involved in the chat group under adult supervision away from the student body and notifying Creston Police. An officer arrived at approximately 10 a.m. Jan. 6.
Dillinger pleads guilty to murder, gets life in prison
• Jan. 22
Jerry Dillinger, 37, of Thayer pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder during his arraignment Jan. 22 at Union County Courthouse.
Dillinger was charged with these counts of murder Dec. 12, 2015, after the body of his ex-sister-in-law, Loretta Lynn Dillinger, was discovered in a rural Union County stock pond Dec. 2, 2015, and a second body, which Jerry identified as Michael Robinson of Thayer, was later discovered on the property of Dillinger’s residence in Thayer. Court documents show Dillinger confronted and killed them both Sept. 22, 2015.
Dillinger was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in prison by Judge John Lloyd. Dillinger was also ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to the estates of Loretta Dillinger and Robinson.
Dillinger later hanged himself in his prison cell Feb. 10.
In addition, Jennifer Jean Hartley, 43, of Thayer was charged with first-degree murder March 22 in connection with the Dillinger case. Hartley, half-sister of Dillinger, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Loretta Lynn Dillinger and Michael Robinson.
RAGBRAI announces 2016 stop in Creston
• Jan. 25
Creston was announced as the third of eight stops in the 44th Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, a weeklong west-to-east cycling event that included approximately 10,000 cyclists.
It was announced the 2016 route would stretch 419.9 miles across southern Iowa, beginning July 23 in Glenwood and ending July 30 in Muscatine. Cyclists were to stop in Creston July 25.
RAGBRAI organizers said the 2016 tour would be the third-shortest course, the 24th flattest and 15th easiest. Stops were to include Glenwood, Shenandoah, Creston, Leon, Centerville, Ottumwa, Washington and Muscatine.
The stop in Creston was a success despite many riders being exhausted from the grueling ride into town. Creston RAGBRAI organizers reported a $9,000 surplus following the event. That money was split between the three campground sites – Southwestern Community College, McKinley Park and Creston Community Schools.
Cruz, Sanders win caucuses in Union County
• Feb. 2
Both parties reported high turnouts for the Feb. 1 caucuses in Union County despite an impending blizzard.
Ted Cruz won the Republican caucus in Union County, while Bernie Sanders won the Democratic caucus.
Party leaders at Creston’s Republican caucus scrambled to make extra ballots for the 541 caucusgoers as a line extended out the Creston High School doors for 30 minutes during sign-ins. Counting the Afton, Arispe and Lorimor precincts, Union County saw 702 Republican voters.
Cruz edged eventual President-elect Donald Trump by nine votes in Union County, 203 to 194.
On the Democratic side, countywide turnout was 486. Sanders edged Hillary Clinton, taking 53.71 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 46.29 percent.
Prescott school auction brings $50K
• Feb. 18
More than 60 auctiongoers crowded into a former Prescott School classroom Feb. 17 to witness the sale of the district’s buildings and grounds.
Within 30 minutes, the auction, performed by Dan Kretzinger of Kretzinger Auction in Corning, had ended in handshakes, high-fives and hugs as Prescott alumnus Justin Cooper, backed by a group of relatives and fellow alumni, purchased the property for $50,000.
Four generations of Cooper’s family attended the school prior to its closing. He and the others planned to keep the main building and gym intact as a reception hall for reunions and weddings. The office building, he said, could eventually house city hall, a library and additional offices.
Prescott School closed in June 2015. Students now attend classes at Creston Community Schools.
Adviser of the Year
• April 6
Iowa’s competitive Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) conference was a memorable one for Creston Community High School, as chapter adviser Shannon Smith was named Iowa’s Adviser of the Year, and several students earned first-place awards.
Additionally, as a whole, the Creston chapter took first place in the FBLA-OPOLY, a state program that encourages chapters to be active.
The adviser award provides students the chance to recognize an adviser who gives his or her time to create an active chapter. The winner is announced at both the state and national conferences and advisers may only be nominated once every three years and must have been an adviser for at least three years.
In her sixth year as the Creston chapter adviser, Smith also teaches business education at the high school and serves as Iowa’s FBLA state officer coordinator.
Area Special Olympics athletes named to All-Iowa Elite team
• May 31
The Des Moines Register started its All-Iowa Elite program in 2015, honoring the top athletes in 21 boys and girls high school sports in Iowa. Athletes selected to the All-Iowa Elite teams were invited to the Register’s All-Iowa Sports Awards Banquet, featuring keynote speaker Peyton Manning, on June 18.
The Register partnered with Special Olympics Iowa to honor 12 of its top athletes by including them in the All-Iowa Elite program.
Among the 12 Special Olympics athletes honored were East Union’s Dakota Williams and Lynn Singer as a unified team, Lenox’s Meghan Nordstrom and Bedford’s Bobby Argo.
2 Creston men charged with robbing Casey’s
• June 6
Francisco Martinez, 21, and Dyrrel Malik Thornton-Culbertson, 18, both of Creston, were each charged with first-degree robbery and controlled-substance violation at Union County Law Enforcement Center for the robbery of Casey’s General Store, located at 301 W. Taylor St.
According to a Creston Police report, at 6:06 a.m. June 3, Creston Police Department received a 911 call from a Casey’s employee saying the store was robbed at gunpoint by a male subject wearing a white mask who left in a vehicle. An undetermined amount of currency was taken from the store.
The vehicle was later found in a ditch north of Creston attempting to get out of the ditch. Creston Police Department K9 Minko and officers from Creston Police Department, Union County and Adair County Sheriff’s offices and Iowa State Patrol responded.
Martinez and Thornton-Culbertson were the only subjects found in the vehicle and in their possession was a large amount of cash and coins.
A search warrant related to the investigation was conducted at the residence of Martinez and Thornton-Culbertson, which found packaging materials, controlled substances and marijuana.
Man charged after bank robbery
• June 10
Ricky Ryan Schnackel, 58, of Lorimor was charged with first-degree robbery, a Class B felony, June 9, after he allegedly attempted to rob a bank in Creston.
According to a Creston Police report, dispatchers received a call from an employee at Iowa State Savings Bank, located at 504 W. Taylor St., that a male subject came through the drive-thru, told the teller, “This is a robbery,” and displayed a weapon.
The subject did not take anything and left after several minutes. The weapon was later identified as a BB gun. The bank employee gave a description of the vehicle and subject to area law enforcement.
Officers spotted the vehicle at the intersection of REA Road and Jaguar Avenue. The subject was taken into custody without incident.
New ownership in store for A & G
• July 1
A & G Pizza Steakhouse and Lounge, which had been in the Groumoutis family and Creston’s culinary community for more than 40 years, was taken over July 5 by Jake and Britni Kawa, both previous longtime residents.
Both halves of the Kawa collaboration had spent years acquiring and sharpening professional skills that have helped them with the challenge of adopting the local eatery and pub as their own.
Baker remembered for positive attitude
• July 15
Many associated with the Creston Community School District attended the funeral for Renea Baker, 49, and her daughter, Breanna, 12, both of Redding, who were among five people killed in an accident July 8 west of Mount Ayr on Highway 2.
Renea was a paraeducator for CCSD for three years, most recently in a high school special education room. Breanna had just finished fifth grade in Creston.
Sydney King, 30, and Hayden King, 2, both of Redding, and Elizabeth Lakey, 4, of Grant City, Missouri, were also killed in the crash.
Willie Baker, 9, of Redding was flown to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, where he was in critical condition. A 1-year-old passenger was released from the Ringgold County Hospital July 8.
According to Iowa State Patrol, the crash occurred when the SUV Renea was driving did not stop at a stop sign at Iowa Highway 2 while going north on Ringgold County Road P27. The SUV was then broadsided by a rock utility truck.
Van Eaton remembered for welcoming, helpful nature
• Aug. 1
At Nodaway Valley High School, Zoey Van Eaton wore a smile that “lit up the room” and made others feel welcome.
On July 20, 17-year-old Van Eaton of Greenfield died in a motorcycle-SUV collision in west Nashville, Tennessee, while on a motorcycle trip with her father, Scott Van Eaton, and brother, Bradley. According to a Nashville Metropolitan Police Department report, she was a passenger on a Harley-Davidson driven by her father when the fatal accident occurred. Only she lost her life in the crash.
Van Eaton spent the majority of her short life on a farm south of Fontanelle with her family.
Spare charged with vehicular homicide
• Aug. 24
Donna Jo Spare, 61, of Afton was charged on a Union County warrant for homicide by vehicle, a class B felony, 10:30 a.m. Aug. 23 at her residence.
According to a Union County Sheriff report, at about 9:15 p.m. Jan. 16, Spare was operating a 2001 Chevrolet Impala on Highway 34 east of Creston. Near the intersection of Highway 34 and Jaguar Avenue, Spare crossed over the center line into the westbound lane of traffic. Spare’s vehicle struck a vehicle operated by Deanne Lee Hoffman.
Hoffman died as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.
Subsequent investigation by Iowa State Highway Patrol officers indicated the blood-alcohol concentration of Spare was in excess of .08 at the time of the collision.
Council discusses potential Amtrak agreement
• Sept. 8
A possible agreement between the city of Creston and Amtrak that was introduced more than eight years before was being seriously considered by both parties during the Sept. 6 Creston City Council regular meeting, as Amtrak came up with the necessary funding: an estimated $1 million.
The project would entail first making the current passenger platform east of the restored Depot compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A future leg of the project could be to build a platform at the restored Depot for the first time in decades.
At the end of the meeting, the council tabled the discussion for a future meeting.
Child reported dead after skid-loader accident
• Oct. 5
Calab Allen Brammer Jr., 23 months, was reported dead after an accident with a skid loader Oct. 4.
According to a Union County Sheriff report, Union County sheriff’s deputies and other emergency responders were called to 2683 205th St. in Afton for an accident involving a skid loader. Calab Brammer of Lorimor reported the accident in which his son, Calab Jr., was on the lap of the driver and ended up on the ground. It was unknown if the child fell or jumped off.
Life-saving measures were taken before Calab Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene.
Iowa DNR Water Summary records third-wettest year in 144 years
• Oct. 25
Depending on where they were in Iowa this year, farmers were either asking for a break from the rain or hoping for a storm to change course and give the crops a necessary drink.
The average rainfall of 6.29 inches across the state in September helped push the yearly total to the third-wettest year in 144 years of record keeping, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s Water Summary Update.
It was the wettest water year since 1986.
The 2016 Water Year recorded a statewide average of almost 45 inches, 9.6 inches more than normal. The DNR’s water year is measured from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
Silva convicted of 3rd-degree sexual abuse
• Oct. 27
Manuel Allen Silva Jr., 44, 1951 Beechwood Ave., was found guilty of two counts of third-degree sexual abuse, a class C felony, Oct. 26 at Union County Courthouse.
Silva was held on no bond until Dec. 9, when a sentencing hearing was scheduled at the courthouse. The hearing would occur after a standard pre-sentencing investigation and the opportunity for Silva to file an appeal.
Silva also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree theft in 2006. This came after he and another person participated in a theft scheme while Silva was Union County Economic Development Association director from August 2002 to August 2004.
Farmers unite to help friend
• Nov. 7
Tears welled up in Sharon England’s eyes Saturday, Nov. 5, as she stood in a cornfield 2 miles north of Diagonal watching friends, neighbors and even a few people she didn’t know harvesting corn.
Approximately 150 volunteers converged on the cornfield to take part in a “harvest day” for Jim Routh and England. The event was organized by Doug and Darla Sobotka of Diagonal.
Routh had made frequent trips to Chicago for chemotherapy treatments since being diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year and also had recently injured his back, requiring an epidural injection.
Outsider Trump wins stunning victory to be 45th president
• Nov. 9
Donald Trump claimed his place as America’s 45th president over Hillary Clinton, an astonishing victory for the celebrity businessman and political novice.
In the Union County races, Dennis Brown and Lois Monday secured the two Union County supervisor positions over Robert Brown.
Van Pelt to retire after 53 years with Creston Chamber
• Dec. 12
Finishing her 53rd year as Creston Chamber of Commerce office manager, 80-year-old Peggy Van Pelt had been a long-standing resource for Creston residents and facilitator of volunteers, while herself building a repertoire of volunteer work.
Van Pelt decided it was time to hand over the reins Dec. 15.
Gunsolley named Union County engineer
• Dec. 22
Zachary Gunsolley was named the next Union County engineer after being offered the position during a Union County Board of Supervisors meeting Dec. 20.
Gunsolley comes from Ringgold County, where he is currently the Ringgold County engineer, to replace Steve Akes, whose contract with Union County as engineer was not renewed. Gunsolley will begin his position in Union County in mid-February.