Today is Dec. 20, the 354th day of the year. So, there are 11 days left in 2018. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week (Dec. 17-23) in history:
10 years ago
Efforts to preserve the Iowana Hotel received a boost after state officials approved $442,532 in state tax credits for the project. MetroPlains planned to rehabilitate it into 24 affordable housing units for seniors.
Several CHS class of 1966 women celebrated their 60th birthdays together at Hard Luck Diner in Branson, Missouri. They were Alice Brown, Susan Loudon, Jackie Shafar, Bev Mackey, Mary O’Riley, Lana Hufnagel, Jacque Rettig, Debbie Weeks, JoAnne Scarbrough, Judy Reha, Bonnie Forsyth, Eleanore Henry, Marcia Hundley and Kris Kerrigan.
20 years ago
Jody Shields, 1990 Mount Ayr Community High School graduate, and Adrienne Millhollin, 1990 Corning High School graduate, were both on-camera reporters for WOI-TV on Channel 5. Although they took diverse paths, they worked at desks six feet apart in the newsroom on Westown Parkway in West Des Moines.
Creston City League men’s recreation volleyball champions were Cromwell Tap. Members of the team were Greg Bailey, Lary Bailey, Ron Skarda, Allen Tanner, Tim Loudon, Don Krings, Jon Carroll and Brian Tucker.
(AP) Americans were eagerly buying more clothes online for the holiday, shedding concerns about not being able to try something on or feel the fabric. Reasons were well-know retailers like the Gap and Macy’s were providing new temptations to go online and more women were getting on the internet, which had long been dominated by men.
Creston School Board unanimously voted to sanction a soccer program for the spring of 1999, with the stipulation that start-up and operating costs were covered by donations for two years. The program would be reviewed at that time before a commitment to continue further.
50 years ago
Creston City Council had to make new arrangements for disposal of garbage as a result of new rules against open burning by Iowa Air Pollution Control Commission. The council had discussed replacing the open dump with a sanitary landfill disposal system in the past, and would have to take action soon.
Farmers Electric Cooperative in Greenfield mailed out 4,164 checks for $68,777 total to members for deferred patronage dividends for 1955. The board of directors included Robert Hardman, Boyd Kading, John Foster, Carl Gilman, Paul Frederick, Clare Williamson, Fred Dressler, Claude Sivadge, Ted Jessen, Daryl Scott and C.O. Beverlin.
Pupils in Creston schools took part in “Project Share” to help the Christmas Basket Club. They brought cans of nonperishable food to school to be used in packing the baskets for needy families.
Vernon “Bun” Anderson was planning his retirement Jan. 1 from Creston City Water Plant as chief engineer. He had been employed more than 27 years and had seen numerous changes including the switch from steam power to electricity starting in 1945.
John Steinbeck, winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize for literature, died at age 66. “The Grapes of Wrath,” his compassionate portrayal of migrant workers during the Depression won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize.
Apollo 8 left Cape Kennedy to carry three astronauts to fly 10 orbits around the moon on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They included James Lovell Jr., William Anders and Frank Borman.