The Griswold Community School District’s Board of Education elected new officers during their meeting Monday evening. Superintendent Dana Kunze says Doug Lembke was elected President, while Scott Peterson was named Vice President. The newly re-elected board then went to work on the issues before them on their agenda. Kunze said that included moving ahead with the boiler replacement project at the Middle School/High School Building.

He says the next step is to have the design phase handled for the installation of a hot water boiler instead of the current, steam boiler. The same system will also help to control cooling during the summer, because of reheating valves that bring air up to temperature before it enters classroom and other spaces.

Kunze said the Board tabled action on the locker room and restroom remodeling projects until there are more solid numbers on how much the boiler system will cost. And, the board decided to hold-off on having structural spraying conducted on the track, but four-foot high galvanized fencing will be installed around the track.

The Board also approved a lease agreement with Massena Telephone for the construction of a cell phone tower on school grounds, but were unable to make a decision on snow removal bids because of a lack of interested bidders. He joked that if the Board doesn’t get any bids soon, they’ll need everyone to bring a scoop shovel with them to school.

In other business, the Griswold School Board received an update on the A-Y-P, or Annual Yearly Progress report, from Counselor Nancy Potter. She indicated the District’s ACT scores had trended upward over the last 5-years, and they’ve been some of the highest scores the district has had. He says that means the district is headed in the right direction when it comes to education.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The owner of the Argosy riverboat casino in Sioux City has asked a state judge to stop construction on a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in downtown Sioux City. The Sioux City Journal reports that attorneys for Argosy parent Penn National Gaming Co. filed the motion in Polk County District Court on Monday. Penn is seeking to stop the construction until its lawsuit against the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission over the commission’s selection process for the new casino is resolved.

Work began in July on the $128.5 million Hard Rock casino. Last month, state regulators denied the Argosy’s request to renew its state gambling license. But the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission did not set a closing date for the floating casino.

The Iowa State Patrol has released the names of the victims involved in a fatal crash Monday morning in Harrison County. Officials say the driver of a 2000 GMC Sonoma pickup, 18-year old Salvador Valdovinos, of South Sioux City, NE, and a passenger in a 2012 Kenworth semi, 59-year old William Griffin, of Pine Bluff, AR, died at the scene of the crash near Mondamin. The driver of the semi, 58-year old Rebecca Griffin, also of Pine Bluff, was injured and transported by helicopter to Creighton Hospital, in Omaha.

Authorities say the pickup was traveling south on Interstate 29 at around 6:50-a.m., when it went out of control and crossed the median before striking the northbound semi, which was carrying dynamite. Officials say there was no danger of the dynamite exploding.

No injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident Sunday, in Lenox. According to Police, Frank Valenzuela was backing up his car, a 2005 Ford, which was parked in his back yard.

Lenox P-D photo

The vehicles’ accelerator stuck, causing the car to speed through his back yard, across a ditch and East Van Buren Street, before it came to rest against a John Deere corn head parked at Barker Implement. Damage to the car was estimated at $2500.00. Damage to the combine head was unknown. No citations were issued