Two southwest Iowa teachers are the recipients of the 2012 Charles E. Lakin Outstanding Teacher Award. Kay Fast, High School Vocal Instructor at Glenwood, and Melinda Smits, kindergartner teacher at Inman Elementary in Red Oak received their awards during special ceremonies held Monday. Both instructors received $10,000, while their school districts received $2,500. Named after a well-known philanthropist, the Lakin award is presented to teachers or counselors in 25 Iowa school districts within 40 miles of Emerson, Lakin’s hometown. Lakin and wife Florence Swoboda Lakin currently reside in Malvern.

Lakin created the award as a way to give back to teachers, who were a big influence on his life. His mission is to reward teachers who entice students to come to school each day, and to emphasize the vital role of teachers in rural communities. Teachers in large urban communities such as Council Bluffs and Lewis Central were excluded from the award. Administrators were also excluded.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) has awarded $1,000 scholarships for tuition to 180 students who plan to study agriculture at their chosen colleges and universities. Six recipients were selected from each of the nine IFBF districts.  Scholarships were awarded to children of Farm Bureau members who plan to or currently attend an accredited college, university or community college to earn two or four-year degrees. 

First-time Farm Bureau scholarship recipients include 54 graduating high school seniors or students currently enrolled in their chosen college or university.  Students are eligible to renew the scholarships for up to four years by maintaining a minimum grade point average of 2.5 and by being a student in good standing with the college or university. 

Among the 1^st time recipients was:

(listed by hometown/name/parents/future or current college choice)

Audubon, Stacey Bruch, Brian and Nancy Bruch, Des Moines Area Community College

Corning, Haley Holbrook, Jerry and Tracy Holbrook, Iowa State University

Greenfield, Rob Mensing, Bruce and Di Mensing, Iowa State University

Griswold, Abigail Leighton, Scott and Angela Leighton, Iowa State University

Harlan, Nathan Ohms, Neil and Melanie Ohms, Iowa State University

Henderson, Samantha Keast, Russell and Diane Keast, Iowa State University

First-time applicants were asked to write an essay indicating the contributions they expect to make to agriculture and the rural community.  They also were selected based on their academic achievement, financial need, community and extracurricular involvement and letters of recommendation.

Trevor Frederickson Mem. Fund Logo (Courtesy Melanie Petty)

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund is preparing for the 4th Annual T-Fred Memorial Golf Tournament to be held Saturday, August 11, at the Nishna Hills Golf Course. While organizers say their mailing won’t go out until early June, they do have t-shirts available for sale now. The royal blue and silver t-shirts are $12 each and feature this year’s saying “Laid a lot of memories down, like tattoos on this town”. Melanie Petty, Fund representative, says “The saying is taken from Jason Aldean’s song, “Tattoos on This Town.’ The chorus of that song not only fits how Trevor lived but also what the Fund hopes to do in his memory.

Petty says the Fund’s logo is the tribal tattoo Trevor had designed of his name, making the saying even more appropriate.”  

(Here is the chorus to “Tattos on this town”: “It sure left its mark on us, We sure left our mark on it, We let the world know we were here, With everything we did, We laid a lot of memories down, Like tattoos on this town”)

To date, proceeds from the Annual T-Fred Tournament have funded over $35,000 in academic scholarships and donations to a variety of groups and organizations.  For information about the upcoming tournament or to order a t-shirt, contact Melanie Petty at 712-249-3696 or melaniepetty05@hotmail.com. Updates on the Fund’s activities can be found on KJAN, or by following the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund on Facebook.

Republicans and Democrats in the Iowa House have forged what they believe is a compromise that will let nursing home residents and their families know when registered sex offenders move into the home. It would also keep the state’s most violent sex offenders who’ve been kept in a special prison unit after their sentences have been served from being transferred to nursing homes. Representative Bruce Hunter, a Democrat from Des Moines, says it’s a good approach. “This issue does require kind of a fine, tight-roping act to make sure that we take care of some of our most vulnerable citizens of our state,” he says, “but yet make sure that we don’t trample over the rights of innocent people here.” The compromise plan passed the House Monday afternoon on a 97 to zero vote. Last week Democrats and Republicans in the Senate had a severe disagreement over this issue last week and it’s unclear whether the Democratically-led Senate will accept this latest plan developed in the House.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Monday that 38-year old Jerry Lee Dawson, of Carson, was sentenced Friday to 14-months in prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.  United States District Court Senior Judge Ronald Longstaff, also ordered Dawson to serve a three-year term of supervised release following his incarceration.

On February 22nd, Dawson entered a guilty plea to possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony offense. The federal charge
arose from a traffic stop conducted by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department on June 29, 2011. During the traffic stop, a 12 gauge shotgun and ammunition were recovered from the vehicle Dawson was driving.

The investigation was conducted by the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office, Pott. County Attorney’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will hold a work session Tuesday evening at the High School. On the agenda for their 7-p.m. session, is approval of resignations, a closed session, an update on the Schuler and Washington Building Leadership Teams (BLT), a report from Technology Coordinator Roger Warne, on a Technology Purchasing Plan, and discussion with regard to additional Elementary Classroom space.