OWASA, Iowa (AP) — Across Iowa, many former rural schools are now vacant buildings, and more small schools may feel pressure to close in the next few years. The Des Moines Register reports  a budget guarantee that had help small districts with declining enrollments survive expired last year after being phased out over a decade.

So it may become harder for small schools to stay open. Today, Iowa has 338 school districts. In 1950, there were 4,652 districts. The idle school building in Owasa is symbolic of the trend because local leaders fought a 1958 law that required all schools to be part of a K-12 district.

Owasa’s school closed after an Iowa Supreme Court ruling in 1967, and the town’s population has declined 60 percent since then.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An effort to get more doctors in rural Iowa through a state-run loan forgiveness program moved forward this year, though backers say they still need more funding. The first group of students was awarded funding through the Rural Iowa Primary Care Loan Repayment Program this year. The eight recipients will each get up to $200,000 in loan aid in exchange for working for five years in small town Iowa.

Dr. Brent Hoehns, a family physician in Knoxville who chairs the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians, says this kind of investment is needed. The ultimate goal is to use state and private dollars to provide the loan aid to 20 students each year who commit to rural jobs, which can often pay less than other physician positions

Officials with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, Saturday, said Karla Eilts and Mark McNees were named as this year’s “Scrooge” contest winners. Chamber Program Director Chelsea Amundson said both McNees and Eilts served as Grand Marshals in the Lighted Christmas Paraded on Saturday evening. McNees and Eilts earned their title by collecting the largest amount of donations for the Atlantic Area Chamber’s 14th Annual Scrooge Contest sponsored by Hockenberry Family Care and Longaberger Consultant – Dolly Bergmann. All contributions were donated to the Atlantic Food Pantry.

The 2014 candidates included: Karla Eilts, from Rex Pharmacy; Kevin Wieser, with Brown’s Shoe Fit; Kyle Bartholic, Youth Leader at E-Free Church; Mark McNees, Atlantic Fire Chief and U.S. Postal Service worker; and Rob Tarrell with the Cub Scouts.

Eleanor Hoover has been coordinating the contest since 2002 just one year after the inaugural Lighted Parade. She said she is “So proud of our Scrooge Candidates and our community for supporting
Atlantic food Pantry.” Hoover said also “Winning is not everything, but making the effort to win is.”

The Atlantic Area Chamber would like to thank everyone who donated. Past Scrooge titles have been awarded to: Devin Ferguson 2002, Eleanor Hoover 2003, Rex McDermott 2004, Tonia Goft 2005, Rick Harlan 2006, Mary Ann Moorman 2007, Dana Halder 2008, Tammy Wise & Janet Huey 2009, Ritchie Anderson 2010, Janet Cappel 2011, Melanie Petty 2012 and David Miller 2013.