Courier Year in Review: Part 4

Jan. 3—As the year 2022 comes to a close, here's a look back on a year's of news that appeared in the pages of the Ottumwa Courier. These headlines were curated by Courier staff, and come from reporting by the Courier and our news partners. Part 3 covers the final three months of 2022.

OCTOBER

American Gothic House Center explores new addition

With the American Gothic House Center in Eldon continuing to attract visitors on a large scale, the time may have come to expand. The Gothic House board, eyeing a Destination Iowa grant, was considering add-ons to the visitor center and a larger meeting room.

Residents share concern about potential Dollar General store

A proposed site for a Dollar General store on Ottumwa's north side has caused consternation among some residents in that part of the city.

Even though the city council unanimously approved of the rezoning a property at 1235 Hutchinson Ave. and, simultaneously, passed the first reading of an ordinance change for the rezoning, the development was met with skepticism from members of the public during a public hearing.

The parcel of land in question, which is located at the intersection of Hutchinson and East Pennsylvania avenues near Ottumwa Regional Health Center, would need to be annexed by the city, which it hopes to do at the Nov. 1 meeting, which would mark the third reading of the ordinance change.

"We've talked to a number of our neighbors that are slightly concerned by this. The other Dollar General stores around town are in disrepair. This would be a very different change," said resident Shawn Berry, who lives just west of where the store would be built. "The other two stores do not make us comfortable with believing this is going to stay as a desirable area once that happens."

Laura Berry echoed her husband's concerns, believing their property value could decrease, while upending "a very quiet area that's very nice and private."

"Even though there is some medical-use areas and the dentist's office and hospital, it's very quiet after 5 p.m.," she said. "it doesn't match up with the type of residences that are currently there. There would be foot traffic and driving traffic after house, after dark. That's a concern for us for safety.

"I don't necessarily want to bag on Dollar General, but I just don't think it would be a good fit for that area as it stands right now."

Another resident shared similar concerns, then went farther.

"It's going to change the whole peacefulness in our neighborhood," Viki Wilson said. "Because we know who goes to the Dollar General stores on average. We would like to see something a little bit nicer if we had the opportunity."

Ottumwa Schools sees increase in student enrollment

The Ottumwa Community School District has announced a significant increase in student enrollment numbers for the 2022-23 school year.

Preliminary figures show the district has gained 200 students this year, increasing total enrollment to over 5,000 students, the highest certified enrollment since 1998. The district has not seen an annual student increase of this size in enrollment information dating back to 1998.

Ottumwa Schools leading country in new language technology

The Ottumwa School Community District is one of the only school districts in the country implementing new English language translation technology.

The district is currently using translation earbuds created and manufactured by Timekettle Technologies to help English language learner students translate what teachers are speaking in English into their primary language in real-time. The earbuds temporarily help ELL students while their classroom teachers help them learn the English language. The earbuds support 40 languages and 93 accents.

Nisar takes city finance director post

Waseem Nisar was hired as the City of Ottumwa's new finance director, ending a nine-month vacancy in one of the highest-profile posts in city government. Nisar began his duties in mid-October.

By trade — and at heart — he's a teacher. In his view, both can be benefits in his new role.

"Teacher might be a little heavy word in this context, but I like the words 'coaching' and 'explaining,'" Nisar chuckled during an interview with The Courier Thursday. "I have done that part in all my life. I know a lot of people aren't finance people, so I bring it down to their level and make sure they understand how important finance is.

"I think finance is probably the most important function of any entity," he said. "If your finance is good, everybody will be happy."

Ottumwa officially adopts franchise fees

Franchise fees will become part of the city's finance structure over the next 25 years, implementing a 3% fee to gas and electric utilities inside city limits. The average bill will increase about $4.30 per month, and bring in approximately $1.6 million per year.

Residents and businesses likely won't see the hike until the early part of next year.

Centerville releases agreement with outgoing fire chief

The outgoing Centerville Fire Chief will remain on the city's payroll until December 2023, according to newly released public records.

Mike Bogle and the City of Centerville came to an agreement earlier this month that includes approximately $70,000 of pay plus continued health insurance benefits.

Centerville City Administrator Jason Fraser had originally declined to provide the agreement to the Ottumwa Courier last week. Following his denial, the Ottumwa Courier filed a formal complaint with the Iowa Public Information Board. After that, Fraser emailed the documents to the Courier after consultation with the city's human resources counsel, he said.

The early retirement agreement includes multiple terms, including that Bogle would agree not to pursue an age discrimination claim and agree that he won't sue the city. The agreement doesn't list a specific price tag to the taxpayers, but terms for salary alone add up to tens of thousands of dollars over the next 13 months.

Police: Theft from JBS Ottumwa linked to multi-state scheme

The bizarre theft of three semitrailers containing finished pork products from the Ottumwa JBS plant in September have been linked to the arrest of three Miami men federal investigators say have been involved in 45 such heists in six states.

Charging documents did not specifically list which plants were involved, but what investigators called a "sophisticated organized criminal enterprise" targeted meatpacking plants in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Losses from the thefts total $9 million.

NOVEMBER

City, Heartland Humane Society seek next agreement

Even though the City of Ottumwa and Heartland Humane Society have had a working agreement for four years, both appear to want that partnership stronger.

The city and the no-kill animal shelter are discussing their next agreement that will benefit both, and perhaps for longer term. In exchange for assisting the city's animal care efforts, the shelter receives $5 per tag for each dog license, plus other fees such as vaccinations.

However, Heartland Humane Society board member Garrett Ross spoke of the financial shortcomings of the shelter, which is a non-profit shelter.

Judge hears arguments to exclude evidence in murder trial of slain Fairfield teacher

A judge heard arguments from defense attorneys in an attempt to exclude certain evidence in an upcoming trial for one of two Fairfield teens charged with the first-degree murder of their high school Spanish teacher.

Willard Chaiden Miller, 17, of Fairfield, is being charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder after Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, 66, was found dead in Chautauqua Park near Fairfield on Nov. 3, 2021. Jeremy Goodale, 17, of Fairfield, is facing the same charges in the case but is being tried separately.

Miller's defense attorney Nathan Olson argued the evidence was obtained illegally and in violation of the U.S. Constitution by investigators. Judge Shawn Showers has not yet issued a ruling.

Iowa's drought is worst in 9 years

The state was drier than it's been since March 2013, according to November U.S. Drought Monitor report. At the time, all of the state was abnormally dry or worse. About 89% of Iowa had some degree of drought.

Ottumwa chiro keeps license after sex charge dismissed

Chiropractor Bruce Lindberg of Ottumwa was charged with simple assault on April 18. Police alleged that after treating a 10-year-old boy at his clinic, Lindberg hugged the child and kissed him on the top of his head. A few weeks after his arrest, Lindberg agreed to stop seeing patients until the criminal case was resolved. At the time, his chiropractic license was suspended.

In July, a judge dismissed the criminal charge, noting that the criminal complaint filed by prosecutors didn't meet the legal definition of assault. Citing the dismissal of the criminal case, the Iowa Board of Chiropractic recently reached a settlement with Lindberg and agreed to reinstate his license. The agreement bars Lindberg from providing care to anyone under the age of 18 and to any dependent adult. An adult employee of the chiropractic clinic will have to be present during all examinations and treatment provided by Lindberg, at least until further notice by the board.

Catching a red wave: Republicans have big night in Wapello County

History was made on the county board of supervisors, where the county will have a Republican majority for the first time in at least a couple generations after lopsided wins by Darren Batterson and Bryan Ziegler. Both will join Democrat Brian Morgan on the board in January.

Both Batterson and Ziegler garnered around 30% of the vote in a four-candidate race, easily defeating Democrats Connie Hammersley-Wilson and six-term supervisor Jerry Parker, whose political career will likely come to an end in January after almost 50 years in elected office.

Batterson received 5,532 votes, or 30% of the share, followed closely by Ziegler (5,368). Both were almost 1,400 votes ahead of Parker.

Republicans vying for state offices received a good share of votes from Wapello County. Hans Wilz claimed 63% of the vote over Democrat Diana Swartz in Iowa House 25, while Cherielynn Westrich picked up 62% of the vote over Matt Greiner in the new Iowa Senate 13 seat.

Republican victories continued up the political chain among Wapello County voters, with Reynolds, Zach Nunn (3rd Congressional District), Brenna Bird (attorney general), Paul Pate (secretary of state) Tom Halbur (auditor), Roby Smith (treasurer) and Mike Naig (secretary of agriculture) winning not-particularly-close races. In most races, Republicans garnered at least 60% of the vote.

Statewide, Nunn defeated Democratic incumbent Cindy Axne by about 2,200 votes in a race that was called by the Associated Press Wednesday afternoon. Halbur is also locked into a close race with Democratic incumbent Rob Sand, with about 30,000 votes yet to be reported due to technical issues in Des Moines and Warren counties on election night. As of Wednesday afternoon, Sand held a narrow 3,100-vote lead. Reynolds, Pate, Smith and Naig won their races statewide.

The only Democratic wins came from Wapello County Treasurer Laurie Fountain and recorder Lisa Kent, who were running unopposed.

City touts airport accomplishments, eyes additional staff

The council unanimously passed a restructuring of personnel at the airport, creating the job of "airport services supervisor," which would perform both maintenance on planes and be able to give flight instruction.

The change was made because the airport has been able to make a profit since the city took it over. Revenues are up about $80,000, and continue to rise as the airport sells thousands of gallons of cheaper fuel that can't be found on either coast, and is in a convenient location in the Midwest.

Supervisors agree to fund library's digitization effort

The Wapello County Board of Supervisors approved another contribution to the Ottumwa Public Library's newspaper-digitization project during Tuesday's meeting at the courthouse.

The latest installment will cover the years 1963 to 2012, at a cost of just under $48,000. That cost is on top of the $43,000 the county has already contributed to the project that began with Ottumwa Courier newspapers from the 19th century to the mid-20th century. The Courier's searchable database became active in 2013, so the digitization process fills in the gap.

DECEMBER

Two Centerville Schools staff members placed on leave

Two staff members of the Centerville Community School District were placed on administrative leave pending separate internal investigations, according to a statement released by the district.

The statement says allegations made against one staff member is "of a personal nature involving an adult who does not work for the district" and is not school-related. However, communication took place "on district time," prompting a district investigation, the statement says.

Ottumwa Schools promise systemic change after racist bullying

A federal agency said a Black Ottumwa middle school student faced repeated racist harassment over two school years, and the school district didn't do enough to stop it.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights announced Monday it had resolved a complaint filed against the Ottumwa Community School District. The settlement includes reimbursing the student's parent for past and future therapeutic services, conducting a review of district policies, providing additional training to staff, and conducting a climate survey to assess the prevalence of harassment.

Racial slurs were used repeatedly, the agency said. The Black student was referred to as a "slave" to the white students, or called a "blackie" or "cotton picker," a press release and documents released by the Department of Education say. The student was targeted by classmates making monkey noises during class and raising their fists to mock Black Power. A white classmate used the term KKK, then referenced the acronym to the "Kool Kids Klub."

The students made racially derogatory jokes and references, including kneeling on a Gatorade bottle in the Black student's presence and saying, "It can't breathe." The incident, federal investigators said, referenced the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis who repeatedly uttered the phrase "I can't breathe" while a police officer kneeled on Floyd's neck and back until he died.

Federal investigators concluded that the district knew of the ongoing harassment and disregarded its obligations to investigate whether its response was effective.

Ottumwa Schools Superintendent Mike McGrory said the district will "move forward with systemic improvements to our policies and procedures to ensure equity for all of our students." The comment came in a four-paragraph statement released to media Tuesday morning that included a nod to the district's "Be The Best" branding campaign.

Appeals court sides with Ottumwa in sewer case

The sanitary sewer lines in the center of a years-long dispute between property owners and the city of Ottumwa are in fact private lines, an Iowa appeals court has ruled.

In a decision released Wednesday, the court sided with the city of Ottumwa and reversed a district court decision that had found to the contrary.

The ruling found that Ottumwa had no responsibility for repairs to a sewer line found in the McCarroll subdivision. Landowners in the area contended that when the city dedicated the addition in the 1950s it took on the roughly 2,300 linear feet of sewer lines in the northern Ottumwa subdivision.

Supervisors terminate lease with training facility

The county board of supervisors terminated its lease on the bioprocessing facility near Eddyville during its meeting at the courthouse, ending an era in which the county owned the facility and had two major partners.

Cargill will now own the building and land, paying the county $50,000 to terminate the lease early. The lease, which also included Indian Hills Community College for its biotechnology program, still had almost a year left on it.

Pedersen to leave Cardinal for AEA post

Cardinal Community School District Superintendent Joel Pedersen will be leaving his job at the end of the school year for a role with the Central Rivers Area Education Agency. The Cedar Falls-based CRAEA announced that Pedersen will take over as the agency's chief administrator, replacing Sam Miller, who is retiring from the agency in August after serving in that role since 2016.

Pedersen has been at Cardinal since 2010, and helped engineer a major turnaround to the district in terms of facility improvements and enrollment, which has grown by 55% in his time at the school, the sixth-largest growth in the state.

Trooper's shooting in Blakesburg ruled justified

An Ottumwa man shot by a state trooper following a pursuit earlier this month has now been formally charged. A review found the trooper's actions to be legally justified.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said 35-year-old Charles Hall, of Ottumwa, was released from the hospital and transferred to the Davis County Jail. He was charged with attempted murder, a class B felony; and eluding, a class D felony. The charges were filed in Davis County, where the pursuit had ended on Dec. 7 in rural Blakesburg.

Hall was shot by Iowa State Trooper Jeremy Cole, investigators said. In newly filed court documents, a state investigator said Hall charged at Cole's vehicle with a weapon drawn and attempted to steal Cole's patrol vehicle. Cole fired his weapon at Hall, striking him. The Davis County Attorney's Office said their review of evidence obtained by DCI found Cole's actions to be "objectively reasonable" and "legally justified."