Editor’s note: The following is the first in a series of profiles of candidates for the fall municipal election.

Jason Parizek, 28, of 604 Seventh Ave. is challenging first term Councilman James Kurovski for the Third Ward city council seat in the November election.

Parizek is the owner of Kool Kustumz, an auto and home improvement company located on 13^th Street. His wife’s name is Amber. He has two stepchildren, Landyn and Larkin. He has lived in Belle Plaine for the past 13 years.

He decided to run because, “I feel it is important for someone to be on the city council that really interacts with the public and is able to hear the concerns and views of the public away from the council chamber.  The city council tends to have their own views and opinions and the community doesn’t have much of an option to voice theirs, besides at the meetings, and yet it tends to never go any further then that.  The community needs a leader for the community, not just for the city council.  I believe by me running, (and possibly being elected) the community will have a better chance of getting their concerns across the table more so.  I will speak for the community, not myself.  So, the answer to the question would be, I want to be a community leader, not an ordinary council member.”

When asked what are the greatest challenges facing the city council in the next year, he said, “That is a difficult question to answer.  There are always challenges and the position of being challenged.  We cannot tell what is going to happen in the future, just like we, or most, were not able to predict Benco Manufacturing was going to be closing its doors.  That was a tough situation for a lot of the community from an economic standpoint.

“We really need to “think outside of the box” when it comes to things other than the community presenting themselves in a nice, clean manor for passersby or potential new members of the community.  For the last year, it’s really been just about making the community look nice, recognizable or basically giving it a facelift.  We need more then a facelift.  The world is still in an economic hole and should think about those perspectives as well.  If we can make our community attractive to new business’ and companies, that will very well be a way to get more people to come to the community and possibly be interested in becoming a part of the community.

“In general, the council needs to “think outside the box” and come up with a game plan for other “developments” other then “facelifts” for the city.  And that is a challenge as an idea itself that needs to be taken into consideration.”

He was also asked how the city can best grow and continue to thrive. His response: “By getting more or new people involved in the city.  New leaders bring new ideas, new inspirations, new goals and new value.”

By Coach Joel Formanek

Week three of action for the Belle Plaine Optimist Youth Football team was an exciting one.  Belle Plaine tied 6-6 against Cedar Rapids Regis 2 at Cedar Rapids LaSalle Middle School on Sunday. Both teams were undefeated going into the game.

The first half was back and forth with no score. Belle Plaine in the second half came out right away and Jonathan Stone intercepted a pass and returned it to the 5-yard line.  Brant DeMuelenaere scored on the very next play.  The extra point failed.

Belle Plaine played pretty solid defense the rest of the half.  The lone score for Cedar Rapids came one play after a Belle Plaine fumble that was returned to the 15-yard line.  They missed the kick and that was the final score.

We had a lot of drives where we moved the ball really well but just couldn’t get it in the end zone. We had one drive end at the 15 yard line and one that ended at the 25 yard line just before half time.

Overall I was happy with the performance. We played a really tough team and held our own for playing a bigger school than us.

Belle Plaine plays next week at Newton Black starting at 1 p.m. Sunday.  This will be another tough challenge as Newton Black is undefeated and looks to be the best Newton team we will play.  It will be fun for the kids because they have an artificial turf field to play on.

Sept. 18, 10:35 a.m. – Ambulance assist in the 1400 block of Sunset Dr.

Sept. 18, 10:25 p.m. – Officers received a report of a possible suicidal subject in the 500 block of Seventh Ave. The subject was transported to the hospital for evaluation.

Sept. 19, 3:20 a.m. – A report of a 911 hang-up at 1106 14^th Street proved to be a false alarm.

Sept. 19, 3:50 a.m. – No charges were filed as a result of a domestic dispute in the 1100 block of 14^th Street.

Sept. 19, 5:50 a.m. – A stray cat was caught in a live trap at 1506 Second Ave. Police transported it to Countryside Veterinary Clinic.

Sept. 19, 10:50 p.m. – Car unlock at 210 Seventh Ave. Lot 16.

Sept. 19, 11:20 p.m. – A suspicious activity call in the 500 block of Sixth Street proved to be unfounded.

Sept. 20, 2:40 p.m. – Kyle McDermott, 21, Belle Plaine, was arrested on Linn County warrants for second degree theft and criminal mischief. He was transported to Linn County.

Sept. 21, 12:01 a.m. – A report of criminal mischief at 210 Seventh Ave. Lot 16 remains under investigation.

Sept. 21, 12:30 p.m. – No charges were filed as a result of a harassment complaint at 620 Sixth Ave.

Sept. 21, 8:15 p.m. – A stop sign was found down in the 400 block of Eighth Street and turned over to the police department.

Sept. 23, 11:05 a.m.- A complaint of the violation of a protective order proved to be unfounded. The subject came to the police department.

Sept. 24, 10:50 p.m. – Gregory Parmenter, 30, Belle Plaine, was arrested on a Benton County warrant for interference with official acts. This stemmed from an incident on Sept. 9, when he and another subject allegedly ran from police during a stop. He was transported to the Iowa County Jail.

Sept. 24, 11:40 p.m. – Officers were called to 202 11^th Street on a report of a bat in the house.

Sept. 27, 4:30 p.m. – A loose dog was reported in the 200 block of 11^th Street. The owner of the dog was warned.

Sept. 27, 6:20 p.m. – Ambulance assist in the 1400 block of Fourth Ave.

Sept. 27, 8:50 p.m. – No charges were filed as a result of a neighbor dispute in the 400 block of 11^th Street.

Sept. 28, 12:30 p.m. – Officers responded to the 700 block of Ninth Ave. on a report of a loose dog. None was found.

Sept. 28, 12:50 p.m. – Police took a report of a possible attempted burglary at 2008 11^th Ave. No entry was gained.

Belle Plaine suffered a double loss Friday night. Fourth-rated West Branch came to town and handed the Plainsmen a 34-12 setback and the home team lost star running back Brian Crow for at least the remainder of the regular season when he went down early in the fourth quarter with a dislocated shoulder.

Bohlen said the good news on the injury was that there was no ligament tear and no bone chips. He said Crow’s loss will be an added incentive for the team to qualify for postseason play with the outside chance that he might be able to return.

Early on it appeared that the two veteran opposing coaches were staging the football equivalent of a chess match, putting their main weapons out there time after time until the opponent found a way to stop him. The Plainsmen took the opening kickoff and drove down the field, with Crow getting the call on eight of the first nine plays from scrimmage. But the drive stalled on fourth down at the Bear 18 on an incomplete pass and on their second offensive play of the night, the Bears took the lead when their main man, senior Cole Kelly, raced 76 yards for the touchdown. Brandon Young kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 6:50 left in the first quarter.

West Branch made it 14-0 with just 19 seconds left in the quarter when Jayson Madsen went over from two yards out with the first of his three touchdowns on the night.

The Plainsmen scored their first touchdown of the night midway through the second quarter as they took advantage of a Bear mistake. Ryan Rupp recovered a fumble at midfield and eight plays later, Crow went in from two yards out to make it 14-6 at the half.

Coach Todd Bohlen, who said his team did a nice job on that initial drive of the game and then saw the Plainsmen battle back in the second quarter, said he and his staff felt good going into the locker room down by a touchdown at the half.

But on their first possession of the second half, the Bears widened the margin on a three-yard run by Madsen with 9:31 left in the third quarter. The extra point kick made it 21-6. Then on the first play of the fourth quarter, the visitors made it 27-6 as Madsen capped a 38-yard, six play drive with a one-yard plunge to make it 27-6.

The final West Branch score came with 9:36 left in the game hen Rilen Carew picked off a Plainsman pass and raced 57 yards for the touchdown. It was right after that when Crow came off the field with his shoulder injury, which eventually led to a trip to the hospital and the diagnosis.

The Plainsman reserves accounted for the last score of the night. With just seven seconds remaining, Devon Parr found Kyle Janss in the corner of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The conversion run failed.

As the Belle Plaine coaching staff prepares the game plan for this week’s trip to Iowa Valley, they will have the unfortunate task of trying to replace an offensive weapon who had followed up last season’s 1,665, 29-touchdown performance with 612 yards and seven touchdowns in under five games this season.

Bohlen said they had been preparing for this possibility, or for giving Crow some rest time for the past few weeks, moving Seivon Steward, Cooper Northrop and Kyle Janss around to different offensive positions. He said the aim this week is to stiffen up the defense, because Crow was a definite presence on that side of the ball as well, although the coaches had attempted to limit his defensive reps to keep him fresh for the offense.

He said Iowa Valley will not offer the typical shotgun spread as in the past. Just as both teams worked at ball and clock control last week, he expects the Tigers to attempt the same thing this week. They have been playing four sophomores and four freshmen on both sides of the ball, so the coach hopes that the Plainsman depth and experience will be a big plus in this week’s contest.

The Tigers will be coming off their first win of the season. Last week, they throttled Van Buren, 42-6.

Before he left the game early in the fourth quarter, Crow had carried the ball 27 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. Steward had six carries for one yard, Damon Rhoades had 11 carries for 38 yards, Chris Janss had one carry for minus one yard, Northrop had one for two yards, Kyle Janss had five carries for 51 yards and Ryan Rupp had one carry for 0 yards.

Crow caught one pass for four yards and Kyle Janss had one reception for 15 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Chris Janss had seven tackles and a fumble recovery, Steward, Austin Chekal and Keegan DeMeulenaere each had two tackles, Rupp had 10 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery, Rupp had five tackles with one for loss, Rhoades had two tackles, Northrop, one, Scott Wheeler had four, Garrett Rollins had six with one for loss, Blake Chekal had one with one for loss, Jacob Miller, Kyle Janss and Zach Snyder each had one and Ben Ehlen had a fumble recovery.

West Branch               14        0          7          13        -           34

Belle Plaine                 0          6          0          6          -           12

BP                   WB

First downs                 14                    8

Rushing                       52-203             30-256

Passes                          2-9-1                2-7-0

Pass yds.                     19                    25

Punts                           4-31                 3-29

Fumbles                       2-0                   3-3

Penalties                      4-27                 2-20

Editor’s note: Mayor Jim Daily recently responded to a letter to the editor which appeared in last week’s Star Press Union regarding several city matters.

CAT grant – amount to be awarded is $96,000 not $93,000.

Family aquatic center bid price was $2,520,222.50.

Citizens voted for a bond issue for $2.1 million.

Difference is being made up from grants and donations from people dedicated to the survival of this community.

Disposition of the rent from the old Benco building – none of my business what the owner of that property does with his income. Please feel free to contact the owner and request the rent be donated to the city.

“Property of the city” – As far as I am able to determine the city doesn’t own any property at 11^th Street and First Ave.

Grass – Your duty as a responsible citizen is to report violations of the nuisance ordinance. Please give a list to the police department. Pictures would be a plus.

Cost of the Walldog event was $37,750. It is a piece of the downtown revitalization project. The mural that the Kromminga family so generously allowed to be attached to their grain bin was designed for that purpose to point the way to our main street.

Closed alleys – “Alleys” is plural. Is there more than one? The council in its collective wisdom has to make the decisions it deems best for each situation. Sometimes decisions are unpopular. It’s called “representative government.” In the upcoming election only one seat is contested. Why? Many citizens sit on a barstool at the taverns or restaurants or around the kitchen tables and opine as to what should be done but they aren’t willing to step forward in an elective or even a voluntary capacity to carry the burdens of decision making or the actual spade work of progress.

Communication with city officials – We have two council meetings each month, the first and third Mondays at 6 p.m. The council also meets as a committee of the whole, uncompensated, once a month, usually on the third Monday at 5 p.m. to discuss ideas on future actions and perceived problems. Most often the elected officials, city staff and the press are the only attendees. Perhaps we should serve cookies.

As another source of communication and information we are fortunate to have two local news outlets covering the meetings. Both do an excellent job of keeping the townspeople up to date.

Recently on TV I saw a frustrated congressman trying to reason with a constituent, saying he might as well have a conversation with the dining room table. I appreciate his frustration.

Mayor James R. Daily

Belle Plaine’s fifth annual one-mile, 5K walk/run event is planned for Saturday, Oct. 24, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Belle Plaine Community Library.

The event is sponsored by the Teen Library Council. This year, it will feature a “Monster Dash” with “spooktacular” prizes for kids who come in costume and participate in the one-mile walk.

To register or for more information, stop in at the library or call 444-2902.

As we bid “farewell” to September, we literally blow toward the beginning of October later this week with a full slate of school sports action.

Today (Monday), the cross country teams travel to Kent Park for a meet hosted by Clear Creek-Amana. The volleyball team travels to Montezuma, meanwhile the JV football team hosts North Mahaska and the junior high volleyball team is also on the road at North Mahaska.

Tuesday, the junior high volleyball team returns home to host North Tama.

On Wednesday, the high school volleyball teams will be back home against English Valleys. Junior high volleyball hosts Tri-County and the seventh grade football team travels to victor to face Montezuma.

Friday night, the varsity football team travels to Iowa Valley for its next-to-last road game of the season.

On Saturday, the tenth grade volleyball squad will travel to Cascade.