Nov. 23, 2:25 p.m. – Police were called to the high school on a complaint of an assault. Two female juveniles were subsequently referred to juvenile authorities for disorderly conduct.
Nov. 23, 4:30 p.m. – Officers assisted a female who was locked out of her residence at 1308 Eighth Avenue.
Nov. 24, 1:30 p.m. – Ambulance assist in the 1400 block of 12th Avenue.
Nov. 24, 11 p.m. – Ambulance assist in the 900 block of Third Avenue.
Nov. 25, 7:48 a.m. – Officers responded to the area of Seventh Avenue and 11th Street on a report of a child walking alone. The eight-year-old was returned to his mother.
Nov. 25, 1:45 p.m. – Acting on a report of possible animal neglect in the 1600 block of Ninth Avenue, the owners of the animals were contacted.
Nov. 25, 3:15 p.m. – Robert Brown, 43, Belle Plaine, was cited for driving while under suspension in the 600 block of 15th Street.
Nov. 25, 5:10 p.m. – Katie Hahn, 20, Belle Plaine was arrested at 1004 Eighth Avenue Apartment 4 on a warrant for failure to appear. She was transported to the Iowa County Jail.
Nov. 25, 9:31 p.m. – Carol Wilcox, Belle Plaine, reported her 13-year-old granddaughter missing. She was located the next day by Cedar Rapids Police and released to her grandmother.
Nov. 26, 1:24 a.m. – Police were called to 202 11th Street on a report of an assault. The incident remains under investigation.
Nov. 27, 10:08 p.m. – Responding to a report of a juvenile party at 1409 12th Avenue Apartment 3, officers referred three juveniles to juvenile authorities for possession of a controlled substance.
Nov. 28, 5:45 a.m. – Ambulance assist in the 1400 block of Sunset Drive.
A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Fans traveling to Traer tonight for the boys’ high school game against North Tama can either enter the game by paying the regular admission, or by bringing three canned goods to the game for North Tama’s food drive. The JV game is set for 6:30 p.m., followed by the varsity game.
With the turkey and pumpkin pie a fading memory, we turn our attention to a busy December, filled with the traditional shopping, wrapping and celebrating, along with a full slate of local activities to keep us all busy.
Belle Plaine’s annual holiday kickoff takes place Saturday and Sunday. “A Christmas Homecoming” offers a wide variety of activities for all ages, including lunch with Santa, Santa’s workshop and a free movie for the kids, a cookie walk, incentives for local shoppers including free gift wrapping, a Belle Plaine Buck rebate for local purchases and a raffle for $100 in Belle Plaine Bucks, a cookie walk, horse drawn wagon rides, tree lighting ceremony, an international dessert time at the Belle Plaine Area Museum, soup supper at Christ United Methodist Church and the annual “Prelude to Christmas “ community concert at the church Sunday night.
A complete schedule of events can be found on our “news” tab on this site and will be updated later this week.
The first week of December is traditionally the start of full scale activities in winter high school sports. The 13th-rated Plainsman girls basketball squad hosts Sigourney tonight (Monday). The boys will be on the road at North Tama, where fans can either pay the regular admission or enter by bringing three canned goods for the North Tama food drive. The girls and the boys travel to North Mahaska on Tuesday and the wrestlers open action that night at Gladbrook-Reinbeck North Tama with Don Bosco.
Friday night, the the basketball teams are at BGM, a change from the original schedule. On Saturday, the Belle Plaine wrestlers host several teams in the annual Plainsman Invitational.
Belle Plaine’s boys’ varsity basketball team makes its regular season debut Monday night at North Tama to start a busy first week. Coach Justin Northrop’s crew has some key returning players, but has some big holes to fill as well.
Leading scorer and rebounder from last year, Chris Janss, returns for his senior season. Last year, six Plainsman players scored 100 points or more. Three of them graduated. Keegan DeMeulenaere, who had 115 points and 82 rebounds, is a returning starter. The sixth player, junior Garrett Rollins, went down with a leg injury in football that required surgical repair. He is lost for this basketball season, but hopes to be back for a strong senior year. He had 104 points and 100 rebounds last season.
“Practice has been going about like expected,” Norrthrop said. “We are not in playing shape yet, but working to get that way. The kids have responded well to what we have asked them to do and are working really hard each day.
“We have Chris and Keegan who are returning starters and John Long and Seivon Steward who saw action at the varsity level. Ben Ehlen also saw a little time in some games, so our varsity game experience is a little limited but we have a lot of kids that have played a lot of good basketball.
“Losing Garrett was a big blow. He is a presence inside that we can not replace. He worked really hard this summer and got a lot better. Football has not been very good to us between losing Phillip last year and Garrett this year. I know he is really missing it and working hard in rehab to get back next year.
“Keota will definitely be the class of the conference. They return a lot of size and experience. They played in the Iowa City summer league with us and looked really good. Lynnville Sully also will be very good. Coach Hawthoorn does a great job every year and they will be tough to match up with because of their size. After those two teams it is probably wide open for everyone else.
“We had a good summer in the IC League and a couple team camps that we went to. The Seniors and Juniors have been running the same system for a couple of years so the learning curve is quicker than normal. We also had a few kids go to some individual camps and had a number of kids go up to Wartburg for the Snow Valley Camp.
“We will have a lot of athletic kids that play really hard. Hopefully, once they get going it will be a really fun team to watch.”
Last year, the Plainsmen finished seventh in the SICL Conference with a 10-10 record. Keota ran away from the rest of the conference, posting a 19-1 record. The Eagles return their top four scorers and rebounders this season. HLV was second with a 17-3 record, but the Warriors were hit hard by graduation and return one of their top five scorers and rebounders. With the return of two of their top five scorers and rebounders, it’s little wonder why the Hawks are expected to perhaps do as well as they did last year, when they were third in the conference with a 15-4 record.
The Plainsmen open the season at North Tama on Monday and at North Mahaska on Tuesday before hosting BGM on Friday. The Plainsmen will get their first look at the projected top teams in the conference in the same week. Lynnville-Sully comes to town on Tuesday, Dec. 15 and Keota will be here on Friday, Dec. 18.
District play begins on Feb. 15. Belle Plaine has been assigned to a district that also includes BGM, Cardinal, Iowa Valley, Mid-Prairie, Pekin, Sigourney and Van Buren. The district final is scheduled for Feb. 23 in Ottumwa.
Week 11 winners in the Belle Plaine pro football raffle were as follows:
Highest
1st Place 113 pts. $500 Laura, Chris & Matt Breja Chelsea, IA
2nd Place 108 pts. $150 Andy Dahlquist Belle Plaine, IA
3rd Place 107 pts. $ 80 Brian Hagen Watkins, IA
3rd Place 107 pts. $ 80 Joshua Cronbaugh Ames, IA
5th Place 105 pts. $ 50 Bill Smith Cedar Rapids, IA
6th Place 104 pts. $ 35 Brian Corcoran Fairbank, IA
6th Place 104 pts. $ 35 Kurt Mann Belle Plaine, IA
6th Place 104 pts. $ 35 Peggy Mitchell Belle Plaine, IA
9th Place 103 pts. $ 8.33 Nancy Masterson Belle Plaine, IA
9th Place 103 pts. $ 8.33 Kyle Knapke Bettendorf, IA
9th Place 103 pts. $ 8.33 Dennis Primasing Cedar Rapids, IA
Lowest
1st Place 16 pts. $ 20 Brad Kisner Muscatine, IA
2nd Place 22 pts. $ 12.50Lorna Reinecke Marion, IA
2nd Place 22 pts. $ 12.50Brian & Cindy Quinlan Overland Park, KS
Nov. 16, 7:22 p.m. – Officers were called to Casey’s on a report of a vehicle fire.
Nov. 16, 8:45 p.m. – The police department received a 911 hang-up call coming from 1608 Ninth Avenue. It was determined that the person was having phone problems.
Nov. 17 – Nathan Thill, 17, Belle Plaine, was referred to juvenile authorities on 20 counts of forgery, a Class D felony and one count of third degree theft, an aggravated misdemeanor, in an illegal check writing scheme that was first reported on Nov. 12.
Nov. 17, 3:15 p.m. – A trespassing complaint was filed when the resident at 704 Eighth Avenue reported that someone was driving in the alley and onto the complainant’s yard.
Nov. 18, 4:15 p.m. – Police went to 1518 Fifth Avenue on a complaint of harassment at the high school. The subject was referred to school authorities.
Nov. 18, 4:30 p.m. – Officers investigated a two-vehicle accident in the 1000 block of Third Avenue. A 2005 Chevrolet Colorado was backing out of a driveway when it struck a legally parked 1996 Jeep Cherokee, owned by Leonard Steinford, Keystone, Damage to the Steinford vehicle was listed at $1,000 and $200 to the Willey vehicle.
Nov. 20, 8 p.m. – Ruth Ann Wheeler, 21, Belle Plaine, was cited for driving while under suspension following a traffic stop in the 1300 block of Seventh Avenue.
Nov. 21, 6:54 a.m. – Officers assisted the Benton County Sheriff’s Department at the scene of a one-vehicle accident at 13th Avenue and 77th Street Trail.
Nov. 21, 7:44 p.m. – Officers responded to 801 Ninth Avenue on a complaint of speeding and reckless driving in the area.
Nov. 22, 9:10 a.m. – Tim Pudil, 39, Oxford, was cited for driving while revoked after a traffic stop in the 800 block of 12th Street.
Nov. 22, 10:59 a.m. – Criminal mischief in the form of a broken window in a house was reported at 1609 12th Avenue.
Nov. 23, 12:56 p.m. – Ronald Lee Mumby, 47, Chelsea, was arrested for driving while under suspension in the 400 block of Eighth Street. He was transported to the Iowa County Jail.
A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Belle Plaine opened its regular season Monday night with a 42-32 win over the North Tama girls at the Plainsman gym. The 13th-rated Plainsmen jumped out to an 11-7 lead in the first quarter and built a 26-15 edge at the half. It was 32-22 after three quarters.
Taylor Schafbuch led the Plainsmen with 13 points. She also had seven assists and five steals. Macy DeMeulenaere had a dozen points and five steals. Dani Coover added eight points and four rebounds with three steals. Laura Breja finished with four points, led the team with six rebounds and also had two blocks and three steals. Joy Cronbaugh had three points and Melissa Janss added two.
On Tuesday, the Plainsmen scored 10 points in the first quarter, nine each in the second and third, then added 15 in the fourth to pull away. Dani Coover had a big night with a team-high 24 points and nine rebounds. She also had three steals and three blocked shots. Schafbuch added 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Taylor Janss had two points, DeMeulenaere had two points, four rebounds and three steals, Breja had two points, seven rebounds and two steals and Cronbaugh also added two points. Katie Croft added four rebounds.
The Plainsmen host Sigourney on Monday.
There’s an old Ray Conniff song that radio stations dust off and play around Christmas time. But if you listen closely to the lyrics, “We Need a Little Christmas” is not necessarily a Christmas song. It talks about all of the happy things associated with the holiday season and the last line tells it all: “We need a little Christmas now!”
This week, we pause to celebrate Thanksgiving and to my way of thinking, it’s about time. The latest submission to this site from the Plainsman staff outlines some of the customs that students and staff look forward to each year. It seems like every family has a slightly different way to celebrate the holiday. Some of us are also fortunate to draw on some memories of the great times we had when we were growing up.
I can remember loading up the car and driving across the river to our aunt’s house in Rock Island. By the time we arrived, the house was warm from the overworked oven and stove and the smells coming from the kitchen were awesome. My cousin and I adjourned to the basement to work up an appetite wrestling and boxing. No matter that I was already a bit bigger than he was. What he lacked in size, he made up for with tricky moves.
My aunt’s house was rather small and as I remember, we had a table for the adults in the dining room and a card table for the younger set in the living room. The main dinner was great, the leftovers were even better.
Fast forward a few decades and thanks to the ever-increasing amount of food and entertaining channels on TV, people playing host to Thanksgiving gatherings this year seem to need some help. There was even a lengthy article in the weekend papers on how to host a successful get-together, complete with planning tips and what to talk about and what not to talk about across the dinner table.
We didn’t have fancy tips to follow when we were growing up. Our grandmothers and aunts would pass along their knowledge to our moms and we would watch closely. Somehow, the turkey magically got to the table at the same time as the tasty side dishes. As I grew into my teens and began go grow an opinion on some world matters, I still knew when to keep those opinions to myself. There were never any punches thrown at our family dinners and very few loud words.
Thanksgiving seems to come at a great time of the year. Many of us who spend a lot of time following local school activities need a rest before the winter sports seasons get into full swing. With most of the stores closed on the holiday, it gives holiday shoppers a chance to catch their breath and map out a strategy before starting to power shop bright and early Friday morning.
While most of us will be looking forward to spending the day with family and friends, we can also give thanks and look forward to the Christmas holiday season even if we are all alone. I remember one Thanksgiving when I was living in Independence and had planned to drive to Davenport for the weekend to see the folks. But Wednesday afternoon, we were hit with an ice storm. It was so bad that the boss drove me home, which was only a few blocks away. First, we stopped at the local grocery store and I picked up one of those pressed turkey roasts and a frozen pie. Somehow I managed to climb my icy outside stairway to my apartment and there I stayed until Monday morning.
Sure, my mom missed seeing me. But she didn’t understand that if you know the difference between solitude and loneliness, quiet times can be a blessing.
After a weekend to recharge the batteries, we can plunge head-on into a busy December, fully refreshed and ready for what lies ahead.
So whether your Thanksgiving plans include a TV dinner and parades and football games on the tube, a gathering of 20 relatives at Grandma’s house or a buffet at an area restaurant, take some time to offer thanks for all the blessings you have received this past year. Look ahead to the upcoming holidays with anticipation, not concern.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
The prevailing mood around our town is pretty upbeat this Monday morning. Anticipation seems to be running high as many of us look forward to a short work week and the specter of eating way too much turkey on Thursday and leftovers throughout the remainder of the weekend.
But even as we prepare to gear up for perhaps some power shopping on Friday and look ahead to Belle Plaine’s annual holiday celebration on Dec. 5-6, there’s still several activities happening this week.
Today, a blood drive is underway at the high school until 2 p.m. If you can donate blood at this critical time of the year, stop in at the school.
On Tuesday, a representative from Congressman Leonard Boswell’s office will be available at the Belle Plaine City Hall from 11 a.m. to noon. He is there to answer your questions and listen to your concerns.
There will be no school from Wednesday through the weekend in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The Belle Plaine Public Library will close at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
City and Belle Plaine Community Development offices will be closed Thursday and Friday.
On Sunday, a Victorian Tea will be held at the Belle Plaine Area Museum at 2 p.m.
A holiday open house, featuring representatives of many home-based businesses, will be held at the Belle Plaine Community Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is sponsored by organizers of the city’s new 10 and under ASA softball program.
The official start of the winter sports season gets underway tonight (Monday) when the 13th-rated Belle Plaine girls host Tri-County in a varsity-jv doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. On Tuesday, the girls host HLV. The JV game will last only two quarters on this night, so the start of the varsity game will be pushed up by about 30 minutes, school officials said. Meanwhile, the boys will be playing at the Mid-Prairie Jamboree.
Des Moines, IA (Nov. 18, 2009) – Representatives from nearly every school district in the state, including representatives from the Belle Plaine Board of Education, voted on the 2010 legislative priorities Wednesday at the Iowa Association of School Boards’ Delegate Assembly. They voted to focus on only one main priority this year, as opposed to four or five, to drive home the importance of maintaining adequate funding for schools during this difficult budget year.
The priority of the Iowa Association of School Boards and its members is to: • Support setting allowable growth at a rate that encourages continuous school improvement and reflects actual cost increases experienced by school districts and AEAs.
“Our priority is to increase and maintain the state cost per pupil and the spending authority associated with it to build a strong base for future education resources. IASB will also work on a number of other issues on behalf of members this session, but this is the official priority set by the Delegate Assembly. By setting this one priority, we send a strong message to the Legislature allowable growth is the most critical issue for schools this year,” said Russ Wiesley of Waukee, IASB president-elect and chairman of the IASB Legislative Resolutions Committee.
The Delegate Assembly also discussed many other issues around school funding. They decided to advocate that the UNI Lab School should not be funded by K-12 dollars but instead by the Iowa State Board of Regents, as it has been historically funded until a law change last year. Members also voted to support school districts being more involved in approving tax increment finance districts (TIFs) so as to preserve property tax authority and education funding.
IASB is a private, nonprofit organization representing Iowa’s 361 school districts, 10 area education agencies and 15 community colleges. # # # #
