Belle Plaine’s boys’ golf squad continues to roll up the victories early in the season. Their latest victim was English Valleys. The Plainsmen claimed a 159-216 win Wednesday at the Belle Plaine Country Club.
Mitch Jacobi and Logan Baburek tied for medalist honors with scores of 38. Scott Thenhaus was right behind with a 39. Other Plainsman scores included Blake St. John, 44; Nick Bachelder, 45 and Austin Brown, 46.
For the girls, Emma Northrop had a 51.
“What a great day for golf!” Coach Brad Allen said. “The Plainsmen really put a couple of good scores together today and showed our team potential. 4-0 is just that start we needed to build up some confidence. We now focus to Friday with what should prove to be a great matchup with HLV and BGM.”

Three relay wins and first place finishes by two individuals helped propel the Belle Plaine boys to a third place finish Tuesday at the Ruth Ahrens Invitational track meet at Marengo.
HLV and BGM tied for the team title with 108 points each. The Plainsmen finished with 92.5, followed by Lisbon, 81; Sigourney, 72; Iowa Valley, 45.5; North Mahaska, 34 and English Valleys, 16.
The Plainsmen won the shuttle hurdle, 4 x 200 and 4 x 100 relays. They were fourth in the 4 x 800, third in the 1,600 meter medley and third in the 4 x 400 meter relays.
In individual events, Brian Crow was first in the 100 meter dash and Keegan DeMeulenaere won the 110 meter hurdles. Brent Wheeler was second and Reed Peterson was third in the discus. Mitchell Schmuecker tied for fifth place in the high jump. Kyle Janss was fifth in the long jump. Brian Carlson was fourth and Chase Bryant finished fifth in the 3,200 meter run. Schmuecker was sixth in the 400 meter hurdles. Carlson took fifth in the 800 meter run.
In an earlier meet, the Plainsmen finished eighth in the 14-team Pirate Relays at Hudson. The host team took the title with 153 points. Vinton-Shellsburg was second with 92.5, followed by Union, 86.75; AGWSR, 73.75; NU High, 66; North Butler, 47.75; BGM, 38; Belle Plaine, 30; Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 24; Denver, 22; Aplington-Parkersburg, 21; Don Bosco, 20, East Marshall, 18 and Iowa Valley, 10.75.

Belle Plaine High School students will be required to take second semester tests after a proposal to excuse some students from those tests failed to gain approval by the Belle Plaine Board of Education Monday night.
School administrators had proposed that students who maintain at least a “C” grade point average and miss no more than one day of school would be excused from taking the second semester finals. Principal Dennis Phelps told the board that the faculty had generally been in agreement with the plan and the students had been advised that this would be the policy, pending board approval.
He said this could be a way to improve school attendance, as well as being an incentive for better grades. He said he had already noted a slight increase in daily attendance since the announcement was made. He also acknowledged that there is some value to semester tests, but the tests count for just 15 percent of the student’s grade.
This was in response to a question from board member Mike Bachelder, who asked how the new policy would coincide with the board’s desire to increase accountability and rigor in the curriculum.
Board member Don McKinney said he did not like the way the proposal was presented, that the board should have been advised before any announcement was made to the students. But he added he could see some value to the idea.
Board member Marie Stratford said this policy might not be as great an incentive as some might believe, affecting only a few of the more intelligent students who are already committed to regular attendance.
The motion died when the vote was 2-2, with Joyce Livermore and McKinney voting in favor of the one-year trial and Stratford and Bachelder opposing it. Board member Jim Pierce was not at the meeting.
The meeting was moved ahead of the regular date this month to allow for the budget hearing ahead of the state-imposed deadline. Following the public hearing, the board approved the budged for the upcoming fiscal year totaling $13,719,226. The budget calls for a property tax asking slightly lower than the current rate. The new rate will be $19.12258 per $1,000 of taxable valuation.
Superintendent Bill Lynch gave an update on the progress of construction in the district. The board approved several small change orders for the projects and considered what to do with the proposed storage room addition on the north end of the high school. Board members had been concerned that the proposed addition might not be big enough and asked school officials to investigate the cost of expanding the addition.
Lynch presented three possible options, including making the addition a two-story storage room with the second floor constructed by school staff. Another option would be to proceed with the building as planned, but put a metal panel on the north wall that could be removed in the future if the room was expanded. The third option would call for a halt to construction of the room and a partial refund of the cost of materials.
The board asked Lynch to provide more details on each option before making a final decision. In the meantime, work on the storage room will stop.
He also reported that students have moved into some of the newly constructed classrooms at Longfellow and demolition and remodeling work has started on the older part of the building. Asbestos removal is now underway, he reported. Demolition work is set to begin on the high school locker room area on May 3 and work will begin on renovations of the track after the home meet on April 26.
Due to a scheduling conflict, the board’s May meeting will be Tuesday, May 18 at 7 p.m.

Belle Plaine’s boys’ golf squad continued its winning ways Monday afternoon as the Plainsmen picked up victories over Iowa Valley and Lynnville-Sully to improve its record to 3-0 for the young season. The Plainsmen posted a team score of 166. Lynnville-Sully shot 191 and Iowa Valley had a 209.
Meet medalist was Belle Plaine’s Blake St. John with a 40. His teammate, Scott Thenhaus, was right behind with a 41. Other Plainsman scores included: Mitch Jacobi, 42; Logan Baburek, 43; Austin Brown, 52; Ryan Zumbach, 54; Nick Bachelder, 44 and Caleb Parr, 58.
For the girls, Emma Northrop had a 52.
“Conditions today were a little windy and the temperature dropped 10 degrees before tee off time,” Coach Brad Allen said. “However, the kids were eager to play regardless of the weather. This was a great second outing out for the season and a good way to open up at home. The kids played pretty well and we are watching the scores drop as the season continues.”

Updated – A two-vehicle accident at the Highway 30 and 21 intersection north of Belle Plaine Monday afternoon sent one man to the hospital. Leland Stein, Cedar Rapids, was the driver of an SUV that reportedly pulled into the path of a flatbed semi trailer truck, driven by Dean Block of Monroe, WI.
Stein was extricated from the wreckage with the aid of the Jaws of Life by the Belle Plaine Fire Department and transported to University Hospitals in Iowa City by Air Care helicopter with what law officers termed “non-life threatening injuries. Traffic was limited at the scene for nearly four hours.
The Belle Plaine and Elberon ambulance services, Belle Plaine Police and Fire Departments, Tama County Sheriff’s deputies and Iowa Department of Transportation traffic enforcement officers assisted at the scene.

April 8, 1 a.m. – A prowler was reported in the 900 block of Second Avenue. It was determined that it was an occupant of a residence in the area.
April 8, 7:59 a.m. – James Dean Prichard, 50, of Belle Plaine was arrested in the 1500 block of 13th Street and charged with OWI-first offense. He was stopped after he allegedly almost hit a bicyclist. He was transported to the Benton County Jail.
April 10, 11:18 p.m. – Destinie Mahan, Ladora, reported harassment. She filed the report at the police station. The incident remains under investigation.
April 12, 8:20 a.m. – A person reported the theft of a purse at 1510 Eighth Avenue. It was later discovered that the purse was in the vehicle of an acquaintance.
April 12, 12:15 p.m. – Ambulance assist in the 500 block of 17th Street.
The Belle Plaine Police Department has started enhanced enforcement of the city’s nuisance ordinance. Last week, the department issued 26 abatement orders. Chief Kris Hudson said his department is making a sweep of the city to alleviate various nuisance problems. He urged residents to become proactive in ridding their property of debris, etc. that might prompt an abatement order.

If you are in the midst of spring cleaning and have come across some sensitive documents you no longer need, MidWestOne Bank is offering a way to destroy them in a secure manner.
Starting Monday, April 19, for one week, you may take those documents to the bank, up to three grocery-sized bags per person, for free shredding.
The offer is made for all MidWestOne locations across the state and is an effort to protect the security of the public and prevent identity theft.

We’re well into the month of April and as the weather is finally beginning to warm up, so are the activities in and around the city.
This week, the Belle Plaine Planning and Zoning Board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. tonight at City Hall.
The Belle Plaine Board of Education will be meeting on a special night this month, tonight (Monday) at 7 p.m. at the administration center at Longfellow Elementary School. The change in date is to allow for a public hearing on the proposed budget for the next fiscal year ahead of a state-imposed deadline later this month. The board will also consider several other financial matters and review any personnel matters that may surface.
On Wednesday, Belle Plaine city officials will appear before the Community Attraction and Tourism committee of Vision Iowa at its monthly meeting in Steuart. Belle Plaine is seeking a grant of just over $500,000 for its downtown revitalization project. This is the second time local officials have appeared on this request. The meeting is open to the public and begins at 10 a.m.
On Thursday, the Belle Plaine Community Development Board will meet in regular session at 5:15 p.m. at City Hall.
There’s a full slate of activities involving Belle Plaine High School students this week. The girls’ track team will travel to Iowa Valley tonight (Monday), while the golf teams will host Iowa Valley and Lynnville-Sully today. On Tuesday, the boys’ track taem travels to Iowa Valley.
On Wednesday, the golf teams will host English Valleys. Sixth, seventh and eighth grade music students will participate in a solo and ensemble contest Wednesday night in the Central Elementary band room.
Both varsity track teams will travel to Nevada on Friday and to Oskaloosa on Saturday.

Belle Plaine Now.com would like to begin a directory of church service times, special events and a listing of community service groups and meeting times. If you would like to be included in this free service, please e-mail your information to: belleplainenow@iowatelecom.net
For churches, include the name of the church, name of clergy, address, phone number, regular times for church and Sunday school, as well as other special services.
For community organizations, list the name, regular meeting times and a contact person with phone number.
This feature would be especially valuable to visitors, as well as people interested in relocating to our community.

Frank M. Silkebaken, 90, died Thursday, April 8, 2010 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids following a lingering illness.  Memorial Services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Christ United Methodist Church by Rev. James Campbell.  Inurnment with Military Rites will be in Oak Hill Cemetery.  Visitation will be 4-6 p.m. Sunday at the Hrabak Funeral Home.

Frank is survived by his wife, Charlotte; son, Dennis (Barbara) of Clear Lake; daughters, Marcia Silkebaken (Jack Peter) of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Kristin (Grady) Zangerle of Cedar Rapids, Amy Silkebaken (Earl Collins) of Highlands Ranch, CO; also by seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be directed to Camp Courageous or the United Methodist Church Piano Fund.