×

News

‘I fell in love with it. It caught my soul.’

Local News

DYSART – While she may not be a “Dysart native,” retired educator Cathy Irvine has certainly blessed the community she has called home for most of her adult life with two incredible gifts – a pair of land donations, including the nearly 300-acre Irvine Prairie located roughly five ...

Acton unveils 80th Matchstick Marvel: Cinderella Castle

Local News

GLADBROOK – Patrick “Pat” Acton created his first model out of matchsticks in 1977, a church, using 500 matchsticks. This year he completed his 80th piece – Disney’s Cinderella Castle – using 607,000 matchsticks. His career total: a whopping 9,767,772 matchsticks used. He ...

Traer Nostalgia: Photos from the Traer Historical Museum

Local News

Traer’s St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church building was moved from Blairstown to Traer in September 1950. The moving job was handled by the Kreger house moving company of Waterloo. After the spire was removed, the church stood 36 feet high. About 1,000 electric, telephone and telegraph ...

North Tama celebrates Prom 2026: A Night in Venice

Education

TRAER – North Tama High School celebrated prom last Saturday, April 18, beginning with the Grand March (open to the public) in the high school gym at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and dancing downtown at the Memorial Building. The 2026 theme was A Night in Venice. Amy Lidgett of Amy’s Images ...

Union sees grad rate improvement, no dropouts in 2024-25

Education

LA PORTE CITY – The Union Community School District improved its four-year graduation rate and was one of 50 districts statewide that had no dropouts during the 2024-25 school year. According to the Iowa Department of Education, Union CSD’s four-year graduation rate in 2025 was 95.52 ...