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Local News

Acton unveils 80th Matchstick Marvel: Cinderella Castle

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

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

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

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 ...

Road Closure on U.S. 63 between Toledo and Iowa 96

TOLEDO – If you drive on U.S. 63 in Tama County between the northern city limits of Toledo and 0.25 miles south of Iowa 96, you need to be aware of a road closure that may impact your trip. Beginning this past Monday, April 20 until mid-October, weather permitting, crews will close the ...

Supervisor from Sicily

TOLEDO – Supervisor David Turner (R-Tama) telecommunicated from Sicily to attend last week’s Tama County Supervisors meeting Monday, April 13. You couldn’t see him, but you could hear him a few-second delay behind the rest. The meeting started out with two Windstream utility permits ...