Jefferson Has Already Exceeded the Normal Monthly Rainfall Total

We’re not even half way through the month of September yet and one of our local weather reporting areas has already surpassed the normal monthly rainfall total.

According to the National Weather Service, Jefferson received more than two inches of rain this week for a total of nearly 2.25 inches so far this month.  That’s a quarter of an inch more than they normally see in all of September.

Perry Received 2.74 inches of rain in the last week for a total of around 2.8 inches this September.  Not far off the normal monthly total of 3.14 inches.

Guthrie Center had almost 2.4 inches of rain since our last report for a total of 3.13 inches so far this month.  Typically around 3.38 inches falls in September.

Absentee Ballots Available Soon in Dallas County

We are now less than two months away from this year’s general election and soon voters who want to beat the rush on Election Day can vote early.

Dallas County Auditor Gene Krumm says absentee ballots will be available on September 25^th.

Eligible voters will be able to request a ballot in writing by stopping by the Auditor’s office at 910 Court Street in Adel during regular office hours of 8am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday.  Ballot requests can also be mailed but must be received by the Auditor’s office by 5pm October 31^st.

The Dallas County Auditor’s office will also be open extra hours for election purposes on Saturday, October 25^th and Saturday, November 1^st from 8am to 5pm.

Lots of Diversity in the Perry School District 

The Perry community and Perry school district are unique in many ways, including the cultural diversity in a town of this size.

Perry Schools Superintendent Lynn Ubben gave a brief break down of the more than two dozen immigrant students in the district at the meeting Monday night.

“The one figure that was interesting to me is that we have eight kids from Tanzania, so that’s somewhat interesting to me.  And then of course the other kids are from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico.  There is one student I know from Congo and Brazil and the Dominican Republic but typically the kids are more Spanish speakers” Ubben.

While it’s no secret that Perry has a large Latino population, Ubben says when you bring in people from different areas with different native languages it can be more difficult.

“The secondary tells me that this is kind of unusual for them to have that many kids come in.  So we are looking to hire someone and I think they have someone in mind but are just finishing interviews and obviously we need a Spanish speaking person too to help them.”

Perry Fine Arts Announces Next Concert

Perry Fine Arts has announced the first event of their 2014-2015 season and it takes place next month.

The Music Men and Collegiate Brass will entertain community members on Sunday, October 19^th.

The Music Men were formerly known as the ISU Shop of Barbers.  They’re a vocal quintet that got its start in 1975 with members of the Iowa State University Chamber Singers.  The current group has been performing together since 1989 and they sing a variety of music including folk songs, spirituals, holiday music, barbershop and glee club.

The Collegiate Brass quintet came together in 1984 as part of the ministry program at the Collegiate United Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation in Ames.  They too play a variety of tunes including movie music, folk songs, patriotic songs, jazz and show tunes.

The concert takes place at 2pm in the Perry Performing Arts Center.  Admission is free though donations are accepted to help support future Perry Fine Arts programs.

If you have questions call 465-4782.

Nearly $97,000 in Grant Monies Awarded to Local Projects 

The Dallas County Foundation awarded more grant moneys to local organizations than they have the past several years this week when twenty-two projects received funding.

A total of $96,944 was awarded to a variety of needs in Dallas County including education, arts and culture, health, human services, community betterment and historic preservation.

The majority of funds for the grants come from state gambling revenue.  This year’s awards recipients include the Perry Volunteer Fire Department, Art on the Prairie, St. Patrick’s Catholic School, Granger American Legion and Adel HomeCare Services.

Checks were presented to the recipients during the annual banquet at the Hotel Pattee Tuesday.

• Adel Historical Museum: $8,000 Nile Kinnick, Jr. Addition
• Adel HomeCare Services: $5,000 Replace windows and doors of congregate meal center.
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Iowa: $1,000 Replenish program supplies in 8 Dallas County Schools.
• Dallas County 4-H Youth Committee: $5,800 New Bleachers for open sided show ring.
• Dallas County Environmental Health Dept. $3,400 Purchase in-door quality monitor.
• DeSoto Fire & EMS: $3,650 Update fire equipment.
• Granger American Legion Post 717: $8,000 Inprovements to post building.
• Granger Youth Ball: $916 Build concrete bunker for infield material.
• Perry-Art on the Prarie: $2,400 Signage for event.
• Perry Community School District: $4,851 Purchase iPads PreK-5th grade students.
• Perry St. Patrick Catholic School $5,000 School security upgrades to interior/exterior doors.
• Perry Volunteer Fire Dept.: $6,000 Purchase computer controlled fire training equipment.
• Perry Fullhart/Carnegie Charitable Trust: $3,580 Update its website content.
• Perry Public Library: $2,500 Digitization of Perry’s newspaper microfilm.
• Perry-Rowley Masonic Community: $3,500 On-site bladder scan unit.
• Urbandale Parks & Rec.: $5,000 Outdoor fitness stations.
• West Des Moines Parks & Rec.: $3,000 Huston Ridge Park basketball court and landscaping.
• West Des Moines EMS: $3,000 Purchase practice mannequins and AED trainers.
• Woodward-Envision Woodward!: $3,947.44 Swimming pool painting.
• Woodward-Granger Community School District: $2,400 Purchase acoustic piano.
• Woodward-Granger Baseball Renovations: $8,000 Replace Baseball Dugouts.
• Woodward-Granger Hawk Stadium Project: $8,000 Stadium Field House