(Clarinda) -- In partnership with a local foundation the city of Clarinda is offering a grant program to assist businesses in increasing their accessibility city officials announced a new accessibility program reimbursing businesses up to 75% of the cost of installing new push-button door systems with a $5,000 maximum reimbursement per business Funding for the program has been provided by the Clarinda Foundation Clarinda resident Lori Veach has been an advocate for accessibility in the community for the past six years and is an amputee who uses a wheelchair Veach tells KMA News that the grant program came about after she approached Clarinda Foundation Director Beckie Finch about installing a push-button on their building "She took it to the foundation because I have searched for grants and anything else I could do to help offset the costs," said Veach "Beckie gave me the advice of letting her do some looking and she found it was easier to get local grants than federal grants that became the birth of the grants for this accessibility program." While the program primarily covers the new installation of buttons Veach says businesses do have the opportunity to submit bids for other potential accessibility improvements "This is for installation costs only and the business is responsible for all costs associated with maintenance once the system is installed," Veach explained "If a business is interested in additional help such as widening a door or putting in a ramp they can submit a bid including this information to be reviewed." City officials indicate that additional improvements should be submitted as separate bids from the installation for the city to review Veach says that doors on businesses are often heavy with push buttons providing assistance to a wide variety of individuals people with walkers or crutches," she said "It makes it very hard and even dangerous if you don't have control of your own stability." Veach says push buttons are a difference maker and help people keep their sense of independence you simply can't go in and maybe buy a birthday present or a Christmas present--this way you can and you don't have to have the extra help and can do it on your own," said Veach you don't have to ask for the door to be opened--you can do it yourself." we attempt to be accurate in our reporting please contact us by emailing kmaradio@kmaland.com Email notifications are only sent once a day Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Clarinda bought herself a plane ticket and was welcomed as part of the crew The TV investigator reveals partner Clarinda makes him feel so lucky in love reuniting disconnected Kiwis with lost family members However, when school holidays aligned with the filming schedule of a trip to Lithuania and Greece for the new season of David Lomas Investigates the Auckland principal bought herself a plane ticket and was welcomed as part of the crew David came up with a more official – if not endearing – title for her while on the road So when he’s filming me walking down a busy street and it’s hard keeping an eye on them while working at the same time but you can’t believe how useful it is having that extra person to mind those bags and also to neatly note down my questions instead of me trying to scribble them as I talk.” So does she get an onscreen credit at the end personal assistant to Mr Lomas,” he laughs Chatting from Clarinda’s stunning Mediterranean-style seaside home he says she brought a much-needed “woman’s touch” who was looking for her birth mother in Visaginas known as Lithuania’s “nuclear town” for its now decommissioned Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant The young Whanganui woman shares onscreen that she was born with fetal alcohol syndrome a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by exposure to alcohol before birth Justina and her younger sister were taken from her then-alcoholic mother by Lithuania’s social welfare and put into an orphanage she and her sister were adopted by a Kiwi couple from Gore “Justina first came to me for help tracking down her biological mother five years ago I thought she was a bit too young for what we do David says while Justina is bright and savvy she struggles with emotions and concentration due to her syndrome and he was aware the trip would be very emotionally overwhelming for her “It made a heck of a difference having Clarinda there to keep an eye on her chat with her and help calm her nerves – rather than having two old blokes doing it.” “I learned that when you’re on the road going from place to place and also waiting around and that was hard for Justina dealing with young people from a range of different backgrounds is quite easy for me Being able to provide that little bit of extra pastoral care didn’t go astray.” While Clarinda had her tissues ready for the rollercoaster of emotions the highlight of her trip was witnessing the heartfelt moments of the reunions “We took Justina on a walk in the town where she spent her childhood,” shares Clarinda “She remembered where she lived with her mother in a rundown high-rise apartment building “David had been defeated by bureaucracy trying to get permission to visit Justina’s old orphanage so we wandered in when we spotted the gate open “Two of the teachers in the orphanage came out and they and Justina recognised each other laughter … Just a sensational scene burst out in front of us I was so touched to share these moments that people had dreamed of and hoped for most of their lives.” But I turned around to see Clarinda wiping tears from her eyes.” The affable TV presenter also continues to feel grateful to be welcomed inside people’s humble homes while filming abroad What they may lack in English language skills “You never lose the emotion of seeing people bond with a long-lost family member,” he tells I wouldn’t be able to do the story very well.” The successful formula of the show remains unchanged David reckons the bigger the challenge of finding someone Sending flowers with a little message remains one of his most effective ways of contacting a stranger but you don’t know what happens to a letter,” explains David “You send flowers from a local florist in someone’s town and you’re pretty certain you have that person’s attention “It’s a quick way of finding someone if you can’t knock on their door yourself And dare I say it – I buy the cheapest ones he forgot to send Clarinda some on her birthday while he was away working The couple has been together since meeting in 2018 and enjoy staying active David still pinches himself that he has someone special to share his life ‘We’re just very lucky.’ It’s quite remarkable that we met later in life and it seems to work and work and work!” They were first introduced in a bar after the friends that each of them had gone to meet turned out to know each other “It hadn’t come up in conversation whether she was attached,” remembers David “So I had to make inquiries to find out what her circumstances were and whether she was a single woman I did some deep research and I knew her whole life story before I asked her out!” he laughs The pair keeps separate homes on opposite sides of Auckland’s Harbour Bridge – “more for practicality for our work” – but get together for weekends and holidays preparing for an Education Review Office visit and he jokes she’s the workaholic in the relationship she brings out a more playful side to the serious persona portrayed by David on screen After they finished shooting a second story in Athens the couple got to enjoy two leisurely days Then Clarinda flew back to New Zealand while David went to Honduras with cameraman Ivars “I’ve always enjoyed following David’s stories hearing about how it is going and then seeing the outcome when it screens,” says Clarinda I’ve discovered he can be quite direct – but that ability to think on your feet and adapt to ever-changing dynamics was impressive “I’m so proud of the way he helps bring happy outcomes to so many New Zealanders.” David Lomas Investigates screens on Tuesdays at 7.30pm on Three or stream on ThreeNow 30 Elder St, Clarinda sold for $1.624m on September 7 and was listed by First National JXRE’s Ethan He A surprise list of Melbourne’s most-exclusive suburbs has revealed the areas where homebuyers face stiff competition and a long wait to buy and Watsonia North are virtually off the table for prospective purchasers with under five listings on realestate.com.au — a tiny fraction of the thousands of homes in the suburb A SuburbData report shows Kilsyth South has just 0.1 per cent of its property stock currently available with Clarinda and Watsonia North following closely at 0.2 per cent each RELATED: Nicolas Cage scores $15.6m+ Malibu ‘National Treasure’ Big AI move being made by Aussie real estate firm Real reason Mariah Carey and James Packer split said families moving into Kilsyth South were usually buying their forever home “The people that I’m selling homes for in the area have been there for over 40 years — they were the first people on their street,” Mr Garbuio said and there are no plans for the development of townhouses in the area.” 5 Damien Crt, Watsonia North sold for $1.195m on August 30 and was first listed by Nelson Alexander Ivanhoe’s Nick Smith Jellis Craig Greensborough’s Alex Flannagan wasn’t surprised to see Watsonia North near the top of the list buyers comment on the neighbourhood; the people are welcoming and genuine — it’s a really nice community,” Mr Flannagan said and future North East Link will make access to the city more efficient “People just won’t want to move from here.” 4 Watson Crt, Clarinda sold for $1,375,000 on September 14 and was listed by Buxton Oakleigh’s Peter Gigi Eda Property founder Anissa Cavallo advises buyers to focus on long-term economic drivers and fundamentals “Your home is your biggest asset – you’re going to buy property you want to make money out of it,” Ms Cavallo said buyers are finding it increasingly challenging to secure homes in Melbourne’s most tightly-held northern and northeastern suburbs Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox MORE: ‘F***! I’m a villain’ — Mimi caught slagging off Block teams Late ad guru’s swank $2m South Melb office for sale 50 cheapest places in Australia to build a house third parties have written and supplied the content and we are not responsible for it completeness or reliability of the information nor do we accept any liability or responsibility arising in any way from omissions or errors contained in the content We do not recommend sponsored lenders or loan products and we cannot introduce you to sponsored lenders We strongly recommend that you obtain independent advice before you act on the content realestate.com.au is owned and operated by ASX-listed REA Group Ltd (REA:ASX) © REA Group Ltd. By accessing or using our platform, you agree to our Terms of Use. (Clarinda) -- Alternative forms of transportation and the importance of reading are highlighted in a Clarinda school event next week Students at Clarinda's pre-K-6 building and Clarinda Lutheran School celebrate National Walk Bike and Roll Day Wednesday with special activities Clarinda Lied Public Library joins with the school district in the local observance Clarinda Library Director Andrew Hoppman tells KMA News the event demonstrates the need to walk or ride your bike to school "It's a day where really we highlight the benefits of walking in terms of the health benefits of walking," said Hoppman we also want to highlight how can we make our routes safer to school." Hoppman says the library's new Book Bike is involved in the celebration "I really thought this was a great way for the library to kind of be involved with it," he said we kind of wanted to not only highlight our Book Bike but also highlight alternative modes of transportation but also how can we make our communities have safe routes to school." Funding from the library's board of trustees and a grant from the Clarinda Foundation made the bike possible Hoppman says the Book Bike brings the library's services to the public "If you're familiar with a book mobile," said Hoppman if you're not familiar with what even a book mobile is we're able to load up the big box on our bicycle here and load it up with books and library materials we're able to take it out into the community and set up shop we can hand out information on the library it's really just a way that rather than waiting for people to come to the library we're able to bring the library out to the community." Hoppman plans to have the Book Bike at the elementary school in the morning hours, and at Clarinda Lutheran mid-afternoon near dismissal. More information on National Walk, Bike and Roll Day is available from the organization's website (This article was edited to add new information and because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.) has announced it will be closing its plant in Clarinda at the end of March Closure of the southwest Iowa plant will result in the loss of 54 jobs, according to a notice on the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, website The plant is a joint venture of Japanese companies Nippon Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha (NSK Ltd.) and Amatsuji Steel Ball Mfg NSK-AKS is a global supplier of precision steel balls for many markets including the automotive and anti-friction bearing industries plant adjacent to AKS is not affected by the announcement vice president of human resources for NSK in Ann Arbor More: Wells Fargo announces another round of layoffs in October and November in West Des Moines The plants occupy a 35-acre site on the northeast edge of Clarinda, according to the Page County assessor’s website with the land and buildings assessed for tax purposes around $6 million The property was acquired in 1998 from the Hoover NSK Bearing Co. Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com Four KMAland girls and three KMAland boys won titles at the USA Wrestling Freestyle/Greco Roman State Championships on Sunday (KMAland) -- Four KMAland girls and three KMAland boys won titles at the USA Wrestling Freestyle/Greco Roman State Championships on Sunday Glenwood's Shay Lundvall (94) and Lewis Central's Weston Porter (126) won 16U Greco-Roman state titles Nodaway Valley's Ashton Honnold also won a title claiming the 285-pound title in the Junior Division Lewis Central's Emerson Gregg (125) and Atlantic's Haley Armstrong (235) won the Junior Freestyle Division while Clarinda's Lily Weinreich (140) and Atlantic's Leiah Thomas (155) were 16U Freestyle champions Full brackets from this meet can be viewed here John passed away Tuesday, april 29, 2025 at the Good Samaratin Care Center, Villisca, Iowa. Condolences and memories may be shared at nodawayvalleyfuneralhome.com different verse--that's the words Clarinda's police chief used to describe one of the latest scam trends reported to his department the Clarinda Police Department posted on its Facebook page about a phone call scam that a local resident had reported Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers tells KMA News the individual reported the scammer was attempting to impersonate a sheriff's deputy with the Page County Sheriff's Office.. "This individual went on to tell this young lady that her brother had missed a court date and that they needed to get him taken care of immediately," said Brothers "She was asked if she was able to forward what they referred to as some bond money and that that would satisfy the judgement for her brother missing a court appearance." Brothers noted the scammer made it seem more realistic by providing the brother's name before the potential victim realized it was a scam He emphasized that law enforcement agencies will never ask for payments over the phone "A law enforcement agency is never going to call you and say you or one of your family members or friends missed a court appearance or has a warrant for their arrest and if you forward some money or give them some information so they can make an electronic debit (transaction) from one of your financial accounts that it'll satisfy the matter," Brothers emphasized "That is not how that works--law enforcement agencies do not do this." He notes there are various "twists" on this type of scam such as calling and saying someone's grandchild is in jail and in need of bail money Brothers adds that while technology has provided benefits it has also created more opportunities for scammers to take advantage of individuals--emphasizing the need to remain vigilant "In today's world as we all know with various social media accounts and the world wide web it's relatively easy to find out names of your relatives "That's not difficult information to obtain in today's world." Brothers adds that the growing trend of phone call or text scams is by no means unique to KMAland and is evident across the country "Every other law enforcement agency I know of across the United States is constantly putting out scam alerts and these things are what they are," said Brothers don't fall for these and don't provide them any information like your social security number If you feel you have been a scam victim or would like to report a scam attempt Brothers encourages residents to contact their local law enforcement agency (Clarinda) -- No one was injured when a van crashed into a nursing facility in Clarinda early Wednesday evening Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers tells KMA News the accident occurred at the Azria Health Building at 600 Manor Driver shortly before 6:30 p.m Brothers says a 2012 Ford Econoline van driven by 67-year-old John Bramble of Clarinda was attempting to park near the building when the accident occurred which is located on the north side of the Azria nursing home," said Bramble which caused his vehicle to lurch forward over the curb Brothers says two interior rooms were damaged One estimate places the damages as $25,000 neither the driver nor building occupants were injured (Clarinda) -- Plans to allow open burning in certain scenarios within Clarinda city limits cleared its first hurdle earlier this week By a 3-0 vote during its regular meeting Wednesday the Clarinda City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance that would create a permit application process that would allow for open burning once it is reviewed and approved by the fire chief city code restricts most uses of open burning and requires any burning of solid waste or recreational fires to be done within a non-combustible structure or at the city-operated burning site near the Clarinda Municipal Airport While the restriction does have some exceptions City Manager Gary McClarnon says there are still gray areas “One example (Fire Chief Roger Williams) and I talked about was that if you want to burn a ditch off you can’t according to our code and the it’s the same if you want to do a bonfire--you couldn’t do it,” said McClarnon and actually I’m changing the variance portion of the code and what I’ve put in here is that any person wishing to conduct open burning of materials not permitted in the ordinance may make application for a variance to the fire chief.” McClarnon noted that the permit application was a common theme among other community ordinances Fire Chief Roger Williams says the discussion has also come up due to confusion about what is allowed for open burning within the city when a county-wide ban is not in place “People thought they could cut some tree limbs down and just put them into a small little pile and burn that the ordinance says you can’t do that--it’s got to be contained,” Williams explained the police responds and the fire department responds to put it out We had an issue with this and that’s how it’s kind of come about because somebody did get a citation.” Clarinda Mayor Craig Hill notes that the proposed permit application also has some “common sense” guidelines such as not conducting the burn if wind speeds exceed 15 miles per hour Williams says adding in the review from his department would give them more discretion and information about any potential burns being conducted outside of the exceptions listed in the ordinance “It just gives the fire chief a little more discretion and they’ll know if somebody is going to burn something outside of what’s allowed,” said Williams “I can go out and visually see it and where it’s going to burn and say ‘this is too close to a house you can’t do that’ or ‘yes you can get the permit to be able to do that and it has to be done on that day.” McClarnon adds the process would not have any cost to the applicant with law enforcement also notified of any permits that have been granted A second and third reading of the ordinance is required before being adopted Maryville and Albany all picked up team championships Brylee Acklin was a three-time winner and 23 other KMAland girls athletes picked up two medals apiece during a busy night in the area Ellie Wunderlich and Lili Denton all won two golds each Des Moines Christian and Heartland Christian took third at their respective meets The Clarinda girls were winners with 146 points while Shenandoah came in second with 104 and Griswold had 90 in third Clarinda had four individual championships while Shenandoah had one individual and one relay win https://live.athletic.net/meets/48922 Treynor and Atlantic held down the top three spots at Woodbine and Treynor picked up a pair of wins from Delaney Mathews in the throws on their way to 123 points Atlantic’s Emerie Jones had a stellar night in grabbing golds in the 100 hurdles and long jump Boyer Valley’s Morgan Hast was another two-time winner in the 100 and 200 https://live.athletic.net/meets/51674 discus throw (105-09) & shot put (36-07.50) 100 hurdles (16.84) & long jump (16-04.25) 100 meters (12.97) & 200 meters (27.22) Lewis Central piled up 279 points to win the city championship AL was second with 140 and Thomas Jefferson came in third with 62 and AL’s Malena Petersen won both hurdle events TJ’s Ellie Wunderlich won the 100 and 200 wheelchair Check out the area winners below and compete results in the PDF 100 meters (12.70) & 200 meters (26.31) discus throw (112-11) & shot put (36-08.75) 100 hurdles (18.31) & 400 hurdles (1:20.11) 100 wheelchair (32.66) & 200 wheelchair (1:05.28) 1500 meters (4:44.95) & 3000 meters (10:05.41) Denison-Schleswig picked up the team championship at MVACOU The Monarchs had 136 points behind four total wins Check out the area winners below and compete results here: https://dakotatiming.anet.live/meets/45324 Van Meter won their home team championship and were dominant in doing so with 175.5 points Laura Streck led the charge with wins in the 800 and 1500 and the Bulldogs finished with nine total wins Creston was second and CAM came in third place The Cougars were led by Ada Hansen in winning the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles Anna Weathers of Ankeny Christian was also a double winner with a sweep in the throws Check out the area winners below and complete results in the PDF 800 meters (2:19.60) & 1500 meters (4:50.55) 100 hurdles (15.61) & 400 hurdles (1:04.67) shot put (34-06.00) & discus throw (121-03) Interstate 35 had 185 points and Bedford finished with 162 to win the two-class Clarke Murr Invitational I-35 got a pair of wins from Olivia Phillips in the 400 and 400 hurdles and also had seven other event wins Bedford’s Joslyn Longfellow won both hurdle events and Alexis Perkins swept the throws to lead the Bulldogs Melcher-Dallas’ Trista Hansaker won the 100 and the 200 in Class B and Murray’s Aylah Miller was victorious in the 400 and long jump Mormon Trail’s Gracyn Newton also won twice in the 800 and 1500 https://results.aatiming.com/meets/44544 400 meters (1:06.49) & 400 hurdles (1:08.32) 100 hurdles (17.91) & 400 hurdles (1:16.03) discus throw (102-07.50) & shot put (35-05.00) 100 meters (13.19) & 200 meters (27.38) 400 meters (1:10.81) & long jump (13-05.25) 800 meters (2:37.40) & 1500 meters (5:50.84) IKM-Manning was the runner-up at ACGC with 166 points The Wolves won three individual and two relay events led by Ava Campbell’s pair of wins in the 800 and 1500 800 meters (2:27.79) & 1500 meters (4:47.82) Pleasantville came in eighth place at the Carlisle Invitational https://results.aatiming.com/meets/44542 Des Moines Christian had 112 points and finished in third place at PCM The Lions were led by Hadley Hardersen in taking the 100 hurdles and high jump https://results.aatiming.com/meets/44549 100 hurdles (16.38) & high jump (5-00.00) NEBRASKA FRONTIER CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS  Heartland Christian picked up three individual wins and took third with 107 points at the Nebraska Frontier Conference Championships Grace Steinmetz won the mile and two-mile races and Corine Anderson won the discus throw for the Eagles Check out the area winners below and complete results here:  https://results.wayzatatiming.com/meets/51381 1600 meters (5:37.36) & 3200 meters (11:47.07) Maryville and Savannah went 1-2 at the Spoofhound Invitational The Spoofhounds had 206 points and got a trio of golds from Brylee Acklin (100 hurdles Savannah’s Raedyn Phillips was a winner in the 800 and 1600 to lead the Savages to 179 points https://results.blacksquirreltiming.com/meets/50962 100 hurdles (16.27) & 300 hurdles (46.50) & triple jump (35-09.25) 200 meters (26.77) & pole vault (8-00.50) 800 meters (2:29.80) & 1600 meters (5:31.34) Albany scored 140 points and took the team title at North Andrew’s Cardinal Relays Kaitlyn Bunker was the lead Warriors with victorioes in the shot put and the javelin throw shot put (9.57m) & javelin throw (26.82m) Shenandoah and Clarinda were 9-0 winners in the Hawkeye Ten Southwest Valley and Sioux City East also earned wins in KMAland girls tennis (KMAland) -- Shenandoah and Clarinda were 9-0 winners in the Hawkeye Ten Bishop Heelan Catholic 9 Denison-Schleswig 0 Southwest Valley 2x winners: Maddie Bevington Syracuse and JCC were all area winners in boys golf on Tuesday Runner-up: Jac Fine & Karsten Beckel & Sam Kline Atlantic 157 Kuemper Catholic 157 Treynor 177 Harlan 178 **Atlantic won via 5th score** Other Atlantic: Tristan Hayes & Gage Gross & Trevan Hansen 40 Centerville Invitational — Creston 347 Moravia 348 Other Riverside: Nathan Smith & AC Roller 39 Woodbine 155 CAM 161 East Union 172 Lenox 196 Logan-Magnolia 198 Runner-up: Dylan Graham & Tanner Streit Other Mount Ayr: Jaxsen Walter & Avery Wolfe 41 Rolling Valley at Boyer Valley — Coon Rapids-Bayard 155 Des Moines Christian 147 Earlham 166 ACGC 180 Interstate 35 185 Earlham: Blaine Vanderheiden & Will Harris 41 Woodward-Granger 160 Van Meter 180 West Central Valley 190 Madrid 208 Other Woodward-Granger: Landon Chambers & Andy David 41 Johnson County Central 164 Humboldt-TRS 214 Construction of the Clarinda School District's 7-12 Complex expansion and renovation project continues (Clarinda) -- With construction of the Clarinda School District's 7-12 expansion and renovation project still on target new furniture and carpeting for the building's interior are set the Clarinda School Board approved the quote of DEMCO totaling $156,357.52 for furniture and Interface's quote of $12,095.24 for carpeting for the 7-12 expansion and renovation project Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia tells KMA News DEMCO's bid was the lowest of three for the furniture "We got three bids from three different companies," said Privia "DEMCO came in the lowest with the things we wanted for our students All of our desks and chairs are telescoping modern equipment was necessary for the new space Funding from the district's sale of the former Shopko building covers the furniture and carpeting's expense "One of the best things I think is just working through that process," said Privia "What do you need and what do you not need So you start with the pie-in-the-sky kind of view A great thing for our budget was selling the Shopko Building knowing that we had a furniture purchase that we needed to make for our middle school Privia lauds Clarinda 7-12 Principal Luke Cox and the high school and middle school staff with selecting the new amenities Cox has done a great job in including them on the furniture purchase and what they would like in colors and trims," said Privia "and the carpet that they picked out for the high school They had multiple meetings where the middle school staff got to meet with Mr Cox and representatives to pick out some of the things for the new building Funding from the district's Secure an Advance Vision for Education or SAVE dollars is covering the 7-12 expansion and renovation project which is expected to be finished by August 1st Privia made his comments in a recent interview on KMA's "Morning Line" program (Clarinda) -- Plans for an updated ordinance barring bicycles and other similar vehicles from being ridden on sidewalks in the downtown area of Clarinda cleared its first hurdle last week By a 3-0 vote at its latest regular meeting the Clarinda City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance amendment that primarily updates the definition of "bicycle" in the city's code individuals are barred from riding them on the sidewalks in a "business district," which would include much of the downtown square Clarinda City Manager Gary McClarnon says the ordinance was established some time ago for safety purposes and was brought to their attention at a previous council meeting earlier this month "Obviously it's because you've got businesses and a lot of people our ordinance does address not letting bicycles be on sidewalks in the downtown area," said McClarnon we did have one of our business owners say that he has seen some bicycles and almost got hit by a bicycle so he wanted us to do a better job of enforcing (it)." McClarnon says updating the definition of what is barred from traveling on the downtown sidewalks came at the suggestion of Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers basically I just defined bicycle to include all of those items and obviously the first reading of the ordinance did pass unanimously I think Keith is right--we need to change and make sure we've got the right definition of what bicycles are." McClarnon notes that rather than strict enforcement the council opted to take an "educational approach" with those potentially violating the regulation if a police officer sees somebody riding illegally this isn't right and it's against the ordinance'--basically verbal warnings to get people to abide by the law," McClarnon explained "I do know that Chief Brothers does help give out free bicycle helmets each year and he said that during that time he would also educate people that they could not ride (on sidewalks) in the downtown area." He adds that the ordinance has also been posted and shared on the Clarinda Police Department and City of Clarinda Facebook pages A second and third reading of the ordinance amendment is required before being adopted (Clarinda) -- Clarinda residents will once again have a chance to dispose of any unwanted junk this spring and potentially this fall By a 4-0 vote at its regular meeting Wednesday evening the Clarinda City Council approved setting the spring city-wide clean-up days for May 29th and 30th from 7 a.m The city has been holding the city-wide clean-up days since 2013 City Manager Gary McClarnon tells KMA News residents can bring a wide variety of items to the city's collection site at the Clarinda Municipal Airport and we'll also take metal--we will have somebody there that actually recycles the metal," McClarnon explained "A big item that we've seen a lot of in the past is old beds--mattresses and box springs McClarnon notes they will not accept any tires He notes the city's residents have often taken advantage of the opportunity over the past 12 years "We budget about $15,000 a year just for the clean up days and we usually run right around that $12,000 mark--so it is pretty well utilized," said McClarnon "We end up getting rid of tons of garbage every year." McClarnon says the spring days have become heavily used enough to consider a fall city-wide clean-up event "The Clarinda Foundation has said that they will fund a fall clean up," he said we'll have another one probably in September We'll go back to the council to talk more about that but we are looking at doing a second one in September this year." While the council did not formally set the days for a fall event Wednesday McClarnon says they are currently looking at September 18th denied a request for a refund on a past due water bill at 400 E Nodaway Street approved a request to close off 16th Street from Washington Street to Chestnut Street for a street dance on June 7th with the closure expected to start shortly following the conclusion of Cruzin' Clarinda that Saturday approved Hoskins Siding and Windows' bid for roughly $67,000 to conduct roof repairs on the Clarinda Lied Center set a public hearing on the city's full fiscal year 2026 budget for April 23rd approved the second reading of a $1 increase on the minimum sewer rate and a 50 cent uptick in the additional per-1,000-gallons rate The proposal would increase the minimum rate from $28 to $29 per month and the per 1,000 gallons rate from $12 to $12.50 --Held a special meeting prior to the regular meeting to hold a public hearing on the proposed property tax levy for fiscal year 2026 Clarinda School District McKinley Central Office Building (Clarinda) -- Clarinda’s School District is making a new education option available for homeschooled students Earlier this week, the Clarinda School Board approved a two-year agreement with OpenEd, an Oregon-based program described as an “tuition-free home-based education program.” Board members took action after hearing a presentation from company officials at a special meeting last week Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia tells KMA News the program provides many options for homeschooled students in need of additional support and guidance “It’s not a one-size fits all,” said Privia parents are able to choose--math can be different than science you can choose three or four different programs that you’re actually running through them to meet your educational needs.” Privia says OpenEd offers hands-on instruction and activities they have clubs available--all of course done online,” he said they have activities that parents can sign up for They really try to hit everything they can Our current online program runs (Imagine) Egenuity They run different kinds of programs that are out there they’ve really created a really nice smorgasbord for parents to be able to have a full experience.” Privia says OpenED is different from the district’s Cardinal Online program in that it’s aimed at students outside the district “This program that we’re looking at kind of fits our needs,” said Privia “It’s really going to be focused on homeschooled-type students that want that extra help or need that extra help to enhance the education of their students they will do all the recruiting for our program Provided state education officials approved the program OpenEd will begin recruiting students for next school year Privia made his comments on KMA’s “Morning Line” program earlier this week Clarinda and Sidney's Hayden Thompson won the Cowboy golf invitational on Saturday (KMAland) -- Clarinda and Sidney's Hayden Thompson won the Cowboy golf invitational on Saturday Check out the area rundown and recap below View the complete results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mqExDkf4Why8rInzfZfWG-PUIODoahKGDz1x46S3gYE/edit?gid=580021459#gid=580021459 (Clarinda) -- The Clarinda Lied Library is debuting a brand new way to enjoy their services The Book Bike is a mobile way for users to have books delivered to their door and Library Director Andrew Hoppmann came on KMA's Morning Jump to discuss the alternative way to access the library a book bike is a mobile library that is pedal-powered  It's actually kind of like a reverse tricycle which makes it a little interesting to pedal around and steer  But we're able to load it up with books and library materials and fun things about the library," Hoppman said  "I'm really excited because it allows us to take the library pretty much anywhere in the community or at least until our legs run out of power." The Book Bike has already visited local schools and senior living facilities and Hoppmann wants to encourage any business to have the Book Bike come visit their establishment "What we're really working on right now is working with our schools and just this past Friday we were at our local Clear Haven Senior Housing Complex to visit with them about the library  So if people are interested in having the book bike maybe stop by their place of business or work or nonprofit let us know  We will love to get out there and talk about what the library is doing but we're also going to try to take the library to certain parks and community events  So it's just a way again to get us out there and get people aware of all the great things that are going on at their library," Hoppmann said The bike was built by Haley Tricycles in Philadelphia and put together by volunteers Paul Wagoner and Scott Brown Funding for the book bike was provided by the Clarinda Public Library Foundation and a grant from the Clarinda Foundation Hoppmann and the Lied Library think the bike can benefit many Clarinda residents "I really think this is going to help those people that may not necessarily have the time to stop by the library or those that maybe have limited mobility that can't get out of their care center or the daycare with just busy schedules sometimes it's hard to meet the library schedule," Hoppmann said For full interview with Library Director Andrew Hoppmann (Clarinda) -- Clarinda school officials are exploring alternative options for online learning Representatives of OpenEd, described as an "tuition-free home-based education program," outlined the company's services at a special Clarinda School Board meeting late Wednesday afternoon Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia tells KMA News the presentation was part of the board's consideration of options for homeschooled students "We went through all the costs that would pertain "and we went through the other options they provide for students to make sure they're compliant with state of Iowa law and our graduation requirements and those things to make sure everything matches up." Privia says OpenEd is similar to the Shenandoah School District's IGNITE program "There would be no up-front costs for Clarinda," he said "and they typically go after nontraditional students they wouldn't be trying to pick up our students but they'd be looking at homeschooled students They're also looking at adding five more states--Alaska Unlike the current Cardinal Online program Privia says OpenEd would offer services to students outside the district "Our current program that we run is for Clarinda resident students," said Privia if you open enroll in our district--let's say you open enroll from Shenandoah to come to Clarinda--you would not be eligible to be in online program You have to be a resident of our district." Privia says Wednesday's presentation was informational The superintendent expects the board to hear from other companies before making a final decision on an online learning option in the future Performances of Clarinda Youth Musical Theatre's production of "High School Musical II Jr." take place February 14th and 15th at 7 p.m (Clarinda) -- While construction work continues outside the Clarinda School District's 7-12 complex some middle school students are building something else--the winter musical Rehearsals continue for Clarinda Youth Musical Theatre's production of "High School Musical II Jr." Production dates are February 14th and 15th at 7 p.m Thirty-one students in grades 5 through 8 participate in the production--a younger version of the famed Disney Channel movie's sequel Students practice Monday through Friday from 3:30-to-5:30 p.m Director Cindy Darrah tells KMA News the unusually calm winter weather has helped with the rehearsal schedule we did lose 10 whole days of rehearsals due to the weather," said Darrah We even have some full days that are not in the schedule Some familiar faces join some newcomers on or off stage It's another challenge for stage veterans like 8th grader Paige Nichols it took at least a couple weeks to learn my lines," said Nichols it takes a lot to fully put the production together says there's differences between this year's production and the 2024 CMS musical "There's a lot more experienced involved now," said Pedersen Darrah likes the mixture of experienced and new performers making up the cast "We have some kids that are just brand new this year," said Darrah "They keep telling me they're going come back next year can we help?' They know that there's a small amount of space back stage that they can help and they're already wanting to be on the list to help and are available at the elementary school offices (Clarinda) -- Clarinda school officials are expressing mixed emotions over the Iowa Legislature's settlement on public school aid Both the Iowa House and Senate this week approved a 2% increase in supplemental state aid or SSA--the per pupil state funding level for K-12 schools District Director of Finance Nancy McKinnon outlined the SSA level's impact on Clarinda's projected budget for fiscal 2026 at Wednesday's Clarinda School Board meeting Speaking on KMA's "Morning Line" program Thursday morning Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia says the lower-than-expected SSA numbers will have consequences "We all know as superintendents--not just in southwest Iowa but across the state--the 2% is not enough to stay up with inflationary rates," said Privia what that does for us means we'll be tightening our budget a little bit Nancy talked about that on where our numbers were and say 'where do we need to tighten the numbers at lawmakers also increased supplemental operational sharing weighting from 21 to 25 students "We'll be looking at offsetting some of that," he said we can share with somebody another position so we can get to that maximum number of 25 points so that we can get those extra dollars into our budget says another provision adding transportation equity dollars won't help his district Another impact is that the district's proposed property tax level for next fiscal year drops a penny to $12.71 per thousand dollars valuation Board members hold the second public hearing for the fiscal '26 budget April 23rd at 5 p.m the board holds another public hearing on a budget amendment for this fiscal year ---approved a two-year agreement with the OpenEd online program aimed at homeschooled students ---approved the contracts of Linda Babcock as librarian and Christina Vega as special education instructor ---approved the resignations of Matt Bird as 7th and 8th grade girls basketball coach Dustin Piper as elementary special education instructor and 7th and 8th grade boys wrestling coach and Jake Lord as 9-12 assistant girls basketball coach effective at the end of the 2024-25 school year You can hear the full interview with Jeff Privia here: (Clarinda) -- Construction of the Clarinda School District's 7-12 expansion and remodeling project shows no signs of slowing down Work began last May on six new classrooms and other additional space and improvements to accommodate middle school students Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia tells KMA News work picked up steam recently Ceiling grids are probably going in today or tomorrow A lot of things are going in--electrical is already plumbed and ready and getting it ready to be powered back up." Privia says not even recent rainfall halted the work since all but a small portion of the project is enclosed "Ninety percent of our work is inside," he said so we're all buttoned-up as far as that goes There's just a little bit of work to do outside We're just excited--you can really see what it looks like now Many of the district's teachers toured the completed work in recent weeks--and the superintendent says he received good feedback they like the flow of the building," said Privia so they feel like it's one unit for that junior-senior high group it will really put the finishing touches on it." Plans call for the project's completion by August 1st Clarinda School Board members allocated up to $9.8 million in Secure an Advanced Vision for Education or SAVE funding to cover the project's costs in 2023 (Clarinda) -- Workers at a Clarinda manufacturing plant are losing their jobs Officials with NSK Americas Friday announced the elimination of more than 30 employees from the company's Clarinda facility Company officials attribute the reductions to "the change in the product mix manufactured at the facility and the continuous need to be competitive in the market." NSK officials add the company is "grateful for the loyalty and hard work of the NSK Clarinda team members and the support of the Clarinda community over the years." They add the company will continue to honor commitments and ensure a smooth transition for everyone involved NSK's announcement follows last September's announcement that Clarinda's AKS plant was closing by the end of the first quarter of this year Clarinda organizations are teaming up to stage the annual Clarinda Lighted Christmas Parade The annual parade put on by the Clarinda Chamber of Commerce and Clarinda Kiwanis Club is "Dreaming of a Tropical Christmas" to ring in the holiday season on Friday at 6 p.m Kiwanis President and Parade Co-chairperson Whitney Beery says the event became a tradition in 1993 to thank area firefighters for their role in fighting the 1991 Page County Courthouse fire "December 11th of 1991 we had the Page County Courthouse fire," said Beery "What we're really here to do and what this parade was really put on for was to thank our area firefighters and first responders who came in and played a huge role in fighting that blaze the firetrucks are given that place of honor at the beginning of our parade." Beery says they are inviting area businesses and individuals to get into the tropical holiday spirit and enter a float--which will then be rated by four judges "We will have different awards that will be presented as Kiwanis President awards," she said "That includes the 'best overall float' where you'll receive $40 in Clarinda dollars 'best theme-oriented' award with $25 in Clarinda dollars 'best display of lights' with $15 in Clarinda bucks and then 'holiday spirit award' with $15 in the Clarinda bucks." The parade route begins at 13th and Washington proceeds west on Washington Street around the Clarinda downtown square and finishes south on 15th Street to Grant Street Beery notes it also takes a large team of individuals coming together each year to put on the event "All of the Clarinda Chamber of Commerce really have a huge role in this and do a lot of the planning along with the Kiwanis group," Beery explained "We get together and have meetings to pick out the theme of the year and plan out who is going to be the co-chairs This year the co-chairs are myself and Andrea Muller and we've been doing this for a little while now and we really enjoy it so we keep coming back." Beery says Santa Claus will also make an appearance in the parade before stopping in his house located on the courthouse lawn Beery was a recent guest on KMA's "Morning Show." You can hear the full interview below: (Clarinda) -- Another blow to KMAland's economy is reported in Clarinda officials with NSK Americas announced the impending closing of its AKS manufacturing facility in Clarinda Officials say the products currently produced at the Clarinda facility will be resourced to other global AKS facilities and the facility vacated by the end of the first quarter With a workforce of approximately 54 employees Clarinda's AKS plant primarily manufactures ball bearing components for the automotive and industrial markets Company officials say many of the markets served by AKS have moved offshore thereby reducing the manufacturing demand for domestically-produced products AKS officials adds they're "grateful for the loyalty and hard work" of the company's Clarinda team members and the community's support over the years Officials say they'll continue to honor commitments and "provide employees support to ensure a small transition for everyone involved." AKS employees were told the Clarinda plant's closing Tuesday (Clarinda) -- As Clarinda school officials put next fiscal year's budget to bed concerns are mounting about future financial challenges By unanimous vote late Wednesday afternoon the Clarinda School Board approved the district's budget for fiscal 2026 with a property tax levy of $12.71 per thousand dollars valuation up about 7 cents from the current fiscal year's levy of $12.64 per thousand Board members took action following the second required public hearing Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia says this year's budget process was challenging With state lawmakers delaying a decision on per pupil funding for K-12 schools until early this month Privia says school officials went into the public hearings blind in terms of the final numbers with everything going up about 3-4%," said Privia "We had to raise our rate a little bit to help cover that The 2% (increase) that the legislature gave us isn't quite enough to cover all the things that go up One thing people keep forgetting about--at least I feel they forget about--is our insurance goes up every year anywhere from 8-10% We have to cover those costs for our employees We have to really make sure we're covering our bases when we set that rate." Privia is even more concerned about proposed property tax reform under discussion at the Statehouse Privia recently sent letters to State Senator Tom Shipley and State Representatives Tom Moore and Devon Wood regarding a piece affecting school districts' budgets--the management fund limitation of 180% of a district's last three years' expenditures that drops to 70% and 60% the following years and we factored in what can come out of that management fund one of the things that comes out is our deductible for things like hail or wind that would destroy our buildings." "Let's say we had a huge hail storm that ruined the roof," said Privia All the bad things happen in all three of the buildings that we hold We would then have a $604,000 deductible that we'd have to meet we wouldn't be able to carry that full amount Privia indicates Shipley responded to his letter saying he's addressing the superintendent's concerns in Senate subcommittees ---approved the elementary summer school program ---approved the FCCLA national trip and fundraisers ---approved resurfacing for the 4-6 and 7-12 gym floors ---approved the School-Based Interventionist agreement with the Green Hills Area Education Agency ---approved the STEM Start-Up Program grants ---approved the librarian sharing agreement with the South Page School District ---approved the quote of DEMCO totaling $156,357.52 for furniture and Interface's quote of $12,095.24 for carpeting for the 7-12 expansion and renovation project ---approved the second and final readings of the Iowa Association of School Boards policy primer (Clarinda) -- Clarinda School District staff and patrons are getting a glimpse of a major construction project in the coming weeks Construction continues on the district's 7-12 complex's expansion and renovation project Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia tells KMA News school board members recently toured the completed portions of the project plus new offices and a commons area for the district's middle school students Plans call for the district's instructors and other staff members to tour the project in the near future and we went through every room and took a look We actually saw a ceiling change that the board wanted we're going to have the elementary staff have an opportunity to go up and through he building we're going to open it up to the community for them to have a look Despite last week's snowstorm and recent rain Privia says the project is still on target for August 1st completion he says construction is about a week ahead of schedule "I know they're starting to do all of the mudding I think our painter is coming the beginning of next week to start painting the block and he's planning on coming to get as much done as he can when he comes down from the Council Bluffs area." board members allocated up to $9.8 million in Secure an Advanced Vision for Education or SAVE funding to cover the project's costs Privia hopes the public likes the work accomplished thus far "It has not cost us taxpayers anything to get this project done and we'll start looking at the next phases as they come down the line for us." Mechanical and electrical work at both the 7-12 and pre-K-6 buildings is expected to take place this summer (Clarinda) -- A Clarinda man faces prison time in connection with a burglary in Shenandoah last fall The Page County Attorney's Office announced Wednesday that 25-year-old Gavin Allen Sickler was found guilty of third degree burglary in Page County District Court Tuesday Officials say Sickler was also acquitted of one count of third degree theft The verdicts were returned by the jury after a one-day trial and a little over one hour of deliberations Sickler was charged after an investigation into the burglary of a car in Shenandoah where a gun was reportedly stolen on the afternoon of September 26th Officials say Sickler is currently free on a $4,000 bond and is awaiting a sentencing date He faces up to two years of incarceration and a fine of up to $8,540 The Shenandoah Police Department investigated the case which was prosecuted by the Page County Attorney's Office (Clarinda) -- A former Clarinda doctor has been assessed a fine from the state Board of Medicine regarding multiple violations McIntyre with performing surgery at the anatomically incorrect site engaging in unethical or unprofessional conduct and indiscriminatory or promiscuously prescribing drugs to a member of her immediate family McIntyre performed a surgery on a patient at Clarinda Regional Health Center intending to remove the woman's left ovary where a cyst had been found McIntyre later confirmed she mistakenly removed the patient's right ovary instead of the left one the board alleges McIntyre had been "dismissive and condescending to her patients and lacked compassion in treating her patients." The board claimed McIntyre was "loud and disrespectful" towards a patient telling the patient to reschedule the appointment because she was late when in fact the patient was 15 minutes early the board also alleges that McIntyre saw her daughter and prescribed controlled pills The board agreed to impose a $5,000 fine against McIntyre last week and issued a warning indicating future violations could result in additional sanctions The board did not impose any restrictions on McIntyre's ability to practice with her current Iowa medical license set to expire December 1st who was an Iowa licensed physician practicing obstetrics and gynecology in Iowa during the time period relevant to the allegations (Clarinda) -- For three straight seasons the Clarinda Cardinals girls tennis squad have advanced on to the quarterfinals as a team and have been established quite a program standard Head Coach Randy Pullen is getting back five girls and were a major part of the undefeated conference record that the Cardinals earned "You go back last year and we lost our number three player out of the top six and then we lost our number seven player and so everybody has experience and that that's big when you're playing tennis and keeps the nerves under control and they expect a lot this year so that we had a good start," Pullen said That start has been two 9-0 victories over Abraham Lincoln and Glenwood controlling the match ups with obvious talent On Tuesday Clarinda took down Shenandoah 8-1 in a page county rivalry match Seniors Riley Nothwehr and Hannah Higgins haven't lost a singles match yet haven't lost any single or doubles matches yet Last year the Cardinals lost to Pella in the quarterfinals "They want to reach the final four this year  You know we've reached three years ago we reached quarterfinals  We didn't actually finish second and then last year in the quarterfinals again so they want to make it four years in a row but this year they want to make it to the final four." A major strength and reason for an established success is the constant number of talent that Pullen has been able to coach and that is going to apparent for Cardinal opponents this year  What makes us I think good is that we do have depth," Pullen said  "A lot of teams don't have the depth that we have and it shows." the Cardinals went undefeated in conference play and the two teams even tied in the conference tournament and that is leaving for a much anticipated conference race this spring  Lewis Central is always tough and we'll play them Thursday  So I think after this week we'll have a pretty good insight what the season looks like," Pullen said "Last year in the Hawkeye 10 tournament we tied with Kuemper so we can play with Kuemper and I think the preseason coaches poll has them at second and has us at fifth in the state but I look at their lineups and we can compete." For full interview with Head Coach Randy Pullen Construction continues on the Clarinda School District's 7-12 Complex expansion and renovation project (Clarinda) -- Regardless of recent weather conditions a major construction project continues in the Clarinda School District Work began last May on the Clarinda 7-12 complex's expansion and remodeling project Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia tells KMA News last week's snow storm failed to slow the construction project we couldn't do any work on the outside of the building," said Privia finishing some walls and a few other things and we've had some beautiful weather lately." Plans called for bricklaying work to end this week with window and drywall installation expected to begin next week The plumbing is all done--they just have to get hooked up to the main lines All that will be knocked out hopefully here by May School officials expect the project to be completed before the start of the 2025-26 school year the expansion will provide additional space for the district's middle school students Portable classrooms were installed in back of the 7-12 complex two years ago to help alleviate space issues Privia says the portable units will be used through September "Assuming everything is on time," said Privia "we will be having those removed in August--early September The students that we have out in our CTE building--with the 7th and 8th grade students moving to their new wing--those students will be able to come in from the CTE building I guess I would call it the old freshman wing except for the CTE time that they're out there for welding Funding from the district's Secure an Advanced Vision for Education or SAVE dollars are covering the project's construction Privia made his comments on KMA's "Morning Line" program earlier this week Creston lost a tight one and Maryville showed well at the Lafayette Tournament on Friday in KMAland boys tennis Other Atlantic winners: Conner Silence (singles) Other Clarinda winners: Creighton Bird (singles) Creston 2x winner: Carson Beer & Dylan Dornack Other Creston winners: Timothy Bartlett (singles) Maryville’s Will Sheil and Kyler Skidmore won first place in Flight 1 doubles to lead the way for Maryville Here are the full results from Maryville head coach Nicole McGinness: Will Sheil/Kyler Skidmore 1st place flight 1 doubles  AJ Dinsdale/Nathan Walter - first place flight 2 doubles  Clarinda City Manager Gary McClarnon gave a budget workshop presentation to the Clarinda City Council during its regular meeting Wednesday (Clarinda) -- Residential structures would likely see a slight increase in property taxes under the city of Clarinda's proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year despite lowering the city's property tax levy the Clarinda City Council held a budget workshop for the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 Cities are required to have a budget approved and submitted to the state by the end of April City Manager Gary McClarnon says one area they have been watching in recent years is the residential rollbacks set by the state each year McClarnon says the residential rollback is just over 46.34% he says the rollback increased by roughly 1% to over 47.43%--the percentage of which a property's total valuation is taxable we actually went up a total of about 2.5%," said McClarnon that will help us out a little bit on the revenue side of things because of the rollback we could very easily next year have the rollback go the other direction and then we'd be losing again." he notes the first $150,000 is subject to residential rollback figures While total valuations within Clarinda have increased by 1% McClarnon says the amount of exemptions increased by just over 67% McClarnon says they are proposing the maximum $8.75 per thousand dollars valuation general combined levy he says that will be phased down to $8.10 per thousand by fiscal year 2029 we will lose that 67 and a half cents per thousand which amounts to about $102,000 in revenue--so that's something to keep in mind as we're going along," McClarnon explained we don't have the revenue growth to eliminate that but say next year we end up with 3% revenue growth McClarnon says fiscal '26 would also be the first budget year for the $3.5 million general obligation bonds the council is expected to finalize to finance infrastructure for a new business park in the coming months The budget also includes a 4.5% total package increase for employees as approved by the employee benefits committee The increase equates to a $1.00 per hour raise for full-time employees a $0.50 per hour raise for part-time employees and a 3.5% increase for salaried employees which occurs every 14 years-totaling 27 payrolls rather than 26 and then if you look at both wages and benefits the increase is a little over $206,000," said McClarnon which is more comparable with other (years) you would see a $76,000 increase in wages and $132,000 total the 27th payroll was very challenging this time to get budgeted." he notes the proposed salaries and pay increases are for budgeting purposes with numbers finalized by the council in June McClarnon says they are proposing a property tax levy of $17.75 per thousand dollars valuation--a decrease of 25 cents from the current fiscal year he says a $100,000 home would see a slight uptick on their property tax bill "Right now we're sitting at $18 per thousand for the tax levy rate and with this (budget) we'd be lowering it to $17.75--so we'd be lowering the tax levy," said McClarnon the average $100,000 house would see about an $8 a year increase especially since we're putting a $3.5 million bond issue on here as well." McClarnon says most commercial or industrial businesses would see a reduction in city property taxes he says a business valued at $200,000 would see a roughly three-cent a-month increase while a commercial business valued at $300,000 would pay slightly lower The council is expected to hold a separate public hearing on the proposed tax levy rate on March 26th before considering the proposed budget at its April 23rd meeting Clarinda boys golf coach Andrew Almelien is dissecting the data from his team's first couple of meets and is ready to see where the good -- and bad -- from those showings might take the Cardinals this spring (Clarinda) -- Clarinda boys golf coach Andrew Almelien is dissecting the data from his team's first couple of meets and is ready to see where the good -- and bad -- from those showings might take the Cardinals this spring Clarinda opened its season with a three-stroke loss to Glenwood on April 7th and then followed a day later by edging Shenandoah by eight strokes They've had one tournament showing -- a runner-up finish at Shenandoah's Mustang Invite last Tuesday "We've got some mixed feelings right now," Almellien said "We left a couple of shots out there in our first dual I would like to get rid of the wind in Iowa I was really pleased with how we came back against Shenandoah at home played at their tournament and had a pretty good grouping of scores." The Cardinals have posted a 175.50 9-hole adjusted average so far Their two 9-hole outings combine with their lone 18-hole tournament for a 173.30 combined adjusted average That's third best in the Hawkeye Ten behind Atlantic and Kuemper Catholic "I had a couple of question marks coming into the season," Almelien said "But I also know that I have probably about eight guys that can shoot bogey or better golf and that's really good to have that abundance of riches to deal with I've been pleased with how a couple of kids have done." Senior Karsten Beckel has been the Cardinals' statistical leader Freshman Jac Fine has been a welcomed addition "He's putting together a couple of really good showings as a freshman," Almelien said "He did a lot of practicing with us last year so I've seen a lot of the junior golf tournaments and stuff around the area Senior Carson Turner has been a four-year starter while juniors Sam Kline and Kort Neal and sophomore Jack Kline complete the lineup "We're kind of dissecting our shots," Almelien said We're not throwing a whole bunch of three-putts and four-putts out there And we're able to score pretty well by getting close to the hole in the first couple of shots." Click below to hear the full interview with Coach Almelien The element requested is either not valid or does not exist (Clarinda) -- A Council Bluffs man has won a $500,000 lottery prize on a ticket purchased in Clarinda Officials with the Iowa Lottery announced late last week that William Campbell won the 5th top prize in the Iowa Lottery's "Mega Bucks" scratch game purchasing the winning ticket at the Casey's at 318 East Washington Street in Clarinda Officials say Campbell claimed his prize Wednesday at the lottery's main office in Clive Mega Bucks is a $50 scratch game that features 13 top prizes of $500,000, 12 prizes of $25,000 and overall odds of 1 in 3.09. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit ialottery.com Clarinda went on the road and a took a gritty physical grinder of a 2A district semifinal win over Underwood on Thursday night (Underwood) -- Clarinda went on the road and a took a gritty The Cardinals (12-10) outscored Underwood (16-5) in the fourth quarter on their way to a 44-41 win which pushes Clarinda into a district championship game with Treynor at Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday “I’m very proud of these boys,” Clarinda head coach Frank Sefrit said Clarinda scored the first seven points of the game but Underwood quickly responded with 11 of the final 14 points in the first period to take the lead While the Cardinals scored the first two of the second period that would be their last lead until the fourth Underwood pushed their lead up to as many as nine and later took a 36-28 lead on a Garrett Luett 3 with just two and a half minutes left in the third A 10-0 run for Clarinda from the end of the third and beginning of the fourth gave them their first lead of the second half Nolan Baker splashed a game-tying triple with about four minutes remaining That proved to be the last time Underwood would score while the Cardinals managed just three free throws to make up the difference “Very proud of them down the stretch,” Sefrit added “Just the opposite outcome that we had when we played Creston Junior Sam Kline seemed to execute any time his team needed him pouring in 21 points despite the defensive nature of the game “We kept getting him the ball,” Coach Sefrit said The other kids realized who was getting hot and they did a pretty good job of (getting him the ball) Kaiden Roop also provided a major boost off the bench posting a season-best nine points while getting plenty of fourth-quarter run Warner Schmitt rolled his ankle,” Sefrit said “I know my role is defense and getting the ball to the hoop,” Roop said “I think I did those things pretty good tonight.” Clarinda advances to a 2A district final with No which rolled to a 30-point win over Red Oak on Thursday The game will be played at Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday night at 7:00 Garrett Luett had a team-high 19 points with eight rebounds for Underwood Check out the postgame video reaction from Coach Sefrit (Clarinda) -- Clarinda residents will see a slight jump in sewer rates over the next three years Meeting in regular session Wednesday evening the Clarinda City Council unanimously approved the third reading and adopted a $1 increase on the minimum sewer rate and a 50-cent uptick in the additional per-1,000-gallons rate Clarinda City Manager Gary McClarnon says the increase comes to ensure the city meets state revenue requirements after borrowing from the state revolving fund for the city's new wastewater treatment plant McClarnon says the city must generate a profit equal to at least 10% of its annual debt payment "The debt that we have against that with the SRF loan payments are right around $850,000 a year for payments on that note," said McClarnon we're just trying to adjust everything and make sure we have enough revenues as we're just a little bit short." which covers up to 2,000 gallons of monthly usage and the additional 1,000 gallons rate will jump from $12 to $12.50 "How that all shakes out is that a typical water/sewer bill that you get now," he said "if you use the minimum it's about a 1.8% increase and if you're one of the bigger users at around 8,000 gallons a month we tried to keep the increase down to a minimum." The increases also include similar upticks in the minimum and per 1,000 gallons rates to $30 and $13 McClarnon says the average user of roughly 4,000 gallons a month would see a $2 bump in their monthly bill "That's right at about 78% of the usage we have--they're at about 4,000 gallons (a month)," McClarnon explained you're looking at with that a $2 a month increase and that's also for the next two years as well." McClarnon says they plan to leave the water rates over the next three years at a $23 monthly minimum and $13 per 1,000 gallons "Especially since next year we will make our last payment on the water treatment plant," said McClarnon we feel pretty comfortable with water rates and where they're at right now." McClarnon says most residents' city bills would increase just over 5% the council approved the street closures for the 2025 Clarinda Chamber annual events approved a request from Indaclar to close off Washington Street from 16th to 17th Street for a street dance on August 2nd and discussed the possibility of placing signage around the downtown square regarding a city ordinance that prohibits riding bicycles on the sidewalks around the square (Clarinda) -- At least one Clarinda School Board member is suggesting future changes to the district's calendar By unanimous vote late Wednesday afternoon, the Clarinda School Board approved the 2025-26 school calendar after no one spoke at a public hearing Included in next school year's calendar is a two-week winter or Christmas break from December 23rd to January 2nd Board member Paul Boysen voiced a constituent's question on why the winter break is longer than the spring break "I looked at the calendar in here," said Boysen "I noticed over winter--it's called winter break now--is two full weeks I didn't think much about it until this person said why don't you take--since everyone around went back on (January) 2nd or 3rd--take those two days--the Thursday and Friday--add those two days to spring break Boysen says a longer spring break would benefit students and staff "We're one of the few schools that doesn't have a week-long spring break in this area," he said I know by the time you get to spring break--with Easter being late--your rear ends are kind of dragging it's always good for everyone to have a break to have everyone refreshed." Board President Josh Wyman says Superintendent Jeff Privia takes input into consideration in developing the calendar Board member Scott Honeyman adds Clarinda is sharing services with other districts South Page 7-12 students are attending classes in Clarinda under a tuition agreement--which becomes a whole grade sharing agreement between next school year Clarinda students begin the new school year August 25th (Clarinda) -- After what authorities called a poor response in February Clarinda Police says residents are doing a better job of following the city's snow emergency ordinance vehicle parking on city streets is prohibited with an accumulation of two inches or more of snow or ice Approximately 40 tickets were written for violations following the February 12th winter storm Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers tells KMA News the public's compliance has improved with fewer citations issued following the most recent events "From the first to the second (winter storm) I think we had a decrease in approximately 15-to-20 violations of parking tickets that were issued," said Brothers "From the second to the third event--and I'll even go from the first event to third event--there was probably a decrease in the parking tickets issued from the 30-to-35 range." Brothers credits improved education and awareness for the increased response you get about a month into that school year and you're more accustomed to your routine I think the same thing is true with a snow emergency situation." Brothers says any compliance helps the city street crews' snow removal efforts--especially in some of the community's older residential areas "If there's vehicles parked there," said Brothers "it's really making it difficult and cumbersome for that plow operator to get that big apparatus through there If there's no vehicle on that street at all they make one past west on that street--or north and south The chief adds residents without driveways are allowed to park in city lots during snow emergencies or between the curb and the outer edge of sidewalks until streets are cleared Anyone with questions regarding the city of Clarinda's snow emergency ordinance should contact Clarinda Police at 712-542-2194 or Clarinda City Hall Snyder Nebraska is a small town with a big manufacturing footprint NSK Americas will lay off 34 people from its Clarinda plant at the end of February The layoff notice was announced by the Iowa Workforce Development as a notice required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act The layoff comes in addition to the announcement late last year that NSK's sister company, NSK-AKS Precision Ball Company, would close its Clarinda plant this spring The WARN notice says that will happen at the end of March The AKS plant closure is due to a reduction in manufacturing demand Ed Jabri of NSK Americas told The Nonpareil last year the company was "committed" to maintaining the NSK facility in Clarinda "With the change of the product mix manufactured at the facility and the continuous need to be competitive in the market we had to take this action," NSK said in a statement emailed to the Nonpareil "We are grateful for the loyalty and hard work of the NSK Clarinda team members and the support of the Clarinda community over the years We will continue to honor our commitments and ensure a smooth transition for everyone involved." NSK still employs 189 workers in Clarinda, according to a report in The Des Moines Register. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account (Clarinda) -- With lawmakers still undecided on state aid for K-12 schools Clarinda school officials are among those playing a guessing game on next fiscal year's budget the Clarinda School Board held the first of two required public hearings on the district's fiscal 2026 budget Clarinda School Superintendent Jeff Privia says next fiscal year's budget presents a "worst case scenario," with a slight tax increase based on the lowest amount of supplemental state aid proposed by state lawmakers Senate Republicans and Governor Kim Reynolds proposed a 2% increase in supplemental state aid we're looking at an 8-cent increase--8-to-9 cents--depending on what that SSA comes back at," said Privia trying to figure out what's going to happen at the state level That's why it's important to get that set and done Our timelines don't change--even though they don't have that set." Because of the legislature's delay in finalizing SSA Privia says this year's budget process has been interesting for not only his district "A lot of the SBOs and superintendents are all talking together about we're all trying to guess what's going to happen as if anybody's got any insight as to what's happening at the state level It's just been a little more hectic this year as we keep pushing forward Privia says a slight uptick in this school year's enrollment allowed Clarinda to avoid massive budget cuts such as those experienced in Red Oak and Glenwood--two districts with big losses in student numbers "you've really got to make some big decisions Us at Clarinda have been really fortunate--we're actually up six students I know every superintendent on October 1st is hoping to stay even you've really got to starting looking at that budget where you can cut Privia says the district's tax asking could be lowered if lawmakers approve a higher SSA amount Board members set the second budget public hearing for April 23rd at 5 p.m ---approved the resignation of Justin Clutter as special education instructor effective at the end of the current school year ---approved overnight trips for Clarinda High School's FFA chapter ---approved superintendent and human resources position sharing agreements with the South Page School District The Clarinda track & field program is ready to open its season (Clarinda) -- The Clarinda track & field program is ready to open its season head coach Chad Blank is optimistic that his traditional approach and plenty of returning talent will produce a strong season for the Cardinals so we've been outside and got some work in We've got a lot of people doing things the right way Blank likes what he has seen from his team in the lead-up to the season "We're in the weight room every day," he said "We're not only focused on getting stronger but getting more explosive and doing things that will correlate on the field It's nice to have the kids come in day one ready to go and almost in midseason form Senior Jerzee Knight figures to lead the girls lineup Knight is a four-time state medalist in the sprints She finished third in the 2A-100 and 200 last year Junior Kylie Meier was part of a medalist distance medley relay and a state qualifier in the long jump while sophomore Elaina Hesse returns after qualifying for state in the high jump as a freshman Riley King and Alexa Barnes as likely contributors The Washburn signee has collected five state medals in his career including fifth-place finishes in the 1600 and 3200 last year Wagoner was also part of a distance medley relay team that finished fifth alongside Kayden Hawley Roop was also a qualifier in the long jump The Cardinals have taken pride in the relays under Coach Blank and that's not expected to change this week "We feel really good about the medleys," Blank said the distance medley is looking to do some big things Hopefully we can put together some good relays with Jerzee and Kylie Progression is always the name of the game for the Cardinals Coach Blank knows his team is not at its best yet "The message is the same it's been since I've been here," Blank said "Nobody remembers how you run in March and April It's just about getting better every day so we're prepared when the time comes for big meets We think we're capable of some big things this year continuing to get better and see where it gets us in May." Clarinda opens its season this Thursday and Friday at Iowa State Click below to hear the full interview with Coach Blank (Clarinda) -- The application window is open for a variety of scholarships through a local non-profit Applications for high school seniors and some college or trade school students are now available for over 20 scholarships with the Clarinda Foundation Initially starting as $200 scholarships in 1991 the foundation has now awarded over $1 million Foundation Director Beckie Finch says several students throughout southwest Iowa and even southeast Nebraska can be eligible for the 25 different scholarships that can help fund a variety of forms of education we do have scholarships that are available to Bedford and there are some GPA requirements that are 2.5 and some GPA requirements that are 3.5 While most scholarships are for high school seniors Finch says there are also some for students already in college She adds there are three new scholarships this year including the Clarinda Public Library Memorial Scholarship for Clarinda and South Page students "The big piece with this one is that the Library Foundation would like to have within a little essay on the application--they want to know how libraries have impacted the applicant's life." the Clarinda Foundation awarded over $100,000 Another new scholarship to the foundation is the Dave Tackett Page County Pheasants Forever scholarship so I believe we've got four public schools so that would include all of your Shenandoah students "This is also for a student going to a college Scholarship applications are due by March 15th. For more specific scholarship information, contact Finch at 712-542-4412 or clarindafoundation@clarindafoundation.com. You can also visit clarindafoundation.com You can hear the full interview with Finch below: