Lucas County, IA

Audrey Berniece Taylor was born February 14, 1920 to George A. and Clara Cleveland Cunningham in Lucas County, Iowa, and passed away at the age of 102 on May 27, 2022 at the Lucas County Health Center. She was the youngest of four children growing up on the family farm, attended country school and two years of high school in Lucas, Iowa before graduating from Chariton High School in 1937. After two years at Chariton Junior College, she taught four years in the Lucas School. Audrey married Carl Taylor on February 14, 1943 and to this union three children were born. In 1962 she went back to teaching in the Lucas School while furthering her education and graduating from Drake University in 1969. She retired from teaching elementary school in 1982.

Marion County Roads Department has announced that S45 will be one lane beginning today from G76 to the Lucas County Line. Work will go from the North to the South with work zones being one mile or less with temporary traffic signals directing traffic, and temporary rumble strips being used. The work is expected to take 4-8 weeks, weather permitting.

As expected, there was a very low voter turnout Tuesday for the Republican and Democratic primary races to determine who will be on the November ballot in November. Bittner will move on to run in the November election. Election canvas is June 14. There is no Democratic candidate for county...

The Lucas County Board of Supervisors voted to declare April Child Abuse Prevention Month in the county during their first April meeting. CPPC_Coordinator Jocelyn Blazek and President of Parents and Children First of Lucas County Shannon Page attended the meeting for the proclamation with Blazek requesting the board designate the month as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the county.

Lucas County US Cellular customers will have to say goodbye to a familiar face as longtime employee of the Chariton US Cellular store, Deb Wood has retired after 25 years. Wood is sometimes called Chariton’s Cell Phone Lady because of her deep knowledge of and ability to troubleshoot phone problems and her ability to multitask and wait on up to five customers at one. Those skills have allowed her to help countless customers over the years.

The Lucas County Health Center Hospital Board of Trustees approved the purchase of a new Nurse Call Light System for LCHC at the last Hospital Board meeting Tuesday, March 29. The total cost of the system was $151,153. The proposal for the new system approved was from Ascom and Ideacom...

Lucas County Health Center Chief Operations Officer Lori Johnson gave the Quality Report for LCHC for February at the LCHC Hospital Board of Trustees’ monthly meeting Tuesday, March 29. One main highlight Johnson reported was that it has been 257 days since the last medication error occurred at the...

(Chariton, IA) -- Portions of Red Haw State Park will reopen today (Friday), more than two months after a deadly tornado swept through Lucas County and the Chariton area, destroying much of the park’s infrastructure and foliage. Park manager Bonnie Friend says the March Fifth twister killed a man who was camping at the park. She also says they lost about “75 percent of the campground,” “all five docks, three shelters and the storage building.” Parts of the park that will be opening this morning include day use areas, the beach for swimming, and one boat ramp. A GoFundMe page is raising money to help with clean-up, repair, and reforestation.

Portions of Red Haw State Park will reopen today, more than two months after a deadly tornado swept through Lucas County and the Chariton area, destroying much of the park’s infrastructure and foliage. Park manager Bonnie Friend says the March 5th twister killed a man who was camping at...

(Radio Iowa) – Portions of Red Haw State Park will reopen today (Friday), more than two months after a deadly tornado swept through Lucas County and the Chariton area, destroying much of the park’s infrastructure and foliage. Park manager Bonnie Friend says the March 5th twister killed a man who was camping at the park and storm damage to the park itself was significant. “We lost probably 75% of the campground as well as we lost all five docks, three shelters and the storage building,” Friend says. “So over this time since March 5th, we’ve had amazing progress.” The National Weather Service says the E-F-3 tornado that hit the park was on the ground more than 16 miles, with peak winds of 138 miles an hour.

Lucas County, IA – According to the state officials, the campground and surrounding trails, which are the most heavily damaged areas, remain closed. State officials have announced that visitors can access the beach and north boat ramp area, but are asked to avoid the campground as professional clean-up crews continue to remove trees and debris with heavy equipment.

The Lucas County Health Center Hospital Board of Trustees set a public hearing date to amend the 2021-22 LCHC County Hospital Budget at their regular monthly meeting Tuesday, March 29. The public hearing was set for Tuesday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at LCHC. LCHC Chief...

On Tuesday, March 8, the Lucas County Interchurch Council, together with the Lucas County Ukrainian and Russian faith communities, came together for a Prayer Service for prayers for the international conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, which was held on the Lucas County Courthouse lawn. It was a time where...

Community 1st Credit Union recently made two donations in an effort to help the Lucas County community who are working together to help those who experienced damage or lost their homes during the storms Saturday afternoon, March 5. One donation was made to the Chariton Volunteer Fire Department for $1,000. The other donation was made to the Inter-Church Council of Lucas County for $300.

LUCAS COUNTY, Iowa — A Lucas County teen says she was pulled over and forced to change her pants on the side of the road. It happened in the town of Williamson in February. She said was caught drinking and driving, and while pulled over, she was wearing wet pants.

WILLIAMSON, Iowa — A Lucas County 17-year-old was pulled over and given a breathalyzer test on Feb. 10, in the Lucas County town of Williamson. Kylea Parker and her family don't deny she had alcohol in her system when she was pulled over that night. However, they say she shouldn't have been forced to change her pants on the side of the road.

Chargers Stomp Out Tobacco celebrated Through With Chew in February 2022. Many activities were held throughout the month to celebrate. At Chariton Middle School a poster contest was held. All of the posters submitted were exhibited in the school hallways. The winners were Taya Belonozhko, Estir Kopytko, Amy Yefremenkova and Diana Blidchenko. Their poster was on “Smokeless Tobacco Cause & Effects”. They illustrated the short term effects, and long term effects on the body.

Lucas County Health Center Chief Financial Officer Jay Christensen gave the financial report for January for LCHC at the LCHC Hospital Board meeting Feb. 22. Christensen reported that LCHC had a really strong revenue month in January. He said that LCHC’s total operating revenue for January was $3,830,244, which was $522,000 over budget.

The Chariton High School FBLA-PBL chapter celebrated FBLA-PBL Week, February 13-19. To celebrate FBLA-PBL Week, members participated in activities each day of the week. Starting on Sunday, the officer team was joined by Chariotn Mayor Jayma Hoch for the signing of the FBLA-PBL Week proclamation. Monday was Adviser Appreciation Day,...

On Tuesday June 7, 2022, a Primary Election will be held for members of political parties to nominate candidates for the General Election. Currently, there are two political parties in Iowa: Democratic Party, and the Republican Party. A voter must be a member of one of the political parties to participate in the primary nomination process. Candidates are nominated at the primary election to run as that party’s candidate in the general election.