LATEST NEWS

There’s a full slate of events happening tomorrow with the Bell Tower Festival in Jefferson. The day begins with the Greene County Medical Center Foundation Golf Tournament at the Jefferson Community Golf Course at 9am. Then the other activities take place in the evening, starting with a chalk artist, Kathleen Boling, from 4-9pm on the southwest corner of the downtown square. Bell Tower Festival Committee Chair Philip Heisterkamp explains that Jefferson Matters Events and Tourism Coordinator Molly Cunningham brought in the new attraction of the chalk artist.

1:07pm: A deputy investigated a careless driving complaint on 220th Street near X Avenue. 2:18pm: A deputy investigated a driving complaint in the 900 block of Cedar Street, Scranton. 3:07pm: A deputy investigated a car deer accident on 220th Street near Oakland Avenue. Bruce Keeney 65 of Jefferson struck a...

Crop fields in Greene County continue to push along in the growing season. Greene County ISU Extension Field Agronomist Mike Witt says there’s been some decent rainfall this past week, especially in northern Greene County, where some fields had standing water in them. “So those scenarios are, we did...

The Greene County School Board recently approved a new amenity for the middle school. The Board heard a presentation by the middle school team, led by Samantha Telleen and Matt Paulsen proposing to install playground equipment on the northwest corner of the middle school. The Board saw data from student surveys where the top three choices of playground equipment were an obstacle course, basketball court and swings. The next three choices the students wanted included a space for four-square, bags or cornhole and other benches.

2:48pm: A deputy investigated a single vehicle rollover accident on 250th Street near W Avenue. Stephen Bailey 30 of Churdan lost control of a 2016 Kenworth Cement mixer on 250th Street near W Avenue. Stephen was cited for failure to maintain control. The estimated damage to the mixer is 50,000 dollars.

Philip Heisterkamp and Josh Dyer with the Bell Tower Festival Committee talk about the Thursday and Friday lineup of events with the Bell Tower Festival in part one of our two part series. Podcast: Play in new window | Download.

This Sunday there are a couple of opportunities for kids to fish in Greene County. The Greene County Conservation Department is hosting its annual Spring Lake Kids’ Fishing Derby from 9am-noon on Sunday. Conservation Director Tanner Scheuermann tells Raccoon Valley Radio there are three age divisions, including 4-8, 9-12 and 13-15 year olds with free nightcrawlers to use as bait and participants are encouraged to bring their own fishing pole, but equipment will also be available for kids to use. Prizes will be awarded in each age class and everyone who participates will get a door prize.

When it comes to conference opponents, they seem to have an edge. At least that’s how it has seemed for the Greene County softball team in the last week. Not only have the Rams picked up three conference wins since May 31, against conference opponents they have only allowed one run.

Jefferson Parks and Recreation Director Denny Hammen goes over several items including the new outdoor fitness and playground equipment at Daubendiek Park and Russell Park, respectively; along with opening the pool, activities during Bell Tower Festival and advantages with rentals of the parks and canoe for the Raccoon River. Podcast:...

The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Monday in regular session. During reports, County Information Technology Director Michelle Fields said she is moving forward with purchasing new phones that will be installed in the Greene County Courthouse starting next month. Greene County Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Hawn gave an update...

Wednesday night saw the Greene County Rams travel to Des Moines to face Class 3A number 3 Saydel in Heart of Iowa Activities Conference softball. The first of two conference meetings this season featured All-State pitchers on both teams in the 5-1 victory by the Rams. Coach Tom Kennedy’s Rams improved to 6-1 in the conference and 8-4 overall. The Eagles are now 6-1 in conference and 7-1 overall.

Greene County lost in Des Moines to Saydel on Wednesday night in Heart of Iowa Activities Conference baseball by a 5-0 final. The Rams are 1-10 on the season and 0-6 as the losing streak has grown to nine. Playing for the third day in a row, the Rams started Camden Jacobs on the pitching mound. The sophomore gave up three hits and hit two batters in the first inning and all five scored. That was it though as Jacobs threw all six innings with five strikeouts and two walks, plus five hits allowed. The Rams are 1-10 overall and 0-6 in the conference.

The Greene County board of adjustment will be asked to hold a public hearing in the next several weeks on an amended construction permit for Grand Junction Solar, a utility-scale solar energy project in Junction Township. Tom Karas of National Grid Renewables, project manager of Grand Junction Solar, told the...

Greene County Schools is participating in the USDA’s summer food service program. Meals will be provided Monday-Friday, June 4 through July 28, at no charge to children. No meals will be served July 3, July 4 and July 25. Meals will be available as follows:. Jefferson – Greene County...

Greene County and Winterset played a non-conference high school baseball game at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the home of the Iowa Cubs, Principal Park in Des Moines. It had been several years since the Rams had a game inside the AAA stadium, and the Huskies won the contest by a 7-2 score for their first win in seven games. Greene County fell to 1-9.

The Greene County High School painting class recently designed and completed a mural painting depicting a cat and dog at the Greene County Animal Shelter. It is intended to send a message from the animals inside saying, “take me home!” This mural took place over a week and a half, since the weather was not always ideal. The students worked very hard to produce a final product that can be enjoyed by the community for many years to come. Not only did they paint, but they also helped set up and tear down the scaffolding that was used to reach the top of the mural. We would like to thank Don Orris for reaching out and providing this opportunity to paint on the new animal shelter! Students love painting murals around town and would greatly appreciate any donations towards the Greene County Art Department/Club to keep creating fun art pieces for the community to enjoy.

The Perry offense finally got going Friday night as the Bluejays defeated Greene County 10-3 in Heart of Iowa action. Perry finished with a season high 13 hits. Fausto Beato and Owen Myers led the charge with three hits each. Beato delivered a pair of RBI doubles and finished with 3 RBI’s. Geren Kenney added two hits including a two-run double in the fifth. Myers pitched the complete game allowing five hits and striking out 6 Ram batters. The win was Perry’s first against Greene County since the 2017 season.

Now that the school year has come to a close for the new Greene County School District Superintendent, he has had time to reflect on his opening year. Superintendent Brett Abbotts tells Raccoon Valley Radio he feels excited that his first year is in the books and there are a majority of goals he believes he has reached within his 150 day plan he previously presented to the school board. Abbotts points out one thing that he wants to consistently remember is what it was like to be a teacher and a principal as he gets his feet wet as a new superintendent.