Let’s Talk Knoxville: Kathleen Taylor

Today’s Peoples Bank Let’s Talk Indianola features Indianola Superintendent Ted Ihns about the Education Savings Accounts bill passed by the Iowa legislature. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | Subscribe to Let's Talk Indianola.

Crossroads of Pella is calling out for kids in the community to come together for a fun service project. Chris Allen with Crossroads says they are hosting “A Playdate to Do Good Things” on Saturday, February 6th at 10 a.m. on the 3rd floor of the Pella Community Center. He says the goal is to bring families together to empower children to learn about service and how it can be fun to help others.

The Marion County Development Commission (MCDC) is accepting nominations to honor 10 young professionals in the Red Rock Area. The purpose of these annual awards is to highlight the impact young adults are making in our communities, encourage young adults to become involved as volunteers, and highlight the benefits for young adults to live and work in Marion County.

Grammy Award Winners Dailey and Vincent will be performing in Knoxville at the Knoxville Performing Arts Center Friday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m. The show is a Lori King Production with advance tickets selling for $35 and tickets at the door $45. VIP tickets are on sale for $55. King, who promotes the show, tells KNIA/KRLS News seeing Darrin Vincent and Jamie Dailey is like bringing the Grand Ole Opry to Knoxville as they honor their heroes.

Five Knoxville students participated in the Simpson College Middle School Honor Band. The students were selected to participate in the honor band by Director nominations. Knoxville students who took part in the event were Thalia DeSocio, Reagan Sinclair, Landon Lee, Peyton Estocopio and Jacob VanWyngarden according to band instructor Tim McBride.

Three Jefferson Intermediate School students were the winners in the annual U.S. Flag Essay Contest held by American Legion Post 89. Post Commander David Robbins says each year fifth graders from Pella and Pella Christian schools submit approximately 200 essays about the American Flag, and members of the local veterans group selects winners.

Junior Fun Night has been set for those in 4-H in Marion County. The fun event is set for February 24 at the Knoxville Park and Recreation Center. The event will be from 9-10:30 p.m. and open for 4-H youth in grades 4-6 at no cost. A 4-H member is allowed to bring one non-4H member. The whole facility will be open for swimming, the gymnasium and more according to Ashtin Wells, Marion County Youth Coordinator.

A visitation for Marlys Sowers will be held on Tuesday, January 31th from 4:00-7:00pm at the Pierschbacher Funeral Home in Milo. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the family.

At this week’s Pella School Board meeting, a discussion was held about changing the administrative structure in the district. Superintendent Greg Ebeling says while they initially planned to hire a new Early Childhood Learning Director and combine some of those roles with others in special education, the district will instead shift some of the latter responsibilities to current building leaders – which will allow the new hire to focus on develop programming for the new expanded preschool options coming with the facility under construction east of Madison Elementary.

Funeral services for Dr. Stearly Alling Holt, age 88 of Knoxville, will be held Wednesday, February 1st at 11:00am at Bybee & Davis Funeral Home. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Knoxville Hospital & Clinics Foundation or to Freedom for Youth. Online condolences may be left at bertrandfuneralhomes.com.

Why do our first responders do what they do? In the fourth part of a ten part program on public safety, join us today as Dr. Bob Leonard goes “In Depth” with Lt. Reed Kious, Jail Administrator for Marion County. Podcast: Play in new window | Download. Subscribe:...

The Melcher-Dallas Elementary School Read-a-Thon continues. Every student at the elementary building, three year olds through 6th grade, is participating in the ten day Read-a-Thon. The Read-A-Thon is a fundraiser that raises money for school activities while encouraging and rewarding students for reading. Ms. Holly VanWyk, teacher, tells KNIA/KRLS News...

Improvements for the Knoxville baseball field will include a new press box, new fencing and seating in the near future. Offering to help raise funds for the Knoxville baseball bleachers along with head coach Turner DeVore are Adam Norris and Rachel Cecil among others. According to Craig Mobley, Knoxville Business Manager, the bleachers will be somewhat similar to what the softball program has.

A work session took place at the end of the last Knoxville School Board meeting Monday, Jan. 23. The session consisted of the school working on developing a 3-to-5 year strategic plan for the district. It is the first of several meetings slated for the school as they work on...

Two high school speech programs rich in state tradition carried on an annual celebration of both Thursday. Pella Christian High School hosted the sixteenth All-City Speech Night. The festival showcased all the 2023 Large Group Speech events of both Pella and Pella Christian high schools. A free-will donation was taken to be divided between both schools. Click here for a full list of state qualifiers from Pella and PCHS. The Iowa High School Speech Association Large Group State Competition will be held on February 4 at Cedar Rapids Washington.

Simpson College is honoring the first annual George Washington Carver day in the State of Iowa next week, after Governor Kim Reynolds declared last June that every February 1st would celebrate the famed humanitarian. Carver attended Simpson College after being rejected from other institutions due to the color of his...

The Knoxville Bowling Squads will make one final appearance at Statesmen Lanes in Oskaloosa for a home meet against Creston today. The Panthers, while not seeing wins this year, are seeing progress. Coach Shaun Renard is pleased with the progress and hopes the mental aspect of the game also keeps getting better.

With another round of bitter cold expected for several days, those who may need some winter gear should contact Crossroads of Pella. Chris Allen with the organization says they received dozens of items from donors late in 2022 in all sizes to help those who may need a hand in staying warm during the coldest months of the year. Those with questions should contact Crossroads of Pella at 628-1212 or email info@crossroadspella.org, or stop by the 3rd floor of the Pella Community Center during the week for assistance.

Pella Christian High School will host the sixteenth annual All-City Speech Night tonight at 7:00 pm. The festival will showcase all the 2023 Large Group Speech events of both city high schools. A free-will donation will be taken to be divided between both schools. Click here for a full list of state qualifiers from Pella and PCHS.

The Knoxville Wrestling Squad won the South Central Conference meet on Friday in Albia on the strength of three individual champions and four runners-up. The champions were as expected, Luke Spaur at 138 pounds, Chaz Graves at 152 pounds and Daniel Gorskikh at 170 pounds, who set the record for the most falls in a season with 28. Runners-up included And on Trout at 145 pounds, Tristan Sinnard at 160, Wayne Johnston at 182 and Trenton Kingery at 220.