Count engineer tracks down Dodge

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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Southeast Iowa¡¯s Best Newspaper

A

OTTUMW

IN LOCAL, B7

IN LOCAL, A6

MEET THE SCHOOL

BOARD CANDIDATES

BEACH RENTAL RATES

GOING DOWN

County engineer tracks down

TRAIN DELAYS

More rains

needed at

crucial time

By WINONA WHITAKER

Courier staff writer

JEFFREY LECHNER

Courier staff writer

AGENCY ¡ª Recent rains

may have saved some local

crops, for now. But more

rain is still needed if it¡¯s going to have a lasting impact.

¡°It¡¯s definitely a savior to

the soybeans,¡± said Colin

Johnson who farms near

Agency. ¡°We¡¯re at a crucial

point with the pods filling

out; more importantly it

will add some weight to the

pods,¡± said Johnson. The

rains arrived in time to stop

further aborting of pods but

the moment but the reprieve

could be short-lived. ¡°If we

continue to get some more

moisture we have the potential to be and average bean

crop,¡± said Johnson with the

exception of some fields that

were planted late and had

various pest problems.

Even with the soybeans

saved, Johnson doubts that

he¡¯ll be profitable this year.

According to Johnson the

rain is too late for most of

the corn crop that is too

far along to be impacted

much. Johnson doubts he¡¯ll

be able to break even with

Please see SOYBEANS, Page A4

Dodge

will do

350 miles

per hour

Mark Newman/The Courier

Trains crossing the place where Quincy Avenue and Blackhawk Road meet can be up to two miles long. A Canadian Pacific train

Tuesday crosses the intersection pretty quickly.

IDOT describes ways to get help with blocked traffic

es at that crossing,¡± said Wapello

County Supervisor Brian Morgan.

That increase will come because

he county has not forgotten of improvements made to the

the concerns raised by

road.

a rural couple: Stopped

¡°When we pave a road,¡± said

trains are only supposed to block Supervisor Greg Kenning, ¡°it¡¯s an

an intersection for 10 minutes

invitation to more folks to use that

under most circumstances.

road.¡±

Where Quincy meets Blackhawk,

That belief adds to the idea the

however, the wait can be 25

county must at least try to estabminutes to an hour.

lish cooperation between itself and

¡°And it¡¯s only going to become the railroad.

more of an issue as traffic increasOn the county¡¯s behalf, County

By MARK NEWMAN

Courier staff writer

T

Engineer Brian Moore said he met

with the Iowa DOT. First, giving

the engineer a ticket is not really

effective, said the DOT.

¡°We¡¯ve knocked on a few locomotive doors,¡± said Sheriff Mark

Miller. ¡°You talk to the engineer,

you explain things, and the next

day, it¡¯s a different engineer.¡±

The DOT representative suggested instead the county send

a letter of concern to specific

railroad personnel.

Please see TRAINS, Page A4

&(1785<

OTTUMWA ¡ª Neal

Darnell has a Dodge truck

unlike any other. It¡¯ll do 350

miles per hour.

¡°It¡¯s a single engine,

12,000 horsepower,¡± said

Darnell. ¡°The engine came

out of a Navy fighter jet.¡±

The Flash Fire jet truck

will be on display at Vaughn

Automotive Friday, Aug. 25

from 2-5 p.m. before Darnell

takes it to Ottumwa Regional Airport for Fly Iowa¡¯s

weekend shows.

¡°We have three trucks,¡±

said Darnell. ¡°The truck

we¡¯re bringing is a Dodge.

We¡¯re going to have our

entire rig [at Vaughn], the

tractor-trailer with the jet

truck.¡± Darnell will be giving away free photos.

Darnell¡¯s entire team will

consist of himself and his

wife, Marilyn. ¡°These jet

trucks are pretty easy to

maintain,¡± he said.

Having a jet engine in

a truck ¡°works out pretty

good,¡± Darnell said. ¡°I¡¯m

still alive after 15 years.

We¡¯ve got a perfect safety

record.¡±

¡°My background is in

Please see FLASH Page A8

Stories presented by:

Al Martin Real Estate & Auction

&RPPXQLW\VW&UHGLW8QLRQ?

RJ Performance

)$506

Owners have award-winning past

By WINONA WHITAKER

Pleasant and works for U.S. Gypsum. Son

Matthew lives in the Chicago area.

The Straits were given a Century Farm

designation in 2013. The certificate is

OTTUMWA ¡ª Marvin and Doris Strait

framed and displayed prominently on a

live about halfway between Douds and Keoshelf in the Strait living room. ¡°[We] saw it

sauqua. About a half mile away is 160 acres

advertised and knew some of them had got

that have been in the family since 1907.

it around here,¡± said Strait.

No one lives on the land. It¡¯s been planted

The 160 acres are just a part of the total

at various times with hay, alfalfa and beans

620 acres the family owns.

and served as pasture to sheep and cattle.

Garfield and Willa Strait were the first

Winona Whitaker/The Courier

Today, Marvin farms the land with his

in the family to own the Van Buren County

Though not located on the century farm, this sign recognizes the Strait family and its love of

sons Philip, a trucker who lives about

Please see FARM, Page A8 farming.

two miles away, and Les, who lives in Mt.

Courier staff writer

TWO-DAY

FORECAST

Today ... 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly

after 4 p.m. Mostly cloudy with a high near 86. New rainfall amounts

between a tenth and quarter of an inch. Tonight ... 70 percent chance

of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy

with a low around 68. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and

half of an inch. Thursday ... A 20 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms before 1 p.m. Partly sunny with a high near 84.

Weather, Page A8

INDEX

A2, A3, A4, A6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Local

A5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .OpinioN

A7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Business

A8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Weather

B1-B4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sports

B5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comics

B7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Local

B8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Features

C2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Features

C3-C5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Classifieds

Wednesday



Weather

A8, Wednesday, August 16, 2017

10-DAY FORECAST

National weather

LOCAL

Records

Forecast for Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Bands separate high temperature zones for the day.

Tuesday

H

L

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Rain, t-storms

High: 85

Low: 67

Rain, t-storms

High: 85

Low: 61

Mostly sunny

High: 85

Low:62

Mostly sunny

High: 86

Low: 63

Sunny

High: 87

Low: 64

High: 85

Low: 68

Record high: 105 in 1936

Record low: 45 in 2004

Today

Record high: 106 in 1936

Record low: 51 in 1992

Precipitation

Tuesday: 0.03

Sunrise/

Sunset

Today

Fronts

Warm

Cold

Stationary

Pressure

H

L

High

Low

................
................

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