Elected Officials Sworn In and Other News

The Lee County Board of Supervisors held their first meeting of the 2019 year at the North Lee County Office in Fort Madison on Wednesday morning.

They began the meeting by swearing in the newly elected county officials, including Chris Spann and Ross Braden who return to the positions they previously held and officially swearing in Rich Harlow to the Board of Supervisors.

Other officials who gave the Oath of Office include Jeanie Cooper, Jean Dobson, Nancy Booten and Kim Augie to name just a few.

Harlow replaces the outgoing Chairman Don Hunold who thanked the public and county employees for the all that they did for him in his four years on the board.

Gary Folluo will take over as Board Chairman for 2019 with Rick Larkin will serve as Vice-Chair.

They approved a consent agenda that included resolutions appointing Sheriff Stacy Weber and his Deputies as Agents of Lee Cpounto to Make Service of Notices and to authorize the County Engineer to Execute Underground Construction Permits on County Road Right-of-Way, Issue Special Permits for Movement of Oversize Vehicles and Loads, Close Roads as Necessary for Construction, Reconstruction or Maintenance and Execute Certificate of Completion of Work for All Farm-to-Market, Federal and State Aid Construction Projects.

The meeting schedule was set for 2019 with most of the meetings remaining at the Sheriff’s Office for the year.

All returning Board members will return to the committees they served on for the previous year while Harlow will take over Hunold’s committees.

A Statement of Understanding for Percentage of Time Assigned to Lee County Employees to Perform the Southeast Iowa Link Region MHDS Designated Duties via Fund 10 was approved.

New hires of a full time and part time correctional officer will also be made in the short future.

Lastly, the Board approved five tax abatement resolutions, a step increase on Secondary Roads and a new hire in the Attorney’s Office.

They will return to their normal meeting time at 9 AM next Tuesday.

In sports news, the Iowa Hawkeyes won their second straight bowl game on New Year’s Day thanks to a 27-22 final over the #18 Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Outback Bowl.

In his final game with the Hawkeyes, Nick Easley finished with eight catches for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was named Outback Bowl MVP for his work.

Junior quarterback Nate Stanley threw for 214 yards on 21 completions with three touchdowns and one interception.

Iowa relied heavily on Stanley having a good game as the run game was nonexistent, the Hawkeyes ran for -15 yards as a time and only four yards total when you took out the yards lost on sacks.

The defense was stellar for the Hawks, forcing three key turnovers that helped push Iowa to the win.

Sophomore Chauncey Golston picked off a pass that was tipped by another defender and also recovered a fumble that was forced by an AJ Epenesa sack.

Senior Jake Gervase also picked off a pass in the end zone that resulted after a pass was bobbled by a Bulldog receiver and helped clinch the victory. Had the ball been caught, Mississippi State would have taken the lead late in the game.

It is still unknown if sophomore All-American tight end and John Mackey Award winner TJ Hockenson will join teammate Noah Fant and declare for the NFL Draft. Hockenson said after the game that he would announce his decision to declare or stay in the next few days. Stay tuned to your local for an update when that information becomes public.

Stanley is the only quarterback for Iowa since Ricki Stanzi to win a bowl game, having won the Pinstripe Bowl last year, and is now 2-0 in the bowl games for his career.

Iowa men’s and women’s basketball will return to action on Thursday night as the men’s team goes on the road to play the Purdue Boilermakers and the women’s team will be at home for a matchup against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Purdue comes in at 8-5 overall with a 1-1 record in conference play. Iowa will be looking for their first in against the Big Ten as they have recorded losses to Michigan State and Wisconsin so far.

Iowa will have to watch out for Carsen Edwards who paces the Boilermakers at 25.8 points per game, one of the top marks in the country, and is also shooting nearly 40% from downtown with 50 made triples on the season.

Nebraska’s women’s team is just 7-6 on the season, but is 2-0 in Big Ten action this year. Iowa is coming off a 14 point loss to Michigan State in their last contest.

Sam Haiby is the leading scorer for Nebraska at 10.8 points per game, but eight members of the rotation are putting up at least 8.2 points each contest and have appeared in all 13 games for the Cornhuskers.