Friday, May 24, 2013
Plus, the body of a man last seen on a backhoe in Ames is found, Urbandale residents put out a fire for fun, and a West Des Moines woman welcomes new neighbors by waving a knife and complaining that the grass needs mowed.
With many schools wrapping up classes this week, seniors were feeling frisky. The seniors at Linn-Mar High School in Marion supposedly posted on Craigslist that the high school is for rent. Where are Bluto and Otter when you need them? Frat and sorority houses sometimes seem a little weird, but students say it's not "Animal House" anymore, rather a positive community of brotherhoods or sisterhoods that give back to society. University of Iowa students told Iowa City's council they fear a housing rule change could end their Greek lifestyle. As a show of good faith, a city council member said he didn't see John Belushi in the house. Why are Urbandale residents putting out fires? It was part of the finale of the Urbandale Citizen Fire …
News from Iowa House District 37 Rep. John Landon, Ankeny.
The 2013 Legislative Session came to a close with many significant reforms. Education, property tax and health care were the most significant issues. The final bills passed are the result of months of debate and amendments, ending in compromise within a divided Iowa legislature. Iowa schools are funded with 4% additional spending in each of FY 2014 and FY 2015. This level of funding will help all three school districts within House District 37, all of which are currently growing in enrollment. Ankeny and North Polk schools are currently building and Bondurant-Farrar recently completed new buildings. Property tax reform is not as significant as I had hoped, but it is an important step in the right direction. Homeowners will see the rate…
The Ankeny City Council approved a bid Monday to extend a street that will eventually connect the development's school complex with uptown.
Traveling between Prairie Trail and Uptown Ankeny will get a little easier in the coming weeks. On Monday, the Ankeny City Council unanimously approved a bid of $629,990 from Sternquist Construction Inc. of Indianola to extend Southwest Des Moines Street, according to the Des Moines Register. The road will line up with the existing grid system of roads in the older part of Ankeny, similar to the earlier Southwest Cherry Street extension, Assistant City Manager Paul Moritz told the newspaper. The Des Moines Street extension will go south from Southwest Ordnance Road along the back side of Southview Middle School to connect with the proposed Southwest Elm Street project, the article said. It will also allow future construction to connect …
Water parks ready for Memorial Day Weekend in Ankeny.
Sign up for Ankeny Patch's free newsletter | Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter Ankeny's Water Parks the Cascade Falls Aquatic Center and the Prairie Ridge Aquatic Center open Saturday in Ankeny. Cascade Falls Aquatic Center at 2350 SW Prairie Trail Parkway, boasts one of the only surf machines, a Flowrider, in the state, according to Nick Lenox of Ankeny Parks & Recreation. There's also multiple water slides and a lazy river. Maintenance crews were working to prepare the water park in Ankeny on Thursday. Both Cascade Falls Aquatic Center and Prairie Ridge Aquatic Center, 1220 NW Prairie Ridge Drive, will be open from noon to 8 p.m. daily through June 2 once school is out. After June 2, Prairie Ridge Aquatic Center will be open …
Are you cleaning out the garage/basement and have stuff to sell? Enter your garage sale free on Patch.
Tell us about your garage sale and we will include your information in a free Ankeny area garage sale directory. Enter your information in the form, on the desktop version of the site and see it on Ankeny Patch free. Add your garage sales to the map by clicking here. Ankeny Newsletter. Ankeny Patch Facebook page. Twitter: @AnkenyPatch
Movie reviews and movie times for theaters in and around Johnston and Des Moines. Let Patch help you decide what you're going to see this weekend. Movies to choose from include "Star Trek Into the Darkness, "Iron Man 3" and "The Great Gatsby."
Movie information aggregated from MovieFone.com Epic (also in 3D) "Epic isn't quite destined for the “Again, again!” re-watchability of some of the Pixar classics, but for a satisfying explosion of color on a lazy summer day, it does the trick." Stephan Lee, Entertainment Weekly. "A reasonably entertaining, adeptly crafted kidpic whose biggest crime is its near pathological reliance on overfamiliar tropes and trappings." Andrew Barker, Variety. Do you plan on seeing this movie? Leave a review of the film with a comment below after you do. - - - - - Fast & Furious 6 "Everyone involved at last seems to understand that the mode here is comic. Previous entries suffered from self-important glumness that gummed up the fun whenever the cars weren…
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, could appeal to both social and fiscal conservatives, making him a candidate to "fear" in the Iowa Caucuses, progressives warn.
Amid growing speculation that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is testing GOP presidential waters in Iowa and elsewhere, progressive activists warned Thursday at a rally in West Des Moines that a Walker presidency would be “terrifying" and disastrous to middle class families. The controversial Wisconsin governor hasn’t said he’s a candidate, but his appearance Thursday at a Republican fundraiser in Iowa’s largest county, as well as a handful of appearances in the Northeast and before powerful conservative groups, suggest that he’s at least considering a 2016 run for the Republican presidential nomination. The “Scott Walker Truth Squad,” as activists from Progress Iowa and One Wisconsin Now call themselves, told reporters at a news conference …
The summer Special Olympic Games kicked off in Ames Thursday.
Sign up for Ankeny Patch's free newsletter | Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter Members of the Ankeny Police Department, the Iowa State Patrol and the Polk County Sheriff's Office participated in a Special Olympics Torch Run Thursday afternoon. This video was taken as the caravan headed to Irvinedale Drive. The Special Olympics Summer Games started Thursday in Ames. As many as 2,700 Special Olympic Iowa athletes are expected to participate in the games through May 25, according to a release from Special Olympics Iowa.
For all those Tweetaholics out there, the Ankeny Community School District has launched three official Twitter accounts.
For those of you who love getting updates about your community via social media, you're in luck. The Ankeny Community School District just announced that it's piloting three new Twitter accounts for residents to follow. Accounts have been created for the entire district, Ankeny High School and Ankeny Centennial High School. Twitter updates will be a selection of news headlines and information, and many will include a link back to the district website for a full article. To follow these accounts, click on the links below: @AnkenySchools @Ankeny_Hawks @Ankeny_Jaguars The district plans to add more accounts in the future.
If you're planning to stick around Ankeny this Memorial Day weekend, here's quick look at the weather for Memorial Day weekend.
Sign up for Ankeny Patch's free newsletter | Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kick off to summer. However, this Memorial Day won't feel much like summer. Hold off on grabbing the coats and gloves; it won't be that cool. Here's what you can expect though for both your outdoor and Memorial Day weekend travel plans. A front that will be “meandering” between northern Missouri and southern and western Iowa will bring showers and thunderstorms periodically throughout the weekend, meteorologist Frank Boksa told the Des Moines Register. It’s too early to determine if any of those storms have tornado potential, but he also said they will bring “very heavy” rainfall. Temps will hover in the mid-60s …
Sam Adams
12:16 am on Saturday, May 25, 2013
gregie, you're beginning to make me laugh. what i'm about to do is bad policy, but i'm going to do it anway!? ;-) ...and the torrents of illogic are great! if you really understood the field of statistics, math, and a little meteorology, you wouldn't dare posit that just because 4 people haven't seen a tornado in their lifetime that tornadoes are rare in an entire state. Harldy what I would call… more ›