Abby Ward

The Audubon Public Library has released the line-up for this summer’s Music in the Park. Nearly every Thursday starting in June until August 6, a free concert will be held at Audubon City Park for everyone to come enjoy. Kicking off the series on June 4 will be the Wear Ramblers, award-winning duo featuring Chad Elliot and Kathryn Severing Fox, with the Firehouse Flames offering food for purchase. The next concert with be Brad Morgan, with the T-Bone Committee providing a meal. The Polka Police, Third Wish Acoustic, Looking4Luke and Girls Next Door will continue the performances on June 18, June 25, July 2, and July 9 respectively. The following week is the Audubon County Fair, and no concert will be held. Three concerts remain after that for the rest of the free concert series, with Brick Imerman on July 23, Blake Kerkhoff on July 30 with the Knights of Columbus preparing food that night and the last concert will be on Aug. 6 with 95 Percent. In case of rain or weather-related conflicts, the concerts will be moved to the Rose Theater on Broadway Street. Any business or organization interested in sponsoring a concert or providing a meal for any of the open concerts can contact the library at 712-563-3301. Library staff wish to thank Community Insurance and Gary and Linda Keller for sponsoring and welcome all to come out and enjoy summer with the library’s Music in the Park series.

Administration at Glidden-Raltson (G-R) Community School District is proposing an approximate $1.12 increase to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 tax rate due to voter approved PPEL and early retirement program. It was back in March 2025 during a special election that voters approved of the district to implement a $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable assessed valuation rate for a new Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL). The PPEL will generate an estimated $2.2 million over the next ten years which will finance debt the district’ incurred for facility updates. The district is also offering a retirement incentive which will help reduce personnel expenditures. The retirement incentive is paid out of the management fund which is levying $127,846 total. For FY27, the district is proposing a rate of $11.01810 per $1,000 of assessed taxable valuation, an approximate 11 percent increase from the $9.90091 from FY26. The public hearing will be next Thursday, April 9 at 4:30 p.m. in the conference room at the school for district residents to attend to voice questions or concerns.

Picture credit to Greene County Development Corporation

The Carroll Community School District (CCSD) Board of Education held its work session out at the new transportation facility, touring the building, hearing updates within the department plus more. The meeting opened with the board members approving three employee retirement incentives, including two teachers and an administrative staff. The members then heard from Transportation Director Jennifer Dentlinger on staffing, routes, and took a tour of the new facility. Additional information was provided on a three-year old preschool program, including estimated expenses to run one, the next steps regarding the facilities plan and an update to the budget reduction goal. The meeting wrapped up with a closed session for an agreement regarding a specific student. Carroll Broadcasting will bring you more from the CCSD work session in upcoming newscasts.

A Scranton man enters a plea agreement with prosecution and sentenced to three years probation for intentionally starting a house in Churdan on fire. According to Greene County District Court records, 29-year-old Logan Wayne Grazier entered a plea agreement for second-degree arson, a class C felony and fraudulent submission to insurer, a class D felony, after he helped Conner Groves moved furniture and items out of the house before lighting it on fire and claiming losses through insurance in October 2023. Grazier was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay over $291,000 in fines and victim restitution. The prison sentence and fines were suspended and he was placed on probation for a period of three years for each charge, to be served concurrently. Groves was found guilty by a jury of her peers in September 2025 of four felony charges, including arson and fraudulent practice and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

The Carroll Community School District (CCSD) Board of Education will be looking to start the next steps moving forward with the district’s master facilities plan. During the March 25 board meeting, DLR Group representatives attended to give an overview of where the district was and what future projects would entail. DLR gave an estimated $121 million for a grand total which includes updates to Fairview, the middle and high school with the end goal to completely retire Adams. Superintendent Dr. Casey Berlau says administration has received questions regarding current buildings as is and if students could just be moved around without any renovations or additions. Berlau says he looked to see if there were any vacant rooms.

The Carroll Community School District (CCSD) Transportation Director, Jennifer Dentlinger, provided the Board of Education with an update regarding the department and gave a tour of the completed facility during Thursday’s work session. Dentlinger says the shuttle bus system is working well and helped to reduce the number of daily routes the district provides, however, she says the department is still short staffed.

The City of Glidden is excited to announce an appreciation dinner and ribbon cutting ceremony a week from today (Saturday) for the completion of the new City Park Shelter House. The project was brought to the city council before Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, to renovate the previous structure to a year-round usable building similar to the Kruger Shelter. Council explored options from renovating to building a completely new shelter, but decided it was not in the best interest financially at the time. In April, Endow Glidden stepped forward, to completely fund the project then transfer ownership back to the city once completed. The shelter was mainly constructed through volunteer work and donations, and recently wrapped up the project to now be open for public use. On Saturday, April 11, city officials are welcoming all donors, volunteers, and contractors to the City Park Shelter House for a ribbon cutting and appreciation dinner of grilled burgers by the Glidden Fire Department from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Reservations can now be made in person at Glidden City Hall during normal business hours with a registration form, rent of $75 and a $100 deposit, and are being accepted on a first come, first serve basis.

The Calhoun County Expo receives grant through the Calhoun County Community Foundation to install a new sound system at the fairgrounds. The project is expected to be completed by the fair scheduled for July 7-12. A new sound system will enhance sound and communications during events, and increase safety with emergency notifications such as missing children alerts and weather updates. The Calhoun County Community Foundation is an affiliate of the Fort Dodge Community Foundation established in 2005, providing grants to Calhoun County organizations that are designed “for the good and growth” of the county.

Carroll Community School District (CCSD) Administration presented projections for potential costs and tuition for a school-run three-year-old preschool program during last week’s Board of Education work session. The discussion was first held during the March 25 board meeting, with a survey sent to community members to determine whether there is interest or need within Carroll. While survey results are still being collected, Superintendent Dr. Casey Berlau reviewed with the business office estimated expenditure figures and the amount the district would need to charge tuition to make the program sustainable. If CCSD offered two half-day sessions with 15-20 kids, a teacher, and a teaching assistant (TA), it would cost approximately $46,000 per year. To break even with expenses, the district would have to charge $256.55 a month for 20 kids and $342.06 a month for 15 kids. Tuition from other schools that implement a three-year old preschool within the Racoon River Conference charge between $150 and $170 a month, which would generate a total revenue of $27,000 to $30,000 if serving 20 kids, covering just a little over half of total expenses. Changes that could reduce expenditures include: hiring just one teacher and charging parents for transportation. No decision has been made to begin a three-year-old preschool program at this time. An interest survey is included with this story on our website and will help the administration and board determine the district’s next steps.