FOCUS ON SCIENCE LEARNINGPAGE A4

STUDENTS SUPPORT RAIDER GIRLSPAGE B3

WELCOME TO

THE JUNGLE

$1.25 | 159TH YEAR, NUMBER 8 | JONES COUNTY, IOWA | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2014 Jones County’s Newspaper

Monticello Family Dentistry, P.C.We will do it ALL! New Patients & Emergencies Welcome!

No Dental Insurance? No Problem! Over half of our patients have NO insurance.Interest-Free Payment Plan Available • We Accept Over 200 Insurance Plans

(319) 465-3533 | 630 S. Main St. • Monticello, IA | www.monticellofamilydentistry.comDr. Brian James, Dr. Nathan Hall, Orthodontist and Registered Hygienists: Kim Loeffelholz & MaryLynne Wulfekuhle.

Gas tax supportThe Board of Supervisors threw its support behind proposals to increase the state gas tax to provide funding for roads.

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Shaw Road zoningA 9-acre property on Shaw Road is up for rezoning from residential to commercial. The proposal is set for a public hearing March 4.

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Fully fundedFor the first time in years, the Anamosa Library and Learning Center received its full budget request from the City Council.

Page A3

Council schismThe Springville mayoral race went undecided for months, and divisions on the coun-cil were apparent at last week’s council meeting.

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JONES COUNTY

ANAMOSA

ANAMOSA

SPRINGVILLE

BUSINESS DIRECTORY ..................A7CLASSIFIEDS ............................ B6-7HELP WANTED ........................... B6-7LIFESTYLES ................................A5-6NEWS .............................. A1-3, A7-8OBITUARIES ..................................A6OPINION .......................................A4PUBLIC NOTICES ...........................B5REAL ESTATE ............................. B6-7SPORTS .................................... B1-4THE BACK PAGE.............................B8

INDEX

Hometown newspaper of Burnell and Sandra Fuelling of Anamosa

Big day for floristStacy Osterkamp worked long days last week to be ready for Valentine’s Day and the crush of orders that have to be deliv-ered. Fortunately, the weather was good.

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By ROBERT CROzIERStaff Writer

ANAMOSA It might seem silly in the midst of a polar vortex, but Strawberry Hill Elementary will soon have air conditioning. The school’s new heating, ven-tilation and air conditioning sys-tem took a step forward at the Feb. 17 school board meeting when the board awarded contracts for the project.

Construction will start in late April and will conclude in Octo-ber, Superintendent Lisa Beames said. Workers will attempt to mini-mize the disruption to students when school is in session during April, May, September and Octo-ber, she said. The project is part of the dis-trictwide renovations funded by a $16.9 million bond issue ap-proved by voters in April 2013.

Other projects include construc-tion of a new auditorium and sci-ence rooms at the high school. The board was presented with two options for the Strawberry Hill project and chose the more expensive one. “There is a safety consider-ation,” board member Kristine Kilburg said, adding that the bare bones option featured exposed pipes. Even with the alternative cho-

sen, Beames said the lowest bids were about $730,000 less than the board had anticipated. “So that was a good day for us,” Beames said. “A good, good day.” Loecke Building Service won the contract for demolition and construction with a bid of $209,750. Dubuque Plumbing and Heating won the mechanical con-tract with a bid of $99,100. Hoody Gates won the electrical contract with a bid of $165,961.

Strawberry Hill contracts approved

By ROBERT CROzIERStaff Writer

ANAMOSA The current school year in An-amosa will extend to Friday, June 6, after the school board decided to hold classes on Good Friday. Good Friday falls on April 18 this year, and the board decided at

its Feb. 17 meeting to use it as a makeup day after eight cancella-tions pushed the last day of school to June 6. There aren’t any more poten-tial makeup days between now and summer, Superintendent Lisa Beames said. Some board members want to avoid further cancellations, which

would push class further into June. School board member Shaun Lambertson asked Beames to changing the temperature at which school is delayed or can-celed. Beames said she would inves-tigate the idea. “I’m going to talk to some

schools north of us,” she said. “Probably in Minnesota.” Beames said she currently de-lays school if the wind chill factor is projected to be negative 20-25 degrees at 8 a.m. She cancels school if the wind chill factor is still negative 20-25 degrees by 10 a.m., she said.

Anamosa school year now extended to June 6

By ROBERT CROzIERStaff Writer

CENTER JUNCTION Todd Dirks woke Friday morn-ing smelling smoke. He quickly roused his cousin, Kiel, who had crashed on his couch the night before, and they both fled the home. Dirks called 9-1-1, then he watched his house burn to the ground. The first firefighter arrived quickly, albeit without gear or backup. “Derek Denniston was here in, like, two minutes,” Kiel said. Denniston, an Anamosa police officer and volunteer Wyoming firefighter, works for the post of-fice part time. He was delivering mail near the residence when the call went out at 8:12 a.m. Denniston closed the exterior doors and waited for fire crews to arrive, he said. An Onslow crew showed up in 5-10 minutes, followed by Wyo-ming and then Center Junction, Denniston said. The Center Junction crew ar-rived at about 8:45 a.m., said Cen-ter Junction volunteer firefighter Jake Gravel. Because the fire was near Cen-ter Junction, and the Center Junc-tion fire chief wasn’t at the scene, Gravel found himself in charge. Firefighters tried to make en-try on multiple occasions without success. Some Wyoming firefighters went in the back door early on, Gravel said. They made it to the east wall of the basement but, not seeing any fire, backed out. A pair of Monticello firefight-ers advanced through the smoke onto the front porch, blasting wa-ter the whole way. They breached the front door. “Pull them out of there,” shout-ed a Center Junction firefighter. A Wyoming firefighter ran to the porch. “Get out of there,” he yelled. “The roof is starting to sag.” The Monticello firefighters

backed out. “Once the flames took over the roof it got extremely hot,” Dennis-ton said. At this point, firefighters told Todd Dirks that they probably weren’t going to be able to save his house. Fire crews backed away from the building, surrendering it to burn. The walls started giving in be-tween noon and 1 p.m., Dennis-

ton said, and the house collapsed. “I wasn’t about to risk a life, being as there wasn’t a life at risk,” Gravel said. The house used balloon-frame construction techniques, which means a void inside the walls ex-tends from the foundation to the attic, Gravel said. The fire had gotten inside the walls. “That was just a losing battle,” Gravel said.

Officials probably won’t ever know how the fire started because the entire house was destroyed, Gravel and Denniston said. Dirks’ .22 shells exploded between 1 and 2 p.m., an event Dirks described as sounding like popcorn. “We were expecting it,” Gravel said, adding that Dirks had told firefighters where he kept his am-

Valentine’s Day fire destroys house

ROBERT CROzIER/JOURNAL-EUREKA

Volunteer firefighters from Center Junction, Wyoming, Onslow and Monticello battle a fire Friday, Feb. 14, near Center Junc-tion, Iowa. The inferno ultimately took the house.

SEE FIRE | PAGE A8

NEWSPAGE A8 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2014 JOURNAL-EUREKA

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FIRE/CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE

munition. “They say that a shot-gun shell is the only one you have to worry about,” Denniston said. “They aren’t actually shooting off like they would out of a gun.” The last fire crew left the scene at about 2:30 p.m., Gravel said. Dirks had bought the house with money he saved up during his sec-ond tour of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army. He has insurance, he said, but some of the items lost are irreplaceable. He lost his daughter’s toys, his clothes and a nice nine-point buck head in the fire. The blaze took two boxes of pictures, his com-puter with all its data, and two chests of military gear, uniforms and mementos from his time in the war. “All my military [stuff], all my guns, everything. I got nothing now,” Dirks said. But he did save one thing. As they were running from the house, Dirks grabbed the AR-15 assault

rifle he had bought the day before. “I feel bad for him and Kyle for, one, having to go through it, and two, for losing everything,” Den-niston said. Jones County plow truck driver Andy John-son was hauling a load of sand from Anamosa to Wyoming when he heard the call on his radio and headed toward the fire. Johnson cleared snow-drifts from the driveway to make room for additional fire trucks as they arrived, using the county’s shiny new plow truck. “I’m glad to help,” he said. “That’s what you do around here.” Denniston said he called for the plow shortly after arriving. “There was a decent drift in the driveway,” he said. Dirks, a laid off con-struction worker, said he would stay with his dad for the time being. His dad lives a mile away. “I’m glad we got out of there when we did,” Kiel said.

ROBERT CROZIER/JOURNAL-EUREKA

ROBERT CROZIER/JOURNAL-EUREKAROBERT CROZIER/JOURNAL-EUREKA

Smoke billows from the house fire near the intersection of 95th Avenue and County Home Road, Friday, Feb. 14, near Center Junc-tion.

Only rubble remains after a blaze took Todd Dirks’ home, Friday, Feb. 14, near Center Junction.

Todd Dirks and Kiel Dirks look on as firefighters scramble to save Todd’s house, Friday, Feb. 14, near Center Junction.

By JIm JOhnsOnStaff Writer

ANAMOSA Love was in the air on Valentine’s Day in Ana-mosa. And so were roses … lots of roses. Anamosa Floral owner Stacy Osterkamp said she and her florists assembled nearly 1,000 roses into bouquets and arrange-ments for Valentine’s Day gifts. Osterkamp herself re-ceived the best gift a florist can get on Valentine’s Day – good weather. “Thank goodness the snow held off,” she said. “It went well.” She had a crew of six drivers making deliver-ies all day. Altogether, 132 orders were delivered dur-ing the day. The deliveries went all over Jones County and surrounding commu-nities – Anamosa, Mon-ticello, Oxford Junction, Wyoming and Central

City to name a few. On a normal day, Os-terkamp does all of the de-liveries herself. The delivery crew be-gan just after 9 a.m. Os-terkamp made the final delivery on Saturday for someone who was not home on Friday. There were some long days leading up to Valen-tine’s Day. Florists worked 12-hour days Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and 16 hours on Thurs-day to get all of the orders ready. The latest call for a de-livery came in at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and Osterkamp kept the store open an ex-tra half hour for a custom-er who had called an order in for pickup and then got stuck at the airport with flight delays. The extra time was worth it with happy recipi-ents. “I want every order to be special,” Osterkamp said.

Everything comes up rosesfor Anamosa Floral owner on Valentine’s Day

JIm JOhnsOn/JOURNAL-EUREKA

Anamosa Floral owner Stacy Osterkamp readies orders for deliv-ery on Valentine’s Day.

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Now more than ever, make sure you carefully clear snow from your nat-ural gas meter and furnace vent. With the substantial amounts of snow in recent storms, and high winds, Alliant Energy crews are reporting several meters covered in snow and ice across the region. This buildup can cause the meter or gas appliance, like a furnace or hot water heater, to malfunction. If a vent is blocked, carbon monoxide could build up in your home. A blocked vent could cause a furnace or hot water heater to stop working. Customers should use a broom or their hands to remove snow from a me-ter. Do not use a shovel because the hard tip could break the meter. Newer furnaces and water heaters vent out the side of a home, instead of the top. Customers need to make sure sidewall vents and the roof top vents are

clear of snow and ice. Customers should also be aware of the dangers and risks of carbon mon-oxide. The risk of illness or death from carbon monox-ide increases in the winter. Every home or business should have at least one working carbon monoxide monitor inside. Important safety tips: • Don’t pile snow onor near the meter when shoveling or using a snow blower. • Use your hands ora brush, not a shovel, to clear snow and ice from the meter. • Never bang on themeter or pipes. •Don’tletdrippingwa-ter or freezing rain build up on the meter. The vent can become plugged when ice and snow melt during the day and refreeze at night. • Carefully remove ic-icles hanging above the meter. • Check furnace andwater heater exhaust pipes. If an exhaust pipe is blocked, the furnace or water heater could mal-function or stop working.

Snow and ice canaffect utility meters

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