The Anamosa Community School District has received one of 52 preschool grants announced by Iowa Governor Chet Culver last week. The grants are designed to provide free preschool to four-year-old students.

“Today is a great day for Iowa’s children and Iowa’s future,” said Governor Culver. “In January we promised to increase access to quality preschool for 4-year-olds, and today we are able to deliver on that promise. Today’s announcement means we are going to strengthen tomorrow’s workforce and give more Iowa children hope for a brighter future.”

Strawberry Hill Principal Reona Ewald said the grant applies to all students that have currently enrolled as well as those who still need to enroll.

“We partnered with St. Patrick’s School, other childcare providers, HACAP, The Jones County Economic Development Commission, area businesses and Community Health of Jones County,” said Ewald, who wrote the grant. “We had a total of 41 letters of support from the community and I think that’s one of the reason’s we got the grant. I think the community should be commended for that.”

The statewide voluntary preschool program for 4-year-old children was established on May 10 when the governor signed House File 877. The 2007 legislature appropriated $15 million for 2007-2008, which is the first of four years school districts may apply for funding under the program. The purpose of statewide preschool program is to expand the opportunity for Iowa’s young children to access quality preschool environments and enter school ready to learn. The program is helping the state move toward its goal of 90 percent participation of Iowa’s 4-year-olds in quality preschool programming supported by state and federal funds by 2011.

Ewald said Anamosa is in the first group to receive grants and additional schools will be added through 2011.

“The grant requires that there be 10 hours of instruction,” she said, and added that Anamosa would be switching all three-day programs to four days a week.

“St. Pat’s will keep the three-day schedule with extended hours,” said Ewald.

The grant makes preschool free for all four year olds, but the district encourages parents to get kids enrolled before the school year begins. To take advantage of the program, students must be four years old by September 15. Parents can enroll students by contacting Strawberry Hill or St. Patrick’s School.

“I would encourage anyone who wants to take advantage of this program to do so,” continued Ewald.

A total of 176 school districts applied for the grant. The Iowa Department of Education selected the school districts to receive funding based House File 877 criteria and considerations, which include current availability of preschool programming in a district, collaborative efforts of community early childhood partners, poverty and district size.

The amount of funding that each district will receive will be based on the amount requested in the application. The selected districts will not need to reapply next school year. After the first year, funding for the approved preschool programs will move into a preschool aid formula based upon the prior year’s enrollment.

Eastern iowa Schools selected for the grant include the following:

Anamosa Community School District
Central City Community School District
Lisbon Community School District Iowa City Community School District

The Anamosa Police Department (APD) executed a search warrant at 7:30 a.m. at the Michael Levsen residence at 14609 County Road E-45 in Olin on July 20, and simultaneously executed a second warrant at 606 Benton St. in Olin. Janelle Andre and Caitlyn Groth were both arrested on possession of drug paraphernalia at the Benton Street address and Levsen was charged with possession of Methamphetamine at his residence.

“We also arrested Trevor Ellison on a warrant out of Cedar County for possession of Methamphetamine,” said Anamosa Police Chief Matt Menard, who included that the APD was tipped off by an informant in the case.

The warrant at the Levsen home was targeted at drugs, drug paraphernalia, and drug making materials. While they conducted the search, property inside the home was identified as being stolen from multiple Jones County residences.

The Jones County Sheriff’s office, which was assisting in the first warrant then obtained a second warrant targeting the stolen property at Levsen home. They executed the second warrant at 12:30 p.m. Property was seized during the second search.

“This warrant stemmed from a prior arrest of Leslie Glick on May 2,” said Jones County Sheriff Mark Denniston. “We were doing a civil eviction and determined that a lot of stuff at Glick’s residence was stolen.”

The warrants involved K-9 units from Monticello, Anamosa and the Jones County Sheriff’s office.
The Iowa State Patrol Tactical Team, Olin Fire Department and Olin Ambulance Service also assisted at the scene.

In a separate incident on July 13, the APD executed a search warrant at 115 ½ North Ford Street Apartment B.

“As a result of that, Benjamin Gracey was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver,” said Menard, who added that the warrant was also the result of an informant.

He said the July 13 arrest also included the Anamosa K-9 Unit.

David Harchanko of Category 5 Development Group, Inc. lead a presentation about investment opportunities for the proposed AmericInn, which would be located near J&P Cycles in the commercial park.

About a dozen people attended the informational meeting at McOtto’s on July 11. Harchanko told the group that they were looking for about 35% of the money to come from private investors.
Category 5 would also invest in the property, which would include an indoor swimming pool , hot tub and limited food and beverage items.

“We like to have local investments,” Harchanko said, telling the group that Category 5 began about three years ago and includes five investors, three of whom are architects.

The proposed hotel would have 53 rooms with the potential for about 24 more.

“It’s a nice fit for a smaller community because it brings the service of a large hotel to a small community,” he continued.

John Parham of J&P Cycles has donated the land for the project and also plans to invest money.
The hotel’s building costs are expected to come in at nearly $4 million. About $1.3 million would be needed from investors, with the remainder financed.

“We are going to be investing because we believe in it,” Parham stated.

A market study commissioned by Parham shows the need for an additional hotel in Anamosa is high. The author, Greg Henis, said the market is above average for tourism, but below average for business travelers. Winter occupancy is often locals who want to get the kids out of the house or go someplace with a pool.

“It’s going to add to Anamosa being a destination for the motorcycle museum, Grant Wood Art Festival and help support businesses in Jones County,” said Parham.

The idea is to get started on the ground breaking as soon as possible so the hotel could open in the spring.

“We think this is a quality hotel chain that will serve the community well,” said Parham, who said he and Dennis Walters looked at several hotel chains before settling on AmericInn.

Harchanko told the potential investors that an entity named Anamosa Lodge and Suites would consist of investors, and be responsible for hiring an attorney to manage the account.

“The investment group would decide when to pay out dividend and how much money to keep in the account for depreciation, which peaks at about the seventh year.

Though no solid figures were given at the meeting, Harchanko asked those in attendance to provide contact information for future mailings.

“We think this is a very good spot for an AmericInn,” said Harchanko, whose investment group owns hotels in Illinois and Minnesota.

The two-story hotel would be the first business at the commercial park, but Parham said it wouldn’t be the last. He is hoping to put a restaurant and shops near the hotel. He said he thinks the hotel would also increase interest in the commercial park.