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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday, February 21, 2008
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Home and Garden Show to Offer Variety Under One Roof
by Michelle Phillips |
The Seventh Annual Anamosa Home and Garden Show offers many home improvement and garden businesses under the same roof at the Lawrence Community Center.
This year’s event will be held March 1-2 and has 25 vendors ready to show their wares, several of which are new this year. There are water conditioning services, lawn services, banks and many companies that specialize in home enhancement like furnaces, roofs, air filtration and windows.
“The great thing about this home show is that we had a good sized committee organizing it this year,” said KC Kiner, Anamosa Chamber Director. “We have worked very hard and worked very well together.”
A perennial favorite, programs from the Jones County Master Gardeners will also be on tap this year. All of the Master Gardener programs are one hour long. On Saturday, Barb Ahlrichs and Betty Paschall will demonstrate container planting at 1 p.m. At press time, the 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
programs had not yet been announced. A special program called Butterflies of Iowa will be presented by Jim Messina and Dennis Schilicht from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday.
“I’m always excited with the things the Master Gardeners come up with because it’s always one of the highlights of the show,” added Kiner.
She included that there are still spaces available and vendors can register right up until the day the show begins. “Those who wish to be in the program must be registered by February 22,” she reminded.
In addition to the exhibits and demonstrations, vendors will give away door prizes throughout both days of the home show. Tickets will also be sold for a 50/50 drawing for $1 each or 6 for $5.
The Anamosa High School softball team will sell food at the home show on March 1 and March 2.
Admission to the Anamosa Home and Garden Show is free.
Kiner said the show is one of the Chamber’s biggest annual events. Last year the show drew in about 2500 people over two days.
“We hope to draw even more this year,” Kiner concluded. |
Postage to Increase May 12
By Michelle Phillips |
The cost to mail a letter is about to go up.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) recently announced an increase in first class postage rates, which will go into effect on May 12.
The current cost to mail a letter in the U.S. is 41¢, but that amount will go up one cent for letters one ounce or less. Letters between one and two ounces will also increase a penny from 58¢ to 59¢.
Postcards will change from 26¢ to 27¢. Rates will also increase for first class international mail, certified mail. (See chart.)
The USPS plans to announce more rate changes in March, which will include Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select and International Mail (packages).
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About five billion Forever Stamps will be available to meet increased demand. The Forever Stamp has no face value printed on it and can be used for a domestic letter of one ounce or less.
The Forever Stamp was introduced when the postage rate was last increase from 39¢ to 41¢ in April 2007.
Postal rates are adjusted each May and by federal law cannot exceed the rate of inflation. |
School Board Learns More on Getting Sub Teachers Through SEMS
By Mike Moynihan |
Superintendent Dr. Dale Monroe provided Anamosa’s board of education more information Monday evening on the benefits of joining the Substitute Employee Management System (SEMS), run by a consortium of Cedar Rapids area schools.
The district currently spends more than $12,000 per 18-week semester in purely administrative costs associated with acquiring substitute teachers and para-educators. This includes more than 10 hours a week spent by school administrators and about 14 hours a week by secretaries simply lining up subs, plus another hour spent at the central office collecting and organizing the correct certifications as well as training new subs.
In addition, each new substitute must have a background check at a cost to the district of $15.
The cost this year has been $450 for 30 new substitutes.
The effort associated with all these administrative costs doesn’t always bear fruit. The district’s principals report they are unable to fill between three and five positions per month, and there are even more para-educator vacancies.
These vacancies must then be filled by moving teachers around, at additional cost, or by the administrators themselves taking classes.
“The hard part is knowing what we are giving up as a result of trying to take care of replacements,” Monroe said. “The board heard last spring how short of secretarial help we are in every building. You also heard from the administrative team the number of issues that they juggle daily as they . . . move forward with their building plans and goals.”
SEMS, on the other hand, is offering the district a service with a current fill rate of 99.3 per cent for both teachers and para-educators. The system also takes care of background checks, paperwork and training, and it will include the district’s current local substitutes in its pool, all for an estimated administrative cost for 2008-09 of $4,180.
Substitutes from SEMS do earn more, Monroe noted, $108 versus
the district’s current rate of $90, but he pointed out that the district’s substitute pay rate is one of the lowest in the area. In addition, most of the $12,000 currently spent by the district administratively in acquiring substitutes would not be recouped, since the personnel involved would still have to be at work doing other things.
“The biggest benefit of SEMS is that I get highly qualified substitutes to replace teachers 99 percent of the time,” Monroe said. “I also get more teachers into our district to look at us and for us to look at when we have an opening for a hire.”
He recommended the district strongly consider joining SEMS and signing a contract for the required three-year commitment. Monroe will make a formal presentation by the second meeting of March with specific costs and savings.
Monroe also gave a report on class sizes in the district. He said 74 percent of the district’s budget goes toward salaries, and it was critical to arrive at the proper student/teacher ratio to maintain cost efficiency.
The number of students in the district is rising, from a total of 1,271 in 2003-04 to 1,372 in the current year. The number of full-time equivalent teaching positions has risen apace, from 105.6 in 2003-04 to 112.7 currently.
In other business, Richard Ginn was hired to fill a position in drivers education, the FFA was given permission to farm the district’s Highway 64 property as part of a cash farm lease program at $180 per acre, and the board approved leasing a new copier for the high school at $250.25 per month and $0.004 per copy.
The board also approved payment of $41,236 for a 2008 28-passenger Blue Bird Type A bus. An additional $4,675 will be spent installing air conditioning in the bus. |
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Box 108, 208 W. Main Street, Anamosa, IA 52205
319-462-3511,
FAX 319-462-4540
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