GCH trustees told financial audit is ‘clean’

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

During the Oct. 24 meeting of the Guthrie County Hospital Board of Trustees meeting, Brian Green, representing the firm of Eide Bailly, presented the draft of the FY2024 financial audit report. No significant irregularities or concerns were noted.

The trustees discussed and compared costs of leasing (versus buying) the Panora Clinic building. No board action was taken at this time.

The trustees approved a reimbursement resolution allowing expenses incurred for the expansion project, prior to the issuance of the bonds, to be allocated to the project and reimbursed.

Medical staff credentialing and the report on September financials were approved.

The dates of the November and December board meeting were changed due to holiday conflicts. The November meeting will be Dec. 2 and the December meeting will be Dec. 30.

The trustees then went into a special closed session. After the closed session, the trustees approved the recommendation of the Board Executive Committee related to the CEO incentive and wage compensation.

The next regular meeting of the trustees is set for Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. The public is welcome to join in person or via remote technology. Details can be found at www.guthriecountyhospital.org.

ACGC and Panorama FFA members visit Kinze Manufacturing

ACGC students Lilah Heinz, Ryan Martens, Rylee Robson, Hudson Gilland, Ava Sneller, Hunter Kress, Shelby Gustin and Kinnick Froehlich toured Kinze Manufacturing.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

Members of the Panorama and ACGC FFA chapters each separately visited Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg on their way to the National FFA Conference and Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The ACGC group was accompanied by FFA Advisor Skie Shull.

“My students are taking a tour of the Kinze plant today on our way to National FFA convention. We try to get a variety of different tours and manufacturing and animal products, all sorts of different agriculture,” Shull said. “It’s a great stop for students to take on their way to national convention. I think it’s very neat that the students get to experience this.”

For the Panorama group, Steven Hameister attended as FFA Advisor, and Angie Clouser as chaperone.

“I’ve been bringing FFA students to Kinze since 2019. We try to stop every year as it is a great place to learn about famous Iowans in agriculture,” Hameister said.

Each year, Kinze Manufacturing, Inc. welcomes hundreds of FFA students to the Kinze Innovation Center on their way to and from the National FFA Convention and Expo.

Founded 59 years ago, Kinze Manufacturing, Inc. markets planters and grain carts globally. Many Kinze employees spend nights and weekends farming, putting them in a unique position to be both manufacturers and customers of the planters and grain carts they build. 

Panorama students and staff pose at Kinze Manufacturing. Front: Malia Jacobsen, Brooklyn Haines, Ava Thompson, Maddy Carstens and Sam Hansen. Back: Mrs. Clouser, Kelsey Laabs, Danica Isom, Ashton Kunce, Sawyer Simmons, Cody Kastner and Mr. Hameister

Time change this weekend

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

Remember that Saturday night (or to be more precise, Sunday at 2 a.m.), the clock goes back one hour. So, enjoy an extra hour of sleep, courtesy of the Guthrie County Times Vedette.

Text alerts and letters to the editor

We have seen an increase in the number of subscribers to our text alert option for the Times Vedette recently, and I am glad to see it. For those of you who don’t know what this option is, it is a basic text message sent to your smart phone over the noon hour on Tuesdays and Fridays with a link to the “hot off the press” issue of the Times Vedette. Click the link, and the web browser on your phone opens up with the latest edition. It is a free service, and we don’t text you with other messages or sell your data to any other service. We simply think it is a nice way to receive your Times Vedette. I speak from experience, as this is how I receive mine. 

You may wonder why you would want the Times Vedette link texted to you when you already receive the email. You may not, and that’s just fine. You may be one of our readers who reads the Times Vedette on a computer, checks email regularly and prefers to receive communication that way. If so, there is no need to change, as we will continue to send the Times Vedette email to you that way. Meanwhile, a significant number of people don’t check their email regularly, and some choose not to use email at all. The text alert is a great option for those folks. You may have children or grandchildren who may prefer this method, and we hope you tell them about this. 

If you want to give it a try, you can sign up here. Just enter your phone number and click a couple of boxes. And, if you decide it is not for you, unsubscribing is just as easy. 

Letters to the editor

I have had requests lately to run letters to the editor. This is a common feature for many traditional newspapers, but it is not something we do in our publications, for several reasons. First, our print publications are monthlies, and the subject of the letters, in many cases, would not be timely and would not give ample response time in follow-up editions, if needed. Second, and most importantly, we don’t want the editorial content of our publications to get into the mud of politics and divisive issues. We do certainly cover government meetings and elections, but our main focus is on the positive happenings related to the people, places and events of Guthrie County. With social media sites like Facebook, Next Door and others, there are plenty of places to spew anger and venom. Meanwhile, we have accepted, and we will continue to accept, political and issue advertising, with some exceptions. The ads cannot be libelous or offensive in nature, and they must follow all federal, state and local laws pertaining to political advertising. 

Newspapers of past generations used their influence to attempt to get certain people elected, have certain bond issues passed, and meddle in politics. Most of those newspapers are now gone or remain in a diminished form today. I am not trying to change the world, and I am not arrogant enough to think you should all have the same opinions I have. I simply want to share the news and information that is important to local residents and to hopefully bring a smile to your face. 

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading. 

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707