Special to the Times Vedette
Brenda Dinkla is the winner of Guthrie County State Bank’s Tower of Tissue drawing and is awarded $50 in Chamber Bucks from Adrienne Powell on behalf of the bank. Residents were encouraged to bring in boxes of facial tissues to be donated for use at ACGC and Panorama schools during cold and flu season. Guthrie County State Bank will match every donation, box for box. Those donating four or more boxes were entered in the drawing.
By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
It was announced on Monday that the Kansas City Chiefs will be relocating from Missouri to Kansas, with it coming a brand new, $3 billion, domed stadium. I, like many others, have some issues with this.
For one, Arrowhead is an iconic venue, and its eventual demise once the lease expires in 2030 will be tragic. It is possible some of you reading this attended Arrowhead as Chiefs fans, and if not, made the trip to Kansas City because your favorite team was visiting the AFC’s oldest stadium. The two-and-a half-hour drive is more palatable than four hours to Minneapolis, six hours to Chicago, or eight hours to Green Bay. According to local reporting, Kansas made more of a united front approach between the city, county and state, to attract the NFL’s most recent dynasty away from its current home.
For two, the stadium is going to be largely funded with taxpayer money. Of the $3 billion price tag, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says the state will pay for 60%. In other words, $1.8 billion. The other 40%, or less than half, for those of you counting at home, will be paid for by members of the Hunt family, who own the Chiefs. According to profootballnetwork.com, the Hunt family, worth $24.8 billion, are the second-richest owners in the NFL. I understand why the state of Kansas would want to spend money to attract an NFL team, as it will undoubtably be an economic boost for the area, but why the second-wealthiest owners in American professional sports can’t pay for their own stadium is beyond me.
For three, the early renderings of the proposed stadium are flat and boring. And, compare it to the other new, multi-billion dollar sports stadiums that have been built in recent years. Now, yes, 2031 is several years ahead and gives plenty of time for this rendering to change, so I’m being a bit of a Grinch. According to a Chiefs beat writer, Chiefs Charmain and CEO Clark Hunt says an architect and contractor will be selected in the months ahead. Why Kansas would agree to use $1.8 billion for a project that does not even have an architect is also beyond me, but that’s why I live in Iowa (where we have challenges getting a $20 million soccer stadium built, which is finally over the last spending hump, maybe).
For four, it signals the death of another outdoor stadium. The Chiefs leaving Arrowhead, and in a few years, the Chicago Bears leaving Soldier Field, are both seeking domed stadiums. The Bears are currently in a fight with the city of Chicago and are even threatening to build the stadium in northern Indiana. As a Packers fan, I find that hilarious. But, the person on the inside hates the idea that we could no longer see games like the ice bowl or the mud bowl, or a field blanketed in snow or rain, all in favor of a synthetic turf field inside a cookie-cutter dome, because it sells more tickets and it makes the game easier to watch on TV.
Currently, there are 20 “open-air” stadiums in the NFL. We know that number will change to 18 in the coming years because of the Chiefs and Bears. The Buffalo Bills, whose stadium almost always seems to fill with snow once a season, will have a massive canopy roof by next season, and the Tennessee Titans are aiming to have their domed stadium finished in Nashville by 2027. Plus, the Jacksonville Jaguars are getting a major renovation that will include a new roof, planned for 2028, and the Washington Commanders are planning for a potentially domed stadium in 2030. Add those in, and the country’s most popular sport will have more closed stadiums than not, and that’s a darn shame.
Reach out with comments, complaints, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.
Iowa Trust Bank is located at 120 E. Main St. in Panora.
By Rich Wicks | Panora Times, December 2025
Those new to the Panora area may not realize the long roots that Iowa Trust Bank has in the community. Iowa Trust’s President-Panora and Chief Retail Officer Julie Dent-Zajicek shared information on the history and the offerings the bank provides.
“The bank was originally established in 1959 as Panora State Bank, serving local families, farmers and small businesses. I worked with Panora State Bank since 1991. In 2018, Panora State Bank merged with Iowa Trust & Savings Bank, joining an organization whose values and commitment to community are closely aligned with Panora State Bank. The merger strengthened our ability to provide expanded services while maintaining the trusted local relationships the community had always relied on,” Dent-Zajicek said.
Iowa Trust Bank was founded in 1929. Besides Panora, Iowa Trust Bank has locations in Emmetsburg (headquarters and original location), Clive and Sac City. Services offered include personal and business deposit accounts, lending (agricultural, mortgage and commercial), treasury management services, and more.
Pam Beardsley, Julie Dent-Zajicek, Angella Losee, Trudy Hastings and Trista Johnston during the recent Panora Holiday Open House event.
For those unfamiliar with the term “treasury management services,” Dent-Zajicek explained.
“Those are a suite of products that are focused on businesses and the needs of commercial businesses,” she said. “It includes things like access to ACH services, access to QuickBooks, fraud protection products and things like that.”
Dent-Zajicek pointed out the benefit of Iowa Trust’s multiple branches.
“One of the strengths of Iowa Trust is the way our branches work together as one team. If a customer’s local branch is busy, staff at another branch step in immediately to help, ensuring quick service and support. It’s a true team-first environment, and our customers feel that every day,” Dent-Zajicek said. “That collaboration across locations is something we’re especially proud of, because it reflects who we are: committed, people-focused and always ready to go the extra mile.”
According to Dent-Zajicek, Iowa Trust in Panora offers customers the best of both worlds, blending small-town interactions with a broad range of services.
“In Panora, we have six employees. One of them is part-time. Our customers do see some additional faces because we’re fortunate in that some of our retired employees choose to come back and work for us as we need them,” Dent-Zajicek said. “The merger was really a good fit for us. What makes us special is the fact that you can help customers on a personal level when you know your customers, but yet you can provide them with all of the same services that they could get at a larger bank. And we want to make sure that we give our employees the skills and the tools they need to provide good service to our customers.”
Dent-Zajicek shared that the bank continues to be an active and giving member of the local community.
“We support our local schools, youth programs, economic development efforts,” she said.
Dent-Zajicek also stays personally involved in the community, having served on groups such as the Guthrie County Community Foundation, Tori’s Angels Foundation, Panora Economic Development Group, Little Panthers Daycare and Preschool, and others.
Although Iowa Trust has no immediate expansion plans at the Panora branch, Dent-Zajicek said the bank continues to bring in new services to keep pace with changes in the banking industry.
One of the major changes in the modern financial world is the prevalence of fraud and scams. Dent-Zajicek said Iowa Trust and her staff are well-versed on helping protect customers from these dangers.
“I really do feel that one of our key responsibilities, not only to protect the bank, but to protect our customers, is educating customers about fraud,” Dent-Zajicek said. “Educating and trying to discover potential fraud as quickly as we can. At Iowa Trust, we have hired a fraud specialist. She’s available to all of our branches.”
Scams continue to evolve in new and creative ways, so Dent-Zajicek encourages customers to rely on known staff when these attempts occur.
“The fraudsters are just really good,” Dent-Zajicek said. “One thing I try to tell our customers is that any one of us can be a victim of fraud; it’s not something to be embarrassed about. So the best thing you can do is call your bank and talk to the person you know. Make sure you’re creating the call, not someone calling to you.” n
From the archives of The Guthrie County Vedette, Dec. 31, 2015
TWO POINTS. Panorama freshman Bailey Beckman goes in for two points against Van Meter in a conference game played in Panora on Friday, Dec. 18. The Panthers were tied with the Class 2-A eighth-ranked Bulldogs after three quarters, but lost the game 44-39.
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From the archives of The Guthrie Center Times, Dec. 28, 2005
SUCH TALENT! The BKODJ (Better Keep Our Day Jobs) Players keep everyone laughing during their dinner theaters. Kendra Chandler, Gretchen Umbaugh and Rita Elgin (back) performed earlier this month in Casey.
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From the archives of The Guthrie Center Times, Dec. 27, 1995
THE GIFT OF LIFE. Trooper Danny Moon of the Iowa State Patrol presents Lettie Johnson of Monteith with an Evenflo child safety seat. The ISP and Evenflo are donating a safety seat to one expectant mother in every Iowa county. Says Moon: “The ISP wants to remind everyone that the best gift you can give your child is the gift of life.”
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From the archives of The Guthrie County Vedette, Dec. 19, 1985
MUSEUM OPEN HOUSE. Avis Finley of Panora plays the piano for Maggie Covey, Lake Panorama, Herbert Michael, Iowa City, Hugh Teale, Panora, and Zonabelle Carroll, Bagley, during the Christmas open house at the Turn of the Century Museum complex in Panora. Photo by Dee Krueger, Bagley.
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From the archives of The Guthrie Center Times, Dec. 31, 1975
HE’S READY. Apparently no one told Travis Clark he can win the first baby contest only once. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Clark, Casey, looks as if he’s ready to compete again.
Many of you likely received some type of electronics as Christmas gifts. And, you may be wondering what to do with your old stuff. I was sorting through boxes of outdated electronic devices recently. Laptops. Cell phones. iPods. iPads. Cameras. And an incredible assortment of wires. Each time that my wife, our kids or I would purchase new devices, the old ones would go in this box. I hung on to them because, well, I just might need them someday. That day has never come, so now I have to figure out what to do with decades of this stuff.
I am most intrigued with the cameras. Three decades ago, I published an automotive photo magazine, and I took thousands of pictures of vehicles with a 35mm film camera. The process of how we developed film, made prints and prepared the pages for press is laughable now — and so is the camera. But, I still have it, along with an array of the earliest of digital cameras that we experimented with — and a handful of video cameras, too. Who would have guessed that we would someday carry around phones that have cameras much better than any of these devices, and that we would keep hundreds of images stored on them — and in something we would call “the cloud”?
I also found my fourth generation iPod with the click wheel. It won’t take a charge anymore, but I keep thinking I might find a way to make it work. A bunch of my kids’ iPod Minis are also packed in the box, in a variety of colors and tangled in a mess of wired earbuds.
The laptops are the clunkiest of the items. I remember having my first one — an Apple PowerBook 100 with a 9-inch black-and-white screen and a “trackball pointing device.” That was a $2,500 computer in the early 1990s. I thought I was high tech. The devices I am blowing the dust off now certainly have more features than the PowerBook 100, but they are still useless today — unless you need a really heavy paperweight. Or 10.
So how do I safely dispose of these things? Some say to soak them in water. Start them on fire. Smash them with a hammer. But, then do what with the remains? The better option is to wipe, remove or shred the hard drives so the data thieves can’t access your social security number, credit cards, bank accounts, and website logins and passwords. Then find a company or organization that offers computer recycling. Or, you can throw them in a box with years of other devices… just in case you need them someday.
Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707