Special to the Times Vedette

Joy Neal Kidney’s new novel, “The Immigrant and the Outlaw,” gathers some of her most compelling work — stories rooted in Iowa soil yet echoing far beyond it. Tales of grit, heritage, sacrifice and the quiet heroism woven through everyday lives.

Joy’s grandmother, Leora Goff Wilson, was born in Guthrie County. She grew up, married and had six children who were born here. After the devastation of WWII, she returned to live in Guthrie Center for four more decades. Five chapters of the book have stories about Guthrie County.

Joy has published dozens of narratives in newspapers, magazines and through the podcast “Our American Stories.” She is also the author of the “Leora” books.

You can find more information about Joy and her books on her website joynealkidney.com.

Autographed copies of her books are available at Art on State in Guthrie Center, the Urbandale Machine Shed Restaurant and Beaverdale Books in Des Moines. Books may ordered in paperback, hardback, eBook and audiobook formats from Amazon.com.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

During the May 28 meeting of the Guthrie County Hospital Board of Trustees, Clinical Safety and Quality Coordinator Danielle Lauzon shared information about a recently completed “drill.”

“We participated in an exercise with Public Health, longterm care, and Emergency Management about a month ago. It was for extreme heat,” Lauzon said. “We identified some areas for improvement. It was a good exercise.”

Lauzon also talked about an upcoming drill.

“June 10 we are going to participate in a big exercise with Adair County Hospital, EMS, Public Health, long-term care, and the law enforcement. It’s going to be at the school. It’s going to be an active threat,” Lauzon said. “It will start at 12:30 p.m. and go until about 6:30 p.m.”

Chief Human Resources Officer Mary Anderson provided a report on hiring and staffing. She noted that employee retention rate is now 89.2%. She also noted a recent achievement.

“Thanks to our great increase on our employee engagement survey score, we have been named a ‘Top Workplace.’ It’s sponsored by The Des Moines Register,” Anderson said. “We scored well enough in six categories to be given that award.”

Chief Operations Officer Travis Martin reported on the construction progress at the hospital.

“Tuesday of next week (June 2), we’ll start work on some storm sewer, and that will reduce 12^th Street to a single lane,” he said. “So, they’ll be working in the east half of that, and there will only be passage on the west half.”

The next regular meeting of the trustees is set for Thursday, June 25 at 4 p.m. The public is welcome.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

During the May 26 meeting of the Panora City Council, the councilmembers reviewed and approved Resolution 26-27, setting the date and fees for citywide cleanup. The official date is June 12, although residents who have signed up to participate may begin placing items on the curb beginning Monday, June 8.

Those wishing to participate must sign up and prepay at City Hall by Friday, June 5. The basic fee is $30. Additionally, certain items require a specific fee and sticker. Those include appliances, computers, TVs, and vehicle tires and rims. Details are available by visiting or calling City Hall at 641-755-2164.

City Administrator Lisa Grossman noted that a ribbon-cutting event will be held on Monday, June 1 at 3 p.m. for the new Adirondack chair in the town square.

Grossman also shared information on the upcoming “pre-ride for RAGBRAI” that will come through Panora on Tuesday, June 2.

“Basically, all of the RAGBRAI committee members and about 20 people will ride the whole route,” she said. “They’ve asked that we kind of display some of the things that we’ll be doing when the whole RAGBRAI comes through.”

The council approved paying Pay Application No. 1 to Dirt Teck for work on the East Clay Street Sanitary Sewer project in the amount of $75,723.51. This payment represents approximately the first half of the project.

Following a public hearing on the matter (with no written or oral comments), the council approved the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget amendment as proposed.

Consideration of purchasing a 2019 Cummings diesel truck (approximately 34,000 miles) for just less than $130,000 will be held at the council’s next meeting.

The next regular council meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 8. The public is welcome.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

Due to a light agenda, the May 26 regular meeting of the Guthrie Center City Council was canceled. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the city council is set for June 8 at 6:30 p.m. The public is welcome.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

From 8:30-11:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 31 at the Guthrie Center Fire Hall, a freewill donation breakfast will be held to raise funds for the Guthrie County Swim Club. The meal includes pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage, as well as coffee, milk or juice.

Welcoming crew from the 2025 swim team breakfast.

Helpers of all ages put on the breakfast last year.

Special to the Times Vedette

An Alumni Tea was held on the afternoon of May 23 at the Casey Community Building with more than a dozen in attendance.

Photos courtesy of Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith, Kathy Smith, Myrna Bassett Whetstone, Wayne Jensen and Leland Acker