THURSDAY, DEC. 25, 2025 • VOLUME N0. 124 • ISSUE NO. 14 • 1 SECTION • 8 PAGES
Serving Colfax • Mingo • Baxter • Western Jasper County
YEAR IN REVIEW CAMP ONE, CAMP ALL
Baxter moving to 4-day school week in 2025-26
School board unanimously approves the decision which received up to 80% neutral or favorable feedback from the community By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune In a unanimous decision, the Baxter Community School Board at its February meeting approved moving to a four-day school week for the 2025-26 school year. With, on average, 70 to 80 percent of feedback either neutral or in favor of the switch, the district felt strong support to make the change. “It’s a big undertaking and a big change,” Baxter Superintendent Chris Petersen said. Work started on the idea to move to four days in September, Petersen said. Along with his administrative team and the school board, Petersen began researching
what a four-day school week would look like for the Baxter community. One big driver for the district was turnover in the teaching staff year in and year out. “As we are looking at improving student outcomes and what we can provide for students, one of the things we were noticing consistently over the past three or four years is we are turning over about 25 to 30 percent of our staff (each year). The last school year we had to fill 14 teaching positions and nine of those positions either have zero applicants or one,” Petersen said. “One of the things we talked about was how do we provide the best eduction for kids, which
RV at Quarry Springs Park now open for campers By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune
directly ties in to providing high quality teachers, and how do we provide consistency for kids, which means how do we keep those teachers.” When looking at data,
GROUND BROKEN
Summer is here and there is no better time to load up the RV and try out a new camping site. RV@QSP, the new RV campground at Quarry Springs Park in Colfax, is open for business, and everyone involved with the project can’t wait to see people pull in, hook up and enjoy everything the park has to give. “We are very excited,” Quarry Springs Park Board President Kimberly Seebeck said. The RV campground, which has been in the works for several years, got a big boost when the Iowa Economic Development Author-
Petersen found that many teachers were leaving Baxter to move to higher paying positions in the greater BAXTER | 2
Jamee A. Pierson/Jasper County Tribune Members of the Colfax Economic Development Corporation, school district staff and community partners break ground on the new Colfax-Mingo Childcare Center during a ceremony June 24.
CO board members we’re going to have a childcare center at this time next year that will be open on this spot.”
CAMPING | 3
Stakeholders come together to celebrate the start of construction on the new Colfax-Mingo Childcare Center
By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune The Colfax Economic Development Corporation along with school district staff, construction partners and community members came together June 24 to celebrate the ground breaking for the new Colfax-Mingo Childcare Center. Set to help fill the childcare desert in Jasper County, the center will hold an anticipated 140 kids and serve as a partner to the school district. “This an absolutely momentous time for our community. This was something that many people said we wouldn’t be able to pull off,” Colfax-Mingo Community School District Superintendent Tim Salmon said. “Thanks to my fellow CED-
ity announced in 2022 the recreation area was awarded $400,000 for improvements to the park. The funds helped make RV@QSP a reality along with a modern shower house and bathrooms and an ADA-accessible dock. The RV campground includes 40 sites and a restroom/shower facility at the park. Each site has 30 and 50 amp electric hook-ups, a fire ring and picnic table. Potable water spigots for filling tanks are available on site and the camp host can help with use. A dump station is available for use by paying campers. It is $10 per dump for
Located on property adjacent to the elementary building, the dream of building a childcare center came to life when
CEDCO was awarded a $1.7 million Child Care Business Incentive Grant from State of Iowa earlier this year. Needing to match the grant funds, work began immediately to fundraise for the much needed amenity. Donors large and small came together to sponsor the project along with fundraisers through CEDCO such as t-shirts stating “Make Rural Cool Again.” Work also kicked off on the design and construction of the building. In January, Atura Architects was selected to design the center and earlier this month the CEDCO board accepted the bid Dean Snyder Construction to make the design a reality. “We’ve designed this building for future growth. We will be able to double the size CHILDCARE | 3
MILESTONE REACHED Signed, sealed and
Colfax Main Street recognized for $10M in private investments to the downtown
delivered
Gov. Kim Reynolds signs pharmacy benefit manager reform to the delight of local pharmacies across the state and closer to home at Spring City Pharmacy By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune
Submitted Photo Colfax Main Street Director Stuart Patterson, second from right, was recognized along with six other communities for reaching milestone private investments into the downtown districts. Colfax Main Street has had $10 million invested back into the community during the past 15 years.
By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune Colfax Main Street was one of seven Main Street
Iowa Communities who reached benchmarks in private investment. As of 2024, Colfax has had $10 million invested back into CONTACT US
the community through the Main Street program. “For a town of only 2,250 MAIN STREET | 3
After weeks of waiting, community pharmacists across Iowa rejoiced as Gov. Kim Reynolds finally signed legislation reforming practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Senate File 383 introduces comprehensive oversight of PBMs, ensuring greater transparency, accountability and fairness in a system that has operated without adequate regulation
and to the detriment of those trying to serve the community — pharmacists. “The passage of SF 383 is truly a lifeline for Spring City Pharmacy and for the patients we serve,” Spring City Pharmacy owner Brad Magg said. “As the only pharmacy in Colfax — and the only locally owned pharmacy left in Jasper County — this new law helps level the playing field with the monopoly of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who
have made it nearly impossible for pharmacies to survive.” With the passage of this legislation, the pharmacy will no longer be reimbursed less than the cost of the drug. They will also be paid a $10.68 dispensing fee for each prescription, which is the state average of what the overhead costs to fill a prescription. “In simple terms, it gives us a fighting chance to keep our
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PHARMACY | 2