THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2024 • VOLUME N0. 129 • ISSUE NO. 27 • 1 SECTION • 8 PAGES
Serving Colfax • Mingo • Baxter • Western Jasper County
Local agencies respond to rural Colfax house fire Saturday Officials say 1 occupant died, body will be sent to State Medical Examiner By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune Jasper County law enforcement says one person was killed in a house fire Saturday, March 16 in rural Colfax. Fire crews on Sunday, March 17 recovered the body of the occupant who was unable to escape the blaze. Newton News was told first responders had spent hours removing debris after the flames were extinguished According to a press release from Jasper County Sheriff ’s Office, a 911 call was made at 10:43
p.m. about a house fire at the 8000 block of South 52nd Avenue West, one-and-a-half miles southeast of Colfax. When first responders arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames and the number of occupants unknown. While crews from multiple departments worked to extinguish the fire, it was determined one individual one inside of the home. At approximately 10:45 a.m. March 17, search and rescue crews located the decreased individual — whose name has not been released — in the basement of the
home. The body will be sent to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner for identification and autopsy. The investigation in still ongoing. In addition to the Colfax Fire Department and Jasper County Sheriff ’s Office, mutual aid was provided by agencies in Baxter, Knoxville, Mingo, Mitchellville, Monroe, Newton, Prairie City and the Iowa State Fire Marshall’s Office, who have helped put out the flames, search for the occupant and investigate the fire.
Benola’s makes its debut Baxter pub and pizzeria holds ribbon cutting ceremony during its grand opening bash
Christopher Braunschweig/Jasper County Tribune Individuals who live or work or want to access services along F-48 West will still be able to drive on the road during the resurfacing project, although the surface will be rough. The county engineer expects the first phase of the project to be completed in August.
County engineer discourages through traffic of Hwy F-48 W Phase 1 of resurfacing project to commence on March 18 By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune
Christopher Braunschweig/Jasper County Tribune
By March 18, the first phase of the Highway F-48 West resurfacing project will begin, and Jasper County Engineer Michael Frietsch is recommending all through traffic — particularly those drivers who like to use the highway to skip a few miles of Interstate 80 — to find other routes. Technically, the road
will be closed by Monday but will still remain passable. But the surface of the road will be rough by the time contractors mill out the asphalt, meaning employees of Performance Sign & Design or Westwood golfers, for example, will still be able to travel the road to make it to their destination. “It’s closed to through traffic, which basically means we’re not hard TRAFFIC | 3
The miracle (and work) of life
Raising livestock is rewarding yet challenging, especially in extreme winter weather By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune During the winter months, many farmers who solely grow crops are preparing for the next year while their tractors are getting a break until work begins for spring planting. For livestock farmers, an exciting and trying part of the year is just getting underway with birthing season. While breeding starts when the weather is still easy to manage, the babies tend to make their entrance at some of the craziest times, from snowstorms to record low temperatures. When babies are coming, everyone has to be ready. “Our breeding program is scheduled for winter calving. Most of our calves come during January and February. We also have a few cows that we calve out in early fall,” Jessica Barnett said. “Our first calf typically hits around the Christmas holiday. Yes, we have had calves on Christmas and New Years! The cows don’t take breaks over the holidays.” Barnett and her family have a Nolin Red Angus cattle operation near Monroe. They raise purebred Red Angus cattle on their farms outside of town and have found that the cows tend to birth during the extreme weather conditions. “Typically when our calves come it’s cold and most often
Submitted Photo When the weather gets really bad, farmers will sometimes bring their heifers into an enclosed space to deliver their calves.
a snowstorm or extreme cold,” Barnett said. “We do several things to ensure our survival rate of newborn calves. We calve inside our barn no exceptions. The survival rate of a new calf greatly declines during inclement weather. The extreme cold is very hard on newborn calves.” They also clean the barns twice each day to keep the bedding clean and dry, and they introduce several supplements to promote viability and health. Another challenge comes with calves being very wet when they are born. With frigid temps, work has to be done to get them dry quickly. CONTACT US
“In extreme cold conditions, parts of the calf will begin freezing, particularly the ears. The ears can freeze solid. If the ears are frozen solid for an extended period, the tissue will die, and parts of the ears will eventually fall off,” Barnett said. “We don’t leave the calf until its almost completely dry. In extreme cold conditions we bring our calves inside our basement and use a blower to dry them off.” Jacob Clark, who has hair sheep, Hereford pigs and laying chickens, also battles the cold to ensure the newborns have their best chance at survival. Currently, his sheep lamb at the start of
the year to be used for his son’s 4-H and FFA projects at the county fair. “The sheep are bred to lamb on or after Jan. 1 and it usually lasts until mid-February,” Clark said. “We do this so the lambs will have a chance to grow as big as possible in preparation for (his son) Kolby to show a couple at county fair. Once the boys age out of 4H/FFA, we’ll probably Shaw Media switch to lambing in the spring when the weather is nicer.” His oldest son Kaden also shows at the fair but his choice in livestock are the pigs. They are also bred to birth on or after Jan. 1, allowing them to be at market est. 1851
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weight for the county fair. “We also bred a sow for Feb. 14 this year so the pigs will finish out to show at state fair,” Clark said. To help combat the winter weather, Clark has a fully enclosed barn to help block the wind and maintain the temperature inside. They have six birthing pens with solid walls to eliminate cold air drafts on the newborns, and they have also made “hot boxes” for extra heat. “We cut an entry hole in a 55-gallon plastic barrel and hung a heat bulb in it. Once the lambs find this, they’re in it all the time when it’s cold,” Clark said. “We have three heated buckets but need three more to eliminate the hassle of thawing frozen buckets when it gets very cold.” Sometimes getting to the animals can be a challenge as barns typically aren’t located right outside the back door. With feet of snow blocking the roads, farmers have to prepare and get creative to reach the animals. “The January snow events proved to be a challenge for our family to get to the farm. I had to be at work during most of the snowstorms to remove snow. Due to that I relied heavily on my family and parents to watch over the cattle,” Barnett said. “In January we knew that the heavy snow was coming, and our roads LIVESTOCK | 3
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