Thursday, June 5, 2025
Vol. 5, No. 42
PCMExplorer Local People. Local Stories.
BATTER UP!
CAMP ONE, CAMP ALL
Prairie City looking to start co-ed softball league for summer 2025
By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer In an effort to get adults using the Prairie City Recreation Complex, besides watching the kids play, parks and recreation director Scott Steenhoek is looking to add a co-ed softball league to the city. Set to run five weeks through July, the league would need at least four teams to give it a go. “I saw information online about a softball league that used a 16 inch ball and rules that we could use to play in a co-ed format,” Steenhoek said. “We’ve also been wanting to try and get some adult sports at our rec complex since we have been having great success over the past few years with youth sports there.” Teams of 10 to 14 players with at least four women are invited to join. The teams can be from anywhere as long as they can make the games each week. The proposed schedule has games at 5:30 p.m. on Sundays June 29, July 6, July 13, July 20 and 9 a.m. Saturday, July 29, which coincides with the Prairie
RV at Quarry Springs Park in Colfax now open for campers By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer
and sponsorship logos are allowed. The city will provide the 16 inch softballs. A strike mat will be used to determine balls and strikes. If the softball touches any part of the
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 Authority 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
SOFTBALL | 3
CAMPING | 3
Jamee A. Pierson/PCM Explorer Prairie City Parks and Recreation Director Scott Steenhoek is looking to start a new co-ed softball league to be played on either Sundays or Wednesdays through July at the rec complex.
Days community celebration. It is also possible the league may play on Wednesdays evenings. It is $275 per team to participate and teams must provide their own jerseys, bats and other equipment. Each jersey should have a visible number on the back
Honoring the fallen on Memorial Day The Monroe American Legion holds its annual Memorial Day ceremony at the cemetery remembering those who served that gave it all
Jamee A. Pierson/PCM Explorer
Proposed road reclassification of N. 75th Ave. W. falls through for now Apprehensions from residents heard, supervisors to discuss future plans By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer No action was taken to reclassify a mile of gravel road in Jasper County, which would have reduced the level of maintenance it received from secondary roads crews. Residents who own property on North 75th Avenue West argued against the proposal, prompting supervisors to rethink their strategy going forward. Especially considering the county engineer has identified 300 miles of roads that could — or should — be reclassified from Level A to Level B. Jasper County has more than 1,000 miles of roads. If they are all reclassified to Level B roads, county pol-
A publication of est. 1851
icy dictates they receive no rock to reinforce the surface. Operators will blade the roads once a year, but county policy restricts many other kinds of routine maintenance. Level B roads also are not eligible for county snow removal during the winter months. Farmers who own or rent the land or use the road as a route to enter their fields were strongly against reduced maintenance. The section of North 75th Avenue West between West 116th Street North and West 108th Street North was identified as a Level B candidate mostly due to it not having any homes on the road, low traffic and NO ACTION | 3
Democrat Bob Krause announces run for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District Candidate previously ran for U.S. Senate, worked as state lawmaker in 1970s By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer Bob Krause, a former state legislator, announced this week he will be running for C o n gress as a Democrat to oust the 1st Congressional Dist r i c t ’s Republ i c a n Krause incumbent, U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. In a May 26 press release, he launched
the slogan: “Flip The House With Krause.” To him and his campaign, that rallying cry serves as a reminder to voters that control of the entire U.S. House of Representatives hinges on just a few key races. It also reinforces just how competitive and volatile Iowa’s first congressional district has been ever since Miller-Meeks was first elected in 2020. It was that same year that widespread recounts determined Miller-Meeks won against Democrat Rita Hart by only six votes. In 2024, Miller-Meeks narrowly retained her seat once again, albeit not as
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close as her race against Hart; Miller-Meeks won against Democrat Christina Bohannan by less than 800 votes. Republicans in the district were forced to choose between Miller-Meeks and challenger David Pautsch in the primary. Even though Miller-Meeks won with a 12-point lead, Pautsch felt he had a strong showing getting 44 percent of the vote with only six months of work. Pautsch announced in February he’s running again. Which makes Krause the third person to announce a campaign for the seat. KRAUSE | 3
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