Jason Parrott

The Keokuk City Council is ready to take the leap and go paperless.  The panel has reached a consensus to purchase 13 iPad 2’s for use during meetings.

City Clerk Barb Barnes says they should cost about $400 each, so the total price tag would be about $5,200.

The 13 iPads would be provided to each of the nine city council members along with Barnes, Mayor Tom Marion, Community Development Director Pam Broomhall and Public Works Director Mark Bousselot.

The Burlington School District is going back to the drawing board when it comes to reshaping school boundaries. 

Superintendent Jane Evans says the district’s elementary enrollment is out of balance.  She says, for example, North Hill has too many students while Blackhawk is running well below capacity.

The district estimates that 14% of its elementary school students do not attend their neighborhood school.  In response, it identified a neighborhood where students could change schools to help balance out the enrollment figures.

Fort Madison’s proposed sports complex has received another piece of bad news from the state.

Supporters traveled to Mason City to make a second pitch to the Vision Iowa Board for funding.  The task force promoting the sports complex is seeking up to $1-million to add to the $2.5-million dollars generated through public and private donations.

Unfortunately for the task force, the request for state funding was denied by an oversight committee for the Vision Iowa Board.

There is some apprehension among members of the Keokuk City Council when it comes to supporting the local hospital.

Keokuk Area Hospital continues to face an uncertain future due to its financial instability. 

The hospital says it is reimbursed about 75% of the money spent on care and services.  That is due to a number of factors, including a large number of low income clients and the formula for state and/or federal reimbursements.

Patrolman Robb Bell is a native of Hamilton who graduated from Hamilton High School.  He joined his hometown police department in Sept. 2005 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and with several other local law enforcement agencies.

After 6 ½ years on the force, Bell is in line for a big promotion.  He will take over as Police Chief on July 1, 2012.

Bell will replace Walt Sellens, who is retiring after 35-years with the department.  Sellens served as a patrolman and a sergeant before becoming chief in 1986.

WEST BURLINGTON, IA

West Burlington will soon be in need of a new police chief.  Current Chief Alex Oblein is stepping down effective June 22 to take a similar job in Piedmont, OK.

Oblein has served as West Burlington’s Police Chief since June 2003.

Mayor Hans Trousil says he will make an announcement about how the city will proceed with the search on Wednesday, April 18.

LEE COUNTY, IA

State Senator John Sullivan (D-Rushville) says everything is on the table when it comes reforming Medicaid in Illinois.

Governor Pat Quinn proposed a $2.7-billion dollar cut to the program in his budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. 

Sullivan told a crowd of 50 during a town hall meeting in Hamilton that some savings can be found through the scaling back of programs and the elimination of waste and fraud.

Superintendent John Henriksen says the Central Lee School District’s budget for the 2012/2013 school year is quite comparable to the district’s current budget.

The school board certified the roughly $14-million dollar spending plan Monday night. 

Henriksen says the spending plan is just a couple hundred thousand dollars larger than the current budget.  He says the budget’s general fund sits at around $10-million, though he believes the final expenditures will come in at around $9-million.

Southeastern Community College President Beverly Simone used last night’s Board of Trustees meeting to announce her retirement after 6 1/2 years with the college.

She emailed a copy of her statement from the meeting to college employees Monday night.

In it, Simone, who turns 66 this summer, says with many of her close friends retired and her family out of the area,she will retire this summer.  She says she will work with the Board of Trustees to determine a mutually agreeable date.

Simone will serve as President until her retirement takes effect.

The Lee County Board of Supervisors has decided against increasing the county’s contribution to a proposed sports complex in western Fort Madison.

The panel had previously agreed to provide a letter of support for the project along with all of the county’s hotel/motel tax revenue for the project. 

That sounds much better than it looks on paper, though, as Lee County generates less than $1,000 a year from that tax.