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TIFFIN– They wondered why they were discussing it again.
Tiffin City Council members Jim Bartels and Mike Ryan both said Tiffin’s lack of action against Johnson County’s new minimum wage ordinance should have settled the issue in November.
However, the item was back on the council’s Feb. 2 agenda, after councilor Al Havens proposed a tiered wage to allow employers to pay people under age 18 the state minimum of $7.25 per hour.

SOLON– The Lady Spartans varsity team welcomed the Anamosa Blue Raiders to their home court on Tuesday, Jan. 26, and did just what they had to do. Solon defeated the Blue Raiders, 40-34, and sent them north with a loss.
The varsity Lady Spartans were up by six points in just over a minute of play through the combined efforts of Dakota Doyle, Bryce Hinkel and Hannah Bluder. Anamosa’s coach quickly called a time-out to have an animated conversation with the Raiders’ varsity squad that reverberated in the gymnasium.

NORTH LIBERTY– Two weekends, two former U.S. Secretaries of State.
That’s the recent dignitary count for North Liberty.
Many in the community welcomed former Secretary Madeleine Albright on Sunday, Jan. 17, and former New York Senator and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Sunday, Jan. 24. Both women were here to stump for Clinton as she campaigns to become the Democratic nominee for the 2016 presidential election.
A crowd of about 700 people gathered in the gym at Garner Elementary School to hear Clinton’s speech.

Red Vespa Pizzeria owners Angie and Aziz Longou (pictured above) offered a free Margherita Pizza to customers over the lunch hour Christmas Eve (Thursday, Dec. 24) with a suggested donation of $5 to the Solon Public Library Foundation. The fundraiser gave away 115 pizzas and raised $738 for the foundation. (photo by Doug Lindner)

SOLON– A senior at Solon High School has died as a result of an accidental drowning in the Coralville Reservoir.
The body of Tanner Wymer, 17, of rural Iowa City, was recovered at approximately 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 4, about 20 hours after the canoe he was riding in capsized while on open water.
According to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Wymer and Michael Felton, 51, Solon, were in a canoe on the Coralville Reservoir near Twin View Heights Sunday, Jan. 3, when the canoe capsized.