Solon Economist

By Nora Heaton
Solon Economist
SOLON– Fall, winter, spring and summer passed by at the Solon Community School District Board of Education meeting as a group of first grade students read “Watching the Weather” in front of board members.
The five children, as well as five first grade teachers, were there to demonstrate a Lakeview Elementary reading lesson.

SOLON– The Solon Archery Team held its first tournament Saturday, Jan. 23, at Solon High School. The event saw nearly 500 archers from around Eastern Iowa compete starting at 8 a.m. with a flight of 50 archers every hour, and the final flight at 5 p.m. With perennial powers Anamosa and Bellevue shooting early in the day, the Spartans were able to take aim and draw a tie with Anamosa for first place in points (3,296). Unfortunately, the tie-breaker did not land in the Spartans’ favor as Anamosa shot four more bullseyes than Solon.

DeWITT– Four Solon wrestlers will take their best shots beginning Thursday at the 2016 2A State Wrestling Tournament.
Ben Carr (126 pounds), Cole Fritz (145), Trevor Nelson (160) and Dillon Diltz (170) all qualified for state at the district meet Feb. 13, at Central Clinton of DeWitt.
Carr, Fritz and Nelson each reigned over the weight classes with first place finishes, while Diltz came in second.
Three Solon wrestlers– Christian Haight (113), Zack Bevans (132) and Graeson Dall (152)– just missed the cut by finishing third.

By Chris Umscheid
Solon Economist
SOLON– A new fire service agency will be created to serve the City of Solon and three townships surrounding it.
In September 2015, a state audit of the financial accounting of the Solon Fire Department raised some eyebrows; specifically, with the volunteers’ use of Benevolent Association donations.
The audit, triggered by a citizen complaint, had two sides, said Solon Mayor Steve Stange. One side involved the Benevolent Association, which he declined to comment on.

MASON CITY– On Saturday, Jan. 16, Team #367D, Trial and Error, with students Kaleb Burkum, Mason Dibble and Ethan Swan, were the alliance tournament champions at the Lincoln Robotics Tournament in Mason City.
They qualified to compete in the Heartland Regional VEX Robotics championship Feb. 26-27 in Omaha, against 31 other qualifying middle school teams from Iowa and Nebraska.
The team also qualified to compete at the US Open VEX Robotics Championship with the top 100 middle school teams in the United States, April 7-9.