Save the date! Midwest Partnership's 18th Annual Golf Outing will be Thursday, June 27th at Lake Panorama National Resort and Conference Center.

Retired Jefferson-Scranton teacher Jim North was honored with the 2013 Friend of Education award by the Jefferson-Scranton Education Association and the Iowa State Education Association. The presentation was made at a dinner May 8 at the Carrollton Inn in Carroll. Tammy Mohr presented the award. North taught seventh and eighth grade English and literature in Jefferson for 38 years before his retirement a year ago. He has been a driving force in the Webb House, which provides a positive and safe place for young teenagers. He has spent nearly every Friday night for the past 15 years at the Webb House. He also opens it Wednesday afternoons to provide a place for 40-50 youngster when school dismisses early for teacher professional development. North received the Jefferson Area Chamber of Commerce's ABC Award in 2001 in recognition of his efforts with the Webb House. He is also a Golden Apple Award recipient. In his retirement he volunteers as a group discussion leader at Greene County Middle School. For many years North has provided students with their first paid employment with his lawn mowing business. Some students have worked several summers, indicating the respect and fun they share. North earned a bachelors degree from the University of Northern Iowa and then served in the Air Force for four years. He earned a masters degree from Truman State College in Kirksville, MO. Jim and his wife Karen have three daughters and five grandchildren. -The Jefferson Herald

Participants in a community-wide visioning meeting held see a downtown Jefferson in five years as a "colorful and modernized historic district brimming with art, shopping, dining and activities that people can't wait to get to and can't stop talking about because it's a great space that's part of a great place." Picturing downtown in the future involved 35 participants who gathered at Jefferson City Hall on Tuesday, May 7, for a Visioning process conducted by Main Street Iowa and Jefferson Matters: Main Street. Participants were divided into small groups and asked by Main Street Iowa facilitators Michael Wagler, state coordinator, and Terry Poe Buschkamp, a Main Street district specialist, to answer a series of questions about downtown Jefferson and the Jefferson Matters: Main Street program. The first three questions asked about the assets, challenges and opportunities of downtown Jefferson and the fourth question asked participants to list reasons why downtown Jefferson is important to the community. The next series of questions asked about the top three issues facing each of the four points of the local Main Street program: organization, design, promotion and economic restructuring. Each small group provided responses to the questions, which were copied on to flip chart paper by the facilitators. The final exercise for the evening asked the groups to provide a one-sentence description of how they envisioned downtown Jefferson in five years. All of the responses to the eight questions and the five-year outlook were posted around the room. Each participant was given three votes in each of the eight question categories and one vote from among six five year outlook statements. Based on votes received, the clearest consensus pertained to issues about the design, economic restructuring, and organization components of Jefferson Matters: Main Street. Funding sources for projects got 16 votes (design), new businesses had 15 votes (economic restructuring), and keeping volunteers engaged (organization) tallied 13 votes. The group had solid consensus that the downtown "square is compact and established" (19 votes) as an asset of downtown, and 12 participants said developing a Welcome Center downtown was the greatest opportunity. Eleven listed "potential to be a destination town" and "bike trail" as other great opportunities. -The Jefferson Herald

Are you interested in housing issues facing west central Iowa, in particular those facing moderate and low income persons ? Region XII COG is seeking representatives from these sectors to serve on the board of the new Region XII Housing Corporation (RHC). The RHC is being founded to serve as a Comprehensive Housing Development Organization (CHDO) for west central Iowa. CHDOs work work to improve and/or develop housing for low and moderate income individuals and families by accessing, in part, federal funds set aside specifically for their operations. As a board member for the RHC, individuals will help to form and direct policy related to moderate and low income housing in the region. Meetings are expected to be no more than quarterly and will primarily occur in Carroll. While the position is volunteer, mileage will be covered for board members so that attending the meetings does not impose a hardship. The RHC is staffed by Region XII COG, an agency with 20+ years' experience in the maintenance and production of housing. Persons eligible to be appointed on the vacant RHC board slots must be of low or moderate income and will need to certify this status. Generally, this means that a household of 4 cannot have an annual income exceeding $52,000, but this limit varies by county of residence and number of household members. Individuals interested in being appointed are encouraged Rick Hunsaker at 712-775-7800 or rhunsaker@region12cog.org. Based in Carroll, Region XII COG serves the counties of Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie and Sac, as well as the cities of Adel, Minburn, Perry, Redfield and Linden in Dallas County. Region XII COG provides a variety of governmental services and management programs on a regional basis, including local government assistance, housing, the Western Iowa Transit, economic development and workforce development. The COG is a partner in Western Iowa Advantage, west central Iowa's regional marketing consortium. -Audubon County Advocate Journal