Wright County

Wear a mask... test if you’ve been exposed or have symptoms

Published by editor on Wed, 11/18/2020 - 10:43am

As COVID cases continue to rise in Wright County, surpassing 1,000 cases as of Monday, Nov. 16 according to Wright County Public Health Nurse and epidemiologist Sandy McGrath, she reminds us that it’s absolutely imperative that people think smart and choose wisely in order to contain the disease that continues to plague our world. Wearing a mask, social distancing, and getting tested if you’ve been exposed are ways to do that.

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Wright County 4-H members and clubs recognized in ceremony

Published by editor on Wed, 11/18/2020 - 10:40am

The annual award’s day for the Wright County 4-H program took place on Sunday, November 8 at Memorial Hall in Eagle Grove. For 2020, the program was divided into two different sessions to provide adequate safety and social distancing.

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WC voter turnout exceeds 76% for general election, surpassing 2016 numbers

Published by editor on Wed, 11/11/2020 - 7:18am

As the dust cleared after Tuesday’s general election, Wright County Auditor Betty Ellis was happy with how the process in the county went. It was a remarkably busy last several months and voter turnout numbers added to that. According to Ellis’s records, turnout for this election stood at about 76.3% with 6,308 of the county’s 8,261 registered voters casting ballots. This is up a healthy amount from the 2016 election with 70.4% voter turnout.

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UPDATED: Wright County stays red, Helgevold and Rasmussen retain supervisor seats

Published by editor on Wed, 11/11/2020 - 7:16am

UPDATED FROM PREVIOUS ELECTION RESULTS STORY

Wright County voters went Republican in all races last Tuesday. In the hotly contested county supervisor races, both Republican incumbents, Rick Rasmussen (Dist. 1) and Karl Helgevold (Dist. 3) defeated their challengers in close races. Rasmussen came out on top of Jason Wessels 3,317 votes to 2,721. Helgevold defeated Mike Boyd with 3,292 votes to 2,582.

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Supervisors vote to join new mental health region

Published by editor on Wed, 11/11/2020 - 6:55am

At Monday’s Wright County Board of Supervisors meeting, they picked up the previous week’s discussion about mental health regions. The county was contemplating leaving the County Social Services (CSS) region and joining the Central Iowa Community Services (CICS) region because of state rules. Russell Wood and various team members with the CICS region spoke about how they operate, services they offer, and how their financing works.

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WC Board of Health approves new tough emergency measures

Published by editor on Tue, 11/10/2020 - 11:16am

In recognition of the large recent increase in COVID-19 cases across the state of Iowa that has already impacted the ability of our hospital system to care for all patients who require care, the Wright County Board of Health has approved the following new emergency measures:

1) Masks are required in all public indoor spaces in Wright County. When a mask must be removed for eating, the individual should maintain at least a six foot distance from other individuals (who are not in their group in the case of a restaurant or bar).

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Supervisors hear about concerning COVID increases

Published by editor on Wed, 11/04/2020 - 8:40am

In the weekly COVID-19 update during the Monday Board of Supervisors meeting, county epidemiologist Sandy McGrath expressed concern about the increase in Wright County’s numbers over the past week. The numbers went up by 86 cases in the last week and now are at 813 positive cases as of Monday, with 192 active cases. “We’re really bouncing up, as are the surrounding counties,” said McGrath. “I expect to see this trend continue.” She added that the cases are scattered throughout the county.

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Record breaking early voting in Wright County, still many ballots out

Published by editor on Wed, 10/28/2020 - 9:30am

The Wright County Auditor’s office has been a high traffic place these last few weeks. Early in-person voting started in Iowa October 5, and according to Auditor Betty Ellis’s numbers, hundreds of voters have taken advantage of that in the county.

As of early this week, well over 300 people had voted in person at her office with several hundred more coming in to drop off ballots that had been mailed to them. In all, over 2,400 mail-in ballots have been returned to the auditor’s office one way or another.

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Supervisors certify, decertify debt

Published by editor on Wed, 10/28/2020 - 9:23am

At the Monday morning meeting of the Wright County Board of Supervisors, they approved three resolutions certifying or decertifying debt. Auditor Betty Ellis explained this is an annual action that establishes how much she will be collecting in tax increment financing (TIF) to pay off debts.

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ISH doesn’t foresee role in home care as county decertifies

Published by editor on Wed, 10/14/2020 - 9:58am

As the November 1 date looms, many Wright County residents (and others across the state and country) are still voicing their anger and disappointment about the county Board of Health’s decision to decertify home skilled nursing care. At last week’s forum for the candidates running for supervisor, at least half the time was spent answering questions about Public Health and home care. More than once, angry interruptions and boos from the audience could be heard in response to the candidates’ answers.