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71st Annual Southwest Iowa Band Jamboree coming up Oct. 3
Scott Stewart
The 71st Annual Southwest Iowa Band Jamboree will be held Saturday, Oct. 3, in Clarinda.
Clarinda's longest-running musical tradition is co-sponsored by the Clarinda Chamber of Commerce, Clarinda Community Schools, and the City of Clarinda, according to a news release.
This year’s event is led by chairperson Katy Ridge and vice chairperson Julie Murren, the release states.
A sun soaked Saturday morning, Oct. 5, 2024, created sharp
shadows of the trombone players in the Glenwood marching band
during the Southwest Iowa Band Jamboree. Glenwood won the High
School Class 3A parade competition.
Southwest Iowa Herald file photo
A parade will kick-off the jamboree at 9 a.m. in the historic downtown Clarinda square. More than 45 marching bands from Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri will perform for more than 2,000 students, parents and spectators.
Afternoon field activities at the stadium at Clarinda High School begin at 12:45 p.m. with a flag-raising ceremony by the American Legion Sergy Post No. 98. Clarinda's marching band will showcase its students' talents before the competition begins.
Admission for the field events is $7 for adults and $5 for students. Awards will be presented around 6 p.m.
Local
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Work continues on Essex water project
Scott Stewart
The community of Essex is continuing to work on the site where a new water tower will be located.
The new Essex water tower and the removal of the old water tower are part of a $2.7 million water improvement project for the City of Essex, according to a news release.
Following the installation of casing, a main water main carrier pipe will be installed. The entire project in Essex is expected to be completed in early 2027.
Central Foundations, a subcontractor of Gerard Tank & Steel, has
completed below grade work on the southeast side of Essex, where
the new water tower will be located.
TESS NELSON
On the west side of town, Midwest Augers and McCarthy Trenching
are completing casing installation under Highway 48 and the
railroad tracks.
TESS NELSON
Government-politics
Senate candidate Josh Turek says funding needed to address Iowa cancer crisis
Fern Alling
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Funding — for research and for Medicaid — is key to addressing Iowa’s cancer crisis, Josh Turek, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, said during a roundtable discussion Wednesday in Cedar Rapids.
Turek heard testimonies and fielded policy questions from multiple Iowans — including cancer survivors, caregivers, awareness advocates and researchers — at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s “Cancer Coffee Chat” at the Shuttleworth & Ingersoll law office.
Turek began his remarks by highlighting his personal experience with cancer. His grandfather died of pancreatic cancer, which Turek described as “one of the most horrific experiences that I’ve ever seen someone go through.” His father was exposed to Agent Orange while in Vietnam, which led to throat and skin cancers, Turek said.
Josh Turek, the Democratic candidate for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate
seat, talks with Traci McCaulsand of Waterloo during a Wednesday,
Aug. 26, 2026, roundtable discussion with cancer survivors and
advocates at Shuttleworth & Ingersoll in Cedar Rapids.
Savannah Blake, Cedar Rapids Gazette
Most recently, Turek’s sister was diagnosed with breast cancer around the time he launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate. Turek said her private insurance denied her claim for a PET scan to see if the cancer had spread because her cancer was at Stage 2, not Stage 3 or Stage 4.
“I would love to see guardrails on insurance companies because I believe that doctors should be deciding care, not insurance companies,” Turek said.
In Wednesday’s conversation, Turek focused primarily on improving healthcare access in the state, particularly through Medicaid reform, as a means of tackling the cancer crisis. These strategies included:
Creating a public option insurance option so no one is forced into financial hardship or to delay care because of a lack of funds.
Improving Iowa’s Medicaid reimbursement rates to prevent physicians from leaving the state over low pay and keeping rural hospitals, which serve a large volume of Medicaid patients, open.
Cutting away bureaucracy that denies care, like his sister’s situation, or privatized Medicaid that Turek tied to longer waitlists and delays in approving mobility devices.
Cancer survivor Lori Johnson, left, of Waterloo asks U.S. Senate
candidate Josh Turek talks a question during a Wednesday, Aug. 26,
2026, roundtable on cancer at the Shuttleworth & Ingersoll law
office in Cedar Rapids.
Savannah Blake, Cedar Rapids Gazette
In response to questions from roundtable participants, Turek said he supported increased funding for cancer research.
Turek is a member of the Iowa House Health and Human Services Appropriations subcommittee, and said he would demand to be on the health committee in the U.S. Senate because health is the area he cares about most.
Turek said Iowa’s cancer crisis was “largely due” to its water crisis and called for “genuine prevention” by funding water quality sensors, creating more infrastructure to remove nitrate from water, and further incentivizing farmers to plant cover crops and not apply fertilizer to their fields during winter months.
“We have, in this state uniquely, a water quality crisis that is leading to a unique Iowa cancer crisis,” Turek said. “I want to address both of those because you can't address one without the other.”
Turek pointed to his work in the Iowa Legislature to send $600,000 back to the University of Iowa to fund its water sensor system, which tracks water quality.
Turek said he supported a recently passed state tax on vape products and nicotine pouches. Proceeds from the tax will fund $3 million in pediatric cancer research at the University of Iowa. Though his name was not attached to the bill, he said the bipartisan work he did to move it along was more important than receiving credit.
Ultimately, Turek said, fixing healthcare in Iowa is about funding and priorities.
“Here we are spending a billion dollars a day in (the Iran war), and we're being told that we don't have money for healthcare,” Turek said. “To make 110,000 Iowans lose their healthcare (from Medicaid work requirements) and thousands more their basic food assistance just to give tax credits to billionaires — I think that’s fundamentally wrong.”
Turek is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson.
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Shenandoah musician among finalists at Iowa Rocks Talent Youth Competition
Scott Stewart
Twelve finalists, including a musician from Shenandoah, will compete in a live contest for the 12th annual Iowa Rocks Talent Youth Competition, an annual showcase of Iowa's emerging young musical talent.
The Iowa Rock'n Roll Music Association announced the lineup for the stage Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Pearson Lakes Art Center at 2201 U.S. Highway 71 in Okoboji, which will be held in conjunction with the association's annual hall of fame induction weekend.
Charlie Gandy of Shenandoah will join other individual artists Ralph Dittman of Sioux City, Haedden Slawson of Spencer, Colton Baych of Springville, Cydni Slycord of Waukee, Raunak Epping of Bettendorf and Rowan Fisher of Davenport. Youth bands Probable Cause of Burlington, The Denim of Perry, Day On Venus of North Liberty, Brothers Under Tough Times of Craig, 7Ark of Donahue will also perform in the contest.
The competition finalists will compete before a panel of judges representing diverse professional music backgrounds. Individual performs may be recognized for best vocalist, best instrumentalist and best in stage presence. Winners will receive recording opportunities.
“The amount of talent we see on that stage every year continues to blow my mind," Janice Hill, Iowa Rocks Talent event coordinator, said in a news release. "These young musicians are accomplishing more with music as teens than many of us in my generation ever dreamed of achieving at such a young age. It is incredibly exciting to watch them develop their talent and find their own musical voices.”
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James Uhlenkamp announces campaign for Iowa Senate District 9 seat
Scott Stewart
James Uhlenkamp is running for the open seat representing District 9 in the Iowa Senate.
The former Mount Ayr school board vice president announced Tuesday he would seek the seat currently held by Republican Tom Shipley, who is not seeking re-election, according to a news release. District 9 spans Page, Taylor, Ringgold, Adams, Montgomery and Cass counties as well as half of Union County.
Uhlenkamp
Uhlenkamp, a Democrat, would face Republican Steve Baier in the Nov. 3 general election. No Democrat ran for the seat in the June primary.
According to a campaign news release, Uhlenkamp attended Carroll High School and the University of Iowa before moving with his wife Jane to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas for five years, where he taught English from 1986 to 1991. They returned to iowa after the birth of their first daughter, settling in Mount Ayr.
Uhlenkamp taught high school English and German at Mount Ayr and coached wrestling. He earned a master's degree in education from Viterbo College in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
"Uhlenkamp was one of the first high school teachers to teach online, offering German to Iowa high schools from Strawberry Point to Underwood and Clarinda," according to the release.
He taught English for three years at Southwestern Community College in Creston and then worked for several small colleges. He earned a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
In addition to the school board, he served three stints on the Mount Ayr Public Library's board and has served on the community's teen center board.
He announced his decision to stand for election by citing the consolidation of political decision-making in Des Moines over the past decade of Republican control of the executive and legislative branches.
"Centralized planning and control rarely succeed," Uhlenkamp said in the release. "I will work in the Iowa Senate to return Iowa to a simple governing principle: laws must address clear and serious problems. Most solutions should originate at the city or county level, rather than statewide. What works in Des Moines may not fit the needs of Atlantic, Creston, or Clarinda."
Uhlenkamp also cited the Students First Education Savings Accounts program, which allows families to direct tax dollars to pay for enrollment in private schools.
"Most of all, no public money should be given to anyone without a clear way to measure the direct benefits to the people of Iowa,” he said in the release. “We need to return government to a respect for the working people of Iowa and regain control of our fiscal house.”
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