Arlene Alley

Arlene Alley, 95, of Vinton and formerly of Hawkeye, died Saturday, February 23, 2019, at the Vinton Lutheran Home. 

  Funeral services were held at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 26, 2019, at the United Methodist Church in Hawkeye with Mona Christie, Lay Servant, officiating. Visitation will precede the service at the church on Tuesday beginning at 3:00 p.m. Friends and family were invited to join in a meal following the service.  Inurnment will be held at Dunham Grove Cemetery, rural Randalia, at a later date. Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Hawkeye is assisting the family. Online condolences may be left at www.beckermilnesrettig.com.

Neva Jaster

Neva Mae Jaster, 97, of Ossian, Iowa died Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019 at Ossian Senior Hospice, Ossian, Iowa. She was born May 11, 1921 to Bernard and Edna (Hein) Waters at home in Clayton County. Neva attended country school near Postville, Iowa, graduated from Postville High School, earned her teaching certificate and began teaching country school until she was married.

When Lisa Eberhart was about to head back to work after having lunch at home, she discovered her clock and slid off the wall. Upon further investigation she noticed a crack in the wall, a bowed out window, and insulation that had fallen out, along with the fact that her home’s roof had collapsed due to heavy snow.  (Zak Kriener Photo)

Roof collapse displaces WU residents

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

Heavy snow caused a roof to collapse on Friday morning, Feb. 22, at 101 Carpenter Street in West Union.

Lisa Eberhart came home for lunch and just before she was going to go back to work, she noticed that her clock had slid off the wall. This is when she discovered that something wasn’t quite right with her home. 

Driving a snowplow is a thankless, dangerous job, but someone has to do it. It isn’t easy trying to figure out where the road is on a snow covered gravel or blacktop, especially when visibility is low due to continued snowfall. Dan Woods was busy clearing snow from Ivy Road in rural Fayette during his first round in the snowplow on the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 20, after four inches of snow had blanketed the West Union area. Woods wants to remind people not to follow closely behind a snowplow, as it is easy for a car to get lost in the plow’s blind spot. (Chris DeBack photo) 

Keeping travelers safe: one road at a time

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

It’s a thankless job. It’s a dangerous job, but someone has to do it. 

Every winter, city, county, and state employees put their lives on the line when they step into their trucks to plow snow so that the traveling public has clear roads to drive on. 

Fayette County Newspapers spent an hour riding with Fayette County employee Dan Woods of West Union on Wednesday morning, Feb. 20, to see what it takes to clear a roadway after approximately four inches of snow blanketed the area overnight and more continued to fall. 

On this particular morning, Woods was jumping into his county snowplow at 7 a.m. to start his first round on the roads. He noted that his start time all depends on the weather, as his day could start as early as 5 a.m. if the snow had quit by then.