Nice Weather Expected for Today’s BRR Ride
It looks like there is going to be a little less brrr, in terms of shivering cold, for today’s BRR ride.
The Bike Ride to Rippey officially leaves from Perry after a cannon start at 10am. By that time, the fog is expected to clear and partly sunny skies will greet riders, along with temperatures around 40 degrees.
Perry Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bob Wilson says they always cross their fingers for nice weather because it really is the determining factor for some participants.
“It’s so weather related, as most people will know from the history here. We have years where we preregister 300 people and we have years where we preregister 600 people. Right now we’re above average, so we’re kind of cruising and we’re really happy about that. What we hear from everybody is ‘That’s BRR.’ That’s kind of the funny thing here, I’ve been telling people it’s 65 and sunny on BRR day, I haven’t really specified exactly where it’s going to be 65 and sunny but either way it is BRR, it is February in Iowa and we know it’s going to be a fun day no matter what.”
As a comparison, last year for BRR it snowed that morning and temperatures were around 20 degrees. Registration counts in 2014 were around 480 people, which was down about 400 from the year before. However, a volunteer who kept track counted around 900 people biking by.
As a reminder, BRR is the Perry Chamber’s largest fundraiser and sets the tone for programming for the year.
Snowy Start to February in the Raccoon River Valley
It’s no secret that February started off on a cold, wet and white note here in the Raccoon River Valley. So much so that all three of our local weather reporting areas have far exceeded their normal monthly snowfall totals already.
According to the National Weather Service, Perry has received 10.6 inches of snow already this month. That’s more than twice the normal amount received in February of just over five inches. Jefferson saw 9.8 inches of snow this week, or almost 2.5 inches more than their normal monthly total. And a full foot of snow fell in Guthrie Center, also more than twice the normal amount in February of 5.4 inches.
Keep in mind, these totals are just from February 1st through now, so snow received last Saturday is not included.
In terms of precipitation, Perry has also exceeded the normal monthly total. With all the wet snow received this week, 1.21 inches of precipitation was recorded and just 0.8 inch is the normal average for the month. Jefferson has had just under an inch of total precipitation already, compared to the monthly average of 1.05 inches and Guthrie Center shows just a quarter of an inch of precipitation this week, where they usually see just over an inch in February.
Snow Day Make-Ups Announced for Perry Schools
So far this winter, classes in the Perry Community School District have been cancelled twice due to weather. Once the first week in January and again this past Monday.
Superintendent Lynn Ubben says they’ve determined when that missed time will be made up, one happening later this spring and another has been tacked on to the end of the year.
The make-up days are scheduled for Friday, April 3rd and Friday, May 29th.
Senator Chapman in Favor of Stricter Sentences for Domestic Abusers
Governor Terry Branstad wants repeat domestic abusers to face tougher sentences, as outlined in a plan submitted to the state legislature this week.
According to the plan, anyone who is convicted of a third or subsequent domestic abuse offense would be required to serve a mandatory 85 percent of their sentence. In addition, “time served credit” would only be awarded if the abuser is enrolled in a treatment program and GPS tracking would be required for high-risk offenders.
District 10 State Senator Jake Chapman says he supports the stricter sentences for those who commit these “unfortunate crimes”. According to Chapman, last year there was close to 2,500 convictions of domestic assault in Iowa and well over 10 percent of those suspects were charged for the third time.
“The Governor, in his State of the State Address, pointed that out as one of his priorities to increase the minimum mandatory sentence for these habitual offenders. I’m very supportive of that, I think it’s a crime that’s happening far too often here in Iowa and so we need to make sure that those individuals are held accountable for their actions. Part of that is increasing the penalties associated with committing that kind of crime.”
So far the issue has not yet come up for a vote in either the House or Senate.
Instrumental Music Students Preparing for the Perry Band Olympics
High school students from all over the area will gather in Perry later this month for the annual Perry Band Olympics.
Instrumental music teacher Brandon Weeks says as far as he knows, it’s the largest solo and ensemble band contest in the Midwest.
“It’s a giant, giant contest that we host in our building and we invite roughly 1,000 students to come and participate. They play solos and ensembles and they’re judged by an elite class of judges that we bring in every year, so they perform and get some feedback. There’s a ton of schools, this year there’s anywhere between 10 and 12, for example Valley High School, Dowling (Catholic) High School, Urbandale High School, a lot of big schools come to our contest.”
Weeks says his predecessor, Steve Cook did a “phenomenal” job over the last 28 years he’s been there running the contest, so he’s a bit nervous with this being his first run at it, but Cook continues to be there providing support and guidance.
Plus, Weeks says he loves the great opportunities this provides for his students and the school as a whole.
“It’s a phenomenal event just to get the exposure for Perry like that, amongst all these big schools and let them see what Perry really is, different to what maybe their perceptions of Perry is. It’s also a huge fundraiser for us, we make a lot of money off of the contest so it helps us run our band program as well, throughout the year.”
The Perry Band Olympics takes place Saturday, February 21st.