The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors says that Tuesday will be the day where they vote to decide whether or not to grant the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Department funds to hire an additional deputy in the upcoming fiscal year. Sheriff Marty Arganbright says the issue is that of public safety, and that it’s an investment worth making for the safety of Guthrie County’s nearly eleven thousand residents. A counterpoint raised at the meetings is that along with the salary and benefits of a new deputy, already a substantial cost, other expenses could have to be incurred, such as an eventual additional patrol vehicle, additional fuel, additional ammo, and additional funding for the County Attorney’s budget; the County Attorney’s office processes and charges all of the arrests made by sheriff’s deputies.

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Last weekend’s snowstorm caused a delay in the Guthrie County Cattlemen’s banquet, but the event will go on this weekend with the same agenda. The event is set to begin at 5:30 pm Saturday night at Lake Panorama Conference Center. Activities include dinner, a trophy auction and door prizes. Live music will be provided by the Ghost Riders. Tickets will be available at the door on Saturday night, or you can buy them in advance from any Guthrie County Cattlemen director.

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Libraries around Guthrie County were looking for a 5% increase in funding for the upcoming fiscal year. Yesterday, the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors voted to give them a 1.5% increase instead, and Stuart’s head librarian Sandy Pollard said she’s happy to receive that. “The Board of Supervisors is very good to us. If you look at other counties in the state, they do not help out libraries nearly as much as Guthrie County.”

Pollard says that in addition to government funding, the library has to do a lot of their own fundraising such as holding book sales in order to operate most effectively.

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A professional wrestling event along the same lines of WWE wrestling is coming to Stuart next month. According to their website, 3XWrestling is a wrestling company based out of central Iowa that holds family-friendly wrestling events around the state. On March 14th they’ll hold an event at West Central Valley High School called “Inferno”, with the goal of raising money for the Dexter city park’s bathroom renovations. The event will feature a couple of local wrestlers; Ray Stryker, a West Central Valley graduate, and Levi McDaniel, of Earlham. West Central Valley’s head boys basketball coach Nick Peasley will make a cameo appearance during the event. We’ll have more information for you as the event gets closer.

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Chad Elliott has accomplished a lot since graduating from Guthrie Center High School in 1992. He is now an award-winning songwriter who has performed all over the world, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Later this month, Elliott will perform a free live concert inside of the high school’s auditorium, and both students and parents are invited. Additionally, Elliott will be signing copies of his new book, Wilderman’s Treetop Tales. The event will take place the night of Tuesday February 17th at 7 pm at the Guthrie Center High School auditorium.