Julia Mericle, The Hawk Eye

Julia Mericle

The Hawk Eye

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Recent:
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Past:
  • The Hawk Eye

Past articles by Julia:

Passports for Purpose members learn through travel

In September 2017, Jodi Zaugg, Kristin Durkee and Nikkita Grimm started Passports for Purpose, a group for local girls ages 15 to 19, with the ultimate → Read More

Teddy Bear Picnic supports sober culture

Tanya Hancock sat in the sun at Crapo Park Sunday afternoon sewing the fluff back inside a teddy bear.Her volunteer work was part of the long-running annual Teddy Bear Picnic coordinated by Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services of Southeast Iowa.In addition to the tradition of the stuffed animal repair station, the event drew about 500 attendees for bounce houses, face painting, lawn games,… → Read More

Designing a learning experience

Eight local high school students took on the roles of civil engineers and architects for the last quarter of the school year, and on Wednesday after school they presented their work to local professionals in those fields.As part of the new Civil Engineering and Architecture course, the students, from West Burlington High School and Burlington High School, imagined they owned the empty 15-acre… → Read More

Sheaffer Pen Museum shuts doors

FORT MADISON — The Sheaffer Pen Museum announced Monday it would close its doors after seven years of business, effectively immediately. According to a press release from the Sheaffer Pen Museum Board of Directors, the closure is due to a lack of financial support. Without the proper funds, the board cannot afford to take care of the museum archives or continue programming and events. “Several… → Read More

David Smith followed his grandfather and father into the rocks and minerals trade

Family vacations were planned around finding good places to search for rocks. → Read More

Smartphone donations sought for Nepal

DONNELLSON — Ernie Schiller will return to Nepal for his fourth mission trip to the country in June, and this time he hopes to bring smartphones. → Read More

'No age limit to success' for former dropouts

WEST BURLINGTON — “To my fellow GED graduates,” began valedictorian Emily Olsen, at Tuesday evening’s high school equivalency graduation at Southeastern Community College.“The fact that you are here today proves that you don’t buy into one of society’s most stagnation-inducing lies— that you only have one chance to do something.”Olsen said many people believe if a young person does not attend or… → Read More

House candidates talk hot topics

KEOKUK — The three candidates for the Iowa House of Representatives in District 83 — Democrats Bob Morawitz and Jeff Kurtz, and Republican Jeffrey Reichman — touched on a wide spectrum of hot button topics in Monday evening’s forum at Keokuk City Hall.Asked whether the state properly funds education, Morawitz and Kurtz both offered a firm “no.” Morawitz said education is his first priority,… → Read More

Burnett to hand off city hall duties

KEOKUK — After about two and a half years on the job, Keokuk City Administrator Aaron Burnett will work his last day June 22 before starting as the Mason City city administrator on June 29.The city hired a search firm to seek candidates to fill Burnett’s position, and will review a list of resumes May 24 to decide who to bring in for interviews. On June 8, Keokuk will host a meet-and-greet event… → Read More

Doors open to homes, histories

MOUNT PLEASANT — Several homes in Mount Pleasant opened their doors to the public Sunday as part of the fourth annual Bricks and Stones Historic House tour.The event pinpoints historic residences and buildings in the city that have a story to tell, said Pat White of the Henry County Heritage Trust.“We try to come up with older homes that we think the public would be interested and curious about… → Read More

Day at the Park encourages activity

Dankwardt Park bustled with activity Thursday evening, with Team Beast’s Day at the Park for Hope Haven clients at the center of it all.Hope Haven clients separated into teams noted by color, and participated in a range of short activities, including giant Jenga, a bags tournament and freeze dance.Cheryl Wright, a board member on Team Beast and also a director at Hope Haven, came up with the… → Read More

Jail contracts still not awarded

MOUNT PLEASANT — Henry County supervisors tabled the awarding of contracts for the construction of the new Henry County law center again at Thursday's meeting, after the agenda item was tabled first at Tuesday’s meeting.“We are not awarding the construction contracts because of litigation,” said Henry County Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Moeller. “We are working on our end of that.”The… → Read More

Burlington students learn value of community service

Rather than sitting in class Wednesday morning, Burlington High School freshman Drake Durst knelt at South Hill Park digging a cracked brick out of the → Read More

FM to begin new trash cart program

FORT MADISON — Fort Madison will soon begin a new citywide solid waste cart program.Laura Liegois, a consultant with Municipal Connections, held a public meeting Monday at Fort Madison City Hall to explain the details of the program and answer residents’ questions. She was met with a range of response, from anger and hesitation to acceptance and excitement.Two additional public meetings will be… → Read More

A timeline from Murray Iron Works to Siemens

Siemens began preparations Monday to close it’s Burlington facility, which began doing business 148 years ago this month as Murray Iron Works. It's long story is told in the files of the Burlington Public Library. Sam R. Bartlett, Francis Howland and C.L. Rice, who served as the company’s first president, incorporated the iron and brass foundry in 1870. According to an article in The Hawk Eye,… → Read More

Geode campground renovations begin

DANVILLE — The campgrounds at Geode State Park will remain closed this summer for renovations and are set to reopen with a variety of brand new amenities in the summer of 2019.Fye Excavating of Sperry will complete the project on a budget of $872,809.Work started in late March with the removal of 63 trees from the campground area. Park Manager Ulf Konig said a pest called the emerald ash borer… → Read More

Bids come in low for new Henry County jail

MOUNT PLEASANT — Bids for work on the new Henry County Law Center have comein lower than expected.John Hansen, president of Midwest Construction Consultants and project manager of the new jail, sat behind a stack of sealed envelopes Tuesday in the conference room at the Henry County Courthouse and read each bid aloud to the Henry County supervisors, auditor, sheriff and several representatives… → Read More

Recent tours push historic prison in Fort Madison closer to structure report

FORT MADISON — After a third round of tours at the Historic Iowa State Penitentiary, funds for a historic structures report is about $50,000, said ISP Executive Officer Rebecca Bowker.That’s not counting several thousand dollars tied up in pre-purchased souvenirs.About 1,265 people purchased tickets online prior to the tours April 14 and 15, and about 206 more purchased tickets at the door.… → Read More

Green's star keeps rising at NASA

His love of astronomy first flourished in Don Vinson’s chemistry class at Burlington High School, but now Burlington native Jim Green can call himself the chief scientist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.Green began working at NASA in 1980, after he graduated from the University of Iowa with a Ph.D. in space physics. He has held several positions in the years since then,… → Read More

Simulation demonstrates plight of refugees fleeing to safety

Iowa Wesleyan University's event was organized to help local groups aiding local immigrants. → Read More