Doug Lindner

SOLON– Public Works Director Scott Kleppe had about a half hour warning.
But even then, the alert was for a line of severe thunderstorms producing winds up to 70 miles per hour (mph).
It was about noon and his staff just went home for lunch.
Kleppe contacted Central Cable, the contractor for South Slope Communication Cooperative’s fiber overbuild, and provided a warning for high winds.
By the time he finished a quick lunch, the storm arrived.
The city has no instruments to measure wind speed.

SOLON– It’s been a long time since Solon had a hotel.
One is potentially in the works as Solon City Council members approved a new site plan for Auditorium Lofts & Commons at an Aug. 5 meeting.
Prairie Equity Group of Iowa City has proposed to renovate the 1915 former St. Mary auditorium at the corner of Dubuque and Short Streets into a mix of residential and commercial uses, including “The Literary Hotel,” a collection of 11 guest rooms on the second floor.

NORTH LIBERTY– “I feel like I’m home,” Dr. Trish Schminke said.
Schminke, 43, obtained her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Iowa (UI) earlier this year and returned in July as a dentist with Design Dental in North Liberty, where she started as a hygienist in 2002.
“It feels even better than I thought it would,” she noted happily.
But it took the 1995 Linn-Mar graduate some time to find her calling.
A native of Marion, she initially attended the UI on a pre-med track.

SOLON– It will be mid-August before the intersection of Highway 1 and 5th Street opens back up completely.
Public Works Director Scott Kleppe reported contractors for a signalization project were scheduled to switch to the west side of the intersection July 27, with work to be wrapped on Friday, Aug. 14.
A second phase of the project, the installation of the signals, is not expected until October, Kleppe said.
Solon City Council members questioned the project’s timeline at a July 15 meeting, and Kleppe clarified the schedule July 23.

TIFFIN– It was a pretty deep hole.
Solon’s varsity baseball squad fell behind by seven runs in the first inning of a Class 3A substate semifinal in Tiffin July 20 against Clear Creek Amana (CCA).
The Spartans roared back with their own big inning, but fell a run shy of extending the season with an 8-7 loss.
“It was not the start we envisioned, but one thing we really stressed going into the postseason was dealing with adversity,” noted Solon Head Baseball Coach Keith McSweeney. “I thought our guys fought through it and got back into the game as a result of their mental toughness.”