Doug Lindner

SOLON– It’s a move that could save the school district up to $250,000.
At a special meeting Wednesday, June 29, the members of the Solon Community School District’s Board of Education voted to terminate its contract for construction manager services with Story Construction of Ames.
Instead, the district will move forward with its middle school and auditorium projects utilizing the Iowa City firm McComas-Lacina Construction.
According to Solon Superintendent Davis Eidahl, it’s a change the district has been considering for months.

According to author Bill Bryson in his wonderful book “A Sunburned Country,” Australia has more things that will kill you than anywhere else.
“Of the world’s 10 most poisonous snakes, all are Australian,” Bryson wrote. “This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip.”
So it’s a good thing that humans in Australia can no longer be counted as a mortal threat, at least when it comes to mass murder.

SOLON– On the surface, it will appear as if the Solon volunteer fire department is operating as usual.
Behind the scenes, however, there will have been some major changes.
At the conclusion of a special city council meeting June 6, representatives of the City of Solon and of Big Grove, Newport and Cedar townships signed a charter agreement to create a new fire service agency.
The Solon Tri-Township Emergency Response Agency will in turn establish, by resolution, the Solon Tri-Township Fire Department and oversee its operation beginning July 1.

SOLON– Randy Walter is happy to be back open.
The co-owner of the RJ’Z Express convenience store waited five months to reopen his new building, and now it’s here.
Walter and his partners John Himmelsbach and Tom Zumsande made the decision to tear down the existing building in order to expand its retail and food opportunities.
“Being locally owned, we wanted to serve the Solon community better,” Walter said.
The business closed at the end of November and the walls came down in December.

SOLON– Imagine you’re in the heart of Iowa City on a busy day– cars, people and concrete.
Now think about being 7 miles away, standing in the middle of the Bur Oak Land Trust’s Big Grove Preserve, a centuries-old forest populated with tall hardwoods– calm and quiet, broken only by the occasional songbird.