Looking back at 24 news stories from 2024 appearing pages of The Nonpareil

As 2024 comes to an end, I’d like to invite The Nonpareil’s readers to look back at some of the headlines from the past 12 months. Our communities have faced tragedies and triumphs, and several of the top stories from 2024 herald positive change for the future.

This inventory is not meant to be exhaustive or definitive, especially in its order, but it’s intended to be illustrative of the history and success stories unfolding before our eyes.

Several tornados ripped through the region on Arbor Day, leaving a trail of devastation. The storm decimated Minden, damaging around half the buildings in the community and killing a 63-year-old resident.

The region rallied to provide assistance to those suffering damage from the tornadoes, which also impacted several other areas in southwest Iowa, including Crescent and Council Bluffs. The community has been rebuilding, with the popular Minden Bowl reopening last month and a visioning process underway to guide the longterm restoration of the area.

A transformative gift announced Oct. 2 will be felt in rural communities across Iowa for generations to come. The Charles E. Lakin Foundation will revitalize about 50 communities through $165 million in donations made to establish endowments to pay for projects annually.

The 23 funds will support communities, excluding Council Bluffs, across Pottawattamie, Cass, Fremont, Mills, Montgomery and Page counties. Donna Dostal, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Western Iowa, called it a “true transformation of western Iowa” that “will help jump-start not only economic stability but also other philanthropic investments into those communities.”

Glenwood saw an estimated 25,000 visitors from across the world for the start of The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest multiday bicycle touring event.

Silver City and Red Oak also hosted riders this year. “People love coming through Iowa,” Mills County Supervisor Carol Vinton told The Nonpareil. “We are very friendly and warm.”

Elections have been one of the main stories of the year internationally, and the same was true here in Council Bluffs.

The contests began with the Iowa Republican precinct caucuses on a bitterly cold evening on Jan. 15. Turnout was strong enough at a precinct at Kirn Middle School that there was were shortages of both chairs and ballots. (The Democrats held a caucus that drew about 50 people in Pottawattamie County after they lost their first-in-the-nation status.)

In June, Mary Ann Hanusa defeated incumbent Melvyn Houser as the Republican nominee for the Pottawattamie County Auditor’s Office, a role she comfortably won in the November election.

Then came Nov. 5, where southwest Iowa voters joined the state and nation in backing President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. One noteworthy race, however, is the Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek held onto his seat, despite Democrats failing to realize a “blue dot” in Council Bluffs.

A ground-breaking ceremony Aug. 27 announced the construction of a state-of-the-art behavioral health hospital to serve residents of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska.

The $55 million Jennie Edmundson Hospital Behavioral Health is expected to open with 96 inpatient beds, including 24 reserved for youth, in 2026. The hospital is being built in partnership with Acadia Healthcare.

Following a fire in 2021, Mulholland Grocery in Malvern has returned — with crowds welcoming the store’s return Dec. 20 to the small Mills County community it helps anchor. “It’s been unbelievable,” owner Tom Mulholland told The Nonpareil.

While not as dire as in communities to the north, Council Bluffs saw summer flooding in late June and early July. A neighborhood near the Dodge Riverside Golf Course had nearly 3 feet of water in some parts, and Crossroads Church in Council Bluffs lost its youth ministry building to a sinkhole connected with the flooding.

Following scandal at the state-run Glenwood Resource Center, the institution finally closed its doors on June 30. The City of Glenwood is planning a housing development on the former campus. Meanwhile, disability rights advocates worry graves at the GRC are at risk of being forgotten.

Lewis Central and Underwood both successfully passed school bonds in 2024 after failing to clear a supermajority threshold in last year’s elections. The voters support will mean both districts can move forward with critical infrastructure projects and avoid needing to take dire measures.

Advocates are working to resolve a long dispute over Union Pacific periodically blocking all three rail crossings around an area dubbed the “triangle of death” in Council Bluffs. The residents want 24/7 access to the area from at least one access point.

I joked with Mayor Matt Walsh at a Dec. 11 ground-breaking ceremony for 192 apartment units that he’s giving the same speech over and over — which, to some degree, he is, reflecting a consistent focus City Hall has on addressing the community’s affordable housing shortage.

Shortly after announcing a planned expansion to Oakland and opening a new office in the Omni Centre Business Park, Centro Latino of Iowa suddenly closed on Oct. 12. The nonprofit ran out of funding. “It’s heartbreaking,” board chair Aurora De la Cruz told The Nonpareil.

A study is underway that could pave the way for a future streetcar in Council Bluffs. Most respondents in a survey were generally supportive of the idea, but the proposal isn’t without obstacles — including whether federal funding would be available in a Trump administration.

Google announced an additional $1 billion investment into its Council Bluffs data centers during an event July 2. Joe Kava, vice president of global data centers at Google, said it will make the campus one of the largest data centers in the world.

Council Bluffs high schools removed a total of 81 books to comply with a new state law that went into effect. Removed titles include “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Milk and Honey” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

The Iowa West Foundation has pledged about $9.3 million over three funding cycle announcements this year, including more than $1 million to support rural communities, $1 million for a workforce pipeline program and $1.3 million to support the Green Hills Area Education Agency’s preschool program.

A series this past winter explored the muralists whose work is featured on the First Avenue corridor. Photojournalist Joe Shearer is wrapping up an addition to this series looking at the artists behind two more murals recently added along with seven mini-murals.

The Iowa West Foundation Collaboration Center welcomed Firefly, Together Inc., Iowa Legal Aid and Visiting Nurse Association to new office spaces on the Lakin Human Services Campus during a Sept. 26 ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The summer music scene’s “Midwest Princess” made an appearance Oct. 3 to a sold out crowd of more than 12,000 people at Westfair. The show came after a summer where Roan’s music went viral.

Council Bluffs parks and playgrounds continued to be upgraded, including the opening of a new dog park at Valley View Park, a new disc golf course at Fairmount Park and new playground equipment at Manawa City Park and Peterson Park.

“Historic Buildings of Iowa: Council Bluffs” from Iowa PBS showed off the history of the Historic General Dodge House, Union Pacific Railroad Museum, Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center, Lincoln-Fairview Historic District, Bregant House, Squirrel Cage Jail and Iowa School for the Deaf to a statewide audience.

A monument to public safety was dedicated Dec. 7 by the Carter Lake Volunteer Fire Department. The city also earned recognition from America in Bloom for its community vitality and is transforming a green space by the Carter Lake Community Center.

Middle schoolers in the Council Bluffs Community School District are learning about careers with new hands-on exploratory lab classes that launched this fall. The classes aim to help students take advantage of the district’s Diploma +1 program.

An investigation from the Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team looked into allegations that Donald Studey killed dozens of people before dying in 2013 at age 75 and dumped their bodies in wells and along mushroom trails in Fremont County.