By JEFF LAMPE Weekly Post Staff Writer While changes in sports schedules caused by COVID-19 led to a boost in turnout for some sports last fall, many football coaches have seen just the opposite heading into Friday’s start to this unique spring season. Many teams report numbers are down from their usual levels in the fall. Particularly hard hit is Farmington, where Coach Toby Vallas said COVID “ravaged” his team’s turnout. “We lost a lot of kids to ineligibility and COVID – more from the economic part than the medical part. We have some kids that have had to work for…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Prairie News TOULON – With four starters back, the Stark County volleyball team was hoping to show real improvement from a 9-22 finish one year ago. So far so good after one match. In Monday’s season opener, the Lady Rebels topped Galva at home, 25-11, 25-10, behind big nights by some of those seniors. Middle hitter Kelsey Berchtold had three digs and three kills for Stark County, which also got five digs and two kills from 5-foot-10 senior middle hitter Marley Hillan and three blocks and two kills from senior setter/outside hitter Olivia Hopp. Berchtold and…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Prairie News If ever there was a football season to be one year away from fully loaded, this is it. That’s good news for fans of Stark County football, as the Rebels will field a much more competitive team, but are still likely a season away from reaching their full potential. Even so, the six sophomores who started last year are ready to give out more lumps than they take when the season opens Saturday in Wyoming at Gary Johnson Field against Ridgewood at 1 p.m. Ridgewood defeated Stark County 22-14 en route to a 6-4…

Incidents & Accidents Stark County 3-5-21– Kyle J. Jones, 51, Toulon, was cited for disobeying a stop sign and driving without vehicle insurance. He was released with a notice to appear. 3-7-21– Wayne B. Dullin, 57, Toulon, was ticketed for disobeying a controlled access road. He was given a scheduled court date to appear. 3-9-21 – Shawn A. Slightom, 31, Toulon, was charged with two counts of resisting and or obstructing a peace officer. He remains in custody at the Stark County Jail. Galva Report Officer dispatched: 3-8-21 – to meet with a sex offender who moved to Galva and…

Barn fires spread to Hanna City home HANNA CITY – Logan-Trivoli Firefighters responded to a reported barn fire at 14326 W Smithville Road in rural Hanna City on March 9 at 3:17 p.m. Upon arrival, firefighters found three barns on fire and the house catching fire. The owner of the property is Scott Turbett. Logan-Trivoli Fire Assistant Fire Chief Chris Matzke said firefighters fought winds gusting in excess of 30 mph to extinguish the exterior of the house and the three barns. Three additional buildings were smoking and those were extinguished also. Three barns ended up being destroyed. Three buildings were…

Brimfield girls ranked 4th By VICTOR LAMPE For The Weekly Post The Brimfield girls basketball team is making the most out of an unpredictable season, going 9-0 so far and earning a No. 4 ranking in the state according to the latest Associated Press poll. The Lady Indians topped Canton on Feb. 17, 44-29, with Haley Wallace leading with 16 points followed by Ella Lune with 10. Brimfield then beat Farmington last Thursday on its Senior Night, 57-46. “Farmington shot really well, but we put on our press with four minutes to go and created some distance,” Coach Maribeth Dura said,…

By CAROL TOWNSEND For The Prairie News GALVA – The Galva City Council unanimously voted to appropriate $217,000 for the 2021 street program Monday night in a busy meeting. Engineer Greg Peterson presented the program to the council and said most of the street work will be in the southwest part of the city, on James B. Young Road and in several other small areas. It was also reported that seven Galva residents had their water shut off Monday for non-payment. Six of the seven paid and the water was turned back on according to Mayor Rich Volkert. Sharon Milliken was…

By JOHN A. BALLENTINE For The Prairie News WYOMING – The Stark County Board of Education voted to hire Megan McGann the new Stark County Junior/Senior High School principal under a three-year contract from 2021-22 through the 2023-24 school years. There were 14 applicants for the principal’s position. On Feb 15, that field was narrowed down to four candidates and from those four two advanced to the Feb. 20 final round. McGann has 11 years of experience in education, with her first two years in Ozark, Mo. She spent six years as a special education teacher in the Peoria School District…

By JOHN A. BALLENTINE For The Weekly Post BRIMFIELD – The sports cooperative agreement with Elmwood took up nearly 30 minutes of discussion at a Feb. 17 school board meeting before the board approved extending the agreement through the 2022-23 school year. The board discussed financial costs of adding activities in case the coop dissolved and noted there are already questions about state funding and extra COVID-19 costs. Sports included in the coop are football, cross-country, track, football cheerleading, softball and baseball. The board heard that Brimfield doesn’t have the ability to start its own football program, which was estimated to…

Day 21 of the latest Lampe incubation effort arrived Saturday, and there was not a single chick in the incubator. Just a bunch of eggs that looked the same as they had when they went into the comfy little styrofoam home. It took some effort, but I stifled the slight sense of panic deep in my gut, since Day 21 is supposed to be when hatching starts. Fortunately, this was not my first effort to incubate eggs. Once upon a time, we hatched things regularly, once even baby snakes laid by our office mascot, Milky II (the mean one who…