HAWARDEN — Hawarden Regional Healthcare (HRH) has announced it will enter into a Partner in Health agreement with Avera effective Jan. 1, 2026.

By Kim Fickett

The Akron Area Chamber of Commerce has announced it will hold its annual banquet on Saturday, Jan. 17.

By Kim Fickett

Those traveling through Hinton now have a new place to stop and grab a delicious, energizing, and nutritious drink.

The Akron Hometowner 

By Sabrina Escalante 

Lisa Hodgson (Welch), a 1999 Akron-Westfield graduate, was elected and sworn in as the mayor of Alcester on Dec. 4, 2024. 

The Akron Hometowner 

By Sabrina Escalante 

The Akron Hometowner 

By Sabrina Escalante 

A house fire broke out on the evening of Christmas in Le Mars. The house fire was reported via phone call at 8:47 p.m. at 412 5th Ave. S.E. 

Editor’s Note:

Over the course of our next three issues, we will be recapping some of the top news stories from 2025. In this week’s edition, we will look at stories from January to April.

By Kim Fickett

January

By Kim Fickett

The Plymouth County Historical Museum is gearing up for its New Year’s Eve Gala from 7-11 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 31, at “Old Central” Gym.

The gala, which will officially launch the museum’s 2026 capital campaign, will be the first time the museum has held an event such as this since 2009. 

By Kim Fickett

As call volumes increase and major operating expenses continue to rise, the Plymouth County EMS Association is making its annual appeal to the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors to help curb some of those rising costs.

By Kim Fickett

A new theater space is welcoming guests from near and far who visit Le Mars to attend a Browns musical performance.

By Kim Fickett

After being on the Iowa DOT’s monitoring list for some time, the stretch of Highway 75 that encompasses the intersections of County Roads C-70 and C-80, has seen a reduction to its speed limit.

A new administrator has been named at the Akron Care Center.

Tara Netley, accepted the position during the ACC Board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Netley was serving as the provisional administrator until that point.

The Akron Hometowner 

By Sabrina Escalante 

The Akron-Westfield 9th grade English class traveled to The Gospel Mission in Sioux City on Dec. 2 and 3 to take part in a service day in connection to reading Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carol.

The Akron Hometowner 

By Sabrina Escalante

Everyone knows you cannot go wrong with baking cookies for Santa, but what cookies does he prefer? Not to worry, our writers were sure to ask along with other questions in their exclusive interview with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. 

The truth is that Santa enjoys all cookies. 

The Akron Community Foundation (ACF), an affiliate of the Siouxland Community Foundation, is accepting grant applications. Grant applicants must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, or a unit of local government and the grant request must have charitable intent and serve the Akron community.