Latest news with #WebsterTheater
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Experience the ‘dark side of the bloom' when corpse flower named Stink Floyd blooms at Reiman Gardens
AMES, Iowa — Reiman Gardens in Ames is inviting the public to experience the 'dark side of the bloom' when their corpse flower named Stink Floyd blooms in just a couple of weeks. The Amorphophallus titanum, commonly known as the corpse flower, is the largest unbranched inflorescence in the plant kingdom — which means it's the largest plant with a group of flowers growing from one main stem. The corpse flower is also often described as one of the smelliest plants, as when it's in bloom it emits a strong odor akin to rotting flesh. Investigation underway into small airplane crash in Dallas County In a post on Facebook, the Reiman Gardens announced that staff are on 'bloom watch' as their 10-foot-tall corpse flower is getting ready to bloom. Over the next two weeks or so the Reiman Gardens will be posting updates about the plant on social media. Corpse flowers don't have an annual blooming cycle, and their blooms can often be unpredictable, blooming roughly every five to ten years. When a corpse flower blooms it only lasts for about 24 to 36 hours. On July 25, 2017, a corpse flower at the Des Moines Botanical Garden bloomed. Over 12,000 people visited the botanical garden to see the corpse flower from July 13-31, with over 4,600 visiting on the day the plant finally bloomed. Iowa News: Experience the 'dark side of the bloom' when corpse flower named Stink Floyd blooms at Reiman Gardens Investigation underway into small airplane crash in Dallas County Scholastic Spotlight: U.S. Academic Decathlon & I-35 yearbook goals Community helps save historic Webster Theater again Trone Garriott running for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Community helps save historic Webster Theater again
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa — The Webster Theater in Hamilton County welcomed audiences back last week for the first time in 18 months after a fire next door caused extensive damage. Since 1906, the historic theater has been a staple in Webster City's downtown square, and the community has shown its support many times. In the early 2010s, a difficult economy plagued Webster City. A washing machine factory, Electrolux, closed its doors in 2011 and moved to Mexico, taking away 500 jobs in the city. Many local businesses closed shortly after, including the Webster Theater in 2013. However, the public soon rallied behind the theater, proving its importance to the community. Residents created the Help Entertain and Restore Organization, or HERO. The nonprofit's purpose was to reopen the theater and operate it moving forward. Community-backed petition fails to save Insect Zoo from closure Community donations helped save the theater then, and now, over a decade later, the community pulled through yet again for this beloved, historic theater. In November 2023, a fire in Webster City's downtown brought multiple crews to the area. The blaze took place next door to the theater, and it took crews over three hours to extinguish. Extensive damage was left behind, and standing water even flooded the theater floors. HERO's board president, Jeff Pingel, said the restoration process was met with a lot of waiting until they were able to begin. That's why it took 18 months for the curtains to rise again at the theater. Pingel said the total restoration process cost was close to $2 million. While insurance helped, community donations are the reason they were able to reopen. The theater's front entrance still has a poster with QR codes that link to ways community members can donate to the restoration process. Another banner by the entrance lists the names of people who have contributed to saving the theater. At the bottom, it reads, 'Thank you to all the stars who've contributed to the Webster Theater! Without you, we'd be closed.' HERO wasn't sure how collecting donations again would turn out since they had asked for the community's help only one decade before, but they were overwhelmed by the outcome. 'The world's changed a lot in a decade, streaming [has] really become a thing and you kind of wonder, would people still want to donate and to help out, and we've come to find out real fast that people want it back,' said Pingel. The theater's soft launch was held on Thursday, May 1st, with a showing of Thunderbolts by Marvel Studios. Of their 100 seats, 52 were occupied. Audiences also came out to the theater throughout the weekend. Pingel said many were shocked by the theater's upgrades. While the building's structure is the same, there are many changes. Upon entering the theater, there is a new color scheme and wall art. A design by the entrance highlights photos from the theater's history, connecting all different generations of movie-goers. There's also a new light-up popcorn sign above their concessions stand. HERO also wrote the names of different donors on stars and posted them along the doorways. 'It looks dramatically different, but still comfortably the same,' said Pingel about the entrance. 'But then when you walk into the auditorium, that's like 100-percent different than what it was like in the past.' There's a new walkway in the auditorium, and the seats no longer split down the center. The seats were also upgraded to heated, reclining seats. There's also a new screen in the theater that the board is calling one of the largest single screens in North Central Iowa. Diesel fuel spill reaches Little Walnut Creek near Waukee While plenty has changed, some has stayed the same, including their popcorn, which Pingel said is the best in Iowa because of their secret recipe. They also kept their family-friendly prices. 2D tickets for adults cost $5 and children's tickets cost $4. The price for all of the concessions is between $2.50 and $5.50, and there's even free small popcorn provided every Wednesday. The Webster Theater has a screening every night at 7 p.m., but according to its website, some movie times are subject to change. They have additional screenings at 2 p.m. on Sundays and 1 p.m. on Thursdays. New movies start screening every Friday. There will be a reopening celebration for the community on Friday, May 23rd, with the screening of Disney's Lilo and Stitch. Scholastic Spotlight: U.S. Academic Decathlon & I-35 yearbook goals Community helps save historic Webster Theater again Trone Garriott running for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District Creston PD search for driver involved in hit-and-run on Saturday Caitlin Clark hits Carver-Hawkeye Arena again, fans turn out to see Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Valley Junction opens up farmers market season
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — The farmers market season is officially underway with Valley Junction hosting their first event Thursday night. The farmers market closed down 5th Street in the Valley Junction area with over 90 vendors filling the road. Historic Webster Theater damaged in fire reopens over 1 year later This included Brian Bahr from V&B Farms who makes homemade ice cream with farm machinery. This is his second year back. There were some new additions like West Homestead's Healing Herd with baby goats in the northern kids area. Live music was also a hit starting at 6:30 p.m. with Megaballad performing at Railroad Park. Valley Junction will hold a farmers market every Thursday from May to September from 4-8 p.m. Metro News: Valley Junction opens up farmers market season Bombers golf facility struggling to secure funding granted another extension by city MercyOne and Bras for the Cause team up for yearly Muffins and Mammograms initiative Walk-ins held at several Des Moines schools to protest public education cuts Metro man plays it cool as he surprises wife with $100,000 scratch-off win Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Reynolds, Speaker Grassley at odds in state budget proposals
DES MOINES, Iowa — There is one day left in the legislative session, but there was no flurry of activity in the Iowa Capitol building as lawmakers wait until an agreed upon budget. The Iowa Republican controlled legislature will miss the deadline to end the session, the 110th day and will now work in overtime with a party divided over the state budget. With the budget expected to be just shy of $9.5 billion dollars, $36 million is holding up the final gavel out of the year. Governor Kim Reynolds on Monday announced that her and the Iowa Senate were in an agreement on the FY 26 budget, sitting at $9.417 billion. House Republicans are at $9.453 billion, but Reynolds wants the House Republican caucus to match the lower budget because of state tax cuts and federal policy. Webster Theater reopens over 1 year after fire 'I believe that this tariff, the tariff strategy that the President has put in place, I believe it's going to work but it's going to take some time and it's bumpy,' said Governor Reynolds. 'And that could potentially have an impact on our economy. So we need to buckle down and really think about how much and what we're spending on. And so, that's why I ended up aligning with the Senate, because I mean, if we could even get lower, I'd probably go lower.' The Governor added that her initial budget at the beginning of the year was too high for her liking and had operated under the assumption she would come to a lower agreement this year. For House Republicans, the Speaker of the House told reporters on Thursday that a $14 million funding policy is a major sticking point. 'That was included in the original number that was part of the governor's proposed budget. At no point did we think that wasn't going to be something that we were going to be able to find. And I will be honest with you, that's one of the pieces right now that I would say is one of the biggest sticking points. Our caucus feels extremely strong that if we're going to provide that level of support that we did with that bill last year, that we're not going to go back and just cut that and leave schools in a situation to find the difference. Those are more like Governor Culver practices that we saw and we don't want to see that happening on something like that,' said Speaker Grassley (R), District 57 from New Hartford. That $14 million for paraeducator funding, which is what Grassley is referring too, was in Reynolds' budget at the beginning of the year. That was approved by lawmakers last year, as a part of negotiations involving changes to the state's area education agencies. Reynolds dropped that $14 million in that agreement with Iowa Senate Republicans, but Grassley is holding strong on it as lawmakers committed to it last year. Iowa News: Valley Junction opens up farmers market season Bombers golf facility struggling to secure funding granted another extension by city MercyOne and Bras for the Cause team up for yearly Muffins and Mammograms initiative Walk-ins held at several Des Moines schools to protest public education cuts Metro man plays it cool as he surprises wife with $100,000 scratch-off win Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Webster Theater reopens over 1 year after fire
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa — The Webster Theater will once again open its doors on Thursday after a fire shut down the theater over a year ago. Delayed Bombers entertainment venue granted eighth extension by City of Johnston In November 2023 a fire broke out at a vacant building along 2nd Street in downtown Webster City. Despite multiple fire crews battling the blaze, several businesses near the vacant building sustained significant damage, including the historic Webster Theater. After the fire, a large restoration project on the theater began, and now — nearly 18 months later — the theater is ready to welcome back movie buffs. According to a post on the theater's Facebook page, the first showing in the revamped space will be Marvel's Thunderbolts at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 1. Iowa News: Gov. Reynolds, Speaker Grassley at odds in state budget proposals Webster Theater reopens over 1 year after fire WHO 13 Farm Report: Thursday, May 1st Metro man plays it cool as he surprises wife with $100,000 scratch-off win Where does Iowa's 'Best Burger' of 2025 hail from? Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
