One man’s trash is another man’s treasure — just look at the Bucket of Junk project in Franklin County.
 

The Montes family is looking for help: Teodoro Montes of Hampton is currently in kidney failure and he’s in need of a living kidney donor with Type O blood.
According to his wife, Marlene, Teodoro has been receiving dialysis on a daily basis for the last year. While the treatments are long and grueling, impacting his quality of life, they assist his kidneys in functioning and keep him alive. Each treatment lasts nine hours.
 

 First Bank Hampton is pleased to announce the promotion of Eric Reicherts to Senior Vice President. In this new role, Eric will continue to focus on Commercial and Agricultural Lending while taking on additional leadership responsibilities within the organization.
 

Tucker McCormick is only 11 years old, but he’s already got big dreams — he wants to buy his own farm someday.
 
Tucker, who’s going into fifth grade at CAL Elementary this coming fall, could be seen selling bags of sweet corn just west of the Latimer-Coulter corner last Friday, raising money for his farm. This was his fifth year doing it. And according to his mom, he’s saved every penny he’s made from his sales.
 

A Latimer man was arrested Monday afternoon, July 21, by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office on allegations of sexual abuse against a teenage girl. Nicholas Franklin Passehl, 32, is facing three felony charges of second degree sexual abuse and a charge of unauthorized possession of an offensive weapon, a class D felony. According to criminal complaints filed by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Passehl's alleged victim was 13.

Hey readers, I’d like to preface by saying that in this week’s column, I aim to address the impact of international exchange, and how truly tiny such person-to-person ties can make this great green Earth.

The board members of the Hampton Youth Soccer League were disappointed to learn that the customized goals and nets they recently purchased have been damaged.
Earlier this year, the board raised $6,500 to purchase new goals and nets. Two out of the eight nets, which can be found at East Park, were damaged. The damaged nets were for sixth to eighth graders and third to fifth graders. Both nets now have large holes in them.

The team at the Extension and Outreach Office in Franklin County is proud to share that their community garden is now flourishing, thanks to their newly-installed fence.
They partnered up with Sergio Dominguez of Dominguez Remodeling, who finished up the fence earlier this month. Lili Velasco with the Extension Office said that they needed a way to safeguard the produce this summer, as much of it was eaten by deer last summer.

Hampton once again has a skateboard park, located where the Rolling Prairie Trail intersects with First Street NE. From the Aquatic Center, head north to the trail, turn right, and walk about two blocks — the skateboard park will be on your left.
 

Hampton Postmaster Mike Arndorfer shared his concerns about a dog bite during the public comment portion of the July 24 city council meeting.

The dog had bit one of his postal carriers on Wednesday afternoon, July 23, at 702 7th Avenue SW.

Chris and Stephanie Andersen with Barn Door Market are pleased with how their first market went. 
 
Held at the Franklin County Fairgrounds from Friday to Sunday, the three-day market featured a variety of vendors, selling everything from popcorn to keychains. In total, they hosted 86 vendors. 
 

The folks at the St. Paul Lutheran Church and School in Latimer have a couple of important birthdays coming up. Next month, they will celebrate 100 years of the school being open — and 130 years since the church first opened up.
 

A Hampton resident was killed after driving into a grain elevator in Dows around 1 a.m. Sunday morning, according to the Iowa State Patrol.
The driver, Ty Borcherding, 35, was alone at the time of the accident. Nobody else was injured.

Crisis Intervention Service Director Mary J. Ingham and her team hosted a resource forum at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, July 21.
Attendees learned about everything from preventative strategies and notification services to statewide victim assistance resources and other support for those impacted by violent crime. 

A Hampton man will learn his fate coming up after being found guilty of sexually abusing children at a daycare.

Benjamin Harold Green, 28, has been found guilty of abusing three children at various times from 2014 up to 2020 while working at a Hampton-area daycare.

He was charged with three Class “B” felonies, all for sexual abuse in the second degree, with each count theoretically carrying up to 25 years in prison.