Home Care In Montezuma, IN

Jury trials resumed earlier this week in both district and county courts in the 22nd Judicial District, which includes Montezuma and Dolores counties.

The pandemic forced a near-total suspension of jury trials in the district and in Colorado through orders from former Colorado Supreme Chief Justice Nathan B. Coats and 22nd Judicial District Chief Judge Douglas Walker.

With vaccines becoming more widespread, Walker adopted a plan this month to resume in-person jury trials with added safety protocols.

The potential jurors go through a health screening, are required to wear masks, and are kept separated. During jury selection the jury pool, which can reach more than 100 people, are divided in different rooms with a video feed of the jury selection process.

Trials can be watched by the public via a live feed at Montezuma County Court webpage. The first trial since March 2020 was held this week.

The selected six-person or 12-person jury is spread out in the courtroom during the case, rather than all in the jury box. During the trial, printed copies of evidence must be shown electronically, rather than passed around to jurors. Witnesses testify in a box surrounded by Plexiglas, and the number of lawyers allowed for each side is limited.

Hundreds of cases are set for trial every year, and the pandemic court closure led to a backlog and “very full dockets” for the six prosecutors in the district attorney’s office, said Assistant DA Will Furse.

“It is a lot, but not insurmountable,” he said, of the caseloads. “We have been able to litigate and resolve cases throughout the pandemic.”

In a typical year, about 12 cases, about one per month, proceed to a trial. Judicial districts in larger cities are facing even larger trial backlogs.

In general, all other court cases continue to being held virtually over Webex, with defendants and lawyers tuning in via video conferencing for procedures, motions, testimony, hearings and sentencing. The format, which is also open for public viewing virtually, will continue for the time being.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, the courts closed down to avoid spread of the virus, then adjusted to hold virtual proceedings.

At Montezuma Combined Courts, restrictions were temporarily loosened in late summer that allowed cases to be held in person with a limited amount of people allowed in the courtroom. In November, all cases went back to being held in the virtual format because of the surge in cases.

Because of the pandemic restrictions and court limitations, county court summonses during the first half of the pandemic were also delayed for 90 days or longer. Now, the court is busy catching up on procedures and hearings for those cases.

The county court Wednesday docket for per se cases – the defendant does not have a lawyer – increased to 90 to 100, up from 30-40 prepandemic, Furse said.

To avoid violating the defendants’ right to a speedy trial within six months because of pandemic delays, the Colorado Judicial Department and Colorado Supreme Court had to adjust the rules.

In many cases, defendants who entered a not-guilty plea and were set for trial agreed to a continuance and waive right to a speedy trial.

But some defendants did not agree to the continuance, so special permission was granted to judges to declare a mistrial during a health crisis to avoid a speedy trial violation. After a mistrial, prosecutors have 90 days to hold the trial, or longer if the health crisis continues.

Furse said the mistrials option was declared by judges in the 22nd Judicial District in several cases because of the speedy trial situation caused by the pandemic, but most defendants agreed to the continuance.

He added the convenience of virtual court proceedings improved attendance of defendants who otherwise may have missed the court date because of lack of transportation, illness, job duties, or living out of the area.

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MONTEZUMA — Teaching, building relationships and mentoring Montezuma students to give their best in the classroom, in athletic competitions and in life are things that Tim and Janel Burgess take to heart.

The couple, in their seventh year teaching and coaching young people at Montezuma, work hard to make every day count for the students.

Janel teaches middle school math and coaches high school girls basketball. Tim, who is known as TB, is the Montezuma activities director, school facilitator and volunteer coach for the Bravettes basketball team with Janel.

Janel said what she loves most about her job is the opportunity to impact the lives of young people daily. “We get to watch them mature and learn from the classroom and within the sports world.”

Tim agreed. Seeing students succeed in any area of their lives, regardless of whether it’s in a classroom, an activity or athletic competition, is important to him and to Janel.

“I think it’s a privilege to be a part of mentoring kids as they grow throughout their years at Montezuma,” Tim said.

All Janel has ever wanted to do was lead young people to be their best, she said.

“That is what I get to do each day. I wake up and know my goal is to impact people,” Janel said.

“We see students in all walks of life, and I just hope each one of my students know we love being part of their life.”

“Personally, I think what I like most about being in Montezuma and working with our students is our parent and community support,” added Tim.

“It was something I noticed right away and appreciated beyond words. I tell people all of the time, Montezuma is a truly special place.”

Early years

Janel, a native of Millersburg and former Deep River-Millersburg student, is a 1994 graduate of Montezuma High School where she played basketball for the Bravettes her junior and senior years.

Janel enjoyed a stellar career playing basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones, graduating with a teaching degree in 1998.

Janel spent a brief stint at the University of Northern Illinois before landing at the University of Maine and serving alongside then head coach Joanne McCallie.

Janel followed McCallie to Michigan State before accepting an assistant coaching position at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) in Springfield. She returned to Michigan in 2007 and took over the women’s coaching position at Grand Valley State University in Allendale.

During her eight year tenure at Grand Valley, Janel took the Lakers to the NCAA Division II Tournament twice.

It was at Michigan State where Janel and Tim first met in 2001.

Janel was running a junior varsity girls summer camp that year at Michigan State and Tim, a local high school coach, was working the camp as a volunteer coach.

“He will tell you, he did not want to work the camp, but we are both glad he did,” Janel said with a chuckle. “He was a coach at the time, and I was in need of employees.”

“I knew of her only because she was running the camp,” said Tim. “I actually remember being on a date early on and using salt and pepper baggies to draw up plays. Coaching was always part of our relationship, even from the beginning.”

Tim is a native of Mason, Michigan, a town about the size of Williamsburg, and a graduate of Mason High School.

Tim spent two years at Adrian College before transferring to Michigan State University where he earned an elementary teaching degree. He earned a special education degree from Grand Valley State University.

The couple has two children, Eddie, who is a sophomore at Upper Iowa University where he plays football and is earning a teaching degree, and Sydnee, a freshman at Montezuma High School.

Coming to Iowa

Janel said it was Tim who lead the charge to return to her home state of Iowa.

Tim had been a stay-at-home dad for five years while Janel was coaching collegiately and was gone a lot. Eddie was going to be a sixth grader, and Sydnee was going to be a first grader.

“He was looking ahead and saw our children were growing up fast,” said Janel. “He knew we wanted to be involved in our kids’ lives. Therefore, a move was needed.

“It was a very hard decision,” said Janel, “but we are both glad we abruptly changed our professional goals to come to Iowa.”

They couple moved into Janel’s grandparent’s home in 2015. They spent a brief time in Williamsburg before making the move to Montezuma in 2017.

Inspiring the young

By building relationships with the students and student athletes they interact with on a daily basis, the couple inspires young people to be their best, Janel said.

“Our goal is to make sure young people know they can trust us and they know we have their best interest in mind,” said Janel. “I believe our ‘kids’ know we care about them first, so when we have high expectations for them, they are able to rise within the classroom and in all their activities.”

“I agree,” said Tim. “It always starts with relationships. When you are dealing with students or even people in general, it starts there.

“If you listen to interviews about successful teams, programs, businesses, etc., you will find strong and positive relationships somewhere along the way,” said Tim.

Janel said she and Tim have a much different view of youth sports than most. “I believe youth sports are great, but there is no need to force children to be involved if they do not want to,” said Janel.

Janel said Eddie’s first organized youth sport was soccer in the third grade, and Sydnee didn’t start youth sports until the third grade as well.

“We wanted our kids to enjoy what they did and not do too much,” said Janel. “We had seen youth sports be over done through our other walks of life.”

Janel, who is coaching a youth basketball program with Greg Long, said the main focus is on building skills with three or four tournaments each winter.

“Our goal through youth sports is to enjoy everything because in a small school, we need all kids to do all activities in order for us all to be successful.”

When their children showed interest in something, they worked to make it happen for them, said Tim. But the moment they wanted to be done, it was over.

“Janel and I were both very blessed with supportive and hard working parents who were good role models,” said Tim. “We were both able to compete and have great experiences as we grew up.

“We want our kids to live their lives and do the things that make them happy. I don’t think there is a right or wrong philosophy to coaching youth or youth sports, but this was just how we chose to go about it with our kids,” said Tim.

Janel said that she and Tim are blessed to have all different age groups at Montezuma supported in all the activities from sports to musicals, FFA, speech and drama and, most importantly, the classroom.

“Personally, I think a community has a direct impact on the values, behaviors and success of students in every way,” Tim said.

“Take a look at the success our students have academically or from our extra-curriculars. It’s very clear what a truly special place Montezuma is,” said Tim.

“Teachers, coaches, students, parents and our Montezuma community are all intertwined in the success our school has. I am thankful every day to be a part of it.”

Resources will help fire departments upgrade equipment, train firefighters, and more

Montezuma, Ga. — Fire safety upgrades are coming to Montezuma and Laurens County thanks to U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock.

Sens. Ossoff and Warnock are delivering new resources through the Federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program for professional training, wellness and fitness programs, equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), and modifications to facilities.

The City of Montezuma will receive $105,943 and Laurens County will receive $836,173.

According to Laurens County Fire Chief Joshua McCard, the County will use the funding to purchase 91 complete sets of turnout gear, 60 new self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBA), and 120 SCBA cylinders to replace equipment that has reached the end of its manufactured life.

Sens. Ossoff and Warnock secured resources for the AFG program with bipartisan support through last year’s government funding package.

“Firefighters in Montezuma, Laurens County, and across Georgia put their lives on the line to keep families safe,” Sen. Ossoff said. “Senator Warnock and I will never stop championing Georgia’s heroic fire departments, and these resources will help them respond to emergencies that threaten lives and property.”

“Our firefighters are some of the best among us. They run into danger to preserve our safety, and they are beacons of courage and resilience in every corner of Georgia. That is why I am honored to join Senator Ossoff in announcing these new investments in public safety for fire departments across the state,” said Senator Reverend Warnock.“Senator Ossoff and I will continue working to secure additional investments so these brave public servants are able to protect and serve to the fullest of their abilities.”

“I and the entire City of Montezuma humbly thank Senator Ossoff’s generous efforts and the State for awarding our City this much needed grant,” Nealie L. Johnson, Mayor of the City of Montezuma, said. “The Firefighters Grant will allow the City of Montezuma to adequately equip our Firefighters as they bravely and professionally continue to protect the lives and properties of our valued Citizens.”

“The FEMA Assistance to Firefighters grant has assisted Laurens County in past years with much needed equipment. This grant is no different! It will provide Laurens County with funds to help replace aging equipment. It will assist by providing the fire department with 91 complete sets of turnout gear, 60 new self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBA) and 120 SCBA cylinders to replace equipment that has reached the end of its manufactured life and has to be removed from service,” said Laurens County Fire Chief Joshua B. McCard. “We are grateful to receive this grant after several unsuccessful attempts in recent years. With the assistance from this grant, it quickly updates our department’s personnel with protective gear that will keep firefighters safer. This will allow for the firefighters to better serve Laurens County and its visitors daily knowing they are protected with gear that is up to standards.”

“This grant will allow Laurens County to acquire 60 new sets of turn out gear for our rural fire fighters, which were much needed. After several unsuccessful applications for these funds, I am most grateful to Sen. Ossoff and his staff for the role they played in helping us secure them,” said Jeff Davis, Laurens County District 3 Commissioner.

MONTEZUMA -- Ron Hensel, owner of Ron’s Barbershop on the Montezuma Square, had just finished his last haircut of the day on Friday a week ago when a friend stopped by to say hello.

“How’s the new legion hall coming?” the friend asked.

“I can see light at the end of tunnel,” Ron said, while sweeping the floor of the day’s clippings and giving a slight smile.

Hensel, who has served as the Montezuma Blakely-Stevens American Legion Post 169 Commander since 2010, has a reason to smile.

Building plans on the proposed 40-foot by 70-foot American Legion Hall are done and are out for bid letting.

“We hope to have bids returned to us by the end of February,” said Hensel.

Bushong Construction of Montezuma designed the building plans.

An estimated cost of the project was not available at press time.

Hensel said the goal is to have the new building ready by Veteran’s Day 2024.

The proposed building will be located at 803 E. Jefferson in Montezuma on two-acres of land donated in June 2021 by the grandchildren of the late Cloyd and Frances Carl.

The metal building will feature a brick façade and include a kitchen, storage and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning room, a meeting and banquet space, restrooms a coat closet and social area.

The building will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and will replace a much smaller space located on the north end of the Memorial Hall in Montezuma.

Funding for the project has come from several sources, including the sale of land owned by the American Legion west of Lake Ponderosa.

Other funds have come from an American Rescue Plan Act grant through the Poweshiek County Board of Supervisors. and a sizeable grant from the Poweshiek County Alliance Grant in 2023.

Hensel said the American Legion has applied for a similar grant for 2024.

The Legion working with the USDA on a grant that will be used for water runoff.

“We’ve had a lot of generous gifts and donations for the building project,” said Hensel.

The Legion is building because it wanted a larger space for meetings and community events.

Hensel said the Legion plans to allow the community to use the facility for parties, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, family gatherings and meetings

Hensel and the Montezuma American Legion have been instrumental in numerous community activities, events and improvements in recent years.

In 2013, after learning about the Freedom Rock Tour, Hensel approached the city council about putting a Freedom Rock in Montezuma. The city wrote a check the next day.

The town secured a rock from the north side of town and set it up on the southeast corner of the Courthouse square. It was painted in August 2016.

Four years ago, the American Legion started having meals prior to monthly meetings prepared by Legion Auxiliary members. Legion members pay for the meals.

The move was a win for both groups. It put money in the Auxiliary coffers and increased attendance at Legion meetings.

“That really helped the women in the Auxiliary,” said Hensel. “They had no money, and now they have some money to do projects with.”

Legion members are regulars at the Summer Nights programs where they sell sliced watermelon and root beer floats to raise building funds.

And Hensel and the American Legion started a car show in Montezuma in September 2022. Hensel and the Legion brought the show back in 2023, and it drew 180 vehicles of all kinds.

Plans are underway to host the 2024 show in late September. “It’s growing every year,” said Hensel.

In addition, the Legion has had 10 members participate in the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. One member is set to participate in the flight in May of this year.

The Legion is also involved in Veteran’s Day programming and hosting the annual Memorial Day Services. It’s charged with placing flags around the square and in the local cemeteries on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and for special occasions.

And Legion members present arms at deceased veteran’s funerals.

In February 2023, a Sons of American Legion Chapter was formed in Montezuma. It was created for sons and grandsons of military persons to gain membership in the American Legion.

The Sons of America Legion’s most recent project was the Wreathes Across America event Dec. 16. Family members of deceased veterans could purchase wreaths and have them placed on graves in Montezuma and at area cemeteries.

Hensel said the Montezuma American Legion also has the largest membership in Poweshiek County, with 94 members. The Sons of American Legion has 45 members.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, but fulfilling to see our work becoming a reality,” said Hensel of the building project.

To donate to the new American Legion Hall, send checks to the Montezuma American Legion, P.O. Box 789, Montezuma, IA 50171.

The American Legion is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, making all donations tax deductible.

Caption:

Ron Hensel – 1431 – Ron Hensel, commander of the Montezuma Blakely-Stevens American Legion Post 169, speaks during the 2023 Montezuma Memorial Day services. Hensel is leading the charge to build a new American Legion Hall on two-acres of donated land at 803 E. Jefferson in Montezuma. Plans are finished and are currently out for bid letting. Plan are to have the building finished by Veteran’s Day 2024.

Buried beneath the streets and plazas of modern-day Mexico City are the ruins of ancient Aztec temples where human sacrifices were routinely performed to appease the gods. In the late 1990s, while excavating a circular temple dedicated to Ehecatl, the Aztec wind god, archeologists uncovered the remains of a 20-year-old boy, beheaded and squatting at the base of the temple's main stairway.

What made the Mexico City discovery so remarkable was that the skeleton of the human sacrifice was found clutching a pair of musical instruments in each hand. They were small, ceramic whistles decorated with a menacing skull's face. As the archeologists quickly realized, the skull image represented Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of the underworld and of death itself.

And with that, the world became fascinated with a mysterious new instrument known as the "Aztec death whistle."

Today, if you Google "Aztec death whistle," you'll find articles claiming that the "haunting shrieks" of the death whistle were used to "terrify" the Aztecs' enemies in battle or to mimic the agonizing cries of sacrificial victims as their living hearts were torn from their chests. You can also watch this popular video clip of the late musician Xavier Yxayotl conjuring blood-chilling sounds from an oversized death whistle.

But the sober truth, experts say, is that we know very little about how the Aztecs really used these intriguing instruments or even how the instruments actually sounded when played by an ancient Aztec priest or musician. What we can safely infer from the find in Mexico City, is that death whistles undoubtedly had ritual and ceremonial significance, and that they may have been used to guide the spirits of the dead through the afterlife.

Arnd Adje Both is a music archeologist, which means that he examines ancient musical artifacts and attempts to reconstruct the musical culture in which they were played. Both is fascinated with the pre-Columbian musical instruments of Mesoamerica, where three advanced civilizations once flourished: the Olmecs, the Maya and lastly the Aztecs.

In the early 2000s, he had the honor of being the very first person to play the two death whistles excavated from the temple site in Mexico City. If it was a Hollywood movie, sounding those ancient whistles would have summoned an army of the undead to ravage Mexico City. In real life, the death whistles made a slightly distorted, wind-like sound, not the shrill cries of the damned.

For further study, Both took CT scans of the death whistles to understand their internal structure and acoustics, and then he built replicas. He discovered that the Aztec death whistles were a type of "air spring" whistle first invented by the Mayans around 700 to 800 C.E. When air is blown through the intake tube, it interacts with a well or "spring" of air inside a rounded internal chamber, creating distortions. An additional opening on the bottom of the whistle can be covered with a cupped hand to shape the tone of the sound.

"These air spring whistles don't fit into the Western classifications of wind instruments — trumpets and horns, flutes or reed instruments — which means that they're singular worldwide and only produced in pre-Columbian America," says Both. "For me as a scientist, that's much more interesting than the fantastic tales told about death whistles on YouTube."

According to Both, it's not a coincidence that a human sacrifice laid at the feet of the wind god Ehecatl was holding a pair of death whistles. There is a strong connection in Aztec mythology between the wind god and Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the underworld.

The most striking evidence comes from a remarkable pre-Columbian document called the Codex Borgia, an illustrated manuscript that depicts the Axtecs' complex pantheon of gods, as well as Aztec history, their studies of the stars, botany and more.

One page of the Codex Borgia shows two gods standing back-to-back: Mictlantecuhtli and Ehecatl. Both says that the gods are guarding the entrance to the underworld and represent two parts of a whole: death and life.

"There's this notion in the Aztec tradition that when someone dies, they have to walk a very dangerous path to the underworld," says Both. "During that journey, certain rituals are carried out by the living in order to give strength to the deceased, so they can safely arrive in the underworld."

In one level of the underworld, for example, the dead need to cross a large field while being whipped by fierce, ice-cold winds. In the Codex Borgia, those cutting winds are represented by obsidian blades, the sharpened black stones used by the Aztecs to make human sacrifices.

Both says that at the Mexico City temple site, a ceramic bowl containing obsidian blades was found next to the body of the young man. And like the back-to-back image from the Codex Borgia, the boy was sacrificed to the wind god holding whistles bearing the image of Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the underworld.

"All of these elements start to fit together like a puzzle," says Both. "There's a possibility that these instruments were played inside the temple as part of a ritual performance related to death and sacrifice. They were meant to simulate the cold night winds of the underworld."

Both's theory lines up well with the description of an Aztec festival dedicated to Tezcatlipoca, the god of the night sky. In 1913, the folklorist Lewis Spence wrote a book called "Myths of Mexico and Peru," and described Toxcatl, a festival held in the fifth month of the Aztec year:

"On the day of this festival a youth was slain who for an entire year previously had been carefully instructed in the role of victim... He assumed the name, garb, and attributes of Tezcatlipoca himself... [as] the earthly representative of the deity.... He carried also the whistle symbolical of the deity [as Lord of the Night Wind], and made with it a noise such as the weird wind of night makes when it hurries through the streets."

If that description is accurate, then the young man sacrificed in the Mexico City temple may have sounded the death whistle right before he lost his head.

When the Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernan Cortes, clashed with Aztecs in 1521, they described the Aztec warriors using drums, conch shells and other musical instruments during battles to communicate with each other and possibly to unnerve their enemies.

The Spanish friar Tomás de Torquemada wrote that one Aztec general "carried a drum on his shoulders which he played at the start of a battle, while others blew large shell trumpets."

But what about the claim, made by the indigenous musician Xavier Yxayotl and others, that the Aztecs terrified their enemies by sounding hundreds of screaming death whistles at one time?

"There's no proof, but it's still a possibility," says Both. "Up to this point, we haven't excavated an individual classified as an Aztec warrior with such an instrument [a death whistle] around their neck. For now, it seems to be more of a ritual instrument."

Another reason to question the battlefield theory is that the death whistles recovered from the temple site in Mexico City are less than 2 inches (5 centimeters) long, compared to the much larger replicas played by Yxayotl and others. The smaller ancient whistles fail to produce the same ghastly screams of the large, modern replicas.

As a music archeologist, Both has to shake his head and laugh when he thinks about the wild theories that he's seen on the internet about the origins and otherworldly properties of the Aztec death whistle. But in a way, he only has himself to blame. In the early 2000s, he and some colleagues were among the first to publish papers about Aztec death whistles in English.

"From then onward, this new tradition emerged of artists, musicians, Aztec dancers and Mexican nationalists incorporating the death whistle into their own, in many cases, new stories," says Both. "It's a new layer on an ancient tradition."

Archeologists have uncovered thousands of distinct clay instruments from Incan, Mayan and Aztec sites, including ocarinas shaped like animals and humans, and triple or quadruple flutes capable of playing multiple tones at once. "There can be no doubt that pre-Columbian music reached a level of development comparable, perhaps superior, to the contemporary cultures of European and Asiatic origin," wrote Mexican anthropologist Samuel Marti in 1978.