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SWISHER– So far 2017 has been a very good year for Jeff Quint and his Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery located near Swisher.
On March 28 a key piece of legislation, long fought for by Iowa’s distilleries, cleared the Iowa House of Representatives, 93-1. House File 607 allows Iowa distilleries to sell their products by the glass, and as cocktails, in their tasting rooms. It also increases a daily sales limit from two bottles per person to a full 12-bottle case and raises a state-imposed cap on the annual production of distilled spirits.

By Chris Umscheid
North Liberty Leader
TIFFIN– A variety of mischievous characters have appeared on the stage in the Performing Arts Center at the Clear Creek Amana (CCA) High School in Tiffin, from The Cat in the Hat to Baron Bolligrew and Willy Wonka. Add Professor Harold Hill to the list.

DES MOINES– Weather and track conditions were consistent through the weekend at the Drake Relays; cold, wet and windy. Solon’s girls responded, though, with highlight performances and others which still kept them near the top of the state’s high school track finishes, as they now head into their 2017 homestretch.
Drake is a late-season pause in the high school regular season. Top Iowa high school track and field performances share the limelight with regional and national college/university competition, special international elite events and Olympic rematches.

SOLON– Solon High School’s 5th Street Jazz vocal ensemble participated in the Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships nine times and won the Class 3A title five times, but the group was not invited to participate in 2016.
It made this year’s competition special for Solon seniors.
“My sophomore year, I was in Blame It On Our Youth, and we got third at championships, so it was very hard last year, being in 5th Street and not qualifying,” Solon senior Elizabeth Hand said.

By Joe Wilkinson
Special to the Economist
CEDAR RAPIDS– You get better by running against the best. With that in mind, Solon posted a sixth-place finish in the J-Hawk Relays Saturday, April 1, at Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapids.
“We see the cream of the crop from Eastern Iowa here each year,” observed Solon girls track coach Brent Sands, referring to the depth of the 14 teams, a combination of 4A and 3A schools. “It gives us a chance to face good competition– and let that help us through the year; to show we can compete.”