Fairbank Mayor and high school sports official, Mike Harter, was killed in an automobile accident Monday morning on Highway 218 near Janesville. Harter was the instructor in a driver’s education vehicle. Two 14 year olds were also in the vehicle at the time, one of which was driving. The 14 year-old driver, who is from Waterloo, was headed southbound when he went off onto the shoulder and over-corrected, crossing the median, and strucking a vehicle in the northbound lanes driven by 44 year old Tabetha Gehrke. Gehrke was taken by ambulance to MercyOne Medical Center in Waterloo. The two 14 year olds were taken by ambulance to Allen Hospital, including the passenger who is from Waverly. Harter had been the mayor of Fairbank since 2018. He was a former educator, even serving as an interim superintendent of Wapsie Valley after they stopped their sharing agreement with Dunkerton. Harter was 71 years old.
