Home News Thursday Afternoon News, September 26

Thursday Afternoon News, September 26

Voters Can Register For Civic Elections

(Le Mars) — City elections are scheduled for November 5th, and voters now have the opportunity to register.  Registration forms can be obtained in person from the Plymouth County Auditor’s office at the Plymouth County Courthouse, from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday, or the Voter registration form can be downloaded at www.co.plymouth.ia.us under Online Services and then County Forms and mailed to the Auditor’s office. 
If you wish to have a voter registration form mailed to you, please contact the Auditor’s Office or if you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the Plymouth County Auditor’s Office at 712-546-6100.

 

Too Little And Too Late On Midwest Rains

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The storm system that left Colorado dealing with historic flooding also dropped rain across a large swath of the nation from Wisconsin to Texas helping to alleviate drought conditions in some areas of the country.
The rain has come too late to help most of the corn and soybeans.
The weekly drought monitor released Thursday says 45 percent of the United States is in moderate drought or worse a decline from 48 percent the week before.
In Iowa, 5 percent of the state is now experiencing no drought an improvement of about two percentage points from the week before.
In Nebraska, the area of the state in extreme drought fell to 11 percent from 21 percent the previous week. It’s the smallest area in extreme drought since July 2012.

 

Former Governor Robert Ray Honored By World Food Prize Foundation

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Former Iowa Gov. Robert Ray is getting a big birthday present from the World Food Prize Foundation – an annual award in his name.
Ray, who is turning 85 on Thursday, is scheduled to appear at the announcement of the Robert D. Ray Iowa SHARES Award.
The annual award recognizes Ray’s humanitarian leadership and will be given to someone who has provided significant leadership in confronting hunger and alleviating human suffering.
Between 1975 and 1982 Ray, as Iowa governor, assisted 8,000 refugees allied with the United States during the Vietnam War escape Southeast Asia where many were being killed by new government rulers. Many settled in Iowa. He also arranged for food, medicine and Iowa doctors to be sent to help Cambodian refugees.
Ray was governor from 1969 to 1983.

 

Law Enforcement Academy Instructor Barred From Camp Dodge

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former Iowa Law Enforcement Academy instructor was barred from Camp Dodge after academy officials claimed she was an armed threat, but the Iowa National Guard lifted the restriction after finding no evidence to support the claim.
A December 2012 memo warned Camp Dodge security that Nancy Brady had threatened employees and “should be considered armed when approached.” Brady says she was outraged
to learn of the ban, insisting she’s never owned a gun and wasn’t a threat.
The National Guard rescinded the ban June 18. Lt. Col. Mike Kuehn says academy officials offered no justification to continue keeping Brady off the base, where the academy is housed.
The academy’s treatment of Brady has come under scrutiny. She claims she was fired after blowing the whistle on inappropriate behavior.

 

Harkin Says Senate Will Work On Budget Bill

(Washington) — Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, says now that all the attention has turned away from Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s all-night talk in the Senate against Obamacare, the body will move forward with the procedures to pass the budget bill.

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Cloture is a way to limit the amount of time an issue is debated. He says it will take two days to move ahead on the next step.

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Harkin says the next question is whether Republicans will agree to shorten the time of the debate, and says he has so far not heard of any deals being made to short circuit the time limit. All this is going on with the threat of the government shutting down — something that has been threatened and happened before. Harkin was asked if Americans are paying attention to the debate.

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The government could shut down on Tuesday, October first if the budget bill is not worked out.

 

Restaurant To Close Following Tornado Damage

BELMOND, Iowa (AP) – After some final goodbyes, a restaurant in the northern Iowa city of Belmond was demolished this week, more than three months after the structure was hit by a tornado.
Owners DuWayne and Deb Abel walked through Cattleman’s Steak and Provisions one last time Monday before the remnants of the building were demolished.
The restaurant was hit by a tornado June 12 that tore through part of the town, causing sporadic damage and downing power lines.
For the Abels, the tornado destroyed a business they bought 32 years ago when both were 24.
Deb Abel says, “It’s been our lives since we were 24.”
They haven’t decided whether to open another restaurant. DuWayne Abel notes buying a building and starting anew is expensive.

 

Honor Flights Being Organized For Korean War Veterans

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Organizers of free Honor Flights to Washington, D.C., for Nebraska and western Iowa veterans of the Korean War say they’ve gotten enough cash and pledges to pay for the two flights.
Bill Williams, of Patriotic Productions in Omaha, said Thursday that a $10,000 gift from the Mutual of Omaha Foundation on Wednesday helped him reach the $85,000 needed for an Oct. 29 flight.
On Tuesday the Western Iowa Honor Flight program announced that a $30,000 donation from the Iowa West Foundation would ensure that more than 100 Iowans take their trip on Oct. 30.
On their one-day visits, the veterans will tour the Korean War Memorial and other sites honoring U.S. veterans.