(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Auditor’s Office will be open Saturday, June 4th from 7:30am until 3:30pm for the purpose of voting an absentee ballot in the June 7th Primary Election. Please enter through the north lower level entrance of the Courthouse 215 4th Ave. SE, Le Mars if you plan to vote on Saturday, June 4th.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the Plymouth County Auditor’s Office at 712-546-6100. Stacey Feldman is the Auditor and Commissioner of Election and Cheri Nitzschke is the Election Deputy.
(Le Mars) — Two Democratic candidates seeking the position of U-S Senator have scheduled campaign visits to Le Mars. Later today, at 6:00 p.m. Bob Krause, a former Iowa state legislator, will stop at the J and J Cafe or truckstop to visit with local voters. Then on Thursday, State Sentor Robb Hogg of Cedar Rapids, who is also seeking the U-S Senate seat currently held by U-S Senator Chuck Grassley will also be at the J and J Cafe truckstop. Hogg is scheduled to make an appearance in Le Mars at 5:00 p.m.
(Le Mars) — The results of the Community Planning meeting that was held in Le Mars on May 3rd have now been compiled and Kirk Lehman, the Regional Community Planner with Simpco, says there was some general agreement from the people that attended that meeting with regards to their thoughts and vision of Le Mars.
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Lehmann says one area that was identified as a concern for Le Mars is the shortage of available and affordable housing.
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The Simpco official says many respondents spoke about Le Mars’ values and characteristics during their small group discussions.
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During the initial gathering, nearly 80 people from all aspects of the community participated in the Community Planning meeting. Lehmann says he was pleased to see such a good turnout. The Simpco official hopes that as many or more people will attend the subsequent scheduled meetings.
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Lehmann says the June 7th meeting will again have the participants break into small group discussions with the focus on housing and neighborhoods. He hopes that real estate agents and realitors, as well as contractors, developers, financial lenders, city officials, and the general public attend the meeting scheduled for the Willow Creek golf club.
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Future meetings and topics will include July 12th – Looking at Le Mars’ Economic Development, August 16th – Transportation, September 6th – Public facilities and city services, and October 4th – land use.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Barge traffic is making a slow but steady comeback on the Missouri River, although proponents acknowledge the industry is still swimming upstream against a perception that the river is not reliable enough to be a profitable transportation corridor.
Some private barge and tow companies never stopped using the river. But public ports along the 760-mile span from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis virtually disappeared by the early 2000s due to a combination of drought, recession and political infighting.
Improved conditions allowed Port KC to reopen the first public port on the Missouri River since 2007 and a public port about an hour north in St. Joseph is undergoing renovations.
Proponents of the ports say barge shipping is cheaper, more environmentally friendly and eases stress on the nation’s highways and rail transportation systems.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Most students at Iowa’s three public universities would pay $300 more in the upcoming school year under a plan to increase tuition released Tuesday.
The 4.4 percent increase for undergraduate in-state students would replace a tuition freeze approved by the Board of Regents last year.
Board leaders had warned lawmakers that the freeze was contingent upon receiving additional state funding. The budget signed last week by Gov. Terry Branstad gives the universities a $6.3 million increase, less than one-third of the $20.3 million they had requested.
The tuition increases proposed Tuesday would generate $19.9 million in new funding, including $14.3 million from in-state undergraduates.
Annual tuition would rise to $7,178 at the University of Iowa and $7,148 at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – The no. 2 administrator at the University of Northern Iowa is expected to serve as interim school president during a search to replace his boss.
The Iowa Board of Regents said Tuesday that it would consider the appointment of Jim Wohlpart next week. It would be effective July 3 and increase his salary to $357,000 until a new president is picked.
UNI President Bill Ruud announced earlier this month that he’s leaving the position after three years to become president of Marietta College in Ohio.
Ruud hired Wohlpart last year as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. He’d previously worked as dean of undergraduate studies at Florida Gulf Coast University.
The board is expected to consider a plan to search for Ruud’s replacement at a meeting in July.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – University of Iowa officials have released the identity of the student who died in a fire at a university-owned apartment.
UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck announced Tuesday that 22-year-old Jiaxin Duan died in a Friday fire at the Hawkeye Drive Apartments. He was a fourth-year art major.
Authorities responded to a report of an explosion about 4:30 p.m. Friday.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office is still investigating the cause of the fire. Autopsy results are not yet complete.
Beck says Duan’s mother also lived in the apartment and is receiving help from the American Red Cross and the UI.
The fire was contained to one apartment in the building. All other tenants were allowed back into their units Friday night.
The apartments are about three miles west of campus.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Utilities Board has called a meeting for Wednesday to consider allowing construction to begin on an oil pipeline in areas outside federal jurisdiction.
Houston-based Dakota Access LLC wants to begin digging the Iowa portion of a 1,150-mile pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois. Construction has begun in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois but the Iowa board has said work shouldn’t begin until all required permits are approved.
The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers continues to study river crossings and impact on federal land and hasn’t issued its permits.
Last week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revoked a construction permit for a northwest Iowa site to allow further study of a potential Standing Rock Sioux Tribe burial site which pipeline opponents say should halt the project.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Although rain has slowed progress in some regions of the country, farmers planting corn remain ahead of schedule. Nationally, 94 percent of the crop is planted, two percentage points ahead of the five-year average.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday virtually all the corn is planted in Iowa and 90 percent of the plants have emerged from the dirt, about five days ahead of average.
Iowa’s soybean planting is 10 percentage points ahead of normal with 88 percent planted.
Nebraska’s corn crop is at 96 percent, near the five-year average and soybean planting is at 73 percent, behind the average of 82 percent.
Rain is presenting challenges in areas of both states and water is reported standing in some fields from the frequent showers and thunderstorms in recent days.
