Home News Friday News, June 24th

Friday News, June 24th

Secondary Roads Department To Close Road For Culvert Installation

(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Secondary Roads Department is announcing that they
will close 280th Street from Shamrock Avenue to Sunset Avenue beginning today.
That stretch of road is expected to remain closed until July 22nd. Road crews will
be replacing a bridge with a box culvert.

 

Two Bridges In Woodbury County Need Replacing Following Last Week’s Storm

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say flash flooding has damaged one Woodbury
County bridge beyond repair and heavily damaged another.
Woodbury County engineer Mark Nahra told county supervisors Tuesday that the
creek flooding moved the Haskel Avenue bridge three feet off its abutments. He said
the bridge can’t be repaired.
He estimates the replacement cost will be between $600,000 and $650,000 for
that bridge and between $650,000 and $700,000 to repair the heavily damaged 170th
Street bridge.
Nahra estimates the county sustained between $1.5 million and $1.6 million in
damage from Friday’s severe storms, which generated reports of up to a foot of rain
in some spots.

 

Tree Disposal Site To Be Open This Weekend

(Le Mars) — City officials have announced the grass, twig, and tree disposal site
located on the western side of town near the Gehlen ballparks, will be open both
days this weekend. On Saturday, the tree disposal will remain open from 9:00 a.m.
until 2:00 p.m. and on Sunday, Le Mars residents will have the opportunity to
dispose of their tree limbs between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. City crews and
private contractors are still trying to clean up the tree debris left behind from
last Friday’s storm.

 

Library Remains Open During Construction

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Public Library wants the public to know that even though
construction is taking place outside the front entrance doors of the library, the
library remains open. Shirley Taylor, the librarian for the Le Mars Public Library
asks that people use the back door while construction crews work on the curbs and
the cement in the front.

 

Water To Be Turned Off Monday On Business Highway 75

(Le Mars) — The city water department and Vander Pol construction will be shutting
down the water main on 5th Ave SW, Hawkeye or Business highway 75 on Monday, June
27th. The water will be shut down south of Casey’s General Store to 3rd street SW.
We will be shutting the water down around 10:00 AM. Depending on complications the
water could be off for up to 4 hours. Flyers will be dropped off to the affected
homes and businesses. This will be the first of many connection points on our water
main replacement upgrade project. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Questions should be directed to the Le Mars city hall or the Le Mars Water
Department.

 

Three Lyon County Youth Arrested For Vandalism

LITTLE ROCK, Iowa (AP) – Three suspects have been charged in a string of
vandalism throughout Lyon County.
18-year-olds Jordan Groen and Dylan Van Gorp were arrested and charged with third-degree criminal mischief. A juvenile male is also charged with third-degree criminal
mischief.
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office says that on the nights of June 17 and 18,
the three suspects spray painted a lion statue at Central Lyon High School, a Rock
Rapids street, the George Swimming Pool and a parking sign at the Salem Reformed
Church in Little Rock.
Damage is estimated to be about $700.

 

Denison Police Chief Resigns

DENISON, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa police chief who’d been disciplined for lewd
and offensive computer images has lost his job.
Mayor Dan Leinen said Thursday that he’d asked for Chief John Emswiler’s
resignation, which Emswiler submitted earlier in the day. Leinen says he’d sought
Emswiler’s exit for personnel reasons he wouldn’t describe. The mayor denied
reports that they were connected to the images found on the chief’s computer.
A former Denison officer had reported that Emswiler had pictures of his staff
on his computer and that Emswiler would use editing software to put “their heads on
different stuff.” The city attorney said the chief was disciplined and that the
city considered the matter closed.
 

Man Guilty Of Running Bar Code Scam Faces 70 Years In Prison

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Prosecutors say an Iowa man who ran a bar code theft ring
in several states has been given 70 years in federal prison.
Bradley Prucha was sentenced Thursday. He’d been convicted of conspiracy, mail
fraud, production and possession of child pornography and other crimes.
Prosecutors say Prucha printed bar code stickers and placed them on store
items that would ring up at lower prices. He then had accomplices return them for
refunds on their full prices or sold them online. Prosecutors say the West Des
Moines resident ran the scheme in Iowa, Florida, Nebraska and other states. He’d
previously been convicted of a similar scheme in Florida.
Prosecutors also said Prucha recruited teenage girls for the scam and paid
them for sex at sessions that he recorded without their knowledge.

 

Bicyclist Found Dead On Recreational Trail

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) – Police say a bicyclist has died along the Greenbelt Trail in
Clive.
Police say the death occurred Thursday, and the trail was still blocked off
Thursday afternoon as officials investigated.
Clive Police Chief Michael Venema says that a passerby found the man in a creek beside the trail and called police around 1:45 p.m.
Police say that as they were investigating, a family member who had been
riding with the man returned to the scene to see why the man never caught up.
Police say that person was able to identify the man, whose name has not yet been
revealed by police.
Venema says police believe the death was an accident and do not suspect foul
play.

 

Average American Age Is Getting Older

(Des Moines) — The median age calculated for the United States on July 1st of 2015
moved up from 37-point-six to 37-point-seven years. That means half the population
is older, half younger than that number. The median age in Iowa remained at
thirty-eight-point-one. The information shows Audubon County is the “oldest” in
the state with a median age of 48-point-nine, followed by Dickinson County at 48-
point-four. Story County, home to Iowa State University, has the lowest median age
at 26-point-seven. Johnson County, the home of the University of Iowa, came in
second with a median age of 29-point-three years.