City Council To Hold Public Hearing On Dogwood Addition
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars City Council will convene at the council chambers at noon
today. The city council have a small number of items to be discussed on their
agenda. The council will hold a public hearing regarding the Dogwood Second
Addition utilities project. The city council will also discuss and possibly take
action on the Business highway 75 whitetopping project.
Supervisors Will Not Meet This Week
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors is taking this week off and will
not hold a meeting for today, but the county governing board will be back next
week.
County Road Crews To Close Roads For Repairs
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Secondary Roads Department will close off 180th Street
between county road L-22 and Almond Avenue beginning today. That stretch of road
is expected to remain closed until August 19th for a bridge replacement. Beginning
tomorrow, (Wednesday) the county roads department will close county road C-60 from
C-66 to Noble Avenue for reconstruction of 3.25 miles. County road C-60 will have
detours and is expected to remain closed until November 15th.
Fire and Rescue Department Ask For Donations
(Le Mars) — You may have recently received a letter in your mailbox from the Le
Mars Fire and Rescue Department. The mailing is part of the fire department’s
annual fund raising campaign. Fire Chief Dave Schipper says the mailing is an easy
way to reach all the people and businesses within the fire district.
Schipper says he and his department are appreciative of the generosity expressed by
the people of Le Mars.
The Le Mars Fire Chief says a year ago, donations surpassed $21,000 which was used
to purchase additional equipment. This year, the fire department is hoping to
raise $24,000.
Schipper explains how community donations go above and beyond the city’s allocated
budget for the fire and rescue department.
Schipper says the added equipment that is purchased through donations benefits
everyone.
Continuous training is a weekly ritual for the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department.
Nearly each Wednesday evening, the members of the fire and rescue department
practices and rehearses a possible emergency scenario.
The fire chief says the fire fighters are mandated by OSHA and their insurance
company to perform a certain number of hours of training in order to remain
certified as a fire fighting unit.
Ernst Visits With Donald Trump
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spent part
of his July 4th with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, fueling speculation about his vice
presidential pick. Trump met with Ernst in New Jersey on Monday and praised her in
a tweet. Ernst is a first-term senator, combat veteran and the first woman elected
to Congress from Iowa. She ran on a platform of cutting wasteful spending, with the
slogan “Make ’em squeal.”
House Fire In Iowa City Causes One Injury
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – One person was sent to the hospital after an Iowa City
house fire that caused $50,000 in damage.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen says (https://icp-c.com/299VRCd ) the blaze was
reported around 4:10 a.m. Sunday. Crews discovered a fire in the home’s basement
and extinguished it within 20 minutes.
Authorities say the building’s occupant had left the building before
firefighters arrived and was evaluated at the scene before being taken to a local
hospital. They did not identify the person or describe what injuries were
sustained.
Authorities say they’re still investigating what caused the fire.
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Distracted Driving Accidents Double From Last Year
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – The number of people killed or injured in accidents
caused by use of electronic devices doubled in Iowa last year.
14 people were killed in 2015, compared to seven the previous year.
The Iowa Department of Transportation says 601 people were injured in those
types of accidents last year, up from 270 in 2014. The overall number of accidents
caused by distracted driving rose to 1,100 last year, a 43 percent increase from
2014.
Pat Hoye, bureau chief for the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, says one
reason for the increase is the growing use of cellphones.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 1990 theft of historically significant Native American
remains by a national monument superintendent entrusted with protecting them was
larger and more harmful than previously acknowledged.
After decades of investigations and cover-ups, the case is scheduled to end in
a federal courtroom Friday when retired Effigy Mounds National Monument
superintendent Thomas Munson is sentenced for carrying out the theft.
The 76-year-old has apologized and hopes to avoid prison time.
But documents obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of
Information Act point to wider problems at the federal park along the Mississippi
River in northeast Iowa. They show that several superintendents were warned that
the museum’s entire collection of human bones had gone missing under Munson, but
did little to find them and failed to notify affected tribes.
Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches Record
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The estimated Mega Millions jackpot has risen to $449
million, making it potentially the 7th largest lottery jackpot in the U.S.
If any ticket matches the balls drawn Tuesday, the jackpot will be the largest
since a $448.4 million Powerball prize won by a New Jersey family May 7. The
highest jackpot drawn in the country was a $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot won in
January by players in three states.
The odds of picking the correct numbers on five white balls and one yellow
ball in the Mega Millions game are one in 259 million.
The drawing will take place at 10 p.m. Central time.
