(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Secondary Roads Department will be closing 150th
Street between Highways 60 and 75 beginning tomorrow (Thursday). The road is
being closed so crews can perform construction of a bridge. It is expected the
road will open again on October 6th.
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County authorities have arrested a Kingsley man following an
assault that happened at a wedding reception. 28 year old Allan Leekley was taken
into custody after he had assaulted his father Saturday evening. The domestic
assault is a simple misdemeanor. Leekley, then also assaulted a peace officer,
which is a serious misdemeanor, and was charged for resisting an arrest. Leekley
was taken into custody without any injuries. He was booked into the Plymouth
County jail and posted a $1000 bond. He was released the next morning.
(Orange City) — Emergency responders from Sioux County will be participating in a
full scale training exercise scheduled for this afternoon (Wednesday) beginning at
5:00 p.m. The training will happen at the Siouxland Energy Cooperative located at
3890 Garfield Avenue, west of Sioux Center. The exercise will involve law
enforcement, EMS, and fire personnel responding to the ethanol plant for a
simulated accident. The training exercise is being held to give responders
practice in realistic situations; to work on their skills, and to test their
preparedness plan. In the interest of safety for the participanats and motorists,
it would be appreciated if motorists could use an alternative route near the
ethanol plant during the time of the exercise. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office,
the Sioux Center Fire Department, and the Sioux Center Ambulance want to thank
Siouxland Energy for partnering with area responders to make this valuable
training possible.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have reported 2016’s first confirmed human
cases of West Nile virus in Iowa.
The Iowa Public Health Department said in a news release Wednesday that a
female child and an adult male in Sioux County were hospitalized but are
recovering.
The department says about 20 percent of people infected with West Nile virus
will have mild to moderate symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches and
vomiting. Less than 1 percent become seriously ill.
Experts say people can reduce their risk of exposure to mosquitoes carrying
the virus by using repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or oil of lemon
eucalyptus and avoid outdoor activities at dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most
active.
The department says the last two Iowa deaths caused by West Nile virus
occurred in 2010.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines doctor has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine to
settle state regulators’ allegations that he carelessly prescribed painkillers.
The Iowa Board of Medicine says Dr. Edward Steinmann Jr. willfully or repeatedly violated
the standards of practice for pain management.
Regulators say the 67-year-old Steinmann didn’t use standard safeguards to
prevent abuse of the pills. The safeguards include physical exams and checking for
history of drug abuse. Steinmann agreed in the settlement he signed last month
that he no longer would treat patients for chronic pain.
His lawyer, David Brown, says Steinmann is a very fine doctor who settled the
case instead of engaging in a long and expensive battle with the regulators.
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A judge has re-sentenced a man who killed two people at a
Des Moines restaurant in 1992 to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
District Court Judge Jeanie Kunkle Vaudt on Wednesday altered Joseph “Jo-Jo” White’s two life terms to give him the right to seek his freedom from the Iowa Board of Parole.
White was sentenced to life without parole, but he sought the resentencing after
rulings by the U.S. and Iowa supreme courts banning such sentences for people who
committed crimes as juveniles.
White was convicted of gunning down 25-year-old Cara McGrane and 28-year-old
Tim Burnett during a robbery of the Drake Diner, where both were managers.
White, then 17, grabbed less than $500 from the cash register.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An appeals court says a food distributor’s contracts with
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics contain trade secrets that should be kept
secret.
The ruling from the Iowa Court of Appeals means the university does not have
to release its full contracts with Sysco under the open records law.
Sysco has fought to keep the records secret for two years, after the Cedar
Rapids Gazette requested them.
The company argues that release of its pricing information would allow
competitors to undercut its future bids, copy the incentives it offers to
customers and cause other clients to demand similar pricing.
A judge had found Sysco failed to overcome the law’s presumption of openness.
But the appeals court overturned that ruling Wednesday, finding the information is
valuable and should be confidential.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The board that oversees Iowa’s three public universities
has responded to an inquiry from some state lawmakers about the search for a new
president at the University of Northern Iowa.
Katie Mulholland, president pro tem of the Iowa Board of Regents, sent a
letter Tuesday addressing Sens. Rob Hogg, Jeff Danielson and Brian Schoenjahn. The
letter details the timeline for hiring a president to formally replace Bill Ruud
at the Cedar Falls school.
The Democratic senators sent a letter Monday to board president Bruce
Rastetter seeking “specific steps” to ensure the UNI search would be different
than the search last year for a new president at the University of Iowa. Iowa
faculty openly criticized that process.
Mulholland doesn’t reference Iowa in her letter but says the search will be
transparent.
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – Supervisors have recommended rejection of plans for a
hog confinement near Ventura in northern Iowa’s Cerro Gordo County.
The River Edge Farms proposal met requirements, but three of the supervisors still had
concerns about its location and the potential impacts of the nearly 5,000 hogs it
would house.
Twenty people spoke against the proposal at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors
meeting, while three spoke in favor.
The supervisors’ recommendation will go to the Iowa Department of Natural
Resources, which has the final say.
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