New Apartment Complex To Be Built In Le Mars
(Le Mars) — In the near future, Le Mars will see several multi-unit apartments will be constructed to help alleviate the housing shortage that this town has encountered. One such complex is proposed to be built along 11th Street Southwest and 8th Avenue Southwest, near the Building Blocks day care center.
Vision Builders of Sioux Center is the development company behind the plan. Dan Hibma with Vision Builders attended the city council meeting on Tuesday. He says the firm will construct two and three bedroom units.
Hibma says the location is ideal since they will be close to the daycare center, Le Mars Community Schools, and other shopping needs. Hibma says the plan is to create a campus-like setting with plenty of green space, that will provide affordable housing to moderate income families.
Vision Builders have created similar style housing units in Orange City and Sioux Center. Hibma explains further the concept of the campus-like housing.
Le Mars city officials were introduced to Vision Builders after taking a tour to Orange City and Sioux Center to examine different multiple housing options.
Hibma says it is the goal of the building owner and of the developer to create a nice comfortable apartment complex at affordable rental rates for tenants.
Hibma says construction is scheduled to begin this coming August with the first units ready by April of 2018.
Color Me Sweet Run/Walk Scheduled For Saturday
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Chamber of Commerce, along with the Le Mars YMCA will host the 3rd “Color Me Sweet” fun run and walk scheduled for Saturday at the Municipal Park. Mary Reynolds with the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce urges people
to come early.
The course will follow the recreational trails that surround the Willow Creek Golf Course. Reynolds says there will be more color stations this year, and in addition to the colored powder stations, colored gel will be an added feature.
Participants are asked to wear white during the “Color Me Sweet” event. Reynolds says the starting point for the “Color Me Sweet” walk and run will be the Municipal Park’s newly renovated shelter house. She says the “Color Me Sweet” event dates
back a few years when Reynolds and Allie Freking witnessed other communities that had implemented the idea.
The powder consists of colored corn starch. The Chamber official says people can still register for this year’s event. Adult registration is $35 through Thursday, and then on Friday and Saturday, adult registration increases to $45.
Timmy’s Catering Employees Honored As Chamber’s “Employees Of the Month
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Chamber of Commerce honored all the employees of Timmy’s Catering as the June “Employee of the Month.” According to the nomination submitted by Tim and Bonnie Rasmussen, they say their employees all deserve the honor of “Employee of the Month.” The Rasmussens wish to publicly thank you for your dedication and efforts over the years. The commitment and spirit that you have demonstrated have been key components in building the success we have enjoyed over the years at Timmy’s Catering.
What is unique about a small business is that it is almost like a family relationship each day, knowing and trusting each other in what we do and say.
We have all shared in the successes, trials and failures at Timmy’s Catering.
This helped to build character and gave us strength for the future. The time is almost here for all of you to open a new chapter in your work lives and embrace the future. Thank You from the bottom of our hearts for ALL your help and support. Congratulations on being named “LeMars Area Chamber June
Employees of the Month.”
Thank you to each and every one of you for a job well done.
Food Scientist Testifies In BPI vs. ABC News Trial
(Elk Point) — Testimony continued Wednesday in the $1.9 billion dollar defamation lawsuit filed by Beef Products Incorporated against ABC Broadcasting and reporter Jim Avila.
BPI’s defense counsel started the morning by playing a videotaped deposition from former ABC News senior producer Sarah Amos.
Amos was in charge of online versions of ABC news stories in 2012, when the network referred to BPI’s lean, finely textured beef as “pink slime” in a series of reports over two months.
Those stories called into question the safety of LFTB with headlines such as “70 per cent of ground beef in supermarkets contains pink slime” which generated hundreds of consumer e-mails to ABC.
Amos testified on how the network worked to get the story carried on food and parenting blogs and released names of grocery stores that carried LFTB.
She talked about how pink slime became one of the top searches on google after the stories were aired.
Following that deposition, Dr. Mindy Brashears of Texas Tech University took the stand to testify that she visited BPI manufacturing plants 18 to 20 times over four years and tested and ate the beef product.
Dr. Brashears has a PHD in food microbiology and has worked in the beef
industry her entire life.
She explained how lean finely textured beef is produced from sparse lean beef trimmings.
Dr. Brashears said LFTB is meat, it is beef and it is safe to eat.
She said it is not a filler, nor pink slime or gelatin like, and is not
from a part of a beef carcass subject to contamination.
The trial continues Thursday in Union County District Court in Elk
Point, South Dakota.
Iowa City Schools Criticized For Isolation Of Troubled Students
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A state Department of Education review has found that the Iowa City Community School District occasionally sent students to padded seclusion rooms for minor infractions, though the rooms are intended to be used
to prevent students from harming themselves or others.
After a complaint filed last year, the department reviewed 455 incidents of seclusion in the district from Dec. 22, 2015, to Dec. 21, 2016. Officials also visited two of the district’s school buildings. Each contained two of the roughly 6-by-6-foot, padded, wooden rooms.
Department complaint officer Thomas Mayes wrote in his report that, “Seclusion for minor infractions is not a reasonable response.”
He said the district must review and revise all policies and procedures involving seclusion rooms and increase staff training on using the rooms.
