Timmy’s Catering Is Sold
(Le Mars) — The owners of M’s on 4th and M’s Uncorked on Historic 4th Street in Sioux City have announced they are acquiring the assets of Timmy’s catering in Le Mars from Tim and Bonnie Rasmussen, who are retiring. Dan Myers and Vernon
Meyer say the acquisition is set to occur sometime after July 25th. Timmy’s has provided catering services to a variety of sources in northwest Iowa for 33 years. M’s on 4th recently embarked on an effort to begin doing both small
scale and large scale catering when they learned of the opportunity to acquire Timmy’s Catering. M’s on 4th will provide many of the options for food choices that Timmy’s offered and add some of their signature entree options that have distinguished M’s on 4th as a leader in upscale dining in Sioux City. Melis Spencer, general manager of M’s on 4th will assume full operational responsibility for all catering operations both in Sioux City and Le Mars. Dan Myers says “the timing of things was quite unique. We made a decision to dive head long into catering, and then Timmy’s comes along. The stars aligned.”
Vernon Meyer adds, “Tim and Bonnie’s retirement was going to leave quite a void.
We are honored to continue what they started and worked so hard to turn into an amazing success. We definitely have big shoes to fill.” M’s on 4th intends to ensure that there will be no interruption of service from Timmy’s final committed catering event on July 22nd. The new name of the catering operation
going forward will be M’s Catering.
City Council Takes Authority For Ply-Wood Trail
(Le Mars) — The city of Le Mars is moving ahead with plans for a recreational trail that would link Le Mars with Sioux City and include the towns of Merrill and Hinton. Known as the Ply-wood trail, the 16 miles of proposed bicycle trails has been surrounded with controversy. The city council recently approved an agreement with an engineering firm to begin work on a proposed recreational bicycle trail. Scott Langel, the city administrator for Le Mars offers an informational update regarding the proposed trail.
During a city council meeting held in May, the city council voted to approve taking ownership of authority for the proposed trail. Langel explains what that means.
Langel says the precise and exact route is still yet to be determined, but he believes the Iowa DOT may allow the trail to be within the right-of-way of U-S Highway 75.
The Le Mars city administrator says both the towns of Merrill and Hinton are on-board with the project.
Langel says in the near future additional meetings will be organized to help answer anyone’s questions about the proposed bicycle trail between Le Mars and Sioux City.
Iowa State University Solar Car To Appear In Le Mars
(Le Mars) — A solar car will be making its way to Le Mars for Ice Cream Days. The car, named “Penumbra” is the world’s first solar utility vehicle, and it has been created by students of Iowa State University. During the month of June, members of PrISUm, the member organization that manufactured the car, are traveling to all 99 counties in the state of Iowa to showcase the vehicle. #SunRun99 will be stopping at Bob’s Drive-Inn at the corner of Business Highway 75 and Highway 3. The solar car will make its appearance on Wednesday, June 14th at 5:00 p.m.
Former Sibley-Ocheyedan Teacher To Face Trial
SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) – A former Sibley-Ocheyedan football coach and teacher fired after the superintendent found him sleeping in his classroom next to a 10 -year-old has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.
Iowa court records say 39-year-old Kyle Ewinger entered the written plea Wednesday in Osceola County District Court. His trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 17.
Ewinger, of West Burlington, was fired after he was found with the boy sleeping on an air mattress. A criminal complaint says the boy reported that Ewinger had performed a sex act on him.
Nebraska court records say Ewinger has pleaded not guilty a charge of sexually assaulting a child in Douglas County. No trial has yet been scheduled.
A pretrial conference is set to resume June 21.
Regents To Increase Tuition
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Board of Regents has approved a tuition increase at each of the states three public universities, starting in the fall.
The Press-Citizen reports (https://icp-c.com/2r77SWI ) that the nine-member board voted Thursday to approve an across-the-board $216 tuition hike for students at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. Increases for out-of-state, graduate and professional students at
the University of Iowa will range from $1,078 to $2,578.
All three university presidents have argued that tuition increases were needed this fall because the Iowa Legislature has reduced year-over-year state funding to their institutions by nearly $30 million.
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UNI and Drake University To Share Law Degrees
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – An agreement between the University of Northern Iowa and Drake University Law School will allow students to shave a year off the time it normally takes to earn both a bachelor’s and law degree.
The Courier reports that the 3+3 Program will see UNI students earn a bachelor’s degree in three years, then earn a law degree from Drake in the next three years.
It traditionally takes at least seven years to earn both.
A UNI student will be able to apply to Drake Law School in the academic year before their projected graduation from UNI. UNI officials say many undergraduate majors can be completed within the program’s accelerated timeline..
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State’s Finances Are “Running in the Red”
(Des Moines) — The state treasurer is “raising the red flag” about state government finances. Michael Fitzgerald says the state had to dip into cash reserves to pay all its bills in April.
April is a significant month in the state’s fiscal year. The state must make its monthly payment to public schools and another 325-million or so to health care providers who treat Medicaid patients. In addition, April is the month the state is writing tax refund checks before all the state income taxes owed to the state
are paid.
Fitzgerald, a Democrat who has been state treasurer since 1979, is asking Republican Governor Kim Reynolds to give her blessing to some “cash flow” borrowing. The state treasurer has the authority to sell short-term bonds to investors to raise money to cover cash flow problems.
Fitzgerald says the state has engaged in cash flow borrowing “many times” in the past. He suggests issuing short-term state bonds in September.
Governor Reynolds plans to meet with Republican legislative leaders soon to discuss the state’s troubling finances. The latest report from the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency indicates that over the last 11 months, state tax collections were 100-million dollars below expectations. Reynolds says the
numbers “fluctuate daily,” but she isn’t ruling out calling legislators back to Des Moines for a “special session” to enact a plan that ensures the state budget doesn’t slide into a deficit.
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