Dry Conditions Hurting Early Development of Crops
(Le Mars) — Tonight’s weather forecast is calling for a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, with many people, including local farmers and homeowners hoping that rain will soon fall on Plymouth County and northwest Iowa. According to the KLEM weather almanac, Le Mars has not had any rain since May 25th, and then it was only trace amounts. The last substantial rain was three weeks ago and recorded on May 20th when Le Mars had received eight tenths of an inch. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Crops Specialist for
Northwest Iowa, Joel DeJong, says many soybean fields have been planted twice, or even a third time, since soybeans were having difficulty emerging, as a result of the dry conditions.
DeJong says both corn and soybeans are showing signs of being stressed due to the lack of rain.
DeJong says although the topsoil is dry, he says the deeper subsoil moisture levels are still adequate for crop development.
(sot) DeJong dry3
The Iowa State University agronomist says some people believe a dry spell helps develop stronger roots as the plant is forced to have its roots go deeper seeking moisture.
(sot) DeJong dry4
County Supervisors Will Not Meet, But City Council To Hold Special Meeting
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will not meet today as they do not have any agenda items listed. However, a special meeting of the Le Mars City Council is planned to take place at noon today from the council
chambers. The city council will again decide whether to close Business Highway 75 on Wednesday afternoon and evening to accommodate the Tri-State Cruisers during the start of Ice Cream Days celebration. The city council turned down the request in a previous city council meeting.
School Board Approves Milk/Bread Contracts
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community School Board met last evening and approved both the milk and bread contracts for the upcoming school year. The school board were given an extensive report by Food Services Director Judy Lubben.
Lubben had asked for bids from Dean Foods, Hyland Dairy, and Anderson-Erikson Dairy with the milk contracts. A year ago, the school board passed up having the milk contract with locally produced milk from Dean Foods, and instead went with Hyland Dairy of Omaha, Nebraska. This year, Lubben mentioned in her
written report, that although the Hyland Dairy bid was slightly lower than the bid presented by Dean Foods, she had encountered some problems during the 2016- 2017 school year with Hyland Dairy, including inconsistent product, and on a
occasion, failure to deliver the milk in a timely manner. After some consideration with regards to Lubben’s report, the school board voted to again accept the bid of $66,270.41 from Dean Foods. Anderson-Erikson did not comply with a bid request, and did not respond.
As for the bread contract, the school board was considering bids from locally owned VanderMeer Bakery, Casey’s Bakery of Sioux Center, and Bimbo Bakery.
Lubben mentioned in her report that Bimbo Bakery, makers of Old Home and Sara Lee, would not be able to deliver bread on a daily basis. Assistant School Superintendent, Dr. Steven Webner informed the school board, that Le Mars Community Schools does not have the storage area needed to hold bread for
several days, and a daily delivery is essential. Lubben’s report indicated Casey’s Bakery was lower than VanderMeer’s Bakery on nearly every item. A year ago, the school board chose to go with Casey’s Bakery for all the bread needs for the school lunch program. Lubben, in her report, indicated Casey’s product
quality is excellent, and she rated VanderMeer’s as being good. After a brief discussion, the school board awarded the bread contract to Casey’s Bakery of Sioux Center, passing over VanderMeer’s Bakery for a second year.
Iverson Submits Year-end High School Report To School Board
(Le Mars) — During last evening’s school board meeting, high school principal, Dr. Mark Iverson submitted the year-end report to the school board’s attention.
In that report, Iverson informed the school board that nearly all the grade levels tested for proficiency in assessments, Le Mars Community High School students exceeded the school’s goals in mathematics and with science. However, the levels of proficiency had dropped in reading skills. In each category, the
students achieved a proficiency rating in the 80 to 90 percentile. Both Dr. Iverson and Assistant School Superintendent, Dr. Steve Webner informed the board of education that Le Mars Community School ranked higher in proficiency ratings
than the state’s average, and were higher than most schools in northwest Iowa.
Iverson reported to the school board that 89 percent of the recently graduating class of seniors have chosen to pursue higher level education at either a four- year degree college or university, two-year vocational training school, or enroll in the military.
Insurance Commissioner Offers Proposal To Keep Carriers
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s insurance commissioner is proposing a plan he thinks could keep Iowa from becoming the first state to lose all of the health insurance carriers offering policies on the Affordable Care Act exchange next
year.
Doug Ommen says he traveled to Washington last week with officials from two major Iowa insurance carriers to pitch a proposal to federal officials that would save the Iowa market from collapsing.
Minnesota-based Medica is the only remaining statewide insurer on the exchange and has said it will drop out if changes aren’t made.
Ommen’s plan reallocates federal subsidies currently used to lower costs for older participants to entice younger people into the insurance market. It also uses federal reinsurance dollars to help insurers absorb high-cost claims.
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield has committed to selling insurance in all 99 Iowa counties next year if the plan is approved.
Without approval, Ommen says Medica will drop out and 72,000 Iowa residents will be uninsured next year.
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Lottery Official Pleads Guilty To Scam
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Prosecutors will ask for 25 years in prison for a lottery computer programmer who’s admitting to rigging jackpots in multiple states.
A plea agreement released Monday shows former Multi-State Lottery Association security director Eddie Tipton has agreed to plead guilty to felony charges in Iowa and Wisconsin. Prosecutors will seek a 25-year term for him in Iowa.
The document says his brother, Tommy Tipton, will plead guilty to theft charges in Iowa. The brother has agreed to recommend that he serve 75 days in jail.
The document calls for the brothers to pay back a total of $3 million in lottery winnings that were linked to rigged drawings in Colorado, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Kansas. They’ve also agreed to tell investigators “all facts related, directly or indirectly, to their actions to fix, win and claim lottery jackpots.”
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