Sheriff’s Office Investigates ATV Accident
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an ATV accident with injuries that happened Sunday afternoon at about 3:48 p.m. The Sheriff’s Office and the Hinton Fire Department and Ambulance Service responded
to the call from 29136 300th Street of rural Hinton. According to a news release, two juvenile males were riding their ATV’s when one of them lost control and ran into a building on a farm place. The male rider, age 11, was taken to the Unity Point – St. Luke’s hospital in Sioux City. The rider suffered multiple serious injuries. The name of the juvenile male is not being released at this time.
Fire Department Responds To Early Morning Truck Fire
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department responded to a truck that had caught on fire this morning. The call came in at about 6:00 a.m. That fire was reported on county road K-22. Fire officials were able to quickly extinguish the fire and were back in quarters within the hour. Little information about the fire is known at this time.
School Board To Elect Officers At Tonight’s Meeting
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Board of Education is scheduled to meet this evening. School board members will vote for their new officers. It will be David Miller’s first school board meeting since he was elected to the board of education on a write-in campaign. The meeting will be Brenda Phelan’s last
school board meeting. The school board will appoint a secretary and a treasurer, and select legal counsel. Lisa Boehm has agreed to continue as the secretary to the school board. Kim Clarey has indicated a willingness to continue as the school’s treasurer, and the firm Trotzig and Bauerly has expressed a willingness to continue representing the Le Mars Community school
district. Rob Bixenman from Perspective Insurance is scheduled to appear before the school board to present a dividend check from EMC insurance to the school district. Curriculum Director Rachel Leavitt will review the 2016-2017 annual progress report with the board of education. School superintendent Dr. Steve
Webner and Denny Bixenman of the Le Mars Community School District Foundation will present an update to the school board regarding the stadium renovation project. The school board will act upon the resignation request from Amy Wadle as a teacher associate at Clark elementary school, effective September 29th.
The school board will also act on a contract offer to Dan Krause as a part-time custodian. The school board will also act on the request from three students to open-enroll into the Le Mars Community School District.
Congressman King Introduces Bill To Give Land Back To Winnebago Indian Tribe
SLOAN, Iowa (AP) – The Winnebago Tribe is hoping to reclaim land in Iowa that was once part of its reservation in northeast Nebraska, but local hunters are concerned they might lose access. The Sioux City Journal reports the 1,643 acres (6648990.98 sq. meters) of land is owned by the federal government and attracts hundreds of hunters each year. The land, which is near the tribe’s WinnaVegas Casino, was part of the Winnebago reservation when it was created in 1865. But the eastern border of the reservation was the Missouri River, which changed course over the years. U.S. Rep. Steve King introduced a bill earlier this month to transfer the land to the Bureau of Indian Affairs where it would be held in trust for the
tribe. —
Sioux City Council Approves Study On Railway “Quiet Zones”
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Sioux City officials have agreed to spend more than $100,000 on a project to silence train horns that now frequently blare through downtown. The Sioux City Council voted on Sept. 18 to approve a contract with Twin
Cities-based SRF Consulting Group Inc. to create a “quiet zone” at multiple BNSF Railway train crossings downtown. Quiet zones are areas which meet specific safety guidelines that allow
trains to pass through a crossing without sounding their horns. Mayor Bob Scott was the lone dissenting vote. He says he voted against the project because the contract was being given to an out-of-state company instead of a local business. The city created another quiet zone in the downtown area seven years
ago. —
State’s Financial Condition Still On “Shaky Ground”
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa lawmakers will not return to the state Capitol for a special session, but Iowa’s finances remain on shaky ground. Staff for Gov. Kim Reynolds announced last week a projected shortfall for the roughly $7.2 billion budget that ended in June was drastically smaller than expected. Final accounting turned up more than $70 million in additional
revenue. The Republican governor will borrow $13 million from emergency reserves to offset the shortfall. Iowa has borrowed about $144 million from such reserves this year, and
lawmakers plan to repay that money in the next two years. There are also unknown costs tied to the privatized Medicaid health care program for poor and disabled people. This will impact the current budget, though it’s unclear by how much. It
could lead to additional agency budget reductions, or complicate a Republican priority next year to cut taxes.
Unity-Point Questions State’s Abortion Policy
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – One of Iowa’s biggest health systems says the state is improperly barring all of its hospitals, clinics and health care providers from participating in a new family planning program because of a few abortions performed within the system. The Des Moines Register says UnityPoint Health contends its affiliates should be allowed to offer publicly-financed birth control services to moderate-income Iowans. No UnityPoint affiliate provides elective abortions, but they do perform some abortions in cases of fetal anomalies. But state administrators say a new state law passed earlier strictly bans any system that allows any abortion. The new family planning program, which is financed solely by the state, replaces a Medicaid program that allows participation by agencies that provide abortions. Thirty-two Iowa hospitals are members or affiliates of UnityPoint, based in West Des Moines. The system also has scores of clinics and doctors’ practices in the state. —
Good Samaritan Killed During Auto Accident
WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a good Samaritan was fatally injured along Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa. The accident occurred early Sunday morning near Williamsburg in Iowa County. Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that 43-year-old Stanislow Gruszka, of Plainfield, Illinois, had gotten out of his vehicle to help a semitrailer driver whose truck had overturned. The Iowa State Patrol says two more vehicles then collided, and one struck Gruszka. The patrol says Gruszka and two other people were taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, where he was pronounced dead. The crashes are being investigated.
