Le Mars Public Works Department To Close Street
(Le Mars) — Le Mars City public works officials have closed 6th Avenue between 1st street southwest and 2nd street southwest for a new street overlay project. City officials believe the street will remain closed for a duration of two to three weeks.
Business Highway 75 To Be One Lane Travel Near McDonald’s
(Le Mars) — The City of Le Mars has hired a contractor to extend a box culvert along Bus.75 by McDonald’s, so staring Monday the contractor will be closing the one driveway by McDonald’s down so that will leave one access open to get back
into McDonald’s, Bomgaars which is by Yamaha Golf & Equipment, the contractor will also be shutting two of the traffic lanes down for about 600 feet along where the work is being done . The traffic will all be moved over to the East
side of Bus. 75 and leaving only one lane going South and one lane going North through that construction site.
Iowa’s Unemployment Rate Declines In September
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate declined slightly in September to 3.2 percent, reversing a small increase in the previous month.
Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday that the unemployment rate drop came as the number of unemployed residents dropped to 54,600 in September, about 4,500 lower than in August. The August rate was 3.3 percent.
There were 1.63 million Iowa residents with jobs in September, an increase of about 4,500 from August but down 4,400 from a year ago.
Iowa’s unemployment rate compares to a national rate of 4.2 percent.
Orange City Business Receives State Incentives To Assist With Expansion
(Des Moines) — The Iowa Economic Development Authority has approved state incentives for business expansion in Orange City and four other Iowa communities. Radio Iowa’s Kay Henderson has more…
The insurance company expanding it headquarters in Dubuque is getting a direct, 80-thousand dollar grant from the state, in addition to the sales tax break.
Ernst Says E.P.A. Will Not Change RFS Standard
(Des Moines) — Senator Joni Ernst says the E-P-A’s administrator has promised the agency will set 2018 biofuel production mandates at or higher than current levels. E-P-A Administrator Scott Pruitt sent Ernst and other Midwestern
senators a letter Thursday night, backing down from any agency effort to roll back ethanol and biodiesel production mandates.
The letter from the E-P-A Administrator is “the clincher” on this debate over next year’s federal ethanol and biodiesel mandates, according to Ernst.
The letter from Pruitt came after a very public lobbying campaign from farm country Republicans like Ernst, Senator Chuck Grassley and Governor Kim Reynolds.
Governor Reynolds spoke by phone with President Trump on Wednesday and Bloomberg News reports Trump then told his E-P-A Administrator to “back off” on any plan that would reduce federal mandates for corn-based ethanol and biodiesel, which
is made with soybeans. Grassley organized a meeting in his senate office so Pruitt could hear directly from upset Midwestern senators. Ernst used her power as a member of a senate committee to block a vote on an E-P-A official who would
implement the R-F-S if confirmed by the senate.
Ernst made her comments during taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program which aired tonight on Friday at 7:30. It will also air on Sunday. After the taping, Ernst told a group of reporters she considers Pruitt’s letter to have resolved the debate over 2018 biofuel production levels.
Ernst indicated she and other senators were negotiating with the White House and the E-P-A about what should be said in Pruitt’s letter.
In the letter, Pruitt promised “to act consistent with the text and spirit” of the Renewable Fuels Standard.
Crawford County Jury Finds Man Guilty of Teen’s Death
Denison, Iowa (AP) – A man accused of crashing his car into a river in western Iowa, killing a teenager, has been found guilty of vehicular homicide and eight other charges.
A Crawford County jury convicted 26-year-old Ramon Hernandez on Friday. Besides the homicide count, Hernandez was
found guilty of three counts of distribution of a controlled substance to a minor, one count of delivery or possession with intent to deliver and four counts of providing alcohol to a minor.
Authorities say Hernandez drove through a farm field with four teenagers in his car before it plunged into the Boyer River on Jan. 19. He and three of the others reached safety. The body of 15-year-old Yoana Acosta was found a week later on Jan. 26.
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Man Arrested In Iowa For Suspected Kentucky Murder
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police in central Iowa have arrested a man charged in the death of a woman whose body was found under a bridge in Kentucky.
The U.S. Marshals office in Iowa says in a news release that 35-year-old Valenti Ware was arrested Friday at a Des Moines home without incident on a Kentucky warrant charging him with murder and evidence tampering.
Ware is wanted in the death of 37-year-old Meghan Lea Acord, whose body was found Oct. 1 under a bridge in Lexington. An autopsy found the cause of death was multiple trauma from an assault.
Ware was being held Friday in the Polk County Jail awaiting extradition to Kentucky.
Iowa Penitentiary Remains In Lockdown Following Stabbing Of Corrections Officer
FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) – Iowa prison officials say the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison continues to be in a lockdown with restricted movement of inmates after a staffer was stabbed on Wednesday.
Inmates cannot use the telephones and visits are suspended. Officials say there are no plans to lift the lockdown anytime soon.
Iowa Department of Corrections officials said Friday in a statement that the staff member has been released from the hospital and is home recovering.
The union representing prison workers says the staffer was stabbed five times by an inmate.
Prison officials confirm the offender has ties to groups affiliated with White Supremacy and say they continue to investigate.
Plans to modify the housing unit where the attack occurred are in drafting and prison officials say staffing plans are being evaluated.
Hackers Invade Iowa Department of Human Services Computers
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Hackers potentially accessed protected health information for 820 people following an email scam at an Iowa agency.
The Iowa Department of Human Services says in a press release Friday that hackers sent so-called phishing emails to agency employees on Aug. 23. Nine DHS workers inadvertently provided passwords that gave hackers access to their email
accounts.
DHS says it has no evidence indicating the hackers actually accessed the exposed emails. The scam was discovered on the same day, and the impacted employees changed their passwords shortly afterward.
The department says all individuals potentially affected are being notified by mail and will be offered up to a year of credit monitoring at no charge.
The agency says it’s implementing changes to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Finalist for Iowa State University President Withdraws
AMES, Iowa (AP) – A finalist in the search for the next Iowa State University president has withdrawn.
An ISU spokesman said Friday that Dale Whittaker, who is currently executive vice president at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, informed ISU on Thursday that he is no longer seeking the presidency.
Whittaker said it was a difficult decision, but that he’s committed to “keeping our momentum moving forward at the University of Central Florida.”
Remaining finalists include Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture in Washington, D.C.; Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Georgia in Athens; and Wendy Wintersteen, dean of Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The Iowa regents are scheduled to meet Oct. 23 to choose the next
president.
