Plymouth County Democrats To Host Congressional Candidate Forum
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Democrats are hosting a 4th District Congressional Forum scheduled for Thursday, January 25th beginning at 6:30 p.m. The forum will be held at the meeting room of the Le Mars Public Library. The forum is open to the public, and will feature all three Democratic candidates seeking to unseat Steve King. Candidates J.D. Scholten of Sioux City, Leann Jacobsen of Spencer, and Dr. John Paschen of Ames will introduce themselves and answer questions from the audience. The following morning on Friday, January 26th, Dr. John Paschen will appear at the Family Table Restaurant at 511 Hawkeye Avenue Southwest in Le Mars at 8:30 a.m. to hold a discussion on mental health. The public is invited to attend the event and provide input so our country can move forward on this important issue.
Iowa DNR Warns Additional Budget Cuts Will Hurt Services
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state commission told lawmakers repeated cuts to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources threatened its ability to protect the state’s air and water as the reductions have forced the agency to leave more than 100 positions vacant.
The Des Moines Register reports the Environmental Protection Commission’s annual report to the Legislature noted the DNR’s budget had been cut nearly in half, from $22 million in 2009 to $11.17 million in the current budget year.
The cuts have come amid increasing concerns about the state’s polluted waterways.
The DNR handles permitting for livestock operation, enforces state and federal air and water regulations, licenses hunting and fishing and manages parks, forests and trails.
Agency cuts have come as state revenue shortfalls have forced lawmakers to repeatedly cut the budget.
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DNR To Stock Trout At Council Bluffs Lake
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials are scheduled to stock 1,000 rainbow trout Saturday afternoon into Big Lake in western Iowa’s Council Bluffs.
The event is part of an effort to promote fishing in the state. As part of the effort, the Iowa DNR and the Council Bluffs Parks and Recreation Department will also be hosting a youth fishing event at Big Lake. A raffle drawing will be held to award prizes anglers under 16 attending.
Bryan Hayes is an Iowa fisheries biologist. He says stocking trout in urban areas across Iowa brings fishing “close to home for a lot of people and provides an opportunity to get kids involved in fishing.”
Kids under 16 can fish with a properly-licensed adult, but together their daily limit is five trout.
Homeless Shelter to Host Girl Scout Troop
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A homeless shelter in western Iowa will be starting a Girl Scouts troop.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that Micah House in Council Bluffs will begin holding troop meetings next month. The shelter received a $1,000 grant from the Pottawattamie Youth Council to start the troop.
Shelter executive director Jaymes Sime was inspired after reading about a troop expanding to homeless shelters in New York City.
Sime says the troop will give girls staying at the shelter a place to meet others in their situation. He says girls will have sashes, be able to earn badges and might even try selling cookies.
The house served more than 130 girls ages 5 to 17 last year.
The shelter is still working to find volunteer troop leaders before the first meeting.
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Family of Inmate That Died At Grundy County Jail Is Suing County
GRUNDY CENTER, Iowa (AP) – The family of a Wellsburg man who died in a central Iowa county jail in 2016 is suing the county.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that attorneys representing the estate of 26-year-old Jared Martin Slinker say in the lawsuit that Grundy County Jail officials didn’t flag Slinker as a suicide risk when he was booked on a contempt charge regarding a child endangerment case in January 2016. Slinker was discovered unresponsive a couple of days later in the cell, and the lawsuit says jailers didn’t call for an ambulance for 13 minutes after the discovery.
Grundy County Sheriff Rick Penning declined to comment to the newspaper on the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges denial of medical care, negligence and loss of consortium for Slinker’s father and children.
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