Le Mars Community School Board To Meet This Evening
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Board of Education is scheduled to meet this evening, and on the agenda the school board will hear reports from each of the building principals, as well as an elementary technology update. Elementary
teachers Amy Gehling and Katie Majeres will share the technology they are utilizing within their classrooms. The school board will discuss the upcoming National School Board Association convention scheduled for San Antonio on April 7th – 9th. The school board will also discuss the annual Le Mars Community
Foundation banquet scheduled for April 25th to be held at the Le Mars Convention Center. The school board will hear from School Superintendent Dr. Steve Webner as he will present a proposed budget development timeline for the Board’s consideration and preliminary information concerning the development of
the fiscal year 2019 budget. The school board will consider approving an agreement to participate in the Iowa Association of Area Education Agencies’ purchasing for the 2018-2019 school year. The cooperative purchasing agreement provides cost savings to the school food service program. Curriculum Director,
Rachel Leavitt will present cooperative agreements with Western Iowa Technical Community College for the Board to consider the concurrent enrollment opportunities and on-line learning opportunities at the high school during the 2018-19 school year. The school board will also consider the applications of
two students seeking open-enrollment.
Plymouth County Republicans Form Political Platform
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Republican party delegates gathered on Saturday to form their political platform. Karl Stodden serves as the chairman of the Plymouth County Republican party. He says some of the political planks and
submitted resolutions dealt with education.
Stodden says the Plymouth County Republicans also approved a political plank asking for the site and distancing for livestock building permits remain at the state level.
The Plymouth County Republicans will now take their platform to the District Republican Convention to be held Saturday, April 28th at Ames.
Two Candidates Seeking Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Position Meet With Plymouth County Republicans
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Republicans heard from many candidates seeking office including two candidates trying for the position of Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. Mike Naig, who until last week was serving as the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture under Bill Northey, is seeking to be elected as the
next state agriculture secretary. Naig, was appointed the position of Secretary by Governor Kim Reynolds following Northey’s departure to become an Under Secretary with the United States Department of Agriculture. Naig was raised on a farm in Palo Alto county, and says the transition at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has been basically seamless.
Naig explains while serving as Deputy Secretary, he oversaw many of the administrative duties within the department.
Naig says he was able to learn a lot about how to do the job of Iowa Agriculture Secretary from his predecessor, Bill Northey.
Another candidate seeking the position of Iowa Agriculture Secretary is Ray Gaesser, a farmer from Corning, Iowa, and a former president of the Iowa Soybean Association.
Gaesser, farms with his son in Adams county, and he says trade relations are important for Iowa farmers.
Gaesser says our customers are important to the United States and to the American farmer. He says we need to share that message with our customers.
Iowa’s Revenue Estimated To Grow By $33 Million
(Le Mars) — On Friday, the state’s Revenue Estimating Commission submitted its estimate of an additional 33 million dollars will be raised for the next budget. Reacting to the state’s revenue estimates, State Representative Chuck Holz of Le Mars says the 33 million is about what lawmakers were expecting.
Holz says the legislature will now have to determine how much money to set aside, if the estimates fall short as they have during the past estimates, causing legislators to “borrow” money in order to cover all the state’s expenses. The Le Mars lawmaker says the governor, the House, and the Senate each have their own ideas as to how much money should be put aside.
Holz says if the revenue estimates are accurate, the state should be fine with meeting its expenses. However, the Le Mars Republican Representative says if any unforeseen circumstances should occur, such as the possible consequences of
retaliation from trading partners from President Trump’s tariff on steel and aluminum, then Iowa’s economy may suffer, thus resulting in again a budget
shortfall. Holz says he opposes the president’s plan calling for tariffs, saying Iowa’s economy would lose with farmers and agricultural businesses suffering the most.
Holz says the state legislature will begin to formulate the next fiscal budget, now that they know the revenue estimate numbers.
Newell Woman Dies From Falling From A Moving Pickup Truck
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – Webster County authorities say a woman who fell from a pickup truck died after being struck by a car following the pickup.
Deputies and medics were sent around 8:45 p.m. Friday to the scene just north of Fort Dodge on U.S. Highway 169. The Iowa State Patrol says 29-year-old Sarah Jensen fell from the truck driven by 31-year-old Joshua Jensen, also of Newell. The patrol says the car that then struck her was driven by 31-year-old
Cynthia Andrews, of Joplin, Missouri.
Sarah Jensen was pronounced dead later at a Fort Dodge hospital.
The patrol report doesn’t say how Jensen fell from the pickup.
Missouri River Runoff Larger Due To More Snowfall
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – More snowfall over the past month prompted officials to increase the forecast for runoff in the Missouri River this spring.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now predicting the amount of water that will flow into the river will be about 115 percent of normal this year.
But nearly all the space reserved for floodwaters in the seven
reservoirs along the river is free at this point of the year.
The river forecast could still change this spring. The mountain
snowpack in the region usually peaks in mid-April.
The navigation season is expected to open in mid-March, and there should be enough water in the river to allow full service navigation through at least the first half of the year.
Seven Companies Request Permits To Dispense Medical Marijuana
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Seven companies have submitted 21 applications to operate medical cannabis dispensaries in Iowa.
Des Moines television station KCCI reports that those were the
applications that came in by Thursday’s deadline.
Earlier this year, the Iowa Department of Public Health requested
proposals from companies, intending to award licenses for up to five medical cannabis dispensaries throughout the state.
Dispensaries are locations where patients and primary caregivers with valid medical registration cards can obtain the cannabis.
A review panel will score the applications based on certain criteria.
The health department plans to award the five licenses by April 1.
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