Le Mars and Plymouth County Shares Award For Area Economic Development
(Le Mars) — For the third year in a row, Plymouth County and the surrounding area have been recognized by Site Selection Magazine as being the number one area for economic development. Mayor Dick Kirchoff presented the award to the city and city council members during Tuesday’s meeting. Neil Adler, the executive director with the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce says Plymouth County is now a part of the Sioux City metro statistical area that also includes Woodbury County
Iowa, Dakota and Dixon Counties, Nebraska, and Union County, South Dakota. Adler talks about the award.
Adler says the region has witnessed some tremendous industrial growth during this past year.
Adler says last year, Le Mars and Plymouth County alone had $70 million dollars of projects that were a part of the overall criteria used by Site Selection magazine in
naming this region best in economic development.
Pictured from left to right: Neil Adler, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director; Mayor Dick Kirchoff, Jason Vacera, Assistant City Administrator; and Scott Langel, City Administrator.
Alzheimer’s Association Holds Awareness Event At Chamber Coffee
(Le Mars) — Every 65 seconds somebody new is diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s disease. Listed at number six, Alzheimer’s ranks as one of the top ten fatal diseases, but officials want people to know it is not necessarily an old person’s
disease. Jill Madsen is the Development Specialist with the Alzheimers Association of Siouxland. She says there are several myths associated with the dementia disease.
Madsen says unfortunately, as of today, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and there isn’t a method to slow down its progression.
The Alzheimers Association of Siouxland hosted a chamber coffee this morning at Le Mars to help call attention of the disease, and to make people aware of a couple of upcoming fundraiser events.
Alzheimer’s Association held a ribbon cutting ceremony and a Chamber Coffee at Hotopp’s Jewelry and Gifts to call attention to the disease.
Orange City Public Library To Separate LBGTQ Themed Books
ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa library is shifting how it categorizes books after some residents pressed for segregating materials containing LGBTQ themes.
The Orange City Public Library’s board decided Tuesday to experiment with grouping books by subject and subcategory rather than alphabetical order by an author’s name.
The library’s board president, Jared Weber, says the changes may start with a trial run on a few subjects over the summer and expand to the rest of the library if patrons like the new system.
The move comes a month after some community members circulated a petition calling on the library to label and separate
materials involving LGBTQ issues.
The petition also asked the library to seek public input before acquiring new materials on LGBTQ topics. The library board will vote next month on revising the library’s policy to require an additional check on acquisitions.
Judge Fines Iowa State University For Blocking Student Organization Freedom Of Speech
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State University’s unconstitutional crackdown on a pro-marijuana student group’s T-shirts will cost state taxpayers nearly $1 million in damages and legal fees.
Court documents indicate a judge approved $598,208 in attorney fees and costs on Wednesday. That amount is in addition to payments the state agreed to in January to settle the case including $75,000 each to Paul Gerlich and Erin
Furleigh, the students who filed the lawsuit in 2014 and $193,000 to their lawyers for federal court appeals.
The $940,000 total doesn’t include work by the Iowa Attorney General’s office, which represented ISU administrators.
The costs stem from a politically-motivated attempt by university
administrators in 2012 to block T-shirt designs that featured the ISU mascot and a marijuana leaf.
Judges found ISU administrators violated the students’ free-speech rights.
