Roll-over Accident Happens On Highway 3
(Le Mars) — Emergency crews consisting of the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department, Le Mars Ambulance and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office responded to a roll-over one vehicle accident that happened at about 12:22 a.m. The accident occurred on Highway 3, near the Hedge Avenue intersection, about eight miles west of Le Mars. According to a Plymouth County Sheriff’s Deputy, the car had three people inside, a female driver, and two male passengers, all in their 20’s. Apparently, the vehicle was heading eastbound on Highway 3. The female driver says she swerved to avoid hitting an animal, then over-corrected, lost control, causing the vehicle to enter the north ditch, and rolling over on to its side. All three people within the vehicle had suffered only minor injuries and refused medical treatment.
Total Motors To Donate Money To Little League Baseball For Test Drives
(Le Mars) — Total Motors of Le Mars has once again joined forces with Chevrolet and the Chevy Youth Baseball program in an effort to provide new equipment, as well as, sponsorship dollars for the Le Mars Little League. The Chevy Youth Baseball Test Drive Fundraiser is a program by which Total Motors will provide $25 for every test drive taken today. Individuals must be over the age of 21 and take a test drive in any one of the new Chevrolet vehicles. Total Motors will contribute up to a maximum of $1,000. The event is scheduled for today, the first day of Le Mars Little League baseball, and will be held at the John Britton lower ball diamonds. Make sure to grab some grilled food after your test drive.
“Then Feed Just One” Packages More Than 211,000 Meals
(Le Mars) — Hundreds of volunteers ranging from 4 years of age on up helped package meals for the “Then Feed Just One” program. The food packaging program took place today at Gehlen Catholic School. Carolyn Bickford helps with the coordination of the annual meal packaging event. She says the milestone of hitting one million meals was packaged earlier this morning.
Bickford says the packaged meals consist of rice, dried vegetables, soy textured protein, and vitamins and minerals. The meals have a final destination of Honduras.
Bickford has visited Honduras on many occasions through the Mission Honduras program. She has witnessed both ends of the program with the start of the “Then Feed Just One” meal packaging to when the Honduran children actually consume the packaged meals.
The “Then Feed Just One” has been active at Gehlen Catholic School for 13 years. At the end of the day, 211,248 meals were packaged.
Legislature Hopes To Adjourn On Saturday
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa lawmakers are working through the weekend in an effort to adjourn the legislative session.
Legislators scheduled floor votes Saturday to finalize spending on the roughly $7.4 billion state budget that goes into effect July 1. They’re also set to begin debate on an expansive tax cut bill.
The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimates the tax legislation will cost roughly $362 million over the next two years. If other economic conditions are met, that total would climb to more than $2.1 billion by 2024.
Republicans with control of the Statehouse claim they’ve accounted for that money. Democrats argue the tax bill is irresponsible at a time when lawmakers have reduced spending in other areas of government.
Governor Reynolds Signs Energy Bill Into Law
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed into law an overhaul of Iowa’s energy policies.
Reynolds signed the bill Friday, marking a change in how much natural gas and electric companies must spend on energy efficiency programs.
Democrats say the law will drastically curtail the programs, causing higher rates and lost jobs. Republicans say utilities will cut costs and then must pass along savings to customers through lower rates.
The Iowa Utilities Board also will be required to fast-track reviews of new utility rates, raising concerns they may not receive adequate scrutiny. Utilities say the bill provides predictability and promotes price stability.
The bill passed after an extended debate in the House, where five Republicans joined every Democrat present in opposition. The Senate passed the bill on a party line vote.
Reynolds Signs Abortion Bill – Planned Parenthood Threatens To File Lawsuit
(Des Moines) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a six-week abortion ban into law, marking the strictest abortion regulation in the nation.
The Republican governor signed the bill on Friday in her formal office at the state Capitol. But the measure is expected to quickly face a court challenge.
The Iowa affiliates of Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union warned earlier Friday at a rally that they would sue Reynolds if she signed the bill. Iowa’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved the legislation earlier in the week.
The legislation would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks of pregnancy.
Similar bans approved in other states haven’t gone into effect because they were challenged in court over their constitutionality.
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Regulator Says Iowa Prisons Need Updating
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A regulator says the prison that houses Iowa’s most violent offenders is exposing workers to harm by equipping them with radios that sometimes don’t work during emergencies and poorly trained security dogs.
The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration found 21 serious violations during a recent inspection of the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. The agency is seeking a $49,500 fine against the Iowa Department of Corrections.
The Associated Press obtained the citation as part of a personnel appeal recently made public. The citation says radios fail to bring assistance to correctional officers who are under attack by inmates, including during two assaults that injured workers.
It also says the department failed to provide K-9 officers with adequate time to train animals, which has led to dogs disobeying handlers.
Father Of Starved Daughter Sent To Prison
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The father of a 16-year-old girl who was tortured and starved to death has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The Des Moines Register reports that 47-year-old Joseph Finn II was sentenced Friday in Des Moines. He had pleaded guilty in March to three counts of assault while participating in a felony causing a serious injury.
Finn’s ex-wife, Nicole Finn, is serving three life sentences for the October 2016 death of Natalie Finn. Officials have said the emaciated girl weighed just 81 pounds when she died.
Joseph Finn did not live in the West Des Moines home where his adopted daughter died, but prosecutors say he boarded up the windows in the house after Nicole complained that Natalie and other adopted children were escaping and begging for food.
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Police Investigate Deaths At Railroad Crossing
BELLE PLAINE, Iowa (AP) – Police are investigating the deaths of a woman and a young boy at a railroad crossing in eastern Iowa.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety says in a news release that Belle Plaine police were called to the crossing around 5 a.m. Friday for a train-pedestrian accident.
Arriving officers found the bodies of a woman believed to be in her mid-30s and a boy believed to be about 8. Police say the names of the two will not be released until they have been positively identified and their family members notified.
Police say Union Pacific Railroad is cooperating with the investigation.
No other details about the deaths have yet been released.
