Preparations Are Being Made For “Avenue of Flags” Program
(Le Mars) — Monday is Memorial Day, and organizers with the Wasmer Post #241 American Legion of Le Mars are getting set the for 53rd anniversary of the “Avenue of Flags” ceremony scheduled to begin at 10:00 Monday on the north lawn of the the Plymouth County Courthouse in Le Mars. But prior to Monday’s
Memorial Day program, Post Commander Wayne Schipper says volunteers are needed this morning to help locate anchors and to set up the half staffs.
Schipper says if possible, volunteers should bring along some tools to help locate the anchors.
Then on Memorial Day Monday, the annual parade will officially kick off the program, and due to the construction on Central Avenue, Schipper says this year’s parade has been slightly altered.
The Memorial program is set to start at 10:00 a.m. and Schipper recites the schedule of events for the Plymouth County Courthouse.
Pat Murphy will read the roll of names. This year, Schipper says at least 27 new flags and names will be dedicated. The program will conclude with the rifle salute and the playing of taps.
Fired Finance Director Seeking Unemployment Benefits
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Kim Reynolds declined in March to order an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against one of her top allies, opting instead to fire him immediately. Now her abrupt dismissal of Iowa Finance Authority director Dave Jamison could become a legal problem.
The Reynolds administration is opposing a request by Jamison to collect unemployment benefits following his March 24 firing. The state’s opposition was first reported Friday by Iowa Public Radio, which says a hearing is scheduled June 5.
The burden will fall on the state to prove Jamison committed workplace misconduct that should disqualify him from benefits. That could be hard since the state never investigated the harassment allegations that two of Jamison’s subordinates made to the governor’s chief of staff on March 23.
Records show the governor’s office considered whether to put Jamison on leave so the state could investigate, but declined once the governor ordered Jamison’s termination. Now multiple investigations are underway.
Health Department Reports Twice As Many Flu DeathsÂ
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa health officials say the flu killed more than twice as many residents this past winter as the year before.
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported Friday that 270 people in Iowa died from the flu in the season starting last fall. That compares with 133 flu deaths over the same period a
year earlier. Just 44 flu deaths were confirmed in Iowa two seasons ago.
Flu hospitalizations spiked in late December and stayed high into
February.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that flu-related deaths also soared nationally, reaching their highest level since at least the 2014-15 season.
Iowa health officials say the number of new flu cases has dropped to a trickle in recent weeks.
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Auditor Makes Mistake On Name For Disqualifying Voting Rights
SPENCER, Iowa (AP) – An auditor says her office mistakenly cancelled the voting rights of a northwest Iowa rancher who has the same name as a felon.
Clay County Auditor Marge Pitts said Friday her office made
Christopher E. Wood ineligible to vote last fall. She said that was an “unfortunate error” because he’d done nothing wrong. Her office had intended to cancel the voting rights of repeat criminal offender Christopher R. Wood.
Pitts said she worked with the state to correct the mistake and
restore Wood’s voting rights after he complained. She noted that there were no elections when he was disqualified.
The rancher said he was stunned when he got a letter saying he was disenfranchised. He said locals have a long and unfortunate history of confusing him with the other man.
American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Rita Bettis says the case shows a “lack of appropriate safeguards and procedural checks” in Iowa’s felon list.
