U-S Postal Service Unveils New Stamp At Le Mars
(Le Mars) — A new type of stamp was unveiled Thursday at the Le Mars Post Office, entitled: “Frozen Treats” that features the first of its kind of scratch and sniff stamps. The stamps appear to look like ice cream bars or Popsicles. Mary Alt is the District Manager for the Hawkeye District for the U-S Postal Services which includes all of Iowa and a portion of Illinois.
She talks about the new stamp.
The Postal Official says the concept for the scratch and sniff stamp started nearly two years ago, and it will be available at postal offices nationwide.
Alt explains why Le Mars was chosen for the unveiling of the new stamp.
In addition to the stamp unveiling, the U-S Postal Service also unveiled a special postal cancellation mark featuring Le Mars as the “Ice Cream Capital of the World.” Alt says the cancellation mark will be used through the month of August.
Several dignitaries spoke during the morning’s unveiling ceremony, including Le Mars Mayor Dick Kirchoff. The Le Mars mayor recited some trivia statistics regarding the amount of ice cream and frozen novelty products that are produced in Le Mars, which gave the town the title of “Ice Cream Capital
of the World.” Kirchoff says the Iowa legislature approved the town’s proclamation back in 1994.
Kirchoff stated the milk from approximately 65,000 dairy cows each day is needed for one day’s ice cream production for Wells. He also mentioned how the ice cream production company, during the height of the summer production will have a semi-truck and trailer leave the docks loaded with ice cream and
other frozen novelty products every seven minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Le Mars mayor says 50 million gallons of ice cream are produced annually in Le Mars by Wells Enterprises.
The stamps are the “forever” stamps as issued by the United States Postal Service. Each of the ten stamp designs includes two different treats. The words “Forever” and “USA” appear along the bottom of each stamp. The “Frozen Treats” stamps are being issued as First-Class Mail Forever stamps which will
always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one ounce price.
Meteorologist Warns Against Flooding For Northwest Iowa
(Le Mars) — Many of northwest Iowa’s rivers, including the Floyd River at Le Mars and Alton, are under a flash flood warning from now through Saturday. The National Weather Services has posted the warning to include the Big Sioux River at Hawarden and at Akron, the Rock River at Rock Rapids, Rock Valley,
and Luverne, Minnesota. Also included is the Little Sioux River at Milford, Spencer, Linn Grove, and Cherokee. The flood warning extends into neighboring states of South Dakota and Minnesota and includes the Vermillion River near Parker, Davis, and Wakonda. The Big Sioux River at Sioux Falls, Brandon, and Canton. When you notice water crossing a roadway, remember the phrase: “Turn around and don’t drown.” Kyle Weisser is a meteorologist with the National Weather Services of Sioux Falls. He says many times people don’t think about the dangers associated with flooding.
Weisser says in addition to being swept away in moving water, he says flood waters can create many headaches for homeowners.
Weisser says there are some communities that could experience some flooding for the next few days.
The National Weather Services meteorologist says the week-long rains should be coming to an end within the next day or so.
Weisser says by next week the clouds should part giving us sunny skies along with warmer temperatures.
Supreme Court Approves Iowa To Collect New Taxes
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court is clearing the way for Iowa to collect sales taxes on digital goods and services.
The court ruled Thursday that states can force companies operating online to collect taxes, reversing decades-old decisions that had stymied efforts to collect sales taxes on many online transactions.
Earlier this year, Iowa legislators approved expanding sales tax to digital goods like e-books, subscription services like Netflix, ride-sharing apps like Uber and physical goods purchased online.
The new sales taxes will go into effect in January.
The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimates the expansion will bring in $42 million to the state in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
That climbs to about $103 million in the next fiscal year. It was unclear before the court’s ruling whether the new taxes would be collected.
The expected revenues would help reduce the estimated cost of
property tax cuts in the same legislation.
Des Moines Diocese To Review Grants Under Scrutiny
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines intends to conduct a legal review of $844,000 in Polk County grants that aided nine area Catholic schools.
On Wednesday Bishop Richard Pates told The Des Moines Register there is “a legitimate question of legality” regarding the publicly financed grants used to buy equipment for the nine Catholic schools and one Christian academy in 2012 and 2013.
Iowa state officials say they won’t challenge Polk County’s decision to provide the grants.
Several Catholic school supporters formed a new Iowa corporation called Education for the 21st Century to apply for and receive the county grants. The county Board of Supervisors awarded the corporation a $400,000 grant in 2012 and a $444,000 grant in 2013. The group is now defunct.
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Waterloo Man Sentenced For Using Young Girl For Child Pornography
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A Waterloo man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for traveling to Mexico to sexually abuse a girl, whom he used to produce child pornography.
Federal prosecutors in Iowa say 36-year-old Juan Rangel was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty in December to one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and one count of distribution of child pornography. Rangel must also register as a sex offender.
Court records show Rangel admitted that between 2014 and 2016, he traveled from the U.S. to Mexico and engaged in sex acts with a girl when she was 14 and 15. He also produced child porn involving the girl and posted the images online in 2015 and 2016.
