Livestock and Small Animal Entries Hold Steady For Plymouth County Fair
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Fair officially begins on Wednesday, but livestock and animal entries will begin coming to the fair today and tomorrow. However, we already know the entry numbers are fairly consistent with year’s past. Ann Schoenrock serves as the co-coordinator with the Plymouth County Extension Services.
Schoenrock says the small animal entry numbers are doing well. She says the poultry entries have basically bounced back to the level they were prior to the outbreak of the Avian Flu from a few years back.
There have been fairs in the past when there simply wasn’t any dairy entries, but Schoenrock says this year’s Plymouth County Fair will have some dairy cows ready to be exhibited.
Schoenrock says there have been some improvements made to the sheep barns, and the quality of lambs exhibited in Plymouth County is unmatched.
The Plymouth County Extension Coordinator says exhibitors are bringing more breeding stock to this year’s fair, which she says may mean those animals may return next year.
Here is a quick rundown of the animal and livestock judging for the opening day of Wednesday. The rabbit show will kick things off beginning at 1:00 p.m.
The 4-H and FFA Livestock Judging Contest will start at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Also, scheduled for Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. is the bottle calf judging contest.
Clean-up Continues For Tornado Ravaged Communities
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) – Businesses, groups and volunteers are pitching in to provide more than cleanup in the wake of tornadoes that destroyed buildings, trees and vehicles in central Iowa earlier this week.
In Marshalltown, a city of 27,000 that was hardest hit, a meatpacking plant provided hot meals to those in need at the local YMCA on Saturday. The Times-Republican reports that the Animal Rescue League was working with Marshall County Emergency Management and a local veterinary clinic to care
for any animals following the tornado Thursday that devastated parts of downtown.
The Marshalltown tornado was among a flurry of unexpected twisters that swept through central Iowa on Thursday, injuring at least 17 people and flattening buildings in three cities, including Pella and Bondurant.
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Iowa State University Football Team Assists With Tornado Clean-up
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa State University football team showed up in storm-ravaged Marshalltown to help residents clean up two days after a destructive tornado swept through the city.
The Marshalltown Times-Republican reports that the entire Cyclones roster was on hand Saturday, making quick work out of a number of tasks before catching a breather on a local schoolyard.
Players did everything from clearing tree limbs and debris, raking
yards, moving remnants of houses, rooftops and garages, and removing furniture from damaged homes and businesses.
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Man Dies From Construction Accident
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – Workplace safety officials are investigating the fatal injury of a man at a manufacturing plant in north-central Iowa’s Fort Dodge.
The Messenger reports that the man died after being hit by and pinned under a steel beam Thursday evening.
Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Deborah Babb says the beam was being erected as part of a construction project at CJ Bio American in Fort Dodge when the accident happened. Babb declined to release the victim’s name, but said he was an employee of a
contractor at the site.
Babb says agency officers were on the scene Friday morning. She declined to comment further.
CJ Bio American produces the amino acid lysine, which is added to feed for poultry and swine. A $51 million expansion project is underway to allow the plant to make another amino acid, L-Threonine.
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Des Moines Police Shoot At Suspect
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police have arrested a man shot at by an officer during a foot chase in Des Moines.
Police say 21-year-old Michael Garrison was taken into custody Sunday and charged with assault and other crimes. Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.
The Des Moines Police Department says in a news release that Garrison had wielded a gun in threatening a person in a home and then fled. Police say Sgt. Jeremy Sprague spotted Garrison and chased him as Garrison ran. Police say Sprague fired at Garrison when Garrison pointed a handgun at Sprague.
Garrison was soon captured, and police recovered a pellet gun
believed to be the weapon Garrison pointed at Sprague.
Police say no one was injured.
RAGBRAI Kicks Off First Day With Great Weather
(Onawa) — Thousands of bike riders enjoyed sunshine and mild temperatures on the first leg of the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.
The riders pedaled their way out of Onawa Sunday morning on a 43-and-a-half mile trek to Denison.
There the bikers enjoyed a concert and party ending the shortest ride of their journey.
Monday’s leg is the longest on the route, at 70-point-six miles, ending in Jefferson.
Tuesday the stretch is just over 62 miles, detouring around flood damaged roads before ending in Ames.
