Plymouth County Roads Are Open And In Good Shape Following Floods
(Le Mars) — Last Friday, flooding from the Floyd River, Deep Creek, and the Willow Creek caused many of the county roads to be closed due to water over the roadways, and the erosion caused by the floods. However, Plymouth County Engineer Tom Rohe says since the flood waters receded, county work
crews have been able to perform maintenance on those county roads, allowing for most roads to again be open.
Rohe says there is one exception to the roads being open. He says county road C-16 remains closed.
The Plymouth County engineer says fortunately, the recent flooding did not take a big bite from the secondary roads department’s budget.
Rohe says Plymouth County was fortunate that the heavier rainfalls occurred to the north of us, which limited the amount of erosion on the country roads.
Preparations Being Made For MenuMasters Event
(Le Mars) — This Saturday will be the seventh annual MenuMasters event as hosted by the Le Mars Educational Enhancement Project, or LEEP. The annual food-related festival will take place at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds inside the Century Hall and the Hall of ’15. Janelle Bixenman serves as one
of the co-chairs for the event. She says 24 teams of two will participate and compete this year. Bixenman says the food will be available between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Bixenman says tickets are selling for $25 a piece. She tells of some of the businesses that will be represented during Saturday’s event.
Bixenman says the teams of chefs will again dress in costume, and design their booth space to go along with the food item they have prepared.
The purpose behind the evening of fun is to raise money which is used to help Le Mars Community educational efforts.
Bixenman says following the meal, awards will be presented to the teams with the best food, as well as with the best theme. After the awards presentation, a dance will be featured, along with a cash bar.
Cedar Rapids Woman To Serve Two Years In Prison For Texting While Driving, Killing Another Motorist
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Cedar Rapids woman who was texting when her car collided with another vehicle has been given two years in prison.
Station KCRG reports that 22-year-old Kaitlyn Richards also was fined $625 at her sentencing hearing Tuesday in Iowa City. She’d pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors dropped a charge of vehicular homicide in exchange. The judge rejected a recommendation of probation, but Richards didn’t withdraw her plea upon learning that she’d be imprisoned.
Richards admitted that she was texting on Jan. 24, 2016, when her car ran into the rear of a sport utility vehicle on Interstate 80 in Coralville.
The impact pushed the SUV into the path of a semitrailer, and the SUV driver was killed by the truck’s impact. The SUV driver was identified as 54-year- old Patricia Mittauer, who lived in Swisher.
—
Council Bluffs City Council To Repeal “Begging Law”
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A city council in western Iowa is moving toward repealing a 40-year-old law against begging that the city attorney says probably has never been enforced.
The Council Bluffs City Council voted Monday for the repeal. City Attorney Richard Wade told The Daily Nonpareil that repealing it requires two more readings and votes by council members, who likely will waive the third vote.
In August the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa sent letters to Council Bluffs and other Iowa cities, asking for repeals. The ACLU legal director, Rita Bettis Austen, says the ordinance is unconstitutional, “because the First Amendment protects the right of people to express their needs and ask for help.”
Wade said Tuesday that, to the best of his knowledge, the ordinance has never been enforced in Council Bluffs.
—
Haz-Mat Crews Clean Up Chlorine Spill
CUMMING, Iowa (AP) – Hazardous material crews are cleaning up after hundreds of gallons of liquid chlorine spilled into a water holding facility at Maffitt Reservoir in south-central Iowa.
Television station KCCI reports that the spill Tuesday. Des Moines Fire Department hazmat crews and Northern Warren firefighters were sent around 3 p.m. Tuesday to the L.D. McMullen Water Treatment Facility in Cumming.
Des Moines Fire Department spokesman Brian O’Keefe says 500 gallons of chlorine were released.
O’Keefe says no injuries were reported from the spill and that there is no threat to the public or disruption of service expected.
—
