Fire Department Responds To Carbon Monoxide Alarm
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department responded to a carbon monoxide call on Saturday evening at the 900 block of P-G-A Drive. The alarm came in at around 6:00 p.m. According to Fire Chief Dave Schipper, the residence did in fact have a higher than normal reading of carbon monoxide. The resident’s carbon monoxide detector sounded, then a second detector had also sounded notifying the household that there was a problem. Fire officials ventilated the house, and called a Heating contractor to check the house and to correct the problem. Chief Schipper warns that this time of year with windows closed due to the cold temperatures is a prime time for carbon monoxide issues. He advises people to check their homes, furnaces, hot water heaters, ovens and stoves to make certain there is proper ventilation. Schipper says if your home is not equipped with a carbon monoxide detector, now would be an appropriate time to purchase a detector.
Paul Niebuhr Receives “Excellence in Education” Award
(Sioux City) — Gehlen Catholic’s instrumental music instructor was recognized during the Sioux City Diocese Bishop’s Dinner, Sunday evening. Paul Niebuhr was presented the “Excellence in Education” award by Bishop Walker Nickless.
Le Mars Community To Hold Seminars On School Bullying
(Le Mars) — Le Mars Community School District will be holding a bullying seminar throughout the day at the high school. Jeff Veley, is an award winning speaker, social skills educator, and entertainer has been invited to address the issue of school bullying. Veley will speak to both Le Mars Community and Gehlen Catholic students inside the High School Competition Gymnasium. Parents are invited to attend a session that is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the High School Little Theater.
Le Mars Community Board of Education To Hold Meeting
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Board of Education will convene this evening for its bi-monthly meeting. Members of the Le Mars Educational Enhancement Project or LEEP will present a report to the Board on the recent successful MenuMasters fundraising event. Jenna Bowmaster and Jill Bomgaars will inform the Board of Education on the usage of technology within the Le Mars Community High School Spanish program. Curriculm Director Rachel Leavitt is scheduled to present the results of the latest ACT test scores to the board’s attention. Leavitt will also present the certified student enrollment numbers.
Carlin and Jeneary To Hold Meet and Greet
(Le Mars) — Republican candidates, Jim Carlin and Dr. Tom Jeneary will hold a Meet and Greet forum scheduled for today at the Four Brothers Bar and Grill in Le Mars. Carlin is seeking re-election to the Iowa Senate, while Jeneary is seeking a first term in the Iowa House. The Meet and Greet is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
Reynolds and Hubbell Have Third and Final Debate
(Davenport) — The third and final televised debate between Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and Democratic challenger Fred Hubbell was held early Sunday morning.
The candidates clashed over a variety of topics, each accusing the other of misleading Iowans. Hubbell says the G-O-P tax plan Reynolds touts has restrictions that may not allow it to fully go into effect.
“The liklihood that tax cut for the middle class is going to happen in 2024 is no more likely than than the cow jumping over the moon,” Hubbell said. Reynolds says the promise of those tax cuts has been an economic driver.
“We’re reducing taxes and regulations and created a pro-growth environment,” Reynolds said, “where we’re seeing our economy grow.” The pace of growth in state support of public schools was also a point of debate. Reynolds says you can’t measure the success of a program by the sheer amount of dollars put into it.
“(I’m) proud of our investment in education, as I’ve
said, fourth in the country,” Reynolds said. “And I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do even with higher education.” Hubbell pointed to the mid-year budget cuts to the state universities and argued K-through-12 schools are being asked to do more and more with less.
“We’ve had eight years in a row of about a 1.3 percent average increase in student funding in our schools,” Hubbell said. “Inflation has been 2.5 to 3 percent in each of those eight years.” Reynolds has been airing campaign ads hammering Hubbell’s management of the Younkers department store chain and she used the debate to make this charge:
“Fred, when you were the CEO of Younkers, the IRS said you owed, that Younkers owed, $9 million in back taxes. That doesn’t sound like fiscal responsibility to me.” Hubbell responded, saying the payment was the outcome of a 1992 tax audit.
“I knew that the governor was going to be throwing the kitchen sink at me,” Hubbell said. “…Younkers had a tax reserve, which most public companies do. They negotiated with the IRS. The actual change in the reserves was very small. It did not affect gross income of Younkers at all and it was a perfectly normal situation.” Reynolds twice accused her opponent of favoring repeal of Iowa’s “right-to-work” law that forbids forced union membership, prompting this response from Hubbell:
“If the legislature determines that the right-to-work bill should be pased and they give me a bill that’s good for small businesses and the economy, I will sign that bill,” Hubbell said. Hubbell accused Reynolds of supporting the roll-back of Iowa’s collective bargaining law for “purely political reasons.”
“They wanted to reduce the impact of labor unions in the state to strengthen the Republican Party. It had nothing to do with being good for our state,” Hubbell said. “…Now, teachers and state workers don’t have the right to strike or collectively bargain. It’s not fair.” Reynolds says the new law which limits contract talks to salaries only “put taxpayers at the negotiating table.” In responding to questions about immigration, Reynolds said she is open to sending Iowa National Guard troops to seal the southern border. Hubbell said such a move would put Iowa soldiers in harm’s way for political reasons. The debate was sponsored by the Quad City Times, K-W-Q-C in the Quad Cities and K-C-R-G in Cedar Rapids. W-O-W-T in Omaha also broadcast the debate, which started at 8 a.m. Sunday.
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Simpson College Protest
INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) – Simpson College students have staged a protest at the south-central Iowa school over faculty and program cuts announced last week.
Des Moines television station KCCI reports that Simpson College President Jay Simmons announced last week that the college will cut 13 full-time employees, the art department, and French and German majors.
Students packed the Kent Campus Center on Friday to voice their anger over the cuts. Some students read a list of demands, including increased faculty representation at future board of trustees meetings. The trustees and Simmons were at a meeting at the center during the protests and allowed the students to be heard.
Simmons says the cuts were made because of low numbers of students majoring in art, French and German.
Simmons says college leaders plan to hold student forums in the coming weeks.
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Southwest Iowa Teenager Dies In Fiery Crash
UNDERWOOD, Iowa (AP) – Western Iowa officials say a teenage girl has died after becoming trapped in her burning, crashed car.
The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says deputies were sent to the scene of a crash Friday morning when 16-year-old ShyAnne Larsen, of Honey Creek, reported that her car had crashed and had caught fire. She told dispatchers she was unable to get out of the car.
When deputies found the car several minutes later in a county road ditch near Underwood, the car was on its side and fully engulfed in flames. About five minutes later, firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire, and Larsen’s body was found inside the car.
Officials say the fire started in the front of the car, but the cause was not known Friday afternoon. It remains under investigation.
Mega Millions Jackpot Climbs To $1.6 Billion
CHICAGO (AP) – With the Mega Millions lottery jackpot at a record $1.6 billion, people are snapping up tickets across the U.S.
The Powerball jackpot also has climbed. It’s up to an estimated $620 million for Wednesday’s drawing. That would make it the fifth-largest jackpot in U.S. history.
But much of the focus has been on Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing and what would be the largest jackpot prize in U.S. history.
From San Diego to New York, people are dreaming of how they would spend the money should they beat the astronomical odds of winning.
Mega Millions is played in 44 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball is played in the same places, plus Puerto Rico.
