Home News Wednesday News, December 12th

Wednesday News, December 12th

Akron-Westfield Votes Down School Bond

(Akron) — For the third time, voters in the Akron-Westfield school district voted down the $6.9 million dollar bond issue that would have made the school building more secure, and renovated some of the existing facilities.
Although the yes votes outnumbered the no votes, 408 to 399, or 50.5 percent to 49.4 percent, the margin did not reach the 60 percent approval needed for the measure to pass. There were 129 absentee ballots, and 678 people casting their ballots in person.

 

 

Northwest Iowa School Bonds Fail

(Sioux City) — School bond issues failed in nearly every northwest Iowa school district. Each proposal failed to get the 60 per cent needed for approval.

Sgt. Bluff-Luton received only 47.5 per cent approval for their proposal to build a new high school.

Storm Lake had 56 per cent and Odebolt-Arthur, Battle Creek, Ida Grove just falling short with 59 per cent voting to support their bond issue.

River Valley only needed a simple majority for their physical plant levy and voters said yes by a 201-147 margin.

That levy will pay for improvements at their Correctionville facilities.

 

 

Law Enforcement Officials Involved In Another Chase

(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Sheriff’s Deputies were involved in yet another high speed eluding chase. This time the incident happened during the early morning hours of Tuesday, December 11th. At about 4:00 a.m. the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office was advised of a pursuit entering Plymouth County from Sioux county on Highway 75. The pursuit originated on Interstate 90 in
the Worthington, Minnesota area, and had traveled through northwest Iowa until it entered Plymouth County. Worthington, Minnesota police and Nobles County authorities had attempted to stop the vehicle when it fled from an officer. Multiple agencies within northwest Iowa and Minnesota assisted during the pursuit. At about 4:20 a.m. a Plymouth County deputy that was in
front of the pursuit was able to safely deploy stop sticks near county road K-22 and 250th Street. The suspect vehicle struck the stop sticks and both right-side tires went flat. The vehicle then stopped in the 2500 block of county road K-22 at which time both the driver and passenger were detained.
Authorities conducted a records check and determined both the driver and the passenger were found to have active arrest warrants from South Dakota. The driver, 45-year old Kevin Gunhammer of Tabor, South Dakota, was charged with
eluding an aggravated misdemeanor along with the South Dakota warrant. The passenger, Desiree Sully, age 34 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was arrested on the South Dakota warrant. Once at the Plymouth County Jail, she was also
found to be in possession of a controlled substance believed to be methamphetamine. She was then charged with possession of a controlled substance in the first offense.

 

 

County Employees Present Initial Collective Bargaining Requests

(Le Mars) — Plymouth County employees presented their initial position for collective bargaining during Tuesday morning’s county supervisor meeting.
Speaking for the county employees was Pete Holtzgrew.

Supervisors Craig Anderson and Don Kass asked for a clarification regarding the closure of the engineer’s office during bad weather conditions.

Supervisor Mark Loutsch then countered with the county’s initial position for the collective bargaining with county employees.

Supervisor John Meis explained why the county board wants to include some of the requests and positions in the county employee handbook.

The county employees then asked if there was a reason why the county wanted to negotiate only one year, instead of a three-year contract?

Both sides will now begin formal negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement for county employees.

 

 

Puppy Mill Charged With Inhumane Conditions For Animals

MANLY, Iowa (AP) – County officials in northern Iowa are trying to maintain custody of nine dogs and four cats that were taken from a commercial breeder accused of neglecting the animals.
The Des Moines Register reports that court records describe
overcrowded and filthy conditions at the Manly, Iowa property. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is caring for the animals and calls the operation a “puppy mill.”
Officials seized 154 Samoyeds and four cats from the property last month. In several visits to the property, a Worth County sheriff’s deputy says he saw kennels covered with feces and mud and visibly skinny dogs with no water and little food.
The owner denies animal neglect allegations, but says she struggled to maintain the operation after her husband’s 2017 death.

 

 

Governor Reynolds Has A New Chief Of Staff

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has named a new chief of staff as she assembles an administrative team to run the office after winning election in November.
A statement released from the governor’s office on Tuesday says Sara Craig Gongol will begin work on Saturday.
Craig Gongol, a political consultant and fundraiser, has worked with Reynolds since 2014 and was a general consultant to Reynolds’ successful campaign to win the governor’s office in November.
Craig Gongol also managed Mitt Romney’s 2012 Iowa caucus
presidential campaign.
Reynolds says she’s bringing together a new team to help implement her vision for Iowa.
Reynolds has been governor since her predecessor Terry Branstad left in May 2017. She defeated Democrat Fred Hubbell in November to become Iowa’s first woman governor.
Current Chief of Staff Ryan Koopmans, a lawyer, will return to the private sector.

 

 

Iowa’s HAWK-I Program Will Cost More

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s cost for a children’s health insurance program is set to soar from $7 million to $37 million over the next two years because of changes approved by Congress that reduce federal funding.
The Des Moines Register reports that the HAWK-I provides health insurance to 70,000 children from families with moderate income. A family of four qualifies with an annual income between about $42,000 and $76,000.
Congress decided in January to phase out extra federal financing for children’s health insurance programs, which had been part of the Affordable Care Act.
As a result, state lawmakers will have to find funds to keep the
program running. The Iowa Department of Human Services says that state’s share of the cost for HAWK-I will increase from 5 percent this fiscal year to 24 percent in two fiscal years.

 

 

Ankeny Police Arrest Drag Race Driver 

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) – Ankeny police have arrested a man suspected of engaging in a drag race that ended when one of the vehicles crashed, killing its two occupants.
An Ankeny news release says 21-year-old Brandon Ferin, of Johnston, was arrested Tuesday. He’s charged with misdemeanor drag racing and felony vehicular homicide. Polk County court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.
Police say Ferin was racing his pickup truck against another the
night of Aug. 25 at speeds of up to 80 mph (129 kph) in a 35 mph (56 kph) zone. The other truck went out of control and crashed into another vehicle in a restaurant parking lot.
The two people in the other truck were killed: 41-year-old Brad
Stover, from Colfax, and 50-year-old Ronald Girtz, from Pine City, Minnesota.

 

 

Nebraska Man Sentenced For Bank Fraud

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A northeast Nebraska man has been sentenced for defrauding banks in Iowa and Nebraska.
U.S. District Court records say 32-year-old Joshua Huffman, of
Lyons, was given three months behind bars and five years of supervised release. He also was told at an Omaha hearing Monday to pay restitution to Washington County Bank in Blair and United Bank of Iowa in Ida Grove, Iowa.
He’d pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors say Huffman gave false and fraudulent financial
statements to the banks to obtain loans for his farming operation from December 2014 through May 2015.
He defaulted on the loans, so United Bank of Iowa suffered a loss of about $320,000, and Washington County Bank suffered a loss of almost $14,000.