Le Mars Police Department To Hold Open House
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Police Department will hold an open house today to showcase the new police station facilities. The open house will be from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte says many people had doubts and wondered how a former auto dealership building could be converted
to house a modern police station?
Vande Vegte says the new Le Mars Police station has become the envy of other police departments. He says people attending the open house will see a modern facility.
The Le Mars Police Chief says officers will be standing at various positions within the building, helping guide visitors, and answering questions.
Vande Vegte says the Le Mars Police Department has 14 officers. He says the open house will serve as an opportunity for people to meet and greet their police department.
The Police Department Open House will run from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. with the ribbon cutting ceremony slated for 5:00 p.m.
The Le Mars Police Station is located on Business Highway 75 – North.
Four Fire Departments Battle Grass Fire
(Le Mars) — Grass fire rigs from Le Mars, Oyens, Merrill, and Hinton were all called upon to help fight a grass fire that started this morning at about 11:15 a.m. The fire was located in a field near the intersection of Lake Avenue and county road C-38, nearly three miles south of Le Mars. Strong winds, blowing from the west and northwest, helped sweep the fire across the
harvested corn field. Le Mars Fire Chief Dave Schipper says the fire did spread quickly across the field.
(photo contributed.)
Schipper estimates nearly ten acres had burnt before firefighters were able to contain the blaze. He says wet field conditions prevented the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department from being able to use their larger trucks for the fire.
Shortly after extinguishing the wild fire, the clouds opened up, and dropped a shower on Le Mars. Schipper says he would have liked to see the rain come a bit earlier.
Traffic on county road C-38 had been detoured for a while due to the smoke reducing the visibility on the road. Firefighters were on the scene for nearly an hour and a half.
Floyd Valley Healthcare Honors Volunteers
(Le Mars) — Floyd Valley Healthcare honored their many volunteers during a reception lunch held Wednesday, and used the opportunity to give special recognition to those volunteers able to achieve a milestone in terms of hours devoted to the local hospital. Floyd Valley C-E-O, Dustin Wright congratulated the many volunteers, and presented commemorative pins for those individuals to reach a milestone. Jane Fisch of Remsen was recognized as the “Floyd Valley Healthcare Volunteer of the Year.” Fisch explains why she volunteers her time at the local hospital.
Jan Fisch Honored as Floyd Valley Healthcare “Volunteer of the Year.”
Fisch was nominated for the honor by the hospital’s cafeteria staff. She explains her duties as a volunteer with the Floyd Valley dietary center.
Fisch says she often encourages others to volunteer their time at Floyd Valley, and adds it is a worthwhile experience.
Those volunteers honored include Julie Haage, Annette Pottebaum, Denise Ruden, Clara Renken, Glenda Wiener, Arlene Wiener, Joan Tentinger, Janice Renken, Cathy Popp, and Vicki Dixon. All have spent at least 250 hours volunteering at Floyd Valley.
250 Hour Volunteers
Judy Gates and Shirley Burkard earned 500 hours of service.
500 Hour Volunteers
Jan Curtis and Karen Konz devoted 1500 hours, and Terri Pauling was recognized for devoting 5,000 hours of service to the local hospital.
1500 Hour Volunteer – Jan Curtis
5000 Hour Volunteer – Terri Pauling
Senators Hold Hearing On Flood Damage And Army Corps Of Engineers Priorities
GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – Getting disaster aid approved and making sure it gets to the people affected by this spring’s flooding is a priority for area senators.
The bureaucratic rules that govern disaster aid spending require an analysis of the costs and benefits of repair projects.
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa says that means money approved for projects in rural areas may be diverted because the property values are lower than in cities.
Ernst and other senators at a hearing about this spring’s flooding
Wednesday said they will work to change that formula.
Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst farms near the Missouri River, but his land wasn’t flooded.
Hurst said the lessons from this flooding should lead to changes
about where levees are built and how the river is managed. In addition to Senator Ernst, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also attended the hearing.
Former DuPont Manager Sentenced To Prison For Stealing Trade Secrets
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A judge has sentenced a former DuPont manager to 3 1/2 years in prison for stealing valuable trade secrets about its ethanol fuel business and giving them to a competitor who hired him.
U.S. District Judge Linda Reade ordered 55-year-old Josh Isler of St. Ansgar, Iowa, to spend 42 months in federal prison. Isler pleaded guilty last summer to stealing trade secrets and making false statements to the FBI.
After he was hired by a competitor but remained employed at DuPont in 2013, Isler downloaded and shared internal DuPont files related to enzymes it supplies to ethanol plants to produce fuel. Isler has said that he did so to impress his new employer and secure his job, which came with a salary increase and car.
The files included test, yield, and pricing information for products
and customers of DuPont.
The government argued that DuPont lost millions of dollars in sales after the theft and that Isler’s actions were at least partly to blame.
