Home News Saturday News, April 27th

Saturday News, April 27th

Today Is Superheroes Day

(Le Mars) — Today is Superheroes Day, and the Le Mars Optimist Club is celebrating by holding a “Heroes Day” event at the National Guard Armory.
The event was originally to be held at Cleveland Park, but due to the cold temperatures and possibility for more rain, organizers have since decided to move the event indoors. The day is about honoring all of the superheroes in our lives and community, both the fictional and the real-life heroes who place their lives on the line each day for our safety. Children are encouraged to dress up as their favorite hero. Local heroes include parents, law enforcement officials, firefighters, doctors, nurses, EMT’s,
professionals, blue collar workers, city officials and volunteers. Hot dogs and chips will be served today at the Heroes Day event. Children will have the opportunity to meet with law enforcement officers and see their vehicles and equipment, army national guard, ambulance EMT’s, and many more local heroes. The event is free. Again, Heroes Day will now be held at the National Guard Armory located on the east end of town on Highway 3, next to
the Good Samaritan Care Center, and it will begin at 10:00 a.m.

 

 

Le Mars High School To Hold “An Evening In Paris” Prom

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars High School will be celebrating thier prom this evening with the theme “Evening in Paris.” Nancy Isebrand is the prom coordinator and says the students decorated both high school gyms to reflect the theme of being in Paris.

Inside the new Competition gymnasium stands a replica of the Eiffel Tower as the main focal point for the promenade. Isebrand says the promenade will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The Le Mars High School prom dance will be held inside the old Carey gymnasium. Isebrand says there is no banquet scheduled for this year’s high school prom.

Isebrand talks about the time table and events scheduled for this evening during the prom and the after-prom activities.

The high school prom coordinator says there are several people to thank and who were responsible for getting the annual prom organized.

 

 

State Auditor Rob Sand Holds Town Hall Meetings

(Le Mars) — State Auditor Rob Sand is crossing the state to learn from people as to how government agencies, be they the state, county, or city, or other public entities, such as schools, can become more efficient and save money. Sand calls the program PIE for Public Innovations and Efficiencies.

Sand held town hall meetings Friday at Council Bluffs, Holstein, Sioux Center, Le Mars, and Sioux City. He says he is searching for “common sense” ideas that often times would be overlooked as a means to save the tax payer’s money, such as unplugging electronics at the conclusion of a work day. He says government entities will be encouraged to fill out a “check list” to
measure their progress on becoming more efficient.

Sand says the state auditor’s office began looking at being more efficient and saving tax payers money on day two of Sand’s term. He says the auditor’s office is releasing public audit reports in a different and more efficient manner.

The state auditor estimated his staff worked a total of 325 hours each year, just to print and bind audit reports. Sand has collected a list of ideas from each of the town hall meetings, which he hopes to implement within the next few months.

 

 

Governors From Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas Meet Again With Army Corps Of Engineers To Further Discuss Flooding

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – The leaders of several Midwest states hit recently by flooding along the Missouri River say they’ve received assurances from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the states will “have a seat at the table” when it comes to river management decisions.
The Republican governors of Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri and Kansas’ Democratic lieutenant governor all met with Corps officials in the western Iowa city of Council Bluffs on Friday, the second such meeting since last month’s devastating floods.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said the states are considering pushing for formation of a Missouri River management commission – similar to the Mississippi River Commission – that would include representatives from the states.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds also said repair contracts for three of the river’s larges breaches have already been awarded and that some of the repairs could be finished as early as July.

 

 

Iowa Legislators Hope To End Session Today

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa lawmakers are extending the 2019 legislative session into Saturday. The Iowa Senate has gone home for the night but the House was expected to debate the final few remaining bills into the night.
Senators called it a night at around 6:30 and plan to return Saturday at 9 a.m.
The House was considering the state Health and Human Services budget bill which was expected to bring significant debate due to a last-minute Senate Republican amendment which sought to prohibit the use of Medicaid funding to pay for sex-reassignment surgery.
It also would prohibit government money from paying for sex education programs by Planned Parenthood.
The bill drew lengthy Senate debate from Democrats who said the state wasn’t doing enough to fix the privatized Medicaid program.

 

 

Republicans Want Transgender Surgeries Not To Be Covered By Medicare

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Efforts to end the Iowa legislative session have been delayed by a last-minute amendment from conservative Republicans who are seeking to prohibit the use of Medicaid funding to pay for sex-reassignment surgery.
Backers of the Friday afternoon amendment to a Health and Human Services funding bill say the prohibition on using federal or state money for sex reassignment surgery is a response to an Iowa Supreme Court decision. The ruling last month said the state cannot deny two transgender women Medicaid coverage for such a surgery.
Republican Sen. Jake Chapman says his constituents believe “this is an elective surgery that if Iowans want to do, that’s fine but not with our taxpayer dollars.”
Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen called the amendment a mean-spirited attempt at discrimination. By raising the issue so late, she says Republicans prevented Democrats from amending the proposal.
The measure also would prohibit government money from paying for sex education programs by Planned Parenthood.
The Senate passed the bill 31-19. The bill was to be heard in the
House later.

 

 

Woman Convicted Of Holding Son Of Boyfriend In Basement

ELDORA, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa woman convicted on charges related to confining her boyfriend’s 8-year-old son under basement stairs has been sentenced to jail and a small fine.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Traci Lynn Tyler was
sentenced Friday to up to a year in jail, following her April 10 conviction on misdemeanor false imprisonment. She had been charged with kidnapping but a judge convicted her of the lesser charge.
Prosecutors say Tyler and the boy’s father, Alex Shadlow, locked the child in a space beneath the basement stairs of their Ackley home for at least nine hours a day in summer 2017. The boy told authorities he slept on concrete.
Because Tyler served 266 days in jail before her conviction, she may only serve another three months. That time could be reduced for good behavior. She was fined $315.
Shadlow is awaiting trial.

 

 

Livestock Manure Spill Reported In Eastern Iowa

CHARLOTTE, Iowa (AP) – State environmental officials in eastern Iowa are monitoring the cleanup of a livestock manure spill north of Charlotte.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it investigated a
complaint Wednesday about manure overflowing a concrete storage structure at D&D Dairy. The agency said it found the manure running overland to a small tributary of Bear Creek. The agency says dairy owner Darryl Banowetz told investigators the overflow began April 22. He had built an earthen berm to
retain it.
Field tests showed elevated levels of ammonia in the creek, but no sign of dead fish.
The department says it will consider appropriate enforcement action.