County Supervisors To Approve Budget Amendment Resolutions
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will meet today, but they have a short agenda. The county supervisors are expected to approve the fiscal year 2019-2020 deputy salary resolution, as well as the fiscal year 2019-2020 budgetary transfer resolution, and the fiscal year 2019-2020 budget
appropriations resolution. County Engineer Tom Rohe is scheduled to appear before the county governing board. He will submit a permit request from Wes-Tel Systems for Marion township, and review the Right-Of-Way provisions for a
culvert construction project.
City Council To Hold Public Hearing On Budget Amendment
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars city council will hold a public hearing at the start of the meeting regarding an amendment to the city’s 2018-2019 adopted budget.
The total budget amendment is listed at just shy of two and a half million dollars. The amended budget includes miscellaneous expenditures, repairs and equipment purchases, improvements and flood and Sesquicentennial costs, project eagle payments, and includes Community Betterment Project and street
and airport improvements and water department costs and a loan repayment.
The city council has only three listed action itmes that include considering of extending a real estate agreement with the Lance Sitzmann Real Estate firm, or negotiate with other Plymouth County Realtor members, or approve not having a listing agreement with any realtor at this time. The other action
items will be a second reading of the proposed increase for both the water and sewer rates.
Construction Crews To Begin Work On City Street Intersection
(Le Mars) — Le Mars city crews are scheduled to begin work making repairs to the intersection of 1st Street northwest and 2nd Avenue northwest during this week. The city intersection in question is the street intersection near the KLEM radio offices. The contractor, Vander Poll Construction, will start on the rebuilding of the two storm sewer intakes and plan on leaving the intersection open to traffic during that part of construction unless they feel the need to close some or all of it for their safety. Contractors will then fully close the intersection down in all four directions on May 28th to start tearing the intersection out.
Small Communities Still Facing Challenges To Recruit Volunteers
(Le Mars) — This week is recognized as “National Emergency Medical Technicians Week”, a week devoted to honor those individuals that devote their time performing emergency medical assistance. Last evening, Floyd Valley Healthcare honored the county ambulance services by holding a dinner for the
local emergency medical volunteers, and other first responders. Kevin Rollins has been an ambulance service volunteer for 40 years with the Remsen Ambulance Services. Rollins,
the former police chief for Remsen, now retired, says a bill was introduced in the state legislature this year to make community ambulance services as a priority service, much like fire departments and local law enforcement agencies. However, Rollins says that bill did not pass through the Iowa
legislature.
Rollins says the bill didn’t pass due to a lack of support and understanding by the lawmakers. He says so far, nobody has brought up a means to finance the project without increasing taxes.
Rollins says a common challenge among the smaller towns is finding enough volunteers to assist with a community ambulance service.
The Remsen Ambulance Volunteer says another concern for many small towns is raising the money required to train volunteers to become a certified Emergency Medical Technician. Rollins says small towns may have to invest up to $4,000 per volunteer to adequately train and certify the volunteers. The
Remsen Ambulance Services is preparing for an Open House celebration in June to mark 40 years of service.
There are 13 volunteers with the Remsen Ambulance Service.
Democrat Presidential Candidate Visits Le Mars
(Le Mars) — One of 22 Democrats seeking the nomination for President of the United States paid a visit to Le Mars this past weekend. Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan stopped by the “Ice Cream Capital of the World” introducing himself.
KLEM news asked Ryan what he needs to do to surface to the top among so many other Democratic candidates?
Ryan calls himself a Franklin Roosevelt Democrat.
The Ohio Congressman says there are a lot of similarities between his home state of Ohio and Iowa, and he believes voters will notice those similarities.
The Ohio Democrat has been a congressman for the past 17 years. He represents the northeast sector of Ohio, encompassing the communities of Youngstown and Akron as part of the nation’s iron belt region. He makes the comparisons of his area to that of what he sees in Iowa, and he says he relates well to the common worker.
State Approves Tax Incentives For Business Expansions
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State incentives have been approved for a plant expansion that could create 32 new jobs in Mason City and construction of a new plant to replace plants destroyed by a tornado near Pella.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority OK’d $6 million Friday for industrial and agricultural equipment manufacturer Vermeer Corp., which is rebuilding its campus. The July 19 tornado destroyed two plants.
Most state economic development programs provide incentives for creating jobs, but emergency provisions let companies qualify for aid without creating new jobs. State documents say the incentives will “enable Vermeer to retain 406 employees who were displaced after the tornado.”
The authority also approved nearly $233,000 in tax credits for a $62.8 million expansion at Kraft Heinz Foods in Mason City.
Man Accused Of Medicare Fraud
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say an Omaha man defrauded Medicare and Medicaid in a scheme involving recipients in Nebraska, Iowa and other states.
A U.S. District Court complaint filed earlier this month says Nereus Sutko committed health care fraud that began in November 2010 and continued into this month. Sutko’s attorney, Adam Sipple, said Monday that Sutko will plead not guilty. Sipple declined to comment further about the allegations.
The documents say Sutko sometimes visited homeless shelters and threw pizza parties at nursing homes, promising gifts as a way to obtain Social Security and health information for his scheme. The documents say Sutko would order health care items that would never be delivered to the recipients.
Sutko is alleged to have filed 1,666 Medicare claims through the company he managed, Better Lives, getting more than $674,000. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Norris says he can’t yet specify how much money Sutko is alleged to have fraudulently profited through his scheme.
Government Building Has A Hole In Roof Due To Heavy Rains
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – Heavy rain has caused a gaping hole in the roof of a Mason City building that houses a number of government offices, forcing the structure to close.
Mohawk Square closed after weekend thunderstorms dumped more than an inch of rain in the area and led to corner of the downtown building’s roof to collapse.
The building, which once was home to Mason City High School, now provides space for government offices, including the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health, Mason City Housing Authority and Iowa Department of Correctional Services.
An official says Monday that an engineer planned to assess the damage and figure out how to repair the damaged roof.
Proposed Federal Courthouse Building Called Wasteful
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Community leaders in Des Moines are continuing to oppose plans for a $137 million federal courthouse on the city’s riverfront.
KCCI-TV reports former City Council member Christine Hensley and business leaders held a news conference Monday on the steps of the current courthouse and questioned the need for a new building on land the city had hoped would be used for a high-profile private development contributing to the tax base.
Hensley says she initially supported plans for a new courthouse but now believes the current building is underutilized. She says construction of a new courthouse is unnecessary and wasteful.
It has been several years since a YMCA was demolished at the site along the Des Moines River with plans for a private development. City officials suggested other sites for the courthouse, but federal officials insisted on building on the property in the heart of downtown.
Federal officials say planning for the new courthouse is continuing.
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“Bachelor Star” Scheduled For Sentencing After Fatal Auto Accident
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) – A judge has refused to delay sentencing for a northern Iowa farmer who appeared on ABC’s “The Bachelor” and who was involved in a fatal crash.
Thirty-seven-year-old Chris Soules pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to a reduced charge of leaving the scene of a serious injury accident. His lawyers had sought the sentencing delay, citing the prosecution’s lack of response to a motion regarding a pre-sentence investigation. The judge denied the request last week and said the sentencing will be held Tuesday as scheduled in a Buchanan County courtroom in Independence.
Soules appeared on “The Bachelor” and “Dancing With The Stars” in 2015. He was arrested after he rear-ended a tractor on April 24, 2017, killing 66-year-old Kenny Mosher. Soules called 911, performed CPR on Mosher and waited for first responders but left before officers arrived.
