Le Mars Hy Vee To Offer Ecumenical Prayer and Pastries Service
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Hy Vee store will hold an ecumenical prayer and pastries service Sunday morning, beginning at 6:00 a.m. as a way to show thanks to the community regarding this past week’s events, and to continue to pray for the two female Hy Vee employees that were shot during an attempted
robbery last Sunday morning. Le Mars Hy Vee store manager Peter Streit says the event scheduled for Sunday morning is to help serve as a time for everyone to heal emotionally.
Streit says during this past week’s ordeal, the community has been very supportive of the victims, the fellow employees, and everyone connected to Hy Vee.
Streit says the two female employees that were shot while working as clerks, 18-year old Faith Laskie and 29 year old Ashley Storesund, both of Le Mars, are both making improvements each day. Streit says the counseling services
provided by Hy Vee has helped people cope with the tragic events.
The Le Mars Hy Vee store manager is inviting the entire community to appear at the Hy Vee parking lot on Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m.
The event is scheduled to last an hour.
Brock Real Estate And Auction Marks 100 Years In Business
(Le Mars) — A local real estate and auction company is celebrating its 100th year, by making a donation to four area organizations. Brock Real Estate, headed up by Bruce and Terri Brock contributed a total of $2000 which was divided among the Floyd Valley Healthcare, Le Mars Playhouse, Le Mars Arts
Center and the Plymouth County Historical Museum. Each of the entities received their donation on Friday afternoon. Bruce Brock offers a brief history of the Brock real estate business.
Brock Real Estate and Auction Company recently made donations to four area organizations. Standing from left to right: Karen Oetken of Akron representing the Plymouth County Historical Museum, Danna Schuster with the Le Mars Community Playhouse, Bruce Brock, Terri Brock, Nancy Thoma representing the Le Mars Arts Center, and Dustin Wright, CEO of Floyd Valley Healthcare.
Brock tells of the donation made to the four organizations.
Brock says the donated funds were from a recent art collection auction.
Brock says he transferred the family real estate and auction business to Le Mars 25 years ago. He says it was a smart move, and he appreciates the Le Mars community.
The real estate agent and auctioneer tells that the selected local charities represent their interests.
Wife Terri, says the family is fortunate and blessed to be located in such a fine community as Le Mars.
There have been four generations of Brocks involved with the real estate family business.
Dakota Dunes May Need To Evacuate Due To Flooding
(Sioux City) — Residents of Dakota Dunes may need to evacuate their homes as the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River both continue to rise.
Officials say the Missouri River was forecast to crest at 30.4 feet at Sioux City early Saturday morning, while the Big Sioux is expected to reach a high of 33.1 feet last night. According to a report featured in the Sioux City Journal, that if the Missouri River reaches a depth of 31 feet or more, authorities say they will order an evacuation of all Dakota Dunes neighborhoods. Residents were informed on Friday they would have six hours
notice to prepare to leave the planned community. If the water breaches the community’s flood barriers, an immediate evacuation notice would be issued.
Dakota Dunes, South Dakota suffered from flooding in 2011. Meanwhile, the U-S Army Corps of Engineers have announced they intend to release additional water from Gavins Point Dam located on the South Dakota and Nebraska border west of Yankton, South Dakota. The Army Corps of Engineers have raised releases at the dam by 5,000 cubic feet per second to 75,000 cubic feet per second. For a few hours on Friday, the intersection of Interstate 29 and Hamilton Blvd. was under water. However, by late afternoon, that water had
receded, allowing the intersection again to be open. Downstream, communities in southwestern Iowa and eastern Nebraska are again having to evacuate due to flooding. For many, they were just able to return to their
homes after the flooding that occurred in March.
Supreme Court Says Oil Pipeline Was Legal
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says a crude oil pipeline running across Iowa was legally permitted to be built dashing the hopes of a group of farmer landowners who wanted the pipeline moved off their land and an environmental group that wanted it shut down.
The farmers and the environmental group Sierra Club of Iowa claim the Iowa Utilities Board illegally issued a permit for the Dakota Access pipeline which has been carrying oil since 2017.
A majority of the court concludes the use of eminent domain for an oil pipeline is not unconstitutional simply because it passes through without taking on or letting off oil. The court says the pipeline permit was lawfully issued.
The landowners claim the pipeline carrying oil from North Dakota to Illinois provides no benefit to Iowans so forced taking of land to build it is unlawful.
EPA Approves E-15 For Year Round Use
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Trump administration is following through on a plan to allow year-round sales of gasoline mixed with 15% ethanol.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced the change Friday, ending a summertime ban imposed out of concerns for increased smog from the higher ethanol blend. The agency had proposed the change in March.
The change also fulfills a pledge that President Donald Trump made to U.S. corn farmers, who see ethanol as an important driver of demand for their crops. Oil refineries have been seeking exemptions from government requirements to include ethanol in their fuel mixes.
Environmental groups contend the U.S. Clean Air Act prohibits year-round sales of E15, and court challenges are expected.
ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Law Forbidding Patients From Getting Medicaid For Transgender Surgeries
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa has filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law that prohibits the use of Medicaid funding for gender reassignment surgery.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill on May 3 that included language amending the state’s Civil Rights Act so that government officials are not required to pay for gender reassignment surgery.
The ACLU has sued in state court to block enforcement of the law on behalf of One Iowa, a group that advocates for transgender rights, and two transgender Iowans who qualify for Medicaid and whose doctors say they need the surgery.
ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen says the measure is discriminatory and “has no basis in medicine or science.”
Conservative Republicans passed the measure after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in March that the state cannot block Medicaid from paying for gender reassignment surgery for two transgender women.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Hires Iowa Staff
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Beto O’Rourke says he’s hired 37 staffers to help with organizing in Iowa, boosting his staff to 44 in the state that kicks off presidential primary voting.
Some 2020 presidential hopefuls have larger Iowa staffs but
O’Rourke’s now approaching the upper tier. His campaign announced a “statewide weekend of action” beginning Saturday featuring door-knocking and canvassing.
The former Texas congressman and his wife, Amy, also will open a Cedar Rapids campaign office, his first outside Des Moines, Iowa’s capital, on June 8.
Not counting that trip, the campaign says O’Rourke has held more Iowa events than any 2020 presidential campaign, attending 67 town halls and house parties since joining the race in mid-March.
O’Rourke has seen once-promising polling numbers fall, increasing pressure to perform in Iowa’s Feb. 3 caucus.
