Home News Thursday News, June 6th

Thursday News, June 6th

Le Mars Historical Preservation Commission Posts Photographs Of The Past

(Le Mars) — If you have been downtown lately, you may have noticed several black-and-white photographs of buildings of the past now posted in the windows of the current existing business. The Le Mars Historical Preservation Commission decided to feature the photos as their unique contribution in honor of the Le Mars Sesquicentennial celebration. Linda Mayrose serves as a director with the Historical Preservation Commission. She
says the project started nearly two years ago.

Mayrose says the Historical Preservation Commission funded the entire project without any funding assistance from the current businesses. She says the intent is to have the businesses keep the old photographs posted through the Sesquicentennial celebration. She says all the business owners were excited
about the project.

Mayrose encourages people to walk around the downtown region to view the old photographs of the businesses and buildings of past years. She says the Historic Preservation Commission looks at this as a way to tie the new with the old.

The Historic Preservation Commission director suggests people to not only look at the featured old photographs during their downtown tour, but to also look up and take a good look at the architecture of the downtown structures.
She asks if anyone knows that there is a three-story building located downtown.

Mayrose is one of the six authors of the Le Mars Sesquicentennial History Book. She says one of her favorite aspects of the book is the areas of Le Mars that has been designated as part of the National Registry of Historic Places which include the Foster Park neighborhood, the downtown district, and what was known as the W-P-A park, now known as the Municipal Park.

As we have mentioned before, the Le Mars Sesquicentennial History Book is scheduled to arrive next week during the Sesquicentennial celebration.

 

 

Tour de Plymouth Bicycle Ride Scheduled For Saturday

(Le Mars) — If you enjoy riding a bicycle, you may enjoy participating in the 12th annual Tour de Plymouth. The event is scheduled for Saturday morning, and Mark Sturgeon with the Plymouth County Cyclists Club says participants have the option of four different rides with four different distances.

Sturgeon says Bike Central of Le Mars is the starting point for each ride.
He offers a brief overview as to the routes and the communities along the routes.

Sturgeon says there are different starting times depending upon which distance ride you plan to participate.

Registration is $25, or $30 the day of the ride. Sturgeon says participants will enjoy a goodie bag, pre-ride food and beverages, snacks and drinks along the ride, and a post-ride lunch. He says there will be drawings for prizes, including a possibility of winning a bicycle.

Sturgeon says the annual bike ride around Plymouth County attracts bicycle riders from all around northwest Iowa and neighboring states.

The Plymouth County Cyclist member says the Tour de Plymouth usually attracts up to 100 bicycle enthusiasts.

 

 

Man Pleads Not Guilty To Kidnapping Charges

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 23-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to a federal kidnapping charge in Sioux City.
Michael Marshal-Limoges entered the plea Tuesday to charges of
kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a felon. His trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 5.
He’d already pleaded not guilty to state charges in the case. They’ve been dropped in favor of the federal prosecution.
State court documents say he was driving behind the girl and a 9-year-old boy on March 22 and then stopped. Police say Marshall-Limoges got out, grabbed the girl and put her in his car. The girl managed to escape, and he drove away.
Police say license plate numbers from a witness led investigators to Marshall-Limoges. The court documents say he told officers that he tried to kidnap the girl so he could alleviate his anger by hurting other people.

 

 

Sioux City Food Pantry Needs To Evict

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials say a food pantry that serves more than 5,000 people a month in Sioux City is being evicted because the building it operates from has been sold.
The Midtown Family Community Center houses the food pantry, a free Saturday meal and a 4-H program. Janet Reynolds of the Jones Street Neighborhood Coalition says the center’s closure will be a “huge loss for the community.”
Boys and Girls Home Inc. owns the building and had allowed the
community center to use the building rent-free. But the building was sold last month. Boys and Girls Home is moving its programs to a centralized campus at the site of the former Indian Hills shopping center.
Reynolds says the grant funding the center receives provides only food for the pantry and Saturday meal. She says officials are looking for another neighborhood space to reopen.

 

 

Lawsuit Trial Against Former Governor Branstad Now Begins

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The trial over allegations that former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad pressured an official to quit because he was gay has begun in state court and will center on whether the jury believes the Republican governor was influenced by his party’s anti-gay attitudes.
Branstad’s attorney Frank Harty told jurors Wednesday that after
winning election the former governor wanted to replace Chris Godfrey as Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner to surround himself with people with shared political goals.
Harty told jurors, “elections have consequences” and that Godfrey was part of a Democratic team that didn’t want to accept defeat.
Godfrey’s attorney Roxanne Conlin will attempt to convince eight
jurors that Branstad was the leader of an anti-gay Republican Party and unlawfully cut Godfrey’s pay by $39,000, then ostracized and sidelined him.
Branstad, now U.S. Ambassador in China, will testify June 14.

 

 

Military Museum Official Discusses D-Day Anniversary

(Des Moines) — Today (Thursday) is the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Europe by the United States and its allies in what General Dwight Eisenhower called the “Great Crusade” to end World War Two. Iowa Gold Star Military Museum historian Michael Musel says “D-Day” was a big test of the American soldiers.

It’s not known exactly how many Iowans may have participated in the D-Day invasion. Musel says the museum at Camp Dodge in Johnston has a lot of information on Iowan’s in World War Two.

President Donald Trump is in Normandy, France taking part in ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary along with the Queen of England. Musel wishes he could attend and visit with the remaining soldiers who are there.

He says things have changed since the soldiers who survived D-Day and other battles and returned to Iowa. Back then, those who wore the uniform didn’t talk much about what they had gone through.

The Iowa Gold Star Military Museum is free. Museum hours are 8:30 a-m. to 4 p-m Monday through Friday, and Saturday 10 a-m. to 2 p-m. Photo identification is required for adults, ages 16 and older, to gain admittance to Camp Dodge.

 

 

State Auditor Sand Says Sale Of AIB Campus Is Fair

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s state auditor says the pending sale of the University of Iowa’s AIB Campus for less than half its $20 million assessed value is fair.
State Auditor Rob Sand issued a report Wednesday. It says Iowa’s acceptance in May of a $7.5 million bid on the property was fair, because the $20 million assessed value was too high. The report says the proper bidding process was followed, the highest bidder was selected, and the bidders don’t appear to have any relationship with UI board members or staff that would pose a conflict of interest.
The university revealed last year that it had lost nearly $1.2 million from its operation of the business campus in Des Moines. Officials opted to close the campus due to cuts in state funding.