17 Year Old Is Victim Of Fatal Vehicle Accident
(Orange City) — A 17 year old male from Granville lost his life in a fatal accident that happened Thursday evening. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office investigated the vehicle accident that occurred at the intersection of 450th Street and Marsh Avenue, about a half mile north of Granville. 24 year old Isaac Conrad of Paulina was driving a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee heading
eastbound on 450th Street, and 17 year old Jacob Koob of Granville was driving a 2003 Buick Century heading southbound on Marsh Avenue when the two vehicles collided at the intersection. Both victims were transported by ambulance services to Orange City Area Health. Conrad was later transferred to Mercy One Siouxland Medical Center in Sioux City for further treatment of serious injuries. Koob was pronounced dead as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. Assisting with the rescue were the Granville Fire Department, Granville Ambulance, and the Hospers Ambulance. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the accident.
Firefighters Respond To Fire At Diamond Vogel Headquarters
(Orange City) — Firefighters from Orange City, Sioux Center and Le Mars responded to a fire reported at the Diamond Vogel headquarters offices in Orange City Friday afternoon at around 3:30 p.m. Orange City Fire Chief Denny Vander Wel explains what had happened.
Vander Wel says the structure suffered some smoke damage, but he is uncertain as to how much smoke damage occurred within the three-story structure.
The Orange City Fire Chief says the fire was able to be extinguished within a few minutes.
Le Mars Fire And Rescue Return To Hog Barn Fire Site
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department was called back last evening to the hog barn on Noble Avenue that had been destroyed by fire.
Embers from the original fire from Thursday evening had stirred, and threaten the remaining hog barns that were saved.
Fair Attendance Showing Slight Increase Over Last Year
(Le Mars) — This year’s attendance at the Plymouth County Fair is on pace to a slight increase over last year’s fair attendance, according to fair officials. Friday’s attendance was estimated at 23,200. Friday’s weather was a bit warmer, but fair officials say they don’t think it was much of a factor affecting the attendance.
Fair Attendees Able To Have Virtual Reality Tour Of Dairy Farm
(Le Mars) — As part of the “Discover Dairy” exhibit featured at the round barn is a chance for visitors of the fair to tour a dairy farm without actually having to tour a dairy farm. It’s all part of the Google Expedition by using virtual reality goggles. Shirley Schroeder is a director with the Siouxland Ag in the Classroom, and explains how the goggles work.
Hinton FFA Adviser, Stephanie Bass (left) assists fairgoers with the Google Expedition Goggles as they have a virtual reality tour of a dairy farm.
The program will be offered to fair visitors each evening of the fair. Schroeder says people will see all aspects of a dairy farm.
Schroeder says the program is interesting and educational, however she warns for some people they may feel some motion sickness.
The virtual reality tour of the dairy farm using the special equipped goggles can be found in the upper level of the round barn. Schroeder says Sunday evening the program will get started at around 6:00 p.m. As for tonight, Saturday, Schroeder says they will start at 4:30 p.m.
Life Skills Quilt Auction To Take Place Saturday Afternoon
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Fair serves as an important venue for the Life Skills Training Center’s annual fund raising efforts. With three separate events, including the annual quilt auction, the Bossy Cow Chip Bingo, and the Ice House, Shelly Thomson of Life Skills says the events
serve an as important function for the Life Skills Training Center.
Thomson says this year’s quilt auction scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at the Century Hall will include a record number of quilts.
Chances for the Bossy Bingo are still available, and can be purchased for $5 dollars at many of the local banks.
The Bossy Cow-chip Bingo will begin on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.–south of the clock tower.
Execution Date Scheduled For Drug Dealer
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The execution date for a notorious Iowa drug kingpin who killed witnesses and children in 1993 has been scheduled for Jan. 15.
Dustin Honken is among five federal death row inmates whose
execution dates were announced Thursday by the Justice Department.
The announcement came as Attorney General Bill Barr directed federal capital punishment to resume for the first time in nearly two decades.
Honken was convicted at trial in 2004 of five counts of murder
during a continuing criminal enterprise and numerous other counts.
The jury found that he killed two dealers who were to testify
against him during a 1993 investigation, a mother and her two children.
Their bodies weren’t recovered for years. Honken, a resident of Britt in northern Iowa, expanded his meth-making and distribution enterprise in the following years.
Iowa doesn’t have the death penalty, but the federal jury
recommended a death sentence for the children’s murders.
Honken’s girlfriend, Angela Johnson, also was sentenced to death but her punishment was reduced to life in prison in 2014.
Agriculture Economist Says Payments To Farmers Based On Acres Rather Than Bushels Is More Fair
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – An agricultural economist says the Trump administration’s decision to base new handouts to farmers hit by the trade war with China on how many acres they’ve planted might be a fairer way to distribute the cash than the previous per bushel payments.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Thursday that it will pay another $16 billion in aid to farmers affected by the president’s trade war with China. It comes after an $11 billion bailout Trump gave farmers last year.
The new aid shifts from paying farmers a per-bushel rate for
affected crops to paying them by how many acres they’ve planted and their location.
Scott Irwin, a University of Illinois agricultural economist says
the previous program heavily weighted toward payments to soybean growers and based on bushels, “didn’t make any sense.”
Army Corps Of Engineers Announce They Have Completed Levee In Southwest Iowa
HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha, Nebraska, says repair work on a levee breach near Hamburg, Iowa, has been completed.
The agency said in a news release Friday that the breach was one of four priority breaches to be closed in the wake of historic flooding along the Missouri River in March. The Corps says the work, which began in early May, was completed Thursday.
Newt Marine Service of Dubuque, Iowa, was awarded the $12 million contract for the repair work.
The Corps says more than 500 miles of levees on the Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn rivers, as well as other tributaries, experienced significant flood damage this year.
