Le Mars Police Department Honors “Junior Officer Of The Day”
(Le Mars) — Seven year old Grayson Schultz of Le Mars was the second person awarded the “Junior Officer of the Day” by the Le Mars Police Department. The honor was bestowed on the young man on Thursday. Young Grayson Schultz was given a t-shirt with the Le Mars Police Department logo, as well as other symbolic memorabilia. He took an oath saying he would be good and would cooperate with police.
Schultz along with his parents, Brian and Shauna Schultz were given a tour of the new Le Mars Police Department headquarters offices by Assistant Police Chief Justin Daale. Schultz was also given the opportunity to sit in a squad car and operate the lights and siren. Assisting Daale with the tour was Sergeant Dan Plueger.
Schultz also explored the armored vehicle, as well as the van used by the Le Mars Police Department when called upon for a strategic tactical and specialized weapons.
Following the tour of the police department, Schultz accompanied the officers to Floyd Valley Healthcare for the presentation of the power wheels. Schultz was also placed at a simulated crime scene in which he was asked to assist solving the crime.
Total Motors Donates To Gehlen Catholic
(Le Mars) — Representatives of Total Motors attended the Gehlen Catholic School Board meeting Thursday evening to present a check in the amount of $1,420. The donation goes back last week when Total Motors had hosted the Tri-State Classic Car Cruisers Show, and families from All Saints Parish & Gehlen Catholic School served dinner during the annual Tri State Car Cruisers Car Show at Total Motors-LeMars.
Left to right; Mitch Christoffel, Anthony Vera, Cristal Pedroza, Rev. Matthew Solyntjes, Michelle and Scott Taylor
The families were members of the joint parish & school Hispanic & Latino Outreach Subcommittee.
The committee was originally established 4 years ago by Gehlen Catholic School as part of the long range strategic plan. Gehlen Catholic Preschool-6th Grade Principal, Mrs. Lorie Nussbaum, said, “The word, ‘Catholic,’ means ‘universal.’ The school’s long range plan is to enhance efforts to be more welcoming to ‘everyone.’”
Mrs. Nussbaum reported, “10.8% of LeMars residents in 2017 identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino. 100 families registered in parishes with estimated 300 more families within the confines of the parish. 6% of the preschool-12th grade students enrolled during the 2018-2019 school year were Hispanic or Latino.
State Fair Brings Out Presidential Candidates
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – It’s time for the Iowa State Fair, home of deep-fried everything, a dish called “hot beef sundaes”- and every four years, presidential candidates.
Starting yesterday, more than 20 Democratic White House hopefuls will navigate the festival of nutritionally questionable snacks as well as flocks of media as they try to look presidential and also at ease with the folkways of Middle America. It’s all aimed at swaying the narrow band of voters who will attend the state’s kickoff caucuses in less than six months.
What a candidate eats is often the most scrutinized, if certainly visual, image at the fair.
Offerings such as bacon-wrapped corn dogs pose challenges for vegetarian congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who says he is vegan.
Biden And Bullock Attends Iowa State Fair
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa State Fair presidential blitz is underway, with former Vice President Joe Biden and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock blistering President Donald Trump and promising to fight for the state in the general election if they win the Democratic nomination.
Biden told several hundred fairgoers Thursday that he plans to work hard to win the Iowa caucuses after watching his previous presidential bids fall flat in the state that kicks off presidential nominations.
Then he wants to wrest Iowa back from the Republican column next November.
Bullock is making his eighth trip to Iowa in just over two months. He needs to build enough support here to qualify for the next presidential primary debates in September.
More than 20 presidential candidates will speak at the fair in the coming days.
Higgenlooper Considering Giving Up President’s Run For U-S Senate Campaign
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Pressure is mounting on former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to trade in his faltering presidential bid for a U.S. Senate run in his home state.
But the decision will not be an easy one for the 67-year-old. Hickenlooper has repeatedly said he’s more interested in being an executive. A successful run for Senate would also take him out of the mix for potential Cabinet appointments should Democrats win the White House next year.
And if Hickenlooper bails on the jam-packed presidential primary, he’d just be trading one crowded Democratic contest for another. Ten Democrats have already filed to run against Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado, and some have raised as much or more money in the past quarter for their bids as Hickenlooper has in his presidential effort.
Woman Who Died In Mobile Home Fire Now Identified
NEVADA, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have identified the woman whose body was found in the charred wreckage of her mobile home in central Iowa’s Story County.
Authorities say 27-year-old Katelyne Pratt was alone in her home in Nevada (nuh-VAYE’-duh) when the fire started Tuesday.
The home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Pratt’s body and that of a dog were found inside later.
Nearby homes suffered some heat damage, but no other injuries have been reported.
Authorities are still trying to determine the cause of Pratt’s death.
Pilot Of Crop Dusting Airplane Dies In Crash
(Sumner) — Investigators are on the scene of a deadly airplane crash in the northeast Iowa city of Sumner.
Bremer County officials confirm the pilot was killed when a crop duster went down around 7:30 a-m on the west side of the community. Authorities believe the pilot was the only person on board. According to officials, the plane hit the ground and burst into flames in front of a business along Iowa Highway 93 (Main Street). Witnesses told authorities that a wheel came off the low-flying plane when it hit a power line, which knocked out electricity to part of Sumner. Officials say the wheel hit and shattered the glass front doors of a bank, but no other businesses were damaged. No one on the ground was injured. The name of the dead pilot has not been released.
Iowa DNR Investigates Fish Kill
EPWORTH, Iowa (AP) – State environmental officials are investigating a fish kill in a river in eastern Iowa.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says in a news release that thousands of dead fish – mostly rough fish and minnows – were found Thursday along a 10-mile stretch of the Little Maquoketa River starting north of Epworth and running downstream to Durango.
Investigators say a pollutant could not be identified from preliminary field tests, and the source of the fish kill has not been identified.
Officials took water samples for testing and will continue investigating.
