Merrill and Le Mars Fire Departments Respond To Rural Home Fire
(Merrill) — The Merrill and the Le Mars Fire Departments responded to a fire call Saturday afternoon at a rural residence located at 23746 220th Street. Apparently, southerly winds stirred up some embers from a burn pile that had blown to the north and catching the house on fire. Officials say the siding of the home was destroyed, as was the kitchen portion of the
home. Firefighters were on the scene for nearly an hour and a half.
Friday Evening Accident Leaves Five Injured
(Le Mars) — A one-vehicle accident occurred Friday evening at about 8:11 p.m. on Key Avenue, nearly a half mile west-southwest of Le Mars near the Sadonia Hills housing development area, south of the Wells Enterprises Corporate Offices. A total of five people were reported injured after the
2007 PT Cruiser lost control and rolled several times. Officials at the scene report that each of the passengers and the driver were ejected. Two people are listed as having life-threatening critical injuries, and they were airlifted by two separate air helicopter ambulances that responded to the scene. The victims have been identified as 21 year old Keith Ball Junior of Sioux City. Ball was airlifted to Sioux City with life threatening injuries. 18 year old Deja Archer, also of Sioux City was life flighted to a Sioux City hospital with life threatening injuries. 18 year old Breanna
Konz of Remsen was transported to Sioux City with serious injuries. 18 year old Trevon Cross of Sioux City was also transported to Sioux City with serious injuries. Kyrese Weber 19 years old, also of Sioux City, was transported to Floyd Valley Healthcare by private vehicle. He had sustained minor injuries. Responding to the accident included the Le Mars Fire and
Rescue Department, Le Mars Ambulance, Merrill Ambulance, Remsen Ambulance, Le Mars Police Department, Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa State Patrol. The accident is being investigated by the Iowa State Patrol.
Pilot Of United Flight 232 Dies
(Seattle) — The pilot of the United Flight 232 that tumbled into the Sioux City Gateway airport in July of 1989 has now died. Captain Al Haynes died on Sunday at a Seattle, Washington hospital Woodbury County officials confirmed the death. Hayes was 87 years old. 185 people survived the crash, while 111 others had died. Larry Finley, director of Sioux City’s
Mid American Air Museum became friends with Haynes. He says Haynes loved the community of Sioux City, and the response the city gave in the aftermath of the crash to the passengers and crew.
(photo contributed.)
Finley says Haynes never considered himself a hero, and deeply regretted the loss of lives in the crash.
But without the perseverance of the crew, the outcome could have ended in greater loss of life, as no domestic airliner had ever experienced complete hydraulic failure before.
Funeral services for Captain Al Haynes are pending.
SIDS Walk Held On Saturday
(Le Mars) — Several hundred people walked around the Le Mars Municipal Park and Willow Creek Golf Course Saturday morning to raise awareness and funds for the Iowa SIDS Foundation. SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome which affects one of every 1000 births. In Iowa, as many as 40 infants die
each year from the deadly disease. For unknown reasons, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome generally affects babies within the first year after being born.
Little is known about the deadly disease, but walks like today’s held in seven different Iowa locations helps build awareness and research funding.
Patty Keeley is the executive director with the Iowa SIDS Foundation and attended the Le Mars event, and says Sudden Infant Death Syndrome remains a mystery.
Keeley says the fund raiser is the major event held each year for the Iowa SIDS Foundation. She says the funds go to help offer support to families who had a child die as the result of SIDS, a portion of today’s funding will go to educating the public about the disease, and a third portion is donated to on-going research. This was Keeley’s first visit to the Le Mars SIDS event.
Le Mars serves as the only western Iowa location for the SIDS walk for the future. The SIDS Foundation executive director hopes someday to have an event located somewhere in southwestern Iowa, but she says it all depends upon volunteers.
Keeley says they are always looking for volunteers to help with such events, or for contributions and donations.
MidAmerican Energy To Set Up Charging Stations For Vehicles
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – MidAmerican Energy has announced its plans to erect fast-charging stations for electric vehicles in more than a dozen Iowa cities.
The Des Moines-based energy company says it plans to build the
publicly-accessible stations, with two charging plugs per station, in 15 urban and rural communities. A DC fast-charger, also called a “Level 3” charger, can generally charge an electric vehicle in 20 to 45 minutes.
MidAmerican seeks to install the stations in Altoona, Avoca, Carroll, Clarinda, Davenport, Dexter, Early, Emmetsburg and Iowa City, as well as Fort Dodge, Little Sioux, Oskaloosa, Sheldon, Sioux City and Waterloo.
Once MidAmerican Energy selects site hosts, the company plans to begin building the stations by the end of the year.
Charging station hosts will set their own usage fees.
Sioux City Man Pleads Guilty To Killing Nebraska Man
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City man accused of killing a Nebraska man in Sioux City has pleaded guilty.
Woodbury County District Court records say a judge accepted the plea Friday from 31-year-old Daniel Levering. The charge was second-degree murder. Prosecutors had lowered it from first-degree murder after making a deal with Levering.
Prosecutors say Levering stabbed to death 36-year-old Vincent Walker on July 23, 2017. Walker lived in Winnebago, Nebraska.
The plea agreement says Levering will be sentenced to 50 years in prison and must serve 35 years before he can become eligible for parole. He also agreed to pay $150,000 in restitution to Walker’s heirs.
The judge ruled in July that Levering was competent to stand trial.
Dubuque Dealing With A Sinkhole
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – A sinkhole will continue interfering with traffic in downtown Dubuque for about another month.
The Dubuque Telegraph-Herald reports city officials estimate that it will take that long to figure out what is causing the hole under a lane of White Street downtown and fix the problem. A lane of traffic has already been closed for several weeks because of the issue.
City Engineer Gus Psihoyos says fixing the sinkhole will be a big
ordeal.
City officials are also evaluating another sinkhole on private
property to make sure it won’t threaten city infrastructure. But ultimately the homeowners are responsible for filling that sinkhole.
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Davenport Changing Landscape Near Mississippi River
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – The city of Davenport is considering changes in its landscaping near the Mississippi river to ensure that it has room for bigger barriers in future floods.
The Quad-City Times reports city officials are considering spending $180,000 to remove two road dividers filled with dirt and plants to make way for the bigger barriers.
After this summer’s record flooding that breached the city’s
barrier, officials adjusted Davenport’s flood protection plan to build higher and heavier temporary flood walls whenever severe flooding is expected.
The road dividers that were installed in 2010 would be in the way of those plans. City officials hope the dividers will be removed by next spring.
