Construction Soon To Begin On A Few City Streets
(Le Mars) — The city of Le Mars has hired Knife River to mill and overlay about 6 blocks in town starting on Oct. 7th -2019. The city will put up no parking signs along these routes to keep vehicles from parking on the street during the overlay process . If any residents along these routes have any questions please call the Street Dept. at 546-5314 .
The list of streets include:
1. 2nd Ave. S.E. from 3rd St. S.E. to 6th St. S.E.
2. 9th St. S.W. from Central Ave. to 2nd Ave. S.W.
3. 2nd St. N.W. from Central Ave. to 1st Ave. N.W. – this will only be a 8 foot edge mill where the asphalt meets the concrete in the gutter line.
False Warning Alerts Issued On Saturday
(Le Mars) — Over the weekend, many people were probably confused if they participate in the Plymouth County Alert system, since they would have received notifications through a text message, or through their email, that
said Plymouth County had a “Fire Warning,” followed up by a “Blizzard Warning.” Duane Walhoff is the Plymouth County Emergency Management Director and says the company behind the program was testing the system, and noticed a computer software problem.
Fortunately, the weather conditions over the weekend were favorable, and would not warrant such warning alerts. Walhoff says he received numerous phone calls inquiring about the false warning alerts.
Walhoff says multiple Iowa counties received the false alerts. He says the problem has now been resolved. The Plymouth County Emergency Management Director says up to as many as 4,000 people living in Plymouth County perhaps received the false alerts on Saturday.
Iowa DNR Investigating Fish Kill In Northeast Iowa
DUNDEE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities are trying to find the source of a fish kill at a state park in eastern Iowa.
The Iowa Natural Resources Department reports that trout anglers reported spotting dead trout and other dead fish in Richmond Springs and Fenchel Creek at Backbone State Park. The park sits about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) north of Dundee.
Authorities found dead fish but also live fish in several sections
of the stream on Saturday.
The department says heavy rains Friday night might have washed contaminants into the streams.
Heavy Rains Are Expected To Hit Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa Prompting Additional Flooding Concerns
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rain for parts of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa and issuing flash flood watches.
The service says a slow-moving cold front will trigger
thunderstorms and deluges. Up to 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) is expected Monday evening through early Wednesday along a corridor from Iowa’s Monona County west to Nebraska’s Platte County. The service says up to 2 inches (5.1 centimeters) is possible elsewhere in the two states.
The coming storms follow heavy rain over the weekend in much of the same area.
The service also says there’s a marginal risk of severe weather on Monday across most of Nebraska and western Iowa.
Flood warnings continue along the Missouri River south of Tekamah in Nebraska and Little Sioux in Iowa.
State Of Iowa Budget Revenue Ends Up In The Black
(Des Moines) — Iowa Governor, Kim Reynolds, has announced the State of Iowa’s last fiscal year ended with a surplus of nearly 290-million dollars.
The state’s 12-month fiscal year ended June 30th, but the books don’t close until two months later to ensure all receipts and payments are processed.
This year’s 289-point-three MILLION dollar surplus is more than twice as large as last year’s.
State Executive Council Approves For State To Pay For Branstad’s Legal Bills
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state panel has approved the latest bill for former Gov. Terry Branstad’s continued fight against a jury verdict that found he discriminated against a former state executive.
The Iowa Executive Council approved payment Monday of a bill for over $488,000 to a Des Moines law firm. That raises the taxpayer costs of defending Branstad to $2.4 million.
Jurors unanimously found in July that Branstad, now U.S. ambassador to China, and his former legal counsel Brenna Findley discriminated against former Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey in 2011
because he’s gay.
State taxpayers also may end up paying Godfrey’s legal costs of $3.5 million if they’re approved by a judge as well as the $1.5 million in damages the jury awarded Godfrey.
Gov. Kim Reynolds, Secretary of State Paul Pate and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, the Republicans on the council, supported paying the bills. Democratic Auditor Rob Sand also voted to pay the bill but says he won’t support paying appeal costs. State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald, a Democrat, opposed paying the latest bill.
Iowa Business Council Survey Shows Business Leaders A Bit Pessimistic Regarding The State’s Economy
(Des Moines) — The executive director of the Iowa Business Council says their third-quarter survey shows weaker confidence among members. Georgia Van Gundy says the survey found sales expectations for the next year were down 24 percent compared to survey results from one year ago.
The survey also questions members on expected capital spending and workforce to get an overall index. Van Gundy says the survey’s overall index number is down from last quarter.
The index dropped from 63-point-75 to 62-point-five. The organization includes the chief executives of the 23 biggest companies in the state. Van Gundy says the uncertainty of when trade deals are going to get completed is a big issue.
Thrity-three-percent of those in the survey expect the number of employeesin their business to grow over the fourth quarter — and 53 percent expect the number to stay the same.
Van Gundy says finding employees to do that remains a challenge.
Van Gundy says they continue trying to address the worker shortage with programs that help train workers, and build the workforce.
You can see the full survey by going to the Iowa Business Council’s website.
