County Road C-60 and Highway 75 Intersection At Hinton To Close For Railroad Repairs
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Secondary Roads Department is announcing that Union Pacific railroad will be making repairs to the railroad crossing just east of Highway 75 on county road C-60 on Monday, which means the intersection of county road C-60 and Highway 75 at Hinton will be closed
during the day on Monday. Officials believe the repairs will be concluded by the evening and the intersection will again be open.
Le Mars Arts Center Hires New Director
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Arts Center has hired a new director. Mark Kochen of Sioux City will assume the responsibilities of overseeing the Le Mars Arts Center. Kochen is a talented artist who has had his work on display at the Arts Center recently. He has been a professional artist for over 15 years, and is also a muralist having created the Rocklin Manufacturing Company three-story mural in downtown Sioux City. Kochen has a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from Iowa State University of Design and Drawing and Painting.
Worker’s Compensation Attorney Files Lawsuit For Wrongful Termination Against Tyson Foods
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A former workers’ compensation attorney for a Tyson Foods meatpacking division has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in Iowa that accuses company officials of making anti-gay slurs, filing false information in workers’ compensation cases and discriminating based on sex
and age.
Todd Beresford filed the lawsuit Oct. 1 in state district court in
Des Moines against Tyson Fresh Meats, based in South Dakota, and its parent Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, the nation’s second-largest meat processor. The suit seeks damages after his dismissal last year.
Beresford argues he was fired in part because he complained the
company was providing inaccurate information in workers’ compensation cases in Iowa to deny payments to injured workers.
He claims a former company vice president used slurs in referring to former Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey, who is gay.
Beresford, of the Cleveland area, also claims Tyson discriminated
against employees on the basis of sex and age by firing several middle age men in 2017 and 2018, replacing them with younger women.
A Tyson spokesman declined to comment.
Flood Victims May Need To Leave State Park As Refuge
HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) – Some people forced from their homes by Missouri River floodwaters will be leaving their refuge at an Iowa state park.
Waubonsie State Park sits dry a few miles north of the southwest
Iowa community of Hamburg, which was hit hard after two nearby river levees failed. Park manager Matt Moles told Omaha, Nebraska, station KETV the park had about 80 flood refugees staying there during peak occupancy this past spring. But that’s dwindled as people returned to their homes or found other
accommodations.
Other flood victims found temporary quarters elsewhere in Iowa and even across the river in Nebraska.
But now winter approaches, and Iowa officials say park water service must be turned off because of the impending freeze and the need for repairs.
Electricity still will be available, and off-season camping will be allowed.
Waterloo Teacher Resigns After Posting Comment Against Swedish Climate Activist
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa high school science teacher has resigned after an investigation into a social media post that appeared to threaten Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Waterloo Community Schools spokeswoman Tara Thomas said Friday that teacher Matt Baish resigned effective Thursday.
The resignation came after the conclusion on a school district
investigation of a Facebook comment Baish made in response to a post about the 16-year-old Thunberg joining an Oct. 4 student-led climate strike in Iowa City. In his comment, Baish wrote, “Dont have my sniper rifle.”
Thomas wouldn’t say if Baish was asked to resign.
A phone listing for Baish, who was a teacher at Waterloo West High School, couldn’t be located.
Iowa Schools Celebrate “Local Food Day”
(Des Moines) — Iowans celebrated the second annual Iowa Local Food Day yesterday on Friday as part of National Farm to School Month. Teresa Wiemerslage, the program coordinator through the I-S-U Extension, says to take part, schools must serve at least two locally-sourced items for breakfast or lunch. Local foods can include produce, meat,
eggs and dairy.
There’s a huge misperception, she says, as far as Iowa being an agricultural state that helps feed the world.
She says the program has grown significantly from its debut a year ago.
Funding for the effort comes from a U-S-D-A Specialty Crop Block Grant to the Iowa Department of Agriculture.
Department Of Interior Opens Up More Land For Public Use
(Des Moines) — More federal land is being opened up for fishing and hunting in Iowa as part of the Trump administration’s move to make public land more accessible. Margaret Everson, of the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service, says one-point-four million acres were added to open areas this year, including at Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge east of Des Moines.
The Department of the Interior will also allow more big game hunting at De Soto Bend in western Iowa. Ducks Unlimited C-E-O Adam Putnam says making that land accessible to the public promotes outdoor recreation and conservation.
Federal officials say they’re also trying to match state and federal regulations to encourage more hunting and fishing.
Lower Tier Democratic Presidential Candidates Trying To Catch The Top Three Candidates
WASHINGTON (AP) – Less than four months until voting begins, a Democratic presidential race that had been largely static through the summer has tumbled into a chaotic fall.
Front-runners are facing urgent questions about their ability to take on President Donald Trump. Lower-tier candidates eager to challenge the top-tier trio are struggling to rise above the din in Washington.
The uncertainty is heightening anxieties among Democrats desperate to defeat Trump in 2020.
Although impeachment could put Trump’s presidency in peril, the process has also highlighted Trump’s skill at discrediting his opponents, sometimes with baseless conspiracy theories. And Democrats appear no closer to sorting out what tactics, what ideology and what person is best-suited to overcome that.
