Le Mars City Council At-Large Election Has Donlin Against Dembinski
(Le Mars) — Election day is this coming Tuesday, and Le Mars has one contested race for the At-large position for city council. The two candidates include: Dan Dembinski and Mike Donlin. Both candidates have military experience, Donlin was a Navy man, while Dembinski served in the Air Force. KLEM news visited with each candidate and asked why they are interested in serving on the city council. We begin with Dan Dembinski…
For Mike Donlin, he says it is a way to continue to serve the community.
We asked the candidates what issues, with regards to the city, most interest them?
Dembinski says he is interested in maintaining the city’s streets and alleys, saying the city constantly needs to address any street concerns.
Dembinski says he has the goal for the city to continue to attract tourism, and build upon its economic development by adding more jobs and industries.
While Dembinski has placed candidate yard signs throughout the community, and has begun advertising on this radio station, asking people to vote for him, Donlin has decided not to promote his candidacy.
Dembinski says he is prepared to take on the responsibilities associated with serving on the city council.
Donlin says he wants other people to see Le Mars continue to be a nice place to live.
The other city elections have Steve Wick seeking re-election and running unopposed in Ward 2, and Dick Kirchoff is also running unopposed for the mayor’s race.
City Water Department To Begin Water Main Flushing
(Le Mars) — City of Le Mars Water Department will be flushing hydrants in the North section of the City starting, Monday Nov. 4th though the end of the week. The week of Nov.11th we will be flushing the Southwest side of town and the week of Nov. 18th we will be flushing the Southeast side of town.
Residents can expect lower pressures and discolored water while flushing is occurring. If your home still has discolored water, the next days after flushing, please Call the Water Department at 546-5555.
Primebank Announces Winners For Pumpkin Decorating Contest
(Le Mars) — Primebank had its customers vote on their favorite decorated pumpkin created by staff members of Primebank. Winning this year’s contest was Kim Becker who had created a pumpkin painted black and featured a dead witch. There was a tie for second place between Julie Bietelspacher and Anna Sitzmann. Bietelspacher created a shark-looking pumpkin, while Sitzmann created a pink colored flamingo pumpkin.
Nebraska Man Sentenced For Drug Trafficking
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Nebraska man has been sentenced for his involvement in a conspiracy targeting a potential drug trafficking witness in Iowa.
Federal court records say 24-year-old Andrew Nissen was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to 15 years and eight months.
He’d pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and use of a firearm in a drug trafficking crime.
The Sioux City Journal reports that as part of a plea agreement,
charges of conspiracy to tamper with a witness by attempting to kill a person and tampering with a witness by attempting to kill a person were dismissed.
Nissen, of South Sioux City, Nebraska, admits in the plea agreement that on Aug. 1 last year, he drove Isaac McDonald to a Sioux City location where McDonald shot John Mercure in order to keep him from speaking to police about drug trafficking and firearms. Mercure soon crashed into a tree but survived.
McDonald has pleaded guilty to charges for drug, weapons and other crimes.
—
Larson Named Warden For Anamosa Penitentiary
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Board of Corrections has announced Friday that Jerry Larson will be the new warden at Anamosa State Penitentiary.
The board unanimously voted Friday to appoint Larson to replace
William Sperfslage, who was earlier this year named the state’s new deputy director of institutions.
Larson has been the deputy warden at Newton Correctional Facility since 2016 and started his career at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility.
He was a correctional officer there in 1999.
Throughout his career, he has also held the positions of
correctional counselor, assistant unit manager and treatment services director.
DNR Investigating Fish Kill In Eastern Iowa
VINING, Iowa (AP) – Iowa environmental officials are investigating a manure spill that led to a fish kill in east-central Iowa.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said in a news release Friday that the fish kill was found on Wolf Creek about 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) northwest of Vining.
Department staff say a manure applicator for Mayo Farm Inc. reported Thursday morning that a drag hose leaked about 2,600 gallons of manure during land application. The applicator built a berm to dam up the spilled manure, but estimates that up to 500 gallons reached the creek.
Staff saw live fish at the site Thursday, but found some dead fish
just downstream were found Friday morning.
The department will monitor cleanup activities and consider
appropriate enforcement action.
Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board Approves Two Conditions To Be Treated With Medical Marijuana
ANKENY, Iowa (AP) – A state board has approved post-traumatic stress disorder and intellectual disability with aggression to the number of medical conditions that can legally be treated by medical marijuana in Iowa but rejected two other conditions petitioners had requested.
The Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board voted Friday to not allow
patients with opioid dependency and those with Alzheimer’s Disease to have legal access to medical marijuana. Board members expressed concern over lack of studies or other evidence that medical marijuana would help those conditions.
The Iowa Board of Medicine must agree with the addition of PTSD and intellectual disability before they can be added to a list of diagnoses for which medical marijuana can be prescribed.
The conditions would join seizures, Crohn’s disease, AIDS, Lou
Gehrig’s disease and Parkinson’s disease as approved conditions.
October Was Colder and Wetter Than Normal
(Des Moines) — Trick-or-Treaters had to thaw out their mini candy bars when they got home for the evening Thursday. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the cold and snowy spook night summed up the story on October.
He says there were very few days where you could go without a jacket for the month.
The cold temperatures came with plenty of rain and snow.
One area of the state got most of its precipitation in the frozen form.
Glisan says the cold weather is expected to continue through mid-November.
Diabetes Foundation Seeking Additional Research Funding From Congress
(Des Moines) — Iowans who have diabetes are waging a campaign with emails, calls and letters to members of Congress, urging them to pass what’s called the Special Diabetes Program. Aryn (AIR-in) Lloyd, a volunteer advocate for the Eastern Iowa Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, says the program pumps 150-million dollars each year into vital research at the National Institutes of Health.
Funding for the program actually would have expired in September but it was extended through the end of November. Lloyd, a Davenport native who has type 1 diabetes, says members of Congress are typically overwhelmed with requests to support various initiatives as the year’s end nears and she hopes this important program won’t be lost in the fray.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley chaired a hearing in February that called executives from seven large pharmaceutical companies as witnesses to discuss bounding prescription drug costs. The price of insulin, used in treating diabetes, has jumped 500-percent or more in recent years. Lloyd says there’s been little in the way of a resolution.
More than one-and-a-quarter million Americans have type 1 diabetes, while in Iowa, it’s about 262-thousand people.
