Municipal And School Board Elections Scheduled For Today
(Le Mars) — Today is election day for municipal and school board elections.
Here in Le Mars there is one contested race for the At-Large city council position between Mike Donlin and Dan Dembinski. The other races are uncontested with Steve Wick seeking re-election to represent Ward 2 on the Le Mars City Council, and Dick Kirchoff is running unopposed for the Le Mars mayor position. As for the Le Mars Community Board of Education election,
there is only one race that is contested. Voters will have the opportunity to vote for two candidates for two separate At-Large positions. Angela Catton is seeking re-election, while Kyle Plathe (Platte) and Nick Jalas are trying for the first time to be elected. Other uncontested school board races include District 2 where Jane Arnold is seeking election. Arnold was appointed to the school board to fill Chris Collins term when Collins had
retired more than a year ago. District 5 is also an unopposed race. Fred Zenk chose not to seek re-election which left the position wide open.
Makenzie Lang has stepped up to seek election to represent District 5 voters on the local school board.
Polling Locations
(Le Mars) — Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Here is the list of polling places:
Precinct #1 which includes Portland township and the town of Akron will vote at the Akron Public Library.
Precinct #2 which includes the townships on the eastern edge of Plymouth County featuring Meadow…Remsen…Henry…and Garfield but excludes the towns of Remsen and Kingsley will vote at the American Bank in Remsen.
Precinct #3 includes Elgin and America townships as well as the communities of Struble and Seney, but it excludes Le Mars. Voting will occur at the Courthouse Annex.
Precinct #4 which is also a new precinct has Preston…Grant…Johnson…and Washington townships and the communities of Craig and Brunsville. The Brunsville Legion Hall will serve as the voting location.
Precinct #5 includes the townships of Fredonia and Marion as well as the towns of Oyens and Remsen. Voting will occur at the Remsen Public Library.
Precinct #6 consists of the townships of Westfield and Sioux along with the town of Westfield. Voting will be at the Westfield Community Center.
Precinct #7 has Liberty…Plymouth…and Stanton townships along with the town of Merrill and voters will need to go to the Kissinger Community Center.
Precinct #8, located in the southwestern corner of the county involves Hancock and Perry townships, along with portions of Sioux City will vote at the Perry township Hall.
Precinct #9 includes the townships of Hungerford and Lincoln and also includes the town of Hinton. The Hinton Community Center will serve as the voting place.
Precinct #10 is Union and Elkhorn townships along with the town of Kingsley.
Voting will take place at the Kingsley Community Center.
And finally, Precincts 11,12, and 13 includes the city of Le Mars and all voting will be conducted at the Le Mars Convention Center, lower level.
Even though precincts 11, 12, and 13 includes Le Mars, voters will want to check the new boundaries to see if they have been moved to a different precinct.
No Meeting This Week For Plymouth County Board Of Supervisors
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will not hold a weekly meeting this week. County auditor Stacey Feldman says there were too few agenda items to warrant a meeting this week.
City Council To Act On Tax Rebate Request
(Le Mars) — Only two items are scheduled for discussion and action for today’s meeting of the Le Mars City Council scheduled to begin at 12:00 noon at the city council chambers. The Le Mars City Council will discuss a tax rebate request for Adam Brown as he is requesting a three-year tax rebate of city taxes paid to begin after the city’s Urban Revitalization Plan for seven years with 100 percent tax exemption is complete. The agreement would be similar to the another tax rebate request made by Brown for a previous apartment building that was approved on August 21st. The estimated total tax rebate of city taxes due in years 8, 9, and 10 will be $58,143. The city council will be asked to approve the completion of construction work at the city’s municipal airport for the runway 18 turnaround.
Man Dies From Spencer Fire
SPENCER, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a man’s body was found by firefighters inside a northwest Iowa house.
Spencer Fire & Rescue Department says firetrucks were sent to a
Spencer residence a little after 10 a.m. Monday. The body was found inside a bedroom.
The body’s been identified as that of 72-year-old Lawrence Bendlin.
Flames were confined to one room, but there was smoke damage
throughout the house. The fire cause is being investigated.
Steve King Says Impeachment Proceedings Is A Witch Hunt
(Le Mars) — Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King made a visit to KLEM offices on Monday. King, an adamant supporter of President Trump, says the House Democratic leadership that is conducting an impeachment proceedings of the president, is nothing more than a witch hunt that was planned months or even years before the controversial phone conversation with the
Ukranian leader.
King says Republican members of Congress were locked out of the proceedings, until a group of Republicans, along with King, stormed into the room.
After the republican Congress members entered the room, King says chairman Schiff then transferred the witness to another secret room. King says the result was a resolution was brought to the floor of the House of Representatives dictating how the proceedings would work.
Reynolds Organizes Committee To Look At Racial Bias On Criminal Justice System
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has named 14 officials to a committee she’s created that will make recommendations for removing racial bias from the Iowa criminal justice system and help reduce recidivism among former offenders.
Reynolds says the group’s recommendations will form the foundation of a package of legislative proposals aimed at advancing her second chance initiative which will include her continued push for a constitutional amendment that grants felons the right to vote.
The committee is chaired by Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg and includes leaders from departments of corrections, public safety, the law enforcement academy, the parole board and state public defender’s office.
She’s also included on the committee a county sheriff, a police
chief, a county attorney and leaders of the NAACP, a Latino affairs group and a crime victim lawyer from the Iowa attorney general’s office.
The first meeting will be Thursday.
Health And Fitness Coach Found Guilty Of Fraud
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa health coach accused of defrauding more than 100 people out of millions of dollars by getting them to invest in a gym and fitness program has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison and must pay more than $8 million in restitution to his victims.
A judge sentenced Mark Alan Blankespoor of Pella on Friday. He had pleaded guilty to wire fraud in June.
U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum says Blankespoor must repay $8.4
million to over 100 victims.
Court documents says Blankespoor was a health coach and consultant in Pella and convinced others he was developing medically-oriented gyms and was licensing the program to fitness clinics across the country.
Over four years he convinced investors to hand over millions of
dollars which he used for personal expenses and to pay other investors.
State of Iowa and City Of Boone Must Pay Drug Suspect For Illegal Search
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The state, along with the city of Boone have agreed to pay $80,000 to an Iowa drug suspect who was arrested after an illegal search.
The State Appeal Board on Monday approved the payout under a legal settlement with Daniel Vinnece. The state and the city will split the cost.
The Associated Press has reported that parole officer Kari White was fired over the April 2018 search.
An investigation by the Department of Correctional Services found that White conspired with a Boone detective to search Vinnece’s home without a warrant, days before he was to be released from parole.
Unlike police, parole officers can conduct home visits to check on
parolees without a warrant. White, however, was not Vinnece’s parole officer and there was no need for such a check.
The search led to the discovery of drugs and Vinnece’s arrest. But the charges were dropped after a judge ruled the search was illegal.
Judge Denies Plea Agreement With Man Creating A Cannon That Fatally Wounded A Woman
MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) – A judge has rejected a plea deal for a man charged in the death of a woman hit in northeast Iowa by fragments from a homemade cannon.
Delaware County District Court records say Max Fenton pleaded guilty to aggravated misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter, which replaced the felony charge. A pair of fireworks-related charges were to be dropped as well.
The improvised cannon was made from the sawed-off barrel of a .50-caliber black powder rifle and was supposed to serve as a noisemaker.
Authorities say the rear of the barrel “blew out” in Greeley the night of July 2, 2016, and fragments struck 55-year-old Lori Heims.
The Telegraph Herald reports that the judge rejected the deal last week, saying the plea was to a new charge that was not a lesser-included crime alleged among the original charges. Judge Michael Shubatt also said there didn’t appear to be a factual basis for the new charge.
Shubatt set a trial starting date of Feb. 5.
