Remsen Fire Chief Honored
(Remsen) — St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Remsen was filled as firefighters, EMT’s and other public officials, family, friends and community members paid their last respects for Remsen Fire Chief Kevin Ortmann. Ortmann died Sunday from brain cancer. He was 40 years old. During the funeral services, Le Mars Fire Chief and president of the Iowa Association of Fire Chiefs, Dave Schipper, along with the Harlan Fire Chief, and Vice President
of the Iowa Association of Fire Chiefs, Roger Bissen, and retired Captain, Doug Harms of the Le Mars Fire Department followed tradition by ringing the bell acknowledging the death of a firefighter. Schipper struck the bell for five rings…with a series of four separate times as the signal to indicate a firefighter has returned home. Ortmann’s casket was loaded on to an old
fire truck as the funeral procession consisted of Remsen Police, Remsen Ambulance vehicles, and a long series of fire trucks from Remsen, Oyens, Marcus, Hinton, Kingsley, Granville, Akron, Merrill, Harlan, and Le Mars.
Stockman’s Towing Service was displaying the American Flag high above Highway 3 as the funeral procession passed underneath. At the cemetery, Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department had its aerial truck with the extended
ladder also flying a large American flag above the cemetery.
Wiggins To Serve As Acting Chief Justice At Iowa Supreme Court
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins will serve as the court’s chief justice until a successor to Chief Justice Mark Cady can be appointed.
Cady died unexpectedly Nov. 15 at age 66.
A court spokesman says Thursday that Iowa law requires the chief justice to name another member of the court to fill in when the chief cannot act. Cady had issued an order in November 2016 appointing Wiggins to act in his place.
Wiggins was appointed to the court by Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2003.
State law says Wiggins will serve as acting chief justice until the
current vacancy on the court is filled and the full court selects a chief justice. Finding a successor for Cady could take 90 days.
The court’s elected chief will serve until the court holds its first
meeting in 2021 and holds another election.
Iowa City Residents Told To Stay Away From Parks While Officials Try To Shoot Deer
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa City residents are being urged to avoid several city parks next month as a contracted company conducts hunts to lower the local deer population.
The city hired White Buffalo Inc. to reduce the deer overpopulation. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the city has estimated its deer population is as high as 80 animals per square mile (2.6 sq. kilometers). The city hopes to bring that number down to 25.
The hunt will start Dec. 1 and last until Dec. 22, from 3 p.m. until dawn.
Officials say that, following the White Buffalo hunt this year, there will be 30-day bow hunts open to the public for each of the next four years.
