Le Mars To Host RAGBRAI
(Le Mars) — RAGBRAI is coming to Le Mars. The 2020 edition of the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa will begin its cross-state journey from the “Ice Cream Capital of the World.” The announcement was made Saturday evening when officials of the Des Moines Register informed a gathering in the capital city of the intended route. People across the
state were watching with great anticipation the announcement event that was streamed on-line through social media. Le Mars mayor, Dick Kirchoff, was vacationing in Florida at the time Le Mars was announced as the over-night community, but says he was “totally elated” when he heard the news.
Kirchoff says a RAGBRAI organizing committee will begin work almost immediately.
Le Mars hasn’t had the opportunity to host RAGBRAI since 2005.
Mark Sturgeon is a member of the Plymouth County Cyclists Club, and attended the announcement event held in Des Moines. He says the reaction of the group from Le Mars was ecstatic. He says the group was hoping that Le Mars would be selected to host the annual bike ride.
Sturgeon shares the story of how Le Mars was announced as the opening host overnight city.
Sturgeon says the people of Le Mars can open their hearts as well as their homes to the thousands of bicyclists expected to converge on Le Mars.
One area many of the RAGBRAI participants probably will camp overnight will be the Plymouth County Fairgrounds. The fair board will have one week to turn the fairgrounds from hosting RAGBRAI into the an exhibit area showcasing the fair. Loren Schnepf is the president of the Plymouth County Fair.
RAGBRAI will stay overnight at Le Mars, Storm Lake, Fort Dodge, Iowa Falls, Waterloo, Anamosa, Maquoketa, and end the ride at Clinton. RAGBRAI 2020 will begin on July 19th and continue through July 25th.
Farm Bill Meeting Scheduled For Today
(Sioux City) — Iowa State University Extension and Outreach have scheduled another meeting to deal with the Farm Bill. Gary Wright, the ISU Farm Management Specialist for northwest Iowa says the meeting is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Monday, January 27th and it will be held at the Woodbury County Extension Office in Sioux City. Wright says the additional meeting was
scheduled since many farmers were unable to attend previously scheduled seminars due to the late harvest.
Wright says farmers need to know about some changes that are being proposed with the new farm bill, especially with crop insurance provisions.
Wright says sponsors have helped with the cost of materials and
refreshments. The extension and outreach farm management specialist says in addition to discussing the farm bill, there will be some time focused on farm stress.
Wright says farmers ask him if the government has changed its policy as it relates to crop insurance as to the determining yield used to calculate coverage. Wright says coverage and payouts for crops is still based on the county yield, as opposed to the individual farm yield.
The farm management specialist says some changes will deal with whether farmers will be prevented from planting their acres due to either flooded fields, or extreme wet conditions.
For additional information regarding the Farm Bill meeting, farmers can contact the Woodbury County Extension Office.
Anthon Rescue Squad Member Ordered To Pay Back Missing Money
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The ex treasurer of Anthon’s rescue squad in northwestern Iowa has been ordered to repay more than $83,000 she’s accused of misspending. The Sioux City Journal reported Friday that Kristine Roggatz was ordered by a judge Wednesday to make the payment to cover the nearly
$77,000 she’s accused of taking from the group and another nearly $6,900 for the cost of an audit that discovered the malfeasance. The judgment was part of a lawsuit the city brought in 2017 against Roggatz after the town’s
insurance carrier covered the losses.
Four Midwest States Pool Money For Flood Survey
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Four states along the Missouri River are joining forces to look for ways to avoid the kind of flooding that caused millions of dollars in damage last year. Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas are pooling their money to pay for half of a $400,000 study with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to measure how much water flows down the Missouri River.
State officials hope to present a united front to federal officials to gain more influence over how the river is managed after devastating floods in 2011 and 2019.
