County Civil Service Commission Upholds Termination Of Sheriff’s Deputy
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Civil Service Commission held a hearing Tuesday afternoon to determine whether the termination of a Sheriff’s deputy was justified. The commission held the hearing at the basement of the Courthouse Annex building. Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo had
terminated the services of Deputy Aaron Luesink approximately six weeks ago.
The specific details and reasons for the termination were not mentioned when Gene Collins, chairman of the Civil Service Commission read the commission’s conclusions.
After the announcement by the civil service commission, Sheriff Van Otterloo says he was pleased with the commission’s decision, and felt justified in the firing of former deputy Aaron Luesink. An investigation is being coordinated by the state’s Department of Criminal Investigation into the actions by
Luesink, although no formal charges have yet been filed with the county attorney. Collins says the official date of termination will be today’s date, Tuesday, June 9th as of 2:30 p.m.
Luesink was represented by Justin Vondrak with the Bauerly and Langel firm of Le Mars, and Sheriff Van Otterloo was represented by attorney Doug Phillips with the Klass Law firm of Sioux City.
Van Otterloo mentioned he will begin the search for a new deputy to fill the vacancy on his staff. Luesink had been a deputy with the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office for the past 15 years. The Plymouth County Civil Service Commission comprises of three individuals, chairman Gene Collins of Kingsley,
Doug McDougall of Le Mars, and Amy Oetken of Le Mars. Oetken had excused herself from the hearing due to a possible conflict of interests.
Construction Of Bio-reactor To Help Reduce Nitrate Run-off For Water Quality
(Remsen) — An effort to reduce nitrates from entering local water sources was being built Tuesday morning in the northeast corner of Plymouth County.
A bio-reactor is being constructed on the Jim Heidiesh farm. Kristi Silverthorn is a conservationist with the Plymouth County Soil and Water Conservation Service, and is the former director with the Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative Project. She explains what is a bio-reactor and how it helps reduce nitrate run-off.
The bio-reactor is the first for Plymouth County. Silverthorn says there is one in Sioux County at the Dordt University farm, and others are located in Buena Vista County and Lyon County. Contractors were digging a trench and pit Tuesday morning, and Silverthorn explains the bio-reactor’s appearance when finished.
Sioux County retired soil and water conservationist Greg Marek says the wood chips acts as a filtration system to help reduce nitrates and offer better water quality.
Marek says the bio-reactor will need to have a change of wood chips every few years in order for it to continue to reduce nitrates.
The Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative was appropriated $500 thousand dollars three years ago. Officials believe the legislature will again approve additional funding for the project, but that has yet to be determined. Silverthorn says the bio-reactor project was entirely funded through state and federal grants.
Jim Heidesch is the landowner of which the bio-reactor is located near Shamrock Avenue and county road C-16. He says he wanted to do what he could to help improve the water quality of Deep Creek and the Remsen water supply.
Heidesch believes other farmers and landowners will be interested in learning more about the benefits of bio-reactors and how they help reduce run-off nitrates and improve water quality. Marek says bio-reactors are just one way to help reduce nitrates. He says other conservation methods that have been
in practice around Plymouth County and northwest Iowa, that not only help protect the water quality, but also reduce soil erosion include: terraces, buffer filter strips, no-tillage, and grass waterways. Another method is the planting of cover crops consisting of oats, rye, or even radishes.
Farmers and land-owners can implement water quality initiatives and are encouraged to utilize cost-share funding that’s available through the county conservation district office, and with state and federal funding.
ATV Accident Sends Ireton Man To Hospital
(Orange City) — Sioux County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an ATV accident that happened Saturday afternoon at around 4:20 p.m. The accident occurred on private property on 500th Street, about four miles southwest of Ireton. Randall Lehman, age 68, of Ireton was driving a 2009 Polaris Ranger side x side ATV on the property when he lost control of the vehicle and
rolled. Lehman was ejected from the ATV vehicle. Lehman was transported by the Ireton Ambulance to Floyd Valley Healthcare in Le Mars. He was later transported to MercyOne Hospital in Sioux City for further medical treatment.
The Polaris ATV sustained approximately $250 in damage. The sheriff’s office was assisted by the Ireton Ambulance and Ireton Fire Department.
House Looking To Hold The Line On State Budget
(Des Moines, IA) — A spokesman for the House Speaker says Republicans in the Iowa House have come up with a “status quo” spending plan for the next state fiscal year that begins July 1st. A state panel predicted at the end of May that state tax revenue will drop by 360 MILLION dollars in the next 12 months
due to the pandemic-induced recession. The House G-O-P plan is to basically keep state spending levels equal to the current year and not use any of the state’s cash reserve or emergency funds. Republicans in the Iowa Senate have not released their spending outline yet.
Character Counts Celebration To Be Virtual
(Des Moines, IA) — Individual Iowans and organizations who exemplify the six pillars of character are being recognized in an annual program through the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University in Des Moines. Hilary Ortmann, the center’s associate director, says they had 140 nominations this
year representing 87 Iowa communities. The six pillars of character are: Caring, Citizenship, Fairness, Respectfulness, Responsibility, and Trustworthiness. There’s usually a big summertime banquet to honor all of the recipients but COVID-19 forced the cancellation of this year’s event and they
will hold a virtual celebration on July 30th.
Storms Dump Heavy Rains On Central And Eastern Iowa
(Oelwein, IA) — Several areas of Iowa have reported issues with flooding while the remnants of Tropical Storm Cristobal dumps rain on the Hawkeye State. The National Weather Service says it has received reports of two-to-five inches of rain. The largest report came from Oelwein where five-and-a-quarter inches were measures. Multiple roads in the town were reported to be underwater while gusty winds had damaged trees. The worst problems were in central and eastern Iowa, basically east of Interstate 35. Weather experts say this was the second time in 120 years that a storm from the Gulf Coast made it all the way to Iowa. Western Iowa will be getting rainfall today
(Wednesday) from a separate system.
2 Women Die While Tubing On Turkey River
(Clermont, IA) — Authorities in Fayette County say two women from West Union have died while tubing on the Turkey River. Sixty-four-year-old Sharon Kahn and 44-year-old Vicki K. Hodges both drowned after going over a small dam Monday afternoon. A passerby called the sheriff’s office after hearing
someone call for help. Emergency responders pulled the women out of the water and attempted life-saving procedures, but they were dead by the time they arrived at a hospital in nearby West Union.
Waterloo Police Issue New Use Of Force Policy
(Waterloo, IA) — The Waterloo Police Department has put up a new “Use of Force Policy” on its website. The policy comes in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis in late April. Choke holds are specifically listed as being a form of unauthorized use of force — as are force techniques that intentionally apply pressure to a person’s neck
in a way that restricts blood flow. It also says that a taser should only be used if a subject is “violently resisting,” baton strikes are not to be used to strike a person’s head, and that the minimum amount necessary force should be used to protect the sanctity of life.
Coralville Lifts Nightly Curfew
(Coralville, IA) — The city of Coralville is lifting its nightly curfew. Mayor John Lundell said the lockdown was “effective in curbing violence” but that it’s no longer needed. City officials put the curfew in place last Monday after violence and vandalism erupted out of protests. Polk and Scott counties had also instituted curfews to try and stop rioting and vandalism. They both also have now lifted those restrictions.
Des Moines Black Lives Matter Issues 5 More Demands For State Leaders
(Des Moines, IA) — The Des Moines chapter of Black Lives Matter has issued five new demands for Iowa’s leaders. Four are for Iowa state lawmakers and the fifth is for Governor Kim Reynolds. The organization wants lawmakers to reject a bill that it says legalizes corporal punishment in public schools.
It also wants passage of a proposal banning police chokeholds, permission for the Iowa Attorney General to investigate police misconduct, and it wants a prohibition on the rehiring of police officers who were fired for misconduct.
They want a meeting with Reynolds.
After A Year On The Run, Home Invasion Suspect Arrested
(Des Moines, IA) — Authorities had been looking for 29-year-old Cameron Marchant for more than a year. Now, he’s finally in custody. Marchant was a suspect in a home invasion robbery when a man was shot. He was booked into the Polk County Jail on charges of attempted murder, burglary and willful injury. The home invasion robbery happened in May of last year.
Investigators say Marchant and another man came into a home through the window and during the burglary a resident was shot in the leg.
