New Deputy Sworn In To Office
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo welcomed the latest deputy to the ranks during a badge pinning ceremony held Monday at noon at the Plymouth County Law Enforcement Center. Brandon Cabney was given the oath of office by Sheriff Van Otterloo. Cabney joins the sheriff’s office
after having been a police officer with the Akron Police Department, and more recently with the Le Mars Police Department.
County Supervisors To Vote On Budget Amendment
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will gather today for their weekly meeting. The county governing board will hold a public hearing to amend the fiscal year 2020-2021 budget. The supervisors are expected to approve the budget amendment. Plymouth County Recorder, Jolynn Goodchild
will submit for approval her quarterly report. Surveyors, Dave Wilberding and Wayne Schlotfeld will both appear before the county supervisors seeking approval for sub-divisions in Elgin and Henry townships. County engineer Tom Rohe will also appear before the supervisors to submit construction permits
from Southern Sioux Rural Water Association in Washington township and for Westfield township.
Wet Nose Rescue To Host Garden Tour
(Le Mars) — If you love cats, dogs, and flowers, a self-guided garden tour at the Mary Valentine gardens in Le Mars is a must-do this Wednesday, July 15. Stop by anytime between 5 and 8 p.m. and see hundreds of flowers, all carefully labeled by the gardener, Mary Valentine.
The Valentine gardens at 10 Prospect Street are located just west of Kluckhohn Elementary School.
(photo contributed.)
All free-will donations will go to Wet-Nose Rescue, whose mission is to establish a shelter and adoption center for cats and dogs.
Through the years, Mary has sold some of her perennial flowers, and at the tour, she will offer over 30 potted perennials for sale to help the Wet-Nose Rescue cause. She serves as treasurer of the Wet-Nose Rescue group.
Mary has been flower gardening for some 70 years. “I started young,” she recalls of her roots on a Castana area farm.
“My grandmother was a gardener, and so were my dad and mother,” she notes.
Her childhood perennials were day lilies and tiger lilies. Then there were the iris that the Whiting Iris Gardens of Mapleton gave to her grandmother and her.
Mary and her parents, Edmund and Louise, moved many of their flowers from their Monona County farm to Sioux City, then to Boyden, and then to Le Mars where Mary moved them twice after she arrived in 1965. She has been working in her present flower garden at 10 Prospect for the past 46 years.
In addition to over 150 varieties of perennials, she has six different kinds of ferns and six kinds of violets, blooming in the spring against the wild blue phlox. She also has four kinds of peonies — Chinese, Japanese, Tree, and regulars.
Another unusual flower is a tall Loess Hills wild lily from Monona County.
Mary dotes over her wildflowers – ginger, May apple, Dutchman’s breeches, dog tooth violets, and more.
Her favorite annual is the pansy. “My grandma had them all over the garden.”
The pansies no longer propagate, so she buys the annual variety.
Her first perennials start early in the spring while snow is still on the ground.
“None of the perennials blooms forever,” but there is always something in bloom through the summer.
Lately, it’s been “too blooming hot” to enjoy flower gardening, 81-year-old Valentine says. When she is not gardening, she is inside taking care of her two rescue Chihuahuas
— Article by Judy Bowman.
School District Officials Discuss Various Scenarios Regarding COVID-19
(Le Mars) — Le Mars Community School Superintendent Dr. Steve Webner has been drawing up plans for how the 2020-2021 school year will proceed, depending upon the severity of the COVID-19 virus. Webner met with school board directors Monday evening to begin discussions. He says school officials are
urging the school board to consider starting the school day ten minutes earlier at 8:20 a.m. instead of the usual start time of 8:30 a.m.
Webner says he will also discuss with board members different scenarios as to how the school district will function depending again, on the severity of the coronavirus.
Crop Condition Report Show Dry Conditions For Parts Of The State
(Des Moines) — The state of Iowa had spotty showers during this past week, and moisture levels across the state are showing signs of being dry. Topsoil moisture levels rated as five percent very short, 22 percent short, 70 percent as being adequate, and only three percent as have surplus amounts of moisture. In the weekly crop condition report, corn tasseling and silking or
beyond reached 35 percent, eight days ahead of the previous year, and two days ahead of the five-year average. There were scattered reports of corn reaching the dough stage. Corn condition is rated as 83 percent good to excellent. Soybean blooming reached 58 percent, two weeks ahead of last
year, and six days ahead of the five-year average. Soybeans setting pods reached ten percent, two weeks ahead of last year and two days ahead of the five-year average. Soybean condition is also rated as 83 percent good to excellent.
Extension Ending, Time To File Taxes
(Des Moines, IA) — The three-month extension to file personal income taxes is ending Wednesday, meaning your return has to be postmarked by that date.
The Iowa deadline to file and pay state income taxes is July 31st. One tax advisor is reminding people that they can file an extension, but the taxes still have to be paid this month. Iowans who owe the government and can’t pay because they are out of work can establish a payment plan with the I-R-S. People collecting unemployment may have an unpleasant surprise next
year because income taxes aren’t held out of those benefits.
Black Leaders Meet With US Senator Joni Ernst About Racial Equality
(Des Moines, IA) — State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad was among a group of Black leaders in Des Moines discussing racial equality with U-S Senator Joni Ernst Monday. The group presented the Iowa Republican with a list of shared issues they want her to address at the federal level – things like racial disparities in economics and health. Ernst told the group she
disagrees with the president when he called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate” in a tweet. However, she says she doesn’t support violence. She says taking up arms to defend slavery should never be honored, so she also supports removing the names of Confederate generals from U-S military bases.
Federal Judge Halts Executions, Putting Off Death For Notorious Iowa Mass Murderer
(Terre Haute, IN) — One of Iowa’s most notorious mass murderers was just four days away from a trip to the execution chamber when a federal judge put a hold on executions Monday. Dustin Honken was supposed to be put to death Friday at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was convicted
of killing five people in 1993, including two children. The Trump
administration has appealed the Monday ruling to a higher court. U-S District Judge Tanya Chutkan says there are still legal issues to resolve and the public “isn’t served by short-circuiting legitimate judicial process.”
The U-S hasn’t had a federal execution in 17 years.
DNR To Discuss Missouri River Flooding In Series Of Virtual Meetings
(Des Moines, IA) — A series of virtual meetings will be held later this month for the discussion of flooding with Iowans who live and work near the Missouri River. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it is important to know where people living near the river think the biggest problem spots are located. The U-S Army Corps of Engineers will never get enough money to fix all the problems, so it is important to discover what
should be prioritized. The virtual meetings will be held July 28th through the 30th in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
Autopsy Planned For Prisoner From Fort Dodge Facility Who Died
(Fort Dodge, IA) — The state Corrections Department says an autopsy will be done on a 62-year-old inmate from the Fort Dodge prison who died at the hospital Saturday to determine if COVID-19 was a factor. The department says Ronald Holdsworth had multiple pre-existing medical conditions and was taken to the hospital after experiencing a medical emergency. Holdsworth had been serving a 25-year sentence for second-degree sexual abuse from Boone County. His sentence began on May 14th, 2008. The first and only state prisoner to die from COVID-19 was from the Fort Dodge prison on July 7th.
Governor Encourages Voluntary Mask Wearing
(Des Moines, IA) — Governor Kim Reynolds sent out a video message to urging everyone in the state to voluntarily wear a mask and practice other public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The governor says in the message that the pandemic is far from over and she doesn’t want to go backward. Reynolds says she believes in Iowans and knows we can continue to step up and take personal responsibility, “not because it’s mandated, but because it’s the right thing to do.” Nearly 36-hundred cases of COVID-19 among Iowans were confirmed by testing last week, the highest one-week total in nine weeks.
Minnesota Man Shot While Handling Gun At Iowa Campground
(Plymouth, Ia) — The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting Saturday night at the Camp of the Woods Campground at Plymouth. Deputies determined that 21-year-old Levi Max Ekwall of Stillwater, Minnesota, and 22-year-old Sean Richard Darcy of Albert Lea were handling a loaded semi-automatic nine-millimeter pistol in an inappropriate manner when the gun fired. Darcy had a non-life-threatening injury and was taken to the hospital for treatment. Investigators say alcohol was a contributing factor in this shooting.
