Home News Friday Afternoon News, August 14th

Friday Afternoon News, August 14th

Le Mars Sees An Increase In Theft And Burglaries

(Le Mars) — Crimes of theft and burglary have been on the rise recently in Le Mars, and Le Mars Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte says his department usually sees such crime activity when the weather is nice.

Vande Vegte reminds Le Mars citizens to lock your windows and doors to your homes, and to lock your vehicles.

The Le Mars Police Chief says a recent trend occurring has been the theft of political yard signs.

Vande Vegte says police investigations have been aided by those businesses and residents that have video cameras that have captured the image of the perpetrator.

Vande Vegte says anytime people are busy, and occupied, with some normalcy in their lives, whether it be students returning back to school, or employees returning to work, he believes it is good for a person’s mental health, and good for the community.

 

 

 

Reynolds Holds News Conference About Derecho Storm

(Cedar Rapids) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds held a news conference Friday following her tour of the damaged area from Monday’s strong wind storm. She was in Cedar Rapids, which is one of the hardest hit communities. Reynolds describes the devastation from the derecho storm.

Reynolds has declared 25 Iowa counties as an emergency disaster, thus allowing them to receive state government assistance funding. One of those counties is Linn County.

Reynolds says she has visited with President Donald Trump, and with Vice President Mike Pence while Pence made a visit to Iowa this week. She says both have indicated federal help will be on its way to Iowa. Reynolds told reporters that additional action will be taken on Monday.

The governor explained the actions that has been enacted since the storm.

Reynolds says she has met with utility company executives and they have made the commitment to fully restore power to all their customers no later than Tuesday, August 18th.

 

 

 

Area Cattle Producers Urged To Attend Beef Quality Assurance Seminar

(Le Mars) — Cattle producers will want to attend an upcoming Beef Quality Assurance seminar scheduled for Wednesday, August 26th. Beth Doran is the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Beef Specialist for northwest Iowa. She says packers are getting pressure from consumers relating to the
conditions of how beef cattle are raised, and because of the consumer questions, the meat processing and packing companies are requiring cattle producers to go through the quality assurance training.

Doran says the workshop covers nine different areas of cattle production involving such items as the use of antibiotics, growth stimulant hormones, and even transportation.

The I-S-U Beef Specialist says the course also covers manure management and bio-security issues.

Doran says many of the major packing companies are insisting producers complete the beef quality assurance program, or they may face sharp discounts with the price for their cattle.

That Beef Quality Assurance seminar will be held at the Plymouth County Extension Office – Le Mars Convention Center and will begin at 10:00 a.m.  Pre-registration is requested. For additional information, or to register, cattle producers should contact the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach office of Plymouth County.

 

 

 

Thousands Remain Without Power

(Des Moines, IA) — More than 200-thousand remain without power in Iowa and for some the electricity may not be on for at least one another week. All power in Des Moines is expected to be restored by Saturday. Alliant Energy says in Cedar Rapids it could be another five to seven days before all the power is back on.

 

 

 

Clean Up Volunteers Needed Across The State

(Marion, IA) — The call is going out for volunteers to help those areas of the state hit hard by Monday’s drecho (Duh-ray-cho). Marion Chamber of Commerce president Jill Ackerman is helping coordinate the volunteer effort for that eastern Iowa area. She says the volunteer work will be helping move debris, clean out spoiled food and handing out food to residents. If you are
interested in volunteering to help with storm debris clean-up or food distribution in Marion, you can call is 319-447-3581. Story County is also looking for volunteers to help with the cleanup. Story County Emergency Management Agency deputy coordinator Melissa Spencer says there is a lot of work to do. She says the first thing to do is sign up through the link on the
Story County Emergency Management page. Once you are registered you can go to Gates Hall in Nevada Saturday between 9:00-10:30 a-m to get an assignment.

 

 

 

Trump Campaign Sues Over Absentee Ballots In Two Counties

(Cedar Rapids, IA) — The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, and the Iowa G-O-P are suing Linn and Johnson Counties, seeking to nullify tens of thousands of absentee ballot requests that have already been made.
Auditors in Linn and Johnson Counties mailed voters the forms to request absentee ballots, with information on the forms filled out, like the voter’s address and voter I-D number. Republicans say that violates an emergency order from Secretary of State Paul Pate, who told county election officials any form they send must be blank. The Trump campaign and G-O-P officials are
asking the courts to order the Auditors Offices in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City to contact every voter who has sent their absentee ballot request form already, tell them the form is invalid and that they must submit a new one.

 

 

 

Texas Company Buys Iowa Fish Farm

(Webster City, IA) — A Texas company is buying a north-central Iowa fish farm facility. Natural Shrimp, Incorporated, announced this week it’s acquiring the assets of Alder Aqua, formerly known as Vero Blue Farms of Webster City for around 10 million dollars. The acquisition is subject to successful due diligence by Natural Shrimp and is expected to close in the
fourth quarter of 2020. The transaction includes the purchase of the Alder Aqua facilities in Blairsburg and Buckeye. Natural Shrimp is an aquaculture company that has developed and patented the first commercially Recirculating Aquaculture System for shrimp.