Gehlen Catholic School Cancels Homecoming Parade
(Le Mars) — First it was Le Mars Community to cancel its Homecoming Parade due to the COVID-19 virus, now Gehlen Catholic’s homecoming parade celebration scheduled for October 9th has also been cancelled. At this time, Gehlen Catholic’s School Board has cancelled the homecoming parade due to COVID 19. It is our goal to keep our students in school and participating in their activities. As a school, it is our responsibility to keep our students and our families safe and to promote social distancing as much as possible. It is still our intent to have coronation and other events during homecoming week, with appropriate measures being taken for safety purposes. Information will be released as it is available. These plans are subject to change.
Le Mars Chamber of Commerce Halloween Trick Or Treat Activities Cancelled Due To COVID-19 Virus
(Le Mars) — Another annual fall event that has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic is the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce’s annual Halloween Trick and Treat program. Due to COVID-19, the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors have decided to cancel the 2020 Halloween Trick or Treat Event for Children that would have been held on Saturday, October 31. Also cancelled are the Le Mars Arts Center and the Le Mars Public Library Halloween activities.
Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig Visits Northwest Iowa
(Akron) — Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig was in northwest Iowa today, (Friday) stopping at Akron to visit with Bill and Sue Brown with Insulights company. Insulights is a company that markets insulators for an electric fence, but equipped with an LED light that flashes to indicate the fence is operative. Naig says he was impressed with the work being done by Bill and Sue Brown.
Bill and Sue Brown of Akron (left) stand with Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig. Naig was in Akron on Friday, and visited with the couple about their innovative start-up business Insulights.
Two announcements relating to the ethanol industry were made this week by the Trump Administration. The first is allowing E-15 to be used in E-10 pumps, and the second was with the EPA not going to allow waivers from petroleum refiners from by-passing having ethanol blended into the gasoline. Naig was asked as a result of the two announcements if the ethanol industry will be able to re-capture the lost market share.
The Iowa Agriculture Secretary is confident the renewable fuels industry will be able to regain its lost market share.
Naig believes many of the ethanol plants that have been sitting idle or were at reduced production, will be able to start up again in the near future.
USDA To Release Second Round Of CFAP Relief Payments To Farmers
(Akron) — The U-S Department of Agriculture has announced a second round of payments to be directed to farmers for COVID-19 relief. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig was in Akron Friday morning and says the payments will help all farmers, but especially livestock producers. He says as long as the marketplace is being impacted because of the coronavirus outbreak, then the government needs to step in with support for farmers.
Naig says with the second payment, egg producers and turkey producers will also benefit. He says they were passed over during the first COVID-19 relief payment.
14- and 15-Year-Old Boys Charged in Deadly Des Moines Shooting
(Des Moines, IA) — Authorities in Des Moines say two boys are charged in a fatal shooting early Thursday morning. Officers were called to an apartment complex near Drake University and found 21-year-old Joshua Gabriel of Des Moines shot. He died at the hospital a short time later. Police are holding two boys, ages 14 and 15, in the case. Both are from Des Moines and charged as juveniles with robbery and murder. It’s the capitol city’s 19th homicide this year.
Iowa Unemployment Rate Drops to 6 Percent in August
(Des Moines, IA) — The unemployment rate in Iowa continues to fall since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Iowa Workforce Development reports the jobless rate dropped an eighth of a point in August to six percent.
Employers in the state added 53-hundred jobs last month. The total number of Iowans working increased to one-million-520-thousand-200 in August – which is four-thousand more than July. Iowa’s unemployment rate peaked at 11 percent in April. The US jobless rate was eight-point-four percent last month.
Federal Guidelines Could Mean 130K Weekly COVID Tests in Nursing Homes
(Des Moines, IA) — A state agency has notified Iowa nursing homes that the State Hygienic Lab doesn’t have the capacity to process all the COVID tests identified in new federal guidelines. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid now recommends routine testing of all nursing home staff, along with volunteers and contractors. Governor Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said the
state will continue to test in nursing homes when staff or residents show symptoms or have been exposed to positive cases, but the new federal guidelines could generate more than 130-thousand additional tests per week.
Democratic State Representative Timi Brown-Powers of Waterloo who’s a nurse, said the state already should have used federal pandemic relief money to pay for expanded testing in nursing homes. The governor’s spokesman said the federal government plans to send supplies and processing equipment for rapid
COVID tests and state officials will notify nursing homes when those units are available.
4 GOP Female Candidates For Congress Speak Saturday in Jefferson
(Jefferson, IA) — The Republican candidates in Iowa’s four congressional districts will speak Saturday at the Iowa Federation of Republican Women convention in Jefferson. Barbara Hames-Bryant of Cedar Rapids is the group’s
president. She said, “I think visiting with the politicians, the candidates in person will give people confidence that our political system isn’t broken, but we all need to participate and that’s what we’re going to do.” G-O-P Senator Joni Ernst will speak at the event, but via a live video connection.
Advance registration is required and you must be a Republican voter to attend in person at the Wild Rose Casino and Resort or to watch speakers online.
Sioux City Student Sets Up Honorary Chair To Recognize POW’s/MIA’s
(Sioux City) — Friday was National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and a Sioux City student organized a local effort to launch a local “Chair of Honor” program recognizing our nation’s military Prisoners of War, Missing in Action, and their families.
Jacob McGowan , a junior at Bishop Heelan High School, led the ceremony unveiling the first permanent “Chair of Honor” at the new Siouxland Expo Center:
He is referring to General Bud Day, who was a POW during the Vietnam War, enduring five years and seven months of torture and earning the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Congressman Steve King spoke about Day’s strength in surviving torture and hardship during the ceremony:
Senator Ernst, the first female combat veteran elected to serve in the U.S. Senate, also attended the event and says it is important to remember the sacrifice of Day and others who paid a steep price in serving their country:
McGowan’s ongoing effort is to place “Chairs of Honor” in stadiums and theaters throughout the community through tax deductible donations contributed through the Siouxland Chamber Foundation.
In addition to the permanent chair that will remain at the Siouxland Expo Center, a portable “Chair of Honor,” was also unveiled, dedicated to the memory of Bud Day.
