(LE MARS)–An instructor who has worked with students to help them achieve for 20 years is the Le Mars Community School District’s “Teacher of the Year.”
Julie Theisen of the Individualized Learning Center was surprised with the honor today. Theisen and other school employees and students will be recognized at the annual foundation banquet April 20th. More on upcoming news.
(CHEROKEE)–A potential severe storm led National Weather Service staff to issue the first Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for 2010 in Siouxland this morning.
A Severe Thunderstorm warning was issued for northern Buena Vista County and Central Clay County about eight this morning. A thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail was near Linn Grove and moving east.
A severe Thunderstorm warning was also issued for Cherokee County around eleven this morning. Hail up to an inch in size six miles north-northwest of Quimby was reported to the National Weather Service.
The storm activity moved into Pocahontas and Palo Alto county where warnings was also issued.
(SIOUX CITY)–Santana will headline this year’s 20th Anniversary of the Saturday in the Park Festival on July 3 in Grandview Park. Steve Winwood and Michael Franti and Spearhead will also perform at the anniversary of the festival. Entertainers were announced this morning. This will be a second Saturday in the Park appearance for Carlos Santana.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) A group of Sioux Falls business leaders and the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe are developing a plan to build a resort casino in or near Sioux Falls that would compete with a proposed casino just across the Iowa border.
Studies have predicted that if the resort is built in Iowa’s Lyon County, it will pull millions of dollars out of the South Dakota economy each year.
Sponsors of the proposed Sioux Falls casino say the tribe is willing to negotiate profit-sharing agreements with the state and the city, similar to what Deadwood casinos pay.
The plan faces several hurdles, including the governor’s permission and federal approval. It also would mark a significant change in the state’s gaming structure and could face opposition from the video lottery industry and anti-gambling activists.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
YANKTON, S.D. (AP) South Dakota has named Yankton’s Chan Gurney Municipal Airport the large general aviation airport of the year.
It’s the second time in a row that the city-owned aviation hub has been honored by the state Office of Aeronautics.
Carlson Aviation has contracted with Yankton to be the fixed-base operator of Chan Gurney Airport for three years.
Gary and Katie Carlson say their company has a good rapport with the city and has been doing many promotions.
Yankton Public Services Director Kevin Kuhl says many improvement projects have been done in recent years with the help of federal grant money.
(Copyright 2010 by Associated Press. All rights reserved)
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Attorneys for a former manager of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse want a light prison sentence.
The lawyers in court papers filed Friday asked a judge to sentence Sholom Rubashkin to no more than six years. Prosecutors have indicated they would recommend a 21- to 27-year prison term based on federal guidelines.
Rubashkin was convicted on 86 counts of bank fraud and other charges in November. The conviction stemmed from a massive immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville in May 2008.
U.S. District Judge Linda Reade has scheduled a sentencing hearing for Rubashkin on April 28-29 in Cedar Rapids.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) Authorities say no injuries are reported in an explosion and fire at a manufacturing plant in Cedar Falls.
Emergency crews were called to Viking Pump late Sunday after an explosion in a large air compressor.
Fire spokesman Capt. Brad Sherwood says the plant was evacuated by the time firefighters arrived around 11:30 p.m. He says fire crews extinguished the flames quickly, but there was a lot of smoke.
There was no immediate word on the extent of the damage.
Viking Pump makes pumps for a variety of industrial purposes. The plant, which was built in 1960, is located in the city’s industrial park
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The small northeast Iowa community of West Union could soon become a national example of environmental sustainability.
The 2,500-person town hopes to begin work this summer on an $8.6 million “green” renovation of its six-block downtown district. Plans include porous pavement that lets water seep into the ground, a geothermal heating and cooling system, and storm water-filtering elements such as rain gardens and bioswales.
Jeff Geerts, of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, says West Union could become a national model.
The state gave the effort an early boost last fall with a $1 million grant. The city plans to chip in about $2 million, and other state, federal and private funding should cover the remainder of the fundraising.
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) The family of an Iowa soldier says he should fully recover from injuries suffered in the crash of a U.S. Air Force Osprey in southeastern Afghanistan.
The military says three service members and one civilian contractor were killed in the first crash of the costly tilt-rotor aircraft in a combat zone.
Twenty-eight-year-old Army Capt. Erick McFerran, of Independence, was among those injured on April 9.
His mother, Barb McFerran, of Independence, told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that he had been seen by doctors and was expected to “fully recover.”
The Osprey is the U.S. military’s latest-generation transport aircraft. It has room for up to 24 passengers, and is equipped with sophisticated guidance and missile defense systems.
FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) Authorities say no one was hurt in a house fire in Fort Madison that was started by a child playing with a lighter.
The fire broke out shortly before noon on Friday. It took a dozen firefighters with two fire trucks more than an hour to put it out. The fire caused extensive damage.
Fire Chief Stuart Kinney says the mother and two children that were home at the time escaped unharmed.
Kinney says the family’s names were not immediately available.
GARNER, Iowa (AP) It’s safe to say that Elizabeth Rasmuson will have a one-of-a-kind dress for her high school prom in Garner.
Rasmuson made her dress and matching vest for her date out of gum wrappers.
Rasmuson, a junior, says she got the idea after hearing about someone making a dress out of duct tape. The dress and vest are made of gum wrappers from Wrigley’s “5 gum” in shades of blue and white.
She and her boyfriend, Jordan Weaver, began collecting gum wrappers last August. Rasmuson says she quit counting after 200.
Since the wrappers break easily, Rasmuson finished her dress with a vinyl top coat.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) A Nebraska group that provides camping experiences for children affected by cancer is looking for volunteers.
Camp Quality Heartland says camp companions are needed to work one-on-one with Nebraska and Iowa children ages 4 to 18 at a camp June 8-13 in Bellevue.
Each camper is paired with an adult companion. No health care experience is required, as trained medical staff is always on hand.
Volunteers must be at least 18 years old, complete an application, conduct a face-to-face interview and pass references and police background checks. Final selection is made following volunteer training and is based on the number of campers who apply.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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