Beginning next Wednesday, treasurer Linda Dobson says the county is part of a switch to a new state-wide system known as “central issuance.”
That means the current process of “over the counter, same day issuance” of a wallet-size plastic license or I-D card ended Thursday.
The change to a centrally issued card is to protect customers from identity theft and fraud. The Iowa Department of Transportation will complete an image verification before the final card is issued and delivered.
As of next week, customers will be given a temporary document that is valid for 30 days. The temporary document will have the photo of the customer and security measures similar to the traditional driver’s license. The old license or I-D will be given back to customers with a hole punched in it.
Within two weeks, the new card will be in the hands of the customers.
Dobson says the only change in the licensing process is the delay in how you receive the new plastic card. There’s no change in the application process, the renewal period or any requirements for an I-D or license. The fee charged to customers will NOT increase.
The treasurer’s office offers driver’s license and i-d services on Wednesday and Thursday in the lower level of the courthouse from 8:30 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon.
(LE MARS)–Students who will change schools next fall will see their new classrooms soon.
Declining enrollment and budget cuts led to a Le Mars Community School Board of Education vote to close Kissinger Elementary in Merrill after this school year.
Elementary principal Scott Parry explains parents and students are part of the transition to school buildings in Le Mars.
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Parry says work is also underway to get sections and class sizes balanced for the coming school year.
(ORANGE CITY)–A golden anniversary of health care will be marked with music in June in Orange City.
Orange City Area Health System celebrates the 50th anniversary of healthcare services with the “Prairie Grass Music Festival” Saturday, June 12th from 11:30 in the morning to 8:30 at night.
The health care system’s celebration is designed to be family-friendly and will be held in conjunction with Blue Mountain Culinary Emporium’s Annual Rhubarb Festival.
Free concerts on an outdoor stage, near the pond on Highway 10 East, will feature local entertainers and the main act–a Des Moines rock group, The Nadas at 5:30 in the afternoon.
(SAC CITY)–Sac County authorities say a Schaller woman being booked into the county jail assaulted officers.
Twenty-five-year-old Jacquelyn Marie Troxel was arrested Wednesday by Schaller Police for a Crawford County arrest warrant.
According to Sac County sheriff Ken McClure, Troxel became combative and unruly during the booking process and bit a deputy and a dispatcher and kicked a Sac City Police Officer.
In written information, the sheriff reports the dispatcher was treated at the hospital in Sac City for a cut on her arm as a result of the bite. The deputy and police officer did not require medical treatment.
As a result of the incident, three assault charges were filed against Troxel. She is being held in jail.
(SIOUX CITY)–Siouxland healthcare professionals are expected to attend the 13th annual Verna Welte Lectureship next month at the Sioux City Convention Center.
The conference is named in honor of a long-time nursing professional Verna Welte. The purpose of the lectureship is to provide nurses with a renewed sense of pride in the nursing profession.
The guest speaker is Kay Wagner who is a nationally known speaker and author. Wagner believes that all life experiences–whether good or bad–can ultimately empower people to become more compassionate , caring and courageous individuals. She has written of her experiences as a nurse whose child had cancer.
She will discuss how nurses and other professionals must create a respectful, caring, environment in their own personal lives before they can care for others at an optimal level. The conference is offered as an evening session May 4 and or a daytime session May 5.
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Hundreds of tea party activists vented their anger at government and voiced support for conservative causes at a Statehouse rally.
More than 700 people were drawn to the Thursday rally, one of hundreds across the nation marking the April 15 federal income tax deadline.
Speakers took on a number of issues, from education to immigration. But most of the focus was on the need for limited government.
It’s the second tea party rally at the Statehouse. One last year drew an estimated 3,000 people.
Although most Republican political candidates were not allowed to speak at the rally, a number attended including Bob Vander Plaats, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Republican Sen. Charles Grassley has more than $5 million in campaign cash available as he seeks a sixth Senate term.
On Thursday, Grassley released filings he’d made to the Federal Election Commission, showing he’d raised about $613,000 in the first three months of the year. That brings his total campaign fund to $5.3 million.
Democratic challenger Roxanne Conlin also released her fundraising totals, showing she’s raised nearly $880,000 in the first quarter of this year, giving her a little more than $1 million available. Of that, $250,000 was money Conlin gave to her campaign.
Filings weren’t available from Democrats Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause, who also are seeking the nomination to face Grassley.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin has announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is awarding $2.2 million in Recovery Act funds for improvements to the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.
The Iowa Democrat said Thursday in Washington that the grant would provide a dining and activity room at the home.
Harkin says he helped to secure the funds through his role as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, which wrote much of the Recovery Act.
CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) A Floyd County judge has denied a motion to suppress the alleged confession of a 15-year-old accused of sexually assaulting and choking to death his 3-year-old cousin.
Edgar Concepcion Jr. of Charles City is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, first-degree sexual abuse, second degree sexual abuse and child endangerment. He is accused in the June 10 death of Krystel Banes.
On Tuesday, Judge Bryan McKinley rejected claims by the defense that Concepcion and other members of his family, who are Filipino, did not understand English well enough to know what they were saying the night of the murder.
The alleged confession came during questioning by two Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents.
Concepcion’s trial is scheduled to begin May 4 in Hamilton County District Court.
AMES, Iowa (AP) The body of a man found in a building at the old Iowa State University dairy farm has been identified as a student missing since January.
The university issued a news release Thursday afternoon saying the state medical examiner’s office identified the body as 22-year-old Jonathan Lacina of Grinnell.
Lacina’s body was found Wednesday night by a university police officer who was searching the area.
An autopsy was performed Thursday. No other details of cause of death have been released.
University Police Chief Jerry Stewart says in the release that it may be weeks before final autopsy results are available. The investigation is continuing.
Lacina was reported missing by his father on Jan. 30. He was last seen on Jan. 22.
The building where Lacina’s body was found was no longer being used.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Des Moines police and U.S. Marshals say they arrested a Colorado fugitive after a high-speed chase that endangered the fugitive’s cousin and her 2-year-old daughter.
Authorities took 27-year-old Dewayne Lee Cole into custody Thursday evening on a pair of Colorado warrants for escaping from a correction facility there.
Des Moines Police Sgt. Mark Wessels says officers first tried to arrest Cole at a south Des Moines hotel, but Cole got into a minivan driven by his cousin and forced her to help him flee. Wessels says the cousin’s young daughter was in the vehicle at the time.
At least eight police vehicles took part in the ensuing chase.
Wessels says that when officers cornered the minivan, Cole attempted to flee on foot, but was apprehended.
Cole was being held without bond in the Polk County Jail.
FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) Authorities in Fort Madison say they have recovered the body of 22-year old Ray Charles Newell Dean more than two months after he fell through the ice into the Mississippi River.
Fort Madison Police Captain Bruce Gustafson says local fishermen were checking some lines when they discovered the body Thursday.
Dean was found about a quarter mile south of the Amtrak depot near 20th Street. Gustafson says Dean fell in at about 13th Street.
An autopsy is planned in Keokuk.
AMES, Iowa (AP) Faculty, staff and students in Iowa State University’s College of Engineering have scheduled memorial services for civil engineering senior Travis “TJ” Good, who died unexpectedly on April 13.
Initial lab tests at the university hospital indicate the probable cause of Good’s death as bacterial meningitis.
A memorial is located in the lobby of Town Engineering to honor Good, and the public is invited to visit and leave notes and mementos. Grief counseling sessions are also scheduled Friday for students, faculty and staff.
A public memorial service will be held April 22.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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