Home News KLEM News PM Update June 7, 2010

KLEM News PM Update June 7, 2010

(CHEROKEE)–Five men are accused of taking hundreds of hogs from confinement buildings in rural Cherokee County over the last 10 months.

According to written information from the sheriff’s office, the hogs were sold at area sale barns for more than 12-thousand dollars.

Those charged are 18-year-old John Michael Zimmer of Marcus; 18-year-old William Tyler Hanson of Marcus; 18-year-old Steven Wayne Gleiser of rural Marcus; 18-year-old Tyler John Brady of rural Remsen; and 24-year-old Andrew William Meyer of rural Marcus.

All five are charged with the felonies of money laundering and ongoing criminal conduct.

Brady is charged with theft in the first degree which involves property valued at more than 10-thousand dollars while the other four, Zimmer, Hanson, Gleiser and Meyer, are each charged with theft in the second degree.

The sheriff’s office seized pickup trucks from Zimmer and Meyer with a request by law enforcement to the court to take them from their owners as a forfeiture.

All of the men were booked into the Cherokee County Jail.

(LE MARS)–A 162-foot tall structure in southwest Le Mars does more than improve water pressure.

City administrator Scott Langel says five firms lease space on the city’s one-million gallon elevated water tower.

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Water tower space leases pump annual revenue of 52-thousand dollars into the water fund.

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Questions about potential icing weight and antenna tower height were asked by council members when a supplemental agreement with Telecorp Communications–AT and T, was considered last week.

The Council approved changes to the lease that allow diagonal bracing from the top of the tower’s dome to the 15 foot ring where antennas are attached.

The change, according to Langel, was made to maintain Telecorp’s lease and was not adding antennas to the tower. The approval on a motion by council members Ken Nelson and Rex Knapp was subject to clarification of insurance. Council member John Leonard noted the insurance schedule for the tower tenant was on an occurrence rather than a claims made basis. That’s to be reviewed by the city’s tower consultant.

 (LE MARS)–Recycletronics loaded three 26-foot trucks with electronics for recycling during a three-day collection in Le Mars.

The City of Le Mars hosted the Sioux City business as part of Spring Cleanup Days last week. The general public brought items items to the back parking lot of city hall.

Aaron Rochester of Recycletronics says it was the most successful community the business has been in so far. In his words, “It was a great event; far beyond our expectations.” He says people knew they could take the items to the landfill, but wanted to recycle.

Computer monitors, microwaves and televisions topped the list of items brought for recycling. Rochester says the collection crews see a lot of items from basements, including old black and white televisions and stereo equipment.

Rochester will provide details of the collection to city of Le Mars staff this week.

(LE MARS)–Recycletronics loaded three 26-foot trucks with electronics for recycling during a three-day collection in Le Mars.

The City of Le Mars hosted the Sioux City business as part of Spring Cleanup Days last week. The general public brought items items to the back parking lot of city hall.

Aaron Rochester of Recycletronics says it was the most successful community the business has been in so far. In his words, “It was a great event; far beyond our expectations.” He says people knew they could take the items to the landfill, but wanted to recycle.

Computer monitors, microwaves and televisions topped the list of items brought for recycling. Rochester says the collection crews see a lot of items from basements, including old black and white televisions and stereo equipment.

Rochester will provide details of the collection to city of Le Mars staff this week.

YANKTON, S.D. (AP) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says work has been completed on a paved hiking and biking trail along Lake Yankton.

Lake manager Gary Ledbetter says the trail has been planned for about five years. He says the 6,400-foot asphalt trail gives walkers, runners and bicyclists a safer route along the lake.

Ledbetter says the new path will eventually become part of a larger network of area trails.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Authorities say part of Interstate 35 was closed for several hours today in West Des Moines after a four-vehicle crash that left one motorcyclist dead.

Lt. Jeff Miller says the accident happened about 2 p.m. yesterday when a group of motorcyclists was going onto the southbound lanes of I-35 from a ramp. Two of the motorcyclists were involved in a collision with a semitrailer and a car.

Miller identified the deceased motorcyclist today as Joel Hess of Des Moines. The motorcyclist who was injured is Bill Hyde of Des Moines.

Miller says Hyde and Hess were entering the southbound lane when Hyde hit the car. Hess, who was behind Hyde, tried to avoid the collision by laying down his motorcycle. Hess was thrown from his motorcycle and hit by the semitrailer.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Federal authorities say a 12-year-old Iowa girl missing since Friday has been found safe in Florida.

The FBI says the child, from Muscatine, was found Sunday afternoon in a Jacksonville, Fla., residence with a 35-year-old Jacksonville man.

FBI spokesman Weysan Dun said in a news release Sunday night that the man was arrested and is being held in Florida, but has not been charged in the girl’s disappearance. Additional details on what he was arrested for were not immediately available.

The Muscatine Journal says the child, a seventh-grader, was last seen at 3:30 p.m. Friday at her middle school. The newspaper reported her parents suspected she left with someone or planned to meet with someone she had met online.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Authorities say a fire has destroyed an antique store in the unincorporated community of Booneville near West Des Moines.

The fire was reported last night at Booneville Antiques. Firefighters from five cities had to truck in water to save homes as the 80-year-old building burned to the ground.

Waukee Fire Chief Clint Robinson says the area has no hydrants and Booneville has no municipal water supply.

Robinson says at one point, the water supply was so limited that crews were forced to just spray a nearby house to keep it from igniting. He says there wasn’t enough water to douse both it and the antique store.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) Iowa City police are seeking the driver of a car who hit and injured a woman using a motorized wheelchair.

Police say the woman was injured last night as she was trying to get out of her wheelchair and into her van.

Sgt. Brian Krei says the woman was next to her van when saw the car approach. She moved to get out of the way but was hit by the car, which drove away.

The woman suffered a leg injury and was taken to University Hospitals. Her name was not immediately released.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Officials have planned a groundbreaking ceremony this morning for the the new approximately 113,000-square foot Armed Forces Reserve Center in Cedar Rapids.

The center will include a 9,000-square foot assembly hall, kitchen, classrooms, weapons simulation facility and fitness facility. It will also have an approximately 60,000-sqare foot field maintenance shop with a small arms repair facility and parking for dozens of vehicles.

The project will cost approximately $38 million, which is coming from the federal government.

The project is expected to be completed by September 2011.

Iowa Army National Guard officials say several units will be relocated to the new facility.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Submit your news release, confidential news tip or news idea by email klemnews@lemarscomm.net, by calling 712.546.4121 or 712.546.9672 fax.