(LE MARS)–The city of Le Mars hosts a Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce “After 5” reception for retiring Fire Chief Wayne Schipper today.
Schipper is leaving the fire department after 43 years of service. He is the first full-time fire chief for the city.
The public is invited to the reception beginning at five this afternoon at the city of Le Mars Willow Creek Golf Course Clubhouse. The reception will include brief remarks from city officials.
(ROCK RAPIDS)–A Rock Rapids woman won’t be tried for the shooting death of her boyfriend.
52-year-old Laura Lowe of Rock Rapids has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Lowe was charged with attempted murder for the death of Levi Hofer of Rock Rapids. Hofer was shot in the head after authorities said Lowe and Hofer got into an argument at his home February 28th. He died at a Sioux Falls hospital on March 2nd.
The trial for Lowe was set for July 27th.
A judge ordered Lowe to serve up to five years in prison and pay a 750-dollar fine. She was also ordered to make restitution to Hofer’s estate of 150-thousand dollars.
Another man in the home, 61-year-old Larry Griffen of Rock Rapids, was charged with being an accessory to a felony. Griffen has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of possession of a controlled substance. He was ordered to serve 30 days in the Lyon County jail and fined 350 dollars.
(LE MARS)–A jury in a Plymouth County District Court case based on a medical negligence claim found no fault and awarded no damages.
According to court records, legal action by Vicki Vanberkum of Le Mars claimed Mark Stelzer and James Powell were negligent in providing medical care.
The court case followed medical care Vanberkum received for a perforated colon in January of 2006 at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars. Her husband, Arlyn Vanberkum, claimed loss of spousal consortium in his legal action against the doctors.
A jury trial ended with a verdict June 17th. The jury found Stelzer and Powell were not at fault and awarded no damages to the Vanberkums.
Following the trial and jury verdict, Judge Edward Jacobson issued an order dismissing the legal action against the doctors.
(SIOUX CITY)–Another change in traffic patterns for an Interstate 29 road construction project will begin in Sioux City next Wednesday.
According to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Sioux City construction office, this is the second stage of a project on I-29, between Hamilton Boulevard and Highway 12/ Riverside Boulevard.
Traffic will be shifted to a head-to-head pattern onto northbound I-29 lanes with a 14-foot width lane restriction. The ramps at exit 151 which is the Highway 12/ Riverside Boulevard exit will remain open. A mile and a half of the bike trail, adjacent to the Iowa state line will be closed.
The entire project is expected to be completed by mid-December, weather permitting.
(ORANGE CITY)–Sioux County residents are being warned of a credit card debt relief scam.
Sheriff Dan Altena says the calls display on a phone’s caller I-D as a local phone number. Altena explains the company claims to be able to reduce the credit card debt of the person that’s being called.
The Sioux County resident is then asked to provide their credit card number.
The sheriff points out that legitimate companies will not contact Sioux County residents for these services.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it is releasing extra water into the Missouri River in order to lower reservoir levels and better control flooding.
Heavy rains have raised water levels at Gavins Point near Yankton, S.D. On Wednesday, the corps says, water released from the dam was increased from 15,000 cubic feet per second to 20,000. Incremental increases will continue through Saturday until 35,000 cubic feet per second is released.
The corps’ Jody Farhat says the releases will reduce the risk of water flowing over the dam’s spillway gates. The dam’s water level is at 1,208.2 feet 1.8 feet below the top of the gates.
The corps says the extra releases will slow the swollen river’s decline downstream of the dam but will not contribute to flooding.
(Copyright by Associated Press, 2010. All rights reserved)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Former Gov. Terry Branstad will announce his running mate on Thursday via text message followed by a statewide tour.
Branstad’s campaign announced Wednesday that his selection for lieutenant governor will be made prior to the six-city tour that starts in Ankeny and ends in Cedar Rapids.
Branstad, a Republican, is seeking a return to the governor’s office after a 12-year absence.
SEATTLE (AP) A group of 31 states, including Iowa, has banded together to compete for a federal grant to create a series of new national academic tests to replace the current patchwork system.
In the current system, every state gives a different test to its students. In some states, passing the exam is a graduation requirement.
The federal government has said it will award up to two grants of up to $160 million to create a testing system based on the proposed new national academic standards in reading and math.
Washington state is submitting the application on behalf of the group of states.
FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) Winnebago County authorities say they are holding a Forest City man for alleged attacks on his girlfriend and his former girlfriend with a golf club.
Winnebago County Sheriff Doug Jenson says 30-year-old Elgin Richmond was arrested early Sunday evening about an hour after he fled the trailer court where the alleged assaults occurred.
The sheriff identified the assault victims as Jennifer Allen and Jennifer White. He said Richmond and White have a child together, who was at the scene along with some other children.
Jenson says a K-9 unit from Hancock County helped his officers locate Richmond, who was hiding about a quarter-mile away from the trailer park.
Richmond was charged with domestic assault, child endangerment, public intoxication, interference with official acts and violation of a protective order.
WESTGATE, Iowa (AP) Sheriff’s police in Fayette County say they have arrested a rural Westgate man accused of illegally accessing a University of Iowa student’s e-mail account and using it to send sexually explicit photos to the student’s parents.
Authorities say the arrest of 28-year-old Jonathan Russell Steinbronn followed a two-week investigation also involving University of Iowa police and the Johnson County Sheriff’s office.
Steinbronn has been charged with misdemeanor counts of harassment, unauthorized computer access and theft by unauthorized computer access.
He was being held at the Fayette County Jail pending an initial court appearance. Authorities did not know Wednesday if Steinbronn had an attorney.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it is releasing extra water into the Missouri River to lower reservoir levels and better control flooding.
Heavy rains have raised water levels at Gavins Point near Yankton, S.D. On Wednesday, the corps says, water released from the dam was increased from 15,000 cubic feet per second to 20,000. Incremental increases will continue through Saturday until 35,000 cubic feet per second is released.
The corps’ Jody Farhat says the releases will reduce the risk of water flowing over the dam’s spillway gates. The dam’s water level is at 1,208.2 feet 1.8 feet below the top of the gates.
The corps says the extra releases will slow the swollen river’s decline downstream of the dam but will not contribute to flooding.
AMES, Iowa (AP) The African-American Hall of Fame says it plans to induct five new members it says have enhanced the quality of life in Iowa.
The Hall of Fame announced Wednesday it will induct music promoter and businessman Melvin Harper; former Des Moines Public Library director Elaine Estes; former John Deere executive Chuck Toney; educator Zack E. Hamlett Jr.; and the Iowa Tuskegee Airmen.
Toney, former director of affirmative action at John Deere, is being inducted posthumously. So is Hamlett, who founded the Iowa Alliance of Black School Educators and served as chair of the Iowa State Black Network.
The 2010 inductees will be recognized at a reception and banquet on Aug. 6 in Altoona.
The Hall of Fame is housed in Iowa State University’s Black Cultural Center.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa, is underlining a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by displaying a giant tank, void of life and adorned with representations of globs of crude.
The 40,000-gallon aquarium was initially intended to be packed with sharks, rays and corals from the Gulf.
Up to 127 million gallons of oil have spilled in the Gulf since an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers and blew out a well 5,000 feet underwater. BP PLC leases the rig from owner Transocean Ltd.
Museum Director Jerry Enzler says he wants visitors to “pause and consider” the delicate balance of life in the ocean.
The exhibit is part of the museum’s $40 million expansion opening Saturday.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) An official of the Johnson County sheriff’s department says the agency is considering implementing a boat patrol on Coralville Lake to heighten safety.
Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek says he was considering patrolling the lake when a 12-year-old girl was killed on the reservoir over Memorial Day weekend. He says the boat patrol discussion is unrelated to the girl’s death and is not a “knee-jerk reaction.”
Pulkrabek says the idea is still in the information-gathering stage. He also says he’d like to discuss the idea with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers. They are the two agencies charged with enforcing rules and regulations on the water.
DNR official Shawn Meier says the department is stretched thin across the state and could use help in making recreation safer on the lake.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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