LE MARS)–Storage buildings dominate the latest building report for rural Plymouth County.
Zoning administrator Alan Lucken reports 12 permits were issued in June for construction with an estimated value of just over 800-thousand dollars.
The 11 permits for buildings on farm totalled 716-thousand dollars. Lucken issued one permit for a new house and two permits for house additions. There were four machine storage building permits; four grain bins; and one commodity storage permit.
The only rural permit that was not on a farm was for a house with an estimated construction value of 90-thousand dollars
Governor says I-JOBS will improve NW cities water supplies
(DES MOINES)–Six northwest Iowa communities will make water system improvements using state I-JOBS funds
Governor Chet Culver says the funds will create a safe, quality water supply for residents of the communities.
The largest award of one-point-four million dollars is for Arnolds Park to upgrade the water treatment plant. Another Iowa Great Lakes community, Okoboji, was awarded 860-thousand dollars for upgrades to the drinking water treatment plant.
Sibley’s share is 475-thousand dollars for a new water storage tank, service pumps, stand-by generator and water main replacement. Cherokee was awarded 60-thousand dollars to rehabilitate two sewer lift stations. Salix will replace lift stations using 80-thousand dollars. Onawa’s project is to improve the drinking water treatment plant and have additional storage. The I-JOBS award was 325-thousand dollars.
Judge orders Iowa sheriff to issue gun permit
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A federal judge in Sioux City has ruled an northwest Iowa sheriff violated a man’s First Amendment rights when he denied an application for a permit to carry a weapon.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark Bennett ordered Osceola County Sheriff Douglas Weber on Wednesday to issue a permit to carry a weapon to Paul Dorr of Ocheyedan.
The ruling states that Weber approved a permit for Dorr in previous years when Dorr traveled the country to protest outside abortion clinics and only denied Dorr’s request after he began working with a taxpayer’s group questioning county spending in 2007.
Bennett also ordered Weber to take a college level class on the U.S. Constitution.
Weber declined comment.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
S-U-V collides with train near Lake View
(LAKE VIEW)–A Fonda woman was injured near Lake View when her S-U-V struck the engine of a Canadian National Railroad train Wednesday afternoon.
According to Sac County Sheriff Ken McClure, 37-year-old Barbara Mercer had stopped for the stop sign at the railroad crossing. The front of the sport utility vehicle Mercer was driving was on the tracks when the S-U-V was struck by the train engine. The train had 62 cars attached as it was traveling southwest.
Mercer was taken to a hospital in Lake City by Lake View Ambulance where she was treated for non-life threatening injuries. The S-U-V was totalled. There was no damage to the train. The sheriff reports all the lights, bells, and horn of the train were functioning at the time of the accident.
Coyotes, groundhogs chewing lights at Iowa airport
MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) Airport workers in Muscatine say they’re looking to stop groundhogs and coyotes from burrowing and gnawing into the underground lighting system.
Steve Boka is Muscatine’s director of planning, zoning and building safety. He says the lights are necessary to keep the airport runway visible and safe and the animal mischief has to end. Officials say they can fix the problem by removing the animals. They also can install an encased lighting system that the animals wouldn’t be able to penetrate.
Boka hopes the airport could start work on a new lighting system by next spring. The project would cost about $350,000.
He says repairs on the current lighting system will continue to keep the airport safe for planes.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
18 teachers to be restored in Des Moines
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Some of the teachers who were laid off by the Des Moines school district earlier this year will be headed back to classrooms.
The school district said Wednesday that insurance rates were lower than expected. That means it can restore 18 teaching positions, five custodians and one laborer. The district eliminated 173 teaching positions because of an $11 million budget shortfall.
Restoring the 24 jobs will cost the district about $1.5 million. Officials haven’t yet decided which specific teaching positions will be restored. They say they’ll review what areas have the greatest need.
The Des Moines district has 31,000 students in 66 schools.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
World War II bomber on display in Fort Dodge
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) A historic B-17 bomber used during World War II has made an appearance at the Fort Dodge Airport.
The plane is one of 12 B-17 bombers that still flies. Pilot Bob Blue flew it from Dubuque to Fort Dodge on Tuesday. Blue says the plane is “an icon of World War II.” Blue is a retired United Airlines pilot and a member of the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force. He volunteers to fly the plane during tours of the United States.
The silver metal bomber is named “Sentimental Journey.” It will be on display at the airport in Fort Dodge through Thursday.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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New system could help ID unknown Iowa body
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Investigators in Polk County say they’re hoping new technology will help them identify a man whose body was found 26 years ago in 1984.
Polk County officials say they’re hoping the National Missing and Unidentified Person Systems will be able to help identify the tattooed man who detectives have nicknamed “Bones.” The system was started in January 2009 and already has helped identify 15 people.
Polk County medical examiner Gregory Schmunk says the new system can combine missing persons databases with unidentified remains databases. He says his office has two other cases registered with the system.
National federal statistics show that medical examiners and coroners nationwide had 4,400 unidentified bodies in 2007.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
HOLIDAY PARADE DEATH
BEDFORD, Iowa (AP) Authorities say a woman has died from injuries suffered during a Fourth of July parade in Bedford in southwest Iowa.
Police say 82-year-old Betty Sprague, of Bedford, died Wednesday at a hospital in Omaha, Neb.
She was among three people thrown from a wagon that broke loose from four ponies during the parade.
Police say a problem with a neck yoke or wagon tongue caused the wagon to come loose and strike the curb. The other passengers were treated at the scene.
The accident remains under investigation.
Sprague was the second Iowan to die from injuries suffered during a parade over the holiday weekend. Janet Steines, of Springbrook, died and 24 others were injured when two horses pulling a wagon bolted in Bellevue.
Man dies after ladder fall in Iowa
ALEXANDER, Iowa (AP) Company officials say an employee died after apparently falling from a ladder at Latham Hi-Tech Seeds in Alexander in northern Iowa.
Company spokeswoman Shannon Latham said the man fell on Wednesday. He was taken to a hospital in Belmond, then to a Mason City hospital, where he died.
Shannon says the man’s name was not immediately released, pending notification of family.
Culver requests federal disaster aid
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Gov. Chet Culver has asked President Barack Obama to declare 35 Iowa counties federal disaster areas because of recent storms and flooding.
Culver on Wednesday requested that 18 counties receive individual assistance and 32 counties receive public assistance. Thirty-one counties are currently eligible for state help.
Storms on Wednesday brought more heavy rain and flash flooding to Iowa.
In the Waterloo area, nearly 6 inches of rain of fell, flooding basements and streets. Residents of the Cedar Terrace neighborhood sandbagged their homes.
More than 12 inches of water flooded the post office in Dewar, near Waterloo. The mail has been moved to the Gilbertville Post Office.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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