(LE MARS)–A week of review is planned for an appointment to the Plymouth County Conservation Board.
Supervisor Don Kass’ suggestion got backing from the Board of Supervisors when letters of interest in a Conservation Board vacancy were opened Tuesday.
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Those interested in the volunteer work as a County Conservation Board member are Penny Eickholt of rural Hinton, Bob Schlesser and Stuart Dekkenga, both of Le Mars; Cindy Lloyd of rural Westfield; and John Lucken of rural Akron.
The board of supervisors agreed to put the appointment on their meeting agenda next Tuesday.
Register by mail for Le Mars Community School classes
(LE MARS)–There’s a new way to register for classes at Le Mars Community Schools this fall.
According to Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt, school will start August 26th with a full day of classes.
The change in the process of getting ready for classes is mail-in registration. Packets will be sent by U-S mail in two weeks, the week of July 26th.
On-site registration and payment of fees will be Thursday, August 5th from 11 a-m to 7 p-m and Friday, August 6th from 7 a-m to 3 p-m. All registration is in the Middle School during these two days.
Open House will be Wednesday, August 25th from 11 a.m. to 1 p-m for ALL buildings.
Middle School orientation is Tuesday, August 24th. Sixth grade students and parents will have orientation from 6:30-7:30 p-m. Seventh and eighth grade Middle School orientation for parents only is from 7:30-8:30 p-m. on August 24th.
Freshmen orientation for parents and students at Le Mars Community is Wednesday, August 25th from 6:30-7:30 p-m.
County has proof of liability for bike ride
(KINGSLEY)–Thousands of bicycle riders will pedal into Plymouth County this month.
RAGBRAI XXXVIII, the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, begins in Sioux City July 25th.
About 10-thousand riders will leave Sioux City on Woodbury County Road D-12 to ride east into Kingsley and on C-66 through Plymouth County. The Cherokee County destination is Washta as part of a trek on the first day of the ride with an overnight stop in Storm Lake.
Supervisors’ chair Jim Henrich Tuesday said the Board of Supervisors had received a proof of insurance from the ride organizer. The amount of insurance is two-million dollars.
Prison sentence for OWI Third Conviction
(ORANGE CITY)–A Rock Valley man will serve prison time for a third conviction for drunk driving.
Sioux County attorney Coleman McAllister released written information about the conviction and sentencing of 28-year-old Justin Anthony Messelhiser of Rock Valley.
Messelhiser was arrested in February when a Rock Valley officer stopped the vehicle Messelhiser was driving because he believed the Rock Valley man did not have a driver’s license.
Messelhiser was charged with operating while under the influence as a third offense.
According to McAllister, Messelhiser pleaded guilty and a judge sentenced him to serve up to five years in prison and ordered a fine of about 32-hundred dollars.
$300,000 awarded to Camp High Hopes
(SIOUX CITY)–A year-round recreational facility for adults and children with special needs will receive a federal grant for furnishings and technology.
Camp High Hopes executive director Ali Langseth Tuesday announced the 300-thousand dollar earmarked federal grant from the U-S Department of Education.
Construction on the first phase of the camp on 90 acres just off Correctionville Road in Sioux city will begin once fundraising goals are met.
The grant initiated through Senator Tom Harkin’s office represents four percent of the total costs associated with Phase 1 for Camp High Hopes.
Langseth says items like dining room tables and chairs, hospital-style beds, and computers will be purchased with the funds.
Casino travelers will have better route
(AMES)–State funds will help Lyon County prepare for more traffic from casino travelers on Iowa Highway 9, near Larchwood.
Iowa Transportation Commissioners Tuesday approved about 370-thousand dollars to assist with the construction of about 32-hundred feet of left-and-right-turn lanes on Highway 9.
The improvement will support the Lyon County Resort and Casino and its 118-million dollars in associated capital investment.
According to Craig Markley of the Iowa Department of Transportation, the state funds for the grant are from the county share of the Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy (RISE) fund.
Media reports about retirement are wrong
(GARDEN GROVE, CALIFORNIA)–Contrary to media reports, the website Crystal Cathedral-dot-org says an Alton native known globally for his Hour of Power broadcasts, is NOT retiring.
Schuller’s daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, writes that on Sunday, an article was written and printed by a local Southern California newspaper. It was picked up by other newspapers and disseminated all over the wires that her father, “Robert H. Schuller was stepping down”; that he was retiring. Coleman says the article is completely false. What really happened, says Coleman, was that the Reformed Church in America, California Classis, commissioned her Sunday morning, officially as the Senior Pastor/Lead Pastor for the Crystal Cathedral Congregation–a role that Coleman says she has been filling unofficially for the last year.
In Coleman’s comments following the commissioning ceremony Sunday morning, she says she made it very clear that nothing was changing as a result of the commissioning service. She says it was merely an affirmation of the denomination. Coleman says she also made it clear that it was her call to stand beside my father, to pray for him so he can quote, “continue to preach his unique and positive message from this pulpit for the rest of his life.” (News report from Radio Iowa)
‘Barefoot Bandit’ back in United States
MIAMI (AP) The American teenager who police call the “Barefoot Bandit” is back in the United States after being deported from the Bahamas.
Officials say law enforcement escorted Colton Harris-Moore on a commercial flight to Miami on Tuesday. That was just hours after he pleaded guilty in the Bahamas to illegally entering the country.
Harris-Moore was arrested Sunday in the Bahamas, where police ended the 19-year-old convict’s alleged two-year crime spree by capturing him following a high-speed boat chase.
Harris-Moore is suspected in about 70 property crimes across eight states and British Columbia. He is accused of stealing a plane from an Indiana airport to fly to the Bahamas.
He is accused of crimes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Yankton, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.
(Copyright 2010 by Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Shelby bridges show flooding impact
PANAMA, Iowa (AP) The heavy rain and flooding this year have caused the condition of some bridges in Shelby County to deteriorate.
Specifically, the bridges over a creek between Panama and Portsmouth suffered damage from the high water.
On the bridge just outside Panama, sagging and buckling deck planks have prompted county engineer Dan Ahart to close it.
Ahart says he’s had to close six bridges in the county due to flood damage, with the bridge near Panama needing major repair. He says he has had to change the tonnage allowed on some bridges that remain open.
According to Ahart, in addition to the floods, last winter’s heavy snow also caused bridge damage.
Shelby County is among 35 Iowa counties seeking federal disaster relief funds. Ahart estimates the county needs more than $300,000 for repairs.
Cedar Rapids man charged in fatal fight
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Police in Cedar Rapids have not commented publicly on what started a fistfight that killed a recent arrival from Georgia last week, but they have charged 28-year-old Henry Rogers with involuntary manslaughter in the death.
Court records indicate that Rogers has an extensive criminal history, including at least 48 arrests in Cedar Rapids since 1999. Most of them are for assault, and some of them involve weapons.
Police say Rogers punched 35-year-old Dustin “Dusty” Davis once in the face on the night of July 6, causing him to fall and strike his head. They say Rogers, who had moved to Cedar Rapids from Commerce, Ga., about a month earlier, died a day later at an Iowa City hospital.
Authorities did not indicate whether Rogers had an attorney.
Construction worker killed by dump truck
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) Authorities have identified a construction worker who was struck and killed by a dump truck in a construction area on Interstate 80 in Iowa City.
Authorities say 31-year-old Gamaliel Rodriguez of West Liberty died Monday when he was struck by a dump truck driven by Ralph Billick of Tipton. Rodriguez was working in the construction area when he was struck.
Rodriguez was employed by Streb Construction, and Billick was employed by the same company as a subcontractor.
Iowa City Police, Iowa State Patrol, Johnson County Ambulance and the Iowa DOT responded to the accident late Monday morning, but Rodriguez was dead when they arrived at the scene.
Investigators say texting led to fatal crash
DURANT, Iowa (AP) According to the investigation of a fatal accident in Cedar County, 17-year-old Jennifer Flockhart of Mechanicsville crashed and rolled her car because she was distracted while sending a text message.
The crash occurred July 5 in the town of Durant. Investigators say they found Flockhart’s cell phone lying next to her at the scene. Upon opening it, investigators said the phone showed one unfinished message, and the time of the message corresponded with the time of the crash.
The State Patrol said Flockhart was ejected when her car rolled, and she died from those injuries. The report says she was not wearing her seat belt.
Flockhart was buried Saturday.
Cedar Falls man accused of child pornography
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) A Cedar Falls man charged in Black Hawk County with sexual abuse of an 8-year-old has been indicted in U.S. District Court on child pornography charges.
Edward Swingen pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The 43-year-old Swingen will remain in custody until his trial.
Swingen is accused in the state case of sexually abusing an 8-year-old child between 2006 and 2009. He is scheduled for trial on the charge later this month.
The Cedar Rapids Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted a forensic examination on Swingen’s laptop computer after he was charged. Authorities say investigators allegedly found more than 100 sexually explicit images and videos of children.
It was not immediately known if Swingen has obtained legal representation for the federal charges.
Budget cuts made to keep Mitchell County jail open
OSAGE, Iowa (AP) Mitchell County’s sheriff is suggesting an estimated $140,000 in cost-savings in an effort to keep the county’s jail open.
Sheriff Curt Younker’s proposed cost-saving measures include the closing of part of the jail to reduce utility costs, and reducing jail staff by two full-time employees.
Younker also suggests having jailers doing the cleaning; eliminating health insurance for jailers on a voluntary basis; having officers and jailers wash patrol cars; and preparing meals in-house.
Budget concerns have pushed the Mitchell County Board of Supervisors to consider closing the 12-bed jail and sending prisoners to other county jails.
Marshalltown gets HUD funds
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is giving Marshalltown, Iowa, $1 million to expand affordable housing in the rural community’s historic central business district.
Marshalltown is among six communities with populations less than 50,000 that will receive HUD funding to encourage affordable housing production in their city centers.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan says the funding will provide Marshalltown the tools it needs to create affordable housing for lower income families so they can share in the revitalization of the downtown area.
Marshalltown will use the funds to construct 28 affordable rental units in a currently vacant building. Both covered and uncovered parking will also be built for residents of the development.
Iowa state worker numbers hit 16-year low
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The number of workers in Iowa state government has dropped to the fewest number in 16 years.
According the state’s administrative services department, Iowa had 18,444 employees as of June 30, down 2,071 jobs from a year ago. The number is the lowest since 1994, when Republican Terry Branstad was governor.
However, the number of state workers will grow by about 1,000 soon. The Department of Management has authorized filling about half of the 2,067 jobs vacated by employees who accepted early retirement this spring.
Political ads by Branstad, who is seeking a return to the governor’s office, have hammered Democratic Gov. Chet Culver for growing state government in his first term.
Ali Glisson, a spokeswoman for Culver’s campaign, says the new employee count “totally undercuts” Branstad’s arguments.
Information from: The Des Moines Register, https://www.desmoinesregister.com
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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