(LE MARS)–A downpour deluged the Akron area overnight.
National Weather Service records list 4.8 inches of rain for Plymouth County’s western border city.
Akron tops the list for amounts of new rainfall. KLEM recorded 2.3 inches, but an eastern Le Mars resident reported 3.5 inches.
In northwest iowa, amounts varied from nearly three inches at Sioux City to 1.6 inches at Sheldon and about 2.25 inches in Cherokee and less than an inch in Sibley.
Very heavy rain was reported in Boyden–between seven and nine inches.
Bomgaars employee is honored by Chamber
(LE MARS)–An employee of a business who has seen growth and change for more than two decades is the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce “Employee of the Month.”
Bomgaars employee Mary Rieken of Merrill received the Chamber honor today (Friday).
Rieken worked as a cashier when she joined Bomgaars and then moved to the clothing department where she’s worked as manager.
During her years at the Le Mars Bomgaars, Rieken saw the business change from a primarily farming store to one with a wide variety of products.
She’s credited with knowing, without having to look, if a product is or is not available
Suspects in northwest Iowa gun business burglary indicted
(Sioux City)–Two Worthington, Minnesota men are accused of taking more than 40 firearms from a Crawford County business.
Nineteen-year-old Jose Osorio-Mendez and 22-year-old Felix Mendez are each charged with theft of firearms from a federally licensed business in Vail.
According to the indictment in federal court in Sioux City, Mendez and Osoria-Mendez are accused of taking 42 firearms, including handguns, shotguns and rifles from the Crawford County business in late May.
They’re being held for the U-S marshal’s Service, pending resolution of federal charges in Minnesota.
Claims settled by state
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowa officials say state government paid nearly $6.6 million to settle claims and resolve disputes caused by employee mistakes, workplace misconduct or other damages in the past fiscal year.
More than half of the fiscal 2010 total involved a $3.3 million malpractice case at the University of Iowa Hospitals Clinics over a child born with cerebral palsy.
The judgments also included $450,000 paid to resolve two lawsuits stemming from the Legislature’s decision to end the Iowa Lottery’s TouchPlay video lottery enterprise in 2006.
State Auditor David Vaudt, a member of the three-person State Appeal Board, wants to see the state be more proactive and try to prevent problems before they come before the board.
Regents Schools request funds
AMES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa Board of Regents will consider a $32 million request from Iowa State University next week.
Iowa State wants the money to complete a chemistry building, renovate a small-animal hospital and buy a virtual-reality system.
ISU is requesting $28 million in academic revenue bonds for the chemistry building and small-animal hospital. It’s also seeking $3 million for the virtual-reality system, which simulates ground combat. The Air Force and Army will reimburse the regents for the system.
The University of Iowa will request $4.5 million to buy the Iowa City school district’s former central administration building. The property would be used to help relocate businesses scheduled to be displaced by a new music school.
Details damages cars
ALBIA, Iowa (AP) Authorities say the railroad tracks may have been a factor in the derailment of 20 cars on a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train in Albia in southern Iowa.
The derailment happened about 4:30 a.m. Thursday, causing three city streets to be closed.
No injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were involved.
Railroad crews separated the section of cars that had not derailed and moved them out of the intersections. Most of the cars were open-top hauling cars with nothing in them.
Albia Police Chief Jay Andrews says the derailment could have been caused by the railroad tracks slightly separating.
Demolition costs rise
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Piles of old seed corn are adding to the cost of demolishing the former Sinclair meatpacking plant in Cedar Rapids.
Officials say five or six truckloads of stored, wet and fire-scorched corn will add about $175,000 to the tab.
City spokesman Greg Eyerly says the corn is mingled with about 25,000 tons of asbestos-containing material. He says the debris is being hauled to a nearby landfill, but it isn’t lined and isn’t suitable for a mix that includes wet corn.
Eyerly says the material be shipped to a private landfill in Milan, Ill., which will add $7 a ton to the cost, or about $175,000.
The corn belongs to BFC Gas and Electric Companies, which operates a gasification plant in Cedar Rapids that burns outdated seed corn and other items.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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