(LE MARS)–“The camera decides,” so you won’t be getting a retake when you lobby for a different Driver’s License photo.
Plymouth County Treasurer Linda Dobson gave the explanation of the photo choice when she updated county supervisors with the Driver’s License Department annual report.
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Dobson discussed the April switch to what’s known as Central Issuance.
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The new facial recognition computer programming quickly detected fraud.
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Driver’s License service is offered each Wednesday and Thursday at the Plymouth County Courthouse.
Rain delays highway progress
(LE MARS)–Rainfall is slowing progress on Business Highway 75 in Le Mars.
City administrator Scott Langel expects one contractor to move to the southbound side of the highway work next week.
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Langel says Barkley Asphalt has made some progress on partial-depth patching on Business Highway 75 South.
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The rainfall for the first 11 days of August recorded at KLEM totals 1.13 inches.
Semi driver who died was Humboldt man
(REMBRANDT)–A Humboldt man died in a chain reaction crash near Rembrandt early yesterday afternoon.
Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Deputy Major Doug Simons released the name of the victim of the four-vehicle accident. The semi driver who died was 35 year-old Gerald Boge of Humboldt.
Boge was driving south on Highway 71 when the semi was struck head on by a semi driven by 60-year-old Douglas Oldenkamp of Sheldon.
The sheriff’s office reports a car driven by 15-year-old Cole Moens of Albert City pulled into Oldenkamp’s path from a stop sign and struck the semi. Moens struck another car and the semis also collided.
Five people received serious injuries.
Nebraska man expects charges for Iowa collision
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) An attorney for a Nebraska driver suspected in an Iowa collision that killed four motorcyclists says the man is in “his own private hell.”
Steve Lefler apologized Wednesday to the motorcyclists’ families on behalf of his client, 21-year-old Andrew Schlichtemeier, of Murray.
Lefler says he expects Schlichtemeier to face alcohol-related charges for Monday’s crash on Interstate 29 near Little Sioux, Iowa.
The Iowa State Patrol says witnesses reported Schlichtemeier’s erratic driving before he crossed the center line in a construction zone and collided with the motorcycles.
Killed were 62-year-old Dennis Chaney and 49-year-old Dale Aspedon, both of Glenwood, Iowa; 62-year-old Steven Benscoter, of Pacific Junction, Iowa; and 48-year-old Jay Bock, of Omaha.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
USDA predicts smaller corn harvest in Iowa
A government report issued today (Thursday) projects Iowa’s corn harvest will likely be smaller than in 2009.
The first fall forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates excessive rain has damaged crops in Iowa. The USDA estimates Iowa’s average corn yield at 179 bushels per acre, down three bushels from last year. Despite the possible smaller harvest in the top corn producing state, farmers across the country are expected to harvest a record 13-point-four (13.4) billion bushels of corn this year. That would be a two-percent (2%) increase over 2009. Nationally, the average corn yield is expected to be 165 bushels per acre. Iowa is still expected to produce the most corn at two-point-three (2.3) billion bushels, just ahead of Illinois with a projected two-point-two (2.2) billion bushels.
The USDA is also raising its estimate of the average price farmers will be paid for their corn because of increased demand. Farmers are projected to be paid $3.80 a bushel. That’s up from the roughly $3.50 to $3.60 producers were paid in 2009. U.S. farmers are also expected to produce a record soybean harvest in 2010. Iowa’s soybean harvest is project at 517.7 million bushels, up from 486 million in 2009.(News report by Radio Iowa.
Highway 59 work begins Monday
(CHEROKEE)–Traffic will be restricted on Highway 59 in northwest Iowa beginning Monday.
According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, road maintenance work will affect Highway 59, between Cherokee County Roads D-15, near Holstein, and C-44, three miles south of Cherokee .
Traffic will be restricted to one lane, in alternating directions through the work zone. There will be a 12-foot width lane restriction. Motorists will be assisted through the work zone with flaggers and a pilot car during daylight hours week days and possibly some Saturdays. Weather permitting, work is to be completed October sixth.
Ames opens drinking water sites for residents
AMES, Iowa (AP) Officials in Ames have set up five drinking water distribution sites as the city struggles to restore its water system after line breaks blamed on flooding.
The city asked residents Thursday to conserve water until six water main breaks can be fixed, then the system flushed out. Drinking water probably won’t be restored to Ames’ roughly 55,000 residents until next week.
Ames shut down its water distribution system Wednesday afternoon when its water towers were drained to dangerously low levels.
Flooding in Ames came after three nights of heavy rain caused creeks and rivers in central Iowa to swell. Hundreds of residents have had to leave their homes in the area, and a teen was killed when three cars were swept off a road near Des Moines.
Stranded boats hauled out of Lake Delhi
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) The owner of a marina near Lake Delhi is organizing a boat auction.
Rusty Peck owns Lake Delhi Marina and RV. He spent Wednesday hauling stranded boats out the 9-mile lake. It was emptied on July 24 when the flood-swollen Maquoketa River ate holes in earthen sections around the dam.
Peck is organizing the auction for Sept. 12 after being contacted by lake residents.
He says anyone who has a boat or anything else they want to sell will be allowed to put it in the auction, as long as they were affected by the flood.
The Lake Delhi Recreation Association alone has over 900 members, and many have more than one boat.
Iowa women to be tried together for embezzlement
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A federal judge says two women facing charges stemming from the alleged embezzlement of nearly $6 million from West Des Moines insurer Aviva USA will be tried at the same time.
Phyllis Stevens and her partner, Marla Stevens, are to go on trial on Sept. 20 in Des Moines.
Judge Ronald Longstaff on Wednesday rejected a request by Marla Stevens’ attorney, Trevor Hook, that she be tried separately. Hook argued she could not get a fair trial because Phyllis Stevens intends to use an insanity defense.
Longstaff says no specific reason was presented to justify separate trials.
Phyllis Stevens is charged in a 20-count indictment with fraud, money laundering and other charges. Marla Stevens is charged with conspiring and spending stolen money.
Deadline near for third-party Iowa candidates
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The filing deadline is nearing for third-party candidates running for state or federal office in Iowa this fall.
Secretary of State Michael Mauro says the filing deadline is 5 p.m. Friday.
Candidates must file their nomination papers with the secretary of state’s office before the deadline.
Candidates who won their contests in the June primary are automatically placed on the general election ballot and don’t have to file again.
Nomination papers, a list of offices that will appear on the ballot and candidate guides are available on the secretary of state’s website.
Iowan sentenced for deadly wreck
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) A Muscatine man who prosecutors say was distracted by a video game while driving has been sentenced to five years in prison for a wreck that killed a Dubuque couple in 2009.
Brandon Reddick pleaded guilty in May to two counts of involuntary manslaughter. A judge on Tuesday sentenced him to two five-year sentences, to be served consecutively.
Reddick was charged in a head-on collision in February 2009 that killed Donald and Mary Ann Weber south of Dubuque.
Prosecutors say Reddick was distracted while playing with a video game. His car drifted across the center line and collided with the other car.
6 kittens found in trash in Iowa doing OK
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) Six kittens thrown out in the trash in Council Bluffs are ready for a new home.
Officials say a city sanitation worker found the 5-month-old kittens on a street corner on Aug. 2. They were in a plastic container amid the garbage cans.
City animal control officer Galen Barrett says the container was like an oven. He says the kittens were overheated but didn’t appear to have been starved or abused.
The kittens were taken to the Council Bluffs Animal Shelter and are doing well. Shelter volunteer Sandy Riddle says she thinks they were someone’s pets, and hopes they will be adopted soon.
ISU hoping to follow Austen Arnaud’s lead
AMES, Iowa (AP) The Insight Bowl victory over Minnesota last season felt like a major victory to Iowa State.
Senior quarterback Austen Arnaud didn’t spend much time celebrating.
Arnaud struggled at times with Iowa State’s new spread offense in 2009. So shortly after returning from Arizona, Arnaud took it upon himself to study his play from all 13 games in 2009.
It was a dramatic shift in focus for Arnaud, who threw 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 2009. The touchdowns will have to go up and the picks will have to go down if the Cyclones are to surprise anyone again in 2010.
Iowa State’s been picked to finish last in the Big 12 North. Iowa State has the potential to score like few Cyclones teams in recent memory, but it’s inexperienced on defense and faces a brutal schedule.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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