(LE MARS)–The sounds of old-time music on ten stages will fill the Plymouth County Fairgrounds for the next seven days.
Bob and Sheila Everhart and the Pioneer Ag Expo present the 35th annual National Old-Time Country and Bluegrass Festival and contest in Le Mars.
Everhart believes the doors are closed to new performers in the commercial music business unless they have a lot of money.
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Everhart says the festival tends to be kept in an acoustical setting.
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Bob Everhart explains known legends like Patti Page will be inducted into the Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame.
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The celebration of America’s musical heritage attracts audiences who make the festival their home by camping on the Plymouth County Fairgrounds.
www.orgsites.com/ia/oldtimemusic
(ORANGE CITY) The Orange City Development Corporation has announced that the groundbreaking for the Hawkeye Center will be on Thursday, September 9. The Hawkeye Center is one element of Orange City’s Phoenix Project. Committee Chair Marty Guthmiller explains.
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The new Hawkeye Center is designed to serve as a cornerstone for the city’s revitalized downtown. It features nearly 7,000-square feet of retail space on the ground level and five private loft condominiums on the upper level, with authentic old-world Dutch architecture.
This is the first phase of the Phoenix Project, which contains 5 elements. The second phase is a community event center, which will break ground on Highway 10 East this fall. Guthmiller describes the final 3 elements.
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The public is invited to attend the Hawkeye Center groundbreaking scheduled for 11:30am on September 9th. At that time the city hopes to announce the retail businesses interested in the Hawkeye space. (News report by Angela Drake, KLEM News)
King hosts Town Hall meeting today
(SIOUX CITY)–Sioux City is the location for Congressman Steve King’s Town Hall meeting today (Monday, August 30).
The Town Hall meeting, open to the public, is on the Western Iowa Tech Community College campus beginning at 9 a-m.
King says the Sioux City Town Hall meeting was scheduled earlier this month, but was cancelled when Congress was called into session.
During the one-hour session today, King says he will listen to the questions and concerns from residents of the Fifth Congressional District.
The location on the Western Iowa Tech campus is Room L417, Parking Lot 3, Entrance 11.
Pavement project closes exits
(SIOUX CITY)–Pavement work will affect travel on Interstate 29 today (Monday) and tomorrow.
The Iowa Department of Transportation will close Exit 151 (Iowa 12 and Riverside Boulevard) for pavement patching from 7 a-m today until Tuesday at 7 a-m, weather permitting. The Sioux City Construction office for the Iowa Department of Transportation issued written information about the work.
Traffic on I-29 will be at a reduced speed and use exit 151 to detour around the work zone. Traffic on Southbound Riverside Boulevard/Iowa 12 will not be able to access 1-29 at Exit 151. Southbound I-29 will not have access to Riverside Boulevard/Iowa 12, but northbound I-29 traffic will.
Joint Commission gives Mercy three-year accreditation
(SIOUX CITY)–The top administrator at Mercy Medical Center, Bob Peebles, sees a three-year accreditation as underscoring the patient care delivered by the Mercy family.
Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City received accreditation from The Joint Commission. The accreditation covers Mercy Medical Center, Mercy Home Medical Equipment and the various Mercy clinics in Sioux City, South Sioux City and Dakota Dunes.
A team of health care professionals representing the Joint Commission made an on-site survey of Mercy Medical Center in May.
The Commission seeks to improve health care for the public by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value.
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Ames evaluates future flood protection
AMES, Iowa (AP) City officials in Ames are evaluating ways to protect businesses, homes and Iowa State University’s campus from future flooding.
Bob Kindred is the assistant city manager. He says everything is on the table, since flooding is becoming increasingly common.
The options include dams, levees, flood barriers and stricter zoning laws.
Kindred says officials will discuss the options at a Sept. 14 City Council meeting.
Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency are expected to visit ISU this week to make damage estimates.
Earlier this month more than two dozen buildings on campus suffered storm and flood damage. Up to 14 feet of water filled Hilton Coliseum.
Police: Men cooking meth started apartment fire
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Des Moines police say they believe two men cooking methamphetamine caused an explosion that started a fire that destroyed 30 apartments.
They say the two men were taken to University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City with burns. Des Moines Fire Department spokesman Capt. Steve Brown says one had burns on 30 percent to 50 percent of his body.
Des Moines Police Sgt. Misti Allison says no charges had been filed Saturday but the investigation continued.
The fire at the three-story apartment building started about 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Firefighters had it contained by 2 p.m., but Brown says it was a complete loss. Two-thirds of the roof had collapsed by late afternoon.
A Red Cross spokeswoman says the charity has made 32 offers of help with food, clothing and shelter.
Some question if UI violating product policy
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) A leader of an effort opposing Iowa City’s ordinance that limits when minors can enter bars is accusing the University of Iowa of a double standard when it comes to licensing products with the trademarked Hawkeye logo.
Student Matt Pfaltzgraf is a leader of YESS, which stands for Yes to Entertaining Students Safely. Pfaltzgraf says the university has a policy against selling things that promote alcohol use, yet allows the school’s logo to be featured on shot glasses and pitchers.
He says the university is making money off those products while trying to combat binge drinking.
University officials say those items are not marketed as items meant for consuming alcohol and are regarded as collectibles. And they say the school can’t control how anyone uses a UI-licensed product regardless of its intended purpose.
Penford loses lawsuit over flood insurance
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) An Iowa corn milling company has lost its lawsuit accusing two insurance companies of acting in bad faith for refusing to pay millions of dollars in claims from the 2008 flood.
Penford Products Corp. had to temporarily close its Cedar Rapids plant after it was inundated by floodwaters. The company expected damages to exceed $56 million.
National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh and Ace American Insurance Co. paid $20 million on Penford’s policies, but denied many of the company’s claims.
The insurance companies asked to have Penford’s lawsuit dismissed. Chief Judge Linda Reade dismissed the suit last week before it went to jury.
The judge also ruled that Penford must pay the insurers’ legal costs. Penford says it plans to appeal.
Farm House Museum at ISU turns 150 years old
AMES, Iowa (AP) A building on Iowa State University’s campus in Ames is celebrating a milestone.
The Farm House Museum is 150 years old.
Students and staff commemorated the anniversary with an open house on campus last week. Among them was Megan Bendixen. She’s a senior studying history.
She says the Farm House is such a familiar sight to students, but not many know why the building that sits at the center of campus is significant. Built in 1860, it was the campus’ first building.
It’s also called the “Curtiss House” because Charles Franklin Curtiss and his family lived there until the late 1940s. Several of the family’s belongings are still in the house.
The building opened to the public as a museum in 1976.
Iowa teacher charged with beating teen
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) A 36-year-old Davenport substitute teacher has been charged in the beating of a teenager.
Kelley Jo Gerdts has posted $5,000 bond. She turned herself in to police and was charged with felony child endangerment.
Authorities say the victim wasn’t one of her students. They haven’t said how she knows the teen.
Davenport police Capt. Dave Struckman says investigators have “very strong evidence” against Gerdts, including an audio recording of one of the alleged beatings taken by another minor.
Police say they’ve also recovered a broken broom handle and blood.
Gerdts has worked as a substitute teacher in the Davenport Community School District.
No published telephone listing for Gerdts could be found. It wasn’t immediately clear whether she has an attorney.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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