(LE MARS)–More than two-point six-million dollars in building activity is on the latest report for construction in Le Mars.
Code Enforcement officer Jason Vacura issued 11 permits in August. The construction plans are divided among all the different categories for building.
The top value was in the commercial business construction. ICON Ag Solutions received a permit for its relocation plans on Key Avenue estimated at one-point-three million dollars.
New retail construction in southwest Le Mars for a Pizza Hut relocation and future businesses is estimated at one-point-one million dollars.
The report includes one permit for a new house on the city’s north side estimated to cost 235-thousand dollars. There are also two house additions for about 13-thousand dollars.Signs, accessory buildings and fences round out the report.
Since January the 73 permits issued total eight-point-six-million dollars in estimated construction costs. The city has collected about 35-thousand dollars in fees for permits.
Consultant studiy’s Wastewater treatment needs
(LE MARS)–A consultant is looking at options for future wastewater treatment needs in Le Mars.
Le Mars Wastewater Treatment Facility and Collection System Superintendent Ron Kayser says consultant Greg Sindt of Bolton and Menk of Ames is working on three scenarios.
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Kayser says the third option would extend the life of the existing wastewater treatment for a long time.
Kayser emphasizes all three scenarios are in the planning stages. The consultant is to develop a plan to give the city what Kayser describes as “the best bang for our buck. “
Talent show salute includes Patti Page
(LE MARS)–Singer Patti Page will create a tribute to a well-known television talent show during the 35th annual National Old-TIme Country and Bluegrass Festival and Contest tomorrow.
Bob and Sheila Everhart and the Pioneer Ag Expo are presenting the event at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds in Le Mars.
Bob Everhart says the program, “Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour” will be showcased Saturday with the help of Patti Page.
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There’s a long list of performers from the show coming to Le Mars.
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Page will take the stage at eight Saturday night. She is also in Le Mars to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
On Sunday Cindy Cash, Johnny Cash’s daughter will do a tribute to her dad at 11 a.m.
Supreme Court won’t review conviction
CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) The Iowa Supreme Court won’t review the conviction of a Charles City teen convicted in June on charges of first-degree murder and sexual abuse.
The Mason City Globe Gazette reports 15-year-old Edgar Concepcion Jr. was found guilty in Hamilton County District Court in the July 2009 death of his 3-year-old cousin.
Concepcion’s attorney, Judy O’Donohoe, formally asked the Iowa Supreme Court to review the case, but Iowa Courts Online shows that request was denied on Thursday.
Judge Bryan McKinley has yet to rule on a motion seeking a new trial for Concepcion Jr.
O’Donohoe has argued her client was denied due process and that an alleged confession should not have been admitted into evidence at his trial.
Concepcion was tried as an adult. He remains in state custody.
Polk County Jail checking immigration status
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Polk County Jail is now using a fingerprint identification system that flags illegal immigrant inmates and notifies federal authorities.
The Des Moines Register reports the system launched this week checks fingerprint records against an immigration database maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The newspaper reports the county is the first local jurisdiction in Iowa to adopt the system. Federal authorities expect to install it in all counties nationwide by 2014.
When the fingerprint information matches a person in the database, the system notifies U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok says the agency evaluates each case and takes appropriate action. He says ICE wants to make sure criminal aliens aren’t put back on the street.
Iowa inmate dies while serving life sentence
FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) A former Davenport man serving a life sentence for killing a man with a hammer then dumping his body in a field in 2005 has died in custody.
The Iowa Corrections Department reports 55-year-old Steven Howard Deitz died Wednesday at University Hospitals in Iowa City of liver failure. He had been an inmate at Iowa State Penitentiary.
Deitz was convicted in December 2006 of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and willful injury for the death of Charles Lee Nixon on Nov. 22, 2005.
A witness testified Deitz attacked Nixon with a hammer while he slept and later dumped his body near Belle Rive, Ill. A farm manager spotted the burning body and called police.
After the sentencing, former Scott County Attorney Bill Davis called Deitz “a menace” and “not the kind of person who should be out.”
Parents challenge Waterloo’s dress code
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) An administrative law judge is expected to rule by early October if a new dress code by Waterloo Community Schools violates state law.
Some parents say it’s illegal because it tells students what they can wear rather than prohibiting items they can’t wear.
A hearing was held this week in Des Moines.
The appeal is based on a state law that allows districts to ban “gang-related or other specific apparel” if the board determines that the policy is necessary for health, safety or a “positive educational environment.”
The Gazette of Cedar Rapids says Superintendent Gary Norris testified Wednesday that school officials were within their legal authority.
Parent Rick Peters says the policy restricts the decisions of students and parents and is opposite of the law’s intent.
Culver, Branstad agree to 3 debates
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The major party candidates for governor have agreed to meet three times for debates.
Democratic Gov. Chet Culver and Republican challenger Terry Branstad will hold their first debate Sept. 14 in Sioux City. That will be followed by an Oct. 7 debate in Cedar Rapids and another Oct. 21 in Des Moines.
Culver is seeking his second term, while Branstad is making a bid to return to the office he held for 16 years from 1983 to 1999.
Culver calls for more barriers on Iowa interstates
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Gov. Chet Culver is urging the state Transportation Department to accelerate its plans to install cable barriers in the medians of some Iowa interstates.
Culver issued a news release Thursday noting a recent spike in serious cross-median accidents and called for barriers where data show they would most benefit travelers.
Under the current DOT plan, the barrier placement will be finished in 2012-2013. Culver sent a letter to Transportation Director Nancy Richardson calling for a shorter timeline.
Culver says the safety of Iowans is his top priority
1 dead in plane crash near farm show in Iowa
BOONE, Iowa (AP) The Federal Aviation Administration says one person is dead in the crash of a small plane towing a banner near the Farm Progress Show near Boone in central Iowa.
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham (eye-SHUM’) Cory says the Cessna 150 with just the pilot on board crashed about two miles north of Boone Thursday morning. She says the plane is registered to Drake Aerial Enterprise in Genoa, Ohio. There is no telephone listing for the company.
Air America Aerial Ads, of Genoa, is also listed on the FAA Registry. A person who answered the phone at the business declined to comment.
Boone County Sheriff Ron Fehr (fair) says the plane was towing a large advertising banner for a seed corn company. He says witnesses reported the plane was having problems pulling the banner when it crashed.
Fehr says the pilot was from Ohio. The pilot’s name was not immediately released.
Fall killed worker at University of Iowa project
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) A state investigator is saying the private contractor who died Monday while working at the University of Iowa died from a fall.
Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement officer Jens Nissen tells the Iowa City Press-Citizen on Thursday that he didn’t know the distance of the fall or any other details.
Forty-nine-year-old Tom Fosdick of Cedar Rapids was working for Swanson Glass, a subcontractor renovating the exterior of the UI Boyd Law Building.
Iowa OSHA has begun investigating the incident for any safety violations, which a spokeswoman says is typical for a workplace death. She says the investigation could take six to eight weeks.
University police responded to the accident, but haven’t yet released an incident report.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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