Home News KLEM News Update September 18, 2010

KLEM News Update September 18, 2010

(LE MARS)–A Memory Walk in Le Mars today (Saturday) is part of a national effort to raise awareness and funds for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Terry Schroeder is Vice President of Development for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Big Sioux Chapter serving 21 counties.

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Schroeder says some who join the Memory Walk get pledges from others and some donate on their own.

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Money raised supports services for those with the disease, their families and caregivers.

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According to Schroeder, the Big Sioux Chapter is working on a goal of enhancing respite services in rural areas.

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Registration for the Memory Walk in Le Mars begins at 10 this (Saturday) morning near the Olson Cultural Event Center in downtown Le Mars. The walk, with two different options for length, begins at 11 this morning.

There are 26 Memory Walks in Iowa this fall.

Pauling honored by Chamber

(LE MARS)–The office manager for a surgery business in Le Mars is the newest Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce “Employee of the Month.”

Terri Pauling of Le Mars has been part of Stelzer Surgery since the business was incorporated. Dr. Mark Stelzer said Pauling does everything for him, the office and Stelzer Surgery patients.

Pauling is described as tremendously organized, eager to learn, and readily available to answer questions, research problems and fill out the many different forms necessary in a medical office.

She learned the details of medical coding, insurance, scheduling, and credentialing when the surgery practice started. She’s often a reference person for other offices when their staff has questions.

Dr. Stelzer says Pauling’s knowledge and experience come from hard work, perseverance and a great work ethic.

Street patching repairs are being made throughout city

(LE MARS)–Three contractors are working throughout Le Mars doing small repair projects for the city of Le Mars.

City administrator Scott Langel says the contractors have completed about one-third of the two dozen projects.

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The city will make repairs to the T-intersection at Second Avenue West and Third Street South which is on the southwest corner of the Le Mars Agri-Center site. The intersection will be out of service for a brief period of time.

Langel says repair work is complete on the east side of Second Avenue east near Plains Area Mental Health Center. The changes removed jagged concrete and added parking. The area is to reopen to traffic by next week.

More meetings planned on ECO Center project

(LE MARS)–Deductions and decisions are the purposes of two special meetings being called by the chairperson of the Plymouth County Conservation Board.

The two meetings will focus on the proposed environmental education center, the ECO Center. The facility is to be built at Hillview Recreation Area, west of Hinton with a one-half million dollar budget, including construction and the architect’s fees.

However, five bids for the project exceeded the construction cost estimate.

Next Wednesday night at seven, the Conservation Board will discuss proposed deductions from the project. Two pages of possibilities were submitted by an architect this week. The meeting on September 22 is for discussion only.

Then on September 29th, the Conservation Board is slated to act on the project during a meeting at seven p-m.

Both meetings are at the Hillview Recreation Area.

Train accident claims Whiting woman’s life

(WHITING)–A Whiting woman died Friday afternoon after she was struck by a train in Whiting.

Witnesses told the Iowa State Patrol that an electric scooter being driven across the railroad tracks by 92-year-old Ruth Hale Swan tipped over on the tracks.  A train was approaching and the witnesses said they weren’t able to get to Swan in time to get her off the tracks.

Swan had been at  a Whiting business before the train accident.

George man sentenced for privacy conviction

 (ROCK RAPIDS)–A Lyon County man has been ordered to register as a sex offender as part of his sentence for charges filed after he was accused of watching women in a restroom.

Fifty-six-year-old John David Elias was convicted of invasion of privacy for using peepholes to view women in a bathroom at Sanford Hospital in Rock Rapids. Elias was convicted of theft in the third degree for removing a camera set up to investigate the crime after a report by employees of the hospital.

A judge suspended the one-year jail sentence and ordered Elias to complete a victim empathy class and a Restorative Justice program, register as a sex offender and have no contact with the crime victims for two years. A one-year jail sentence for the theft conviction was also suspended. Elias is to be on probation for two years for the convictions.

Mental health and sexual offender evaluations are also required for Elias.

At the time Elias was charged, Ed Weiland, president of the Sanford Health Network says at no time were patients or visitors at risk of violation of privacy.

Information about the conviction was provided by the Lyon County Attorney’s office.

Sioux Falls group rescues dogs

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) A South Dakota rescue group has taken in 36 ailing dogs that were abandoned across the border in northeast Nebraska.

Rosey Quinn of Sioux Falls-based Second Chance Rescue says a southeast Nebraska woman hauled the dogs in a horse trailer to her ex-husband’s home in Dixon County, in northeast Nebraska and dumped them there on Sept. 7.

Quinn says her staff immediately took in 21 dogs those in the worst condition and went back to Dixon County on Friday for the rest. Most of the dogs were emaciated and losing their hair.

The dogs were of at least seven breeds, and Quinn says she believes the former couple had been breeders.

The Dixon County sheriff’s office is investigating.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Sarah Palin: Primaries are over, GOP must unite

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Sarah Palin says the primary elections are over and it’s time for Republicans to unite.

The former Alaska governor delivered a fiery speech Friday night to about 1,400 people at the Iowa Republican Party’s largest annual fundraiser in Des Moines. She says all Republicans must now focus on the November elections, because “this is our movement, this is our moment.”

Endorsements by the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee helped propel several upstart Republican contenders to victory in recent primaries, including a double win Tuesday in Delaware and New Hampshire.

Palin joked about being in the state where precinct caucuses traditionally launch the presidential nominating season. She says if she ties her running shoes, the headlines would read “Palin in Iowa, decides to run.” OBAMA-IOWA

White House says Obama will visit Des Moines

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The White House is announcing that President Barack Obama will visit Iowa and two other states in late September as part of his effort to focus attention on what the administration is doing for middle class families.

The White House announced Friday that Obama would hold an event Sept. 29 in Des Moines. He also plans a stop that day in Richmond, Va., and will visit Albuquerque, N.M., on Sept. 28.

An aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the trip haven’t been announced, says the Des Moines event will likely have an informal backyard setting, similar to an event Obama held earlier this week in Virginia.

In returning to Iowa, Obama will again touch base with the state where he won the nation’s first caucus, giving him a big boost in his campaign for the White House. IOWA-4TH DISTRICT

Candidates offer different solutions to egg recall

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) GOP Rep. Tom Latham says the Food and Drug Administration is to blame for a huge recall of eggs from two Iowa companies, but Democratic challenger Bill Maske says the problem is a result of Republican-backed deregulation.

The candidates for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District discussed the egg recall Friday during a taping of the Iowa Public Television program, “Iowa Press.”

About 550 million eggs were recalled after a salmonella outbreak was traced to two companies, Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa

Latham argued that federal regulators “dropped the ball” and that no new rules are needed to prevent future outbreaks.

Maske countered that the government needs to increase oversight to ensure the food supply is safe.

Dubuque unveils renovated public library

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) After 10 years of planning, fundraising and construction, Dubuque’s renovated Carnegie-Stout Public Library is ready for visitors.

The $6.5 million project, which features a renovated rotunda surrounded by an ornate circular handrail, was officially unveiled on Thursday.

The library dates back to 1909. Andrew Carnegie, who donated his fortune to build free public libraries across the nation, donated $60,000 for the one in Dubuque.

Mayor Roy Buol (buell) describes the library as a “true gem.”

High school sophomore Brittney Hoover, who attended the ribbon-cutting, told the Telegraph Herald that she’s was surprised by everything and has been coming to the library more often.

UNI creates center for Holocaust education

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) The University of Northern Iowa has created a new Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education.

UNI says the center will advocate for a prominent role for Holocaust and genocide education in the curriculum of Iowa schools.

The center will be directed by Stephen Gaies (gayz), a professor of English at UNI. Gaies has co-chaired UNI’s Holocaust and Genocide Education Committee for the last four years.

Gaies says UNI intends to make the center the primary resource center for Holocaust and genocide education in Iowa for teachers, school administrators and students.

The center will continue various programs including lectures, workshops, film series and exhibits.

Court upholds restitution challenge in Iowa case

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa Supreme Court says district courts may review requests for restitution to crime victim compensation programs.

The court ruled Friday in a Webster County kidnapping case where the defendant, Jeremy Jenkins, was ordered to pay about $950 to compensate for payments made to the victim for missed work because of the crime and subsequent trial.

It was determined the victim had taken unpaid leave before the crime. Jenkins challenged the restitution order. The district court rejected the challenge, saying it didn’t have discretion to review restitution amounts.

The Supreme Court disagreed and ordered the lower court to review the amount.

Assistant Iowa Attorney General Kevin Cmelik (SMELL’-ick) says his office defended prior appeals court decisions that district courts lacked authority to determine restitution amounts.

Jenkin’s attorney, Mark Smith, says the ruling brings attention to restitution paid to victim compensation funds. FORMER MAYOR-DRUNKEN BOATING

Ex-Iowa mayor sentenced for drunken boating

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) Former Mason City Mayor Roger Bang has been sentenced to two days in jail after pleading guilty to operating a boat while intoxicated.

The Globe Gazette reports the 60-year-old Bang also was fined $1,000.

Instead of the jail term, he can complete the McCartney Center two-day OWI program. Bang has until Nov. 14 to complete the program if he chooses.

Court documents say Bang completed a substance abuse evaluation at Fountain Centers in Albert Lea, Minn.

Bang was arrested by an officer of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on July 27.

Bang served on the Mason City Council for 16 years and was mayor from 2006 through 2009.

Information from: Globe Gazette, https://www.globegazette.com/

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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