(HOSPERS) A northwest Iowa woman in a wheelchair being transported for dialysis died in an accident near Hospers.
The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office reports that about 11:30 Friday morning, 71-year-old Stan DeHaan of rural Orange City was driving a farm tractor eastbound on a county blacktop. DeHaan was pulling two grain wagons loaded with corn.
Seventy-year-old Ronald Korthals of George was driving transit minivan, also eastbound. Korthals was transporting 83-year-old Bernard Bakker of Sioux Center and 64-year-old Barbara Nielsen of Hull to the Dialysis Center in Hospers. The RIDES van driven by Korthals collided with the rear of the second grain wagon pulled by DeHaan’s tractor. The second wagon then separated from the other wagon and entered the north ditch where it overturned.
Nielsen, who was in a wheelchair at the time of the accident, was transported to the Orange City Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. DeHaan was not injured in the accident. Korthals and Bakker were transported to the Orange City Hospital. (Radio Iowa News)
Convention Center heating and cooling project on track
(LE MARS)–Work to improve the Le Mars Convention Center heating and cooling system is on schedule. City administrator Scott Langel
says quite a bit of demolition has occurred. Asbestos was removed from pipes, fittings and valves. A new heating system was a City Council priority for fall Convention Center rentals. Langel says four heaters are being installed.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Oct2010/cvcheat1101610.mp3{/audio}
Langel expects heat in less than a week.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Oct2010/cvcheat2101610.mp3{/audio}
Morningside Plumbing is installing boilers which Langel says should be fully functioning in a week or two.
Kissinger transition going well
(LE MARS)–Six weeks into a school year with one less school building, Le Mars Community School administrators say students are adjusting quite well.
Kissinger Elementary in Merrill was closed at the end of the last school year.
Elementary students, special education classes, teachers’ aides, and teachers are in three buildings instead of four this fall.
Elementary Principal Floyd Athay sees students developing new friendships.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Oct2010/kissingertransition101510.mp3{/audio}
Elementary Principal Scott Parry says special needs transitions have gone well to date. As an example, Parry explains students in one grade asked about something a special ed student used and had the materials explained by a special ed teacher.
Koons sentenced for drug conspiracy
(SIOUX CITY)–A Sioux City man will serve up to 15 years in prison for a drug conviction in federal court in Sioux City.
According to the U-S Attorney’s Office, 51-year-old Timothy Koons pled guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in Cherokee County. Koons also pled guilty to possessing meth.
Koons was charged after the vehicle he was driving was stopped by law enforcement in April about one pound of meth was seized.
Koons was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors said a prior drug conviction was a factor in the amount of time he was sentenced to serve.
Purse drive raises money for cancer research
(ORANGE CITY) Often a woman’s purse carries her life in it. In Orange City, two women are working on a project that uses that life line to help raise money to save lives. “A Purse with a Purpose” is a drive that encourages women to donate their gently used purses and then purchase the used purses of others. The money raised goes to Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. The idea was brought to Orange City by Nancy VanZee who says she borrowed the idea from a team in Sioux Center.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Purses 1.mp3{/audio}
Sioux Center raised over $2,000 when they did the drive. The Orange City group has already raised $1,000 in cash donations, and are looking forward to raising more at the event where purses will be sold. Nancy, along with the help of her friend Diane Niemeyer, have been sorting through the nearly 400 purses that have already been donated. Nancy says there will be a wide variety to choose from at the October 21st event.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Purses 2.mp3{/audio}
One area woman generously donated 37 brand new purses.
The ladies are considering making the the Purse with a Purpose drive an annual event in Orange City. Nancy says her hope is to help the concept catch on.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Purses 3.mp3{/audio}
Purse donations are being accepted through today (Saturday) and can be dropped off at many Orange City businesses including: Don’s, Fareway and all Orange City beauty salons. If you’re interested in making a monetary donation to the cause instead of a purse, or would just like to know more about the event, call Nancy VanZee at 712-737-2118.
The “Purse with a Purpose” event will be held in the Northwestern Bank basement in Orange City from 4 to 8pm on Thursday, October 21st. (Angela Drake, KLEM News)
Rear end collision injures two
(LE MARS)–Drivers of vehicles involved in a rear-end collision in Le Mars Friday morning had possible injuries.
Eighteen-year-old Jacob Trometer of rural Merrill was driving a pick up truck north on Central Avenue South around 8:15 Friday morning.
Police report Trometer was approaching the intersection with Fourth Street and struck the rear of a mini-van. The mini-van was being driven north on Central Avenue by 44-year-old Patricia Olson of rural Le Mars. Olson had stopped for a stop sign at the intersection with Fourth Street South.
Le Mars Ambulance took Olson to Floyd Valley Hospital for possible injuries. Trometer was also listed as possibly injured.
3 Iowa disaster recovery centers to close
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowans have until next month to register for federal disaster assistance, but federal authorities say three disaster recovery centers will be closing in the state.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday that the Wapello County center in Ottumwa will close on Oct. 26. The Story County center in Ames will close on Oct. 27, and the Polk County center in Des Moines will close on Oct. 28.
Iowans can get information after assistance, get help applying for low-cost loans and learn about tax program at the centers. Federal authorities have extended the deadline for eligible Iowans to apply for aid until Nov. 12.
3 more Iowa counties eligible for disaster aid
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Three more Iowa counties have received disaster declarations.
Gov. Chet Culver said Friday that Boone, Calhoun and Shelby counties have been added to July’s presidential disaster declaration. That means 38 counties in Iowa are eligible to register for federal individual assistance after severe storms, tornadoes and flooding over the summer.
Iowans have until Nov. 12 to register for assistance.
Downtown Des Moines gets $10M for transportation
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A new transit hub in downtown Des Moines is getting a $10 million boost.
Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Transportation had awarded the money to the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority. It will be used to continue construction on the hub with the goal of making transportation more efficient in the metropolitan area.
The money comes in addition to an initial $6.5 million that came in July to fund the start of construction.
The hub will be designed to offer commuters basic amenities, like restrooms, climate-controlled waiting area, bicycle storage and parking and a customer service desk.
An Amtrak passenger rail station is planned nearby.
IPTV offers to televise Senate radio debate
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowa Public Television has offered to televise a radio debate between Democrat Roxanne Conlin and Republican Charles Grassley.
Conlin accepted the offer to tape and then broadcast the debate scheduled Oct. 26 on Des Moines radio station WHO-AM. Grassley aide Eric Woolson said campaign representatives were meeting with public television officials and considering their offer.
Conlin has repeatedly criticized Grassley for not agreeing to any televised debates. The two have joined for a televised joint interview and have agreed to the radio debate.
Supporters of Iowa justices launch radio ads
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) An advocacy group formed to support three Iowa Supreme Court justices says it has launched a radio campaign to urge voters to retain the judges on the November general election ballot.
Fair Courts for Us says the ads started airing Friday in seven markets across Iowa. The group says more markets will be added next week. The group was formed after gay rights opponents said in August that they would urge voters not to retain the justices who joined last year’s unanimous decision that legalized gay marriage in the state.
That group, Iowa for Freedom, launched its own automated phone calls to voters earlier this month.
Members of Fair Courts for Us include former Republican Iowa Gov. Robert Ray who says in the ad that members of the high court shouldn’t be fired “over just one call.”
Grassley holds big lead in Senate money race
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Republican U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley has raised far more money than Democratic challenger Roxanne Conlin as he seeks a sixth term in the Senate.
Grassley raised about $730,000 during the third quarter of the year and had $4.7 million in campaign reserves.
Conlin raised nearly $330,000 and ended the quarter with about $800,000 of cash on hand. She also reported a $1 million debt, reflecting a loan she’d given to her campaign.
Friday was the deadline for reporting fundraising from July 1 to Sept. 30.
Voters will choose between Grassley and Conlin in the Nov. 2 general election.
Keokuk mayor wants union lock out to end
KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) The mayor of Keokuk has asked Roquette America, Inc. to end its lock out of about 240 workers.
Keokuk Mayor Tom Marion wrote a letter to the Daily Gate City newspaper in Keokuk says he is “seriously concerned” about the lock out and the effect it is having on the community. The company locked out union workers and brought in temporary workers after the union rejected the company’s final contract proposal.
The mayor says he’s not taking sides on the proposals, but he’s looking for what’s in the best interest for everyone involved. Both sides have met with a federal mediator. Two points of contract contention have been health insurance and use of temporary workers.
A Roquette spokeswoman on Friday said the company is waiting to see the next step through the mediator.
AG: Wisconsin telemarketer stops calls in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa attorney general’s office says a Wisconsin telemarketer has settled a consumer fraud action filed against it by agreeing to stop making fundraising calls in Iowa.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s office says Community Support, Inc. of Milwaukee agreed to a ban on the calls for at least seven years in a filing Friday in Polk County District Court. The attorney general’s office filed the consumer fraud enforcement action against the company in July.
Miller’s office also says that the company will be subject to substantial fees if it plans to resume telemarketing. After eleven years the company would have to pay $50,000 to resume calls in Iowa, which Miller says “probably means they’re out of Iowa forever.”
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
