(ORANGE CITY)– The groundbreaking ceremony for the Orange City Event Center was held Friday.
The Event Center is the second phase of the “Phoenix Project,” which rose from the ashes of the historic Hawkeye building on Orange City’s main street, following a fire in the summer of 2008.
Marty Guthmiller, chair of the Phoenix Project task force, said that the addition of the Event Center will give people one more reason to live, work and raise a family in Orange City.
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Guthmiller explained the two story, multi-purpose facility.
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The center itself will be designed to accommodate up to 400 people for special events including private, public, and corporate events, cultural activities, recreation, education, and entertainment.
Vision Iowa, a grant program through the Iowa Department of Economic Development, awarded Orange City nine hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars to put toward the project. Vision Iowa Board Member Charese Yanney was in attendance at the groundbreaking to congratulate Orange City on bringing the board a cohesive idea.
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The remainder of the money needed for the Event Center is being funded through a general obligation bond and through corporate and private contributions.
Besides construction, the next step in getting ready for the Community Center is hiring an Event and Brand Manager for Orange City. The hope is to have that position filled by January. Construction is expected to be complete by spring of 2012. (Angela Drake, KLEM News)
GOP candidate: northwest Iowans vote can make a difference
(LE MARS)–A planned campaign stop for Republican candidate for Governor Terry Branstad grew into a G-O-P rally at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor in Le Mars Friday afternoon.
National, state and local G-O-P incumbents and candidates focused on government spending and debt and told northwest Iowa Republicans they can make a difference in Tuesday’s election. The candidates talked with KLEM news after speaking to about 90 people.
If voters return Terry Branstad to the governor’s office for a fifth term, Branstad pledges to unleash the private sector. How would he do that?
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Branstad also backs putting Iowa’s Right to Work law on all marketing materials for the state. Branstad is trying to unseat incumbent Chet Culver.
There are three things that Senator Chuck Grassley says make Tuesday’s election is so important.
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Grassley’s challenger is Democrat Roxanne Conlin.
In his bid for re-election opposed by Democrat Matt Campbell, Congressman Steve King is targeting debt and federal spending. .
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Republican Attorney General candidate Brenna Findley says northwest Iowa voters hold the key to real change in the office held by Democrat Tom Miller.
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The campaign event began when “Happy Birthday” was sung to former Le Mars resident Don Paulin, now of Norwalk.
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The former Le Mars businessman, mayor, state representative, and deputy D-N-R director was the driver for the “Road to Victory” tour Friday.
Culver campaigns in Siouxland Sunday
(LE MARS)–Iowa’s Lt. Governor hopes voters will return the Governor Culver and Lt. Governor Judge team to office saying they’ve worked very hard.
While campaigning in Le Mars, the former state lawmaker and Iowa Ag Secretary, Patty Judge, said there’s more work to be done.
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The Orpheum Theater in downtown Sioux City is the venue for a Democratic Party rally tomorrow (Sunday).
Governor Chet Culver will be joined by national, state and Siouxland Democratic incumbents and office seekers at the Democratic Party event which begins at 5:30 Sunday afternoon. The rally is open to be the public.
Mattress briefly blocks Grassley’s travel
(CHEROKEE)–Campaign travel for Senator Chuck Grassly was interrupted briefly Friday afternoon.
Grassley was being driven to Le Mars from Storm Lake to continue campaigning for Republican candidate for governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Candidate Kim Reynolds.
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Grassley and others in the car were NOT injured
(AKRON)– An area theater claims to have a ghost spending time in their building. Doug Olsen, president of the Akron Opera House, says the ghosts name is Richard.
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Richard Jacobs died in 1999. Olsen thinks Richard hangs around because he has unfinished business at the Opera House.
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Olsen says that others have seen him and smelled his pipe smoke…but no one is really bothered by it. Richard is just part of the ambiance of the Opera House and chair is sometimes left empty for him during performances.
The Akron Opera House puts on multiple productions each year. Their next show is “We’ve Got Talent!” It will showcase talent from Akron, Westfield and the surrounding area next weekend, November 5th and 6th at 7:30pm. Call 712-568-2614 for tickets. (And be sure to say “hi” to Richard!) (Angela Drake, KLEM News)
Iowa absentee ballots must be postmarked by Monday
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa secretary of state reminds voters that their completed absentee ballots for Tuesday’s general election must be postmarked no later than Monday.
Secretary of State Michael Mauro said Friday that his office must receive the ballots by Nov. 8. Iowans can still early vote until at least 5 p.m. on Saturday at local county auditor offices. Voters should check with their county auditor’s office for exact hours.
Ballots also can be hand delivered to county auditor office by the close of polls on Election Day.
Not guilty pleas entered in donation case
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Polk County court officials say all those charged with illegally donating money to Gov. Chet Culver’s campaign have entered not guilty pleas.
Those pleas were entered for Peninsula Gaming Partners LLC and Webster County Entertainment, Peninsula president Martin Brent Stevens, Peninsula executive Jonathan Swain, Webster chief Steve Daniel and Curtis Beason, a Davenport lawyer. All are charged with violating campaign disclosure laws, and Beason also faces an additional charge of obstruction.
Des Moines attorney Guy Cook, who is representing Stevens and Swain, as well as Peninsula Gaming, says Friday that because the pleas were entered, a planned hearing Monday will be canceled.
Iowa Lottery earns state more than $1 billion
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa Lottery has brought more than $1 billion to the state.
The Gazette in Cedar Rapids reports that figures provided Thursday to the state Lottery Board show $52.2 million in lottery proceeds transferred to the state’s general fund have brought the total to $1.007 billion. Overall the lottery has brought about $1.25 billion in profits to Iowa since it starts in 1985.
Iowa Lottery chief operating officer Terry Rich calls the milestone “a big deal” and says the state’s general “has really needed” the money over the last few years. Rich says the state lottery is in its best shape ever and is fueled by strong sales of scratch-off tickets.
No bail for Iowa woman accused after child dies
MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) An eastern Iowa woman accused in the death of her 4-year-old adopted son will not receive bail.
The Telegraph Herald newspaper in Dubuque reports Judge Marleta Greve on Friday denied a request to reduce bond for 30-year-old Danielle Holdgrafer of Andrew and allow her to be released from jail while awaiting trial. She still faces charges in the June death of Collin Holdgrafer.
Prosecutors recently dropped a charge of first-degree murder, saying they didn’t have sufficient evidence.
Andrew Holdgrafer, Danielle Holdgrafer’s husband, died in September of a heart attack. He was charged with child endangerment. Danielle Holdgrafer has been held in the Jones County jail since June.
Blaze in flood-damaged CR home suspicious
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Fire officials in Cedar Rapids say they’re considering a fire that burned a flood-damaged home to be suspicious.
The Gazette newspaper in Cedar Rapids reports that the early Friday blaze burned the home to the ground. Neighbors reported the fire at the gutted house, which was consumed with flames when firefighters arrived. Crews kept the blaze from spreading to other nearby buildings.
Authorities in Cedar Rapids say that since the historic flooding of 2008 there have been at least a dozen fires in unoccupied and damaged homes.
2 uninjured after small plane crashes in Iowa
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) The pilot of a small plane says he crashed after taking off from a grass runway south of Waterloo in northeastern Iowa.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that pilot Bob Oppold on Friday afternoon set the plane down in a ditch on the west side of a highway. Oppold and passenger Dick Poppe of Waterloo were both uninjured.
Poppe says it appears the elevator control malfunctioned, preventing the plane from taking off very far. The 1981 Piper Saratoga wasn’t severely damaged. It came to rest in tall grass about 10 feet away from a guardrail on Highway 21.
Oppold says he was headed to Oelwein for an annual aircraft inspection.
Both the Iowa State Patrol and the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office responded to the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
CR Kernels complain to city about ballpark
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) The owner of the Cedar Rapids Kernels minor-league baseball team has written the city manager, saying local leaders haven’t lived up to their responsibilities regarding the lease on the team’s ballpark.
The Gazette newspaper in Cedar Rapids reports Friday that Kernels owner Cedar Rapids Ball Club Inc. sent the letter to city manager Jeff Pomeranz. In the letter the ball club complains that the city and its Veterans Memorial Commission hasn’t lived up to responsibilities regarding the cost of structural repairs at the ballpark.
The club’s letter comes after the commission said earlier this month that it wanted to talk with the ball club about lease issues regarding revenues and repairs at the ballpark.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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