Home News KLEM News Update November 14, 2010

KLEM News Update November 14, 2010

(LE MARS)–Three people face felony drug charges after a traffic stop in Hinton Friday.

The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office reports a vehicle was stopped around 2:30 Friday morning for traffic violations and suspicious activity.

The driver, 21-year-old Randi Krieg of Spencer, was arrested for driving while revoked. Krieg was also charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver the drug and violating the drug tax stamp law which is also a felony.

The two others charged with the felonies are 18-year-old Frank Bandomo of Albert City and 23-year-old Nicolas Bandomo of Spencer.

They were taken to the Plymouth County Jail.

Soybean group asks for policy input in Everly

(ANKENY)–Soybean farmers can help shape the policy of the Iowa Soybean Association this month.

The Iowa Soybean Association is hosting a policy conference at the Hap Ketelsen Community Center in Everly on November 29th.

The Iowa Soybean Association’s director of policy and producer outreach will talk about the group’s work.

The Soybean Association’s Resolutions Committee will use information from the district conference to draft language for new policy.

Registration for the November 29th policy conference in northwest Iowa begins at 5:15 p-m and may also be completed through the association prior to the meeting.

Transportation plan to be updated for 2035

(SIOUX CITY)–Ideas for transportation will be heard in Sioux City this week.

The Siouxland Metropolitan Planning Council (SIMPCO) is asking for public input as part of the 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan process.

The plan is an update of the 2030 Long Range Transportation plan adopted four years ago. The plan identifies key projects from transit, bicycle and pedestrian, streets and highways, trails and other types of transportation. 

Ideas about the plan are being sought from residents of Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff, South Sioux City, Dakota City, Dakota Dunes and Plymouth, Woodbury Counties along with Union County and Dakota County.

The opportunity to present ideas is from 3:30 to 6 p-m on Tuesday (Nov. 16) at the SIMPCO offices in Sioux City.

Public comments will be accepted on the plan update until December third.

 Storm dumps up to 9 inches of snow on N. Iowa

ALGONA, Iowa (AP) The first snowstorm of the season has dumped up to nine inches of snow on parts of northern Iowa.

The National Weather Service said Saturday that two to nine inches of snow have fallen in Kossuth County.

The western edge of the county was hardest hit.

The weather service says up to four inches of snow fell in other parts of northern Iowa, with snowfall concentrated in Winnebago, Hancock and Worth counties.

And there could be more on the way. Forecasters say there’s a 30 percent chance of rain or snow Saturday evening.

Crash kills Florida woman, injures Iowa man

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) A 26-year-old Florida woman is dead after a single-vehicle crash in Cedar Falls.

Cedar Falls police say Kaley Michele Kennison of Palm Harbor, Fla., was a passenger in the pickup truck that crashed early Saturday.

Police say it appears that the truck’s driver lost control and crashed into a retaining wall and an unoccupied parked car.

Both the driver, a 25-year-old man from Reinbeck, and Kennison were transported to Sartori Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The driver’s condition was immediately available.

The accident is under investigation.

Derailment in Cedar Rapids spills diesel fuel

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Three Union Pacific locomotives derailed in southwest Cedar Rapids, spilling about 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel.

Firefighters were notified of the accident just after 6 p.m. Friday.

No injuries have been reported.

Cedar Rapids officials say firefighters were able to keep the spilled diesel from going into a nearby storm sewer.

Initial reports suggest the train was in the process of increasing its size from 10,000 feet to 14,000 feet when it derailed.

The Federal Railroad Association is investigating the accident.

Inmate escapes from Waterloo work release facility

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) The Iowa Department of Corrections says an inmate has escaped from a Waterloo work release facility.

Cecil Raymond Smith was placed on escape status Friday night after he didn’t return to the residential facility from a job-seeking furlough.

The 38-year-old inmate was serving a 15-year sentence for sex abuse and theft. His sentence began in 2004. He was transferred to work release on Oct. 28.

Corrections officials describe work release as a minimum security setting that lets inmates gradually transition from prison to the community.

Officials ask that information about Smith’s whereabouts be reported to the Waterloo Police Department or the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department.

Justice selection will be left to new governor


DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A member of the commission that will offer potential replacements for ousted Supreme Court justices says the process will begin in December, but recommendations aren’t expected until January, leaving the choice to Gov.-elect Terry Branstad.

Des Moines lawyer Guy Cook is on the Judicial Nominating Commission. He notes that the panel can’t meet until justice retention votes are certified in late November.

The commission will likely meet in December and has 60 days to make recommendation.

Branstad will take the oath of office on Jan. 14. He then has 30 days to make appointments.

The justices were voted out in a Nov. 2 retention vote after a campaign that highlighted their support of a unanimous ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Iowa to get $7 million to expand broadband access

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowa will be getting more than $7 million to expand broadband internet access in rural communities.

Sen. Tom Harkin announced the funding on Friday. He says the expansion is necessary for rural Iowa businesses to stay competitive and for rural residents to stay connected.

The loan will go to the Interstate 35 Telephone Company, a small rural telephone company headquartered in Truro. The expansion will serve all customers in the company’s three exchanges in Madison and Warren Counties.

The funding is part of a $690 million investment nationwide from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program.

Researchers in Iowa keeping eye on Congress

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) University officials in Iowa say they’re waiting and watching what will happen with research funding after the expiration of the federal stimulus program and government spending cuts.

University of Iowa Vice President for Research Jordan Cohen says it’s difficult to guess what Congress will do or the impact it will have on the school, but it could “potentially have major consequences.” The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports research is 35 percent of the budget at Iowa State University and 23 percent at the University of Iowa.

Compared with last year, research funding is down at both schools. However both universities had record external funding last year.

Research funding supports about 2,300 jobs at the University of Iowa.

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

(SIOUX CENTER)–A Sioux Center clinic’s executive director is certified as an Advanced Public Health Clinical Nurse Specialist.

Nancy Dykstra of the Greater Sioux Community Health Center in Sioux Center received the certification through 2015.

Dykstra has a master’s degree in public health nursing and initially achieved board certification 10 years ago after public health credentialing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

She is the former Sioux County Public Health Director.

 

(SIOUX CITY)–Ideas for transportation will be heard in Sioux City this week.

The Siouxland Metropolitan Planning Council (SIMPCO) is asking for public input as part of the 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan process.

The plan is an update of the 2030 Long Range Transportation plan adopted four years ago. The plan identifies key projects from transit, bicycle and pedestrian, streets and highways, trails and other types of transportation.

Ideas about the plan are being sought from residents of Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff, South Sioux City, Dakota City, Dakota Dunes and Plymouth, Woodbury Counties along with Union County and Dakota County.

The opportunity to present ideas is from 3:30 to 6 p-m on Tuesday (Nov. 16) at the SIMPCO offices in Sioux City.

Public comments will be accepted on the plan update until December third.