(LE MARS)–A business and a person will be honored at the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner January 29th.
The Chamber is accepting nominations for “Citizen of the Year,” The award is given to a person who exemplifies dedication and service through personal involvement in the community. Nominations and information that would acquaint a committee with the person’s qualifications are to be submitted to the Chamber office.
“Business of the Year” will be chosen based on community involvement, job creation, innovative practices, employee benefits, major expansion or overcoming an adversity. Businesses may self-nominate or be nominated . All Chamber member businesses are eligible, regardless of size or type of business.
Nominations for “Citizen of the Year” and “Business of the Year” need to be submitted to the Le Mars Area Chamber office by 5 p-m on December 15th.
EPA and feedlot owner reach agreement
(KANSAS CITY)–A feedlot owner in Plymouth County is settling violation claims with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Kansas City office of the federal agency released written information about the 58-hundred dollar civil penalty settlement with Mark Beitelspacher.
The information stated Beitelspacher, doing business as Beitelspacher Farms of Le Mars, did not maintain adequate records associated with the land application of liquid effluent from his feedlot.
According to an administrative consent agreement filed in Kansas City, Beitelspacher Farms was inspected in April and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements were not met.
As part of the civil settlement, Beitelspacher has certified that his feedlot is now in compliance with the Clean Water Act. There is a 40-day public comment period before the agreement between Beitelspacher and the federal agency is final.
Peters is ‘Employee of the Month’
(LE MARS) A 10-year employee of the Murphy, Collins and Bixenman law firm is the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce “Employee of the month.”
Kim Peters was honored Wednesday. A nomination for Peters describes her as conscientious and hard working. Peters is credited with seeing a job through to its end without complaint.
The nomination from managing partner Patrick Murphy of Murphy, Collins and Bixenman described her as someone who comes to work every day with a positive attitude, fully capable of handling the challenges of her work.
Drug task force charges Le Mars teen
(LE MARS) A Le Mars teen is the latest person to be charged based on a Le Mars Police-Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office Drug Task Force investigation.
Seventeen-year-old Stacey Ann Prichard of Le Mars met with officers Tuesday night at the Plymouth County Law Enforcement Center where she was charged with two counts of felony delivery of marijuana.
Prichard was cited into juvenile court and released to a parent.
Police say the two felony drug charges are part of a drug investigation by the task force and the investigation has been ongoing in the past several months.
Ida Grove woman dies after dog bites
(IDA GROVE)–An Ida Grove woman died Monday after being bitten by her German Shepherd dog.
Ida County Sheriff Wade Harriman said the cause of 79-year-old Shirley Lou Bird’s death was determined by an autopsy Tuesday.
The Sheriff’s office requested the assistance of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation due to the circumstances of the death in her home.
Investigators consider Bird’s death to be accidental.
Miller sentenced to prison for drug convictions
(SIOUX CITY)–A Monona County woman will serve a prison sentence for drug convictions.
According to the U-S Attorney’s office, 31-year-old Kristine Jean Miller of Woodbine pled guilty to conspiring to make and distribute meth and possessing pseudoephedrine with intent to make meth.
At a plea hearing in Federal Court in Sioux City, Miller said she traveled from Monona County to South Sioux City to buy pseudophedrine.
Miller was ordered to serve 10 years in prison.
Vander Plaats: Culver shouldn’t appoint justices
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A conservative activist who led the successful campaign to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices is cautioning Democratic Gov. Chet Culver not to appoint new judges.
Bob Vander Plaats issued a statement Wednesday in which he warned that justices appointed by Culver would face challenges in upcoming elections.
Vander Plaats formed a group that campaigned to remove the justices in a Nov. 2 retention election. A commission will recommend three possible candidates for each position to the governor, who will make the appointments.
Culver lost re-election, and it’s doubtful the commission could make recommendations before he leaves office, but he maintains he could make the appointments if given the chance.
Vander Plaats says that would be an affront to voters, who tossed out the judges and Culver.
Culver sets special election for Senate seat
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Gov. Chet Culver has set a special election on Jan. 4 to fill a seat vacated when state Sen. Kim Reynolds was elected lieutenant governor.
Culver announced Wednesday that he’d set the election date for the 48th Senate District seat.
The district includes Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Montgomery, Ringgold and Taylor counties and part of Union County.
Reynolds, a Republican, was elected along with Gov.-elect Terry Branstad.
She resigned her Senate seat Friday.
Suspect in Iowa store slayings to face 2 trials
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A Minnesota teenager accused of killing two clerks at different convenience stores in northern Iowa will face two separate trials.
Prosecutors say 17-year-old Michael Richard Swanson, of St. Louis Park, Minn., will first face trial in Kossuth County on charges he killed Vicky Bowman-Hall. She died after being shot Monday night at the Crossroads gas station in Algona. Swanson will then face trial in the death of Sheila Myers, who was shot and killed at a Kum Go store in Humboldt.
Swanson is charged in each county with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.
Swanson was on probation for vehicle theft when he was reported missing Monday. An arrest warrant warned authorities he might be armed.
Swanson’s attorney, Charles Kenville, declined comment Wednesday.
Body found in tent in SW Iowa identified
UNDERWOOD, Iowa (AP) A decomposed body found along with a tent near Underwood in southwest Iowa has been identified as a California man.
The Council Bluffs Daily NonPareil is reporting the body has been identified as 45-year-old Brian T. MacLean. No hometown in California was given by the Pottawattamie County sheriff’s office.
MacLean’s body was found on Oct. 21 in a wooded area outside of Underwood.
No signs of foul play were discovered. The investigation is continuing.
Cigarette sparked fire at historic Iowa theater
WASHINGTON, Iowa (AP) Authorities say a discarded cigarette is to blame for a fire that damaged a century-old movie theater in a southeastern Iowa town.
The Washington Fire Department says a cigarette left in a trash can in the projection booth of the State Theatre started Wednesday’s fire.
Washington Fire Chief Tom Wide says some movie equipment and old movies were destroyed in the blaze, and the lower floors suffered water damage after firefighters doused the booth with water to put the fire out. The department says no damage estimate is available.
Wide says firefighters contained the fire quickly, in part because their station is located about 100 feet away.
Officials, ID man found in burning home in SE Iowa
MEDIAPOLIS, Iowa (AP) Officials say a man found dead inside a burning house in Mediapolis in southeast Iowa was the homeowner.
The Des Moines County sheriff’s office on Wednesday says the state medical examiner’s office identified the man as 75-year-old David Waller. The cause of death was ruled carbon monoxide poisoning due to smoke inhalation.
Firefighters found Waller’s body in the living room early Sunday.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Medal of Honor recipient to visit CBS’ ‘Late Show’
NEW YORK (AP) CBS says an Army staff sergeant from Iowa who became the first living service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor in four decades will visit the “Late Show with David Letterman” next week.
Hiawatha, Iowa, resident Salvatore Giunta (JUHN’-tah) will appear on the “Late Show” on Nov. 24.
President Barack Obama awarded the medal to Giunta at a White House ceremony Tuesday for his gallantry in Afghanistan three years ago.
Giunta stepped into the line of fire to help a pair of comrades on the Afghan battlefield. He’s the first living service member from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the highest U.S. military decoration.
Obama calls him “a soldier as humble as he is heroic.”
“Late Show” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time on CBS.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
