(LE MARS)–Iowa Department of Transportation crews are treating roads in northwest Iowa this morning.
Some vehicles have left roadways. Bridge surfaces are slick due to freezing drizzle and law enforcement is asking motorists to slow down due to the road conditions.
From the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls:
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CST THIS
MORNING…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR FREEZING DRIZZLE…WHICH IS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 10 AM CST THIS MORNING.
* TIMING…PERIODS OF LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE CAN BE EXPECTED
THROUGH MID MORNING.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR FREEZING DRIZZLE MEANS PERIODS OF FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS.
For School Cancellations www.snowcaponline.com/siouxland.php
School Board considers Merrill property transfer
(MERRILL)–Comments on the future of school property in Merrill will be heard by the Le Mars Community Board of Education tonight.
The board closed Kissinger Elementary School at the end of the last school year. The district is considering selling the property to the city of Merrill for one dollar.
The time for public comments begins the Board of Education meeting at 7:30 tonight at the Education Service Center.
Teachers from first and second grade will present information about two literacy efforts–Daily 5 and Daily Cafe.
The board will be asked to discuss their intentions for disposing of buildings on the Urban property purchased by the district. According to the agenda, there have been several inquiries about the buildings.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
You are hereby notified that the Board of Education of the LeMars Community School District will meet on November 22, 2010, 7:30 p.m. in the Education Service Center, 940 Lincoln St. SW, LeMars, Iowa. Agenda is as follows:
1. Call to Order
2. Kissinger Elementary Hearing
3. Approval of Minutes (November 8, 2010 – Regular Meeting)
4. Consent Grouping (Claims and Accounts)
5. Reports and Information (Unscheduled Audience; Daily 5/Daily Café; IASB State School Board Convention; Regional Legislative Meeting; Annual Chamber Legislative Luncheon; Modified Allowable Growth for At-Risk Programming; Urban Property Buildings)
6. Action Items (Resignations; Contracts; Open Enrollment; Second Regular Board Meeting in December; Early Graduation)
7. Other Business
8. Unfinished Business
9. Adjournment
NEXT REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 13, 2010, 7:30 PM
City would need to request speed study
(LE MARS)–Plymouth County officials have new information about the speed on a highway near county property.
A resident of Plymouth Life residential care facility died November 11th after being struck by two vehicles on Highway Three East, near Plymouth Life. Authorities reported the person intentionally walked onto the highway.
Parents of some of the teens in one of the vehicles last week asked County Supervisors for changes to protect drivers and care facility residents.
Reducing the 50 mile an hour speed was one request.
Supervisor Don Kass of rural Remsen received information from Iowa Department of Transportation staff Friday that the last speed study on Highway three was made in 1985. The result was the 50 mile an hour limit .
If the transportation department were to conduct another speed study, Kass was told the city of Le Mars would need to make a request to the district engineer for the Transportation Department’s Sioux City office.
Police arrest two after intoxication report
(LE MARS)–Two Le Mars men are free on bond after their arrest when Le Mars Police investigated an intoxication report.
Police were called to WalMart about 10:30 Saturday night and found two people leaving the business.
Twenty-year-old Jacob Scott Sitzmann was charged with possession of a counterfeit controlled substance–K-2 and possession of alcohol by someone under 21. Nineteen-year-old Trenton James Toben was charged with public intoxication and possession of alcohol by someone under the age of 21.
They were taken to the Plymouth County Jail.
Financial aid information presentation set for November 29th
(LE MARS)–Le Mars Community High School guidance counselors are offering information about the financial aid process.
Counselors Barry Borchers and Jim Boyd are working with the Iowa College Access Network to offer the financial aid presentation.
Borchers and Boyd say the information covered will include completing the FAFSA–Free Application for Federal Student Aid; electronic processing of the application; and the application deadlines.
There will also be an overview of the financial aid process; types of financial assistance available; scholarships; and places to go for help.
The presentation Monday, November 29th at 7 p-m in the high school cafeteria is for seniors and their parents or guardians.
Huckabee says ousting of Iowa judges historic move
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says Iowa voters have sent a national message by ousting three state Supreme Court justices over the gay marriage issue.
Huckabee was in Des Moines on Sunday courting evangelical conservatives.
He told reporters the decision by the state’s voters to oust the justices resonated across the country. He thinks it will also add momentum to a larger movement over the gay marriage issue.
The justices’ ouster came after a well-funded campaign by conservative groups objecting to their part in a 2009 decision that legalized gay marriage in Iowa.
The former Baptist minister Huckabee planned to speak to more than 1,000 evangelicals at a massive church in Des Moines. The gathering is marking the merger of a series of evangelical groups.
Police investigate Des Moines shooting
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Des Moines police say a man questioned in connection with a homicide in Des Moines has been transported to Polk County Jail on warrants unrelated to the killing.
A material witness warrant was issued last week in the death of 36-year-old LaCarlton Henderson of Des Moines. His body was found Thursday morning in a sports utility vehicle idling in a parking lot.
Authorities say he had been shot in the head.
Police said on Sunday that 32-year-old Renard Eugene Andrews was interviewed in connection with Henderson’s death before he was transported to jail on unrelated charges.
A phone number for Andrews could not be immediately located on Sunday.
It was unclear if he had an attorney.
Police: 2 dead in Franklin County accident
DOWS, Iowa (AP) Authorities say two people are dead after a car accident in north central Iowa.
Iowa State Patrol authorities tell KIMT-TV that the car was found Saturday in Franklin County.
The victims are 40-year-old James John Unger and 14-year-old James Andrew Unger. Both are from Williams.
Authorities say both were traveling near Dows when the driver lost control of the 1992 Mazda and rolled into a creek.
Authorities tell KJAN radio station in Atlantic that neither was wearing seat belts. Authorities are investigating.
CR finishes first wave of removing damaged homes
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Cedar Rapids is almost finished with the first major wave of demolishing flood-damaged homes.
The Gazette reports that city officials say about 570 homes damaged in the 2008 flood have been torn down so far this year, and hundreds more remain standing.
Demolition contractors are focusing on homes that pose an imminent threat to health and safety. City spokesman John Riggs says those houses are the worst of the worst and getting rid of them is a real milestone.
Riggs says contractors plan to tear down the “final few” homes on the danger list soon.
He says those homes have to be razed by Nov. 27 or the Federal Emergency Management Agency won’t cover the cost.
The city estimates 1,200 homes and businesses will eventually be demolished. FLOOD PROTECTION-CEDAR RAPIDS
Corps endorses flood-protection plan for CR
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has endorsed a flood plan for Cedar Rapids that protects the east side of the city but not the west side.
The Gazette says the corps’ Civil Works Review Board in Washington, D.C., endorsed the plan on 5-0 vote on Thursday. The vote moves the plan closer to consideration for funding by Congress.
The plan calls for concrete flood walls to protect most of the east side of the Cedar River in downtown. City officials say the plan has giant shortcomings because it doesn’t protect the west side.
The river swamped the city in 2008, covering 10 square miles.
Mayor Ron Corbett told the Review Board he supports the plan as a first step toward a more comprehensive system protecting both sides of the river.
Ottumwa plans to remove old bridge
OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) Ottumwa plans to remove an old bridge over the Des Moines River because of fears it could collapse.
Public Works Director Larry Seals says the Race Street Bridge isn’t safe, noting problems with the foundation and piers. He would like the span removed before ice floes begin floating downstream.
He tells the Ottumwa Courier that ice could cause the bridge to fall into the river.
Timing of the bridge removal will depend on finding the right contractor. It’s unclear how much the project will cost.
The bridge is believed to date to the early 1900s.
By taking out the bridge, the city will lose a connection to Turkey Island.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
