(ORANGE CITY)–The new Orange City Tulip Queen is an MOC-Floyd Valley High School senior.
The daylong Queen’s Pageant ended Monday night with the crowning of 2011 Tulip Queen Jessica Locker.
The daughter of Steve and Deb Locker was one of five young women vying to serve as the ambassador of the annual Tulip Festival.
She has been active in Tulip Festival events including Dutch dancing; street scrubbing and marching with the wooden-shoed Pride of the Dutchman band.
Others on the Tulip Court are Katelyn Droog, the daughter of Rick and Sue Droog and Sara Heilman whose parents are Rev. David and Lori Heilman. Also, representing the community’s Dutch heritage will be Nicole Mulder whose parents are Tim and Glenda Mulder and the daughter of Kenton and Melanie Witt, Talitha Witt.
The 2011 celebration has a theme of “A Heritage of Style” and will be held the third weekend in May.
Business focuses on customer experience
(LE MARS)–Fine wine, spirits and brews are the focus of a Le Mars business, Cork It!
The Cork It! environment is part of the experience owner Kathy Schwader planned to build customer relationships.
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Cork It! customers may choose specialty products such as Iowa wines and Amana Colonies’ meats, cheese and specialty foods.
Gifts baskets are a year-round feature of the business at 769 Prospect Street Southwest
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Schwader considered color in naming the business
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Cork It!’s owner draws on about three decades of experience in serving customers.
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Cork It! opened this fall.
Federal officials investigate plane crash and deaths
STANTON, Neb. (AP) The Stanton County sheriff’s office says a single-engine airplane that crashed en route to Omaha may have encountered poor weather and went down during a landing attempt.
The Piper Comanche left the Chamberlain airport in South Dakota around 5 p.m. Sunday and did not arrive at its destination, the Millard Airport on the west side of Omaha. The sheriff’s office says the wreckage was found Monday afternoon eight miles northeast of Stanton during an aerial search by the Civil Air Patrol.
The sheriff’s office says the pilot and a passenger were found dead at the scene. The Civil Air Patrol said the pilot was about 60 years old and the passenger about 50. Their names have not been released.
Federal investigators were expected to look over the crash site Tuesday.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Five injured southwest of Rock Valley
(ORANGE CITY)–Five people were injured when a sport utility vehicle left a Sioux County gravel road early Sunday morning.
The Sheriff’s Office investigated the accident eight miles southwest of Rock Valley on Chestnut Avenue.
Authorities report 22-year-old Melissa Jandl of Canton, South Dakota was driving north when she lost control and the S-U-V went into the ditch and rolled.
Jandl was taken to a hospital in Canton, South Dakota by Hudson Ambulance. Those taken to the hospital in Rock Valley were 27-year-old Jeffrey Kats; 24-year-old Eric Kats; 38-year-old Michael Koedam and 38-year-old Angela Koedam, all from the Rock Valley area.
Jeffrey Kats was later transferred to a Sioux Falls hospital to be treated for injuries the sheriff’s report listed as “serious.”
Clinton man denies involvement in 2 deaths, arson
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) A Clinton man has denied any involvement in the deaths of a 22-year-old woman and her two-year-old son.
Dameon Tucker took the stand on Monday at his trial at the Clinton County courthouse, where he faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson.
The 23-year-old said he was not guilty and that he told conflicting stories to police because he felt detectives were trying to manipulate him into confessing to the deaths of Angel Herman and Cyrus Shoup.
The Clinton Herald reports that, under cross-examination, he testified he didn’t “have a clue” why Herman’s blood was found on his coat, pants and shoe.
The bodies of Herman and Shoup were found after a fire in their apartment last year.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday.
Jury awards estate $546K in nursing home death
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The estate of a retired farmer who died after an accident at a nursing home has been awarded more than $546,000 from the home and an ambulance service.
A Polk County jury has ruled in favor of the family of Wilbur Jackson, an 89-year-old who died after an accident at Friendship Manor Care Center in Grinnell in June 2009.
Jackson was being taken on a gurney to an ambulance for tests at a nearby hospital when one of its wheels dropped into a crack in a walkway outside the home. The gurney flipped over and his head struck the pavement. He lapsed into a coma and died within days.
The jury found Friendship Manor was 90 percent at fault, and Midwest Ambulance Service of Iowa was 10 percent.
Police say Drake student robbed, kidnapped
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Des Moines police say a Drake University student has been robbed and kidnapped near his home but was able to escape from his abductor.
The Des Moines Register is reporting that the 21-year-old student was approached by a man as he walked to his car about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday. They say the man displayed a silver handgun and ordered the student into the car. The student was robbed of $50 and ordered to drive around, ending up near Valley West Mall in West Des Moines.
Police say the student told them the gunman told him to wait and that a friend would be joining him. When the gunman got out of the car, the student drove off and called police.
No arrests have been made.
38 Iowa cities, counties get flood recovery grants
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A total of $1 million has been awarded to 31 Iowa cities and seven counties for projects to reduce risks of flooding.
The grants were awarded Monday by the Rebuild Iowa Office. They will be used to support development and planning of projects in flood-prone areas.
Grant amounts range from $3,750 to Columbus Junction to $89,000 for Dubuque County. Grants provide up to 50 percent of the plan costs.
They are funded through Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in response to storms and flooding in 2008.
Cedar Rapids council to consider purchase of hotel
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) The city council in Cedar Rapids is expected to consider purchasing the struggling Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel for $3.2 million.
The city has proposed purchasing the hotel, and then spending $20 million to $25 million renovating the building. Council members could approve the deal on Tuesday.
City Manager Jeff Pomeranz says the purchase of the hotel is critical to the $75 million plan to rebuild the attached U.S. Cellular Center into the new Cedar Rapids Convention Complex.
The hotel is expected to close at the end of February, which will put about 140 employees out of work.
The Gazette reports the hotel should reopen in the fall of 2012, a month or two before the convention center opens.
Clear Lake plant to cut second shift
CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) A company that manufactures storm doors is shutting down the second shift at its Clear Lake plant indefinitely.
Brookings, S.D-based Larson Manufacturing says about 60 workers will be let go at the plant, which currently employs about 210 people. Second shift starts at 4 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer Jeff Rief says the company needs to “right-size our capacity to meet the market demand” and remain competitive in the middle of a stagnant economy.
The company said it will work with local officials to try to find new opportunities for employees affected.
UI senior named Rhodes Scholar
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) A senior at the University of Iowa is one of 32 students in the United States to be named a Rhodes Scholar.
Renugan Raidoo, of Sioux Falls, S.D., is majoring in chemistry and anthropology. He is a Presidential Scholar at Iowa and a Goldwater Scholar. He has presented research in Germany, California and Iowa.
The 20-year-old Raidoo will enter Oxford University in England in October for two or three years of all-expense paid study. Raidoo will seek a master of philosophy degree in social anthropology.
The winners were selected from 837 applicants on the basis of high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.
The value of the scholarships averages about $50,000 per year.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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