(LE MARS)–Cold weather has halted some late fall maintenance work in Le Mars.
City Administrator Scott Langel says street work known as full-depth removal and patch work has stopped. Sidewalk changes for handicap access were also halted with the final project completed at First and Third, near The Abbey.
According to Langel, Northwest Iowa Community College Heavy Equipment program earth moving equipment was moved back to Sheldon.
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Faculty-supervised students helped prepare for the relocation and expansion of I-CON Ag Solutions to southwest Le Mars.
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According to Langel, water main extensions were also completed before cold weather.
Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County makes awards Tuesday
(LE MARS)–Funds will be given to groups that will use gambling revenue awarded to the Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County.
The money will be presented Tuesday morning in Le Mars based on a review of applications received by October first.
Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County Grant Committee Chair Karla Bohle says the foundation recently received about 123-thousand dollars. The funds are gaming revenue distributed to non-gambling counties.
Seventy-five percent of the money is to be awarded to charitable groups for educational, civic and public purposes in Plymouth County. The rest of the funds are used to facilitate endowment building.
Western Iowa Tech is site for regional LEGO competition Saturday
(SIOUX CITY)–Thirty-two teams from western Iowa will compete in the FIRST LEGO League regional qualifier Saturday in Sioux City.
The theme of the FIRST LEGO League Challenge is “Body Forward.” Young people in 56 countries will have an opportunity to explore the cutting edge world of biomedical engineering.
The LEGO participants will look at ways to repair injuries, overcome genetic predispositions and maximize the body’s potential.
About 300 students ages 9-14 are expected to be part of the regional qualifier at Western Iowa Tech Saturday from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon.
Top teams advance to the championship in Ames.
Hunter injured Sunday
(DES MOINES)–A Dickens man who was hunting deer near Ruthven was struck by a shotgun slug Sunday.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports 22-year-old Adam Storey was hunting with one group of hunters. A shot taken at a running deer by a hunter with another group went over a ridge.
Storey was struck in the upper hip, but the shotgun slug did not penetrate the skin. He was treated at the Palo Alto County Hospital in Emmetsburg. The D-N-R described the injury as a bad bruise.
D-N-R Recreational Safety Officer Marty Eby said the shot travelled more than 300 yards before striking Storey.
The shooting accident is still being investigated.
US building in SD likely to be renamed for judge
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) The federal building and courthouse in Rapid City may soon have a new name.
A release from U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson says a bill before President Barack Obama would rename the building in honor of Andrew Bogue , a federal judge who passed away last year at age 90.
Bogue was appointed to the federal bench in South Dakota in 1970 and served there until his death. He was a native a Yankton and a veteran of World War II and the Korean War.
(COPYRIGHT 2010 BY ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
Dvorsky elected as Iowa Democratic Party Chair
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Democratic officials say Sue Dvorsky has been elected as the head of the Iowa Democratic Party.
The party’s state central committee elected officers on Saturday to serve through 2012.
Dvorsky was chosen as chair of the party in June, after Michael Kiernan resigned. He cited health reasons.
She says she’s grateful to be chosen for the post again. The Coralville woman says among her most important tasks is protecting progress Iowa has made.
Dvorsky retired earlier this year after teaching special education in Iowa city for three decades.
New system tracking drug to crack down on meth
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) A new computerized tracking system has stopped more than 10,000 people who attempted to buy products containing a cold medicine used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
The Globe Gazette in Mason City reports that in the first two months after the new tracking system went online in September, there were nearly 230,000 purchases of products containing pseudoephedrine, found in many cold medicines. Of those, the system blocked 10,425 purchases.
The system tracks individuals and limits purchases to once a day with a monthly maximum of 7,500 milligrams in a 30-day period.
All of Iowa’s 642 pharmacies participate in the program.
Dale Woolery, of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, says the system seems to be helping to cut down on the material needed to produce meth.
1 dead in Belle Plaine house fire
BELLE PLAINE, Iowa (AP) Authorities say one person is dead after a house fire in Belle Plaine.
The fire started around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. Fire Chief Russ Spading tells the Des Moines Register that the house was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived.
Firefighters recovered the body of the victim and the bodies of two dogs.
The victim’s name hasn’t been released.
Spading says the house was a total loss.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Fire officials investigate Keota fire
KEOTA, Iowa (AP) Fire officials in eastern Iowa are investigating the cause of a fire that damaged several businesses in Keota.
The fire was called in at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday and crews remained on site throughout the day.
No injuries were reported.
Keota Fire Chief Mike Detweiler tells The Gazette that says it appears the fire started in a part of an old lumberyard.
He says from there it spread to several businesses, including the Bermel Insurance Agency. The All Around Fitness center was also destroyed, among several other buildings.
Keota has about 875 people.
Authorities investigate hunting accident injury
BARNES CITY, Iowa (AP) Authorities say a Minnesota man has been hospitalized after a hunting accident in southeast Iowa.
KJAN-AM in Atlantic reports that 71-year-old Gerald Bader of Federal Dam, Minnesota, was hunting in a party near Barnes City, Iowa, on Saturday when another person hit him in the hip with a shotgun slug.
The incident happened Saturday, the first day of the shotgun deer hunting season.
Bader was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. Officials say his injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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