(LE MARS)– There’s a You Tube video going around this Christmas season that includes a song called: “Where’s the Line to See Jesus?” The answer to this question in Le Mars is at St. John’s Lutheran Church this Sunday.
Every five years Bethlehem Revisited is held during the month of December and for the last 3 cycles, Barb Shostak has been involved. Barb says that St. John’s is transformed beyond recognition.
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Barb added that her favorite moment of Bethlehem Revisited is overhearing the comments from people when they see the family.
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Another part of the manger scene is live animals, and since every part of “Revisited” takes place inside, Barb says there are bound to be situations that happen with them.
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The single digit highs for this Sunday are definitely on the minds of organizers, but Barb hopes they can keep the line down.
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Whether there’s snow, or freezing cold temperatures, the show will go on, and there is no make-up date for the event. Bethlehem Revisited is this Sunday from noon to 6pm at St. John Lutheran’s Church in Le Mars. (News report by Angela Drake, KLEM News)
Foundation grants help groups throughout the county
(LE MARS)–The Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County awarded grants this week.
The funds are from gambling tax receipts for non-gambling counties.
According to Karla Bohle, Grant Committee Chair, the award winners are:
City of Brunsville $7600.00 for playground equipment & improvements
Remsen Heritage Museum $5000.00 Plumbing & Electrical Enhancements
LeMars Area Family YMCA $7000.00 New lockers
Mid-Sioux Opportunity $7000.00 Emergency Assistance Program
City of Kingsley $10,000.00 Storm Sewer Improvements for Brookside Golf Course
Plymouth Busters 4-H Club $4410.00 4-H Shooting Sports Equipment
The Nature Conservancy $3600.00 2 Chainsaws, Brushcutter adn ATV slip on water tanks
Plymouth County Historical Museum $4575.00 Kid’s Milk Cow Exhibit
Akron Area Museum $6709.53 Period Victorian Porch
P.A.L.S. $1250.00 Touch Screen Monitor and Computer desk
Friends of LeMars Public Library $1750.00 Kids Cybernet Literacy Station
LeMars Convention & Visitors Bureau $2475.00 Handicap Access at the Weidler Building
Hinton Community Schools $5000.00 200 Non-fiction books for new library
Beautification Babes (Hinton) $4500.00 Black Wrought Iron Fencing for Michael’s Miracle Park
Akron Children’s Center $5300.00 Low temp dishwashing machine
Gehlen Catholic School $9182.00 Fire and Safety Enhancements
Akron Beautification Committee $2980.31 Landscaping of Events sign
City of Hinton Fire & Rescue $5000.00 5″ Hose & Adapters
Traveler’s cause of death still unknown
(SAC CITY)–Sac County’s Sheriff say the cause of a death of a Tennessee man whose body was found in car towed during a storm is still being determined.
Earl Ealey of Clarksville , Tennessee , was found dead in his car in a tow lot November 16th in Early.
Toxicology and other tests are being made to find out what Ealey died from.
When the car was towed on November 13th, the vehicle was locked and the car was covered in snow
Sheriff Ken McClure says Ealey’s body was found reclined in the driver’s seat of his car with the keys in his jacket pocket. A charged cell phone was in the front seat next to Ealey. He had not called 911 for help.
The last call was made on the phone five days before his body was found in the car towed beause it was blocking a state highway during a winter storm.
McClure says Ealey’s family reported that he did have some medical and emotional health issues. They are not sure why he was in Iowa, but believe it may have been to find a former Army buddy.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sac County Sheriff’s Office at 712-662-7127.
Driver injured while making turn from highway
(LE MARS)–A Merrill woman was injured when a mini-van was struck by a semi at a Le Mars intersection Tuesday morning.
According to a Le Mars Police report, 79-year-old Norma Philips of Merrill was attempting a left turn onto 12th Street Southwest from Highway 75.
A semi driven by 38-year-old Kent Segebart of Lake City was traveling south on Highway 75 in the outside lane. Police report the front bumper of the semi struck Philips’ van broadside on the passenger’s rear door.
Philips was taken to Floyd Valley Hospital by Le Mars Ambulance for injuries police listed as non-incapacitating.
Coalition calls for $60M for Iowa flood prevention
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) A coalition of lawmakers, local officials, farmers and business people are calling on Iowa to invest $60 million to prevent flood damage and improve water quality in the Cedar River Basin.
The Cedar River Watershed Coalition released a list of 40 projects it believes can be implemented over the next two years within the Cedar River Basin, including wetland restoration, prairie plantings and protection of timbered floodplains.
State Sen. Robb Hogg of Cedar Rapids says after floods in 2008 and 2010, it’s clear Iowa needs to lead the way in pre-disaster hazard mitigation and watershed management.
Matt Fisher of The Nature Conservancy, which manages the Swamp White Oak Preserve in Muscatine County, says committing the funds and making the improvements would be a major step toward preventing future flood catastrophes.
Branstad names head of Iowa Workforce Development
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Gov.-elect Terry Branstad has named businesswoman Teresa Wahlert as director of Iowa Workforce Development.
Branstad named Wahlert to the post on Wednesday. She grew up in Dubuque and currently lives in Waukee.
Iowa Workforce Development provides businesses and employees with an array of services and education.
Branstad also named state Rep. Rod Roberts to head the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. Roberts chose not to run for re-election this year. He has been representing Carroll County and parts of Crawford and Sac counties. He lives in Carroll.
In another selection announced Wednesday, Davenport lawyer Courtney Kay-Decker was named as the future head of the Iowa Department of Revenue.
Iowa audit shows intelligence office misspent $67K
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa state auditor says a now-closed criminal intelligence office in Atlantic misspent nearly $67,000, including payments to a funeral home and for Christmas meat.
The report on Wednesday found that the Region 4 Fusion Office misspent grant and city money. The audit covers March 2006 through August 2009.
Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green alerted state officials of the possible misspending. He told The Des Moines Register that officials will likely seek reimbursement, but criminal charges are not currently being considered.
The office was created in 2004 to pump up the exchange of safety intelligence information among the public and private sectors. It was one of six such offices in Iowa. The Atlantic office was shut down a year ago largely due to its accounting problems.
No criminal charges in death of Polk County inmate
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Polk County Attorney John Sarcone (SAR’-cone) says an investigation into the death of an inmate at the county jail yielded insufficient evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the jail staff.
The Des Moines Register says Sarcone released a statement Wednesday saying the investigation is complete.
Nicholas Beasley, originally from Chicago, died May 30, a day after he was booked in the jail on a domestic assault charge. The state medical examiner’s office ruled Beasley’s death a homicide on Oct. 21, saying his death was caused “in the setting of restraint” with a seizure disorder, epilepsy, and an inflammation of the heart.
Des Moines attorney Alfredo Parrish, who represents Beasley’s family, told The Associated Press that he is going to study how Sarcone’s decision was made and then decide the next step.
Cedar Rapids man died of exposure
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Authorities say a Cedar Rapids man found dead along a street wearing only boxer shorts in subzero temperatures died of hypothermia due to exposure.
Thirty-one-year-old Cory Sundberg was found just before 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
The Gazette says Linn County Medical Examiner Dr. Don Linder ruled Wednesday that Sandberg’s death was an accident.
Police Sgt. Joe Clark says investigators are still trying to determine why Sundberg was found only in his boxer shorts on a frigid morning.
About five hours before Sundberg’s body was found, police were called about a man without pants or shoes walking nearby. Officers looked in the area, but couldn’t find anyone.
Work-release inmate missing from Des Moines unit
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowa authorities say a 28-year-old work-release inmate failed to return to a state facility in Des Moines.
Brian Andrew Horch has been assigned to the Des Moines Work Release Facility since August. The state says Horch is listed as escaped because of his unexcused absence from the facility, starting Tuesday.
In September 2001, Horch was sentenced to 22 years in prison. He was convicted in Polk County of extortion, theft, assault during a felony and two counts of burglary.
Popular nun killed in Iowa car crash
WALNUT, Iowa (AP) A popular nun who founded a housing organization to help the poor in central Iowa has died in a car crash in western Iowa.
The Iowa State Patrol says Sister Stella Neill was driving on Interstate 80 near Walnut Tuesday evening when she went onto the shoulder of the road, overcorrected and rolled into the ditch.
KETV in Omaha , Neb. reports that the 68-year-old Neill was not wearing a seatbelt.
Neill is known for starting Anawim Housing, a charity that The Des Moines Register says helped provide new and renovated housing for low-income families. She retired from the post earlier this year and moved back to Omaha.
She also was a member of the Sisters of Mercy of Omaha, celebrating her 50th year with the community this year.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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