(Plymouth County)–A two vehicle accident with minor injuries was the result of poor visibility during Saturday’s snow storm.
Vehicles driven by Larry Bower, age 43 and Ryan Baldwin, age 23, both of Sioux City collided hear on just west of highway 75 on 325th Street Saturday afternoon. According to the accident report from the Plymouth County Sheriffs Department, both drivers said that upon seeing each others headlights they swerved to avoid each each other, but still collided nearly head on in the center of the road. Bower was not injured, but his passenger, Nancy Bower, sustained a foot injury and was transported to Mercy Medical Center by HInton Ambulance. Baldwin had a minor laceration on his head, but refused medical attention.
Two other accidents were reported by the Plymouth County Sheriffs office as a result of blowing and drifiting snow on Saturday. Neither resulted in injury.
County Board Meeting Agenda for Tuesday, December 14th
Start time- 9:30am
Jim Henrich – Plymouth County Board Chairman
1.Call meeting to order
2.Approve this agenda (Action)
3.Approval of prior Board meeting minutes (Action)
4.Approval of claims and payroll (Signatures)
5. Committee Reports (Discussion)
A. ISAC update from Gordon (Informational)
6. Old Business
7. New Business
A. Open and review mail/correspondence (Discussion)
B. Open public forum (Informational)
10:00 AM
Plymouth County Compensation Board – Present recommendation for FY 2011-12 salary increase for County elected officials (Informational)
10:15 AM
Rob Bixenman, Bixenman Insurance Agency- Review insurance for Townships (Discussion and
Action)
10:30 AM
Terry Reuter, Plymouth County Fair Board – Present FY 11-12 budget request (Information)
10:45 AM Mike VanOtterloo, Sheriff – Review animal control shelter contract (Action)
11:00 AM Tom Rohe, County Engineer
(Action Items)
Review of Right of Way and Plans-Projects BROS-CO75(127)-8J-75 and
BROS-CO75(128)-8J-75
(Discussion Items)
(Informational Items)
Update on construction projects
Cedar Rapids man accused of arson, making meth
CEDAR RAPIDS–A Cedar Rapids man has been accused of arson and making methamphetamine in his apartment.
The Gazette says Jacob McMann was release from St. Luke’s Hospital last week and then arrested.
Police say firefighters found the remains of a meth lab in McMann’s apartment on Dec. 4. He was later questioned after receiving treatment for burns.
A spokeswoman at the Linn County jail says McMann remained in custody on Monday, pending $75,000 bail. She had no information on his attorney’s name.
Train rams car trapped on tracks in Sheffield
SHEFFIELD–No injuries were reported after a train rammed a car that was stuck on tracks in Sheffield, Iowa.
Authorities told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that the car driver and a passenger couldn’t move the car out of the crossing Sunday evening about 6:30, but they escaped unharmed.
The car was totaled by the train, which pushed it off the tracks. The locomotive was not damaged.
Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, https://www.wcfcourier.com WATERLOO DRESS CODE
Waterloo dress code faces final school board vote
WATERLOO– The Waterloo school board is scheduled to make its final reading and decision on its new dress code.
The code would go into effect Jan. 3 at Waterloo’s high schools, alternative schools and two elementary schools if board members were to approve the proposal at Monday evening’s meeting.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier says the code would go into effect next fall for the rest of the district.
The code will outline for parents and students what attire the district won’t allow in hallways and classrooms.
Some parents had appealed the proposal to the Iowa Board of Education, saying the district had exceeded its authority under state law because it was requiring certain clothes.
The state board is expected to take up the issue on Jan. 27.
Fire at Chickasaw County attorney’s office in Iowa
NEW HAMPTON–Fire crews are on the scene of a fire at the Chickasaw County attorney’s office in New Hampton in northeast Iowa.
Firefighters were called to the office just after 8 a.m. on Monday. The county attorney’s office is located in a law office just off Main Street.
No injuries have been reported. There’s no word on the possible cause of the fire or the potential damage. Owners of the law office, however, are worried they may have lost all of their documents.
Iowa prosecutors, principals warn against sexting
DES MOINES– Federal prosecutors and some Iowa high school principals are joining forces to warn that sexting is dangerous and can lead to prison.
At a news conference Monday in Cedar Rapids, officials cited the case of a Plymouth man who was sentenced to more than six years in prison for threatening to post online a sexually explicit photograph of his former girlfriend when she was a minor. U.S. Attorney Stephanie Rose says Garrett Roegner, now 25, was sentenced last week for transporting child pornography and extortion.
Rose says it’s important that students and parents realized the risks of sexting. She says there’s only one way to prevent it don’t take the pictures in the first place.
Iowa governor to address conference in Brazil
DES MOINES– Iowa’s Gov. Chet Culver is in Rio de Janeiro to address an international conference on biomass and biofuels.
The governor’s office says in a news release that he is representing the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition, which he leads as chairman. His spokeswoman Angel Albert says his trip expenses are being paid by the biofuels coalition.
Culver is expected to discuss the latest developments in biofuels and biomass spurred by the Iowa Power Fund.
The conference is being held at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The conference was organized by a biofuels production research consortium called Development of Integrated Biomass Approaches Network.
Lande to head Iowa Natural Resources Department
DES MOINES– A Muscatine lawyer has been selected to head the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in the upcoming administration of Terry Branstad.
Branstad’s transition team announced the selection of Roger Lande (LAN-dee) on Monday.
A news release says Lande “has long been active in protecting and preserving Iowa’s natural resources as a hunter and fisherman, and also with involvement in various organizations such as the Izaak Walton League.”
The department cares for Iowa’s state parks, forests and other resources.
Lande is a former chairman of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
Survey: Some students may have lied about profs
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) A University of Northern Iowa professor says students admit they may have stretched the truth in teacher evaluations.
Marketing professor Dennis Clayson says he and a fellow marketing professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Debra Haley, surveyed a total of nearly 240 students at their schools. About a third of those surveyed said they lied on the anonymous evaluations.
And 56 percent responded that they know other students who lied on the evaluations, which colleges typically circulate at the end of semesters.
Clayson says sometimes the students overpraise their teachers, but that more often they lie to punish professors they don’t like.
