(ORANGE CITY)–The fourth president of a Siouxland college has died.
Former Northwestern College President Dr. Lars Granberg died Wednesday at the age of 91. Funeral services for Dr. Lars Granberg will be Monday at Third Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. Funeral services are under the direction of Langeland-Sterenberg Funeral Home in Holland.
Granberg was president of Northwestern College from 1966 to 1975. He was president of the Orange City college five years after it awarded its first bachelor’s degree. Dr. Granberg is credited for overseeing the school’s transformation into a liberal arts college.
Former Northwestern President Dr. Bruce Murphy says Granberg may end up being one of the most significant presidents in Northwestern’s history because of his role in the transition from a junior college to a four-year liberal arts college. Murphy was hired as a Northwestern professor by Granberg.
The building housing the English department was named Granberg Hall in his honor in 1987.
The native of Norway grew up in Chicago.
(LE MARS)–Students who are progressing in watercolor instruction are displaying their work at the Le Mars Arts Center this month.
“Watercolor Wonders” features the works of several area artists that have been studying at classes at the Art Center.Their instructor is artist Jean Weiner.
According to Kathy Moore of the Arts Center, exhibiting artists include Susan Betsworth; Debbie Bronander; Clancy Kennah, Kay Luckett; Randi Mackey; Rose Peterson; Lisa Sitzmann and Dennis Wolf.
The exhibit is displayed through March 27th. Hours are from 1-5 Thursdays through Sundays. A reception for the artists will be Sunday, March 20th from 1-3 in the afternoon and is open to the public without charge.
(LE MARS)–There’s information on a spring planting option available at the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Le Mars.
District Conservationist James Lahn says the district has 75 percent cost-share funds for windbreaks available through the state of Iowa. He encourages farmers and landowners to sign-up for the funds by April first explaining now is the time to make plans to install a windbreak in the spring.
The windbreak is required to be a minimum of three rows.
Benefits include energy consumption reduction; added beauty; reduced building weathering; food and shelter for wildlife; control of snow deposits and noise and odor protection.
(ORANGE CITY)–The 71st annual Orange City Tulip Festival will reflect a “Heritage of Style.”
The three-day celebration of Orange City’s Dutch heritage is May 19-21st.
What began as a garden show now features bands, floats, tulip gardens, the night show musical production, “Godspell,” and intricate Dutch costumes worn by Orange City residents and a dozen replica windmills.
In the Great Depression, the Dutch culture’s wooden shoes became too expensive to buy. Parents used cardboard cut-outs in the shape of wooden shoes and fastened them to children’s feet with rubber bands.
Costumes for the festival are passed down from generation to generation and also reflect the “Heritage of Style” theme chosen for this year’s event.
www.octulipfestival.com
(ORANGE CITY)–Meetings on waste management for dairy farm owners will be offered in four Northwest Iowa counties.
Iowa State University Extension Dairy Program Specialist Chris Mondak said special focus will be given to updates about regulations and expectations for small and medium sized farms.
According to Mondak’s information, anyone who has surface water running through their livestock operation or who has manure, effluent or “brown water” leaving their farm should consider attending a focus group meeting.
She said it’s important to make time to attend because recent compliance enforcement actions by the E-P-A have dairy producers evaluating their livestock and manure systems.
The meetings are in Hull at the Pizza Ranch March 15; the extension office in Cherokee County on March 16; the Sac County Extension Office March 17 and the Pocahontas County Extension office on March 18th. All meetings begin at noon.
Pre-registration and information is available from Mondak through the I-S-U Extension office in Sioux County.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The president of the Iowa State Education Association is serving a three-day jail sentence for drunken driving.
The Polk County sheriff’s office told the Des Moines Register that Chris Bern was in its jail this weekend for a Dec. 17 arrest.
A statement from Bern released by the teachers union says he regrets his “careless actions” and will work to regain the trust of the union’s 33,000 members.
Bern was elected president in 2008.
JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) A leader of the Iowa tea party movement says his group won’t endorse a presidential candidate in the campaign for Iowa’s leadoff caucuses.
Ryan Rhodes is one of the founders of the movement in Iowa. He says that while the group won’t endorse a candidate, its members plan to take a leading role in the process with hopes of encouraging candidates to endorse its views on limiting the size of government.
Rhodes says Republican candidates should take the group seriously and pay attention to their views.
Rhodes spoke Friday during a taping of the Iowa Public Television program, “Iowa Press.”
GRAND MOUND, Iowa (AP) Autopsies were pending after two bodies were found in a machine shed that burned in eastern Iowa.
WQAD-TV reports that the bodies were discovered in the metal farm building in Grand Mound after firefighters had put out the fire Thursday night.
The Clinton County sheriff’s office has asked the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and state fire marshal’s office for help.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Authorities say a police chase that began in Iowa ended safely at an Omaha hospital.
Omaha police say the Iowa State Patrol had chased a pickup down Interstate 680 around 1 a.m. Friday until it crossed the Missouri River into Omaha. An Omaha police helicopter followed the truck and guided officers who tried unsuccessfully to deflate its tires.
Police say a woman in the truck called 911 and said the driver was her husband. She said he was suicidal and threatening her and their child.
The truck was followed to Immanuel Medical Center in north Omaha, where a brief standoff occurred. Officers eventually talked the driver out of his keys, and he was taken into custody.
No injuries were reported. The child that the wife mentioned in the 911 call turned out to be the couple’s dog.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) A Waterloo has been given five years’ probation for his role in a 2008 assault on a woman who later died.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the judge suspended a 10-year prison sentence for Javon Collins. The 21-year-old Collins was found guilty at a November trial of second-degree burglary.
Authorities say Collins was among a crowd that had swarmed Jasmine Mills’ car in the parking lot of a Waterloo convenience store in December 2008 in an attempt to get to her boyfriend in the passenger seat. The 18-year-old Mills later died of head injuries.
Two other men convicted in the case have been given 25-
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) The University of Iowa has hired Jana Wessels to manage the work force at its hospital and medical college.
Wessels’ hiring as associate vice president for human resources for University of Iowa Health Care was announced Friday. She had served in the post on an interim basis.
She replaces Chad Simmons, a former Kraft Food executive who had no experience in health care or academia before being hired to oversee roughly 10,000 full-time employees. Simmons abruptly resigned last May after 16 months on the job.
Wessels was chosen from a field of nearly 70 candidates.
She previously was the assistant vice president for human resources for University of Iowa Health Care and director of human services for the Carver College of Medicine.
Top Trump business adviser scopes Iowa politics
NEW YORK (AP) One of Donald Trump’s top business associates is heading to Iowa Monday to promote a potential Trump presidential bid.
Michael Cohen is vice president and counsel to Trump’s real estate development conglomerate.
He’s also a founder of Should Trump Run. The website is aimed at boosting interest and support for a Trump candidacy.
Cohen says Trump has no connection to the website.
Cohen says he’ll fly to Iowa on one of Trump’s private jets and spend the day meeting with top Republican lawmakers, operatives and grassroots leaders.
Trump told the Des Moines Register and WHO radio this week that he’d campaign hard in Iowa if he runs for the GOP nomination to challenge President Barack Obama.
Trump has said he’ll make a decision by June.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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