(LE MARS)–A 10-year-old girl is hospitalized in Omaha after being bitten by two dogs at rural Akron Wednesday afternoon.
A call to Plymouth County 9-1-1 was made by the child’s mother reporting her daughter had been attacked.
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Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo released written information that the child, 10-year-old Breanna Buenger, was outside playing in a yard at 22652 Highway Three, rural Akron. Two 10-month-old Pit Bull dogs, one male and one female, were also outside in the yard.
Authorities have not determined what caused the dogs to attack the child. Buenger was able to free herself and get back into the house.
Akron Ambulance crew members and deputies who responded to the 9-1-1 call found the girl had numerous bites and puncture wounds to the head and neck area. Akron Ambulance took the child to St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Sioux City. She was transferred to an Omaha hospital to be treated for multiple injuries to the head and neck area.
Van Otterloo reports the dogs have been taken to a local vet linic for observation. They belong to Stephanie Trobaugh. Buenger and her mother have been staying with the Trobaugh family.
(LE MARS)–A Le Mars student tied for first place in a competition for seventh grade math students in Siouxland.
Thirty-six schools in northwest Iowa are split into southern and northern tiers.
The first place team in the Sioux City or southern tier area was Gehlen Catholic.
Gehlen Catholic seventh grader David Puhl (pool) tied for first place with Andrea Pham of SIoux City North Middle. Two other student split the second place standing in the Sioux City area. They are Carson Kneip of Gehlen catholic and Truman Schmitt of Hinton Middle School Team A.
The first place team in the Sioux City area was Gehlen Catholic. Puhl and Kneip led Gehlen Catholic to the top spot along with their team members Megan Kellen; Jill Kessenich and D-J Loutsch. Their teacher is Carol Kessenich.
(SIOUX CITY)– A group of women, known as the “Roller Dames,” are skating their way to friendship and community involvement through the sport of Roller Derby.
The Dames started in 2008 when one of the founding members saw other girls compete in the sport near Minneapolis. They’ve been competing in tournaments and bouts ever since, and were just recently accepted into WFTDA, Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. They will have the opportunity to rank nationally with over 100 other teams.
Stephanie Hoppe from Le Mars has been skating with the team for about 3 years. Because derby girls go by an alias as part of the culture of the sport, we’ll refer to Hoppe as Felony Convixen. Felony tells us how contemporary roller derby works.
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She said that some bouts have had point totals up to 300.
Dani Boch is another Le Mars native involved with the Sioux City Roller Dames. She’s known in the derby world as “Dubs,” and says she got involved because she needed a competitive outlet.
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Felony Convixen says in addition to cheap anger management and a great work-out, Roller Derby is all about supporting local charities, and they do so through fundraisers. Charities the The Roller Dames support include : Girls, Inc., Counsel on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, Habitat for Humanity, Iowa Legal Aid and Breast Cancer Awareness.
In order to keep the group going, they also need to fund raise for themselves, which is why they have events like the one at Cork It! this (Friday) evening.
The Sioux City Roller Dames home season starts up again in August, where they compete at the Long Lines Rec Center in Sioux City at least once a month. You can find out more at www.siouxcityrollerdames.com. (News report by Angela Drake of KLEM) Photo courtesy Sioux City Roller Dames
(LE MARS)–With a resignation accepted, the process of filling the assistant superintendent position for the Le Mars Community School District is underway.
Dr. Carl Turner asked the Board of Education to release him from his contract. Turner received that approval Wednesday night. He’s the Storm Lake School District’s choice for superintendent.
Le Mars Community Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt explained his time line for a replacement.
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Dr. Wendt discussed the plans at the Board of Education meeting Wednesday night.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Planned Parenthood of the Heartland plans to expand its services in Nebraska and Iowa in the near future.
CEO Jill June announced Thursday that the organization’s new capital campaign envisions 12 new facilities. They would be in Grand Island, Fremont, North Platte, Hastings, Norfolk and Kearney in Nebraska, and Carter Lake, Clinton, Mason City, Muscatine, Ottumwa and Marshalltown in Iowa.
Planned Parenthood now has 25 facilities in the two states. Four are in Nebraska and the others are in Iowa.
The announcement came during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Planned Parenthood’s new facility in Omaha.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa National Guard has confirmed the death of a second Iowa soldier in Afghanistan this week.
The Guard says 21-year-old Spc. Donald L. Nichols of Shell Rock was killed during a mounted patrol on Wednesday. The Guard says the vehicle he was in was struck by a roadside bomb in Laghman Province.
Twenty-four-year-old Spc. Timothy R. Gourd of Prescott was injured in the attack. Both soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry in Waterloo.
Another Iowa National Guard soldier, 31-year-old Spc. Brent Maher, of Honey Creek, near Council Bluffs, was killed in a roadside bombing on Monday. Three other soldiers were injured. All four soldiers were with the 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry based in Shenandoah.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) The Mississippi River is forecast to crest next week at 19.9 feet at Davenport.
That would be the sixth highest crest on record.
The National Weather Service’s office in the Quad Cities says the river topped 17 feet Thursday afternoon.
Meteorologist Tom Philip says the forecast could change if significant rain falls. He says the lack of rain in recent weeks means the ground can soak up quite a bit of rain but depending on how much and where the rain fall, it could slow the river’s descent or even push it higher.
Floodwaters are causing detours on River Drive in Davenport and water is covering much of LeClaire Park on the city’s riverfront.
The river reached a record crest of 22.63 feet in Davenport in 1993.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is closing three locks on the Mississippi River in Iowa and Illinois due to high water.
The corps says Thursday the closures are necessary as the river overtops the lock gates, making them inoperable. The locks to be closed on Friday are Lock 12 in Bellevue and Lock 13 in Fulton, Ill., which are between Dubuque and Davenport, and Lock 16 in Illinois City, Ill., which is below Davenport.
The corps says the Mississippi River is rising swiftly, and additional locks may be closed over the next several weeks depending on spring rains.
The Mississippi River is forecast to crest next week in Davenport at 19.9 feet. That would be the sixth highest crest on record.
OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) A judge has approved a request by the city of Ottumwa to permanently remove animals from a woman suspected of animal abuse.
KCCI-TV in Des Moines says the court order was issued on Wednesday in the case against Noelle Stanbridge. Police arrested her and charged with animal cruelty after officers viewed a video of her that appears to show her hitting a dog with a club. Police seized 10 dogs and seven cats on April 1.
In the order, Judge Lucy Gamon ordered the dogs removed from the home. The judge says the cats will be returned to Stanbridge or their rightful owners because there’s no evidence that any of the cats were abused.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) An Iowa man has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of production of child pornography, admitting in court that he persuaded a Wyoming teenager to send him sexually explicit images of herself over the Internet.
Twenty-nine-year-old Gabriel Simmons of Onawa, Iowa, pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson. The judge accepted a plea agreement Simmons made with federal prosecutors that calls for him to serve 15 years in prison.
Prosecutor Jim Anderson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Simmons got the girl to send photos by pretending to be an employee of a modeling agency. He says Simmons later threatened to send the photos to the girl’s relatives and school if she refused to send more.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) A man arrested in the fatal shooting of another man during a dispute outside a Council Bluffs bar has been charged with first-degree murder.
Forty-two-year-old Robert Hashberger, of Council Bluffs, is accused of killing 41-year-old John Rodarte (roh-DAHR’-tay) Jr., also of Council Bluffs. The shooting happened about 7:40 p.m. Wednesday.
Police say Rodarte was shot in the chest and was pronounced dead at a hospital in Omaha, Neb.
Hashberger is being held in the Pottawattamie County jail. A judge on Thursday set his bond at $1 million.
Hashberger’s attorney, public defender Jennifer Solberg, declined to comment on the case. A preliminary hearing is set for April 25.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
