(LE MARS) Le Mars residents are using a new point and click way to smooth out their travel.
A request from the Mayor and City Council put a way to report a pothole on the city web page. City Administrator Scott Langel says Public Works Superintendent Steve Hansen is getting web reports about potholes.
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To report a pothole, look for the illustration at www.lemarsiowa.com
(LE MARS) — With lots of on-stage and behind the scenes experience, two familiar Le Mars theater faces are directing a show for the first time. Marilyn Helmers and Nancy Augustine are working together to stage “Cookin’ with Gus” at the Postal Playhouse May 13th-19th. Augustine says the show is about “Gussie” who wants to do a cooking show, but has a few problems.
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Helmers says the two leads are a joy to watch.
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The four member cast is rounded out by Larry Brangwin as the producer of cooking show and Francis Krull. Krull was in the show as the tipsy gypsy when Le Mars Community Theater did the show in 1991. She now makes an encore performance in that roll.
Augustine says she’s happy to be working with such an experienced cast, as it makes her first time directing easier. She says in her experience as an actress, there was much less to worry about.
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Helmers humorously says that she’s directing to fill her acting void.
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If watching community theater is your “thing,” tickets for “Cookin’ with Gus” go on sale to members Monday, May 2nd and will be available to the general public Wednesday May 4th. Production dates are Friday, May 13th through Thursday, May 19th. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m with the Sunday matinee beginning at 2:00 p.m. For tickets information call 546-5788. (News report by Angela Drake)
(BELLEVUE) A display featuring hundreds of photos honoring members of the military who’ve died in combat since the Nine-Eleven attacks of 2001 will be in Le Mars. The exhibit called “Remembering Our Fallen” is sponsored by Bellevue University, just south of Omaha, Nebraska.
The Iowa schedule includes May 8-14, Centre Mall, Sioux Center; May 24-30, Courthouse, LeMars; Onawa Public Library, Onawa.
The exhibit called “Remembering Our Fallen” is sponsored by Bellevue University, just south of Omaha, Nebraska.
Jim Maxwell is a spokesman for the school. “They made the ultimate sacrifice in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars,” Maxwell says. “It’s a legacy that these men and women will never be forgotten and their names will be remembered and spoken.” The display includes photos of 98 service members from Nebraska and Iowa who have died in the War on Terror in the past decade. Maxwell says the exhibit has been at Bellevue University since late March and it’s brought an emotional response like nothing else they’ve had on campus.
“Some people have left written notes on the display itself to be given to the families at a later date,” he says. “If you view the display yourself, you’re used to seeing people in uniform but when you start to see photos of people in their everyday lives, people in roles as fathers, wives and mothers and you see children in the photos, it really hits home.” Maxwell says the exhibit is especially moving because of where the university is located.
“We’re right next door to Offutt Air Force Base, a close connection to the military so we’re very proud,” he says. “Nearly 20-percent of our students are active duty or military veterans and our student veterans association chapter is one of the largest in the nation. This isn’t just another sponsorship. This is something we are very proud to be a part of.” As of May 1st, the display will start what is hoped to be a national campaign, appearing at various locations in Nebraska and Iowa through the end of the year. https://rememberingourfallen.org/
(Photo and report courtesy Radio Iowa)
MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) A June trial has been scheduled for a 42-year-old woman accused of murdering her husband at their home in eastern Iowa.
The Gazette of Cedar Rapids says Revette Sauser (SOW’-zur) pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. Her trial was scheduled for June 8.
Delaware County authorities say deputies responding to a 911 call in Ryan found 59-year-old Terry Sauser with a gunshot wound to his chest a little after 8:30 p.m. on April 3.
He died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital.
Authorities say the .380-caliber handgun used to kill Terry Sauser was bought earlier this year by his wife. She remains jailed pending $1 million cash bond.
MASTON CITY, Iowa (AP) A 24-year-old Garner man has been given five years in prison for forgery.
Nicholas Ulrich had faced two counts of forgery. After a deal with prosecutors, Ulrich pleaded guilty to one count. Court records say he was sentenced on Tuesday. Ulrich was fined $750 as well.
Court documents say Ulrich forged checks belonging to a friend.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) A former mortgage broker from Clinton has been given five years of probation for wire fraud in a mortgage scheme.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says Mary Reinking must serve a year of home confinement as part of her probation and must pay more than $97,000 in restitution. Reinking had pleaded guilty.
The U.S. attorney’s office says Reinking and three other people plotted to defraud Argent Mortgage and New Century Mortgage. Prosecutors say Reinking and another broker at Crow Valley Mortgage in Bettendorf, Natalie Long, submitted false information to the mortgage companies so the other two people could qualify for loans on two Davenport properties. Some of the mortgage money was to be fraudulently diverted.
Long also was given probation and told to pay restitution.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) A parent and a former employee are suing the Iowa City School District, claiming it violated Iowa’s open records law.
Parent Edwin Stone and David Gurwell, a former assistant physical plant director, claimed the district failed to provide public records about construction projects dating back to August 2009. They filed lawsuit in Johnson County District Court.
Stone says the records involve a geothermal heating and cooling system installed at City High in 2005. Stone is concerned about drainage problems.
He says he’s written to the district dozens of time but hasn’t received a response.
Messages left with Superintendent Steve Murley and district executive director of administrative services Paul Bobek weren’t immediately returned.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A Minnesota filmmaker who pleaded guilty to defrauding the state of Iowa is suing the state, alleging her name, reputation and business have been defamed.
Wendy Weiner Runge says state employees made damaging statements to reporters, colleagues and the general public. According to The Des Moines Register, her lawsuit doesn’t cite specific people or instances.
Her lawsuit also seeks to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed by Iowa to recover money lost to Runge and her partners.
In February, the 46-year-old Runge pleaded guilty to a sole count of fraudulent practices. She faces up to 10 years in prison at her scheduled sentencing May 17.
Prosecutors say Runge and other filmmakers inflated values on applications for tax credits for making movies in Iowa.
ARLINGTON, Iowa (AP) People in the small northeastern Iowa town of Arlington are unhappy that their post office has closed because the Postal Service can’t agree to a lease with the property owner.
Residents of the 400-person town tell KWWL-TV that they feel broad-sided by the abrupt closure.
They say the Postal Service sent a letter to residents April 18 informing them the post office would suspend service on April 27. That letter also noted post offices aren’t supposed to be closed until 60 days after a final decision is posted.
Arlington Mayor Donald Handel says he hopes the post office can reopen, possibly at another site.
Postal officials in Kansas City say they hope to reopen the post office in Arlington but can’t comment on specific leasing discussions.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Interviews soon will begin on filling a vacancy on the Iowa Court of Appeals.
Court officials say 26 people have applied with the State Judicial Nominating Commission for the vacancy created when Edward Mansfield was appointed to the Iowa Supreme Court.
The nominating commission will hold public interviews on May 9 and 10. The commission will then select three nominees and forward their names to the governor.
Gov. Terry Branstad will have 30 days to appoint a new judge.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Submit your news release, photo, confidential news tip or news idea by email klemnews@lemarscomm or by calling 712.546.4121 or 712.546.9672 fax.
