(LE MARS)–Two votes by the Le Mars City Council were taken on garbage, but there’s not a switch in the every other week rotation of garbage and recycling collection.
Council member John Rexwinkel Tuesday tried to pass weekly garbage collection for June through September, but failed to get more than Council member Delana Ihrke’s vote for the plan.
The move to accept City Staff and Solid Waste Committee recommendations to keep the recycling and garbage rotation was opposed by Rexwinkel and Ihrke. Voting for the motion which passed were John Leonard, Rex Knapp and Ken Nelson.
The other recommendations include the option for changes in the pickup when waste is higher such as Thanksgiving or graduation and recycling collection at Christmas time. With the Council action Tuesday, residents also have the option of requesting a pick up of garbage due to a high waste event at a cost of $7.
The Council tabled airport snow removal equipment building bids. Funds are not approved yet by Congress.
Downtown parking spaces in Le Mars will increase when a new lot is paved. The property is being donated by Side by Side Incorporated at a location where a building along Central Avenue was just demolished. The city’s cost estimate is about 30-thousand dollars and the work is to be completed by Ice Cream Days.
Cost estimates and drawings are to be presented to the Council for a solution to damaged street pavers at the intersection of Central Avenue and Plymouth Street.
A flood affected couple relocated their wedding to the Le Mars Willow Creek Golf Course clubhouse. The last minute change filled nearly two-dozen motel rooms, according to Convention and Visitors Bureau manager Jessica Lingren. Lingren reported at the Council meeting.
Todd Lancaster of the Le Mars Y-M-C-A told the Council more than 600 people went to the outdoor pool during 101 degree temperatures Monday.
Hinton voters will consider financing for public safety building
(HINTON)–An election in August will decide whether the Hinton City Council may borrow money for a new public safety building.
According to Plymouth County Deputy Auditor Cheri Nitzsche, the city election is August 2nd. Voting is from noon until eight at the Hinton Community Center.
Hinton voters will be asked whether the city should issue notes of up to 980-thousand dollars to build, equip, and furnish a building for police, fire and ambulance.
Annex is new Plymouth County Driver’s License location
(LE MARS)–The Driver’s License Department for Plymouth County is now relocated in the Annex Building at the Courthouse.
According to Treasurer Linda Dobson, the move to the new facility has been completed and will open today (Wednesday) in the new location for licensing today and Thursday (June 8th and June 9th) .
The open hours will stay the same–8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.–on Wednesdays and Thursdays each week. Appointments still need to be made by calling for CDL and motorcycle driving tests.
The only change in the Driver’s License service offered in Le Mars is the new Annex location.
Sheriff investigates fire as arson
(ROCK RAPIDS)–A Rock Rapids business is gutted by fire, a blaze investigators say may have been intentionally set.
Four northwest Iowa fire departments were called in to help Rock Rapids Fire Department fight a large fire in that town’s downtown area on Monday afternoon. The Sportsman’s Short Stop Liquor Store was on fire, just south of the town’s main street.
Lyon County Sheriff Blythe Bloemendaal is now saying he’s investigating the fire as possible arson. He says the fire may have started in the vacant apartment upstairs and then spread to the rest of the building.
The building is a total loss, and there’s a concern that it’s unstable. Adjacent businesses Spike’s Barber Shop and DeNoble, PC CPA’s were evacuated as a precaution. (Radio Iowa)
Company selling 9 care centers in Neb. and Iowa
BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) A company that operates long-term care facilities is selling nine centers in Nebraska and northwest Iowa, including the Beatrice Manor.
Careage Management of Sioux City, Iowa, has reached an agreement to sell the facilities to The Ensign Group, which operates 87 skilled nursing, assisted living, home health and hospice services in eight western states.
The Iowa facilities are in Cherokee, Hawarden, Fort Dodge, Clarion, and West Bend.The other Nebraska centers being acquired are in Falls City, Randolph and Wayne.
Dan Myers, the president of CEO of Careage, says the new company plans to retain current employees.
The sale is expected to close July 1.
(Copyright 2011 by Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Grain accident claims Ocheyedan man’s life
(SIBLEY)–A northwest Iowa man is dead after an incident at a grain elevator.
Shortly before 6 Tuesday morning, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call that someone was trapped in a corn storage unit at the Cooperative Elevator Association in Ocheyedan.
The sheriff’s office reports that 37-year-old Corey Wingate of Ocheyedan was transported to the Osceola Community Hospital in Sibley where he was pronounced dead. It’s not known at this time if Wingate suffocated in the grain or what happened exactly.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office says it appears at this time to have been a tragic accident. (Radio Iowa)
Iowa IDs roads at risk because of flooding
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) State transportation officials say Interstate 29 in western Iowa is in the path of the rising Missouri River, and parts could be closed within days.
The Department of Transportation on Tuesday released an initial assessment of the state and federal highways most at risk.
It includes I-29, U.S. 275 and Iowa 333 in Hamburg, where a massive sandbagging operation is under way to protect the town. Other parts of I-29 are on the list, including north of Council Bluffs, near Crescent and near Loveland. A section of Interstate 680 in Council Bluffs is also at risk.
Officials have also included Iowa Highway 2 in Fremont County and state Highway 127 near Mondamin in Harrison County.
The DOT says it update the list as the river rises.
Amtrak services disrupted in Neb., Iowa and Colo.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Flooding along the Missouri River in the Omaha area is forcing Amtrak to disrupt its California Zephyr passenger train, which travels between San Francisco and Chicago.
Amtrak says Tuesday that service will be temporarily suspended between Denver and Chicago for at least six days because of predicted flood crests and additional closures of Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks in the Omaha area.
Amtrak says in a statement the suspension of service is effective with an eastbound train on Thursday from Emeryville, Calif., and a westbound train on Friday from Chicago. The disruption is expected to continue through at least June 14.
There will be no Amtrak service in Iowa, except in Fort Madison, Nebraska, and in Fort Morgan, Colo. Daily service will continue between Chicago and Galesburg, Ill.
Autopsy: Iowa woman died of multiple stabs wounds
GREENE, Iowa (AP) Authorities say the wife of an Iowa man arrested in South Dakota with their son was stabbed to death.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety says Tuesday that an autopsy shows 36-year-old Judy Petersen, of Greene, died of multiple stab wounds. Her death is classified as a homicide. Petersen’s body was found in the couple’s home Saturday night.
Her husband, 39-year-old Thomas Petersen, was captured on Sunday in South Dakota after a police chase. The couple’s 2-year-old son was found unharmed.
South Dakota authorities have charged Thomas Petersen with two counts of attempted murder and several other charges. South Dakota authorities continue to hold him on those charges. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney
Iowa officials say no charges have been filed yet in Judy Petersen’s death.
More charges filed against Iowa man in son’s death
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) Prosecutors have filed additional charges against a Waterloo man accused of killing his 18-month-old son.
Daniel Reddout is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his son, Kaleb. Police were called to a Cedar Falls apartment on a report on a child not breathing on April 4. The boy died at the scene. An autopsy showed he died of asphyxiation.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier says Tuesday that prosecutors in trial information added charges of child endangerment resulting in death and child endangerment/multiple acts.
Reddout was to be arraigned in Black Hawk County District Court on Monday. His attorney, Matthew Hoffey, filed a written plea of not guilty and waived speedy trial rights, meaning Reddout didn’t have to appear.
His trial is set for Aug. 2.
Iowa House OKs ban on names for public buildings
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa House has approved a resolution saying state buildings should not be named after elected officials while they’re in office.
The resolution is aimed at the Iowa Board of Regents, which in April approved plans to name a public policy center at Iowa State University after Democratic U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.
The Harkin Institute for Public Policy would house Harkin’s papers and be a resource and information center. Supporters are raising $10 million as an endowment.
Republicans protested the plan when it was went before the regents. The House on Tuesday approved the resolution on a 55-39 vote.
Harkin, an Iowa State alumnus, was elected to the U.S. House in 1974 and U.S Senate in 1984. He is now in his fifth term in the Senate.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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